Irish Ancestry

JAMES CONNOR........=.....HANNAH SULLIVAN

b.c.1805..................b.c. 1808

(described as of..........married 28 Jan.1830

Knockeenduv 1865).........Killarney,Kerry,Ireland

______________________

MARY......bap.25 Feb.1830 Killarney,Kerry

PATRICK...bap.26 Feb.1832 Killarney,Kerry

ELLEN.....bap.26 May 1833 Killarney,Kerry

MICHAEL...bap.20 Sept.1835 Killarney,Kerry

JAMES.....bap.24 Aug.1836 Killarney,Kerry / married/ issue

JOHN......bap.27 Aug.1837 Currow,Kerry

HANNAH....bap.15 April 1839 Killarney,Kerry

JOHN......bap.6 Nov.1842 Killarney,Kerry

MARY......bap.4 Sept.1843 Currow,Kerry

son of James Connor and Hannah Sullivan

JAMES CONNOR.........=.....ELLEN BRIEN

bp.24 Aug.1836.............b.c. 1834

Killarney,Kerry............d/o J.CONNOR and ELLEN PICKET of Castlemaine,Kerry

(described as of...........married 26 February 1865 (of Killcorcoran)

Killcorcoran 1865).........Killarney, Kerry, Ireland

...........................witnesses: Ty Falvery and Mary Connor

...........................(all baptised at Killarney, Kerry, Ireland

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|...............|..............|..............|...............|

JAMES...........JOANNA.........HANNAH.........ELLEN...........MARY

bp.24 Dec.1865..bn.4 Oct.1867..bp.6 Nov.1867..bp.8 Sept.1869..bp.30.Apr.1871

..............................................married.........m = JOHN FALVERY

..............................................JOHN WALKER.....24 May 1891 Killarney

..............................................1893 in London

"O'Connor, with its variants Connor,
Conner, Connors etc., comes from the Irish
Conchobhair, from the personal name
Conchobhar, perhaps meaning 'lover of
hounds' or 'wolfe-lover'.

This was one of the most favoured of early
Irish names, and gave rise to the surname in
at least five distinct areas, in Connacht
(O'Connacht (O'Conor Don), in Offaly
(O'Conor Faly), in Keenaght in Co.Derry,
and in Kerry (O'Connor Kerry).

The Offaly family take their name from Conchobhar (d.979), who claimed descent from
Cathaoir Mor, a second-century king of Ireland. They remained powerful in their
original homeland until the sixteenth century, when they were dispossessed of their
lands.

The O'Connor Kerry were chiefs of a large territory in north Kerry, displaced further
northwards by the Norman invasion to the Limerick borders, where they retained much
of their power down to the seventeenth century. Today, the descendants of these
O'Connors are far and away the most numerous, with the majority of all the many
O'Connors in Ireland concentrated in the Kerry/Limerick/Cork area.

However, the most famous of all the O'Connor families is that which arose in Connacht.
The ancestor from whom they take surname was Conchobhar, King of Connacht (d.971),
and direct ancestor of the last two High Kings of Ireland, Turlough O'Connor and
Roderick O'Connor, who ruled through the twelfth century. Unlike the vast majority of
the rest of the old Gaelic aristocracy, the O'Conors of Connacht managed to retain a
large measure of their property and influence through all the calamities from the
seventeenth century on. The line of descent from the last Chief of the Name is also
intact; the current 'O Conor Don', recognized as such by the Chief Herald of Ireland, is
Denis O Conor. The family seat remains in the ancestral homeland, in Castlerea, Co
Roscommon

The name first appears in literature at around the start of the Christian era, with the
Ard-R� (High King) Connor MacNessa. The name Conn had been popular, but
unremarkable, since the Celtic incursion into Ireland brought new nomenclature to swell
and develop the existing Formorian and Milesian names. There was another king at the
time, Conaire M�r, who could be considered another early variant of Connor. But it
appears that Connor represented something unique, powerful and remarkable.

Connor MacNassa was one of the most highly acclaimed rulers of Ireland - we would say
today that he had great karma, he was a leader of great charisma, as was John F
Kennedy, Abe Lincoln, Julius Caesar and some other publicly popular, very powerful and
successful rulers. His public appeal was enormous. He reigned during the time of the T�in
B� Cuailgne (the quest for Cooley's Bull) - the great saga of Cuchullain and Queen
Maedb - which were heroic days indeed. He was a patron of the arts and of learning of all
kinds. He opened the professions to all comers, which had previously been jealously
guarded hereditary monopolies, with all of the concomitant inefficiencies and abuses.

His press was not entirely one-sided and good, however - he played the typical king's part
in the story of Deirdre and the Son of Usnach, betraying Naoisi and his brothers and
driving Deirdre to her death, as recounted in the famous story that is one of the Three
Sorrows of Storytelling.

Connor was married to the Amazonian Maedb, the warrior-queen of Connaught, but had
to separate - I suppose that even a great and wonderful king wants to be able to put his
feet up at the end of a long day and enjoy a quiet pipe without the missus jabbing a spear
in his throne-seat and telling him in no uncertain terms just what she wanted conquered,
and not taking any lip from himself about doing it tomorrow. Connor then married her
sister Ethne, and whether he was happy with her or not we have no indication, but the
change of pace seems to have appealed to him and they lived together for many a day.

Now that word `conquered' appeared above, and it has a possible connection with this
story. Julius Caesar some fifty-five years BC had first invaded England, having already
brought Gaul into the Empire and contained the Germans and the Belgae. His title was
Imperator - the commander - but the name he had given himself - Caesar - was how he
was referred to by both Romans, provincials, enemies and foreigners. Later emperors
took the name Caesar because it said, simply, eloquently and unmistakably `The
Commander of the Roman World.' A millenium and a half later, the kings of

Russia adapted the same title as `Tsar', the Germans as `Kaiser'.

And in the Celtic world, Connor became the title of the one who triumphed, of he who won
rule of the land. Perhaps it derived for Conn - but that's not important. Even today, the
inherent meaning of Connor is `the wilful one.' But one thousand years later, in a once-
Celtic land which had been occupied by Romans for a few centuries, and into which had
streamed Danes and Norse and Angles and Saxons - as well as Irish and Scots - a foreign
invader defeated local forces and established his rule on this land. Is it so acceptable to
the Brits to believe that the name given to William by the locals - Conqueror - derived
from the Irish / Celtic Connor (pronounced con-coo-ear) rather from the postulated
'conquirre' of Latin, a term apparently cobbled together in medieval times and
interpreted today as `questing together'?"

This page last modified on Saturday, February 17, 2007