Cullenstown, County Louth, Ireland

The parish of Darver was composed of the townlands of Cullenstown, Dellon, Newton, Darver and Christianstown, about 900 people spread over 1,111 acres. The parish didn't have its own parish church until 1840, so the tithes had gone to nearby Dromiskin.

My Great grandfather, James Connor came from Cullenstown and moved to the USA around 1882.  His fathers name was Patrick Connor and his mother was Elizabeth Hoey

This is a section of County Louth, Ireland.  Right in the center of this map, you will see Dromiskin.  Dromiskin is a small town where many of the Hoey and some Connors came from.  My family of Connors and Hoeys lived in a smaller townland called Cullenstown, (not on this map) but is is located in the Fane River valley.  It would be located between Mullacrew and Dromiskin.  

I visited Dromiskin, and Cullenstown, County Louth, Ireland on two occasions. I met a local historian that actually lived in Cullenstown named Alfie O'Rielly.   Cullenstown is not on any maps. Like Kennystown, in County Wicklow, Ireland, it is a small townland, except Cullenstown resembles more of a village than Kennystown does because it has several houses all in a row, where in Kennystown, it is more of a rural settling.  

Alfie showed me many of the old places, including where the Connors lived.  The buildings are all gone now, but there are old foundations still visible right near a large cow pasture. 

The old Darver Cemetery was a fun place to visit.  Alfie transcribed all the grave stones there. Within this cemetery, it is believe that many Connors and many Hoeys are buried. I witnessed the names of several from the Hoey family.  Unfortunately, if the Connors are there, they are in unmarked graves.  The Cemetery has a mystical air about it.  As I drove up, I saw a wall of stone with an old iron entering into the cemetery with a large ruin of a church right in the middle.  The day was gloomy and there were about a hundred large ravens that made the cemetery its residence. This added to a kind of scary atmosphere. I donated a copy of the Darver cemetery records to the LDS Church for others to enjoy. Here is a link for the record number to order.

 Across the street was Darver Castle, were John Connor, James' father, once worked as a gardener.

Notes on Patrick Connor

According to notes that were dictated from Patrick's son, James, He was born and raised in County Down, in the diocese of Down and Connor. When he was about 20 years old, he moved to County Louth, and worked as a florist and game keeper in a village called Fane Valley, which is 4 miles north of Dundalk. He married Elizabeth Hoey in the year 1830 and lived on her fathers farm, one half mile south of Fane Valley, in a small village called Cullenstown.
Patrick later received a position as a gardener and a houseman and worked for a Protestant farmer named Booth, and worked for Booth till the day he died, in 1893.
Booths estate is still standing, in 1998 and is across from the Darver Cemetery.

Notes on James Connor

James was an executive at the Union Pacific RR. He was the General Superintendent of Motive Power. He retired from the UP in Sept. 1934.
James dictated a wonderful biography about his family and ancestors, written in 1942. I know many family members, including myself, ended up with a copy. It was dictated to his daughter Eleanor, who was a secretary and typist.
It showed his name on the letter as James M. Connor. I have noticed that many records has his name James Hoey Connor. In this letter, he mentions that he saw his birth record while visiting in Ireland. I'm assuming that it showed "M". Also, knowing how the Catholic Irish named their children, rarely was any word other than a Christian name, used.
His dictation was filled with many facts and exact locations of where they lived in Ireland. I only can wish that all my great grandparents could have done the same as Jim Connor did.
As near as James could remember, he left Liverpool about October 8, 1882 and arrived in Castle Garden on October 22, 1882 with his sister ,Rose Connor.
According to Margaret Fangman, James came to US at about age 24.

In 1889 he lived at 2924 Indiana, Omaha, NE