CONCANNON HISTORYConcannons of Galway1760 to 2008

How the name came about…• All Gaelic names have a distinct

meaning – Concannon dates back go 991 and means, “fairheaded hound”. The original spelling was: Cuceannan or O’Concheanainn. There are many spellings of Concannon because throughout the Middle ages, the scribes, spelt phonetically and were illiterate. They did the best they could for not reading and writing to try to get all the journal entries and lineage down.

Spiddal County, Galway, Ireland• James Concannon

• Birth: abt 1770 Bohunna parish of Spiddal, County Galway, Death: Ireland  

• Mary O'Flaherty

• Birth: abt 1770 Galway, Ireland Death: Ireland  

•   John Concannon       

• M abt 1800 in Galway Ireland

Patrick Concannon Potato Farmers

• Patrick Concannon’s parents were

• Parents:  John Concannon  &  Ann Folan

• Birth: 1825 Galway Ireland

• Death: Unknown  

• Patrick’s wife was Mary Meagher

• Birth: Ireland Death: Ireland  Children

• Sarah Concannon F Galway, Ireland

• Bridget Concannon F Galway Ireland

• John Concannon       M Galway Ireland

• Patrick Concannon        M abt 1825 in Galway, Ireland * POTATO FAMINE STARTS 1845

• James Concannon   M Mar 1847 in Galway Ireland

• Michael Joseph Concannon M 29 MAY 1849 in Galway ,Ireland

• Sometimes Michael spelled his name Michal

Most Irish lived off the land as farmers…they lived in huts and paid rent to land barons

Most Irish were farmers and lived in stone huts with thatch roofs….

•  (The Great Famine (Irish: An Gorta Mór[1] or Irish: An Drochshaol),[2] also known as the Irish Potato Famine and the Great Hunger was a famine in Ireland which started in 1845, lasted — depending on the region — until 1849[3] or even 1852[4] and which led to the death of approximately one million people through starvation and disease; a further million are thought to have emigrated as a result of the famine.[5] Some scholars estimate that the population of Ireland was reduced by 20 to 25 percent.[6]

• The proximate cause[7] of the famine was a potato disease commonly known as late blight. Although blight ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the impact and human cost in Ireland — where a third of the population was entirely dependent on the potato for food — was exacerbated by a host of political, social and economic factors which remain the subject of historical debate.[8][9]

• The famine was a watershed[10] in the history of Ireland. Its effects permanently changed the island's demographic, political and cultural landscape. For both the native Irish and those in the resulting diaspora, the famine entered folk memory[11] and became a rallying point for various nationalist movements. Modern historians regard it as a dividing line in the Irish historical narrative, referring to the preceding period of Irish history as "pre-Famine." The fall-out of the famine continued for decades afterwards and Ireland's population still has not recovered to pre-famine levels.[12][13][14]

1845 The Great Famine

The homes had mud floors and rain often leaked through the thatched roof

Irish Railway

• Michal and his family were evicted from the land and gave up farming after the famine. They became railroad workers and moved to Leicester, England. The British railway system expanded exponentially during the nineteenth century. Its construction required an entire new workforce: in 1845 there were 200,000 men building 3,000 miles of new railway line.

• The navvies (shortened from 'navigators', the canal-builders of the eighteenth century) building the railways came from across the British Isles. One third were Irish, seeking escape from famine. The railway-building boom of the 1840s coincided closely with an agricultural crisis in Ireland, and navvying provided a means of subsistence that would otherwise have been lacking. Many Irish navvies sent their earnings home while the Scottish and English lavished their wages on alcohol.

•

Michael Joseph Concannon

• Parents:  Patrick Concannon  &  Mary Meagher

• Birth: 29 MAY 1849 County Cork, DUBLIN ,Ireland

• Death: 7 JUN 1918 Los Angeles, California  

• Mary Agnes Gertrude Lally

• Parents:  Michaelis Lally  &  Margaret Casey

• Birth: 18 MAR 1858 Birmingham, England

• Death: 2 FEB 1913 Sisters Hospital, Los Angeles  

•  Marriage — 1880 in England

• Mary Catherine Concannon – Mayme was her nick name born May 15, 1882

• Winifred Barbara Concannon 1884 – famous artist

• William Matthew Concannon M 27 AUG 1884 in Los Angeles – delivery boy, then Railroad man - boilermaker

• Winifred B Concannon   F JUN 1889 in England – famous artist

• James Concannon  M 26 DEC 1892 in Los Angeles,LA, CA professional baseball player

• John Patrick Concannon 1898 became an accountant

• Michael Concannon 1890 was a chauffeur and butler in Pasadena

• Katherine Concannon – died around 8 years of age

• Agnes Cecilia Concannon 1893

• Marguerite C B Concannon       F 7 APR 1895 in Los Angeles,LA,CA -

1910 Census – Los Angeles• Michael Concannon 49 – My Great Grandfather – Ginger’s Great Great

Grandfather

• Mary Concannon 42 My Great Grandmother

• Mary G Concannon 18 - her name was Mayme

• Willie Concannon 15 - Katiey and McKinley’s Great Grandfather

• John Patrick Concannon 11

• Barbara W Concannon 12 This is winnefred – Aunt Winnie

• Michael J Concannon 10

• James Concannon 8

• Katherine P Concannon 6

• Margaret Concannon 5 - it’s really Marguerite

• Agnes Concannon 2 - she came to my wedding in 1972View original image

Left to right: Mabel Concannon, Aunt Maxine, Papa, Aunt Agnes

Michael and Mary leave Liverpool, England to sail to merica. It was a long trip two months with a toddlers and Mary was pregnant and lost a child.

Krakatowa exploded – August 1883• One of the reasons they left the United Kingdom was

because of what happened in August of 1883. Michal (that is how he spelled it) had been working on the Railroad in Ireland and England and when it was completed, he wondered what he would do. He read that Oil had been discovered in America and he wanted to be able to own his own oil wells. He decided that America had more opportunity. What cinched the deal was when he saw the red skies and did not know what it was from and many people were panicked thinking the world was ending and that it wasn’t safe in Europe.

• They found out it was from a volcanic eruption that we now know was 1000 times the size of 100 atom bombs – It was a Plinian eruption. They are probably the most powerful type of eruption. This type of eruption is based on the example of Mt. Vesuvius when it erupted in AD79. They are identified by huge smoke and ash clouds that go way up into the stratosphere. These are also often quite loud. Krakatowa and Pinatubo are examples of Plinian eruptions.

Krakatowa disappeared off the face of the earth.

Krakatowa erupts….

TSUNAMI after a volcano eruptshttp://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?bcpid=1184539009&bclid=1213872176&bctid=1209892742

How did we find out so “fast” in 1883• In 1883 – we didn’t have television or radio much less computers

and internet – but we had under water cables and that was considered booming technology. The first terse signal - "Strong volcanic eruption, Krakatowa Island" - from the Lloyd's agent who saw the flames spout from the volcano's summit, was carried over lines that were almost immediately broken by the tsunami that killed 36,000 people a few seconds later. But the message managed to get through to Batavia, the Dutch East Indian capital. From there it passed under the sea, to Singapore. It was then amplified, retransmitted on to Madras, passed to stations at Trincomalee, Colombo and Bombay, then travelled via the newly built Suez Canal to Port Said, thence sped by way of Malta and Gibraltar across Biscay to Porthcurno in Cornwall, and across the Atlantic to the Reuters receiving stations in Newfoundland and Boston.

• The Boston Globe had the story on its front page not 12 days, but just four hours later. The next morning, horse-drawn commuters in Boston and New York would read of places such as Krakatoa and Sumatra and the Sunda Strait and the tragedy that had engulfed them, and would accord the names the same kind of familiarity as Baltimore and Cape Cod. The world suddenly became much smaller: the global village, one might say, became that August morning a distant reality.

Where was the volcano?

Since it took about 2 months to get there, thank heavens their ship was in the Northern Hemisphere and they did not feel much of the wave other than a big storm type of wave…but the sky was red for months and dark and it made the earth colder for years.

What else was happening at that time?

• Edvard Munch's vividly coloured painting, The Scream, recently stolen, was painted at the time of those Krakatoa-affected skies), something that caused an explosion so loud it could be heard 3,000 miles away. But as to why it had happened, no one - no scientist at least - could be found to offer any comforting nostrums. For all the world knew, the end of life itself could be at hand.

• Can you see how the skies are dark and he is covering his ears? People did not have the education to understand about geography back then and thought God was angry and was ending the world. This produced a lot of anxiety because they didn’t have wisdom to understand how the earth moves and grows and changes.

Red Sky at night Sailor’s delight, Red Sky at morning, Sailor’s warning…

• Donald Olson, a physics and astronomy professor at Texas State University, and his colleagues determined that debris thrown into the atmosphere by the great eruption at the island of Krakatoa, in modern Indonesia, created vivid red twilights in Europe from November 1883 through February 1884.

• So our ancestors saw the frightening sky on the ship voyage from London to the United States. My Great Great Grandfather Michal Concannon said he had to comfort toddler Mayme and his wife Mary that God had a plan for them and would protect them.

• http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/12/10/scream.munch.reut/

The red skies of Krakatowa were from dust, pumice and particles in the air• In the Bible, (Matthew 16: 2-3,) Jesus said, “When in

evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: For the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today; for the sky is red and lowering.”

• Usually, weather moves from west to east, blown by the westerly trade winds. This means storm systems generally move in from the West.

• The colors we see in the sky are due to the rays of sunlight being split into colors of the spectrum as they pass through the atmosphere and ricochet off the water vapor and particles in the atmosphere. The amounts of water vapor and dust particles in the atmosphere are good indicators of weather conditions. They also determine which colors we will see in the sky.

• During sunrise and sunset the sun is low in the sky, and it transmits light through the thickest part of the atmosphere. A red sky suggests an atmosphere loaded with dust and moisture particles. We see the red, because red wavelengths (the longest in the color spectrum) are breaking through the atmosphere. The shorter wavelengths, such as blue, are scattered and broken up.

The Arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana in November of 1883. Michael got a job with the new exciting Louisiana to Texas line of the Road – this is a map of what it looked like there.

Texas Louisiana Railway logo - 1883

Michael and Mary brought Mayme to Los Angeles in Spring of 1884. One of the first trains to travel the new tracks to their new home. Mary was pregnant with William Matthew who would be born August of 1884 in Los Angeles.

• Competition for the Railroad was Cable Cars…Cable Cars in Los Angeles! Transportation has always been a problem in the city. Everything from horse drawn carriages to an electric train has graced the streets of L.A. This cable car ran along Broadway in 1889 was constantly tested by the elements. Heavy rains filled the conduits with gravel or sand and forced the closure of the lines. The cables suffered from excessive wear and the machinery often broke down. Thus, no more cable cars in LA!

Michael worked for Southern Pacific

Rain almost destroys Los Angeles the year Grandfather Wm Matthew was born….

• Rain fall – I remember most of these…years

• Los Angeles is nearing the record rainfall total of 1883-84, the year of legendary storms.

• 1883-84: 38.18 inches Grandfather was born in Los Angeles.

• 1889-90: 34.84 inches – the year that Amber was in pre-school – Lightning struck on Alessandro as the kids wer coming home from the Bus. There was a flood so bad that Potato chips were floating out of at Stage coach Liquor store. We got panicked because Ginger had to walk across a flooded road to do her paper route; I was so frightened she was going to get washed away. Then Brian and Valerie went on an adventure and we were panicked that she fell into the stream next to the bus stop and Day’s Inn and was washed away. We found them later down by Lucky’s/:Longs, sitting on a grassy hill in the rain watching cars get stuck in the flooded street.

• 2004-05: 33.87* The year Jessica and Amber were taking a shower outside in the front yard . Soapsuds all over the place…They took pictures of being blown over by the 70 mph winds – the chicken cages got blown over and we had to rescue the chickens in the dark. .

• 1977-78: 33.44 The year Brian was born. I had to hang all his and Ginger’s diapers in the hallway and turn up the heater to get them to dry – no dryer – just clothes lines…The Little Tujunga wash gave way and ripped right through a grave yard – there were coffins and bodies being washed down the street called Lankershim. .

Ok a little detour here….1978 Floods in Los AngelesWhen Brian was born, Ginger and I had to go get groceries with a stroller and him in the “frontpack called a Snugly.

• The floods of 1978 nearly buried cars in the office parking lot of the Wildlife Waystation in Little Tujunga Canyon.

1884 Railroad and Trolleys• This independently-operated line ran for a few years into the relatively

sparcely-populated canyon area west of Hollywood, just prior to World War I. Not until 1947 did Los Angeles see trolley-buses again.

Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles 1911

Home in San Marino or Pasadena area…• Winnefred was known for her

amazing art work – she was talented at painting water color flowers and ceramics. She was hired by the studios to make hand written invitations for all the Hollywood parties and was the exclusive artist for Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Junior for their parties at the mansion named PickFair in Los Angeles.

• Her little sister Agnes worked with her in the studio in their home.

Great Great Grandfather Michael invested in Oil Wells in Beverly Hills1892 - Edward L. Doheny,  unsuccessful gold and silver prospector, and Charles A. Canfield, his mining partner, struck oil in Los Angeles along Glendale Boulevard between Beverly Boulevard and Colton Avenue; set off major land boom; April 20, 1893 - Doheny discovered oil at State and Patton Streets at a depth of about 200 feet - first free-flowing oil well ever drilled in the city of Los Angeles.

Michal used his extra money to invest in oil wells. He had a lovely home in Los Angeles and unfortunately, his son, the family Accountant, John Patrick, whom I knew and loved, had a wee bit o’the drink and lost all of the family’s fortune – the Beverly Hills Oil Wells in a poker game.

So – gambling and drinking are not good for us! They cause us to do thing that are not in the best interest of the family.

We would be billionaires now…but….no.

Bev erly hills in 1900 – Benedict Canyon was a very lovely place to live…

THE NEXT GENERATION

1910 -

William married Mabel – met her in Oklahoma where her parents lived.

William M. Concannon 1884-1935• Married either in Los Angeles, Idaho or Texas - William

was a very handsome man who worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad.  They traveled quite a bit.  His daughters loved him and his sons respected him.  He was a muscular, exhibition high diver in Tucson and taught all of the children to swim, of course, his methods were a little course.  The Uncles say that he would toss the kid in and watch them try to paddle to the edge.  If it looked like they were having some trouble, he would go get them...then toss them in again until they learned to make it to the edge.

• Alcohol made him do naughty things and that made Mabel sad. He worked as a Foreman for the Southern Pacific Railroad and was hit by a car shortly after Thanksgiving in November of 1935.  He suffered fatal head wounds from that accident, leaving Mabel with 13 (live  births), 10 children.  The Railroad, to help her out, let them all live in a boxcar to save money.

Anadarko, Oklahoma• Mabel Concannon was

Susie Mabel May Harris, born August 11, 1892 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Her family moved to the Chickasaw Reservation and lived there. When she was just 6 years old she helped with the chores on the reservation. She learned to bake bread and cook for the ranch hands.

• Year: 1900; Census Place: Chickasha, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory; Roll: T623 1849; Page: 27B; Enumeration District: 153.

• Mabel’s little sister was sickly. Her name was Idabelle. Aunt Idabelle was always very thin but when she was tiny, her father was worried and asked Mabel to leave school at 13 and become a telephone operator so they could have money for medicine. Mabel did not want to leave school, but the money she made allowed her to buy very fine clothing and she took care of her family.

1910 - William married Mabel – met her in Oklahoma where her parents lived.

Left to right – Mabel, James Concannon, Wm Matthew Concannon, baby Bill

The dance• To be continued….in 2009

• Things I remember about Grandma Concannon (Mabel).  She could cook without measuring - something I do now, but was amazed at when I was 10!  She made the best bread and taught me her recipe.  I always loved it when she came to visit.  There were so many kids that she would spend a few months and then go to the next house.  Sometimes she would babysit us while our parents went on a little holiday.  In La Mirada, at 58, she skipped rope with my girlfriends and me.  Then she took the rope and did the "Mabel, Mabel set the table - don't forget the red hot peppers!" - jump rope song.  Believe it or not, to our astonishment, she actually did the "peppers" in high heels.

• I remember one time, I had left my math book out on the suntan bench in the back yard of Danville.  She turned on the sprinklers and my book was ruined.  At first I was really angry but I knew it was my fault.  She helped me dry the book in the Oven, then while I was sleeping, she ironed all 300 pages.

• When I was a senior, I loved to drive up to see her in Sacramento, sometimes with my friend, Sheila.  There, she had her very own apartment and an aquarium with one very fat, trained goldfish.  She loved to show us how obedient he was and when she spoke to him, he would come to the surface. She also showed us her card collection.  She had kept every single card she had ever received since the 1900s. She was so proud of that and cherished the collection.  She said she wanted me to take care of it when she passed on, and with it I was to receive her locket and her ring with black onyx.  I did receive the locket and it is the most special gift that I cherish.

• This From Ruth and Mike Concannon, "Grandma Mabel Concannon was long overdue for a new robe.  Her robe was so old and tattered, and holes to prove this statement.  One day, her son John put his finger into one of the holes, and giving a tug, made a large rip.  That was kinda' fun so he did it several more times, until she had not holes but big tears...  Son Mike wanted to do that as well, but he lacked the courage.  The two sons then pooled their monies and bought the new robe for their mother."

• The last time I saw her, was right before she passed away.  She had cancer of the mouth and she was so thin.  My Aunts and Uncle said as I was entering the room, that she didn't know who I was, but her spirit spoke to me and I could tell in her eyes that she knew me.  I stroked her hair and held her hand.  She squeezed my hand as she looked at me.  I didn't want to leave.  In that moment, I knew all trials that she had endured, and self sacrafice she had gladly given for all those children.  Her heart was so full of love for all of us, and I felt it.  I too was a recipient of that love and I long to see her again someday.

• She had great faith and some of her closest friends were Nuns.  She told me that when she died, all of Sacramento would come to her funeral.  That didn't exactly happen but the majority of the family was certainly there.  An interesting thing happened whether she caused it or not, we'll never know until we visit with her again in the Eternities.  At the funeral, right at the grave site and only at the site, there was a tornado like wind.  If you stepped 20 feet from the grave, it was gone, if you were within the 20 feet, it was so strong that her casket was tipping off the roller straps.  I think she was a little upset that more people didn't turn out.  They were probably there but in spirit and she had not recognized that yet....she had outlived most of her friends even her dear friend Sister Mary.