Our Place in the History of Things
There is a saying; you can’t really know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been. With that in mind, I have always felt a great need to find my family’s place in the history of things. We can trace our Creedon lineage back to my great-great grandfather Patrick Creedon, who was a farmer in Co.Cork (unsure of the exact location). His son Cornelius Creedon, born in Cork during the Great Famine, found his way to Ballylongfornd in Kerry and married my Great Grandmother Ellen Harty and so my story begins… both rest in Lislaughtin Abbey, Ballylongford, Co. Kerry, Ireland.
Lislaughtin Abbey is quite significant in our history as several of our family members have been buried there. A few years ago, my granddaughter Stephanie Creedon did a school history project on Lislaughtin Abbey. You can view the e-Book here.
In 2021, I created this video with first cousin, Patrick O’Connor. You can view beautiful footage of the Abbey and the Shannon Estuary.
In 2019, an incredible story about my grandmother on my mother’s side was picked up by RTÉ’s Documentary on One Podcast: Tess Murray never forgot her first love. She was a young teacher, engaged to Thomas McEver, a chemist who had moved to Dunmore Co. Galway as the Irish War of Independence was drawing to a close in the spring of 1921. But fate took a tragic turn one night when Thomas was abducted, brutally murdered and accused of being a spy.
It is amazing to think how much of our family history intertwines with events throughout the War of Independence (1921) and the Irish Civil War (1922-23). One notable letter we came across was from my grandfather to Pádraig Pearses’ mother just 10 years after The Easter Rising. You are welcome to read all about this on my blog here.
My sister, Angela, has kindly created this family tree, which is a wonderfully clear representation of our lineage. We also have the original record put together by my mother, Eithne Creedon and my Aunts Sr. Lelia Creedon and Peg O’Connor in the early 1970’s. It covers both the Creedons and the family of my Grandmother – Scanlons.
I hope you have enjoyed stepping back in time with me.
Paddy
