Strokestown, County Roscommon, in Irish known as Bealnamulla, was an ancient territory of O'Connor Roe, the clan centred around Ballinafad castle near Lissounuffy, an ancient Abbey on the west side of Sliabh Ban and other castles, one being the site of the present day Strokestown House, National Famine Museum. That castle is built into the present building. In 1600, circa 300 O'Connor Roe families occupied this territory until the arrival of Cromwell, who dispossessed Hugh O'Connor at his minor Castle on the present Strokestown site in 1650. Roscommon. In 1601, Red Hugh O'Donnell, marched south from Donegal to assist the Spanish siege in Kinsale. On his 200 mile trip in deep winter, 1600, he stopped at Elphin, a few miles North of Strokestown and requested assistance from O'Connor Roe who provided  troops and marched together to Kinsale in what later become known as an extraordinary military feat of deception through snowy mountains over Christmas, sleeping rough, spied on, the troops arrived in Kinsale exhausted, nonetheless in a plan to prevent Gaelic oppression. The battle plan was a last attempt to remove the Saxons and dissenting Irish and reassert Gaelic power in Ireland. It failed. O'Donnell and other Gaelic families were spared on condition they leave with the Spanish. This marked a first major departure for O'Connor Roe clans from the Strokestown area. Those remaining, were harassed, dispossessed, humiliated, degraded. On Cromwell's arrival, the occupants of the castle at Strokestown were dispossessed as were the occupants of Ballinafad castle near Lissounuffy.

Some remained in the area and survived as small independent farmers as opposed to their prior role as collective farmers in a territory. Other emigrated or had to depart as part of the crack down on Catholics under the penal laws. Many of these O'Connors had military upbringing and education and their departure fell under the umbrella of the 'Wild Geese' , whereby they hid in cages for Geese for export on ships bound for the continent where they reformed in Spain, France and Italy principally, entering the Irish brigades in those countries. Particularly under the 1550 Dingle Treaty, Irish citizens were automatically recognised as Spanish citizens or colonists up to Ireland's entry to the European Union. O'Connor's of this period were extensive in Spain in the service of KIng Phillipe of Spain. O'Connor Roe did not lack a pedigree as it were as the family roots lay in North Western Spain and the ancient O'Connor Kings were commonly known as the Spanish Kings before 1600 in Ireland, contributing 13 High Kings. Greek Chroniclers, witnessed the departure of the Iberian tribes to invade Ireland prior to the tower of Hercules BC 700, placing trusted clans in charge of regions. Indeed their passage past the Tower of Hercules is recorded in Greek history in 700 BC, as colonists avenging the killing of Iberian princes in Ireland by the Fir Bolg. One of these regions is said to be O'Connor Roe or East Roscommon-Tulsk.

A Coruna is approximately a 6 days sail south of Cork at ancient speeds of 6 Knots.
The Tower of Hercules still stands today on the arrival to A Corunna. 
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In the Penal period, Roger O'Connor departed Balinafad castle, ultimately to become Governor of Cittiavechia, port of Rome. The Vatican archives contain 120 letters of his services, witnessing his fair treatment of Algerian pirates and other captures in the surrounds. In the Spanish service, O'Connors were sent to Cuba as trusted servants, a total of 300 or so. Onward to the new World, Texas and Mexico. The O'Connor Roe Diaspora expanded across Europe, mostly not forgetting their pasts as was necessary travelling with little more than perhaps a single personal object from the past. None of this folklore is credible other than modern research has unearthed the artefacts and ancient publicly available manuscripts recording these facts.
 
Those remaining at home were suppressed. By 1847, it was estimated that less than 80 O'Connor clans existed in the Strokestown area. In 1847, approximately twenty O'Connor's perished in the famine in Strokestown in 1847 alone. By the early 1900's perhaps 11 families. 
 
One of the young children who sailed was Luke O'Connor of Hillstreet, near Elphin whose parents died at Gross Ile in Canada. At age 14, he returned to Ireland ,  bored then enlisted in the British Army, being unhappy in the family drapery business. Later, he fought the Russians in the Crimean war at the Siege of Sevastovol, (ongoing) also extensively wounded at another skirmish nearby. He received the first Victoria cross for his bravery in Hyde Park. His life is within living memory of persons of the present times who spoke to older people who knew him.
 
The Famine victims are commemorated on the plaque at the front of Strokestown house. In 1977, architect Mary O'Connor (O'Carroll) was invited to restore the kitchens of Strokestown house by Olive Packenham Mahon. In the course of that, she uncovered the walls of an ancient castle built into the wall of the house, effectively unearthing her ancestors home still in possession of the Anglo centric Olive Packenham Mahon.
 
In the blood of many Irish is the hate of Imperialism, the respect for the victim, yet not blaming the present people of our neighbours for the crimes of our ancestors, both Irish and foreign.
 
Ultimately less than a handful of the 300 families of 1600, survived the ravages of Gaelic Suppression. The story of Gerald O'Connor's family extends back to Strokestown directly.
 
He is in fact, the son and grandson of one of the few surviving O'Connor Families from Strokestown, said to be the direct line back to the High Kings. His father having been a farmer and draper in Strokestown. However, tragedy has not evaded Gerald either.  His father departed this world shortly before his birth in a tragic illness in 1936. Yet Gerald is with us and hosts this site. He is a regular visitor to Roscommon from New Zealand and highly values his connections to the land and his fond memories of the area and stories which you can see later on this site. In the course of this 67-year research project, we were able to reconstruct the lineages of the O'Connor Roe family in the Strokestown area and extend it back approximately 2.5 millennia in documentary evidence. We have done this based on documented evidence of folklore and employed professional researcher and Genealogists to translate oral history to legal fact.

O'Connor Roe is far from extinct.   

Real Life is stranger than fiction.
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