converys of dreenan

	The Converys of Dreenan

The anglicized surname Convery was derived from the Irish name Mac Ainmhire, pronounced "Ma Can-ver-a" Ainmhire was the High King of Ireland between 568-570 and again at a later date. The first mention of the surname Convery that I know of appears in "The Armagh Hearth Money Rolls" of 1664 as "O' Convery"

My Convery family of Dreenan have occupied Bankers' Hill in Dreenan for over 200 years. Possibly even longer but the records dating back further are sparse and incomplete.

The nickname "Banker" originated in the middle 1800s and was bestowed on Patrick Convery, a local land owner and money lender who's home was situated on the hill in lower Dreenan.
At that time there were two Convery families on Bankers Hill, both with the head of the house by the name of Patrick, and so as happens in many townlands across Ireland nicknames were given to distinguish them.
"Meal Man" Pat and "Banker" Pat
Mealman and Banker were 1st cousins. their fathers, Patrick and Hugh respectivly.

The following is a short history of my G/Grandfather, Patrick Convery. Born Patrick in 1824 and son of Patrick Convery, my great grand father earned the nickname "Meal Man" because of his work for the local mill. At the age of 32 he married Jane O'Neill, a local girl who lived two fields away. Over the next twenty two years they had thirteen children, one of which was my grandfather Felix (Phil) Convery
Phil Convery took over the running of the farm when he was thirty four after the death of his father. After the sudden death of his first wife Annie Regan, and with three very young children, Phil married Susan Morgan and had a family totalling fourteen.
Read more of my family tree
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