William Lannen Jr : Short Biography

LIAM Ó LIONNÁIN aka William Lannen Jr (1815-1878) of Tramore was a labourer. He also appears on record as William Lannon aka Lennan. His descendants in Tramore were recorded as Lennon from the early 20th-century onwards. 

• William Lennan was born at Tramore on 14 October 1815 to William Lennan Sr. & Janet aka Gennette Coffy (1790-1820). William Power & Catherine Coffy were his godparents. There is no record of any Lannon/Lennan with a land-holding at Tramore in the 1827 Tithe records. 

• In 1821, a year after the untimely death of his wife Janet, William Lennan of Tramore married Alice Brown. (In 1823 they baptised Catherine Lennon in 1823 after which no further records appear anywhere in the county). Presumably, this was William Lennon Sr remarrying.

In 1848, at the height of the Great Famine, William Lannon, labourer, was living at #2 Tim Neil's Lane (off Patrick Street) in Tramore. He was a weekly tenant at 15 pence a week. Soon after it was unoccupied and by September 1850 it was the home of John Power. On this lane of 5 dwellings also lived: Timothy Neil & Michael Morrissey, Bathing Machine owner was subletting to Coast Guard John Rapson, and labourers William Lannon, John McGrath, and Michael Forrestal.

There are no records for William Lannon Jr's marriage to Catherine Sheehan, however, the following children appear on Tramore RC parish records for this couple:

• John Lannan b. 1858  (godparents: Mary Murphy & Pat Hennessy) born at Tramore.

• Ellen Lannan b. 1861 (godparents: Patrick Power & Mary Brown) born at Tramore.

• Jane Lannen b. 1864  (godparents: James Fahey & Ellen Power) born at Tramore.

• David Lannen 1866–1933 (godparents: Martin Lyons & Honor Flynn) born at Tramore.

• Margaret Lannen b. 1869 (godparents: James Duggan & Margaret Whittle) was born at The Poor Houses (aka the Almshouses) Tramore. (In the RC parish record, her mother's surname was misrecorded as Catherine Foley. However, the civil record confirms the mother Sheehan). The civil record also confirms her father, William Lannen was a laborer and could not write (signing "X his mark" on the record). Margaret emigrated to York, England.

• Catherine 'Kate' Lannan (dau. of William & Catherine Lannen, Tramore) married John Kelly of Tramore in 1877.

• Brigid Lannen witnessed the above marriage of Catherine in 1877. She married William Morrissey in 1894 (the civil record confirming she was the daughter of William).

• Mary Lennan aka Lannen, daughter of William Lannen & Kate Sheehan of Patrick Street, Tramore, applied for a pension in 1916. The 1851 Census was searched (to confirm her age) but the family was not found. (The poorhouse census may not have been searched). According to her obituary, Miss Mary Lennon was a member of a well-known Tramore family. She was the daughter of the late Mr. William Lennon, sister of Miss Margaret Lennon, Tramore, late of York, and aunt of Mr. John Lennon, of the Granville Hotel. [Waterford Standard - 25 November 1933]

In 1878, William LANNEN, labourer died at The Almshouses, Tramore survived by his wife Catherine Lannon who was present at his death. He had been suffering from heart disease (morbus cordis) and dropsy (edema – swelling caused by fluid retention) for two months.