Patrick McCarron

My great great grandfather was Patrick McCarron, son of Michael McCarron. Though I have no documentation for his place of birth, there is much evidence that points to the townland of Nurchossy, parish of Clogher, County Tyrone. The writer William Carleton was a native of Clogher parish and a contemporary of my Patrick and Michael. Carleton's stories were about life in Clogher at the time my ancestors lived there. Patrick left Ireland during An Gorta Mór around 1847. Many of the emigrants from the Clogher Valley came to Providence, Rhode Island, as did Patrick. In 1850 Patrick married Alice Hynes who came from the neighboring townland of Ballyscally, Clogher. Their marriage at Sts. Peter and Paul basilica was recorded by fellow Irish immigrant, Fr. Patrick Mallon. In 1857 they moved from Providence to Bloomington, Illinois where they raised their six children. Patrick died in 1870 in a train accident. Four moths later, Alice died during one of the coldest winters ever recorded in Bloomington. Their children erected a tombstone for their parents in St. Mary's Cemetery. At that time they spelled the name McKarron but the standard spelling these days is McCarron. When Patrick died the local newspaper spelled the name McKern and that is what our family now goes by.