James Conway (Count Conway) Biography

James Conway (Count Conway) Biography

James Conway (1st Count Conway), soldier, Son of Thomas Conway. Born in 1711 at Glenbeigh, Co. Kerry, he went to France in his youth and entered Clare's Irish regiment, in which he soon rose to the rank of captain and later to that of brigadier-general. He was known in France as the "patriarch of the fighting band of Kerryman on French soil." Related by marriage to the O'Connells of Derrynane, he was helpful to those members of his family who entered the French service.

He married Julieanne, daughter of Denis Mahoney of Dromore Castle, Co. Kerry, by whom he had two sons James (Viscount Conway) and Thomas (2nd Count Conway).

When this event took place is not known, but it must have been between 1736 and 1743, or earlier, as he had in 1767 two sons then holding Commissions in the French service.

He was known amongst his friends as "Old Colonel James," and a distinguished officer of the French Army. That he was quite a veteran in the French service is evident from a letter dated the 13th February, 1767, which he wrote to his relative Robert Fitzgerald, M. P. for Dingle, afterwards Knight of Kerry, in which he expresses his desire to obtain "a post as Commander of some of the Troops permanently stationed on the Coasts of France, to guard them, or else some similar employment of a quiet honorable kind which would afford a retreat from a more active life." He added that "this ought not to be difficult to obtain for a man who has served for 40 years past." From this we may gather that he probably left Ireland about 1727, and it is not wondered that after 40 years of active service, he should pine for a sphere of occupation entailing less strenous work. That his wish in this respect was gratified seems not improbable, as he lived for 20 years more, dying in Paris in 1787.

"Three Kerry Families" by S. T. McCarthy, page 47

"Biographical Dictionary of Irishmen in France" by Richard Hayes, pages 41-42