He
was admitted a solicitor in 1897 and was one of the best known member of the legal
profession in Northern Ireland. He was a Nationalist member of Derry
Corporation from 1903 to 1915. He had been the City Coroner for Derry for the
last fifteen years. A practical farmer, he figured in recent years as one of
the most successful cattle breeders in Donegal, where his father, who preceded
him a few months ago, was for many years a prominent agriculturist. He was
chairman of the board of directors of the "Derry Journal" Limited. He
was unmarried. He died at his residence, Newtowncunningham,
Co. Donegal on the 10th June 1936. The Most Rev. Dr. McNeely, Bishop of Raphoe, many representatives of the legal profession, and a
large attendance of the general public attended the requiem mass in the All
Saints Church, Newtowncunningham. Burial took place
in the graveyard near the church.
Ref:
Jun
13, 1936 Irish Times
Jun
20, 1936 Irish Times
Family
1876
Landowners in Ireland (over 1 acre)
John
Tracy, Newtownconningham, Donegal. 34a/2r/12p.
£46.5.0
18 February 1890
Freeman's Journal
...John Tracy, of Netowncunningham in Donegal, in respect to income upon
property, but was discharged on evidence that the ownership was esotinr Mr. Tracy; ...
Civil Service Evidence of Age
Minnie Treacy, b. 1882, Donegal, Ireland
2 June 1908 London Gazette
Prison Service, Ireland: Assistant Matron, Minnie Treacy
1909 (326) Government Departments (Ireland).- General Prison Board
Minnie Treacy, 27 years, 1 year 2 months service, Assistant Matron [Cork?]
September 1889 Student Medals
Junior Grade...Third Class Prizes (in books)...Jeanie Tracy, Newtowncunningham, Londonderry...
John Tracy & Mary Jane Horgan
An Jane Tracy b. 12 Sep 1873 Sp. Michael Martin P.P. & Jane Horgan All Saints Parish (Ann Jane Tracey b. 9 September 1873 LDS)
John Tracy/Tracey & Mary Jane Horgan/Hargan
John b. 8 August 1874 (LDS)
Mary b. 11 December 1875 (LDS)
1901
Census
John Tracy, 46, M, 10 Raphoe North (Barony), Newtowncunningham, Donegal, Farmer and Publican, Roman Catholic, Head of Family, Married, Co Fermanagh
Mary Jane Tracy, 45, F, Raphoe North (Barony), Newtowncunningham, Donegal, Roman Catholic, Wife, Married, Co Fermanagh
Jennie Tracy, 26, F, Raphoe North (Barony), Newtowncunningham, Donegal, Roman Catholic, Daughter, Not Married, Co Donegal
John Tracy, 25, M, Raphoe North (Barony), Newtowncunningham, Donegal, Solicitor, Roman Catholic, Son, Not Married, Co Donegal
Mary Tracy, 23, F, Raphoe North (Barony), Newtowncunningham, Donegal, Roman Catholic, Daughter, Not Married, Co Donegal
1911
Census
John Tracy, 60, M, 11 Newtown Cunningham Town, Newtown Cunningham, Donegal (Farmer & Merchant, b. Fermanagh)
Mary Jane Tracy, 58, F, Newtown Cunningham Town, Newtown Cunningham, Donegal (married 40 years, 3 children, b. Fermanagh)
John Tracy, 35, M, Newtown Cunningham Town, Newtown Cunningham, Donegal (Single, Solicitor)
Jennie Tracy, 34, F, Newtown Cunningham Town, Newtown Cunningham, Donegal (Single)
Minnie Tracy, 34, F, Newtown Cunningham Town, Newtown Cunningham, Donegal (Single)
Tracy (Newtowncunningham) April 14, 1925 at Newtowncunningham, Co. Donegal, Mrs. Mary J. Tracy. R.I.P. Funeral tomorrow (Thursday) at 11 o'clock, for Requiem Mass. Interment afterwards.
September
1929 - Miss Jennie Tracy,
whose death took place yesterday [27th] at her residence, Newtowncunningham,
Co. Donegal, was a sister of Mr. John Tracy, City Coroner, Derry.
She was highly esteemed and popular in the district, and for years identified
herself with every charitable project. She was a lady of much culture, and a gifted
musician.
John Tracy of Newtowncunningham
county Donegal solicitor died 10 June 1936 Probate Belfast 18 June to Mary Tracy spinster. Effects £3523 13s.
11d.
Newtowncunningham Graveyard
Anthony Duffy died February 1872
Jane Duffy died February 1848 aged 70
Anthony Duffy died May 1847 aged 74
Ann Duffy died August 1872
Mary Duffy died March 1872
Mary Jane Tracy died April 1925 aged 71
John Tracy died March 1936
his daughter Jennie Tracy died September 1929
his son John Tracy, solicitor, died 19 June 1936
http://irishgraveyards.ie/plot.php?plotno=8&yardid=131§ion=B
Newspaper and
Other References
1890
Hansard Parliamentary Debates
IRELAND—THE SURVEYOR OF INCOME TAX AT DERRY.
HC Deb 17 February 1890 vol
341 cc426-7 426
§ MR. ARTHUR O'CONNOR (Donegal, E.)
I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that a warrant was lately issued by the surveyor of Income Tax at Londonderry against Mr. John Tracy, of Newtown Cunningham, in Donegal, in respect of Income Tax upon property, but was discharged on evidence that the ownership was not in Mr. Tracy; whether it is a fact that during the discussion the Surveyor asked Mr. Tracy, "Why did you get your name in for a vote on another person's property;" and if he will explain how an electoral franchise concerns the Surveyor of Taxes as such?
An assesment having been made on Mr. Tracy in respect of a holding for which he was rated as owner and occupier, Mr. Tracy explained that he was not the owner. The Surveyor of Income Tax then asked Mr. Tracy whether he was rated for the purposes of obtaining a vote, in order to 427 as certain how his name appeared in the Rate Book when the property was not this,
June
1897 Incorporated Law Society of Ireland
Final examination of Apprentices...John
Tracy, junior...
July
1897 New Solicitors
On Wednesday, 29th inst, before the Right
Honourable the Master of the Rolls, Mr. John Tracy, son of Mr. John Tracy, Newtowncunningham, County Donegal, was admitted a solicitor
of her Majesty's Supreme Court of Judicature in Ireland. Mr. Tracy served his
apprenticeship with Mr. James Toland, solicitor,
Londonderry, and intends practising in that city.
30
July 1897 Freeman's Journal
...Mr John Tracy son of Mr John Tracy, Newtowncunningham, county Donegal, was admitted a
solicitor, of her Majesty's Supreme Court of ...
1897
The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal
Mr. John Tracy, son of Mr. John Tracy, Newtowncunningham, County Donegal, has been admitted a
solicitor of Her Majesty's Supreme Court of Justicature
in Ireland. Me Tracy served his apprenticeship with Mr. James Toland, Solicitor, Londonderry, and intends practising in
that city.
Jan
16, 1903 (IT) Londonderry
...In the West Ward the candidates were
William M'Cool and W.J. M'Nulty
(retiring Councillors and League nominees) and John Tracy (Independent
Nationalist). Tracy headed the poll, receiving 462 against 417 for M'Cool and 365 for M'Nulty.
Jun
14, 1905 (IT) North Donegal Coronership
...appoint a coroner for North Donegal...five
candidates...Mr. John Tracy, solicitor, Londonderry...
1905
Kelly's Directory
John Tracy, jun. 'Newtowncunningham,
Londonderry
John Tracy, solicitor, Northern Bank
Buildings, Shipquay Place
Oct
10, 1910 (IT) Amusing Incident in a revision Court
Londonderry...Mr. John Tracy, who appeared
for the Nationalists, said there were about 200 witnesses in Court who had not
yet beeb examined in reference to their claims to the
franchise. He handed in a list of the names of these witnesses, and he applied
to His Honor to hear them...Mr. Maxwell said he could
not comply with Mr. Tracy's application...
John Tracy, solicitor, Custom house street
Londonderry 4y: John Tracy, Solicitor,
Northern Bank Buildings
12
December 1914 (FJ) 350 National Volunteers join from Belfast & Derry.
Send-off from Dublin [to Fermoy]...Mr.
John Treacey, accompanied the [250] Volunteers from
Derry. Practically all the Volunteers in Derry who have enlisted are members of
the A.O.H.
Jan
9, 1915 (SS)
Over 75 men of the Derry Irish National
Volunteers...for Fermoy [training encampment]...Mr.
John Tracy, solicitor to see the men off...
1918 Post Office
Dublin Directory and Calendar
John Tracy, Solicitor, 1 College-street; and Londonderry, (T. 1897)
July
1920 - By 20 to 17 for Mr.
J.P. Thompson, J.P., deputy coroner, Derry Corporation appointed Mr. J. Tracy, solr., as
city coroner.
Oct
14, 1920 (FJ)
At Derry, Mr John Tracy, city coroner, fined juriors who failed to attend his court, £5 each.
Jan
2, 1921 (FJ) Derry Registration Appeal
...Mr. John Tracy, for the Nationalists...
Jul
28, 1920 (IT) Londonderry Coronership
...seconded the appointment
of Mr. J.P. Thompson, JP (U.), acting Coroner and an ex-Mayor of the city. Alderman R. Doherty (N.) proposed and
Alderman Charles Bradley (S.F.) seconded the appointed of Mr. John Tracy (N.)
solicitor. On a vote, Mr. Tracy was appointed by 20 votes to 17.
Mar
4, 1921 (FJ) Law Notices
Consolidated Taxing Office...Londonderry N.2
RD Council to Tracy, J. Tracy;...
Dec
8, 1921 (FJ) Derry Revision Sessions
At the Derry Revision Sessions, Mr. John
Tracey, Nationalist solicitor, questioned the validity of 4000 Unionist
objections...[delivered late]
Dec 8, 1921 (FJ) Revision Court Incident.
National Solicitor's Experience with Police in Derry
...Special Constables, those on duty carrying
revolvers. At one stage, Mr. Tracy, the Nationalist Solicitor, left the Court,
but was unable to reach his destination, the office of
the Clerk of the Crown and Peace...At the Sessions Mr. Tracy questioned the
validity of 4000 objections lodged by the Unionists...
Jan
14, 1922 (FJ) New District Council
...Derry No. 2 Rural District Council was
attached to Letterkenny...The Killea
Board of Guardians...Mr John Tracy temporary solicitor...Unionist have a
majority will make an effort to get into the Northern Parliament.
May
8, 1922 (FJ) Inquest
...Mr. John Tracey, City Coroner in Derry...
2
Nov 1922-4 Apr 1925 North-Eastern Boundary Bureau - Legal agent: John Tracy
Correspondence between EM
Stephens, Secretary of the North Eastern Boundary Bureau (NEBB) and John Tracy,
NEBB legal agent, Londonderry, concerning the compilation of a brief in
response to questions furnished by NEBB on Derry City and District. Correspondence about
gerrymandering in constituencies; treatment of minorities in Northern Ireland;
bill of costs and representations to be furnished to Boundary Commission also
included. NAI NEBB/1/8/42
Dec
18, 1922 (IT) Northern Ireland
Officials Salaries Increased...Derry...Mr.
Tracy, City Coroner, £25.
Dec
20, 1922 (IT) Northern Ireland
Derry Officials Salaries...an extra £25 a
year to Mr. John Tracy, City Coroner, was rejected.
Dec
23, 1922 (IT) Derry Officials Salaries Increased
...were granted...Mr Tracy, Coroner, £25.
30
December 1922 (NG) Poteen Traffic
Mr John Tracey, coroner, Derry...
31August 1923 & 23 March 1934 Belfast
Gazette
John Tracy, Solicitor, 26 Corn Market, Belfast;
and Northern Bank Chambers, Londonderry
[1923]
Typescript copy will (not
certified) of Mary McNally was 'Spinster and Spirit Retailer', Argyle Street,
Londonderry, dated 30 November 1908, copied by John Tracy, Solicitor. After
main bequests, mentioning five pounds for Mass intentions. 2 pp
Papers
of John Hagan, Irish College Rome (1904-1930)
Apr 1923-Aug 1926 Post-Truce (Damage to
Property (Compensation) Act 1923) compensation files: County Donegal
John Tracy, Newtown Cunningham, County Donegal.
Scope and Content Damage to
police barracks at the Moyle, Newtown Cunningham by armed forces between 25
March 1922 and June 1922.
Reference:
FIN/COMP/2/5/772 Department of Finance
Jan 2, 1924 (FJ)
The annual
meeting of the members of the Derry District of the Newspaper Press Fund was
held in Derry...Mr. John Tracy, Derry, was appointed hon. solicitor.
Oct 22, 1924 (FJ) Border Opinion
Derry
City's position as affected by the Boundary Commission was discussed at a meeting
of Tirconail County Council in Lifford
yesterday. A letter was read from Mr. John Tracey, solicitor, Derry...He was,
he added, still acting for their Council in the demand that Derry should be
returned to the county...Mr Tracey was appointed by
the County Council in December 1922 but there was no remuneration...Mr. Tracey
was one of a deputation from Derry looking after the interests of the
Nationalists of Derry who were desirous of entering the Free State...
Oct 22, 1924 (IT)
Donegal's Fate
At Co. Donegal County Council meeting yesterday, a letter was read from Mr James Treacy, Derry, satating that in view of information he had received, he
considered there was not even a possibility of any part of Donegal, being
transferred to the Northern area, and in these circumstances the Committee he
had asked the Council to appoint would be unnesessary.
He added that he was still acting for the Council in the demand that Derry
should be included in the county.
May 20, 1925 (IT)
Boundary Commission
...Londonderry...The principal evidence was given by Mr. John Tracy,
solicitor for the Nationalists...
Dec 22, 1924 (IT)
...Boundary Commissioners...a representative part of Derry Nationalists
led by Mr. John Tracet, solicitor...
25
October 1924 (NG)
The inquest at Derry...Coroner, Mr John
Tracy...
Feb 14, 1925 (IT) Donegal Train Smash
...Mr. John
Tracey for the Derry and Lough Swilly
Railway Company...
Oct
13, 1925 (IT) Derry Sessions Surprise
...Mr. John Tracy, solicitor, who attended on
behalf of the Nationalist Registration Association, said that he is likely to
be the last Nationalist representation to appear at Revision Sessions in
Derry...as the farcical pretence was being kept up that Derry City will be
transferred to the Free State...the agents demanded to have their insurance
books stamped up to date so as to ensure that when out of work they would
receive benefit...
Apr
22, 1929 (IT) Irish in Donegal Court
A Solicitor's Protest. An unavailing protest against the use of
Irish by a litigant was made by Mr. John Tracy, solicitor in Newtowncunningham District Court...told her story to
District Justice Walsh in Irish. Mr Tracy said that she could speak english as well as he could. The
Justice - It is too late in the day to raise that question. She is quite
entitled to use the national language if she desires. Mr. Tracy asked the
witness a question and she was replying in English when the Justice addressed
her in Irish and she reverted to Gaelic...
4
May 1929 (NG) (SS) More Compulsion
At Baile Nua an Mhaoil
District Court, Mr. John Tracy, a Doire solicitor
protested against a litigant speaking Irish. Mr. Justice Breathnach
told Mr. Tracy that it was too late in the day to make such objections.
Disgusted Mr. Tracy sat down and listed the court testament to while the "drochuair" reading, but horrible to relate, found that
the testament was in Irish too.
16 May 1930 Belfast Gazette
John Tracy, Solicitor, 14 Donegall
Street, Belfast; and Londonderry
1932 The Municipal Yearbook and Public
Utilities Directory (Page
687)
Londonderry Coroner: John Tracey.
Jun
11, 1936 Belfast Newsletter
Obituary: Mr. John Tracy
Solicitor who was coroner of Londonderry
Mr John Tracy, solicitor, and coroner of
Londonderry for 15 years, died at his home in Newtowncunningham,
yesterday. He was aged about 60 and was unmarried. Admitted a solicitor in
1897, he began his professional career in partnership with the late Mr James
Toner, Clerk of the Crown and Peace for Tyrone, on whose appointment to that
position the partnership was dissolved. He was one of the old school of Nationalists and from 1903 till 1915 was a
Nationalist member of Derry Corporation. During that time he took an active
part in revision work. At the time of the Boundary Commission he acted for the
Nationalists in an advisory capacity. He was one of the most successful cattle
breeders in Donegal. Mr Tracy was chairman of the Board of Directors of
"The Derry Journal" Ltd and was honorary solicitor to the local
branch of the Newspaper Press Fund. In sport, he was a keen follower of
Association football and he was president of St. Johnston Cricket Club.
Jun
11, 1936 The Irish Times
Obituary: Mr. John Tracy
The death occurred at his residence, Newtowncunningham, County Donegal, last night of Mr. John
Tracy, solicitor, who had been City Coroner for Derry for the past fifteen years, Aged about sixty, and unmarried, he
was admitted a solicitor in 1897, and was one of the best-known members of the
legal profession in the North of Ireland. He was a Nationalist member of the
Derry Corporation from 1903 to 1915. A practical farmer, he figured in recent
years as one of the most successful cattle breeders in Donegal, where his
father, who predeceased him a few months ago, was for many years a prominent
agriculturist. He was chairman of the board of directors of the "Derry
Journal" Ltd.
18 December 1936 & 28 April 1944 Belfast
Gazette
Tracy & Logue, Solicitors, 26 Corn Market,
Belfast; and Northern Bank Chambers, Londonderry
1937/9 The Schools Collection
A Mass Rock
In the corner
of a very big field on the farm of Miss Tracy, Newtowncunningham, stands a
large stone, and all the people around this district say that, during the Penal
times, priests said Mass at it. On top of the stone there is the shape of a
cross cut out, and on each side of the big stone there are two small stones.
You would know by looking at it that it is very old for it is all covered with
moss. The field in which it is gets its name it; it is called "The
Standing Stone".
The people
of the district say that the person who takes it down will never have a day's
luck afterwards. Some old people go to pray at it in the summer time.
Austin
Cullen, Plaister, Newtowncunningham,
Co. Donegal
http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4493744/4415875
Last
update: 16 November 2022