CLONGEEN

Foreword

The Clongeen harpurs have proved to be the most elusive and difficult family tree for me to build up notwithstanding the amount of information available. They appear to have been a merchant family in the Wexford town area dealing in seeds and hardware. Wealth and position started with Francis Harpur, a Lloyds underwriter involved in shipping and trading. He was mayor of Wexford on three occasions. His nephew Thomas was also mayor of Wexford and is reputed to have danced with queen Victoria. The majority of his decendents married well but premature deaths and ill health contributed to the decline in the family fortunes. A substantial volume of work still remains to finalise this chapter.