John Lennon & Ireland

John Lennon and his Irish roots. John Lennon’s family roots trace back to Ireland, through the Lennon family. It has always been written, in countless books and websites that his great grandfather was also John Lennon, and was from Dublin, Ireland. It has been written several times that he married Elizabeth Morris around 1850 and had two sons, one of them John (called “Jack”), born in County Fermanagh, Dublin, in Northern Ireland. However, a website called “John Lennon’s Family Tree” has debunked this; the original researcher grabbed the birth certificate for the wrong John Lennon, and the Lennon roots as previously published is incorrect. This researcher, M.F. Byron, cites Irish records, and Liverpool’s census reports, marriage and birth records. According to actual documents, it is now accepted that John Winston Lennon's great grandfather was actually James Lennon, (b: 1829, County Down, Ireland.) His father was Patrick Lennon, a farmer. James Lennon moved to Liverpool as a young man, and married an Irish girl, Jane McConville (b.1831 Ireland) in St. Anthony's Chapel, Scotland Road, Liverpool on the 29th April, 1849. (cited source: GRO/NA = General Records Office/National Archives.) By the census of 1861 James Lennon and Jane had five children, including the John “Jack” we know to be John’s grandfather. James, now 30 years old, was a warehouseman/cooper. There is no evidence whatsoever that he became a member of the Kentucky Minstrels and went to the United States at any time. His family tree can be viewed here. John Lennon’s mother Julia Stanley is also ¼ Irish. Her father, George Stanley has long British roots on his paternal side, but his mother, Eliza JaneGildea was born in 1849 in County Tyrone, Ireland. Julia’s mother, Annie Jane Millward was 100% Welsh. John Lennon first discovered his Irish roots in a manuscript his estranged father Freddie Lennon had written regarding the Lennon family history. It was sent to John in 1976 just after Freddie died. John was raised by his mother’s Welsh family, the Stanleys, so he knewnothing of his Irish Lennon family until this time. He embraced his history once he discovered it, and from then on considered himself more Irish than English. He looked up the name “Lennon” in the book “Irish Families, Their Names, Arms and Origins” by E. MacLysaght in 1974 and found the name “(O)Lennon”. He quoted its passages on his “Walls & Bridges” album. The sentence, “No person of the name Lennon has distinguished himself in the political, military or cultural life of Ireland (or England for that matter)” was followed up with John’s handwritten quip, “Oh yeh?” Since that little embarrassment the book has been updated as follows: “John Lennon, an outstanding member of the Beatles group, assassinated in 1980, has become well known outside Ireland not only as a talented musician but also for his connection with the Peace Movement.” After the Beatles’ break-up, John wrote the songs “Luck of the Irish,” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday” in the protest of the way the British government was treating the Irish people. (“Sometime in New York City”, September, 72) According to www.Irishsurnames.com, “The name Lennon in Ireland is derived from a number of native Gaelic O’Leannain septs that were located in counties Cork, Fermanagh and Galway where the majority of descendants can still be found.” In years past, Julian Lennon’s website discussed the symbolism of the Lennon family crest, which implies the family’s inherent spiritual credo. In ancient Celtic legend the stag implies a family of ancient Irish stock who are community leaders, most often spiritual guides or priests. The “browsing” stag shows a relaxed chieftaincy content in its power, and the white sky denotes purity. The Gaelic meaning of O’Lennain is “love,” ironic considering the message of love that John Lennon delivered to the world through his music with the Beatles as well as a solo artist. As a spiritual pied piper for the world, he gave us songs such as “All You Need is Love”, “The Word”, “Real Love”, and “Imagine.”