Conn Coat of Arms

The above coat of arms, that might have been transcribed by a GGG Grandson of the Rev. Hugh Conn, is said to be authentic by Dr. Rudolph Krutar. Motto: tenebo (I will hold). The version is identical to the O’Driscoll arms appearing on a monument to an Irish king who was slain in AD 1014. A modern rendition of the arms is shown. The authenticity of these arms does not call into doubt the authenticity of the Conne arms (three rabbits), which may well have been King Conn’s banner and is claimed as the arms of the Conns of Bourbon County, Kentucky.

Three families are known to have carried the same banner: McIth of County Kerry, McConn of Counties Donegal and Derry, and O’Driscoll of County Cork. These are successive names for the same family from Luy Maccon, a co-founder of the Milesian dynasty that held Ireland for some 2,800 years.

The McConn banner is just what it is. The motto: Dun an oir (The bright fort). The MacDonnell banner is shown simply due to a like ancient galley on the shield. The ancient galley is also representative of the clan and family heraldry of Scotland.

As far as our line of Conns (Hugh) is concerned, there is no doubt that the modern line came from Scotland. Considering that all Scots came from Ireland to begin with, the above ancient connection is feasible as the line seems to have moved from the south of Ireland to the north and on to Scotland. Though there is no proof of a relationship to Hugh Conn, Presbyterian minister of Magilligan, Ireland, who was educated at Glasgow, Scotland, a Thomas Conn is on a list of servitors of Sir Thomas Phillips 1611-16. He came from Kirkcudbrightshire in southern Scotland and the servitors are located in Aghauloo and Magilligan, Ireland. There is a Thomas Conn born about 1620, and a John Conn born about 1640-45 who is on the muster rolls of Limavady for 1666. Hugh Conn born about 1685 may very well be a descendant of Thomas.

For the Conns,
Gerald Tudor