Our CRONEN name originates in the green and beautiful island of Ireland, a land of many lakes, rivers, old castles and abbys. It is a land of saints and legends. The coastline is jagged and irregular with many bays and inlets extending so deeply into the interior of the land, making no point in the entire country more than 60 miles from the sea or some bay of the sea. The mild climate is almost never hot in summer, nor very cold in winter. It is damp with considerable year-round rainfall and a great many fogs. The size and population of Ireland is about the same as the state of Indiana.
Our name was originally spelled CRONIN and is one of the most numerous surnames in Ireland. Years ago, CRONIN was prefixed with O' and was spelled O'CROININ. Later it was spelled O'CRONIN. In Ireland in the year 1659, O'CRONIN was recorded as a principal name in County Limerick (barony of Connello) and County Kerry (barony of Magunihy) as well as in two baronies of County Cork. The surname CRONIN is derived from the word cron, meaning saffron (orange-yellow) colored. A leading family of O'CRONIN were trustees or managers of a church near Gougane Barra. CRONEEN was another common spelling of the name. CRONAN is another variation. The CRONIN clan is supposed to have descended from a third century Irish King named Lughaidh Laide.
The CRONIN's are very prevalent in the county of Cork and several placenames show this fact, for example, Liscroneen and Ballycroneen. The CRONIN's were the owners of property in West Cork near the town of Clonakilty.
It is not known why our immigrant ancestor changed the spelling to CRONEN, but there were various reasons why immigrants changed the spelling of their name. Upon entering the United States, the immigrant would have an accent and the immigration clerk would write their name down the way it sounded, then the immigrant would continue to use this spelling. Sometimes the immigrant would not be able to read or write and this would result in a change of the spelling. Some even "americanized" their name by changing the spelling while others wanted to distinguish their family from other families with the same spelling.
Between 1846 and 1851, more than a million Irish men, women and children emigrated to the United States and Canada. This was due to a mysterious blight that hit the potato crop in Ireland in the years 1845 through 1848. A million people died of starvation and disease since the potato was Ireland's principal food.
The voyage crossing the ocean to America was not a pleasant experience for many of the immigrants. The ships were overcrowded and provided little or no privacy. Sickness and disease plagued the passengers and food was scarce. Whole families died before reaching their destination. Storms were always a threat. Fifty-nine immigrant ships to America were lost in the years 1847-1853.
Poor Irish immigrants, solidly Catholic, flooded into the Louisville, Kentucky area in the late 1840's and 50's. By 1850 there were 3105 Irish immigrants in Louisville. These immigrants were mostly tenant farmers, flocking to the city penniless, looking for any kind of work that was available. They were near the bottom of the white social ladder, the free blacks being at the bottom, with whom thay often competed with in the labor market. There was much fear and prejudice towards Irish Catholics during this period. They made up a large portion of the unskilled laborers working long hours for little pay.