Michael Haran : Short Biography

Michael was born in 1874 in Kilconduff/Swinford, the third known child of local farmer and labourer Michael Haran and his wife Mary King. Nothing else is known of Michael until he was married aged 22 in England to Ellen Costello, whose parents were both Irish. Michael and Ellen lived in Stockton-on-Tees and then Hartlepool, and Michael worked as an ironworks labourer in Stockton and then later a steelworks labourer for South Durham Steel & Ironworks in West Hartlepool. He had one son (also called Michael!) and four daughters, who all stayed in Hartlepool. The family eventually settled on Alice Street in the Longhill area of Hartlepool, known as "Wagga" by locals, a very marshy area with badly built houses for industrial workers, many of whom were Irish, and also travelling families. The area was known for its lack of paths and proper drainage or lighting, and much of it was demolished in the 1930s. By the 1939 Register Michael was 65 and described as "incapacitated", and the next year he died. His children Michael and Elizabeth and their families commemorated him in the local newspaper in 1941 on the first anniversary of his death. 

Michael had three siblings: Bridget who stayed in Kilconduff her whole life and died in 1933, and Martin and James who have so far been untraceable. Michael's parents both stayed in Kilconduff too.