Charles O'Neill Conroy

Charles O'Neill Conroy was a twentieth century Canadian solicitor of Irish descent.

He was born in Dublin in 1871 to James Gervé Conroy and Elizabeth O'Neill, who was the only daughter of Charles Henry (Cáthal Ainrí) Ó Néill, The O'Neill of Clannaboy. He was brought to St. John's, Newfoundland by his parents at 18 months, where his father became a teacher, lawyer, judge, founder of the Irish Catholic newspaper the "St. John's Advertiser" and advocate of formal political ties between Ireland and Newfoundland.

He was educated in St. John's and in London, where he rented a room from Mary, the widow of Dr. Weathers, who was the brother of William Weathers, Bishop of Amyclaw. After returning to Newfoundland, he proposed to Mary's daughter, also Mary, and she and her mother moved to St. John's. He educated William J. Higgins, who would later be his law partner, Speaker of the Newfoundland House of Assembly and a judge.

Conroy worked as a solicitor for the City of Saint John's, and while in that role he launched a writ against the government of Newfoundland to secure funding for the city during the Great Depression. He was Grand Knight of the Knights of Colombus and launched a successful but non-punative libel lawsuit against a citizen who had been misled by the "orange" element, and was circulating lies regarding the nature of the organisation and a supposed oath, so that future repetitions of the malicious rumours could be prosecuted. He was also Lieutenant-Colonel and commanding officer of the Newfoundland Catholic Cadet Corps. Several pictures survive of him in the Newfoundland archives. He was an avid photographer and salmon fisherman himself, and many of his photographs survive in the Nefwoundland Quarterly Journal, particularly of the salmon rivers of Newfoundland. There is a pool named Chas. O'Neill Conroy's Pool after him in the Salmonier River.

An only son, he lived at Raheen at 50 Bonaventure Avenue, and left a large family, with several sons and grandsons serving the executive of the Benevolent Irish Society of St. John's.

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