Conran, John

Conran, John an Irish minister of the Society of Friends, was born in Dublin in 1739. He was brought up in the Established Church, and received a good education, his father being a man of means. He was placed as an apprentice to learn the linen trade at Lisburn. For a time he was inclined to be somewhat dissipated, but when, at the age of thirty-three, he was brought under the ministry of Robert Willis, of America, then on a religious visit to Ireland, the result was his conversion and uniting with the Friends. In 1780 he began, in a quiet way, to speak in public, and was recognized as a minister. At that time there was prevailing a spirit of unbelief in the north of Ireland. Socinianism was spreading. John Conran contended valiantly for what he believed was "the faith once delivered unto the saints." His ministerial work, for many years, was carried on chiefly in Ireland. When nearly eighty years of age he united in a religious visit to all the families of Friends in Dublin, in which he was greatly blessed. His death, which was sudden, took place at the house of a friend, with whom he resided, at Moyallen, June 14, 1827. See Piety Promoted, 4:298-303. (J.C.S.)