John Carron

Who was John Carron?

John Carron was a nationalist politician in Northern Ireland.

Carron was born in Kinawley, County Fermanagh in 1909. He became a farmer and a publican before becoming a founder member and Vice-Chairman of the Irish Anti-Partition League in Lisnaskea in May 1946. He was elected to Lisnaskea Rural District Council and also became the Chairman of the Enniskillen Fisheries Board.

At the Northern Ireland general election, 1949, Carron unsuccessfully stood for the Nationalist Party in Lisnaskea. He next stood for South Fermanagh in 1965, this time successfully, holding the seat until the abolition of the Parliament of Northern Ireland at Stormont in 1972. In 1969, he was appointed Opposition Spokesman on Community Relations. He was invited to join the Social Democratic and Labour Party on its formation, but chose to remain a Nationalist Party member.

Frank Maguire, Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, was a nephew of John Carron and, as a young man, worked in his uncle's pub.Sinn Féin activist Owen Carron was another of Carron's nephews.