Her father was Edward Condon, one of the Manchester Martyrs -- a group of Irish rebels (the Irish Republican Brotherhood aka the Fenians). In September of 1867, members of the group surrounded a police van and rescued the Irish prisoners inside. Over twenty men were rounded up and five, who were considered the ringleaders, were charged with murder. Edward Condon was one of the five. The men were found guilty and ordered executed, but Condon was a naturalized American citizen so the American legation presented an appeal on his behalf and his sentence was commuted to life in prison. He was released after serving eleven years of his sentence. He died in 1918.
