William and Cecilia O'Neill Property

The O’Neill Property has been designated a Registered Heritage Structure because it has historical, cultural and environmental values.

The O’Neill Property is historically valuable because it is associated with the history of this part of the French Treaty Shore, from occupation by French migratory fishers to the arrival of the Irish settlers. The community was established as a French migratory fishing station after the 17th century. It was a major site of the French Shore fishing activities until 1904, when the French relinquished their treaty rights. Just prior to this the settlement of Irish immigrants was prevalent in Conche. The O’Neill family have direct Irish links and Henry O’Neill, the house builder’s grandfather, was Irish-born. His marriage to a Casey daughter gained him what became the O’Neill Property and the nearby Casey Store is another designated heritage structure.

The O’Neill Property has cultural value because the house is one of the only remaining older buildings in Conche which still retains its associated outbuildings, namely a stable and store. The property is a rare example of the typical late 19th and early 20th century Irish-Newfoundland family residence in Conche, a long standing and major centre of the French migratory fishery. The integration of work and family life are evident in the layout of the buildings and the uses to which they were put.

The O’Neill Property has environmental value because it is located directly on the edge of the ocean. It abuts the salt water in a sheltered cove, on fairly level land. It is bounded roughly by natural features of the landscape and is a testament to the rigors and harsh conditions early settlers would have lived in. Traditional footpaths are still evident on the site and the use of natural features, such as the nearby brook and well, are visible and still being used.