James Cronin was the first member of his family to leave his native Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland before the Great Irish Famine of 1845. Cronin, along with his wife would travel to Boston, Massachusetts in June of 1842 and settle in the towns of Groton and nearby Harvard where he worked as a laborer and soapstone worker in the neighboring quarry. By 1854 the Cronin's relocated west to Wisconsin settling in Maple Grove, Manitowoc County where he purchased land and began farming. Here, he and his wife Johanna raised their family of ten children. James Cronin sought a better life in America not only for himself but for his children as well. This then is the narrative of the life and times of James Cronin.