The Connemara was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1881. The case involved a dispute between the owners of the Connemara, a British vessel, and the owners of the steamship City of New York, an American vessel. The Connemara had been damaged by the City of New York while the two vessels were in the port of New York. The owners of the Connemara sued the owners of the City of New York for damages. The Supreme Court held that the owners of the Connemara were entitled to damages for the damage caused by the City of New York. The Court held that the owners of the City of New York were liable for the damage caused to the Connemara, even though the damage was caused by the negligence of the City of New York's crew. The Court also held that the owners of the Connemara were entitled to damages for the loss of the vessel's cargo, which was caused by the negligence of the City of New York's crew. The Court's decision in The Connemara established the principle that a vessel's owners are liable for the negligence of its crew, even if the negligence occurs in a foreign port. This principle has been applied in numerous cases since The Connemara, and is still an important part of maritime law today.

In The Connemara, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties for the sale of goods could be enforced when it had been made without consideration. Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in which he argued that contracts should not be held invalid simply because they are lacking in consideration. He reasoned that if such contracts were found unenforceable, then many transactions would become impossible and commerce would suffer greatly as a result. Furthermore, he noted that courts have long recognized certain types of agreements even though there is no exchange of money or property involved; thus, it seemed unfair to deny enforcement merely on this basis alone. In conclusion, Justice Field believed that since both parties had agreed to enter into an arrangement with each other and had acted upon their agreement in good faith, then it should be upheld by the court regardless of any lack of consideration present at its formation.