People – Page 2 – Annaghdown Heritage Society

Video: Thatching in Cloonboo, with Marika Leen

Evelyn Stevens talks to Dutch thatcher Marika Leen about the art of thatching and how she came to learn the trade. Filmed in Cloonboo, Annaghdown, Co. Galway in summer 2020, at the thatched cottage of Pete Smith and Evelyn Stevens. An initiative of the Annaghdown Heritage Society. Labhraíonn Evelyn Stevens leis an tuídóir Ollainnis, Marika Leen, faoi chéird na tuíodóireachta agus an bealach a d’fhoghlaim sí an céird. Taifeadta i gCluain Bú, Eanach Dhúin, Co. na Gaillimhe, i samhradh 2020, ag teach ceann tuí Pete Smith agus Evelyn Stevens. Tionscnamh de chuid Cumann Oidhreachta Eanach Dhúin.

Máirtín Moylan, 1898-1923

Máirtín Moylan was born on the 10th of November 1898 to Thomas and Honor Moylan, (née Burke from Ardgaineen) of Farmerstown. His father died in January 1899 leaving his mother to rear the family by herself. Could it be from here, looking at his mother’s strong will and determination that Máirtín found the resilience to see his cause through to the end in his later life? Honor may have needed time to get herself on her feet after her husband’s death, and on the 31st of March 1901, Máirtín is to be found in the census records listed in the house of his grandparents, Michael and Ellen Burke (née Boyle from Carrowbrowne) of Ardgaineen. How long he remained with his grandparents is not known but sending children to live with relatives was not an uncommon practice at the time to help with rearing the family. He was not to remain in Ardgaineen indefinitely and in time returned to his beloved Farmerstown.

A Tale of the Mill House

They used to dine upstairs at the Mill House, in a large room facing the road, with a cabinet in the corner which contained the finest bone china and polished silverware. There was a mahogany table in the centre of the room, and the lady of the house would often rap its surface with her knuckles and emphasise it was solid mahogany and proceed to give an account of the local doctor offering twenty pounds when he had occasion to visit the house. if they were prepared to sell it. However, even though twenty pounds was a substantial sum of money in the early part of the century, on no account would the table be sold, for at the time, corn mills throughout the country were flourishing and the owners were financially secure, so there was neither the need nor the desire to part with such a magnificent piece of woodwork.

Séamus Uasal Ó hOisín (1936-2019)

Ba chúis mhór bhróin dúinn bás ár gcara Séamus Uasal Ó hOisín, Rinn na hAirne, Eanach Dhúin, ar an 14 Nollaig 2019. Déanaimid comhbhrón lena bhean Máire, a chlann agus gaolta.
Fear stuama, léannta, macánta ba ea Séamus; cara den scoth; fíor-Ghaelach le meas mór aige inár dteanga dhúchais, i gceol is damhsa Gaelacha, inár oidhreacht agus sa dúlra máguaird, ach thar gach rud eile i ndaoine idir clann agus comharsain. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

Visit to Old Irish Home: Kavanaghs of Gortroe, 1908

Omaha Daily Bee, August 1908: More than fifty-eight years after they left their old home in Ireland, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Cavanagh, 5056 North Twenty-fourth street, will visit it again. They will leave about August 31 on the long journey to the scenes of their childhood. “I don’t expect we’ll see a soul we know,” said Mr. Cavanagh. “All of them are gone by this time, though it’s quite possible I’ll run across some of the boys I used to play with about the quay and wharfs of old Galway, for the people over there are not great to leave their homes and where they are born they generally stay like a tree rooted in the ground. “Of course, the city will be changed. There’ll be tram cars and electric lights and all kinds of modern improvements that we knew naught about when my wife and I left there in the ’50s. And there’ll be steam cars runnning all over the dear old isle and steamships spouting smoke in the harbor where I knew naught but sailing vessels.

The Coen Family

July 2018 marked the coming together of the Coen family of Anbally for the first time in many years, when the descendants of John Coen and Sarah Spelman gathered at Cloonacauneen Castle. John Coen was born in Anbally in March 1838 to Edward Coen and Mary Glynn. In 1876, he married Sarah Spelman of Cahernahoon, who was born in 1850 to John Spelman and Catherine Fahy (Twomileditch). Their family were as follows.

The 1918-19 Flu Epidemic in Annaghdown

It is just over one hundred years since the influenza pandemic, commonly known as the Spanish Flu, swept through Ireland and infected one fifth of the population. The death registers for Turloughmore and Headford registration districts indicate that there were at least 25 deaths due to influenza in the Annaghdown area, between September 1918 and May 1919. The first victim recorded is Martin Nally (57) of Tonamace, who died on 22 September 1918. The disease is known to have affected younger individuals more severely, and this is to be seen in the fatalities in Annaghdown, with 17 of those who died aged under 40 years.

Charlie Forde – Annaghdown D-Day War Hero

Charlie Forde, born in Lisheenanoran, emigrated to Brooklyn in 1927. Joined the US army during WW2 and took part in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. His company were specially selected to spearhead the whole attack. He was one the first off the boats that morning and died there at Omaha Beach.

Cahermorris/Glenrevagh Group Water Scheme

I was born on 4th July 1923 and was second in a family of 6. My parents, Patrick and Mary Greaney lived at Cahermorris Cross where our house was used as the local dispensary and subsequently became known as Cahermorris Dispensary. When I was a child, Doctor Golding of Headford was the local district doctor and attended each Thursday from 11a.m. till 1p.m. until his retirement. He was replaced by Dr. Maguire who was the last doctor to attend there prior to the dispensary’s closure. At the time most houses would have had to get their water from local streams or would have had collection tanks. The nearest local well at the time was in Kilcoona. It was practice at the time to have a clean water source in close proximity to a dispensary for patients who were attending.

Interview with Tommy Shaughnessy

At a time in our history when the recurring theme is one of doom and gloom a chat with Tommy Shaughnessy is an antidote to the woes that people in our country are currently experiencing. Although Tommy has lived through the founding of our state and the poverty that ravaged our country in his own early childhood and which was an ever present feature of our country until the years of the ‘Celtic Tiger’, his optimism is infectious. In Tommy’s life there was no wallowing in self-pity. People accepted the realities that life presented and tried to make the best of what were often difficult circumstances. Indeed Tommy’s early childhood and again his later life were visited by trying time, which he relates with stoic acceptance. A constant companion throughout his life appears to be a quiet belief in the Almighty, though this is never overstated coupled with a commitment to family. His longevity he attributes not so much to hard work but more to the satisfaction derived from the completion of work, which undoubtedly was often arduous and tiresome. He still sows a garden and only recently planted cabbage plants for spring consumption.