In Limerick, the Minihan family had a close relationship to the Keane family, but we didn't know exactly what the connection was. When Annie Tuite married John Minihan, a Julia Tuite served as witness. And when Daniel Tuite married Annie Lee, a Charles Keane served as witness. This was the only lead we had.
We have now discovered that Edward Tuite had a sister named Julia born around 1848 in Dublin. She married William Keane in 1869 in Limerick City. Based on the 1901 census, they had at least 6 children - Julia, Charles, Mary Ellen, Catherine, Harriet, and Elizabeth. At one time, they lived at 18 Roxboro Road. By the 1911 census, it appears that Julia (Tuite) Keane had passed away.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Minihan + Timlin
At the age of sixteen Anthony “Tony” Timlin left his family’s farm to be a bus driver in Sligo. He was transferred to Limerick by the bus company and arrived there on April Fools’ Day, 1935. When he arrived he needed a place to stay, and found lodging at the home of John Minihan and Annie Tuite. He soon fell for their daughter, Harriet, and they were married in September of the same year.
Tony and Harriet had three children. Their first son Cyril, was born in 1936 at his maternal grandparents’ home at 31 Roxboro Road (also spelled Roxborough). Anne, according to her older brother was delivered at Barrington’s Hospital on December 20, 1937, and weighed in at a whopping 14 pounds. She shared this birthday with her mother. Anne, however, claimed that she was born at her grandparents’ home like Cyril. It is believed that Tony and Harriet’s third child, Desmond, born February 24, 1945, was adopted. His birth certificate lists Tony and Harriet as his parents, but Cyril believes that he was the son of an unwed mother. The local Catholic priest, Father Rice, was a great friend of Harriet’s, and may have arranged the paperwork.
The family lived at 41 Pearse Avenue in a neighborhood of Limerick called Janesboro. The house was built as part of a government housing scheme in the 1940s. Harriet’s brother, Charlie, and sister, Zeta Flanagan lived nearby with their families. The houses in Janesboro were made of poured concrete and lacked insulation. On damp and rainy days, water would penetrate the roof and form a waterfall down the inside walls. It was a close-knit community in which everyone knew their neighbors, and often invited one another into their homes to chat. In those days most of the family and their friends smoked; the kitchen where everyone gathered was, as Cyril describes, like a “London fog.” As kids, they were surrounded by habitual smokers.
Harriet was very entrepreneurial. In Limerick, she ran a grocery store from the house, and later began baking and selling sought-after confectioneries. On one occasion the circus came to town and she rented the whole house to them. When Tony came home, he had no place to sleep.
Cyril started school at the Presentation Convent, and moved on to the Christian Brothers School at which all subjects were taught in Gaelic. He later transferred to the Jesuits College, where the spoken word was English. His last day of school was in July of 1949, just prior to his fourteenth birthday. Anne also started out in the Presentation Convent. After her first day at school she declared that she was never going back because “the nuns had no legs.” Later, she attended Miss Linihan’s School of Etiquette.
After World War II, the Limerick economy was largely neglected and the city and county became characterized by extremely high emigration and unemployment. With the exception of Shannon Airport and a few related businesses and a few clothing factories, Limerick had no industry. The economy was based on farming and services, fueled significantly by remittances from the extensive diaspora. A few of the many who left became successful abroad, including the actor Richard Harris, the BBC presenter Terry Wogan, and the school teacher turned memoirist, Frank McCourt.
Tony and Cyril emigrated to the United States on July 6, 1953 on the HMS Mauritania. The trip took about seven days. Cyril had a reaction to the smallpox vaccination, and spent most of the trip in the ship’s hospital. When they arrived, the temperature in New York was 106 degrees; the hottest temperature they had been subjected to in Ireland was a balmy 78 degrees. They quickly had to lose their heavy woolen clothes and neckties. Tony’s brother, John Timlin, who had emigrated in 1930 to Scranton, Pennsylvania met them at the dock. At that time, John was a partner in three bars in Manhattan.
Harriet and the other two children arrived at the Port of New York on July 10, 1954 on the M.V. Britannic. According to the ship lists, after arriving in New York, the family lived at 2805 Creston Avenue in the Bronx. This may have been Helen Timlin’s apartment. After landing in New York, Harriet decided that she wanted to bring the rest of Limerick to America, and even though the apartment on Creston Ave only had one bedroom, they always had someone from Limerick living with them. Cyril’s bed was the living room couch. By 1958 they moved to a three-bedroom apartment at 2856 Grand Concourse. Harriet was a great party hostess, and every Saturday night the songs of old Ireland came alive in their primarily Jewish neighborhood.
Tony worked in several jobs upon arriving to New York, including a fast food hamburger restaurant and an auto parts store. Eventually, he secured a job driving buses with the New York City Transit Authority. On June 15, 1953, the New York State Legislature created the New York City Transit Authority (now MTA New York City Transit) as a separate public corporation to manage and operate all city-owned bus, trolley, and subway routes. Before that time, private companies operated the bus and trolley routes.
In 1959 Tony was offered a job as a part-time superintendent of an apartment building at 1000 Anderson Avenue in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium. He continued to drive the city bus, and Cyril helped him with his superintendent responsibilities. After a short period of time he became less enamored with the position and decided to look for other accommodations. He decided to take an apartment around the Fordham Road area from the son of a bus driver whom he had worked with in Ireland. After a few months of living in the two-family house, Harriet went back to the Concourse to look for an apartment, and they ended up moving back to 2856 Grand Concourse. A roundtrip all within the course of 1 year!
In the mid 1960s Cyril moved to Samsondale in West Haverstraw, New York, and Harriet and Tony followed shortly after. Samsondale was named after the ship Samson, upon which Elisha Peck brought machinery from England in 1830 to establish a rolling mill. The firm produced sheet iron, wire, screws as well as sulphuric acid and other chemicals. Later cannonballs and armament were manufactured for the Union army. Tony and Harriet lived around the corner from Cyril, Rose, and their toddler son Michael. Sean Flanagan lived in the same subdivision with his wife, Eileen, and their four children. In early 1966, Anne moved from New York City to Samsondale to live with her parents. Tony continued driving buses in New York City, and Harriet worked at the Helen Hayes Hospital, possibly as a cook.
Harriet and Tony liked to go on vacation in the Catskill Mountains to a place called East Durham, which was a primarily Irish resort area. East Durham has countryside resembling the green hills of Ireland, and was nicknamed “The Emerald Isle of the Catskills.” The Irish American Heritage Museum is located there. At the time that Tony and Harriet vacationed there, it had motels, large rooming houses, and many pubs.
Harriet suffered from many ailments, including breast cancer. She died on May 3, 1972 at Good Samaritan Hospital Hospital. When Anne was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1999, she was extremely afraid of suffering like her mother.
In the mid 1970s, Tony married Margaret Haggarty [not sure about the surname], and they moved to Tucson in 1981. Anne and her family had been living there for about three years by that time. They lived in an apartment complex near their house, and Anne’s kids would often ride their bikes over to visit. Margaret died about two weeks before Tony moved to the house next door to Anne’s at 7350 Kenyon Drive in 1983. Anne enjoyed having her father so close, and the kids enjoyed having a sanctuary to run to when they misbehaved at home. Cyril and his family visited Tucson regularly, and for a few years his two sons, Robert and John, lived in Tucson to manage some property that Cyril purchased.
Tony died on March 20, 1988 at Tucson Medical Center in the presence of Anne and her daughter, Catherine. In his later years, he had suffered from colon cancer and side effects of diabetes. He is buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Haverstraw, New York with his wife Harriet, and grandson, Michael.
Tony and Harriet had three children. Their first son Cyril, was born in 1936 at his maternal grandparents’ home at 31 Roxboro Road (also spelled Roxborough). Anne, according to her older brother was delivered at Barrington’s Hospital on December 20, 1937, and weighed in at a whopping 14 pounds. She shared this birthday with her mother. Anne, however, claimed that she was born at her grandparents’ home like Cyril. It is believed that Tony and Harriet’s third child, Desmond, born February 24, 1945, was adopted. His birth certificate lists Tony and Harriet as his parents, but Cyril believes that he was the son of an unwed mother. The local Catholic priest, Father Rice, was a great friend of Harriet’s, and may have arranged the paperwork.
The family lived at 41 Pearse Avenue in a neighborhood of Limerick called Janesboro. The house was built as part of a government housing scheme in the 1940s. Harriet’s brother, Charlie, and sister, Zeta Flanagan lived nearby with their families. The houses in Janesboro were made of poured concrete and lacked insulation. On damp and rainy days, water would penetrate the roof and form a waterfall down the inside walls. It was a close-knit community in which everyone knew their neighbors, and often invited one another into their homes to chat. In those days most of the family and their friends smoked; the kitchen where everyone gathered was, as Cyril describes, like a “London fog.” As kids, they were surrounded by habitual smokers.
Harriet was very entrepreneurial. In Limerick, she ran a grocery store from the house, and later began baking and selling sought-after confectioneries. On one occasion the circus came to town and she rented the whole house to them. When Tony came home, he had no place to sleep.
Cyril started school at the Presentation Convent, and moved on to the Christian Brothers School at which all subjects were taught in Gaelic. He later transferred to the Jesuits College, where the spoken word was English. His last day of school was in July of 1949, just prior to his fourteenth birthday. Anne also started out in the Presentation Convent. After her first day at school she declared that she was never going back because “the nuns had no legs.” Later, she attended Miss Linihan’s School of Etiquette.
After World War II, the Limerick economy was largely neglected and the city and county became characterized by extremely high emigration and unemployment. With the exception of Shannon Airport and a few related businesses and a few clothing factories, Limerick had no industry. The economy was based on farming and services, fueled significantly by remittances from the extensive diaspora. A few of the many who left became successful abroad, including the actor Richard Harris, the BBC presenter Terry Wogan, and the school teacher turned memoirist, Frank McCourt.
Tony and Cyril emigrated to the United States on July 6, 1953 on the HMS Mauritania. The trip took about seven days. Cyril had a reaction to the smallpox vaccination, and spent most of the trip in the ship’s hospital. When they arrived, the temperature in New York was 106 degrees; the hottest temperature they had been subjected to in Ireland was a balmy 78 degrees. They quickly had to lose their heavy woolen clothes and neckties. Tony’s brother, John Timlin, who had emigrated in 1930 to Scranton, Pennsylvania met them at the dock. At that time, John was a partner in three bars in Manhattan.
Harriet and the other two children arrived at the Port of New York on July 10, 1954 on the M.V. Britannic. According to the ship lists, after arriving in New York, the family lived at 2805 Creston Avenue in the Bronx. This may have been Helen Timlin’s apartment. After landing in New York, Harriet decided that she wanted to bring the rest of Limerick to America, and even though the apartment on Creston Ave only had one bedroom, they always had someone from Limerick living with them. Cyril’s bed was the living room couch. By 1958 they moved to a three-bedroom apartment at 2856 Grand Concourse. Harriet was a great party hostess, and every Saturday night the songs of old Ireland came alive in their primarily Jewish neighborhood.
Tony worked in several jobs upon arriving to New York, including a fast food hamburger restaurant and an auto parts store. Eventually, he secured a job driving buses with the New York City Transit Authority. On June 15, 1953, the New York State Legislature created the New York City Transit Authority (now MTA New York City Transit) as a separate public corporation to manage and operate all city-owned bus, trolley, and subway routes. Before that time, private companies operated the bus and trolley routes.
In 1959 Tony was offered a job as a part-time superintendent of an apartment building at 1000 Anderson Avenue in the Bronx near Yankee Stadium. He continued to drive the city bus, and Cyril helped him with his superintendent responsibilities. After a short period of time he became less enamored with the position and decided to look for other accommodations. He decided to take an apartment around the Fordham Road area from the son of a bus driver whom he had worked with in Ireland. After a few months of living in the two-family house, Harriet went back to the Concourse to look for an apartment, and they ended up moving back to 2856 Grand Concourse. A roundtrip all within the course of 1 year!
In the mid 1960s Cyril moved to Samsondale in West Haverstraw, New York, and Harriet and Tony followed shortly after. Samsondale was named after the ship Samson, upon which Elisha Peck brought machinery from England in 1830 to establish a rolling mill. The firm produced sheet iron, wire, screws as well as sulphuric acid and other chemicals. Later cannonballs and armament were manufactured for the Union army. Tony and Harriet lived around the corner from Cyril, Rose, and their toddler son Michael. Sean Flanagan lived in the same subdivision with his wife, Eileen, and their four children. In early 1966, Anne moved from New York City to Samsondale to live with her parents. Tony continued driving buses in New York City, and Harriet worked at the Helen Hayes Hospital, possibly as a cook.
Harriet and Tony liked to go on vacation in the Catskill Mountains to a place called East Durham, which was a primarily Irish resort area. East Durham has countryside resembling the green hills of Ireland, and was nicknamed “The Emerald Isle of the Catskills.” The Irish American Heritage Museum is located there. At the time that Tony and Harriet vacationed there, it had motels, large rooming houses, and many pubs.
Harriet suffered from many ailments, including breast cancer. She died on May 3, 1972 at Good Samaritan Hospital Hospital. When Anne was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1999, she was extremely afraid of suffering like her mother.
In the mid 1970s, Tony married Margaret Haggarty [not sure about the surname], and they moved to Tucson in 1981. Anne and her family had been living there for about three years by that time. They lived in an apartment complex near their house, and Anne’s kids would often ride their bikes over to visit. Margaret died about two weeks before Tony moved to the house next door to Anne’s at 7350 Kenyon Drive in 1983. Anne enjoyed having her father so close, and the kids enjoyed having a sanctuary to run to when they misbehaved at home. Cyril and his family visited Tucson regularly, and for a few years his two sons, Robert and John, lived in Tucson to manage some property that Cyril purchased.
Tony died on March 20, 1988 at Tucson Medical Center in the presence of Anne and her daughter, Catherine. In his later years, he had suffered from colon cancer and side effects of diabetes. He is buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Haverstraw, New York with his wife Harriet, and grandson, Michael.
Melody + Timlin
The Melody and the Timlin families lived in the parish of Attymass in County Mayo, Ireland. Catherine Melody was born in the town of Corradrishy around 1877 to Patrick Melody and Margaret Quinn. Patrick and Margaret were married c. 1864 and had nine children, of which only six were still alive in 1911 – Michael, Patrick, Anne, Margaret, Peter, and Catherine. Only Catherine and Peter were living with their parents during both the 1901 and 1911 national censuses. The Melodys were farmers and spoke both English and Gaelic (designated as the “Irish” language in the census). Patrick stated in the census report that he could read but not write, and that Margaret was completely illiterate.
Corradrishy (also referred to as Curradrish) is located about 1 mile south of the village of Drumscoba, the location of the Timlin farm. Catherine married Anthony Timlin (b. 1871) on November 28, 1907. Both married quite late for that era – Catherine was about 30 and Anthony 35 according to the 1911 census. Anthony’s parents, John Timlin and Bridget Dowd (also listed as O’Dowd), were farmers, spoke English and Gaelic, and were illiterate. They had nine children, of which only six were still living in 1911. Anthony may have been the youngest son, given that Catherine and he settled in the house with his parents and began raising their children there. As of 1901, his older brother, Thomas, and younger sister, Ellen, were also living on the family farm.
Nine days after Catherine and Anthony were, on December 7, 1907, their younger siblings, Ellen Timlin and Peter Melody, also were married. By the 1911 census, they had 3 children – Margaret (c. 1908), Patrick (c. 1909), and John (c. 1911). They were living with Peter’s parents.
Until the late 1800s, the majority of land in Ireland was owned by the English or by families with strong ties with England and rented out to tenant farmers. This was the case for the parish of Attymass. As of 1838, Corradrishy was the property of Lord Arran of London. The land was let to 40 occupying tenants at will at the yearly rent of from 21s. to 25s. per acre (the equivalent of about US$125 to US$150 in 2008) . Farming consisted mainly of oats, potatoes and flax. From the Moy and the Owenboy rivers, residents had access to salmon, trout and eel. During the same period, Colonel Vesey of Dublin owned the townland of Drumscoba. The land was let to 12 occupying tenants at will who paid rent to a middleman, Mr. William Lindsay of Tuam. The rent of the whole 208-acre estate amounted to £18 per year (the equivalent of about US$2,100 in 2008). Farming was primarily oats and potatoes.
Attymass was hit particularly hard by the Great Famine of 1845-1849 because it was an entirely rural parish whose population was comprised largely of subsistence farmers who depended on the potato for survival. Records show a massive decease in population due to death and emigration. In 1841 there were 651 houses and a population of 3,435; this had deceased to 464 houses, population 2,431 by 1851. In fact, the parish was the first in Ireland to report deaths directly due to the famine when, in November 1846, a priest wrote to the local justice of the peace informing him that four people had died from hunger in Attymass. The potato was the crop of choice because it provided a much greater yield per acre than any grain. Consequently, the majority of the parish relied almost entirely on the potato for sustenance. The income from any other crops that could be grown and any surplus of potatoes went to pay rent to the landlords and to pay taxes. Compounding the suffering of the population, many landlords evicted tenants who were unable to pay their rents and demolished their homes. To escape this situation, many families in the area emigrated to the United States – primarily to Scranton, Pennsylvania. The fact that the Timlin and Melody families survived this extremely difficult period is a testament to perseverance.
It is also understandable that the Attymass population would have negative feelings towards the English landowners. According to a story told by Anthony and Catherine’s son, Anthony, during the Irish War of Independence – a guerrilla war mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) from 1919 to 1921 – the family helped to sneak IRA soldiers over the Ox Mountains. The IRA that fought in this conflict is often referred to as the Old IRA to distinguish it from later organizations that used the same name.
Anthony and Catherine raised eight children in Drumscoba – John, Mary Ellen “Helen”, Anthony, Annie Mae, Patrick, Thomas, Margaret, and James. All of Anthony and Catherine’s children, with the exception of the youngest, Jim, left the farm as soon as they could. John went to England in 1923 to work on a farm, and then emigrated to Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1930 to join his sister Helen. According to the 1930 census of Scranton, Helen arrived in the United States in 1927 and was working as a maid. It is possible that a couple of her paternal aunts were living there. Upon arriving in Scranton, John worked in the coalmines. Helen decided to move to New York, John followed her, and subsequently fell in love with her roommate.
John joined the U.S. Army in January 1941 for one year of involuntary service, but ended up spending five years in the service. John served in Panama (the government thought the canal might be a target of the Japanese). He also went to England and landed at Normandy , and served in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany (the “battle of the bulge” or Ardennes Forrest as it is stated on his discharge papers).
Anthony left the farm in 1928 to work as a bus driver in Sligo. He later moved to Limerick and then to the United States. Margaret moved to England where she married Richard Keating in 1958 in Hampstead, Middlesex, and had two daughters – Helen and Tracey. Annie Mae moved to England and may have had a son with Downs Syndrome. Patrick moved to England before World War II .
Until 1934 when the “new” house was built, the Timlin family lived in a one-room, stone cottage. Although it is difficult to imagine, they often brought some animals inside at night too. Jim lived on the farm his whole life, and had never traveled more than 10 miles from home. He made his way around town on a scooter.
Anthony died February 10, 1953 and Catherine died November 13, 1964. It seems that they are the only Timlins buried in the Bonnifinglas Cemetery. In 2002, a local resident undertook a careful and exhaustive survey of the cemetery. Her work included the mapping and numbering of the graves and the recording of inscriptions. She published the inventory in a book called “Bonnifinglas Cemetery Burial Records 1776 – 2002.” There are a number of graves that could not be identified so it's still possible that other members of the family are buried there.
Ownership of the farm was transferred to Jim in 1966. It is not clear if this is when ownership of the land was finally given to the Timlin family or if there was just a delay in signing over the deeds to him after his mother’s death in 1964. When Jim died in 2003, the farm was auctioned. According to the land records, parts of the farm were also located in the towns of Bonnifinglas (also spelled Bunnafinglas) and Carrowkeribly. The farm was divided into pieces and sold for various uses. One part was sold to a nearby quarry due to its sand content. A field near the river was purchase by a veterinarian named Armstrong who breeds horses. He bought it because of its access to water and electricity service. Micheal Gurling, a German, purchased the house and the area behind it for his son. They planned to renovate the house. Another field behind the house had been given to Jim by a man named Jimmy Dowd because Jim had looked after him in his old age. Jim, in turn, gave it to John Garrett, a nephew of Jimmy Dowd, for looking after him during the last two years of his life. Finally, Jim was a part owner of a commonage shared by eight families (Timlin, Garrett, Gilboy, Sullivan, Ginty, O’Donnell, Dowd, and Kelly). Seamus O’Donnell bought Jim’s share, in addition to some land near the house.
Tuite + Minihan
Annie Tuite was introduced to John Minihan, a friend of the Hayes family, in Limerick. It was believed that he was born outside of Limerick County (perhaps in Sixmilebridge, County Clare or Patrickswell) and was transferred to Limerick City as a conductor for the railroad. However, on the 1901 and 1911 censuses, he lists his birthplace as Limerick County. Sixmilebridge is near the Limerick-Clare border. As of 1901, John Minihan was living with Annie and her uncle, Thomas Tuite, at 31 Roxboro Road and listed his profession as “railway clerk.” On the children’s’ birth records, John lists his occupation as railway ticket collector. At any rate, John definitely worked for the railroad and may have moved among types of positions. It is likely that he met Annie’s uncle through his work and became a boarder at his house.
Little is known about John’s family. The search for his roots is complicated by the fact that the spelling of his surname is not consistent. In the 1901 census, he is listed as Minahan, but on his marriage certificate in 1901 and on the 1911 census he is listed as Moynahan. One theory was that when Annie and John’s first child was born, the midwife made a mistake and put down Minihan. In those days it wasn’t possible to correct the error, so John decided to give all the children the same last name. This theory, however, doesn’t explain why he would have spelled the name as Minahan on the 1901 census. The prayer cards for John and Annie that were prepared after their deaths also use the Minahan spelling.
On their wedding record, John stated that his father, also named John, was a soldier and deceased. There was a John Minihan who served in the 9th Regiment of Foot who died in Limerick City in April 1885 at the age of 50. His death record states that he was married and receiving a pension at the time of his death from cardiac disease. Documentation linking this John Minihan to the family has yet to be found. If he is John’s father, he would have been 43 at the time of his birth. Perhaps he married late due to his service in the military or perhaps John was the youngest of many siblings. There is a John Minihan listed in the Mount St. Lawrence Cemetery for March 1885 whose age was recorded as 45. This may be the same John Minihan. A request has been made to the National Archives in Great Britain for his military records. Because he was receiving a pension for his military service, the records might include information about his wife and children.
The 9th Regiment of Foot was an infantry line regiment of the British Army from 1751 to 1881. It became the Norfolk Regiment following the Army reforms of 1881. The regiment saw action at Kabul in the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839 to 1842), and in the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845 and 1846) they fought with exceptional valour at the Battle of Mudki, Battle of Ferozeshah and the Battle of Sobraon. In the Crimean War (1853-1856), the regiment fought at the Siege of Sevastopol. In 1857 the regiment landed at Yokohama as part of the British intervention there in the 1860s. The battalion saw action on the North-West Frontier in 1877, and then in the Second Anglo-Afghan War fought at Kabul in 1879.
There is also a John Moynahan from Cohb, County Cork who served in the Navy. This John, however, died in 1918, and is therefore not likely related.
There is also a connection between John Minihan and McDermot’s Shop in Patrickswell, Limerick. According the 1901 census, a shopkeeper named John McDermot was living with his wife, Margaret, and two female servants. John was 34 and his wife’s age was listed as 55. Margaret died in 1904, and that same year, John remarried. His wife, named Mary, may have been one of the female servants. By 1911, they had 3 living children. There was some kind of family feud over the shop. One theory is that Margaret was John Minihan’s mother, and that she married this much younger man after her first husband passed. Perhaps the shop was from her family, and John McDermot inherited it upon her death. To date, no marriage certificate has been found that would definitely link John and Margaret McDermot to the Minihan family.
Annie and John had at least eight children – John (“the Dink”), Edward (Ned, also known as “the Tailor”), Mary (died as an infant), Thomas (Toddy), Margaret (Madge, also known as “Bucket Arse”), Harriet (“the Nagger”), Zeta (“the Black One”), and Gerard Charles (Charlie, also known as “the Conductor”). There is a sizeable gap in time between Harriet’s birth and those of Zeta and Charlie, so it is possible that the couple had other children who died in infancy. Unfortunately, birth records are only available for the period prior to 1911.
John married Kathleen Digby in Essex in 1931. Kathleen was born and raised in England, but her mother, Nora Condon, was originally from Cork. John worked at the train station in Bray, County Wicklow. Their first two children - Nora (1934) and Brian (1932) – were born there. He was later offered a job working and living at the railway house in Thurles. They had two more children there – Margaret (1943) and Peter (1948). All of their children, except Brian, moved to Santry in North Dublin in the 1960s and 1970s for jobs. Brian had already settled in Thurles, and continues to live there. They then moved onto South Dublin and lived at 43 Abbey Road. John, Kathleen, and Nora passed away in the house.
Ned was deaf and worked as a tailor, hence his nickname. He married a woman named Alice in Limerick in 1938. Thomas married Eileen Nelligan. They may have wed in 1949 in Limerick. Madge married Brian O’Flaherty in 1950 in Limerick. After Brian’s death in 1957, Madge moved to New York. She died in Dublin in 1981. Harriet married Anthony Timlin in 1935. They had three children in Limerick and moved to New York in the mid-1950s. Zeta married Jim Flanagan and had three children.
Charlie married Joan Noonan in Limerick in 1940. They moved to New York in the late 1950s with their six children. Charlie, who had worked as Tony Timlin’s conductor (fare handler) on the buses in Limerick, obtained a job working at one of the New York airports after arriving to New York. The noise of the airport eventually resulted in his severe hearing loss. He later became a superintendent for a building at 4 Park Avenue in Manhattan. After Joan passed away, Madge moved in with Charlie to help raise the children. He later married Bridie Dooley from County Claire, and had three more children.
During the 1940s and early 1950s, Harriet, Zeta and Charlie’s families all lived near each other in the Janesboro neighborhood of Limerick. It was a new housing scheme built by the government a couple miles south of the family home at 31 Roxboro Road. Zeta and James moved to the neighborhood first, and lived at 13 O’Donoghue Avenue. Harriet and Anthony moved to 41 Pearse Avenue and Charlie and Joan moved to 43 Clarke Avenue. From at least 1940 to 1950, Edward and Alice lived at 34 Roxboro Road. Madge lived with her parents until at least 1950.
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