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.