ABSTRACT
Mary was born near Bandon, a market town near the south coast of Ireland, in 1898. She spent her childhood living on a substantial farm, which her parents worked. There she stayed throughout her early years, working both on the farm and in the household. As was common at the time, Mary did not ever engage in paid work outside the home. She was a young woman of 22 during the Irish Civil War and indeed participated in the struggle for national independence. She was a member of Cumann na mBan, which was the women’s wing of the Republican revolutionary movement. She married her husband, John, in 1926 and moved to the farm he had recently bought nearby. John, my grandfather had more experience of the world, having lived and worked in Boston, USA, for twelve years. He had been away from Ireland during the independence struggle and hence had no political involvement. It seems that he felt quite superior to his neighbours and friends because of his experience of America. His savoir faire and his wife’s enterprising spirit accorded the family high status in the community. This relative sophistication earned him the nickname ‘Old By Gosh’, because this was an American phrase he often used. My grandmother’s identity was forged very much within the context of the family she came from and the new one she formed. Mary lived a simple life in newly independent Ireland. Women of my grandmother’s class worked extremely hard, both on the farm and in the home. Her social life would have been very limited, relying on the weekly trip to Mass and visiting other people’s homes. She gave birth to seven children, which would have been slightly below average for that time, with no child mortalities, which were very common. Her husband died prematurely of cancer in 1951. Her youngest son took over the running of the farm and, when he got married in 1960, he sold the home place and bought a new farm about sixteen kilometres away. Mary went to live with him and his wife, where she stayed until her death in 1994. She spent her twilight years very happily there, where she was very much treasured. She had a very important role in rearing her son’s children also, and was always at hand when needed. She died at the age of 96 and is fondly remembered by us all.
