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BOOK TWO CHAPTER FIVE

MARY LOU (KEATING) HARTNETT (1936-1999)

Mary Lou Keating was born in Fall River, Massachusetts and she lived her life there except for her vacationing and her summer residence at her place on Deacon Road in Westport. She was deceased on Thursday, February 11, 1999 in Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River.

One of three children, she shared her early life with her brother, William F. Keating, and sister, Kathleen, and by all of her accounts, it was a very happy one. Her father, also William F. Keating, and her mother, Nora (Synnott) Keating were also natives of Fall River, and she had numerous relatives in the area. The grave of her fafoer and her mother is a short distance southerly from her grave.

She became an accomplished pianist, often playing extemporaneously at fetes of family and friends, occasionally without foe aid of sheet music. She grew to be a beautiful woman with a friendly demeanor, full of light-hearted laughter. She worked at foe New England Telephone Company as a telephone operator for much of her career, retiring with disability in 1988. Married to Richard Kieran Hartnett, they lived at 175 Garden Street in Fall River where Mary Lou had a succession of children, five in about four years, which included twins. The children were Kerry A. Richardson, nee Hartnett, James Kieran Hartnett, the twins Michael N. and Paul C. Hartnett, and Richard Bradford (Brad) Hartnett, in that order of age. Her husband, Richard K. Hartnett, had passed away after a heart seizure at their summer home on Deacon Road at Horseneck Beach in Westport in 1985.

A graduate of Durfee High School, she attended courses of study at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's earlier origins in Fall River. Much of her life centered around her children, their educations, her church, her music and her love for those summers at Horseneck Beach.

With her pleasing and outgoing personality, Mary Lou was always a favorite with all that she met, and she has left behind a plethora of friends and family, many of whom attended foe services held in her honor at foe Jeffrey Sullivan Funeral Home and the Holy Name Church. Her interment, alongside her husband, is at Saint Patrick's Cemetery in Fall River. I like to remember her as sitting at her grand piano in her home on Garden Street in Fall River, and playing foe music that she loved, and which was so much a part of her personality. I met with her with some regularity after the passing of her husband, my brother Richard, with whom I had worked for some thirty five years. It was a mutual agreement that Richard and I had made some time during the latter part of our working together for so long, that if one of us was unable, for some reason, to see our children complete their school efforts, the other would try to ensure that they were accomplished. With Mary Lou, and her tenacity toward the successful completion of college educations for her children, there was very little that I could add to her efforts, except encouragement. All went well because all of her children were blessed with drive and determination to be successful in each of their own lives, and in the way that they impacted upon the lives of all of those around them. That is still apparent in the way that each of them lives today. In a separate comment upon her family name, I have a note that a Baron Keating of Moorstown Castle in County Waterford used to be a "de Ke'tinge". Other information from other sources say that the Keatings were originally O'Ceadfhada or O'Ceathaigh.

RALPH GRANDFIELD The writing of Ralph Grandfield's story is best left to others, such as his children, and his wife, my sister, Rosemary Hartnett Grandfield Wilkie. Ralph was born in 1930 and he died in 1965. His life was too short for such a very nice person. He is interred in Saint Patrick's Cemetery, in a family plot for the Grandfields, which is located prominently facing Saint John's Way. Ralph was very special. It seemed that he was always cheerful and helpful. He is interred with others of his family, including his sister, Dorothy. Ralph's life was shortened due to some sort of a kidney problem, of which I know nothing. He spent some time in a Boston hospital, and was a recipient of an organ transplant in the early stages of foe transplant program, and that sustained him for a few years. I do not think that I could say all of the good thoughts that come to mind, when I think of him. Again, he was very special. JOSEPH HARTNETT, my uncle in Ireland

Joseph Hartnett was born in 1899 as foe youngest of seven children of Denis and Anne (Corcoran) Hartnett, probably at foe stone house at Knockbarron, just outside of foe town of Kinnitty in County Offaly in Ireland, for which they had recently obtained a lease for two lives. His mother, Anne, is supposed to have passed away about ten months after his delivery. His six brothers and his sister were Lawrence, (obviously a name selected in the Irish tradition of naming foe first after foe grandfather), Oswald, Michael, Kieran, Marie and Owen. The three oldest boys died, presumably of tuberculosis, as children. The disease was incurable at foe time and was often transmitted in foe milk of cows. It could, sometimes, be brought into remission. His son, Denis, once told me that foe one whom I have named as Michael was actually named "Denis". Most recently, the Census of 1911 has been posted on foe Internet, and it shows that Oswald Hartnett did not die as a small child. By 1911, Lawrence and Michael Hartnett were deceased, as they do not appear in foe Census, but Oswald does. In 1911, he was 17 years of age, and he is listed as a farmer's son. At that age, he was single, and educated so that he could read and write. He was born in County Westmeath, and his sister, Marie, was one year younger. Marie was also born in County Westmeafo. Keiran Hartnett (whose name is not spelled properly, was born in Queens County, which is now called County Laois, and he was 15 at foe time of the Census. All of those listed in foe family were said to be able to read and write, except Joseph Hartnett, at foe age of 11 who could not read, but was listed as a scholar. From Joseph's son, Denis, we know that Joe had tuberculosis at an early age, but I am not aware of its extent, the means of bringing it into remission or of its treatment. He must have lived at Knockbarron at '"Bernards Castle" in his early years, and it is logical to assume that he was attended by one or more of his aunts or great aunts, as his mother had passed on. As a young man, he was sent to live, in the company of his brother, Owen, at the Corcoran farm, which had about twenty Irish acres (about forty acres) in Killaun. The area was known locally as Cullaun, and it was several miles westerly from the Drumcullen/Kinnitty area. This sending of the children to live with elderly relatives was because the small farms in Ireland have difficulty supporting foe needs of large families, and foe children know, from their early years, that someday it will be necessary to leave their family farm to seek fortune and sustenance elsewhere. In this instance, their uncles, the Corcoran brothers had become elderly, and needed help in their farm work, and there may also have been a need for separation of foe two children who were exposed to tuberculosis, to separate them from others living at the leased property at Knockbarron. However, those are details that are only known to the people who were involved.

The Corcoran farm, at that time, was owned and operated by Joseph's uncles and, perhaps, aunts. However, I have heard only mention of the two Corcoran brothers, Dennis and Michael, living there at this time, and I must presume that foe aunts had all moved away. The Corcoran men had become elderly, and foe assistance of foe two young brothers was of help to them. While the farm may have been forty acres in size, the land was low, boggy and somewhat poor in quality, such that the crops were not substantial. Nonetheless, it was more than many people had. The boys worked there and visited back to Knockbarron, as opportunity afforded. The Corcoran farm was more remote from foe schoolhouse, so that schooling was probably available on a "catch as catch can" basis. Rural Irish teachers were sometimes of poor quality, but I cannot speak as to those of County Offaly at that time. Yet, some education was managed, but it was oriented toward farming, and in accordance with English law, toward foe English language only. No Irish was taught or spoken. I talked with Joe's wife, Josie (Josephine Ryan), about Owen's departure from Ireland. She recalled Joe telling her about a tearful meeting in their home with Denis, their father, when Owen left suddenly for his second stay at Roscrea, this time going "on the run". This left Joseph alone with the uncles at the Corcoran farm at Killaun just as he was reaching his majority. When his brother, Owen, migrated to America with his sister, Marie, Joseph remained at Killaun, and as his uncles passed away, Joseph became the sole occupant of the farm.

He lived there, alone for many years. When he was about in his mid fifties, he was introduced to a younger woman named Josephine Ryan. They became married and had five children, named in order of appearance, Christopher, Anne, Joseph, Kieran and Denis. The children were born and raised in their early years at Killaun, and my uncle Joseph wife, Josephine (Josie), recalled to me her many happy times there. Josie was hurt in a bicycling accident and she encountered some difficulties in mobility. The bicycle or foe ass and trap were often the means of transportation in rural Ireland, as cars were not plentiful. I remember one story told to me by my fafoer that a wireless (radio) was kept concealed under the hay in foe loft by one of his brothers so that a tax would not be levied upon it. Life was simple and agricultural, and World War II was a factor, even though Ireland stood independent of it, and often, did not support English thinking about it. Electricity came to the farm for foe first time around foe middle "forties", and it consisted of a single light bulb in the center of foe main room at its infancy. Letters were written to America, and by the time that things had improved here, World War II had ended. Parcels were packaged and shipped from our home in America to Ireland, as everything was very scarce there. Others can tell more about Uncle Joe's life at the Corcoran farm than I can. I know that he had mentioned to his small children that a leprechaun used to live down by the oak tree on Killaun Lane, which was kind of near to foe main road from foe old house. I also know that peat was brought from the old bog on Killaun Lane, and it was used to heat foe house.

From what I have been told, they lived a simple, but happy life. However, Joe's age was advancing and his children were small. Farming had become a burden to him, and his wife had lost much of her mobility. Joe's brother, Owen, had finally been able to return from America for a visit after forty five years, and his brother Kieran, who had lived in Knockbarron until forced to enter a nursing home, had recently passed on. Owen met with his brother, Joe. Many years earlier, Joe's nephew, Donald Hartnett, had made a visit to the family in Ireland. In any event, Owen made his return visit to Ireland about a month after his brother, Kieran, had died. The Knockbarron property where Kieran lived, sometimes called Bernard's Castle, had been owned by the Land Commission and had been leased to foe Hartnett family for what was apparently a two life estate, (called "for lives" which was often interpreted as being for 31 years) which ended with Kieran's demise, and that property had become idle. It reverted back to the Land Commission. The Corcoran farm, by Irish law was supposed to go to the oldest living son, or at least he has some claim to it. Owen was older than Joe. A deed to clear the title was needed. Owen agreed to forgo any claim to Kieran's estate, if any, and to give Joe a deed to the Corcoran farm without recompense, if Joe would set aside a sum of money to provide a dowry for Joe's daughter, Anne. Joe agreed to this and money was provided for Anne, and she may have used some of it for a subsequent visit to America. The deed was passed.

At that time, Joe had operated the farm for many years. In later life, when he could no longer run it, he decided to sell it, as foe children were too young to farm the property. In today's terms, it did not fetch a large price. It was purchased by the Welsh (or Walsh) family who were their neighbors on Killaun Lane and who are related to foe Hartnetts and the Corcorans several generations back. The land was probably in the Welsh family originally, as the first Corcoran to live there married a Wilyshe girl who owned the place, according to Willie Joe Boland ' Willie was the nearest thing that I have ever met to a Seanachie, as he knew all of the old stories, and I got an earful of them on one very interesting night.

Joe and his family moved to Crinkle, a small village on the outskirts of Birr, where he purchased the use of an old store there. He did not run the store, but instead, used the space for habitable quarters. I believe that these may have been temporary lodgings while the family was awaiting some assistance from the government toward better housing By this time, some of foe family may have married and moved into their own places. Chris had gone to England many years earlier, and young Joe had married, and lived in another part of Crinkle. Uncle Joe was now advancing toward or past eighty years of age. He had difficulty with an illness and was put into a hospital. It was when his legs failed him that his real difficulties were most apparent. He succumbed in hospital and he was buried in a cemetery in Rath, where he has since been joined by his son, Kieran, who was drowned in his mid thirties. A beautiful stone marks their grave at Rath and a video of foe site was recently forwarded by his son, Joseph, to us in America.

Joe in his prime, was about six feet tall. He weighed about two hundred and forty pounds and was quite strong His life was well spent as a farmer in the Irish Midlands. He was very well spoken of by those neighbors with whom I have conversed. He was much loved by his wife, Josie, and by his children. He was of pleasant appearance, and was very cordial and well-spoken when I met him for foe first time at Crinkle. He joked a lot and was very much in charge of every situation in which he found himself. He reminded me very much of my own father, his brother. Rath Cemetery, where he is interred, is a short distance northeasterly from Birr and is northerly from Killaun (sometimes spelled as Cullaun). It is at an intersection of roads. A church occupies one corner and a school is located across foe street from it. During my first visit to the site, foe flowers from Joe's funeral were, in part, still at the grave.

Joe was a Healer, and people visited with him from all parts of Ireland to be rid of a disease called The Shingles. The ability to heal has been in our family, perhaps for a thousand years, according to his son, Denis, who can attest to foe validity of his father's efforts. A few others in the family are aware of this, and their knowledge of foe ability to heal is supposed to be in their possession. Presently, Joe's son, Joseph, is the healer of the family, having taken over foe practice that was imparted from Joe to his wife, Josie, and now, to their son, Joe. Two others are supposed to have the power to heal in that manner, and they are Rosemary and myself. I have personally received testimony, in the presence of my daughter, Patricia, from a woman who stated that both she and her husband were healed by my aunt, Josephine. The ability to heal can be transferred only when a person is about to pass away, or it can be transferred to foe head of a family line when their parents are deceased, according to information given to me. At this time, upon Donald's demise, only Rosemary and I have any direct knowledge of this, and with Josie Hartnett having passed on, her son Joseph is active in it. My sister, Frances, has some knowledge from information that I have given to her, but she is not a healer.

In Ireland, there are certain families who are supposed to be able to heal certain afflictions of the body. Modern medicine has advanced such that it can perform wonders today. However, holistic medicine is still a force to be reckoned with, even in this modern world. I say no more.

In summary, Joseph Hartnett, my uncle, was a man of far greater stature than has been realized by many, except his immediate family. He was a very patriotic man, and like his two brothers, has served his country, and he has given much to his family through his example in life. He is missed by all of them. May he rest in peace, together with all of those great Irishmen who have preceded and followed him into everlasting life. I am sure that he lives with the angels in heaven.

THE LEPRECHAUN OF KILLAUN LANE

The family farm was located on Coillea'n (Killaun) Lane in the Irish Midlands in a County called Offaly. The county name had been changed by the British to King's County many years ago, but with Irish independence of the early 1920's, it was changed back to its earlier name. Great Uncle Joe told us about the Leprechaun that lived down at the bend in the boreen (road), near the oak tree. Nearby, the family peat bog has now been designated as a National Treasure because some plants in it are so special.

Joe used to see the Leprechaun from time to time. He used to have to peek behind the small hedge to catch a sight of him when he was working, repairing shoes for other Little People. The name, Leprechaun, means "One Shoe Maker" and the name comes from the way foe Little People dance, as they spin about on one foot, wearing out a single shoe or boot. The Leprechaun replaces the worn out shoe.

The little fellow dresses in green, wears an Alpine hat with a feather in it, and has pointed shoes. He's only a couple of spans high (about 18 inches) and he sings while he works. When he's around, his special music seems to always to follow him. If you hear its sound, look to see if he is near.

Everyone knows that each Leprechaun has a Pot of Gold that he has collected over the years, and that it is buried at foe end of foe rainbow. One way to get at it is to catch the Leprechaun while he is working, grabbing him by his beard and holding on to it tightly. Then, foe Leprechaun has to tell you where he has hid his money.

Once you have found him, don't take your eyes off him, even for an instant, or else, he'll be gone. All it takes is "Whssst" and he's out of sight. Then, you won't see him again.

Perhaps, some day, you will meet up with your lucky Leprechaun, and you may find your own Pot of Gold at foe end of your own rainbow.

LAWRENCE HARTNETT, my great grandfather

I know very little about him. I never met him. He was seldom discussed, because I don't know anyone that ever talked to him. However, he was one of the most important members of the Hartnett family line. We know that he was originally from County Limerick, but we don't know, for sure, at this time where it was that he lived, or even what his wife's name was. Donald had that part wrong in his records. I will try to set forth what I do know about him, and what information might be available when someone decides to look for it. Our family name is supposed to have been changed from O'Hartnett to Hartnett because one of our forbears wanted to join foe Royal Irish Constabulary (R.I.C.). That was told to me by my fafoer, and we can accept that as a fact. However, we also know that our original name was not O'Hartnett, as that is only the English version (or interpretation) of our family name. I have researched the records of those who are supposed to know the meanings and foe origins of these family clan names, for that is what our name represents. Until very recently, I have followed along with foe information contained in O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees as to the location of the name within Ireland, and its spelling. More recently, I have determined from my own research, that there was no one in Irish history that I could find with the surname of "Neada". this was supposed to be foe second half of our surname. The first half of it is, without any doubt, "hAirt" in Irish, which means that foe owner of foe name was a "noble" in Irish society. The meaning of the name, which is an Irish idiom, is "Battle Bear" or alternately, either that or "Battle Stone" as set forth by a second genealogist of lesser capability than the first one.

These students of old Irish names are correct in the pronunciation of the family name, and also in the meaning of it, but they are both mistaken in the spelling of it. The second half of foe name, in Irish, is not "Neada", but instead it is "Neide", and both words are pronounced identically the same. The word in Irish and in English for our family name is pronounced as Hartnett, and the O' prefix signifies that the person is the son or grandson of another with foe same name. Our family name, in Irish is O' hAirtneide. There are actually four "fadas" (or ') in foe name, and not just foe single one shown here. This was first pointed out to foe Hartnett family in Ireland by a school teacher, familiar with the Irish language who was educated in the area where foe name comes from. While grandfather came from Limerick, the name actually originates from an area called foe Plains of Kerry, where the chiefs were of foe clan named "Neide". There was an "O" prefix to the name, also.

Lawrence Hartnett was the first of our Hartnett family line to join the Crown Forces. In foe second or third decade of foe 1800's, foe English government decided, at foe recommendation of Robert Peel, to employ Irishmen as policemen to enforce their English laws in Ireland against foe Irish. They would be entered into foe British Army, and part of them would remain in Ireland as troopers, trained in military warfare, but used as policemen against their own people. Later, they would be seen as the arm of the English law in Ireland when they enforced foe removal of enough wheat during the Irish famine to feed a million people while a million Irish starved to death. They were regularly required to enforce evictions from Irish cottages when, during the fifty years that followed foe Great Famine, called foe time of the Clearances, so many more than those who suffered through the Famine were forced to leave their homes, their land and their country. Worst of all, they were called "Peelers", a name that came from foe personage of Robert Peel, who "founded" their organization. The name became quite apt, as they became the means for foe English and Anglo-Irish landowners, many of whom were absentee landlords, to rid the lands that the English had confiscated from the rebellious Irish peasants, both during the "Famine" when rents couldn't be paid, and afterwards, during the fifty years of "The Clearances", when so many were evicted and had to emigrate. Without the ability to farm a small piece of land to grow a crop of potatoes to eat, foe Irish had to migrate or starve to death. There was no other choice. It is obvious that, over time, and depending upon whom in Ireland they were dealing with, foe members of foe Royal Irish Constabulary were looked upon either as gentlemen, because of their position within foe community, or as very hated people by those who suffered by their actions during the eviction processes.

My brother, Donald, was under the misconception that Lawrence Hartnett had married Anne Butler » »,„„„>„ from the northerly end of County Offaly, but I have proved that wrong by obtaining 2^ manage datowhereTme

andButleryarned from his service into the record Corcoran with the side Royal of Irish our Constabukuy,family. Denis where Hartnett he followedwas one his of father the^h„te7o?L" in to cTer wetoow H^Ttt , „T ,b°m,n C°Un,y Uois' which was at that ,ime ca»e° Q»«ns County. The nan,e ofTt commZ was1?S changedh k'0 ? °riginal back to WshUs onginal name nameafter of,he County War for Offaly '"dependence at that time. in If the1916 birthplace to 1922 of SMlariy D™ s Stt Kin! couTte £uZ ocated, and the records there perused, they should contain the name, and perhaps thebSaceTftewife rf wrthwtdX^vT^H the Royal Insh rn°*K Constabulary, rSibkS°UrCef°r'hiSinfom,ationmi<*«be*e as they sometimes list information relating "rvfcerecoTo'lawltto marriages of its Sere Hatett Those HZlThf T l0Cateu,'n Ke«-e!■" Great Bri,ain (En8land) Wi*°ut ^ infonrtation^ tome Xf Lav^nce heht?»tV was from,k . U"abu but more ?,find probably, °Ut Where' they may for havecertain'their lived intermittently home wa* in houses" «>uld or have barracks been like in Sens L me HartnettdH ickThere before his eavmg the Royal Irish Constabulary in an early retirement. Some proof of me ftine^ nvlnt accommodafons of fte members of Ireland's police services was that Lawrence's son Denis w* bom ta Counw Laois. There ,s no known connection to County Laois residence by anyone in our ftmi y hTstor^ Yet Denis's s™ coZbu^t tobrnrin that com«aiso- -we *- - °-*■«, i^s* £ft a Lawrence Hartnett, my great grandfather, was the earliest that we know of that entered into service with ,h. Crown forces The family has always said, and I have heard my own father say it, thaTwfare a Limerick fem.t EW h Se.S!rT1reCOrd °f Denis Hartnett sa*s *at he had "Limerick connection^' MRafter alsTtoW Z bat.,! Z. I6"!,6'""f. him a"d his fa,her before' *at ,he Hart"ett family was almost wLdout in one of 1641-50),iL^m a,,L,menck' but more uwh?re probably, *e the men siege all offought the City together. of Limerick Limerick that occurred was besieged aromd 1689-90 during toNinewas die Yea^War onTwh*^ this happened, as its memory is emblazoned upon the heart of every son of LimerickThevL iw^S n /u

Cou^O^rL^nt^^BSft h6y ^ LTriCk — '° mw] towaKl Athlone m eastern

accordance with terms set forth in The Treaty of Limerick After thfri^5\ ?™ Xu A imen<* surrendered m surrender to the English forces, and the French fleet sailedto Cnru\nZTt i \J™h contmued ,n ^ir in the English army orTn exHeOnlv a few ch^t 2? 'iTf*?? ^ ** """ and ,0 choose servi«. e*her a n d t h e i r L i . i e s f o l d e d f t e m ^ l ^ Z Z Z S ^ I ^ " l * ™ " " ™ y » C o * '

'™bec„meaPartofm:^ c^Sto'^^ foe United States of America ' ° heIp t0 Wln '"dependence for

fSfSscontmuousiy dec,ared verdicts °f "Dea,h by s«n * *« ^rE^E^

To return to my great grandfather, to join the Royal Irish Constabulary (R I C) in the earlv l«nrrc ««. ^ • • with foe forces of the Crown and to enforce their laws against the Irish The R \rH iv!i 1? ♦ J ** to JOm

acceptance of action wfh*e if I C mev rlS £7 T"1 ^ u** En8"Sh ^ Anglo-Irish. Upon ••8-WinIc„mmu„i

a j(cd:s°Haihe^rancsis"r:ro zfti ^we do not twhere they uved °r ^ ** *»«y- H a r t n e t t ' s s o n t i ^ ^ X ^ ^ ^ Z ^ J T - T " ^ W h e n m y « n " d M , ' r - D e n ^ or visa that allowed JM^n^^J^T^^Sl?" ^ ' " T ' CIaffey Wh° Signed me P388 to be a personal favor «^^3«5£tt^£2T Th ? u'P*° ^T '° America' This had ship by the pohce, and that he l*JE?Z$7Z£^T

I doubt that further information about Lawrence Hartnett would be available in Ireland from Mae Claffey as her ties were to our Corcoran line, and not the Hartnett line. I know of no other source, unless Anne Mahon or Chris Hartnett have some information given to them by their father. The children of my great grandfather, Lawrence Hartnett were supposed to be, from my brother Donald's records- Mary Hartnett who married Dick Lyman. I suspect that his name may have been Lynan Bridget Hartnett who married Oswald Getteo Julia (or Julie) Hartnett who married Michael Burke. She lived in England, and may have migrated to America, but that is not assured She is supposed to have left a small inheritance to my father, Owen Andrew Hartnett, when she passed away. At Marie Hartnett's wedding to John Flanagan in Fall River, two people who have been identified as ftmhiaboutfoem6 *^ "*******""*' ^ *** ^ ^t0 be °0USinS °f my fathen I have heardnothinfi Denis Hartnett, my grandfather who was born in County Laois There will be further discussion about these children of Lawrence Hartnett in other writings.

DENIS HARTNETT, my Grandfather

have\ratsTetname!reSh "^ °f ** "^ nam6d ^^ "^^ * ""^ discussion- The other two men who 1. Denis Hartnett, my cousin, who was born in Ireland at the Hartnett home on Killaun Lane in County Offaly and who emigrated to America He now lives at 30 Cranberry Circle in Carver, Massachusetts 02330 with his family which mcludes his son, Keith. He can be reached by phone at 1 - 508 - 866 - 3244

2 Denis Hartnett who was a member of the Crown Forces about foe same time as was Lawrence Hartnett. It is not

haveSen whm\been. When6 W3S,a he was br,0theT enlisted (u into 6Ven the aBritish C°USin) (or English °f Uwrence Army), Hartnett'he was assigned W ««* tograndfather, foe Connaught but Rangers he may and he was sent to serve with that organization in India, where he received a special medal for thaTse^ce 1^ his return to Ireland from India, there is some evidence that, after a while, he may have migrated ^America

H^ fnTJ! k^*" °f ^ VJ™ "°W conCQmed was "* grandfather, and he was foe son of Lawrence bornE^Tr? in tiVCounty ™mber°f Laois, *«from R°yal his military Irish Constabulary, record, but we dolike not his know fafoer where, before or whohim. his We mother know was. that Since he was bX Census of 1911, he stated that he was 55 years old, he must have been born about 1856 or so. He rose to the ra^k of Sergeant in that organization before he took an early retirement. It was somewhat unusual for career meYven M^fS^XSt fJnT t0HeaVe thC T S6™e' beC3USe h Pr0Vid6S a — of cl^rome o h^^^^^J^hen s teeth However, V C°Un7 a set Wh6re}0bSfG of circumstances VGiyalmost required SCarCe' that andhe take paying action to ones change are his circumstances as scarce His as wife was about to give birth to his sixth child, that they would name Owen, and who would ScS^Hto H

The Royal Insh Constabulary (R. I. C.) had announced a drastic downsizing of its forces in the Irish Midlands area and ,t was soliciting its soldiers (or policemen) for early retirement. Times were changm[and Denfa ZSt^ aware of ,t, since h,s wife's family were ardent Republicans, and the people of Ire^d werTloo^g JIw unfavorably toward foe Crown Forces in Ireland, especially because of issues relating to Land Act toSS£ S for Ireland, and to a growing demand for Ireland's independence The Insh people were starting to despise the activities of the R. I. C, as they represented foe Enslish Crown in it« attempt to enforce English laws on Irishmen. These laws exerted economic and ofo^r control Irish life, keeping all of the Irish poor, and keeping the country under English dominatio^^. The^L^wfof the Hartnett family, the Corcorans, were Nationalist in their views, strongly opposing English involvements in Irish matters. Near the beginning of the 20th Century, a Gaelic revival effort became associated with the spirit of independence for Ireland. The Nationalist Club in nearby Birre was ardent in their efforts in favor of land ownership reform which was a prominent matter of the times. The local newspapers were celebrating the anniversaries of prominent Insh nationalistic heroes quite publicly, and they tended to downplay the influence of the landed gentry (the Sassanach or Saxon foreigners) in favor of the rights of Irish tenant farmers. Denis Hartnett later confided to his son, Owen, that things had gotten quite bad with foe R. I. C, and because of their difficulties with the people of Ireland it was time to leave that organization. All of his wife's family had become ardent nationalists, and one of her brothers would not read any newspaper printed in England. His personal situation had also deteriorated His wife was pregnant with her sixth child, and would have one more child after that, before she passed away in 1900 A " The * .IC" had a™01"1060, that they were downsizing their forces by 100 of their officers, and Denis and his wife were living m foe second floor of the barracks building in Killyon, with five youngsters. Denis pursued an early retirement that became available, and he was pensioned out on August 2, 1898. For his service, or because of it, he was able to obtain a lease for two lives (or 31 years) on a property in Knockbarron owned by the government It was a stone house on a small plot of land, and it was sometimes referred to as "Bernard's Castle" There was also another Bernard's Castle, foe real one, of much greater magnificence some few miles away, and foe place at Knockbarron was only an outbuilding for some employee of foe castle. With the use of this house, for which he was classified as a caretaker and farmer in the 1911 Census, and with foe rental of other nearby pastures, a farm was established to help to raise those of his seven children who were still living. Two small children died from tuberculosis, and Anne (Corcoran) Hartnett had also died within a year or so of Denis' early retirement A thirds son, Oswald, is listed as being 17 years old in 1911, but he also passed away. Both Oswald Hartnett and his sister Mane, were born in County Westmeath, which was where their father, Denis Hartnett, was stationed with foe R l' C. Another son, Kieran, aged 15 in 1911, was born in Queens County, which is now County Laois 4. There may have been a fourth Denis Hartnett, as according to Denis Hartnett, Number One, above, the child of his (and my) grandfather which I have identified as Michael Hartnett, was actually another Denis Hartnett.

My father, Owen Hartnett, had been born in Kings County (now County Offaly) in 1898, on the second floor of what was then the local barracks for the R. I. C. It was located at the northeast corner of the roadway intersection in Killyon opposite Kavanagh's Pub (which was formerly Corrigan's Pub and before that, was named Grogan's Pub) He was the sixth child of Denis and Anne Hartnett. In my father's time, the Grogan family ran their pub on foe northwest corner of that intersection, and they lived upstairs from it. When Owen returned to Ireland, he visited to Grogan s Pub. We have a copy of Denis Hartnett's service record with the R. I. C, and it tells us that he joined them at the age foat1 XTl he u" had u( been5? CenSUS a chandler °f]9U (or candlemaker)Says that he beforewas born entering in 1856>- the R. I.He C. was His politicalJust under ties were 5 feet said 9 inchesto be to tall County and Limerick, an obvious reference to his father's heritage. 20™ *!!?,?SslgTenV01872, and we do me,southern not know if partfoat wasof County for his Tipperary, military training, called Tipperaryor if it was South after itRiding, was completed. occurred on He December listed his birthplace as Queen s County (which is now known as County Laois). Three months later, he was reprimanded and fined the very large sum of 50 shillings, which must have greatly affected his personal income and his activities for a

Offaly)nS?\ T on "!T?.£ March °Ty , 1878. Waterf°rd On April °n 1, April 1884, 10' he 1877'became and an **"Acting t0 Ki"gsSergeant County there, (now followed known by his as obtaining County SS^**^ S STS °? Febmary '' 1885> R-atounent out of Kings County for County Westmeath and to An^e Corco^n ^ °C °" M* *' 1888' "^ he WaS maiTied 0" Ja"Uary 8' 1889 in Kinfis County Denis Hartnett probably as a part of his assignment to County Westmeath, was stationed in foe Town of Ballymore, where he had a map made of the townlands of Ballymore, probably for police control purposes. That E£w h 1 ly T, ?nC,e J°e "^"f"' and WaS brOUSht to America for safe to*Plng. " is now in foe possession of wTstoeafo11 LexmSton Circ,e> Canton- Several of his children are listed as having been born in County Denis became a clerk or scribe for foe town of Kinnitty after his early retirement, having had foe benefit of some somenl0^ fof I0",3"? his family, m,hu? had S6rViCe foe ability back&ound to read and for write. such His things. family Thephotograph Census has of shown1911 indicates him to be that a big he, man and well proportioned, and we know foat he suffered a heart attack in his later years, as his son, Kieran, is said by Joe (Hen) Davis, to have carried him seven miles to town and to a doctor without once putting him down with herEHSZ.DniS brother, Owen. Ha?ett His MiV6d,a oldest living •KnockbarTOn son, Kieran, withalso hi8lived da"S"«*. there. Joseph, Mo^ (Marie), as his youngest before she son, left probably for America spent some of his early years there with him, and my father, Owen, was there before the two youngest b^wenttoHve with Aeir uncles, the Corcoran brothers, at Killaun. The date of Denis' marriage to Anne Corcoran of K llauT County Offely, was January 7, 1889 at Mount St. Joseph's Church in Shinrone, County Offaly. I have visited to the church at Shinrone, which .s very beautiful. The church is located at a crossroads near to Roscrea He and Anne had seven children. They were Lawrence Hartnett who died at an early age of tuberculosis Oswald Hartnett who was 17 years old in 1911, and who may also died of tuberculosis Denis (or Michael) Hartnett who died similarly Kieran Hartnett Owen Andrew Hartnett, my father Marie (Moira or Mae) Hartnett, who was married to John Flanagan in Fall River, Ma Joseph Hartnett, who was married to Josephine Ryan.

seve'rlTchiM^nHT0Kfi,,ll ***, manuof robu8t build » 8n»™ >" * family photograph of himself, his wife and ST^fS™, his brother ,n-law. He never remarried after his wife passed away. He is buried in the very old apparent1™, £ ^ T grave Drumcullen marker asnear,his many markerswife' a"d are 11™ plain -o stones,information with locationsas to the known date of only his todemise. immediate Thereis famlies no However, some of our fanuly members in Ireland will know where our grandparents lie. Other relatives frZ the that£ThT*£• his brother °^&muy had dug ^ interred the graves here for both in Unknownof the Corcoran 8raves' brothers » ' at ™ Drumcullen told "y Mr. Cemetery, Spain, and ourSy m7thereX nSbor so many buried there, that it was like digging through eggshells.

Family History & Denis Hartnett's Retirement Following is a little summary of some things that I was thinking about with regard to a variety of Irish matters You may decde not to believe uch of this, and I would not blame you. I don't either. Not mat many £2" abou" andSewtoZd"and who had M all™°reen of those MTleS special Wh° "^ powers. '° HVe °" At *e least, m0Un,ain that's *P what °f S"ev* we "a are MbhTta told! 'PPerary,oX1fa££

The earliest written history of an individual Hartnett was Seamus (Shamus) Mor Hartnett or James the I a™ Hartnett, who picked up a blackthorn stick that had been placed up a chimney foVsWyS tLiTsqutzifle

s s z ^ r " ■ "drew wa,er out of ii-Hopefi,iiy-he was ■ — * ^ s

HarmettsHar^fTl^T left ™d is because "%*£" bef01!t0ldthe Hartnetts him' fought md together, his father as clans before',hat did, at the tte Siege ""on *atof Limerick there are and so the few men of o?^ us hke^IZfJV™"*T,d0Ut«N°-'d°n,t a battlefield on an oak dance floor, mean*edance'als° but the real thing. Unfortunately, called«"'ieg the Irish lost oTlSmSZso that fSt to the forces loofc of StSt F^ce' bydthen r^ t0KEnl'and °" °tter bUSi-S>' and th0- wS, tr? ;°wh6o Xed cSSLdtj:rr0^ Ltstrruid f,nd on -b—d- - z IrishSSS^nSS?f ^ ,0.,be *?*■S'X f°0t tW° inches ta"t0 become a member °f «* Royal Why foe early retirement, you ask? The life of a police officer is not always smooth sailing when the laws foat you have to enforce are English ones, and your wife's family is opposed to foe people for whom you work. At foat time, foe R.I.C. had announced a proposed diminution in foe size of foe forces in the Birre area of 100 men. Also, Denis' wife had 5 children at foe time, and was pregnant with her sixth. Denis had risen to foe highest position available to the Irish, as a Sergeant of Police. Others, officers in command, were either English or West Britons. Seven children were to follow Denis' marriage, but only four reached maturity, foe other three succumbing to a common disease of foe time known as tuberculosis. Denis' wife only lived a short time after foe birth of his last child, and she had two brothers, one of whom was so anti-British that he wouldn't read anything foat was printed in England. Since just about everything in Ireland was printed in London, does that tell you anything about him? When Grandmother's two brothers got older and had difficulties with the farm, Dad was sent to foster with them in foe Irish style, with his younger brother also spending some time there. However, it was back at Drumcullen, near Knockbarron, where he saw the Wizard Hare, spinning and twisting in the roadway, a sure sign foat it was an evil spirit, intent upon malfeasance. In later years, his brother spied the Leprechaun under the oak tree and old Mr. Burns found foe buried gold, which he should have left alone, because both he and his son became mad as foe result of taking it. It doesn't pay to disturb what belongs to the little people. My cousin, Denis, remembers Old Mr. Byrnes, and he was a relative of ours, perhaps by marriage. There are several versions as to how Dad got to America. The most logical one was foat Grandma looked over foe litter, picked up foe runt by foe scruff of the neck, and said that this one would never grow up to be over six feet tall and two hundred thirty five pounds, so she threw him into foe River Shannon, and he had to swim all the way to Americay. Alternately, Dad's brothers gained some notoriety of their own. Uncle Kieran gained fame as the strongest man in the Irish Midlands, topping off at a mere six foot six and twenty stone, or two hundred and eighty pounds, to foe uninformed. Uncle Joe's story is a little different. For thousands of years, ever since foe Women of the Green Mantles who lived on foe top of Slieve na Mbhan gave my ancestors the power of healing, it has been passed along to certain family members. People traveled from all over Ireland to be cured by Uncle Joe, and he was never known to fail. Others in the family have "The Power" now. Currently, Joe Hartnett, in County Offaly, my cousin, makes use of it. My sister, Rosemary Wilkie, and I are two who have been given "The Power", but have never tried to heal anybody.

My grandparents are now buried in a cemetery at Drumcullen, where St John (not a real saint, but a Holy Man) had his little church. That's where the ghost that threw the frying pan is located.

ANNE (BUTLER) CORCORAN, my great grandmother

She was a native of County Offaly, and she married John Corcoran, and from Donald's records, they had children as follows: Michael Corcoran, who never married, and was the brother of Denis Corcoran. Dennis Corcoran whose wife was Margaret, and he ran the Corcoran farm at Killaun. Bridget Corcoran, born in 1861, came to America and she lived and worked in Fall River as a domestic. Marie Corcoran became Sister Mary Cyprian of foe Sisters of the Holy Union of the Sacred Heart in Fall River ????? Corcoran who married Leo Manley and lived near Drogheda. Their daughter was a nun in Brooklyn, and their son was Leo Manley, a chemist (pharmacist) in Balbriggan, where he lived. Anne Corcoran who married Denis Hartnett, and who was my grandmother.

In Donald's records, Denis Hartnett is shown to be the only son of Lawrence and Anne (Butler) Hartnett. That was wrong!!! Anne Butler married John Corcoran, and so, she became Anne (Butler) Corcoran, my great grandmother on foe Corcoran side of the family. Mae Claffey told me that there was also an uncle of Denis Hartnett, (or a brother of Anne Butler Corcoran) named Mike Butler who lived in New York, and who died in 1936, and if so, he should be added to the clan list as brother to Anne Butler Corcoran. Mae has a picture of Mike Butler with his wife, who may have been a Connolly before marriage, but that's not for sure. This Mike Butler had two sons who were both policemen, and both of them had retired by 1985. I saw their pictures, also. They were supposed to live in some place in New York foat sounded like Regone Park, but I only heard foat pronounced, and not spelled, and so I don't know how accurate it is. If anyone wants to trace foat side of foe family, they can do it most quickly by contacting Mae Claffey in Ireland.

There is a picture of this John Corcoran, my great grandfather, in Donald's pictures of foe family. He is dressed in the garb of a "wealthy farmer" which, according to the Irish writings, was always the same. The "substantial" Irish farmer wore a drab frieze coat, sometimes with a velvet collar, a buff-colored waistcoat, corduroy small clothes, and top boots, often well greased from the top down. From his fob, hung the brass chain and the almost rusty key of a watch, which he kept, certainly more for use than as an ornament. Our John Corcoran does not quite wear that specific line of clothing, but his general appearance and demeanor does seem to fit the type of appearance foat is described, and he does have the watch chain in place for the picture. To some, since he controlled about 20 Irish acres of land, and was related in marriage to other large landholders, he might be classified as being wealthy.

JOHN CORCORAN , my great, great grandfather John Corcoran was from Kilcolman, and he was the father of John Corcoran, who married Anne Butler. This John Corcoran married a girl named Anne Welsh from the Welsh family that lived to the rear of the Hartnett (or Corcoran) property on Killaun (Cullawn) Lane in County Offaly. The Welsh name was spelled as Wilyshe in the wedding document (according to Willie Joe Boland), and it is now being spelled as Walsh, but my cousin, Denis Hartnett, says foat" Welsh" is foe correct way to spell it now. This John Corcoran may have built foe Corcoran (or later, Hartnett) homestead on Killaun Lane, with land owned by his wife's family, and he moved in with her to live there. Killaun is listed as being foe parish in foe barony of Eglish on the marriage document, and these addresses may have been foe ones in use at foat time. After their passing, the property was used as the home of their son, John Corcoran, who was my great grandfather, and who married Anne Butler who was my great grandmother. One of their children was Anne Corcoran, my grandmother, who became married to Denis Hartnett, my grandfather. There was no running water or electricity in the house at Killaun, and foe well near foe house wasn't dug there until foe turn of foe century. The details about foe digging of the well were told to me by Willie Joe Boland.

Anne, married to Denis Hartnett, died about ten months after giving birth to her seventh child, Joseph Hartnett. The Hartnetts must have then lived at Knockbarron in a leased stone house, as the Killaun Lane property of the Corcorans was still occupied by Dennis and Michael Hartnett, two of Anne (Corcoran) Hartnett's brothers. In 1911, Denis Hartnett was listed as the caretaker of the Knockbarron property.

My uncle Joe Hartnett lived at Killaun Lane, and he was sent there together with his brother, Owen, at an early age to assist his elderly uncles. His brother, Kieran, lived at Knockbarron with his sister, Moira (or Marie). After foe Corcoran brothers died, Joe lived alone at the Corcoran place. He married, and he and Josephine (Ryan) Hartnett began to raise their children there. He grew to be too old, and he sold foe Corcoran farm, of about twenty acres in size, to foe Welsh (or Walsh) family that had originally owned it several generations back. He moved to Crinkle with his family, into a rented space, and then into a Council House, which is a sort of subsidized housing. My uncle Joe Hartnett's brother, Kieran, who had lived alone at Knockbarron for some time after foe death of his wife, had passed away without having any children, prior to Joe's selling of foe Killaun property, and foe Knockbarron property had reverted back to the ownership by the government as a part of the forest preserve foat it abutted. The stone house was abandoned, and is now just a ruin. The children from the John Corcoran and Anne Butler Corcoran line are: Michael Corcoran who was born in 1860 Denis Corcoran, who was born in 1859, was married in 1907 to Margaret, born in 1867. He was listed as foe owner of foe Corcoran farm in the 1911 Census. Bridget Corcoran was born in 1861. She migrated to Fall River, Massachusetts to be near her sister, the nun. Marie Corcoran (later Sister Mary Cyprian of The Holy Union of the Sacred Heart in Fall River). ? Corcoran Manley. She had at least two children, one of whom was a nun in Brooklyn, N. Y. Anne Corcoran Hartnett. She was married to Denis Hartnett and she was my grandmother. One cannot leave this beginning of discussion about the Corcoran line of ancestry without advising the uninformed about CORCORAN CLAIREACH or Corcoran the Cleric. After all, he was a joint ruler of all of Ireland, together with Conn O'Loughlin, foe poet. The two of them ruled Ireland, not as kings as the Milesian dynasty did. They ruled when there was what was called "an interregnum", or "a time between kings". It happened from 1022 A. D. to 1024 A. D. So, there was also a Corcoran as an Irish ruler. We know of no relationship to him. The O'Corcoran name and Corcoran people were a part of the Clann Kian. MAE CLAFFEY

Mae Claffey is of the Butler line and she is a cousin of ours, although a distant one. Her uncle's name, with whom she lived before he passed away in 1992, was Mike Clements and they lived in Coolfin (Spelling ?), near Banagher in County Offaly. My estimate of Mike's age in 1985 was 75 to 80 years old. He has since passed away. At the time of my first meeting with Mae, she was probably in her early or mid forties, and she was a single woman. It was in 1985. Mae and Mike enjoyed Irish music, and they used to visit to nearby establishments on a Saturday night to hear it. One of them was Hough's Restsurant (or Pub) in Banagher. One of my meetings with Mae and Mike was at their farm house in Coolfin before a blazing peat fire with my cousin, Joe Hartnett, as my escort. Joe and I were due to arrive at Joe's sister, Anne Mahon's house in Lorrha, but this visit made us quite late for foe dinner that she had prepared for us.

Mae and Mike Clements told me that Anne Butler Corcoran, who was my great grandmother, had a brother named Mike Butler who died in 1936. They have a picture of him and of his wife. Mike Butler had two sons named James and John Butler who lived in Regone Park (I don't know if that is how you spell it) in New York and they were both policemen who had retired by 1985. I saw pictures of them, also. I have a notation that Mike's wife may have been a Connolly before their marriage and I am not sure as to which Mike that reference is made, but it seems to be about Mike Butler.

I have done some research on foe Claffey name. I found that a James Claffey, who was born June 2, 1866 in Banagher, County Offaly, was foe son of a Peter Claffey and Mary Cochrane (which is another way of spelling Corcoran). I am unsure if this is our family connection to the Claffey family, but I have been told in foe past foat foe connection was through the Butler side of the family. If you will remember, somewhere in the old notes, there had seemed to be a marriage of one of the women in the Corcoran family line to someone named Claffey. When, in 1920, a way was needed to obtain travel approval for Owen Andrew Hartnett, my father, and his sister Marie Hartnett (later Flanagan), a visa had to be obtained for passage to America for a visit, as Owen Andrew Hartnett's past record of infection with tuberculosis would not allow him to pass through the usual Ellis Island immigration procedures. It was just before foe time when the Truce between Ireland and England had been declared in Ireland's War for Independence. It was only in 2006 foat I saw foe visa foat had been issued to my fafoer, Owen Hartnett, for his visit to America in 1920, which was in the possession of my sister, Frances (Hartnett) Duffy, at that time. Frances is now deceased. I found out foat the visa was signed by a Claffey, who must have been a member of foe Claffey family who were related to us, probably as in-laws to my grandfather, Denis Hartnett, of Knockbarron. Since my father, Owen Andrew Hartnett had been escorted onto his ship leaving Ireland, as he specifically told me, by the Dublin Police, and if his entry into America had been rejected, the words of the Dublin police official, foat he would be shot if he returned to Ireland, would be imposed. After the Truce and the Anglo-IrishTreaty, and the Civil War that followed, the entire Dublin police force had been retained by the Irish Free Staters, (who took over foe governing of Ireland from England), as a part of their Free State Army. Ireland's Civil War began as a battle by the Free State forces against those members of Sinn Fein who had walked away from the Dail Eireann, to become the outlawed Irish Republican Army, when they would not accede to the Anglo-Irish Treaty that left six of Ireland's thirty two counties under British control. Those six counties are now known as Northern Ireland. As we now know, that situation sparked many confrontations between the Catholics and the Protestants of Northern Ireland, and it started foe Twenty Three Year War that has only recently ended in a Truce, after so many more people died.

I have no information as to where my great grandfather, Lawrence Hartnett lived or was married, or even who he was married to, but it wasn't Anne Butler Corcoran. My cousin, Denis Hartnett does not know who he was married to, either, but perhaps Cousin Joe may have some idea. Since we know that Lawrence's son, Denis Hartnett, was born in County Laois, it is probable that Lawrence's family lived much of their lives in rented quarters near to his places of assignment with the R. I. C. There should be some record of Lawrence's service with the R .1. C. in their official records which are kept in Kee, England, but I have never attempted to research it. I have the original picture on a tintype of Anne (Butler) Corcoran, my great grandmother, and I originally thought foat it was a picture of her daughter, Anne Corcoran Hartnett. The features of the two are almost identical, and that can be expected. However, since Anne Corcoran Hartnett died shortly after the birth of her seventh child, and since foe woman shown in the tintype was apparently much older and was supposed to be my great grandmother, I am assured foat the woman shown sitting in her chair with a bonnet and a shawl (Rosemary or Frances, one of my sisters, has the shawl) is indeed Anne (Butler) Corcoran.

Mae Claffey is well known to the Hartnetts and Mahons in Ireland. Her situation was that she owned her own farm in Coolfin, and her uncle, Mike Clements, lived in her house. He was of advanced age and had his own farm which was either adjacent to hers or nearby. Upon his death, she inherited his place. It is my understanding foat she no longer owns Mike Clements' farm. When Mike died, she made an investment in a pub located in the town of Gort, which is southerly from Galway City, on the main road. The investment didn't work out for her, and it had to be sold. I was told foat she lost one of the two farms that she owned in the transaction. One of Anne Mahon's daughters worked in the pub for a time. The 1985 visit to Mae's home was with my cousin, Joseph Hartnett, who had escorted me there, as we were to only make a five minute stop there after we visited to his father's grave at Rath Cemetery. Mae was said to have lived only about a mile away from Rath Cemetery, but it seemed longer than foat. The five minute visit turned into two hours, and our planned dinner at Anne Mahon's home in Lorrha was seriously delayed.

Mae and Mike Clements were very pleasant. Mike did most of the talking, and Mae nodded her approval and I remember how she sucked in her breath in assent to many of the statements in the quiet Irish way. As is usual in conversation with the Irish, Mike's domination of the conversation, as foe man of the house, was usual, even with his advanced age. They both liked to go out to hear Irish music several times a week, and they visited to the Lorrha area on Fridays to see Ann Mahon and others on occasion. Our discussion focused primarily upon Irish farming and farm life, such as the best way to skin a pig.

I have met Mae since on two occasions. Once was at Hough's (pronounced Hauck's) Tavern in Banagher where Irish music was in progress, and it is where she used to go on a Saturday night. We exchanged the purchase of pints of Guinness and, in my honor and at her request, "The Offaly Rover" was sung by the entire establishment. The Offaly people consider foe song to be their anthem and the noise was deafening when it was played. Perhaps, it was the greatest singular honor ever to be accorded to me. It was really quite impressive.

At another time, I met with Mae and Rob, a friend of hers at Dooley's Restaurant in Birre, where we had a small lunch. I would describe her as being buxom and quite pretty. Her friend was an All-Ireland singer and he was supposed to travel to Boston to meet with Larry Reynolds of the Boston Unit of Comhaltus Coultieri Erainn (Musicians of Ireland), and he was seeking accommodations here. In a later visit, I met him again but he had broken off his relationship with Mae and had married someone else. He was a member of the Irish Army by profession, and he worked in Dublin but lived in or near the Town Banagher in County Offaly.

Farm life can be lonely and Mae had an experience away from it at one time. With Rob, her friend, to advise or assist her, she had purchased the White Horse Tavern in Gort, but the venture failed. The site of the pub was about twenty five paces north of the square in the center of Gort, toward Galway on the east side of foe road. It did not appear to have a sustained clientele, although I was never inside the place, but merely passed by it. I was told that she no longer owns foe place, and had lost her investment in it.

During a later visit to Ireland, an attempt to contact her was unsuccessful as she was not at home. Information about Mae can best be obtained from Anne Mahon. Mae is an exceptionally nice person. The Claffey name arose recently when I was examining a pass or visa that allowed my father, Owen, to leave Ireland. It was a Claffey in Dublin that signed the visa that allowed my father, Owen, and his sister, Moira (Marie), to leave Ireland on a visit to America in 1920. Both of them intended to stay in America, and to overstay their visit to do it. That information is listed elsewhere in these ramblings. The seat of the Butler, (or Ormond family as it is known), in Ireland is Kilkenny Castle. In Ballyragget, there is a castle which was built by the Butlers in the 15th Century, of which ruins remain. The Butler name in Ireland, is from foe personal Butler to the royal family of England. The Butlers became very prominent as representatives of foe British Crown in Ireland.

As a supplement to the foregoing, in 2009, information became available about the Butlers in Ireland. Some of foe story is: Gilbert Becket, also Butler, was a ruler and a lord who presided over London when King Stephen ruled England. Gilbert Becket was also the chief butler in England, and it is from his duty and office foat foe "Butler" family obtained their name. Gilbert Becker had a son who was named "Walter". This Walter had a son who was named Theobald F. Walter and this Theobald F. Walter was the first man of the Butler line ever to enter Ireland. His landing in Ireland took place in foe bay of Invermore at Arklow. As soon as he was ashore, he drew his sword, and he thrust it into foe earth beneath him, and he said "Under my sword, I pledge myself foat this sword, I will not return to his sheath, nor replace m his scabbard, until I attain to the farthest part of Ireland, unless my last days come to forestall me". These words of Theobald F. Walter were said to have come true. He neither stayed, nor stopped, until he reached Innishowle in lower Connacht. After taking possession of all of the lands and countries that he had visited he returned again to Invermore. He put up his sword, and he said these words. "A pleasant coast and region is this' m which we are harbored, and come into port, and one in which, whether by sea or by land, succor of our friends is within easy reach. To this place, therefore, for myself and for my race after me, I fain would make a sepulchral dwelling and a most honorable noble tomb, my body to be foe first to be buried in foe same". It was done so. A monastery was made ready and set, in order to await him, wherein, after his death he honorably and nobly was interred. It was that same Theobald who dedicated and endowed the monastery of Nenagh in County Tipperary and the monasteries of Owny, of Busrrishoole and of Achrim in the Hy-Many territory. He was the first to whom foe king of England gave a patent authorizing him to make a conquest in the King's name in Ireland. to Theobald F. Walter had a good son. He was Edmond F. Walter. This son's might and prevalence became great, and his name was immensely known. He was said to have become famous in all of foe arts of Ireland This Edmond F. Walter had a son, whom he named "Theobald". That Theobald had a son who he named "Walter" The last "Walter" retained the sovereign title and position of his ancestors, and he proved to be a great asset to the English Crown in its efforts to subdue the native Irish, who were the enemies of the King of England At this time, King John was the ruler over England. For his service to the English Crown, Walter received five countries". They were: Ormond Eliogarty Ely-O'Carroll Owny O'Mulryan This "Walter" had a son, who was named "Theobald". Then, this "Theobald" had two sons who were named "Edmond" and "Theobald". Of them, we note foat: - EDMOND was the first one ever titled as the "Earl of Carrick" from "Carrickgriffen" which had occurred during the time when the first "Edward" reigned in England. This brother had a son named James and a grandson of the same "James" name. The grandson, James, became known as "The Stuttering Earl" and he was foe first Earl of Ormond, a title foat was created when Edward III was foe King of England This James, the Earl of Ormond, had a son named "James" who became the Earl of Gowran, and the Earl of Gowran married Isabel, who would be known as "the Saxon countess", as she was the daughter and the heir of the Earl of Wiltshire. The Earl of Gowran and Isabel had two sons, and they were "James" who was called "The Fair Earl" and "Richard". The Earl of Gowran had another son, born out of wedlock, whose mother was of the race of Slieve Ardacha, and she was called "the countess". This "bastard" son was named James Oge fitz James As Thomas Bachach was the Lord Justice in Ireland and the Primate of Armagh, as well as the Prior in Kilmamham, he made arrangements for James Oge fitz James, at foe request of his half brother, foe "Fair Earl James to go to France where he did service for the King of England. In France, James Oge fitz James earned the Palm for Puissance" for achievement in foe city of Rouen, where he died James Butler who was "The Fair Earl" had acquired the titles of "The Earl of Ormond" and the "Earl of Wiltshire He had also become the Lord Lieutenant and foe Lord Justice, representing the English Crown in Ireland. He would later look upon Thomas Bachach and James Gallda (who would become an Earl) as his brothers, as they would be step brothers to his own stepbrother, James Oge Fitz James. James who was the Earl of Gowran, and who also was the father of "The Fair Earl", had begun an affair with the daughter of the Earl of Desmond, who had been staying at his residence, and when his wife found out about it, she left him and went to Waterford. When John, the Earl of Desmond, found out about his daughter being compromised by the Earl of Gowron, a challenge was issued for a duel. The parties met on two sides of the River Suir. In crossing the river to meet his opponent, John, foe Earl of Desmond, fell from his horse into the river. He was swept away by the current, and he was drowned. On foe same day that her fafoer had died, the daughter of John, the Earl of Desmond, poisoned some wine, which she sent to foe wite of the Earl of Gowran, using an unknowing priest as an intermediary. The priest gave the wine to the wife of foe Earl of Gowran, telling her foat it was a gift from her husband. She drank some of it, and gave a drink to her daughter, and foe priest left to return toward foe nearby town of Youghal. The priest learned of the death of the wife of the Earl of Gowran and her daughter, during his return trip, and he relayed the news to foe daughter of foe Earl of Desmond. She feigned grief at the news, but was elated that her poisoning of the wine had worked. The Earl of Gowran was aghast at foe drowning of foe Earl of Desmond, and at foe death of both his wife and his daughter. Likewise, the Desmond's daughter was appalled at foe death of her father by drowning. In time, the Earl of Gowran and the daughter of foe earl of Desmond separated, and she had a child with the Earl of Ormond, who was named James Gallda, and from his race are foe Butlers of Cahir upon foe Suir. When she separated from the Earl of Ormond, she had a child with macThomas Bachach. James Butler, who was The Fair Earl, had three sons. They were: John went on a pilgrimage to Santiago in Spain and he died at Jerusalem. He had no issue, except for one son by O'Brien's daughter who would be called "Black James". James who became the Earl of Wiltshire Yellow Thomas, who became known as "The Woolen Earl". He was also foe Earl of Ormond. He had two daughters who were: 1. Margaret who married Boleyn and they had a son named Sir Thomas Boleyn and a daughter named Ann Boleyn, who would be married to King Henry VIII, King of England. In 1524 A. D., Ann and King Henry VIII had a daughter who would become Queen Elizabeth. 2. The second daughter was married to Saint Leger, from whose posterity came Baron Carew. The brother of James, the Fair Earl, as indicated above, was "Richard". According foe line of inheritance, foe right to inherit the title of "Earl of Gowran" fell to Richard. This Richard, Earl of Gowran, had a son named Sir Edmond, who became known as Mac Richard (or the son of Richard.), and he took Sheela, the daughter of O'Carroll, as his wife. Together, they had four sons, who were Pierce, Edmond, Thomas and John. Of these four sons, - Edmond is James f. James Butler an iaccaim - Thomas fell at Castlebarrin, without having any children. - John was the father of three. They were Kathleen who married O'Carroll, MacGillapatrick's son and O'More, and Margaret who married Nugent. Between the time of the death of James Butler, The Fair Earl, and that of Yellow Thomas, the Woolen Earl, those members of the race of Mac Richard did not gain titles, other than that they were noble knights, and Lords of foe countries over which they controlled, and they were dependent upon foe will of John, foe Woolen Earl, and Yellow Thomas, the Earl, who was John's brother. When The Woolen Earl died, foe person who was deemed most appropriate to inherit his title as "Earl" fell to "Pierce FitzJames" (or Pierce Butler), one of the sons of the four sons of the MacRichard line. This Pierce FitzJames, during the time of Henry VIII when he was king over the Saxons, became known as the Earl of Ossory. Ossory is located between foe Provinces of Leinster and Munster in Ireland. Pierce FitzJames also became foe King of England's Judiciary and Lord High Treasurer for Ireland. His obituary said foat he was both the roof and the shelter of both the English and the Irish (or both Gall and Gael) in Ireland. Pierce FitzJames had a sister named Margaret who was married to George Flemyng, the Baron's son. They had a son named James Flemyng and they also had a daughter named Eleanor, who was married to Almerach Livanais. Pierce FitzJam.es (or Pierce Butler) had a wife who was Margaret, foe daughter of foe Earl of Kildare. She was known to be an excellent woman of those times, especially as to her hospitality and for the maintenance of her household. She and her husband had three sons, who were James Thomas Richard They also had six daughters, who were: 1. Margaret, who was given to the Earl of Desmond's son and heir. Later, she was given to Mac William and later again, she was given to MacGillapatrick. 2. Joan, who was given to Mac Pierce (James). 3. Ellice, who was given to Gerald, the son of John, who was the son of Garret in the Decies. 4. Kathleen who was given to Richard Power, and then was given to James, the son of John, who was foe son of Thomas, the Earl of Desmond. 5 Eleanor who was given to Thomas Butler of Cahir. 6. Ellen who was given to Donough More O'Brien. Thomas, who was foe son of Pierce Butler, fell (or was slain) by the men of Ossory at Castlebarrin. He had been the second son to Pierce, and he had died without either posterity or heir. Richard Butler was the brother of Thomas, and he was the Viscount Mountgarrett. Richard had sons named Edmond, Pierce, Thomas, and John who had no children. His daughters were Margaret, Ellice, Eleanor and Ellen James Butler the first son of the Earl of Ormond and Ossory, was the high Treasurer of Ireland. The daughter of James, the son of Maurice, foe Earl of Desmond was given to him. THEOBALD had five sons, who were John, Richard, Gilbert and two brothers named James.

This history of the Butler family, written by Shane O'Cahane at Cloonomoureen ended in on foe 23rd day of midsummer month in 1722 A. D. on foe Feast of Saint John

THE OFFALY ROVER

When foe "All Ireland" championship in hurling was won by County Offaly, and I visited to my cousin Joe Hartnett's house in Ireland, I walked in the door, and I was immediately handed a Rally Cap and a hurley, and ordered to sit in the "soft" chair in front of the Telly. For the uninformed, a Rally Cap is a thin cloth hat with a very short peak foat has all three of foe colors foat the sportsmen of County Offaly are authorized to have on their uniforms, as they take their places at Croagh Park in Dublin for foe Irish Super Bowl in foe sport of hurling. The hurley is a sports bat for striking a sliother (or a ball used in hurling) as two teams, with their County colors and their fans, meet in an annual event to determine which county, of the thirty six of them, is predominant so as to claim the championship of Ireland for a whole year.

The County Offaly colors are green, white and gold, and are foe same ones that are to be found upon foe national flag of Ireland. In some parts of Ireland, it is still referred to as "The Sinn Fein Flag". It was a long time ago foat foe first of its kind was brought back from the European mainland by a nationalist Irishman to become the principal symbol of Ireland's fight for its own freedom. Only County Offaly players can wear these colors of the Irish flag upon foe sports field in Ireland.

Being familiar with the Irish sports, and having been there several times on a Sunday afternoon when an All- Ireland match was underway, I well understood the fervent adherence to foe sports scene, when almost everyone has their eyes glued to foe television screen for a full afternoon. Roadways are practically deserted. Pubs are full. The roadsides in the lucky counties from where the players have left for their chance to participate are festooned with symbols of their team, and upon their return, a lucky team is met with bonfires on hilltops and alongside roads that symbolize the collective spirit of each individual county in their celebration of this event of foe Gaelic Athletic Association. County flags are to be found everywhere, and neighbors with differing colors on them may become distant enemies, when just a short time before, they were fast friends.

It is with foat background that I sat as ordered, while the Telly showed forth a taped copy of foe very recent hurling game in which County Offaly had been foe victor, to win again the All-Ireland trophy in hurling. Some of foe very best hurlers come from foe Kinnitty - Birr area in which the Hartnett family home on Killaun Lane is located, and our next door neighbors, the Spains, were noted for the quality of the hurlies that they made in their large barn nearby. Upon the completion of the game, and in the afterglow of interviews of foe County Offaly players, there was only one thought, as set forth by the captain of the Offaly team, and that was to be paramount in all their thoughts. They had to sing their song. And they did. And I had to watch the entire game, and also listen to foat song.

It was some years later in another visit to Ireland, foat my cousin, Ann Mahon , suggested, in celebration of my visit, that we meet our cousin, Mae Claffey, for an evening in the Town of Banagher. Mae lived nearby in a townland called Coolfin (spelling?). Mae met us in a very popular Irish pub on the main street in Banagher, just a short distance away from a large bridge over the River Shannon, which is so famous in song and story. The place was owned by a man named Hough, pronounced similar to "Hawk", and it is very well frequented by both locals and tourists. Inside, Mae, a pretty redhead, met us and provided a pint of Guiness for sustenance, and a non alcoholic drink for Ann's daughter. Soon, the local band struck up the Irish music, singing and playing traditional Irish songs. The players in the band were almost as ancient as the structural remains in the nearby sacred Clonmacnoise ruins. Yet, they played very well throughout foe evening, as we renewed our familial acquaintances. Pubs close at 11:00 P. M. in Ireland. Mae Claffey went to the band leader, and she asked that the band play a tune especially for me. It was foe most popular song in that portion of Ireland. It was the theme song of the entire county. I was astonished at the response that came from every person in that very crowded place. They all joined together at the end of the night to sing, in my honor, "The Offaly Rover". I have since heard it sung in America by those with roots in Offaly, and I think of it as "The Offaly National Anthem"

THE OFFALY ROVER

In a way of explaining some parts of the song, note the following: - Uibh Fhaile is pronounced as "oob fall ye" and it (or County Offaly) is called "The Faithful County" - The silent Brosna is the River Brosna which crosses the county - Kinnitty is the town which is near to where the Hartnetts lived. - Ferbane is noted for its large peat bogs which are mined and formed as peat bricks for fuel - Clonmacnoise has the ruins of an ancient abbey alongside foe River Shannon, founded by Saint Kieran - Killoughy and Croghan Hill are well known townlands - The Slieve Bloom Mountains are part of foe Kinnitty landscape.

A rover, I have been, and a rover I will stay, But to foat Faithful County, I will return some day. Uibh Fhaile, how I love you, with your heather-scented air. Silently, foe peaceful Brosna calls her sons from far and near. Oh, Kinnitty, I long to see when foe woodbine's in full bloom, Or stroll foe land 'round sweet Ferbane; hear wild birds in full tune! At Clonmacnoise, I'll see you. On to Bannagher, we'll stray, Where fishermen will tell you of the ones foat got away.

'Though dead, or still in exile, are some friends I used to know, Still I must pass by Killoughy, where great sportsmen are laid low. By Croghan Hill, I'll see you, where in childhood, I did play So, adieu to you, belov'd Slieve Blooms. I must be on my way. Pile foe brown turf on the fire. Bring foe keg in from foe barn. Let foe blacksmith sing his rebel song, and foe poacher tell his yarn. Come close, my friends and neighbors. Fill your glasses to the brim, As we toast our Offaly heroes from the heather, hill and glen!

LORRHA NAMES

There is a small pub in Lorrha, just a few steps westerly from Ann and Eugene Mahon's former house, where foe neighbors used to gather to enjoy a pint and to entertain each other. The key to foe place is that each provides entertainment for all.

The pub is small. Perhaps, fifteen people could stand in it and it would be filled. Some of foe people foat I met there were Tom Corrigan - an elderly man, well dressed, and a singer Tiger Sullivan - appointed as foe Lord Mayor of Lorrha (which only had 150 or so residents) John Ryan - who played the tin whistle, and whose daughter, Noreen, would visit to America with Anne Mahon's daughter, and who would visit and stay for a summer with Eleanor and Lido Jerome at their home in Westport. Songs that were sung were The Boston Burglar Long, Long Before My Time Carry Me Back to Old Virginia The Roger Casement Song was sung by a young Irish rebel Christy Moloney showed up there, too, and he made good on a promise given many years earlier, to buy me a pint of Guinness in Ireland. Perhaps, if time allows, I'll expand upon some of these names. I met John Ryan and his wife and son at his house in a subsequent visit and we all went down to a pub where foe Ryan family provided professional musical entertainment for a full house. Their daughter, Noreen, who had visited to Westport with Irene Mahon at Lido's house, was there. Their music was very good and was well received by an audience who were mostly tourists.

Noreen is very special and she charmed foe hearts of all that she met when she visited with the family. She also stayed with a family in foe Boston area on a later visit. I was also told that she was, at one time, in New York, where she had played music professionally with a band known as "The Tain", pronounced "Tawn". The name comes from the Tain Bo Cualigne, which is foe oldest existent book in Ireland, and it was written about Ireland's greatest hero of legends, Cuchullain.

Tiger Sullivan has since passed away. In this village, which has only a small number of residents, Tiger was elected to be its mayor, and he was presented with a chain of office which he wore proudly, as Lorrha competed for entry in "The Tidy Town" national program, which is held each year throughout Ireland. He was an affable fellow, well liked, and local life there isn't the same without him.

On my last visit to Lorrha in 2005,1 stopped to view foe former home of Eugene and Anne Mahon, who had long since parted, and Eugene was in his truck parked alongside their former house. He came to foe road to see who had stopped, and we were both surprised to see each other. He called Anne, and we met her at the house that was still under construction of a piece of land foat belonged to the Mahon family, but that was being built by Denis, Anne Mahon's brother, for her use. It was completed a few months after I was there, and I understand that it is now being used by her.

CHRISTY MOLONEY

Christy lived in Coolrain in County Laois. He was one of foe many cousins of Bernadette, who is my cousin Joe Hartnett's wife. Christy has visited with my family in America in foe company of my cousin, Kieran Hartnett. I received a quick tour of his home at Coolrain in County Laois on one occasion. He purchased a pint of Guinness, owed to me for many years, during one of my trips to Lorrha. His companion sang, as we all did, his own song, which was about Roger Casement landing arms on a lonely beach in County Kerry during the War for Independence, and some years later, I went to that beach in my travels. The song is an Irish classic.

Christy is no longer with us, having died in Coolrain around 1996. He was found hanged in his barn on his farm. The official report probably indicates a suicide, but those who knew him would know better. He was a cousin to Bernadette, Joseph Hartnett's wife. He had a passion for foe retention of the Catholic Mass in Latin, which was anathema to changes made by The Roman Catholic Church some years back. His education was at a seminary, which he left before becoming a priest. He was active in Irish affairs. I believe that his death was by enemies of Ireland, foe country which he loved with a passion. When Christy visited to America, he was taken to see South Boston. He was fully aware of the history of the place, its part as a place of haven for so many Irish escapees from foe dreaded "An Gorta Morna", the Great Famine. I saw him cry there, as he reflected upon the extent of the sorrows and of the difficulties that were faced by so many immigrant Irish families of the 1800's. Many were buried in a nearby island in Boston Harbor.

Christy had a special place in his memory for an Irish woman, famous for her resistance in foe Cause of Irish independence, whom he had met, and with whom he had his picture taken, which he often displayed. She was later killed while she lay incapacitated in a hospital in Northern Ireland by Protestant assassins, as a part of "The Troubles". Christy was truly an Irish patriot. MRS. REID

I stayed in Crinkle, near to Birre, and near to where my cousin, Joe Hartnett, lived, at a B & B which did not have a sign on it, but had been referred to me by one of the other places that had no vacancies. It turned out to be owned by a Mr. Pardy. Its location, near to Crinkle, was a coincidence, as that was also where my Uncle Joe had lived for a while in an old empty store. Mr. Pardy immediately recognized my family name and he arranged for me to visit with a group of neighbors from Killaun, as he, himself, had a farm near there and he knew the Hartnetts well.

The night was pitch black as we went down the dark roads to a house in foe bogland. It turned out to be foat of Mrs. Reid, a friend and neighbor of foe Hartnett family. Her family name is listed among those early ones who lived in foe area around the Famine times. She had visited to America twice, once being to foe Washington, D.C. area, and she had recently attended my uncle, Joseph Hartnett's funeral. A group of her family and friends was there. The meeting was very pleasant, but a great deal of family history was not revealed, as she didn't know much of it. During our discussion, Larry Guinan, an elderly man who was very tall and well structured, sat without talking. He wore a Pioneer pin, foe identification of those who have forsaken the use of alcohol, and he is supposed to be a distant relation of ours. Others were there whom I cannot recall, except foat they were relatives of Mrs. Reid, and were neighbors to our family.

Mrs. Reid, a former neighbor, told me foat she was not old enough to remember my father. However, she was quite friendly with Joe Hartnett and his wife, Josephine, and had attended Joe's funeral a scant three months before my visit. Our conversation focused much on her several visits to America.

THE WELSH OR WALSH FAMILY

I have never met a member of foe Welsh family, so what is written here is from other sources. The name is listed in the 1854 tax rolls as Walsh, but Cousin Denis says that Welsh is correct. John Michael Duffy met one or more of the Welsh family at the funeral of my Uncle Joe Hartnett.

Willie Joe Boland, who worked for Mr. Byrne, (who was another distant relative) told me that the land foat I know as the Corcoran farm on Killaun Lane was owned by "the Wilshe girl" who married a Corcoran from Kilcolman. According to foe Wilshe girl's daughter's wedding certificate, that man's name was John Corcoran, a farmer. She was of foe Welsh (or Walsh) family that owned land to foe rear of the Corcoran farm.

The elderly Welshes, one of who had passed away at that time, were foe ones that purchased foe Corcoran farm when it was sold by my uncle, Joseph Hartnett, when he got too old to farm it, and his children were too small to maintain it. The cottage was put to use for storage and foe land was put to use for the grazing of sheep. In 1992, foe Welsh property, in whole or in part, had been put up for sale, a sign being posted on it. A large corrugated steel structure on foe site did not appear to be in use at foat time. Someone told me that there were two sons in foe Welsh family. Better information could probably be obtained from Denis Hartnett or other members of his family about the Welshes. They are our distant relatives.

OLD MR. BYRNE

Mr. Byrne (probably foe same Martin Byrne who with Mary Ellen Byrne witnessed the marriage of Anne Corcoran to Denis Hartnett at Shinrone on January 7, 1889) is supposed to be a relative of ours by his having married either one of the Corcoran girls, or more probably, one of the Welsh girls. His age appears to coincide with foe generation of Denis Hartnett and Anne Corcoran, as he is remembered as old Mr. Byrne, as opposed to his son. While his wife may have been a Corcoran, my brother, Donald's records are supposed to account for all of foe known Corcoran girls. It is more probable that she was a member of foe Welsh family.

This man is foe one who is supposed to have found the buried gold, and the one who, the neighbors said, paid for disturbing foe buried gold, by going mad and dying, as did his son. My cousin told me about his discovery of foe buried gold, and that was confirmed to me in a conversation that I had with Willie Joe Boland, who used to work with old Mr. Byrne. Some years later, Joe "Hen" Davis also told me that buried treasure shouldn't be disturbed, for "didn't three fellows just find some under a rock, and wasn't one of them dead before foe night was through?"

To clarify one point, Marie Corcoran was my father's aunt who became a nun, and who came to America to teach school in Fall River, Massachusetts. She was not Mary Ellen Byrnes.

It is not likely that Mary Ellen Byrne was a sister of Martin Byrne or a daughter of the Welshes married to him, as Willie Joe Boland told me that a Miss Byrne, whose mother was a Corcoran, was married to a Fogarty and the Fogarty family later owned Fogarty Iron Works in Cleveland, Ohio. At a later date, an American Senator Fogarty was from foat family. From all of this, I surmise foat Mary Ellen Byrne may have been a member of the Welsh family and she may have been an aunt to Anne Corcoran. MARTIN BYRNE

I presume him to be the same "old" Mr. Byrne that lived on Killaun Lane and who had an exceptionally sharp mind and memory, even in his later years. Willie Joe Boland worked for him and some of foe information foat I have set forth comes from Martin by way of Willie.

He is said to have lived to a very advanced age. Apparently, Martin had a son named John, whom Rosemary and others visited with on her early trip to Ireland. Denis has mentioned visiting at his house as a neighbor in Killaun.

I presume that Martin was foe one on Killaun Lane who was supposed to have found the buried treasure, although it was never admitted. His family came into a sudden wealth and the neighbors knew that it could have come from no other source but a buried treasure trove, of which there may have been many found in Ireland in foe past. They attributed foe madness that came upon him and upon his son, John, and their deaths to foe finding and the disturbing of the buried treasure that rightfully belonged to the Little People. This is a true statement of foe reality of the beliefs foat existed on Killaun Lane in the not so distant past, and is not a fabricated story. Should you go to Cleveland, Ohio, (and I don't know why anyone would want to go there), you should see if there are any remains of the Fogarty Iron Works. I was advised that a Miss Byrne of Killaun Lane (who was probably the sister or daughter of old Mr. Byrne) and whose mother was a Corcoran (or maybe a Welsh) was married to a Fogarty. They migrated to Cleveland, Ohio, and a descendant of the Fogarty line became a Senator Fogarty. A newspaper obit was listed in the Irish Echo, an American paper, in its July 20-26 edition of 1994 which listed an Andrew Fogarty, a Tipperary native as deceased at the age of 92. I do not know him to be a relative, but he was a native of Curraguneen, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary and he migrated to New York in 1929, moving to Kansas City in 1989. He was an IRA veteran of the War for Independence. He had brothers Tim and James and sisters, Mary Foley and Margaret Larkin. This epitaph is added because Roscrea is not foat far from where the family lived in Ireland and I don't know enough about the Fogarty connection to make any connections.

The reference to Willie Joe Boland is to another neighbor whose house I visited to in the presence of Mr. Pardy on our trip through the very dark boglands of foe Kinnitty - Birre area on that same evening. We stayed for an extended period of time at Willie Joe's house, and he told me a great deal about Killaun Lane, about my family and about the neighbors. I have always thought that he may be the closest thing to a Shanachie (old story-teller) that exists in that part of Ireland today.

MARY HARTNETT LYMAN

I have no information regarding this woman who was supposed to be the sister of my great grandfather, Lawrence Hartnett, and who was supposed to be married to Dick Lyman. I do have a reference to a Mary whose name was set forth on a stained glass window in a church in Abbeyfeale in a place called Dromtrasna Hartnett. Her name was said to be Mary Lynan. Please note the small spelling change in the last name. Lynan is an Irish name, which is popular in county Galway.

BRIDGET HARTNETT GETTEO I have no information regarding this woman who may have been a child of Lawrence Hartnett. It is apparent foat Bridget Hartnett's husband, Oswald Getteo, was a favorite, as his first name, Oswald, was given to one of my grandmother's sons around the early 1890's. Unfortunately, Oswald Hartnett, son of Denis and Anne (Corcoran) Hartnett was one of their three sons that succumbed at an early age to the ravages of tuberculosis. Oswald was listed as being 17 years old in the 1911 Census.

When I tried to research the name of Oswald Getteo some years ago, I only came up, on foe Internet, with one hit, and it wasn't one that I was interested in pursuing. It had some offensive language attached to it. JULIA HARTNETT BURKE

Julia married Michael Burke and at some point, they lived in England. There were two Burkes who were at foe wedding of Marie Hartnett, my father's sister, to John Flanagan, and they are shown in the wedding picture for that marriage. I do not know if they were husband and wife, and I have always presumed that they were brother and sister. They apparently stood up for foe Flanagans at the marriage ceremony and may be listed in the records of it. One or both may have been children of Julia. The Flanagans were married in Fall River.

When Julia died, my sister, Frances Anne Hartnett Duffy was about of high school age and an inheritance of about $500 was paid through a lawyer from the Estate of Julia Butler Burke to my father. Julia is shown in a photo of my Dad with his sister, Marie (or Moira or Mae) Hartnett Flanagan JOHN CORCORAN, WHO WAS MY GREAT GRANDFATHER John Corcoran was erroneously omitted from some previous summaries of the Corcoran family, perhaps because he was, in earlier writings about foe family, previously identified as Michael Corcoran. Actually, Michael Corcoran was one of John Corcoran's sons. John Corcoran was a farmer from Kilcormac, who met and married a woman named Anne Welsh, and who moved into a property on Killaun (or Cullaun) Lane in what was then Kings County, but is now County Offaly. The land was formerly owned by her family, and it is the property foat we know today as foe Corcoran farm, that was owned by Joe Hartnett, my uncle. It is probable that the structure on the site may have been built about the time of John Corcoran's marriage to Anne Welsh. The marriage records spelled Anne Welsh's last name as "Wilshe", and that information came to me from Willy Joe Boland, in my meeting and discussion with him. The location of Killaun is referred to as being a parish, or a part of a larger barony of Eglish, in what is now County Offaly, so foat the marriage records would refer to the barony, rather than to foe parish. The children from the John Corcoran and Anne Welsh line were: Michael Corcoran Dennis Corcoran Bridget Corcoran Marie Corcoran (who was later known as Sister Mary Cyprian) ?? Corcoran Manley, wife of Leo Manley Sr. Anne Corcoran Hartnett

MICHAEL CORCORAN Michael Corcoran was an uncle of my father, and he lived at the Corcoran farm of 20 Irish acres on Killaun Lane. While there, at the Corcoran farm on Killaun Lane, he married a Whelin (spelling?) girl from the Kilcolman parish, and she was a friend of the Kennys (also unknown). She passed away and there were no children. Both Michael and his brother, Denis Corcoran are buried in the old cemetery at Drumcullin and their graves were dug there by M. P. Spain, who was Billy Spain's brother, and that was told to me by Billy Spain. The Spains were neighbors of foe Corcorans (later foe Hartnetts) and they made hurling sticks for that sport as a part of their occupation.

Michael Corcoran disliked foe English so much foat he would not read a newspaper printed in Great Britain. When he and his brother, Denis, grew older, two of the young Hartnett children, namely Owen Andrew Hartnett, my father, and Joseph Hartnett, his brother, went to live with them at Killaun Lane and they assisted in the farm chores there, as foe Corcoran brothers had grown old. Michael is shown on a photo of him with two of his sisters, his brother-in-law Denis Hartnett and three of his nephews. He was a tall and handsome-looking man. DENNIS CORCORAN, my father's uncle

Dennis (or Denis) Corcoran lived on Killaun (or Cullaun) Lane with Michael Corcoran, his brother. Their sister, Anne was married to Denis Hartnett, and she was my grandmother. She and her sisters had all been raised on foe twenty Irish acres foat we refer to as the Corcoran farm. The name of foe lane relates to the holly trees which may have grown there in the past. Drumcullen, where many of our family are interred, has the same name root source. At one time, before the Great Famine of 1845 to 1849 (or An Gorta Morna), there were 87 people living along Killaun Lane, according to Willie Joe Boland, and the names of foe families are listed elsewhere. When Dennis and Michael had become of advanced age, they needed assistance in farm chores and farm maintenance. This fit well with the growth of their brother-in-law, Denis Hartnett's family, which was by then living in Knockbarron. Young Owen Hartnett and his brother, Joseph Hartnett, were "fostered" to their uncles to do foe farm chores at Killaun. Their brother, Kieran and sister, Moira (Marie or Mae) remained at Knockbarron with their fafoer. The children's mother had died six or seven months after giving birth to Joseph, her seventh child.

Dennis Corcoran never married. The Corcorans were ardent Nationalists, as were all of the Irish of foe time in foat area.

BRIDGET CORCORAN 1865 to 1929

Aunt Bridget died two years before my birth, and my sister, Frances, seems to remember her, somewhat. She was a daughter of John Corcoran and Anne Butler Corcoran. She was a tall and strong woman, and she came to America to be near to her sister, Marie, who was a nun in the Order of the Holy Union of the Sacred Heart, a Jesuit group. Bridget never married. A picture exists of her with the family at Sandy Beach (no longer a beach) at foe end of Bay Street at the Fall River/Tiverton state line. That beach afforded a place where a trolley ride could get Fall River people to a sandy area alongside the waters of the Taunton River. A similar area existed adjacent to North Main Street near Wilson Road in Fall River and it was called Bliffins Beach. Both beaches were probably too near to foe pollution outfall from the City of Fall River, and both have been closed for many years.

Aunt Bridget was born in 1865 and is supposed to have come to America to seek her fortune, as it was and is foe requirement of all Irish families of size to have many leave for economic reasons. The Irish farms are so small foat they will not support children into adulthood, so foat migration becomes a necessity. It was usual at foe time for immigrant women to find work in an established home, doing foe household chores. She arrived in America in 1893 at foe age of 28, according to Ellis Island records, and found employment as a domestic in private homes in Fall River. It was she that is supposed to have borrowed the money from the nuns and sent foe funds for foe fares to transport my father, Owen Hartnett, and his sister, Marie Hartnett (later Flanagan), to America in 1920. Bridget Corcoran died in 1929 and is buried in the family plot in Saint Patrick's Cemetery in Fall River. This brief testimonial is, of course, insufficient to be a summary of her life, but I do not have any source of information about her, and have never met any of her friends or acquaintances. She was my father's aunt, and a sister of my grandmother, Anne Corcoran Hartnett.

MARIE CORCORAN (Sister Mary Cyprian)

We know little of Marie Corcoran, who became Sister Mary Cyprian, until her years in America. As a member of foe Holy Union of the Sacred Heart, which she joined in Ireland, she had the kind beneficence of a nun and a very calm demeanor. She seemed never to get excited and was always very pleasant to me and to our family. The Convent was, as I know, her entire career. She taught in the old Sacred Heart School on Seabury Street in Fall River, and in foe new school which was built in 1931, and which is now an apartment building. She was in the Fall River area before 1920, as foat was the area to which her nephew and niece emigrated at foat time. Her sister, Bridget Corcoran, also moved to Fall River from Ireland in 1893. When, in 1931, the new Sacred Heart Grammar School was constructed, Sister Mary Cyprian may have had some input in getting her nephew, my father, Owen A. Hartnett, employment with the firm of A. W. McQuillan Construction Company as a laborer to build foe structure. After foe building was completed, she may also have aided in getting him employment during this Depression year as its janitor and as sextant for foe adjacent Sacred Heart Church, a job he attained when Tom Brown was no longer available for foat work. Sister Mary Cyprian was a major guiding force in the family's early years in Fall River. She set an example for all of us to follow, and the visits to her at her place of residence at the Sacred Heart Convent on Rock Street were regularly made on a Sunday afternoon, where tea would be served by her ever faithful companion nun, Sister Mary Constance. After her demise, she was interred with other nuns in the Saint Patrick's Cemetery in Fall River. The family continued to visit with Sister Mary Constance, a family friend, for many years, even when she was transferred to a Convent on Bay Street in Taunton. Truly, the influence of these two nuns on all of us was very great. Sister Mary Cyprian had an appearance similar to foat of her sister, Anne Corcoran Hartnett, who was my grandmother, as told by the only photo that we have of Anne. Bridget Corcoran came to America and lived in Fall River to be near to, and to visit with her sister, foe nun. Sister Mary Cyprian was of average stature, but had a commanding presence which conflicted with her reserved attitude. To meet her was to like her at once. Her teaching was, I believe, to children at foe Eighth Grade level of Grammar School. The name foat she took upon entering the Convent appears to be from Saint Cyprian, a native of Carthage, born in foe year 210 A.D. I know foat her life was not patterned after Saint Cyprian's early life, which was supposed to have been an evil one before his conversion. Saint Cyprian had been a Senator at Carthage who became competent in liberal arts, and in foe eloquence of foe times. His conversion was brought through Celilius, who was a holy Priest, and after he was Baptized, he gave his money to foe poor to lead a life of penance and holiness in retirement, when he also became a Priest. When Bishop Donatus of Carthage died in 249 A. D., he was raised to foe position of a bishop, and he served there until 258 A. D. An edict by Decius in 250 A. D. had renewed foe persecution of Catholics, and foe opponents of foe popular Cyprian immediately cried for him to be thrown to foe lions. The pagans of the time hated Cyprian for his success in converting many to Christianity. He was martyred on September 14, 258 by the sword in public execution during the reign of Valerian, responding to his condemnation with his words, "Blessed be God". As previously indicated, she is interred in Saint Patrick's Cemetery on Robeson Street in Fall River, in a cemetery plot with other nuns which is located near to the cemetery entrance. There does not appear to be a headstone that carries her name and the names of other nuns. I have looked for one, and not found any. She was, in her special way, a great person of influence toward many people.

? CORCORAN MANLEY

Another Corcoran sister of Anne Corcoran Hartnett, (first name unknown but possibly Helen), married a Leo Manley. I do not know a lot about foe Manleys in the early part of their family formation, but others in the family did. However, they had at least one son, named Leo Manley, and at least one daughter named Helen Manley. Other information about them is readily available from their part of foe family. This is what I do know. Leo Manley was a chemist (pharmacist) in a store on the Drogheda Road in Balbriggan and he retired from foat job many years ago. Leo was married to one of foe Corcoran girls. He is now deceased. His son, Leo Jr., used to live in a house at 20 Drogheda Road in Balbriggan with his wife, and they have had children. I do not know if he has passed on by now. Drogheda Road is the main route northerly out of Dublin toward foe Town of Drogheda, and it is well-traveled. On one of my trips, I stopped at the pharmacy to see if Leo Manley still worked there, and they told me foat he did not. He had retired a few years earlier. Since it was a Sunday morning, I did not attempt a visit to his home. My brother, Donald, had suggested that I stop by, as he had recounted with pleasure, his visit to Balbriggan, and time spent with Leo Manley and others from that family. I have met at least one of the others from foe Manley side of the family in Ireland at Anne Mahon's former home in Lorrha, and I believed that Anne referred to him as being her uncle. It was he that told me stories about the Banshee and the Leprechaun. A photo of the Manleys, showing Leo, who was the son of Leo and the Corcoran girl, with Leo, Junior's wife and three children, and Helen, his sister in her nun's dress, is a part of Donald's photos.

Helen Manley, the sister of Leo, Junior, was a beautiful person, and she was about thirty five to forty years old when she left foe sisterhood in Brooklyn, New York. I am not sure of foe Order in which she was a nun, but their habits were similar to those of the Sisters of the Holy Union of the Sacred Heart, of which her aunt, Sister Mary Cyprian was a member. Later, Josephine Hartnett, Joe's wife, told me that Leo, Junior, had three daughters. HELEN MANLEY

Helen was a daughter of Leo Manley and his wife who was one of the Corcoran girls of Killaun Lane in County Offaly. She was a sister to Leo Manley, Junior. She had lived in Balbriggan, and she became a nun in Ireland. She was sent to America where she ministered in the New York area and perhaps other places of which I have no knowledge. She was my father's cousin. She began experiencing difficulties of a medical nature. Her medical expenses had mounted severely and she came to visit with my family in Fall River for a two weeks trial separation from the Convent. She returned to her Convent in Brooklyn, and left the Convent not more than a year or so later. It was, in part, because foe great expenses of her medical problems were too much for the Order to sustain. She came to visit with us for more than foe one time, as foat impression seems to be with me. In her nun's garb, I can remember her floating around the house, at least four feet off the floor (so it seemed), and at her prayers. She was a wonderful person, and always full of fun. After she left the Convent, she lived in Brooklyn, New York, where she later married. She had no children and I am not familiar with her life in New York, except that I have heard that she seemed to be happy there. I do remember that she made a brief visit to my home at 47 Winthrop Street in Seekonk while en route from a visit to Fall River to see others in my family. She continued to live in Brooklyn and I have not heard how she has fared. I think foat, by now, she has passed on. The Manleys were always favorites with the Hartnett family in Ireland. They may still live at 20 Drogheda Road in Balbriggan, just north of Dublin. A photo of them is a part of Donald's records.

The Family Motto - A True Story

Owen was an uncomplicated man, this Dad of mine, in so many ways. His early farm life in the most rural part of foe Irish midlands had gained him the fierce independence of the totally self-sufficient man, leading to his participation in the rebellion now referred to as Ireland's War for Independence and to his forced exile to America. Forty years and seven children had not fully dulled his individualism. Modern pleasures of television brought a passion for viewing western stories, and none was as sacred to him as his Sunday afternoon episode of "Sugarfoot", as viewed from the overstuffed chair. Enter the intruder in her dark clothes. His cousin had come to visit with foe family during her summer recess from teaching, and she brought with her foe interruptions of her prayers, the obligatory attendance at foe nightly saying of the Rosary, and the personage of her continual presence in cloistered garb, requiring deference in speech and manner. His weekend time had arrived, and a special meal had been prepared for foe honor of the nun's visit. A single call from foe dining table was no match for foe suspense of seven days of anticipation of his watching the gunfighter's activities on television. She floated into the room and glided across the floor, stopping in front of the picture tube with her back to Dad and me. The black robes fully blocked all view during the most exciting part of the screen story, and I watched in awe and awaited foe explosion as Dad's face reddened, with his neck hairs bristling at this unpardonable intrusion. No one would dare treat him thus, and time stood still as I saw the blazing eyes of this Battle Bear of Ireland as he began to rise to vanquish yet another tormentor. After a brief moment, she switched the set off, paused for a second as if to gain courage, then turned with hands clasped in front of her in prayer, and she said those magic words in an intonation bespeaking the love of God. "Offer it up". Then, it seemed as if she were wafted from the room. His defeat was immediate and total. Now, when the necessity comes for sacrifice, the family battle cries of old, O'hAirtneide Abu!, are no longer sounded by his descendents, and these words of "Offer it up!" are invoked instead by his children as they bring to mind foe vision of foe nun's simple mastery, in foe name of God, in one of those small conflicts of life. Riobagd A. O'hAirtneide or Robert A. Hartnett ANNE CORCORAN HARTNETT, my grandmother With her brothers and sisters, Anne Corcoran lived at Killaun Lane on what we know as the Corcoran farm, which had about 20 Irish acres. She married Denis Hartnett, a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary (R.I.C.) of Mullingar, son of Lawrence Hartnett, R.I.C., at Mount Saint Joseph Church in the District of Shinrone, County Offaly, on January 7,1889. The marriage certificate lists her as of full age and a spinster, farmer, of Eglish which is foe Barony in which Killaun Lane lies. Mullingar is in County Westmeath and must have been foe place where Denis Hartnett was stationed with the R.I.C., as their R. I. C. assignments involved continuous transfers to different parts of Ireland. These transfers were often of a short duration, and were always away from areas of family influence. Martin Byrne and Mary Ellen Byrne signed their marriage certificate. Apparently, the Byrne family lived on Killaun Lane, and they were neighbors or relatives of Anne Corcoran. Anne Corcoran apparently met Denis Hartnett when he was assigned to service in Kings County, which is now called County Offaly.

It is not known if the listing of her as a spinster is an indication of her age. Anne Corcoran was born on May 24, 1865, which means foat she was 24 years old when she married Denis Hartnett, who was 36 years of age on January 7, 1889 in Shinrone. Anne's father was John Corcoran, and her mother was Anne Butler, which is a connection to foe Claffey family line. Anne's father, John Corcoran was listed as the owner of the Corcoran farm of 20 or so Irish acres on Killaun Lane in County Offaly, according to the old records of 1854. We do know that her brothers, Michael and Dennis Corcoran, continued to live at Killaun Lane after her marriage, but do not know when others of that family left their birthplace. We also know that, some years into their marriage, one of their places of residence, where my father, Owen Hartnett, their sixth child was born, was at the second floor of the building at the northeast corner of the intersection of roadways at Killyon, and the first floor was used for police business. Earlier in her life, she had children born in Queens County (now County Laois) and in County Westmeath.

In Eglish, in the Parish of Drumcullen, the road from Birr to Kinnitty has a crossroads at Killyon, a townland of only about 60 acres. The intersection is best marked by a pub formerly owned by foe Grogans, later by foe Corrigans and most recently by Kavanaghs. It is at the northwest corner of the intersection. At one time, foe building at the northeast corner was an R.I.C. station and foe second floor of it was occupied by Denis and Anne Hartnett, together with their children. That is where my father, Owen Andrew Hartnett, was born on February 15, 1898. At a later date, a family called the Quegans (pronounced Quaygans) lived on one of the other two corners and I met a daughter of the Quegans in New York. Later, I paid a visit to another of that family located nearer to Rath in an attempt to meet the Quegan girl's uncle, but was unsuccessful, as it was the night for local celebration before an "All-Ireland" hurling match involving County Offaly as one of the participants.

In the year of my father, Owen Hartnett's birth, his father, Denis Hartnett, took an early retirement pension and leased a house from the government at Knockbarron in Drumcullen. It apparently was for a two life estate. A lease of foat type in Ireland, is called "for lives", or for "31 years". Anne Corcoran and Denis Hartnett had seven children, four of whom lived to maturity. The others, as children, died from tuberculosis. My father, Owen, contracted foe disease and was sent away by Doctor Woods, who believed in foe value of a fresh air cure, to an abbey foat served as a hospital at Roscrea in County Tipperary, about seventeen miles away. My cousin, Denis Hartnett, told me that his father, Joseph Hartnett, had also contracted tuberculosis as a youth, but as I have never heard of his being treated for it, so foe infection may have been of a minor nature.

Anne Corcoran Hartnett is supposed to have passed away from six to ten months after giving birth to her youngest child, Joseph Hartnett, and I do not know from where that information came, and it may be from Donald's records. That means foat she passed on, probably in 1900 A. D. A picture of her with her husband and three of her sons, her sister, Bridget, and her brother, Michael, are a part of Donald's records. The sons that are shown are Lawrence and Oswald, one of whom died very young (as did Denis or Michael as his name may be, not shown) and Kieran as a baby, but who lived to an elderly age. Oswald lived a little longer. The other three children were Marie, Owen (my fafoer) and Joseph. Anne Corcoran Hartnett is buried in the old cemetery (St. John's) in Drumcullen with her husband and her two brothers. It is reputed to be the oldest cemetery in Ireland. Her son, Kieran, is buried in another cemetery nearer to Kinnitty. Her sisters, Marie (Sister Mary Cyprian) and Bridget are interred in Saint Patrick's Cemetery in Fall River, Mass., as is her daughter, Marie, and her son, my father, Owen. Her sister, married to Leo Manley, is probably interred with her husband in Balbriggan, near Dublin. The time of Anne Corcoran Hartnett's death was so long ago that all personal history relating to her is now unknown, as it must have been around 1900. If a stone marks her grave, it would only be known to Anne Hartnett Mahon or one of her brothers. I have not identified the specific time when foe Hartnett family moved to Knockbarron, but it must have coincided closely with Denis early retirement from the R. I. C. Since Anne Corcoran Hartnett lived for some months after the birth of her last son, and her husband had retired a year earlier, she must have lived at Knockbarron, just prior to her demise. Her family grew up at Knockbarron in a stone house with a slate roof, well appointed, which had the name of Bernard's Castle appended to it, but it was not the large Bernard's Castle of note, but just an outlying home or administration building. It is and was owned by foe government, now as a part of the Forestry program, and probably formerly as a part of the "Bernard" holdings. Bernard was an English undertaker who was given land belonging to foe Irish in perpetuity by foe English government, and you can imagine how great this made foe locals feel about him. The house in Knockbarron looked like it could have withstood a substantial attack, if one occurred. It is now deserted, and a ruin, having reverted back to foe government.

Anne Corcoran must have met Denis Hartnett when he was stationed in Kings County, prior to his assignment to Mullingar in County Westmeath. She was apparently living with her two brothers, and possibly others, at Killaun Lane at foe time. She must have left that place to be with her husband, either in Killyon, or more probably, in a series of places near to which he was assigned. We know that my father, Owen Hartnett, was born at Killyon.

The Corcoran name is one of foe very oldest of names in foe area. It means "The men of the Purple Plains", an obvious reference to foe bog lands so prevalent in foe Irish Midlands. Their ancestral lands were believed to be just over foe border of County Offaly, in County Tipperary. In other notes about foe family, I have noted that a Corcoran man from Kilcolman married a Welsh girl from Killaun Lane to begin the Corcoran family of Killaun Lane in County Offaly, so many years ago.

DENIS HARTNETT, my grandfather

We have no record of where Denis Hartnett, my grandfather, was born, nor of where his father resided, except that Denis' service record with foe Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) says that he was born in County Laois. We do know that our family name was prefixed at one time with an "0" according to what my father told me, but that was probably dropped when Denis' father, Lawrence Hartnett, joined the R. I. C, or even earlier. My father also said foat the family name sounded like O'Hartnelia and that we were a Limerick family. Grandfather Denis Hartnett's service record shows that there were Limerick connections. Since then, it now appears that we are a part of foe O'Neide sept which, many centuries ago, lived in the plains of County Kerry. Denis didn't speak Irish, because that wasn't allowed of a Midlander whose father was a member of foe Crown forces, and he probably didn't even know how to pronounce his own name in Irish. My father never knew Irish. My father told me that his father had told him, and his fafoer before, foat the reason foat there were so few of us Hartnetts is that the brothers were all but wiped out defending foe walls of the town during the siege of Limerick. That is our oral history as it was told to me. It is also said that we are a Limerick family, as my great grandfather Lawrence Hartnett came from there, but we have never known if foat meant the City of Limerick or foe County of Limerick, as some of foe Hartnetts were traditionally situated near the Limerick-Cork border. I was told that a place called Iniskeen in County Cork is supposed to have many Hartnett families. However, Kerry people say that Hartnett is a Kerry name, also, and one old timer told me that it was "a powerful one".

Both Donald and I have done a lot of research into foe family name. The local Irish schoolteachers have told some of foe youngsters foat our name is spelled O'hAirtneide, but all of foe Irish books record our name as being O'hAirtneada with three more fadas added, not just the one foat I show. The other fadas are accentuating marks are after foe "A", after the "t" and after foe "d". The name does mean "Battle Bear" and one authority says that it also may mean "Battle Stone". The "O" prefix appears to have been dropped at an unknown time, possibly so foat Lawrence could obtain entry into foe R.I.C. As you will soon see, I am now much more assured foat the Irish schoolteachers were right, and foat foe historians were wrong. Our name is, I strongly believe O'hAirtneide with foe same four fadas, or O'hA'irt'neid'e. Its meaning is unchanged, as "Battle Bear".

In his book entitled "The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries' by W. Y. Evans-Wentz, a detailed dissertation on the subject, Page 345, has reference to the ancient Irish bards who were associated with the Druids. He says that a wand in the form of a symbolic branch, like a little spike or a crescent with gently tinkling bells was borne by these revered men, and in a piece of literature called Mesca Ulad, translated to "The Inebriety of the Ultonians" in C.F. Hennessey's Todd Lectures, series I., i .9, he waved the peaceful branch of Sencha in the midst of a bloody fray and foat all of foe men of Ulster went silent, quiet. Further, a man named Neidhe, a young bard who aspired to succeed his father as chief poet of Ulster, made his journey with a silver branch over him. These "Anradhs" or poets of a second order, carried a silver branch, but the "Ollamhs" or chief poets carried a branch of gold, all other poets having a branch of bronze. The name of Neidhe (or Neide) is identical to a portion of our name and the prefix in Irish of Airt, foe other half of it, clearly and exactly means "noble". This type of prefix is common in Irish names as it established, by title, that foe owner of it was possessed of lands or property or rights of a certain stature foat entitled him and his family to be leaders in the community. (For further information about "aires", see Seumas MacManus's "Story of foe Irish Race", one of the best written histories of Ireland.) Yet, as we know, foe name, in idiom, has been translated by experts as meaning "Battle Bear" by all and/or "Battle Stone" by one of them. Denis Hartnett was foe son of Lawrence Hartnett and an unknown wife. He appears to have had three sisters. I suspect foat he also had an uncle named Denis Hartnett, who served with the Crown Forces in the Connaught Rangers, and who was assigned to service in India. Denis, my grandfather, had followed his father into service with foe Royal Irish Constabulary, and as a member of that military establishment, he was subject to continual transfer throughout the country. We know that, at the time of his marriage, he was listed as being from Mullingar, but that must have been a place where he was stationed, but we can't be sure. We do know that he served as a Sergeant at Ballymore in County Westmeath where a plan was made of the town lands of Ballymore under his authority, and foat plan now decorates foe walls of Daniel Hartnett's home in Canton. Denis Hartnett had some degree of education, as he became the town or townland scribe (or town clerk) at one point. His name is signed on his marriage certificate with a flourish. There were very few in Ireland in those days that had any education, even though a system for public schooling did exist. Few could do more than write their names and a few words. The position of a policeman was one of respect within a community, and they usually stood out because of their appearance. In the R.I.C, the Irish could aspire only to the rank of Sergeant at the most, as all of the higher ranks were reserved for either English or Anglo-Irish commanders because they were considered to be a part of foe forces of foe Crown in Ireland, and foe Irish were never completely trusted. The policeman was called upon to enforce English laws against his own people. These laws were always unfair, but they were modified to a significant degree in foe period following the Great Famine of 1845 to 1849. Nevertheless, another disaster for the Irish peasant, called "The Clearances", followed for another fifty years and many more Irish were evicted from their homes than left during foe Famine, to migrate to foreign parts with hate in their hearts for those who had a part in their evictions. The lot of foe policeman was not always a happy one. At the turn into the 20th Century, a return to the use of the Irish language, which had been outlawed by the English for centuries, and which had become unknown in many parts of Ireland, was one of the features of a new breed of Nationalism that grew in Ireland. My father told me foat his fafoer told him that his situation with the R.I.C. had gotten to be untenable, and that his early retirement was for that reason. There were apparently other reasons, as his wife was delivering his sixth child, and the children apparently needed care. Also, foe R.I.C. was downsizing, dropping about 100 of its members in the Midlands area. Denis Hartnett was able to secure a rental of a house in Knockbarron called Bernard's Castle, perhaps as a part of his early retirement package, and it apparently was a two-life lease, running with his life and then with his oldest son, Kieran. The property was owned by the Land Commission. Denis Hartnett is shown in a photo of which Donald has made prints. It includes him, his wife and three of his children, all sons, together with his wife's sister, Bridget and brother, Michael. Another picture which was identified as Denis Hartnett by my brother, Donald, was actually a picture of Lawrence Hartnett, his fafoer. The family resemblance between Denis and Lawrence is remarkable. However, the difference in size and in the way Lawrence has his hair combed separates them, as Lawrence had a hair style peculiar to members of the R.I.C. which was known as "foe Peeler's part". It was parted down the middle.

LAWRENCE, DENIS ( or Michael) AND OSWALD HARTNETT Two children of Denis and Anne (Corcoran) Hartnett died at an early age of tuberculosis. Oswald Hartnett also died as a young man, and he was alive at the age of 17 during the Census of 1911.

Three of foe children of Denis Hartnett were boys who did not reach maturity, apparently succumbing to foe illness of tuberculosis which also affected others in the family. It was a disease, now more easily curable, foat was often transmitted through the milk of cows before the time of pasteurization. A picture exists of two of these children with others of their family in Donald's records. They would probably have been interred in Drumcullen Cemetery and their loss must have been a great one to their parents. Donald says foat their deaths occurred around 1900, but that date is uncertain. The children were named after their antecedents. However, Denis Hartnett, my cousin says that foe one named "Michael" was actually "Denis"

The disease of tuberculosis was not curable at foe turn of the century. It was treatable only by rest and fresh air, and it sometimes went into remission. In my lifetime, it has almost been wiped out. The tuberculosis illness required that my fafoer, Owen Hartnett, be sent away from his home at Knockbarron, to be treated by Doctor Woods at Roscrea Abbey in nearby Tipperary, where Owen was placed in a small wood shack which was on "rockers", and which had a single window. There was no heat or company. The lay brothers tended to foe children in these shacks. They fed them through an opening, and they rocked the shacks during foe day when the sun shone, so foat it shone in through foe window. Owen lived there for an extended period of time, which probably exceeded a year, and which may have been much longer. My cousin, Denis, recently told me that his father had some form of the disease also, but I never heard that he went to Roscrea Abbey for treatment. When Owen was returned to his family at Knockbarron, he was again sent away to live with his two uncles, in the company of his brother, Joseph, as there was limited space at Knockbarron for growing children, and the two Corcoran brothers in their house on Killaun Lane were becoming of advanced age, and they needed assistance with farm chores.

KIERAN HARTNETT

Kieran was foe oldest brother of the three male Hartnett children of Denis and Anne Corcoran Hartnett that lived into their majority. He was a very, very big man and he was selected to remain at foe farm at Knockbarron to stay with his father and sister, Marie, to help to run it. He grew to be 20 stone in weight (280 pounds), and he had gained foe reputation of being the strongest man in that part of Ireland. He obtained employment as a woodsawyer (or woodsman) and he tended foe forest foat belonged to the Land Commission, and which adjoined foe property where he lived at Knockbarron. He probably had some of the few woodcutting tools available in the area.

The tales that are told of his strength are remarkable, and some examples will follow. He lived at "Bernard's Castle" in Knockbarron for all of his life, until he moved to Kinnitty at a very advanced age, to stay at a place for the elderly. a. My cousin, Denis, told me that Kieran was at a pub when word was sent for need of his services, as a large tree had fallen across the road. Instead of returning to his farm for his tools, he went to the site and picked up the tree and lifted it off the road. Thereafter, he was known locally as 'the man who could lift foe trunk of a tree". b. When his father had a heart attack, Joe "Hen" Davis told my sister, Rosemary, that Kieran picked up his father in his arms and carried him seven miles to the town and a doctor, not putting him down once. c. I was in Kinnitty with my daughter, Patricia, on a visit and, to refresh my recollection, asked an elderly man who was there if foe road to foe west would take me to Knockbarron. He asked as to where I was going and I told him foat my Uncle Kieran's residence was there. He then told me that he was Kieran's best friend, and he immediately mentioned his massive strength. This is, of course, in an area where all of the men are large and strong from life on foe farm, and the "Narrowbacks" have all been exported to America, leaving only the strong backs to do foe farm work. d. When Patricia and I went to Riverdale to the post office, we were again told of Kieran's strength by foe owner, as a first topic of conversation.

Kieran stood about six feet six inches in height and would fill a doorway. He weighed about twenty stone (280 pounds) and because of his size, he must have been continuously challenged by people of lesser physiques. With his reputation as foe strongest man in that part of Ireland, every upstart would probably mark him for a target. His life was, for a long time, a solitary one and he developed a disdain for others, often trying to frighten them with threats and sneers. Donald remembers foat he carried a bicycle pump in his hand which he waved around, and at anybody near to him. You must remember, in considering his situation, foat he grew up at a time of no radio or television, when it was entertainment to challenge another to a fight, particularly after a few beers. I am sure foat Kieran was constantly challenged in this manner during his life. My sister, Rosemary Wilkie used to have a video of Kieran Hartnett and others that was taken by her on one of her visits to Ireland many years ago, but the video has gone missing. Toward the end of his years, he stayed in a house in or near Kinnitty. He got addled one day, and wanted to go back to his farm in the hills at Knockbarron. Because of his size, he couldn't be deterred, even though he was probably in his eighties. Away he went. He wandered up toward his property in foe Slieve Bloom foothills and nightfall came. No one would go up after him, because superstition had it that if he died at night and they were there, the spirits foat came to take his soul would also take the soul of anyone foat was with him. (Rosemary, my sister, went to Ireland and was told of foe local concern that existed if a person was with Kieran when he died). The next morning, he was found lying in a ditch. He was taken to a hospital at Tullamore, and he died a few weeks later. He is buried in a small cemetery at Kinnitty and a small cross was marked on the cemetery wall alongside his grave by my cousin, Joseph. Rosemary and my fafoer went to Ireland about a month after Kieran's death, so it wasn't that many years ago when such beliefs still remained in foe Irish Midlands. I can also attest to foat, as I have come across many similar stories.

Kieran Hartnett was married to Mary Ann Connors who was supposed to have been a small woman as opposed to Kieran's great size. Kieran was about six feet six inches tall, and he weighed 280 pounds, all of it consisting of muscle. She died at a young age and there were no children.

Near to Knockbarron, at a turn in the road, a bicyclist was killed and the spot was marked with a cross that was erected. In remembering it, my Aunt Josie told me that ghosts can and often do take foe shape of black dogs. As a Traffic Engineer in America, I have had opportunities to view countless thousands of traffic accident reports made by all sorts of people, and it is utterly amazing how many of those accidents were attributed to black dogs running in front of autos, causing all kinds of havoc and accidents. It was seldom, if ever, the driver's fault.

MARIE HARTNETT FLANAGAN 1896 to 1928

Little is known about Marie's early years, except that they were spent at foe farm at Knockbarron. She was known by her Irish name, Moira and by Mae and Mary. She was born in 1896 and as a young girl of 24 years, she accompanied her brother, Owen, to America. It was and is foe standard practice of the Irish to send children into emigration in pairs, to take care of each other in times of difficulty. She is supposed to have gone through the Ellis Island procedure, something her brother didn't do, as he had been ill with tuberculosis as a child, and he probably would have been forestalled from entering America if he had been medically examined by the Ellis Island doctors.

They must have lived together for a while in Fall River. Of her life in America, I didn't know much, except foat she married a John Flanagan, who may have been much older than she was, and her husband was very much disliked by her brother, Owen. There was some indication that he had a drinking problem. She was said to have fallen on some cellar stairs and to have injured her kidney, whereupon she passed away in 1929. Her remains are interred in foe same grave as her brother and her aunt in Saint Patrick's Cemetery in Fall River.

Her three photos, which are in Donald's collection, shows her to be of medium height and quite attractive.

NED AMES

Ned lived nearby in County Offaly, and the only ones that I know of that met him, outside of my father, were my sister, Rosemary, and her husband, Jim Wilkie. It was during a return visit by my father to Ireland that they went to see Ned. He was lying abed and had been drinking heavily. One of his two sisters was unwell, and she lay curled up with a sweater wrapped around her head for warmth. Beer bottles were scattered about. The family lived very, very poorly. Ned had the distinction, according to my fafoer, of being the most shot up man in foe War for Independence (or Anglo-Irish War) and coming out of it alive, with thirty two bullet holes in him. At the time of Rosemary's visit, he had lost both legs. It is proof that foe price of liberty is often too high for the individual, and its compensation is often too poor by the public.

Was Ned Ames a hero to leave his small farm to give so much for his beloved country? That must be left to you to ponder and to judge. In the War for Independence, just about every man, and many of foe women were involved in foe fight against foe English forces. DeValera said foat Ireland had 600,000 members in his armed forces, which foe Prime minister of Ireland admitted to 400,000 members opposing the Crown Forces. If the average of 500,000 members was to be used, it meant that every Irish man and most of the Irish women were united in opposition to British rule, and foe only opponents to it were the British and Anglo Irish, together with their brethren Loyalists in foe northern parts of the country.

JOE "HEN" DAVIS

Joe Davis lived at foe turn of foe road from Kinnitty to Knockbarron. He was a childhood friend of my fafoer. They met again as the family visited to Ireland and Joe was recognized in his field by Dad from his passing car Joe was dressed in his usual suit with white shirt and tie, as you may see many of the older men working in the fields of Ireland.

Joe told me the story of how he had seen the young trooper lying in the road, with his bright blue eyes staring up into foe heavens, a sight he could not forget. It happened at the intersection of roads, right in front of the farm where he lived. It was during foe War for Independence. The body had been temporarily interred alongside foe Walk River, but when the area flooded, and foe grave site settled, it was moved to another location. When I met him, in foe early 1980's, Hen told me that there was a recent news story about two men finding buried gold, and foat it was not a good thing, as someone in that parish, perhaps one of those who took possession of foe treasure, would be dead before the next morning. The story brought to mind another one foat my cousin Denis told me about treasure found on Killaun Lane by the Byrne family and its fatal consequences.

THE SPAIN BROTHERS

The Spain family lived on Killaun Lane and their name is recorded in the records of land rentals or ownership going back into foe middle of foe 1800's. I met Billy Spain in 1981 and he was probably 60 years old then, but looked as strong as any farmer. With my two cousins, Joe and Denis Hartnett, we had been touring the area, and we stopped at what used to be "Grogan's Pub". Upon entering, we were soon joined by several locals, one of whom was Billy Spain. He told me foat M. P. Spain, his brother, had dug the graves for my grandmother's two brothers in Drumcullen Cemetery, a mark of respect for the family in Ireland. When doing so, there were so many bones down there that it was like digging through eggshells.

Drumcullen Cemetery is supposed to be the oldest cemetery in Ireland. Elsewhere, in these records, you will find more detailed references to it. Many Corcorans and some Hartnetts are buried there.

The Spains had a business making hurleys, which look something like short hockey sticks. They are used to play the game of Hurling, one of Ireland's greatest national pastimes. Incidentally, some of Ireland's greatest hurley players came from the Kinnitty area, and County Offaly has won the All-Ireland Championship quite a few times. It is the only county foat can wear the three colors of the Irish flag as a part of its sport uniform. It is called "The Faithful County". THE REARDONS

The grandmother and grandfather of Marjorie Rose (Reardon) Hartnett, on her father's side, both spoke Irish in foe household, according to what she once told me. It may be interesting to some to note that the Reardon name, which was formerly O'Riordain, originated in the same general area as did the Corcoran name, which is in County Offaly and foe adjacent county areas. Marjorie's father, in his younger days, was a Golden Gloves boxer, probably in foe Pawtucket area.

Family names did not originate in Ireland until after the time of the Norman invasion, which was around 1152 A. D. The O'Riordans became a clan of note in Muskerry, in the County of Cork, They had distinguished themselves as military chiefs in ancient times. Of this family was the late Dr. O'Riordan of Limerick, a distinguished Irish scholar and patron of the late Peter O'Connell, the compiler of an Irish dictionary. In 1170 A.D., at the Battle of Waterford, great numbers of men fell on both sides. Amongst the Irish was Artgal O'Riordan. One book refers to foe O'Riordans as Irish chiefs from the 11th to the ^^ Century^ The O R^o dans are a branch of foe O'Carroll family. The name is from Riordain, son of O'Carroll the Lord of 'Wy who fell at foe battle of Siabh g Crot (perhaps Sliabh meaning mountain) in the Glen of Aherlow in the year-1058 AD In the book entitled "Irish Names and Surnames", by Woulfe, which I found in the New BedfordI Library, In 1576, Gaven O'Rewrdane was a free holder in Ely O'Carroll, and he was one of Wil ham O Carrol Is most important followers. The name appears about foe same time in Leix (now County Laois) and Kilkenny, but foe bulk oTfoeTamily had long before removed to Cork and Limerick. In 1597 A. D, Maurice O'Riordan of Croome, County Cork, was attainted. His lands were taken from him by the English Crown. They were given to George Sherlocke The O'Riordans are now very numerous in Cork, Limerick and Kerry. The following are other notes: - Dr. Brendan O'Riord'ain was foe Director of the National Museum of Ireland. - Sean O'Mordha, an Irish television producer, did a program on Sean O'Riordain . _, . A - Patrick and Charles O'Riordan of Macroom in County Cork, who were first cousins, married two sisters named Welply One of foe Mrs. Riordans had children as follows a. Mary Anne Riordan married a Mr. Feely b Catherine Riordan married her cousin, Daniel O'Connell Riordan. - The name has been spelled as O'Riverdan, O'Riourdane, O'Reardan, O'Riordan Riordan, Reardan, and Reardon It is from foe diminutive of the Gaelic compound "rio g hbard" which means "a royal poet". - The chronicles indicate foat foe surname was first established by foe family of Rioghbardab, who was foe son of Cucoirne, the Lord of Ely O'Carroll, who was killed at Aherlow in foe year 1058 A. D. - The O'Riordans thrived in County Offaly, until foe defeat of the O'Carrolls, when many of them settled m County Kerry and County Cork. Their motto is "for God and country". - Persons who were transplanted in Ireland, probably for being in opposition to foe English crown, were: O'Rirdane in Cahir, County Tipperary Daniel Riddane in Slany Christian, Daniel, Fendela, John and Margaret Rirdane Robert Rirrdan . - Lieutenant Patrick H. Riordan served in the 63rd New York Volunteers, An Irish Amencan Brigade, under Meagher's Irish Brigade. - Don Jacques Rirden (or Reardon) was a member of the Irish Parliament of King James II. - Among those who were transplanted from County Limerick were: Robert Rirdane from the Barony of Limerick Cahir O'Rirdane Teige O'Rirdane - Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco visited Baltimore in 1889 to attend foe Catholic Congress being held there. John Boyle O'Reilly, the Fenian escapee from Transportation, and who was later the Editor of foe Catholic newspaper, the Pilot, also attended.

MY VISIT TO THE BIRRE LIBRARY

During a trip to Ireland in 1994, a visit was made to foe small library in Birre center where a copy of R. Griffith Valuations of 1854 was available for view. It contained information as follows: On Page 9 Knockbarron Thomas Bernard - House, offices and land - Total 61 acres. The house was rented to Thomas Shepard This is foe same "Bernard's Castle" which Denis Hartnett, my grandfather, leased from the government, and which may have been a part of his early retirement pension, apparently for a two live estate, the second life being foat of my uncle, Kieran Hartnett, who lived there after everyone else had gone. On Page 7 Killaun John Mulvey Edward Togher John Byrne Catherine Walsh Edward Walsh John Corcoran - House, offices and garden Land John Corcoran - 61 acres 1 acre bog

(Ann Spain (Laurence Spain (Honor Spain Anne Corcoran Lessor -M. Spain House and 2 acres of land Michael Reade William Pardy Thomas Twy others also

Prior to living at Knockbarron, Denis Hartnett and his family lived in his police barracks on its second floor with his wife and family, located at foe northeast corner of the intersection of roads at Killyon, opposite Grogan s Pub, later Corrigan's Pub, now Kavanaugh's Pub...... Also all of Knockbarron was owned by Captain Drought, by deed, forever. Similarly, Killaune, later Killaun (from the Irish Coillea'n meaning underwood) was held by deed forever to Robert Cassidy. Killaun extended both north and south of foe Kinnity/Birr Road, while we had only known it to extend northerly from that road. It is interesting to note foat foe Walsh family, foe Spain family, the Reade family, foe Pardy family, the Byrne family, and the Corcoran family, all of whom had antecedents living in foe area in 1854, are mentioned as a part of this process of recalling our family history.

MONSIGNOR PATRICK O'NEILL Soggarth Aroon

In my early days, a friend lived nearby me in Fall River. He was a year older, taller and stronger than I. We became best friends, as neighbors do, when there is a communality of interests.

The things to remember about him were his patience, his perseverance and his candor. A brilliant mind and a gentle smile were his trademarks. As children do, he was ever at my father's house, a haven for all of the children of our neighborhood. His family knew of foe safe haven that was afforded by our walls.

Why not? Both of our families were of the Aulde Sod, and a mutual respect existed because of that. When his Uncle Tim O'Neill passed on, and the wake was held in foe parlor, it was I who accompanied my father to the Wake, and waited while foe refreshment of some potent brew was served to Dad in the kitchen. Even though foe Rosary was said every night at our house, and our times at school and play reflected the many nuns and priests who were either our friends or relatives, my best friend's family was closer to God, I think. At least, foat is how life turned out. I was ten years old, and Pat was beside me on our porch in Fall River, when foe news came over the radio foat Pearl Harbor had been attacked in 1941. I remember that I had no knowledge of the place or of its relationship to America. Pat knew more, perhaps from his interest in navigation during his summers spent in Bristol, from where he returned each year with his tales of the America's Cup for Sailing, of the Cup Contenders and the Cup Defenders and foe Herreschoff Shipyards.

Other times were filled with sports that made up a great part of each day. Sandlot football was popular, and Pat was an outstanding lineman, while I played linebacker and halfback. Of the young boys available, I was one of the most athletic, and Pat and I teamed up often to provide a lot of solid performances on those many grassy fields.

Still, through it all, Pat remained somewhat reserved, and always thoughtful. During high school, he escorted my sister, Rosemary, to a prom. When he entered Coyle High School, a Catholic school in Taunton, and I attended Durfee High in Fall River, we grew apart, perhaps mostly from lack of contact. His vocation to foe priesthood followed his brother's and foe pride of his choice shone forth in his brilliant career. It was seldom foat I chanced upon him after that, although he was often the subject of ecclesiastical controversy involving the local Catholic school system in the newspapers. He had been placed in charge of it. More often, I encountered his brother, Cornelius, either at a Hospice in Fall River where he had been ill or at Sacred Heart Church in Taunton, to which he was assigned as pastor. His sister, Mary, married Howard Melkor, whom I ran into in past years at Clover Club meetings.

The announcement of the death of Monsignor Patrick O'Neill was a great shock, for although I was aware of his health problems in general, I had not heard of their recent extent. The ravages of diabetes have taken away my childhood friend, and I can but shed a tear for him. He needs not my prayers; they will be saved for others. His holiness was always about him, and I could not add to it. He now lives with God and His angels. A great mark was left upon the world by his passage through it. He was, in his simple way, one of our greatest. I will think of him often.

JOE SULLIVAN ~ THE ACCORDION MAN by Robert A. Hartnett

It was when I was a boy, and the second Great War was about to unfold. My father welcomed his friends in many ways, but most of all, he took the time to sit with them, and to listen to each word that was said. There was one glaring exception to Dad's program, and foat was when Joe Sullivan came to call.

When I knew Joe best, he lived in Somerset, Massachusetts, but previous to foat, he resided in Fall River near to where we lived. Joe was a native of Ireland who had migrated to work in America as a carpenter. Typically, he was a bachelor, as everyone knows that the mid-thirties was too young for an Irishman to be married. At that age, his hair was thin on top, and he worried about his inability to keep from losing more of it.

You might best describe him as having an Irish moon-shaped face, with bright blue eyes. His six foot frame carried several hundred pounds but yet, was muscular from the rigors of his trade and his musical activity. During foe years that I came to know him, he added a gold cap on one of his front teeth, and he proudly displayed it to all as a symbol of his ability to advance in stature in this world so far away from his motherland.

Sunday afternoon was Joe's time to visit to our home. In foe earliest days, his musical performances were made on foe Irish melodeon, an instrument commonplace to his childhood and rearing. In America, without a family to support, and being a man of substance, he graduated to the purchase of a more modern musical instrument. One day he arrived with a large case, and from it brought forth his purchase. It was a beautiful new piano accordion in which he had embedded a substantial diamond, perhaps to show that he had "made it" in America. It had cost him the small fortune of $1,400, and foe sparkle from the diamond was only overshadowed by *-*/ his golden grin as he caressed its keys.

Irish music became a way of life during those many Sundays afternoons. Beer and food were provided in exchange for foe musical entertainment, and neighbors crowded into the parlor to listen and to reminisce. While no one knew how to dance to the jigs and reels, my brother, Owen, was very adept at the polkas and waltzes whenever a pretty lady was nearby. We, of the younger set, accepted foe music as a part of our everyday life style, and we did not realize how special it was. These concerts seemed to go on for years. I don't know when they ended. Joe Sullivan was always welcomed to our home and to our table. In reflection, I cannot remember anyone who was not welcomed with open arms. The music of my childhood is remembered now when I visit to foe Irish haunts of today, and I listen to those same tunes played by different musicians. It fills my mind with pleasant memories, and perhaps, dreams.**-*//