The Garngad Heritage
The unpublished work

After a visit to my cousin Joe McFarlane in Bishopbriggs to return some photos, I decided to call at the house of my cousin Grace McCaig to see if I could obtain some information on this branch of the family.   Fortunately, I found Grace at home and spent a pleasant hour with her while I persuaded her to part with the following information.   Her brother Joseph (Joe) was born on 2^nd August 1933.  I remember playing with Joe on the streets of Glasgow when we were boys although he was slightly older than myself.   Joe married an Anne Haggarty born about 1937 and they had four children, two sons, Thomas, born 1956 and Stephen, born 1959 and two daughters, Jacqueline, (Jacky) born 1961 and Anne, born 1964.  Joe and family settled in Ontario in Canada but unfortunately Joe died on 31^st October 2001.   Rest in Peace Joe, my memories of you are long distant.   I have written to Joe’s widow Anne in Canada 

Grace was born on 26 December 1934 (I knew she was older than me).   She unashamedly informed me that her oldest daughter Phyllis was born out of wedlock on 30^th April 1956 and retained the name McCaig until she herself married.    Grace married a John Cox who sadly died at the turn of the millennium, (year 2000).

Phyllis McCaig married a Steven Salt born 1953 and they two sons and a daughter, David, born 1979, Hailey, born 29^th January 1990 and Nicholas (Nicky) born 11^th September 1995.

There were three children in the McCaig/Cox union; Patricia (Patsy), John and Michael.   Patsy was born on 9^th April 1960 and married a William Donaldson.   They had a son Stuart, born 6^th January 1980 and a daughter, Karen, born 12^th August 1983.

John Cox was born on 14^th October 1964.   He married a Leslie Romer, born 1965 and they had a son Josh, born 15^th April 1998 and a daughter, Caitlin, born 2^nd January 2000.

Michael Cox, the third child, born 11^th November 1965 remains unmarried.

Grace was getting a little tired during my visit but she did provide me with the following information on her three remaining sisters, Sarah (Sadie), Mary (May) and Elizabeth.   Sadie, born 18^th August 1936 (we were at school together) is married to a William McClure (now that name McClure rings a bell)?, Mary, born May 1939, married to Edward (Eddie) Boyle, born 1938? And Elizabeth, born 13^th November 1945, married to a Carl Giraldi, born 1934.

I shall have to see what other information I can find out about the family McCaig.

My brother Tommy and I planned a short visit to Donegal, to chase up Irish cousins for family information principally in Buncrana, the Cockhill McLaughlin’s and the Martin’s of Keeloges.  We had a ferry booked from Troon to Belfast on 10^th June returning home 5 days later on the 15^th.  However, before we left I received a lot of information from both families by post (just like the Irish)? 

The ‘Cockhill’ McLaughlin’s sent the following information to me; Thomas (Tommy Delaney) McLaughlin, born 8/2/1900, Glasgow, Scotland, died 31/3/1990 and who married in January 1928 to Letitia Burns, born 1906 and who died on 23/8/1949.   They had five (5) children; (1) William, born January 1929 and who died on 22/5/1998.    William was unmarried; (2) Ethna, born in 1933 who married James McGrory;  they had three children (i) Irene, born 1963, who married Phelim McLaughlin (there must be a family connection?) and they in turn had a daughter Letitia McLaughlin, born 1985.   The McGrory’s second child is Linda, born 1967 and unmarried; No. (3) is James (Jimmy) born 1972 and he too is unmarried.   Following Ethna was John McLaughlin, born in April 1932 but who died in infancy in May of the same year.   Next came Thomas (Tommy) born 1937 married to Tessie McCallion who died in September 1984.    Tommy owns the fish & chip shop next to his brother Eddie’s house and he in fact lives above the shop.    Tommy & Tessie had five children; (1) Tracy, born 1967 and married to  Terry Kelly.   The Kelly’s have 2 children themselves; (i) Daryl born 16/11/1987 and Jade, born 1999; (2) Kevin, born 1968 and married to Marie Martin, born 22/5/1971.   They reside in San Francisco USA have a son, Logan born in 2001.   Marie is the daughter of John & Kathleen Martin of Keeloges and Kevin & Marie are in  fact third cousins.   Tommy & Tessie’s third child is Katrina, born 15/5/1971 and unmarried, (4) is Aidan, born 1973 and unmarried and (5) is Sinead born 20/12/1978 and she too is unmarried.

Next in line is Edward (Eddie Burns) McLaughlin, born 9/4/1943 and married to Mary Mulligan, born 8/8/1944.   They have three children all unmarried, (1) Paul, born 6/12/1973; (2) Martin, born 16/4/1975; and (3) Marie, born 2/10/1976.     Eddie owns a local taxi business and operates from his house where his communications are set up.   Martin works for his father.  

The following was not sent by the Cockhill McLaughlin’s but by my father’s first cousin, Agnes Hogan in New Jersey USA.    It was a matter that I had no intention of raising on my visit to Buncrana but the McLaughlin’s did talk about it freely then and they did raise the subject.   Eddie’s father, Tommy (Delaney) was reputed to be the last of the original, Old IRA  in Buncrana, possibly the Inishown peninsula still alive when he died in 1991 aged 91.   He indeed was born in Glasgow, (Garngad in Villiers Street) but returned to his ancestral home Buncrana when he was a boy of 7 years old.   He was living with Eddie and Mary at their home when he died and I am sure he was looked after with tender love and care by Mary, a nurse in the local hospital.   Tommy apparently saw active service in and during the Easter Rising and the Civil War in Ireland and joined the National Army and the foundation of the Irish State.   He later worked in shipyards in Scotland and England before returning ‘home’ to his beloved Buncrana.    In 1991 at his funeral Mass in St Mary’s Church, Cockhill, his coffin was draped in the Irish National Flag and prior to his burial, a guard of honour from the National Army fired three volleys of shots over his grave.   In addition to a large number of family, attending the funeral was a member of the Irish Parliament.   Tommy was apparently laid to rest on the 75^th anniversary of the 1916 Uprising.    A great McLaughlin had passed on.   

The Martin’s at Keeloges sent me the following information.   Martha Jane (Jane Martha) my grandfather’s sister married John Martin, born 1881 and died on 15/8/1916.  They were the grandparents of John Martin who currently occupies the ancestral home with his wife Kathleen.   Martha Jane and John had two children, James, born 1913 and who died 1989.   I met James in the summer of 1889 and his mannerisms were so much like my own father’s that I did return the following day with a bottle of his favourite Irish whiskey.   I wonder if the shock of a Scotsman giving him free alcohol caused a premature death.   Just a thought?     The other child in the marriage was Mary Ellen, born 1915 and who died in 1984.    Mary Ellen never married.     James however did marry May Ann Doherty, born 1913 who died 1989.   I just realised that both she and James died in the same year and that James may have died of a broken heart (speculation).   May was not around when I met James.

I did meet John Martin, born August 1945 on that 1989 visit and have kept in touch ever since.   John married Kathleen O’Hagan, born 1945.   They have 7 children (1) James, born 5/7/1969; (2) Marie, born 22/5/1971; (3) Elaine, born 13/4/1972; (4) Kathleen, born 30/3/1974; (5) Clare, born 30/4/1975; (6) Sadie, born 25/4/1976; and Jonathan, born 30/4/1983.    A strange fact about John and Kathleen’s children is that apart from the youngest Jonathan, who was born in Buncrana, the rest were all born in Birmingham, England.   James the oldest is married to Janet Tobin who was born about 1969.   They have one daughter Amy, born 14/13/2003 in Wexford.   Marie is married to Kevin McLaughlin who is mentioned before, the son of Tommy McLaughlin of Cockhill.   They reside in San Francisco, California USA and a son, Logan McLaughlin, born 23/1/2001 in California.    Their daughter Elaine, next in line, unmarried has a son, Jonathan Martin, born 13/10/199.    Their next daughter Kathleen married James Hegarty and they have a son Michael, born 13/12/199.   The other 3 children, Clare, Sadie and Jonathan remain unmarried.

On the Sunday before my brother and I left for Ireland, 6^th June, I received a telephone message from Eddie McLaughlin at Cockhill.  He informed me that “The Poet” would like to meet me while I was in Buncrana.   I knew he was talking about the local bookie, Liam McLaughlin, whose father was John (The Poet) McLaughlin.   Liam and I had the same common Great great grandparents, John McLaughlin and Kathleen (Katie Owens) Doherty.   I also had already arranged to meet Liam’s sister, Myra McColgan, who had previously written to me after a circular letter I had prepared was printed in a local newspaper.

And so to Ireland.   On the morning of 10^th June I picked up my younger brother Tommy at his home, motored down to Troon, boarded the ferry which left at 11am and we arrived in Belfast shortly before 2pm.   After a leisurely drive across country we entered Buncrana.    I felt as if I had arrived home.    We were due to see Eddie and Mary McLaughlin in their house in Cockhill Road that evening but they were called unexpectedly away elsewhere but we did see their son Martin and arranged to call back the following Sunday.   We however walked into town and visited the local betting shop, hoping to meet Liam (The Poet) but it was his night off.   However, we did meet his brother Sean who was in charge of the premises that evening.   We introduced ourselves, Tommy had a bet on the next race off but alas, he lost his money.   We had an early night, the following morning we were due to meet the McBrearty’s in Derry.

Day two, Derry.  After breakfast on the 11^th, McBrearty’s,1 Lenamore Gardens

was our destination.   Packy, his wife Grace and their daughter Donna welcomed us in.   Donna’s baby son Niall was in the house as well.   However, during our visit, other members of the family arrived I suppose to see what the two mad Scotsmen looked like.

I obtained the following information from the ‘collective’ McBrearty’s.    Red iHarry’s sister, Elizabeth (Lizzie) McLaughlin married Daniel (Danny) McBrearty.  They had  11children.

(1)  Joseph (Joe), born before 1911; (2) Kathleen, born before 1913;   (3)  Mary Elizabeth, born about 1915;  (4) Ellen, born round about 1917;  (5) Martha, born about 1919;    (6)  May; born round about 1921; (7)  Daniel (Danny), born about 1923; (8) Thomas (Tommy), born 1927;     (9)  Patrick (Packy), born 16/5/`930; (10) Veronica, born about 1933;  & (11) Bernadette (Betty); born 1935;  a Clan in itself;   Packy and Grace then went on to tell us the names of their children, their husbands/wives with their children from oldest to youngest.

(1) Daniel, born in October 1954, married Ann O’Donnell. They have 4 children, (i) son, Colm, born 1886, & three daughters, (ii) Onya, born 1989, (iii) Aisling, born 1990 & (iv) Coibne, born 1993.

(2) Phelim, born 22/2/1956 married to Mary McNicol.  They have 3 children, two sons, 1 daughter, (i) Niall, born 1984, (ii) Deirdre, born 1986 and Connell, born 1989.

(3) Patrick, born 16/5/1957 married to Patricia Horner.  They have 5 children, (i) Francesa, born 1985, (ii) Lucia, born 1986, (iii) Aaron, born 1987, (iv) Natalie, born 1990, and Jason, born 1996.

(4) Angela, born 4/11/1958 married to James Stewart, born 24/11/1948.  They have 5 children (i) James Jnr, born 1982, (ii) Gavin, born 1983, (iii) Grainne, born 1984, Declan, born 1986, and (v) Mhairaid, born 1996. Grainne & Mhairaid are daughters.

(5) Geraldine, born 14/10/1959 and unmarried.  She lives in New York, USA

(6) Damien, born 1961 and married to Rosemary Campbell.   They have two daughters, (i) Caira born 1988 and (ii) Colleen, born 1992.

(7) Donna, born 11/3/1964, married to John Cartin, born 9/4/1966.   They have four children, (i) John Jnr born 1990, (ii) Grace, born 1994, (iii) Shane, born 1997; Niall, born 2003.

(8) Kieran, born 15/2/1966 married to Marie Doherty, born 1966.   They have 3 children, (i) Linda, born 1989, (ii) Duane, born 1990; (iii) Demi-Lee, born 1998.

(9) Shane, born 25/2/1968, married to Catherine (Cathie) Moran.   They have 2 children, Conal, born 2001 and Ryan, born 2003.

(10) Manus, born 10/6/1969, married to Marie Friel.   They have 3 children, (i) Donna, born 1989, (ii) Manus Jnr. born 1991, and (iii) Sarah, born 1992.   Manus however has fathered a fourth child Gemma, born 1998.    Gemma’s mother is a Roisin Walker.

Packy gave us a little more information about the family.   Two of his sisters, Veronica, born 1933 and Bernadette (Betty), born 1935, had emigrated to the USA.    Veronica is married to a Joseph Kievit.    The Kievit’s have 2 sons, (1) Joseph (Joe Jnr), born 1954 married to Sharon Smith who in turn have 4 daughters, (i) May, born 1987, (ii) Maura, born 1989, (iii) Molly, born 1993 and (iv) Megan, born 1996.   Their other son is Daniel (Danny) born 1959.

Betty unfortunately died early this year.   She was married to a Duane Thompson born 1934.   They have four children (i) Patrick (Pat) born 1956, (ii) Michael (Mike) born 1958, Elizabeth and Colleen.   They live in the North Dakota area of the States.

Tommy and I had a wonderful time at the McBrearty’s, the hospitality was first class but what else could you expect from the Irish.   We had to return to Buncrana as we had arranged a meeting with Myra McColgan, of “The Poet’s family that evening.

After Tommy and I had had dinner that evening, we returned to our B&B and phoned Myra, as I did not know exactly how to get to her house.  This was by a pre-arrangement.   Shortly afterwards, Myra arrived in a car with her sister Sinéad and, prior to following them up to the McColgan house on Boyne Hill, Sinéad took us into the betting shop to introduce us to Liam (The Poet), her brother. Liam invited us to his home the following evening; he insisted that his mother in law would love to meet us.

On arrival ay Myra’s home, Sinéad could not stay, as she was involved with the local elections that day.   Her secretary was standing for election and she was giving support.   She however averred that she would return when the polling was over.

Myra started by clarifying information on the death of her Grandfather Henry (Harry) McLaughlin.   She said that he had died in the Great War at Flanders on 10^th November 1918, the day before the armistice.   It would appear that he stepped on a land mine.  She also made a special mention of the fact that Harry’s widow remarried a William Longwell who took on the responsibility of providing for Harry and Maggie’s four children, after they moved back to Ireland.   Indeed, the current members of the family looked upon William Longwell as a fond grandfather and for that reason, I thought it worthy of his inclusion in this dissertation.

John (The Poet) McLaughlin and his wife Minnie had 6 children and Myra then provided information on her family as I asked the questions.   Her brother Liam, born 1951, was the oldest.  Liam married Kathleen McCulloch, born 1959 and they have 3 children, Roisin, born 1982, Sarah, born 1984 and John, born 1986. 

Next came Donall, born 1953 and married to Bernadette Walsh, born 1959.   They have 3 sons, Donall Og, born 1996, Caoimhin, born 1997 and Fiachra, born 1999.  

Myra herself born, 1955 was the third member.   She was married to Liam McColgan, born 1955.   They have 6 children, 4 sons, (i) Seán Eoghan, born 16/4/1980, (ii) Daithí, born 23//3/1982, (iii) Liam Og, born 16/3/1986 and (iv) Kevin Donall, born 21/6/1988 and two daughters (v) Aoibheann, born 28/11/1991 and (vi) Sinéad Maria Assumpta, born 30/8/1994.  

Next in line of “The Poet’s family was sister Noleen, born 1955, married to Joseph Conboy, born 1950.   They have 3 children, Joseph-Lochlann, wonder where he got the Lochlann name from, born 12/4/1984, Riona Mary, born 31/5/1987 & Ailba Anna, born 28/8/1993.  

Then followed Seán whom Tommy and I had met in the betting shop the previous evening.   Seán, born 1960 married Marie Eccles, born 1962.   They have 2 sons, Cahir, born 17/7/1985 and Ruairi, born 31/7/1987.  

Finally there is Sinéad, born 1962.   Sinéad is the only unmarried one of the family.  Sinéad had returned to Myra’s home and we chatted for a while and she invited Tommy and I to her home the following day as she apparently had a little information, which she said, might interest us.   Myra I may add at this stage was a teacher and taught in the local school and she said she worked for a wonderful boss.  Her little sister Sinéad was the School Principal.  Little sister?  Sinéad I may add is quite a tall person.

The following day, as we were not due at Sinéad’s house until 2.30pm, I took Tommy on a little trip to visit a few places in the Inishown Peninsula.  We had quite a pleasant morning and managed to arrive at Sinéad’s right on time.    Sinéad past over names which I gathered were the offspring of her Great grandfather “Red” Henry and which I assumed came from Seán Quinn and list them here, at this stage as a courtesy, with no dates of or order of births, deaths or other means for identification.   All McLaughlin’s they are (i) John; (ii) Michael/Mick; (iii) Kathleen/Kitty; (iv) Ena, who died as a child; (v) Henry; & (vi) Sarah who apparently married John Cassidy   Sinéad went on to mention another Michael (known as Sullivan) who married a Theresa Grant and John, who married a Mary Halfpenny, the latter two apparently the parents of nine (9) sets of twins.   I found the suggestion of 9 sets of twins to one set of parents as highly unlikely.   We speculated on the Michael given the nickname “Sullivan” and I suggested that as Seán Quinn’s father & uncle had reputed to be boxers, perhaps this Michael had been given the name for some reason after the world heavyweight boxing champion during the 19^th century, John L Sullivan but Sinéad doubted that.  We had a good afternoon at Sinéad’s house and during our visit, she informed us that all her family, brothers and sisters were known as The Poet. She was “Sinéad the Poet”

After our evening meal, Tommy and I went to vigil Mass at St. Mary’s Cockhill, after which we met up with John Martin, he showed me some of the graves I was interested in at the adjoining cemetery and I took some photos of headstones.  One I didn’t know about and was shown was that of Con McLaughlin and Hannah Barr, Seán Quinn’s grandparents.  Seán, two days later confirmed that his Great grandfather “Red” Henry was interred in the same plot.

Tommy and I then made our way to Liam The Poets house where we met his wife Kathleen and her mother.   John Martin and his wife Kathleen joined us slightly later.   Sinéad was present as well and we all enjoyed glasses of wine and a good conversation or as the Irish call it ‘the craic’.   Liam had apparently been christened as William Henry and his brother Donall, as Daniel Oliver.   He said neither he nor Donall would object to their original given names being shown on my family tree.   While at Liam’s, I arranged with the Martin’s to call at Keeloges the following morning.

Tommy and I arrived at Keeloges at 11am on the Sunday.   We were shown the usual Irish hospitality and a large number of photographs, some of them surprisingly, showing my grandmother “Big Gracie” along with various members of the family including “Lizzie” McClure   Gracie apparently had been a regular visitor.   One photo that really caught my attention was of a 13^th? Child of Big Tom and Lizzie, Mary McLaughlin who had apparently gone to Australia to be married.   The photo showed Mary, her husband Will (William?) and wee Billie a child in arms, taken at a photographic studio. In the bottom right hand corner was the embossed address, Embassy Studios, 125 Chapel Street, Prahran.   I later found that Prahran was a suburb of Melbourne Australia.   I wonder if this Mary was the Maria Teresa of whom I already had a record?    We already had heard about a Mary going to Australia at the McBrearty’s house in Derry.   Mary had worked in a shirt factory where quite a lot of their goods were made for export and apparently she had stitched a message into the shirt that she was a single lady of marriageable age looking for a husband, inviting responses from single men.   The message apparently had mentioned that married men need not contact her.   Her future husband had apparently purchased the shirt or may have seen the message and that is how the romance began with the eventual marriage.   A charming wee story.

Our next stop that Sunday was to the home of Rosaleen Cassidy whom I had heard about from the ‘relations’ in the USA.   I had a photograph of Rosaleen with Molly Maffei, Agnes Hogan and her sisters.   Molly thought that there was a connection with Rosaleen as a Cassidy forebear had married a McLaughlin.   I had telephone Rosaleen from Keeloges and the good lady delayed a visit to her daughter’s home for her Sunday lunch.

At Rosaleen’s we found that she had suffered a tragic loss of a son a few weeks previous.   She produced an old photograph in an oval frame of her late husband’s grandfather John Cassidy who married a Sarah McLaughlin, who bore him a son Henry (Harry) in 1883 and who in turn was killed on 20.9.1917 during World War 1 while fighting for the British Army.  Before going to war Harry had married a Marjory (Madge) Grant and their son, John Emmet Cassidy had married Rosaleen (neé O’Donnell).    I promised Rosaleen that I would try to determine if in fact Sarah McLaughlin was connected to the family.   Before we left, I took a photograph of  Rosaleen and Tommy with Tommy holding the photograph of John Cassidy and Sarah McLaughlin.

After dinner that evening, Tommy and I paid our visit to Eddie McLaughlin in Cockhill Road; his wife Mary was still working at the hospital.   Martin was at home and during the visit, Eddie’s brother Tommy came into see us from his shop next door.   Eddie produced a bottle and of course I accepted a few liberal portions of the liquid he produced.   I didn’t know if was Scotch, Irish Whiskey, Poteen or a mixture of all three.  

We were deep in conversation when Mary came in and she produced a newspaper clipping of another Tommy McLaughlin, this time the brother of Agnes Hogan in the States.   Tommy was a tank commander in World War 2 with the United States Army who saw action in the Far East.   He is no longer with us may he Rest in Peace.    Although I denied it, Mary insisted that she had shown the clipping on a previous visit.   “The Cockhill Brew” must be very potent.    Eddie was quite open about his father being a member of the ‘Old’ IRA and I let him go on about this extraordinary gentleman.   Mary promised to send me the newspaper clipping of tank commander Tommy.  By the time Tommy and I were leaving the house, the McLaughlin’s daughter Marie insisted on driving us back to our B&B despite the fact it was less than a 5-minute walk away.   I did appreciate Marie’s offer.

Monday, 14^th June; after breakfast, we made our way to Letterkenny and obtained a little local information, prior to calling at Seán Quinn’s home.   Seán's son Niall was in the house as well.  

Seán produced a wealth of material, asked what we wanted, we answered anything he good give and he started reeling off names of his own side of ‘the family’.   I found it difficult to follow as he and Tommy were engaged in conversation as well and could only log brief details as fast as I could.   I noted the following:

‘Red’ Henry McLaughlin’s family:-

1st he married Nancy Bell then Fanny (Old Fanny) Doherty.   The ‘Red’ Henry and Nancy Bell children were;

(1) James:- born ??? died 1910 – married Mary Halfpenny, had 9 sets of twins.   Is this an Irish folklore or do they really exist.    Names………….?

(2) John:- born?? Not married – went to sea

(3) Michael:- born 6.2.1877 @ Mick the Blacksmith, married, who??? N o children

(4) Henry/Harry:- born 1887 died 10/11/1918. I already knew who he married and the names of his children; grandchildren, (The Poet’s offspring)

(5) Sarah:- born 5/10/1863.  , married to  John Cassidy on 24/4/1880; Their  children (1) Sarah; (2) Alex; (3) Henry/Harry, born 1883 killed 20/9/19017 in the 1914-1918 war; this revelation consolidated the information I had received the previous day from Rosaleen Cassidy; her family could now all be included in my family tree.

(4) Nancy; (5) John; (6) Daniel (Dan);

(6) Ena (died as a child) finishing with

(7) Kathleen/Kitty.

“Old” Fanny Doherty, “Red” Henry’s second wife gave birth to Seán’s grandfather Con McLaughlin who married Hannah Barr.   Their offspring are as follows:

(1) Frances (Fanny) born 12/12/1913; never married;

(2) Mary Ellen born 1917 (still alive) married Stewart Cameron (Canadian soldier) – two daughters, no names; one killed in a motor accident;

(3) Sarah/Ann; No date of birth; died after 6 months;

(4) Daniel (Dan); born 17/3/1920 married Peggy Dooley – No children

(5) Ena (Seán’s mother) born 6/4/1922

(6) Harry – born 6/10/1923; never married.

(7) Roseanne; born 1/8/1925    married John McLaughlin (retained the McLaughlin name) three children, (1) Danny; (2) Sharon & (3) Carol.

(8) Margaret (Maggie); no date of birth, died 4 years old with whooping cough.

(9) A still born child – no name

(10) Teresa – no date of birth; died one week old

(11) Hannah; no date of birth, died few months old after Con’s death.

Quite a tragic family?

The Quinn’s; Ena McLaughlin married Daniel Joseph (Joe) Quinn; Their children are:- 

(1) Seán Eoghan (the man himself); born 1952married to Anne Farrell, born 1953.  Their three children are (i) Ena Kathleen, born 1988; (ii) Niall Domhnall Mel, born 1989 & (iii) Eoghan Connal Mel, born 1995.

(2) Marie, no date of birth  – Married Michael  Furlow; three children (i) Laura; (ii) Mark & (iii) Rebecca.

(3) Conal, no date of birth; Married Evelyn Pearce; two children (i) Ena & (ii) Martin

(4) Donall, no date of birth; Married Christine (Chris) Waters; three children (i) Daniel; (ii) John & (iii) Aisling.

(5) Patricia, no date of birth; Married Thomas Redmond; two children (i) Megan & (ii) Gavin

(6) Ethna, no date of birth; Married Paul Lyons; two children (i) Aoife and (ii) Donall.

Seán gave further information but because I was writing very fast, I feel I was only able to grab the bare bones of what he was saying and the following is subject to alteration at a later date.   He averred that “Old” Henry had children other than John, our mutual Great, great grandfather.   They were two girls, no names who died early in life and two brothers, Hugh and another Henry.   Hugh had married a Kathleen Doherty also know as Dobbs.   No more was known about Hugh or Henry.

The following appears to be further information about “Red” Henry and “Big” Tom’s brothers and sister.

(i) Michael married Theresa Grant.   Their children:

(1) John, who was apparently only 4 feet tall (humorously nicknamed Sullivan after John  L Sullivan, the champion world heavyweight boxer of the 19^th century).  John Married, wife unknown, they had a daughter Kathleen who married an Alex Daney and they had a big family.   No names.

(2) Charles, married, no wife’s name but apparently had 5 sons and 2 daughters, no names.

(3) Michael, married, no wife’s name but apparently had 1 son and 2 daughters, again no names.

(4) John, no wife’s name but apparently also had 1 son and 2 daughters, again no names.

(5) Anne (Annie) no further information;

(6) Theresa, no further information;

(7) Bernadette who apparent married a Thomas (Tom) O’Sullivan).

(ii) Hugh married Kitty Doherty, (Old Fanny’s sister).   Hugh apparently joined the 5’60 Irish Papal Brigade who volunteered and fought against Garibaldi.

(iii) Edward (Eddie) went to and became a ‘Land Steward’ in Scotland.

(iv) John, No further information

(v) Unity, the only sister, never married.

I thanked Seán for all the information he had given us and gave him quite a lot of information on my side of the family.   He was genuinely surprised about the amount and the source of some of the information I gave him.

After Tommy and I left Seán’s home, we made our way up to Glenvar, basically to walk on the village streets that “Lizzie” McClure had walked.    In Glenvar we found and undertaker’s business and, on making enquiry, found that a family of McClure’s, a sister and two brothers lived in the area and we were given directions to their house, which was a little out of the way but not to difficult to find.

At the McClure house we introduced ourselves and there met David, John and their sister Brigit.   From what they told us we got the distinct impression that they were perhaps, descendents of “Lizzie” McClure’s forebears.   One of the things they mentioned was that their father John had told them of his ‘Auntie Lizzie’, rowing across the Lough Swilly to attend a sort of festival in Glenvar on St. Patrick’s Day.   They also told us that although the family were Irish Presbyterians, they did in fact convert to Catholicism.  We promised them we would make enquiries to determine if they were in fact the same McClure’s as our Great grandmother “Lizzie”

We had a great day meeting Seán and the McClure’s and it ended with dinner in the evening at my expense.   It was the “Wee Fella’s” (Tommy) birthday.

The following day, 15^th June was our last day.   After breakfast we went to the local school to make our goodbyes to Sinéad and her sister Myra.   We promised to keep in touch. 

We then started on our journey home but as we were virtually passing the McBrearty’s door in Derry, we stopped in to say goodbye.  Packy and Grace insisted on making us a cup of tea, which we kindly accepted and just as we were finishing, their daughter Donna arrived with her son and insisted that we have another cup and provided a tray of sandwiches and biscuits for our benefit.   The Irish cannot take ‘no’ for an answer.   Before we left I took some photos of Packy, Donna and Tommy and Donna took a photograph of me with the other two, all with my camera.   We left.

 A slow, gentle drive to Belfast, the Ferry to Troon, back on Scottish soil and home for shortly after 7pm that evening.   A great trip to Ireland, the land were the McLaughlin’s once reigned as Kings. 

At home, I sent letters to Veronica Kievit, (Packy McBrearty’s sister) in New Jersey USA & Duane Thompson, (Packy’s brother-in-law) in North Dakota USA.   I have had a response from Duane’s daughter Colleen by email.  She provided the following information.   Her mother, Bernadette (Betty) McBrearty, born 8/5/1934 and who died 11/2/2004 had married her father Duane Thompson, born 7/11/1933.   They had four children;

(1) Patrick Allan(Pat) Thompson, born 12/10/1956 who married Nancy Haskin, born 1960 but are now divorced.   They had two children (i) Jessica, born 15/6/1985; and (ii) Shannon, born, 10/5/1989;

(2) Michael Duane (Mike), born 25/4/1960;

(3) Karen Elizabeth, born, 10/8/1965

both Mike and Karen were married but are now divorced; no children; and

(4) Colleen Marie, born 18/5/1973.  Colleen is unmarried but she has given birth to a child, Michael Devon Rahn, born 27/5/1995.

I have corresponded with Colleen by email on several occasions and we both have sent each other, family photographs.

I received a letter from Eddie & Mary McLaughlin (Cockhill) containing the two newspaper clippings of Tommy McLaughlin, the Tank Commander (USA Platoon Sergeant) referred to in page 50 above, who served at one time under General Douglas McArthur in the Philippines.  On the rear of one of the clippings was a hand written account of how he was ordered to evacuate an area, refused to do so because of the number of injured colleagues, ask for a volunteer and with the volunteer, helped the injured into his tank.  A doctor later praised him for saving several lives and said he would recommend him for a Silver Star, he declined and asked that it be given to the volunteer.  A magnanimous suggestion.

The Cockhill Branch also sent a full page of the Donegal News for June 18^th 2004 with a Headline “Opening shots of Civil War fired in Buncrana.” Above the Headline was a blurred photograph of 9 men, one of whom was Tommy (Delaney) McLaughlin, the ‘last of the old IRA’ mentioned at page 50 above (Eddie’s father).   The ‘article’ was an account of an incident on 4^th May 1922 where a bunch of ‘irregular’ soldiers entered the town, raided a bank and remained.   The ‘Buncrana Volunteers’ later that day became involved with the ‘irregulars’ and this action apparently triggered off the Civil War in Ireland.   Deaths occurred that day and in an incident afterwards but the ‘article’ was a verbal account of what happened that day, given to the author of the ‘article’ by Tommy (Delaney) McLaughlin, on 17^th February 1985 – an Irishman, and incidentally also a Garngad man, born, at Villiers Street in the Garngad Glasgow, Scotland.

I also wrote to the Parish Priest of  Mary’s in Glenvar, Canon Peter McMahon and I received the following information on the McClure family of Carngarrow, Glenvar.    There was a William McClure, born 24/6/1889 of David McClure and Anna Doherty living in Carngarrow but no more McClure’s until David McClure of David McClure? and Mary Sheerin, born 6/8/1931 in Balbre.   The reason for the question mark was that the Priest was of the opinion that the wrong name David was listed as the father of the David we met as John and Bridget’s (Brigit) father was John McClure. Bridget McClure was born on 13/3/1933 at Carngarrow, John born 8/7/1936 at Ballincraig, which adjoins Carngarrow and their parents, are recorded in Parish records as John McClure and Mary Sheerin.    As the family were formerly Presbyterian, Canon McMahon referred me to The Rev. Stephen Rea at Kerrykeel, the Presbyterian Minister for the area.

I wrote to The Rev. Stephen Rea and received a reply that because he was responsible for ministering to five (5) parishes, he was unable to research Parish records but referred me to the Donegal Ancestry, The Quay, Ramelton, County Donegal.   I found that they had a web site on the Internet, send them a request with full details and I received an email on 30^th July that their researcher was on holiday but they would get back to me as soon as they could.

I also made some enquiry about Mary McLaughlin and the photo that John Martin had given to me with the name of the photographic studio in Prahran.   I discovered that Prahran was a suburb of Melbourne in the State of Victoria in Australia.    I sent emails with a copy of the photograph to The Herald Sun (Newspaper) the Catholic Arch Diocese of Melbourne and the Local Authority responsible for Prahran and surrounding areas but at 31^st July, none of them had responded.

I have sent personal letters with copies of photographs off to Australia to all three bodies mentioned above, hoping for some response.