My Mother was born in Kilgarvan in 1930 and left Ireland when she was 21 to come to Australia where she met my father about 3 months later. He had not long arrived from Scotland. My mums name was Margaret Mary OCallaghan. Her oldest brother was Patrick and her 2nd older brother was John Francis. They all moved to Australia. John used to travel to Ireland a bit as he was the manager of the Celtic Club in Melbourne for about 30 years. He may have been an Ambassador as hosted Presidents at the club if they came to Melbourne. Their father was John Joseph OCallaghan and he was a shoemaker plus played the fiddle. Their mother was Mary Josephine ODonoghue (or ODonohue). She had a stroke when my mum was born and passed away after another one when my Mother was 11 in 1941 and her father passed when she was 14. They had another son named Connie (Cornelius) who passed away at 8 yrs old when my mother was still very young. (possibly from TB). My Grandfather built the house they lived in. It appears to be from large granite blocks. It appears to be alongside a road without a front lawn. Im trying to find the address and hopefully be able to see it on google maps. I have a photo of it. If I scanned and uploaded the photo - is Kilgarvan small enough that someone may possibly be able to recognise where it is? My Mother said she used to play in the dungeons of Ardtully Castle when she was a child but never mentioned if it was close to her home or a fair distance to walk. I think it was way behind her home - maybe up a hill or downhill (cant recall without searching for photo) The Dr that delivered her was Danjo OCallaghan. Apparently, many, many years ago, their old home was used as a place to rent for tourists or something like that. Quite expensive which was a shock to them as my Uncle Pat sold it for a pittance when he and my Aunt Marie moved to Australia. He even left most things behind including his and Maries own wedding photos and a trunk full of their mothers belongings. When my Uncle John went back to visit about 35 yrs ago, he found their Mothers trunk was still in the attic but sadly it was empty and all their Mothers belongings and any photos there may have been of them were long gone. My Mother passed in 2001 but I will never forget all the wonderful stories she told me of her childhood and the people she talked of so fondly. Her uncle was called Heck because he always said By heck - she had no idea of his real name. I think her own father might have been called Jack instead of John. Danjo the Dr may have been Daniel Joseph. He had a disabled daughter (Downs Syndrome). Her name may have been either Peggy or Colleen. An older cousin she loved very much was named Doll Gaine. Not sure of spelling or if it was her full name. I wish I knew the name of mums school. She used to take her socks off in the snow before school. It was run by nuns. She was left handed and used to get into trouble by a nun. One mustve given her a rap across the knuckles or tried as her brother John took umbrage and threw an inkwell at the nun :) So many stories I wanted her to write down. She started to but never got far and had a massive stroke and was never able to write again. I realise its highly unlikely anyone would still be around from those days but even to see her childhood home and surroundings would be a wonderful gift.:)
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 20:07:01 +0000
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