The Cunningham's in Carrick-on-suir

Cuimhnich air na daoine o’n d’tháinig thu

Remember the people from whom you came

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Dear Relatives, The contents of the following pages are the fruit of your memories. The purpose of compiling this history is for no other reason but to document a family worth remembering. All too often we try to ignore the more painful memories. But whether pleasant or regretful, memories are the things that make us the people we are. This collection of our memories (all good I hasten to add) is thus a celebration of what has made us the family we are today.

I’d like to thank everyone who has helped in this compilation of recollections particularly Mary Ashe, Maggie Rallings, John Connelly, Michael Kerwick and the Natioinal Library in Dublin. The information presented herein is correct insofar as we can determine. A certain amount of poetic licence has been taken when recounting the lives of more distant relatives.

All photos are by Paul Ashe unless otherwise acknowledged.

A family tree is an organic living thing and I hope this tree will be added to as our family continues to grow.

Paul Ashe 2009

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The wisps of ghosts flow through our veins To make us who we are these days Deep-set eyes or a hearty laugh Remind us of our ancestors past From root to bud our history flows We go back in time as our family grows Paul Ashe 2009

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Picture a tree. A bare, autumnal tree in a flat desolate field, on a bleak autumnal afternoon. Look at the tree at a distance from which you can appreciate the details of the soon-to-bud outer branches, but at the same time see the tree in its entirety. From the very tips of its extended twigs reaching out to the air scratching the sky as they move in the wind, follow the past back down every curve, bump, eye and notch. Follow the ragged, almost uncontrolled line back toward the thicker branches that support the weaker more recent arrivals. Continue, back in time, over the cracked, weather-beaten bark of the older branches. Don’t stop, carry on back in your voyage into history, back to the branches that, in turn, gave birth to those stronger branches until you reach the heart of it all. The trunk. The centre of everything – at least for that particular tree. But where would the trunk be without its roots?

What makes you, what shapes you are your roots. You sprout and grow from them and then reach out into the world for all to see. But your roots decide what you are and this is our tree. This is who we are.

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TIMES WERE HARD AND WERE TO GET HARDER Our roots can be traced with certainty as far back as 1831 which is where the paper trail runs dry. Let us set the scene prior to this moment before we meet those that were shaped by and in turn helped to shape the Carrick-on-Suir of today.

Carriag-na-Suire (Rock of the Suir) has seen many a hardship, and was founded following the battles of the Norman Conquest around 1247. Back then it was called Carrickmagriffin and was an important town in the area. In the 14th Century a family descended from the butler of the English Prince John took over the town. Edmund Butler built a castle where the current Ormond Castle now stands and later became Earl of Carrick. After many a scuffle for power in Carrick and seeing the coming and going of Black Tom, Carrick was visited on 17th November 1649 by Oliver Cromwell. The Carrrick men and women put up a good fight against his forces but in the end between three and four hundred of them were slain and buried in the Garrai Rua (aka Gorryrue) or Red Garden. The jostling for land continued and in 1660 we can read that a buccaneer named Cunningham was given lands in Carrick for his services to the English Navy (which he promptly sold to a man named Barker) although the Duke of Ormond considered Cunningham a pirate and took the lands back from Barker. 1 In the eighteenth century the wool-industry grew strong. The Carrick people would spin the thread and weave it before taking it to a mill to be finished and dressed. The unprocessed sheep’s wool was covered in human urine and left to dry outdoors in areas such as The Racks (currently O’Mahoney Avenue) and Rackhill in Carrickbeg, all areas later generations of Cunninghams would take as their abodes.2 We must never forget that Carrick-On-Suir is open to the elements and in 1739 it didn’t have the concrete protection that it has today which keeps off the morning mist and softens the bitter cold. The frost that year was the cause of a great famine. This wouldn’t be the first or the last famine Carrick would see either.

It seems that agricultural hardships and political unrest have been frequent issues in Carrick’s history. 1798 saw the rising of the United Irishmen and a poor harvest meant life in Carrick could only get tougher. 3 The wool industry started its decline and many began to emigrate in search of work. It was with this depleted population that White, Pitt and the local schoolmaster Patrick Lynch decide to carry out the historical census of Carrick in 17994. They found 10,907 people living in just 1,738 houses.5 Although we are still unsure of the relationships to our direct line, this census tells us that the following Cunninghams lived in Carrick-on-Suir in 1799: Husband John Cunningham Dennis Cunningham William Cunningham Dennis Cunningham

Age 25 64 46 45

Profession Boatman Labourer Corn Factory Boatman

Spouse Ellen Mary Anty Mary

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Age 23 35 46 50

Residence Davin’s Old Quay - Carrickbeg Davin’s Old Quay - Carrickbeg Bridge Lane – Carrick Mor Greystone Street – Carrick Mor

Carrick-on-Suir and its People, Patrick Power, Anna Livia Books, 1976, p.10-15.

Carrick-on-Suir and its People, Patrick Power, Anna Livia Books, 1976, p.68.

3 Carrick-on-Suir and its People, Patrick Power, Anna Livia Books, 1976, p.87.

4 The original can be found in the National Archives in Dublin. A copy can be found in glass case in the Heritage Centre of Carrick-on.Suir. A microfilm copy can easily be consulted in the National Library in Dublin (Kildare Street) or purchased from them for 100 Euro (price correct at the time of writing).

5 The Demography of Carrick-on-Suir, 1799 L. A. Clarkson Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature Vol. 87C, (1987), pp. 13-36Published by: Royal Irish Academy Article Stable URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/25506147 2

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Patrick Cunningham Alexander Cunningham Mathew Cunningham

50 40 36

Cooper Nailer Jenny Spinner

Johana Elizabeth Mary

50 31 36

Edmund Cunningham

49

Taylor

Anastasia 36

New Street West – Carrick Mor Town Wall North Side – Carrick Mor Ballyrichard Road – Carrick Mor Suburbs Ballyrichard Road – Carrick Mor Suburbs

It was thirty-two years after this census was taken that our paper-trail brings to life the first Cunningham we can prove with certainly has direct links to our family roots.

In 1831 John Cunningham, our direct descendent, was born into a town which had seen many a change: Bianconi’s ‘bians’ which his father may have used, instead of the river, to get to Clonmel and Waterford; the main road which now runs through Deerpark to Clonmel had been built; the Fever Hospital had been established in 1818 although it only had room for 22 patients; and the ‘peelers’ (later to be called The Royal Irish Constabulary) were formed who, among other things, kept an eye on the problem of thrawneenpicking which many a poor family had to resort to in order to find the money to get at least one meal a day6. John’s diet would have been mostly potatoes and perhaps bainne clabair (sour milk). With bacon and beef costing around 61/2 pence a pound and eggs at 6 A Bianconi ‘bian’ pence a dozen this was food John’s parents would be hard pushed to afford. Although as a child John could have earned 6 pence for a day’s labour while his father could have earned £20 a year if he landed the right labouring job.7 Even at a young age John was well aware of the dangers that awaited him as soon as he set foot out of his house. John may have heard about the illegal bull-baiting from his father, which took place around the Bull’s Lough area until 1835 when it was banned, or the illegal dog-fighting which took over from it. In the same year (1835) it was very common for the labouring classes to be without work between May and August. This led to begging and stealing to keep alive and a turn to the drink to stave off the boredom and depression. In 1840, at the age of nine John may have run over to the Green to see what all the fuss was about.

When he got there he would have seen Father Mathew Father Mathew preaching about a thing called ‘temperance’ and ‘taking the pledge’ John thought it might be something he’d like to take. He soon lost interest when he realised it was about the ills of the drink but mooched all the same to see if there was any fun to be had. John had a bit of craic with the lads about the way ‘ya fella dressed almighty grand and full ‘o himself and what good will it do staying off the drink, sure there’s nothing else to do in this God forsaken place?’. What came out of this push towards teetotalism was the Temperance Hall which we know nowadays as the Town Hall8.

In 1841 John turned ten and Margaret (Mc)Glynn was born. Although we are unsure where she was born (possibly Borriskane in North Tipperary) she was destined to join John in forming the Cuningham family that still lives in Carrick-on-Suir to this day. Margaret’s birth was met with 6

Thrawneen-picking was the illegal act of picking the heads from hay-stalks and threshing them to get hay-seed to sell.

Taken from Carrick-on-Suir and its People, Patrick Power, Anna Livia Books, 1976, p.99.

7 Carrick-on-Suir and its People, Patrick Power, Anna Livia Books, 1976, p.96.

8 Carrick-on-Suir and its People, Patrick Power, Anna Livia Books, 1976, p.109

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the noise of the building of the Carrick Workhouse to the north-west of the Clareen Well in the area now called Treacy Park. A year later, on 8th July 1842, the first of the 500 unlucky souls staggered through the Workhouse gates, heads hanging in shame. John and Margaret would probably have had a similar childhood before their paths crossed and were joined forever. They would both learn that the workhouse was the last resort in times of need and a place where the family would be divided and no longer be together. Both John and Margaret would soon realise that above everything else it was the family that mattered.

The Irish was still spoken although English was understood and beginning to erode the native language. John and Margaret would have grown up in an Irish-speaking household although they would learn English later in life. Neither of the two were able to read any of the publications of Carrick’s historically famous schoolmaster, Patrick Lynch, as earning the money to feed a mouth was more important than going to school. Patrick Lynch also played a part in making John and Margaret learn English by popularising the language through his book on English Grammar9. The fact that John was illiterate at the age of ten in 1841 was of no surprise. In that year there were twenty teachers in Carrick and 58% of those above the age of twelve were illiterate and this percentage was one of the lowest rates if illiteracy in the county!10 Both John Cunningham and Margaret Glynn were unlucky to be born at a time when things were getting very black for Carrick. In the 18th Century Carrick-on-Suir had been a prosperous town with 3,000 inhabitants living comfortably off the weaving and dyeing of woollen cloth and one of the fastest http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ejournals/100161/100161.pdf growing populations in Ireland. However, by 1846 the woollen industry, introduced by the Duke of Ormonde, had all but disappeared. Many agreed with the Parliamentary Gazetteer in 1845 which had this to say about one particualr visit: It rained torrents as I descended towards Carrick which nevertheless looked well with its old bridge and ivied castle and pleasant environs but like many continental towns there was a sad falling off on entering it. I was struck with its deserted falling-off appearance - with the number of houses and shops shut up and windows broken - and with the very poor ragged population that lingered about the streets.

Nor were these appearances dissipated by farther opportunity of observation; I had not yet visited any town in a poorer condition than this. Carrick-on-Suir, once a town of great prosperity and large manufacture and situated in one of the most abundant of districts, appears to be now distinguished only by the extreme poverty of its population. I found the price of labour here lower than I had yet anywhere found it. Sixpence to eightpence. without diet. and even for temporary employment was all that could be obtained and at this price many hundreds of unemployed labourers could have been got by holding up one's finger. 11

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Lynch’s books were printed by another Carrick man, John Stacy, at his shop at the junction of Cook Lane and Town Wall Street. Carrick-on-Suir and its People, Patrick Power, Anna Livia Books, 1976, p.105 10 In Kilmurry, for example, the Census of Ireland Report of 1841 shows illiteracy at 70%. Carrick-on-Suir and its People, Patrick Power, Anna Livia Books, 1976, p.108 11

The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland 1844-1845, Dublin 1846, A Fullarton & Co.

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With the death of the wollen industry Carrick became a market and post town trading mainly in corn, butter and provisions. The trade in slate, timber and coal was also significant, not just for the town but for the Cunningham’s in the future as they would find work in the local slate quarry.

The river bed of the Suir had been gradually deepened from 1837 and now boats carrying up to two hundred tons were able to dock at the quay. Some people felt that this increase in trade lead to a ‘spirit of improvement’12 and the construction of the New Quay finished in 1846 (connecting the towing path to Clonmel to the old bridge) helped provide work at least for a while.

But the image of Carrick in 1845 was only to get worse. John was fifteen and Margaret was only five years old when the potato blight lurked into Carrick. The occasional skimmed milk and spuds were what little Margaret was given to keep her strong enough to see her through those hard times. There was also a bowl of soup for John if he were lucky and worked hard. Margaret Glynn and John Cunningham were not among the one million or so who were killed or sent packing to distant lands by the Great Famine.

The Black potatoes scattered our neighbours, Sent them to the poorhouse and across the sea; They are stretched in hundreds in the mountain graveyard, May the heavenly host take up their plea.13 The fact that John and Margaret survived the Great Famine and went on to live for over sixty years and bear a family which is reading this today is testimony to the sort of people they were.

Failure of the potato crop 22 August 1846

It was over to Carrickbeg that John may have traipsed in order to carry out the wishes of the famine relief boards if he were to get a bowl of soup to keep the hunger pains at bay. These public relief works or follies were a way of taking the shame out of getting charity. So John may well have helped to build the ten-foot high famine wall outside St Molleran’s in Carrickbeg, or helped to drain the swampland on the Green or even build the Castle Strand Quay in 1847.

We are unsure where John Cunningham lived as a child but we do know of the two pressures that faced many people in Carrick at the time. To the West, on the Clonmel road on other side of Mill Street, there were five hundred poor in the Workhouse as a constant reminder to the Cunnignhams of the Cosan na Marbh (pathway of the dead). To the East, across the Fair Green, was the Courthouse, another place they had to be careful to avoid entering. On his way to Carrickbeg John may have passed the Barracks in New street, the Presentation Convent school house on the edge of the Fair Green where two and three hundred poor girls would got their education, or the Christian Brothers’ school where five hundred boys were taught the three Rs and St Nicholas’ church which many a Cunningham would enter over the years.

The famine wall in front of St Molleran’s

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Slater’s commercial directory of 1846. http://www.failteromhat.com/slater/0036.pdf Na Prátaí Dubha - Extract from the traditional song/poem of the Great Famine still extant in Ring, Co. Waterford and attributed to Máire Ní Dhroma of Baile na nGall, Ring. C.1850. The mountain graveyard refers to a graveyard west of Dungarvan on the road to Youghal.

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1847

With hunger pains setting in tensions were as high as the rent many landlords were demanding, despite the fact that there were those in Carrick who didn’t have money to keep their children fed. Many an outhouse was robbed for the potatoes it stored and families found themselves hiding this precious sustenance. The Caravat Whiteboys still had an influence and their demands for higher wages, lower rents, a cease to land grabbing and an end to hoarding food to artificially raise prices fell on sympathetic ears14. Just like in 2009, some one hundred and sixty-one years later, unemployment was high in Carrick and violence simmered below the surface of everyday life. By 1848 people were fighting for survival and with infant mortality on the rise it is no surprise that the situation turned violent. On 6th October 1848 many were unable to put up with the inhumane conditions they felt they were being subjected to and a ‘Late Rebellion’ was attempted. A Patrick Cunningham (we are unsure of his connection as yet) got together with Edmond Eagan in Clonmel and decided to do something for their town’s situation. They were both arrested, tried and imprisoned for treason for their part in the ‘recent outbreak and attack on the police barrack of Glen Bower, the Slate Quarries and Portlaw’15.

THE TIMES

Oct. 6 1848 The Late Rebellion

Clonmel - Tuesday.

Since the commencement of the commission, the number of prisoners committed to gaol for trial has considerably increased by the capture of several of the fellows connected with the recent outbreak and the attack on the police barrack of Glen Bower, the Slate Quarries and Portlaw. Committed by the magistrates, H. W. Briscoe, and R. D. Coulson R. M. of Carrick-on-Suir. The following is a correct list of the committals since the 20th of September; among them is the editor of the Waterford Chronicle, and two ladies charged with having arms, powder, shot, and a quantity of bullets in their possession in a proclaimed district, and with aiding John O'Mahony the rebel leader, to effect his escape. One of the ladies had a quantity of shot and bullets in her bonnet when arrested. It is likely that some of these cases will be disposed of at the present commission: - James Neill, Patrick Walsh, John Moore, Edmond Landergan, John Hayes, William Rochford, James Landergan, Richard Daniel, Timothy Connell, William Crotty, Michael Comerford, James Sheedy, charged with burning the police barracks at the Slate Quarries and being in arms against the Queen's authority. Thomas Bourke and John Shea attacking the police barracks at Glen Bower, and shooting at the police. Edmond Egan and Patrick Cunningham, high treason. John Killilea, concerned in treasonable practices. Ellen Mary Power, having gunpowder & ., in a proclaimed district; and also for harboring John O'Mahony, charged with treason. Eugene M'Carthy, aiding Smith O'Brien in an insurrectionary movement. Thomas Hennessy, Pierce Power, and Denis M'Carthy, concerned in treasonable practices. Jane O'Ryan, bailed to appear at the Special Commission, ammunition & ., found in her house.

This all happened in 1848, the same year Franz Mayer and Co. were founded. It was this company that would put the stained-glass windows in St Nicholas’ church.

The Great Hunger took its toll on the population of Carrick. John and Margaret knew they were lucky to be alive; death was not far behind each step they took. Of the 8,369 people in urban Carrick in 1841 there were only 5,059 left only ten years later in 185116.

It was in 1851that Sir Richard Griffith’s men from the Valuation Office arrived in Carrick to decide how much tax people should pay to maintain the poor and the poor house. Griffith’s Valuation shows the many Cunningham’s in Carrick-on-Suir and Carrickbeg both owning and 14

http://libcom.org/history/midnight-legislation-class-struggle-ireland-1760-1840 Printed in The Times, 6th October 1846 16 Carrick-on-Suir and its People, Patrick Power, Anna Livia Books, 1976, p.111 15

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1848

renting land17. It tells us that a Jeremiah Cunningham (we are unsure of his connection as yet) had a house and yard (only down the road from his landlord) at number 16 Sir John’s Road, and he paid his landlord an annual rent of £1, something in the region of £44.10p in today’s currency18.

Jeremiah was the only Cunningham living in the larger part of Carrick. What are, presumably, his relatives, lived across the river in Carrickbeg in 1851. There were Thomas and John Cunningham living next to one another at 50 and 51 Rackhill respectively. As you walked East down this road it turned into Waterford or Yellow Road (Bóthar Buí built back in 1450 as a route to Waterford) which is where Thomas Cunningham lived at number 26 and a few doors down, at number 39, Edward Cunningham was to be found19. One of these Thomas’s may well have been forced to search for a better life in Newfoundland where he would spend the rest of his days and die on December 18th, 1906 aged 7420.

John may have had enough living beside Thomas and moved in 1852 to 29 Coolnamuck Road (in Carrickbeg) renting a house from William Wall (probably related to Mrs Eleanor Wall who was a neighbour of Jeremiah Cunningham on Sir John’s Road)21. John Cunningham was late getting married and there was talk of him becoming part of the 10% of those in Tipperary who were bachelors in the 1850’s. But he found a match and was sure not to be alone as he grew older. He found that match in Margaret Glynn.

After the standard courting period was up John Cunningham, at the ripe old age of 32, finally tied the knot with the 22-year-old Margaret Glynn on a brisk afternoon on 29th January 186322.

Father O’Donnell presided over the ceremony and ensured the witnesses were present to ensure all was correct. Michael McCarthy from John’s side of the family (possibly a cousin or uncle) was there as a witness and Catherine Sullivan represented Margaret’s side of the family. Now the two were a family they needed a place to live. They found something to call home in Gorryrue [sic] Lane. This is where they settled down to start the family which is reading this today.

However, they wouldn’t be able to stay in the run-down house for long before having to move on.

An all-too-common occurrence for many in Carrick. You knew when it was time to move when your house was about to fall down around you. They soon had to move to another unhealthy abode in Long Lane.

John Cunningham b.1831

17

See Appendix for details

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http://www.askaboutireland.ie/

Margaret (Mc) Glynn b.1841

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Griffith’s Valuation 1851-1853 reprinted in Carrick-on-Suir Family Roots - Exploring Origins in Carrick-on-Suir, Noel Farrell, 2001, p47-48.

20 http://ngb.chebucto.org/Cemetery/cem-tors-cv-unk-fer.shtml 21 http://www.igp-web.com/waterford/land/est2.htm 22 See Appendix for marriage certificate

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There was plenty to be getting on with Three years after their marriage John, who had now reached the ripe old age of 35, and Margaret ten years his younger, had decided not to follow the 100,000 labourers making their way to British soil for work every year23. Between 1851 and 1871 they saw the population of Ireland drop by one million and agriculture was picking up so John and Margaret thought they could benefit from many factors: the country’s growing prosperity, the deepening of the river bed at Carrick to encourage shipping, the railway line which arrived in 185224 and an emigrating workforce25. So they stayed put and embarked on the task of sowing the seeds of a family. Their first child was a boy and according to tradition the first son was possibly named after John’s father. After a painful birth with the help of two women and the only light coming from the fading flames of the peat fire and a spattering of candles Jeremiah Cunningham was born on the 25th August 186626. The inexperience of the new parents along with the unsanitary conditions in Long Lane, just off The Level meant that Jeremiah had to be strong to stay alive. In those days new-borns had a 1-in-4 chance of seeing their first birthdays. Unfortunately, Jeremiah Cunningham didn’t. He died only six days later of convulsions without any medical attention. It was his father John, a Dealer at the time, who went to inform the registrar of the sad occurrence.

Margaret, being the tough woman she was, knew this was all too common. But that didn’t take away the pain. However, Margaret soon fell pregnant again. The young child in Margaret’s womb in 1867 would grow strong to the murmurs of ‘the organization’, or ‘the firm’, all synonyms for the Irish Republican Brotherhood or Fenians who rose up against the British that year in Tipperary. Having been conceived during such a tumultuous period it was fitting then that John and Margaret should name this child after what may have been his uncle Patrick Cunningham who had been put on trial for treason some years past on Tuesday 6th October 1848 for his part in the Cregg Road Rebellion against the British along with John O’Mahony and Henry Whitby Briscoe27. The young Patrick was born on 21st March 1868, with the year-old call to arms from the failed Fenian rising and the blast at Clarkenwell gaol still ringing in his ears: From Erin’s soil the Saxon foe In shame shall be forever driven; From Erin’s sons who bear the woe, The tyrants chain shall soon be riven; The Gem of Freedom in the sea.

Then up and arm at Erin’s call, Ye FENIAN sons of Irish sires, On every hill and mountain tall, Arise and light your signal fires, And swear to win with heart and hand, The Freedom of your Native land.

Thus, the murmurs young Patrick Cunningham would have heard around him would have been more English than Irish as the Great Hunger set about getting rid of many of the Irish speakers and the British, with Gladstone as their recently elected 23

The Irish Women’s History Reader, Ed. Alan Hayes & Diane Urquhart, Routledge. 2001 Carrick-on-Suir - Its Origins and Growth, Patrick.C.Power, Tipperary Historical Journal, 1992.

25 The Story of Ireland, Brian Inglis, 1956, Faber and Faber, p145.

26 See Appendix for his birth certificate 27 In 1855 Briscoe would rent a plot of land to Patrick Cuningham in Knocknaconnery (otherwise Cregg Road) for a yearly sum of £1 11s 3d or five pounds per acre.

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Prime Minister, continued to lend a hand with the same task. One good thing that came from Gladstone was the improvement of the education system. Although John and Margaret couldn’t read and write themselves they were determined to give their children a better start in life. They would make sure all their children learnt to read and write. What’s more, ‘wouldn’t young Patrick have a grand place to play now that The Green was finished, and wasn’t it funny the way that Isaac Butt fella just happened to discover the money for it - wasn’t it a blessing ‘o God!’. A stone wall was built around The Green and trees were donated by Joseph Rivers of Tipperaghney Castle which meant it was no longer a sand covered area crossed by roads28 after 1868.

Margaret recovered quickly and after a year she was pregnant again. Her experience with Patrick had been a good one and a second child seemed to be of little bother. But before the little one was born a change of house was needed. Margaret told John to be looking for something bigger and better, which he did in the form of a house at 45 John Street. Although conceived during the fresh spring breeze child number two was born into the chill of a December afternoon - just like her mother. Little Mary was a great St Stephen’s’ Day present when she gurgled at all those looking at her on 26th December 186929.

Only two years after having Mary the new house in John Street saw another arrival. It seemed that Spring in Carrick was a time when not only the animals did their mating. Christmas was full of birthday celebrations of old family members and even more to come in the future. Michael Cunningham was a great little Christmas present when he was born on 23rd December 187130. It meant that Margaret wasn’t up to preparing the usual Christmas meal but the family rallied round and all had a grand Christmas with the new baby, the about-to-turn-two-year-old Mary and a three-year-old Patrick. Their father John, who was still a Dealer at the time, couldn’t get to register Michael’s birth until the 4th January 1872 as old Heffernan, the registrar at the time, also had the right to a Christmas holiday.

Michael Cunningham’s original birth certificate born 23rd December 1871.

John and Margaret were good to their word and made sure Mary learnt to write and Michael learnt to read. Michael never learnt to write properly but as he was to become a general labourer that wasn’t really essential. Not long after, the census collectors came knocking on the door to ask about who lived at 45 John Street and get John racking his brains to remember the ages of each of his growing family. He might not always have got the ages right!

28

Carrick-on-Suir - Its Origins and Growth, Patrick.C.Power, Tipperary Historical Journal, 1992.

See appendix for birth details 30 See appendix for original birth certificate 29

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To carry on with tradition Margaret waited another two years before she fell pregnant again. Young Patrick was six by now and well able to look after himself, Mary was five and Michael wasn’t much of a handful, at least he was able to walk which was less of a strain on Margaret’s back. The talk of Carrick back in 1874 was of Maurice Davin, the farmer’s son, who never stopped running, hurdling, jumping and throwing until he was considered the best athlete in the world and let’s not forget old Michael Maher who caught Ireland’s largest ever salmon at 57lbs using only his fishing rod. But while Maher was showing off his big catch, Margaret and John were about to land an unexpected catch of their own. On 28th February 1874 in her bedroom on John Street Margaret gave birth James Cunningham(one of the twins) again. This time what John heard from the other room was not the crying of one baby, but: ‘Jeesus Mary and Joseph! Sure, there’s more than just the one in here.

Well, it looks like ye have twins to be keepin’ yees busy’. Joseph and James were born together and would continue to do things together for most of their lives. Work hadn’t been so good for John up to then so he had had to find another job to keep all the mouths fed which is why he declared ‘Labourer’ when the registrar asked his occupation the day he went to register the twins.

James Cunningham’s original birth certificate born 28th February 1874.

Joseph and James were born in 1874 along with the renewed plans to build Dillon Bridge, or the New Bridge as it is known as well as the Sisters of Mercy in Carrick. John Cunningham wasn’t in favour of this New Bridge, neither were his fishermen and merchant friends. After all, what need was there of a New Bridge if the Old Bridge, built even before Columbus had raised a sail,31 has served the people fine. Heed was only taken of the landlords and six years later work was started on the bridge.

‘Home Rule’ were among the first words James and Joseph would have heard as toddlers. They often played around the hearth, oblivious to the talk of their parents about the Donegal ladies-man, Isaac Butt, who started the Home Rule League a year before they were born. Finding the money to make The Green in Carrick in 1868 may have been one of the reasons many in the town voted for Butt in the 1874 elections and got 59 of his Home Rulers into British Parliament with the hope that Carrick would get some freedom from the rule of faraway London.

Dillon Bridge (The New Bridge)

31

Taken from the plaque at the Old Bridge in Carrick-on-Suir.

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The international Long Depression, which was kicking in at this time, drove down agricultural prices and the gombee32n man was making money again. This meant that a lot of the farmers John and Margaret knew were having trouble paying their rents to a landlord who lived in Britain and didn’t care about the land as long as he got his rent money. The couple had seen many an eviction already and were about to see more. They were glad they didn’t work on the land, and were happy enough with the house with a roof made of local slate from the Ormonde and Victoria slate quarry along the Lingaun valley, near Ahenny. After all ‘if the slate is good Ormonde and Victoria slate quarry, near Ahenny. enough for Ormonde Castle , then it’s good enough for us!’. The roof kept the rain off and allowed John to continue his job as labourer at the quarry in order to keep the family fed and dressed. They carried on paying their rent, unlike many of their boycotting farmer friends.

The twins were a handful and Margaret wasn’t up to the task of having more children until 1879, some five years later. John (junior) was born on a bitterly cold day on 28th November 187933.

The harshness he was born into would be his lot for the rest of his life. While his father was more than likely at the slate quarry trying his best to avoid accidents in the precarious working conditions, Margaret went down with John (junior) in her arms to register his birth with the other five children in tow. Patrick was four months off his twelfth birthday, Mary was a month from her tenth birthday, Michael was a grand 7 years and 11 months old and the twins were five years and nine months. The house in John Street seemed to be getting smaller now but room was made and top and tailing was the View of St Nicholas c.1900 from New Lane (Chapel Street) order of the day. John (junior) was not the only new addition to Carrick in 1879. St Nicholas of Myra, the church which would see the baptisms, marriages and deaths of many a Cunningham, was built to replace the old church.

32 33

A money-lender See appendix for details of birth certificate

14

Four years and three months are enough time to forget about the rigours of childbirth for some!

While one Carrick man, by the name of Maurice Davin, was rubbing his hands over the hearth in Hayes’ Hotel in Thurles trying to elude the November chill and kick start the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), John Cunningham (senior) was wrapping his hands around a pint of porter. He was wetting the head of his new-born son William on May 12th 18843435. When Margaret recovered she was also able to show a smile and receive family members who had come to see the little one.

Sitting round the hearth at 45 John Street talk

Charles Stuart Parnell statue in O’Connell street, Dublin

sometimes turned to politics and to the Wicklow man, Charles Stewart Parnell, who was in the British Parliament trying to get Home Rule for Ireland. In the years to come Parnell would give them more to talk about as he was charged, then not charged with the Phoenix Park murders in Dublin back in 1882. He was also a bit of a boyo as he would have his bit on the side in the form of Mrs O’Shea.

The old bridge in Carrick-on-Suir c.1884

Thanks to Carrick’s Davin brothers, sports were the order of the day in Carrick-on-Suir now. This was great for Margaret as she could send Patrick, the eldest child, down the road to The Green to keep a watch on his brothers and sister while they had a run around. They might have seen Tom Kiely training to win gold at the Olympic Games in St. Louis in 1904 for the ‘All-Round Championship’ now called the Decathlon. Tom had to train hard too as all ten events were held on the same day!

Listening to the ‘aul ones’ talking about the Land Acts, Home Rule and the Gaelic League was as boring as watching paint dry, but that was what people spoke about between 1884 and 1895. The Cunninghams also spoke about how much was earned by a Mrs Cunningham who sold ‘Provisions’ at the West Gate in 188936. This might well have been Margaret selling water or the fish John brought back from Waterford on his horse and cart.

The quay near the castle around 1890.

34

See appendix for birth details

35

https://www.vintage-views.com/eshop/home.php?cat=461&sort=price&sort_direction=0&page=3

36

Information taken from 1889 Bassett’s Directory

15

John Cunningham + Margaret Glynn

Jeremiah b.1866

Patrick

Mary

Michael

Joseph

James

John

William

b.1868

b.1869

b.1871

b.1874

b.1874

b.1879

b.1884

16

Dancing partners and drinking pals Patrick, the eldest son of John and Margaret grew up strong and independent. He soon realised he may never see a free Erin and so managed to get the money together from labouring for the long voyage to cross the pond. He may have first gone to Canada and worked his way down to Manhattan. He married, but having inherited the strength of the Cunninghams he lived longer than his wife. He headed to the Big Apple and found work as a Longshoreman (or Docker) on Pier 21, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan, New York37.

Longshoreman.

Back in Ireland, and after a long week labouring with their father the twins, James (Jim) and Joseph had a thirst on them that would stop a mule in its tracks. Like many twins they tended to do the same things together. Most weekends they might’ve left the house on John Street and taken a little saunter down O’Mahoney Avenue and into Greystone Street then a right into Bridge Street and straight through the doors of the Strand Bar for a hard-earned pint. When the twins were together there was no stopping them. After a while they’d be breaking into song and their repertoire would always include a song you’d think was written for them.

Oh we are the two Carrick smashers, We often go out on the mash.

We wear no tall hats Or no shirts to our backs, And we seldom have got any cash (cash,cash).

We often bring out a new fashion, While the old ones they stick to the old.

Although we are just ‘21’ We are daring quite handsome and bold

John Street

The Level

Chorus: And we'll sing tra la la la as we walk down the street For style and perfection we 'ere can be beat, All the ladies declare that we are a treat, We're the two Carrick smashers from off Greystone Street And we dance and we sing We don’t give a jot we're a jolly fine lot We're alright but we're tight And we're jolly fine company

Long Lane Garrai Rua

Last Saturday we were invited, To the town hall by two ladies fair, Their cheeks were in bloom Like the roses in June, And we danced to a beautiful air, We were singin and dancin til midnight Drinkin whiskey and porter and rum And when the dancin was over With the queer wans we had lots of fun

37

Information taken from the 1930 USA Census.

17

It may have been at one of the dances they were singing about, at the age of 21 in 1895, that James met a young Kilkenny girl.

Elizabeth (Eliza) Curran, born in 1871, she had come to Carrick with her family. Her father, Patrick Curran, couldn’t find work in his home town in Kilkenny so was forced to move to Carrick.

About the same time James met another ‘queer wan’ and ‘had lots of fun’ with a young Catherine (Kate) Fah(e)y. Her parents, Bridget Holmes and John Fahy, were well known in the town and the right thing had to be done by their daughter.

The twins were like two peas in a pod. What one did the other automatically had to do. It was after a grand night celebrating St Patrick’s Day in 1896 that James went off with Eliza and Joseph went off with Kate to unwittingly plant the seeds of something that would never stop growing - a family.

Elizabeth Curran

When they realised what the bump was James and Eliza decided to tie the knot in a civil wedding on a warm Friday afternoon on 17th July 1896. As the seeds of the family had been sown at the same time it was no surprise that Joseph and Katey’s fun, back in March, had also turned into a bulging belly and Joseph also knew what had to be done. Their wedding, on Saturday 14th November 1896.

Twenty days after their wedding Joseph and Kate’s first born felt the bitter morning of Carrick in December. As tradition demands, their first son was named after his grandfather. Little John was born on 3rd December 1896 in Long Lane which is where he would live for many a year38.

Only six days later, on a cold Wednesday night on 9th December 1896 his cousin was born and James and Eliza had their first taste of parenthood in their house on The Racks39. According to tradition, and the fact that the twins did most things alike, he was also named after his grandfather John. This lead to confusion at times as the grandparents at first didn’t know how to differentiate the two when talking about them. Nicknames were the solution and eventually ‘Alaska Jack’ was used to refer to James and Eliza’s John because John would end up emigrating to Ontario, Canada where he would be drafted on 16th May 1918 for WWI. After the war he would move to Seattle where he would end his days minding his garden. 40

John Cunningham (aka Alaska Jack) probably in his garden in Seattle where he ended his days.

38

Information taken from John’s birth certificate. See appendix.

Information taken from John’s birth certificate.

40 Photo taken from postcard produced by Dark Island.

39

18

A typical working-class Irish kitchen. C.1895

On his way to work as a labourer with his father, Joseph went to register his John’s (aka Alsaka Jack) birth. Later that day in the slate quarry Joseph’s father would tell him how better a living was to be had as a fish dealer, that way he could be his own boss and not have to ‘break ya back in this hole of a place breaking stones’, but for the best fish he’d have to get a horse and cart and travel down to the port at Waterford.

John Cunningham + Margaret Glynn Jeremiah b.1866 d.1866

Patrick

Mary

Michael

Joseph

James

William

b.1868

b.1869

b.1871

b.1874

b.1874

b.1884

Catherine Fahy

Elizabeth Curran

John

John

b.3/12/1896

b. 9/12/1896

19

Growing pains The summer in Carrick 1897 was a grand time. The town woke up after an oppressive winter and everyone was looking forward to the big hurling match. Tipperary were playing their eternal rivals, Cork, in the semi-finals of the Munster GAA Hurling Championship. It was a great game to watch, that is if you were a Cork fan! With Patrick in America, Michael, at 26 years of age was in charge, then came the twins Joseph and James at 23 followed by John at 17 and finally the 13year-old William. None of them felt like talking about Cork’s biggest ever win over Tipperary winning 4-16 : 0-2. Although Tipp would get their revenge in the semi-finals in 2014 with greatgreat nephews looking on.

It was also during this summer that the seventeen-year-old John started to lose weight. At first nobody knew why and Margaret tried to give him the bigger helpings at dinner time. But when he started coughing John and Margaret looked at one another knowingly. John dropped his head while a tear rolled down Margaret’s cheek. With the good weather John was in grand form, but the harsh Carrick winter got the better of him. With John bed-ridden, the traditional Christmas Carols in the Cunningham house on John Street were replaced by praying. John died in his bed in John Street on 29th December 189741. It was his mother who walked, hegging, into the registrar to inform them of her son’s death. After a quick examination the doctor concluded he had died of ‘phthisis’ which was also known as ‘consumption’ or TB, an illness which would accompany many a Cunningham to the grave due largely to the poor living conditions.

The worry now turned to Eliza Curran who was eight months pregnant on little Margaret (aka Peggy). They prayed she wouldn’t be affected by John’s (junior’s) death and only sixteen days later Margaret was helping her daughter-in-law, Eliza, give birth to her second child at home in The Racks. The birth of a grandchild helped Margaret realise that this was the cycle of life and a mother’s lot. Eliza was well aware of the brave face her mother-in-law was putting on. As soon as Eliza saw it was a girl she knew what her name would be and little Margaret was born on an equally cold morning as that of her grandmother on 14th January 189842. Eliza and James hoped that their new-born daughter would have the same resilience as her grandmother. James was working as a labourer with his brothers and father at the time so when Eliza was well enough she went down with the two children, John and Margaret junior, to notify the registrar of the new arrival in Carrick.

Margaret (aka Peggy) Cunningham b.1898

The death of his 17-year-old brother had made Joseph realise that he may not be on this Earth for too long and had better make the most of the time he had. The cold winter nights in Carrick meant Joseph and Kate had to snuggle up to keep warm. All that snuggling in January brought about another bulging belly. With the thought of having to feed a growing family and the death of his brother still fresh in his mind Joseph took his father’s advice and hooked up the horse and cart and set off for Waterford to bring back fresh fish for those in Carrick. With the money they made Joseph found a bigger house in Gorryrue43 (Garrai Rua/Red Garden), a stone’s throw from his brother’s house, to bring a family up in. They took their time settling in and got ready to welcome the new family member. Several months went 41

Information taken from John’s death certificate. See appendix Information taken from Margaret’s birth certificate. See appendix 43 Spelling taken from Patrick Cunningham’s birth certificate.

42

Baby in Garrai Rua in 1953.

www.flickr.com/photos/carrickonsuir/2904514396/

20

by and the chill wind softened and gave way to blossoming flowers. The Green was again a hive of activity as was the upstairs bedroom of the house in Garrai Rua. Joseph was trying to keep out of the way while his mother got the hot water and clothing ready to receive yet another grandchild. James soon heard the screams of the little one. Tradition and the fact that the twins (James and Joseph) thought alike meant that the child’s name was already decided. Patrick was born on 5th May 189844.

In the same year the Local Government (Ireland) Act redefined the boundaries of Carrick-on-Suir and Carrickbeg and brought the two together. An Urban District Council was now in charge of local matters.

Pat (Buffal) Cunnngham b.1900

Two years went by and this time it was Eliza calling for the midwifery skills of her mother-in-law again. Margaret arrived just in time to help another little Patrick into the world in 1900. He was a sturdy little fella and his dreams to travel to America and eventually live in Buffalo may have been the reason for the nickname ‘Buffalo Pat’. Nicknames were and still are the norm in Carrick and was also the best way to differentiate one Patrick from his cousin. He is said to have served in the US Army in the Second World War and on his return moved from Buffalo to Arizona to alleviate the difficulties he had breathing which were brought on by the tropical disease he picked up during the war. He would finally be buried in Arlington cemetery.

Only a few months after Eliza had given birth to Patrick, her sister-in-law, Kate Fahy, was once again doing the same. Again Kate’s mother-in-law was there to help and again as a way of thanking her and in order to abide by tradition, the baby, born on 4th February 1901 was named Margaret45. She didn’t cry much as she was delivered and her grandmother was worried about the strength of her lungs and their ability to keep away the coughs and colds that were easily picked up during the winters in Carrick.

Then, in same year, came the knock on the door which happened every decade. It was the government men wanting to know who lived in the house and what they did and how old they were. How John and Margaret had to rack their brains to remember the ages of their children!

This was made all the more difficult by the fact that Margaret and John couldn’t read or write. However, John gave the information and put his cross on the census to show he agreed.

John Cunningham’s mark on the 1901 census

The enumerators for this census were officers and men of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) in the rural areas and the Metropolitan Police in urban areas. These men distributed the 16½ x 10½ inch Form A - Family Return (also known as Schedule A) to each Head of Household prior to 31st March 1901, and the Head of Household was to complete the form immediately the following morning. Individuals 44 45

Information taken from Patrick’s birth certificate. See appendix Information taken from Margaret’s birth certificate. See appendix

21

absent from the house on the night of 31st March 1901 were not included. On or shortly after 1st April 1901, the enumerators returned to each household between 8:30 am and 6:00 pm to collect the completed schedules. If the elder of the family unit had difficulties filling out the form, the enumerator assisted. If individuals refused or wilfully gave a false answer to any question necessary for obtaining census information they were subjected to a five pound penalty according to Census Act, Section 7. A similar punishment was also applied to enumerators who defaulted in the performance of their duties.46 The 1901 census tells us a lot, especially as it is one of the earliest complete censuses intact.

When it was taken in May 1901 John was 70 years old and Margaret was 60 and lived at 23 John

Original 1901 census with information about John Cunningham & Margaret Glynn and their sons Michael and William. See appendix.

Street with two of their children. Michael (26), who hadn’t married yet, was able to read only and was a general labourer. His younger brother William (who was destined to travel to Boston and follow in the footsteps of his elder brother Patrick) was 16 years old and was the only member of the household who could both read and write and was also a general labourer with his brother and father. The house they shared was one of the poorer ones in the street. It only had one window in the front of the house and just two rooms for the four of them. However, unlike some of their neighbours such as Edward Maher next door at number 22, Richard Kelly, at number 26, John Sullivan at number 25 and Margaret Power at number 20, the Cunninghams had an out-house, something they would expand in years to come. John Street was a handy place to live as it was near the Workhouse Infirmary for whenever anyone fell ill, at number 44 there was a Corn Store and more important was Dennis Daly’s Public House at number 37.

At number 1 Moors Lane, lived John and Margaret’s daughter Mary Cunningham with her two children. Mary’s story was perhaps a bit of a scandal in the town. You see she met one of the Powers and had two children, John and Pat, out of wedlock. She never married but that didn’t stop Mary giving the children their father’s surname. In 1901 little John Power (Mary’s eldest son) was ten and his brother Patrick Power was only 3. John could read and write at the age of 10 and was doing well at school, as was his brother Patrick. Mary was glad they were good scholars as she was unable to read and write and was embarrassed when her children and Constable Connors had to witness her on the 12th April 1901 at the door of her house putting her mark Mary Cunningham’s mark on the 1901 census 46

www.richpettit.com/melvin/censusof1901.htm

22

on the census form. Mary worked as a char-woman which provided her with enough money to maintain the children and pay the rent on their two-room house with the two windowed façade giving just enough light to save on candles.

In 1901 Eliza had already said goodbye to James as he went to join the army and send the money back home. In the meantime she stayed at the threeroomed house with two front windows at number 12 Eliza Cunningham’s signature on the 1901 census Racks Lane with her children John (5 years old), Maggie (3 years old) and Patrick (2 years old). Even while away from home James made sure to look after his family and the money he sent home allowed them to employ Bridget Hearne from Waterford as a live-in house-keeper. Along with the Powers next door (at number 13) Bridget Hearne would act as comfort for Eliza while James was away. However, this meant that Eliza was head of the family and had to sign the census form when Constable Connors came knocking to collect the information. This wasn’t a problem as Eliza could read and write.

Just down the road, at 8 Red Garden Lane(or Garrai Rua) Joe Cunningham aged 26 and Kate Fah(e)y aged 22 lived, not only with their children John aged 4, Patrick aged 3 and Margaret aged 2 months, but also with Kate’s brother Thomas Fahey aged 16 and her mother Bridget Fahey47. The census tells us Joe was the head of the house. He worked as a labourer as did his brother-in-law Thomas while Kate and her mother also brought home a wage working as housekeepers.

By 1901 the push to improve education was making its mark. Illiteracy in Tipperary had dropped from 15.1% in 1891 to 10.9% in 190148. This growing ability to read and write is reflected in the Cunningham family. In 1901 John (Senior) and Margaret (his wife) could neither read nor write, whereas the twenty-six-year-old Michael could read but not write. However William had benefited most from the improved educational standards as he was able to read and write.

The turn of the century saw lots happening. Queen Victoria had died in January and her funeral in February was talked about everywhere. The biggest steam ship in the world at the time was launched in Belfast, called ‘Celtic’, and would take lots of immigrants from Liverpool to New York. So, now with the man from the RIC asking all those questions gone, the Cunningham’s could get on with their lives.

With the growing family, space in Joseph and Kate’s house in Garrai Rua hard to come by and conditions not the best to be bringing up children in, they decided to move around the corner to Church Street.

The thing is nobody called it Church Street.

It was always known as ‘The Level’. The house, with two front windows and between 2-4 bedrooms, offered enough space for even more children. However, first they would have to get over the coming winter.

47 48

St.Nicholas Church and The Level

Spelling of Fahey taken from the 1901 census. See appendix Information taken from: www.from-ireland.net/tipp/tipperdescr.htm

23

In 1903, only two years after little Margaret had been written down on Joseph and Kate’s 1901 census form the bitter Tipperary winter struck again. Runny noses were commonplace in kids.

Medicine wasn’t so freely available so you had to be careful that a simple cold didn’t get worse but the cold damp conditions meant it wasn’t always easy. With a heavy hear Kate Fahey watched over her little daughter and tried to keep her fever down but didn’t know what to do with the constant coughing. The Cunningham’s spent yet another Christmas watching over a sickbed. Finally little Margaret’s lungs were not strong enough and on the 3rd January 1903 she passed away. Kate went to register her death herself. The cause of death was ‘whooping cough, broncho pneumonia’49.

Mother Nature is a difficult woman to understand. In the same year that she took little Margaret from Joseph and Kate, she gave James and Eliza another son. In 1903 Margaret Glynn was once again helping her daughter-in-law give birth with the thought of little Margaret’s death still lingering in the air. Joe was possibly the fruit of his father having been given leave from the army to see his family. Joe would follow his father’s footsteps into the Armed Forces and serve in the British forces in WWII (possibly in the RAF). It was a sure wage which could be sent home regularly.

The population of Ireland at this time was 4,458,775 and declining. This was almost half the population when Margaret Glynn was born. But people in Carrick in 1903 were too busy talking about the Wright brothers and how they managed to fly and wouldn’t that be a quicker way to get to Joe Cunningham b. 1903 Americae but not the safest by any means! And what about the Tour de (son of Eliza and James) France which started in the same year? Wasn’t it an awful shame that only 21 of the 60 cyclists actually finished - an awful hard race it must be but I’m sure the Kelly’s would be up to the job. And talking of jobs, in 1903 there were 35,717 Irishmen serving in the British Army - a job many of the Cunningham’s would benefit from. The following year in May the British King, Edward VII, would visit Waterford, and what a fuss was made. In 1905 Kilkenny became the All-Ireland Hurling Champions and Ireland drew 1-1 in soccer with England. A political party which would be in the news for many years to come was also established in the same year - Sinn Fein.

In 1905 the twins were at it again! The one couldn’t have a child without the other doing the same. Joseph and Kate had a little baby boy and named him after his father, as was custom a nickname ‘Joss’ was given to Joseph junior. Not long afterwards Eliza and James had a little girl and named her after her mother, but once again this soon confused the life out of James when he didn’t know which Elizabeth was being referred to, so ‘Betty’ was the solution when calling the little Elizabeth. Betty would later take Michael Joseph ‘Joss’ Cunningham b. 1905 Fitzgerald as her second husband after divorcing Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Cunningham b. 1905 (son to Joseph and Kate) Colin Randall. She would live with Michael at 62 (daughter to James and Eliza) Cleverly Estate, East Acton with her children Gerald, Peter, Roy and Little Betty, the latter of whom is currently living in Switzerland.

49

Information taken from Margaret’s death certificate. See appendix

24

The improving postal service sent information from America into Carrick thick and fast. News of how the land of dreams was a sure place for work and a hot meal attracted lots of young men in Carrick. Patrick, (John and Margaret’s eldest son) tired of being a labourer in the slate quarry had already been lured across the waters. He tried to send letters (and any money he could) back home which his younger brother William would read with great interest.

By 1907 news from America was reaching Irish shores quicker than ever thanks to the telegraph.

Many a ship left the Belfast dockyards with the paint still drying in order to carry hundreds off to new lives. Belfast was the biggest city in Ireland at the time, bigger than Dublin, and between the linen trade and the dockyards people were kept in work50. The death rate was improving, but was better for the middle classes (1.7%) than it was for the working classes (4%).

1907 was a year to forget for John (senior) Cunningham and his wife Margaret. You see John must have started his knacker’s yard around now. He put his horse and cart to good use and it was a grand source of income but John wasn’t the most attentive of men when it came to cleanliness. He ignored several warnings from the local authorities about cleaning the horse manure probably thinking ‘who was going to put a 77-year-old into prison for a bit of muck’.

Soon afterwards he received a loud knock at the door and there waiting for him for the police to take him to Clonmel prison under the charge of: ‘Not Having Manure Removed & Neglecting To Limewash His Dwellinghouse’. Margaret was a tough woman but this was a bitter pill to swallow when walking through the town.

1908 was a better year for John Cunningham (senior) as he received two pieces of good news, one from his son and the other from Asquith, the British Prime Minister at the time. The Old Age Pension Act gave the elderly an income of five shillings which, being means-tested, meant that John qualified. But before he did he had to prove his age. This was difficult to do as official records were only William ‘Nig’ Cunningham kept from 1865, so many a pensioner had b. 1908. to recall the ‘Big Wind’ of 1839 which had swept across the country before they were given the hand-out.

This extra income meant that most ‘auld ones’ were looked after to ensure the appreciated five shillings continued to enter the house. The extra income allowed John to give his new grandson a few shillings when Eliza gave birth to William in 1908. To avoid confusion he was nicknamed Nig. William ‘Nig’ Cunningham b. 1908

(son of James and Eliza). Photo taken Margaret (senior) was only a few years away from getting the while in the Irish Army in 1938. pension but her hard life was taking its toll and she was becoming frail. The shawl that once used to sit on her sturdy shoulders started to sag and looked too big for the body it covered. Before Margaret got any worse she was to see one last grandchild into the world.

Margaret had to ask which of the twins’ wife it was this time. She was finding it difficult to keep track of all the little ones her twins were having between them. She left her house in John Street 50

http://irserver.ucd.ie/dspace/bitstream/10197/426/3/ogradac_bookchap_pub_054.pdf

25

and walked down the road with a sweet May breeze blowing through her grey hair and over her wrinkled face that bore many of the hardships she had endured over the years. Turning right at the corn store and into Lough street (now Kickham street) nodding to the Cooney’s in the first house (blacksmith at the time), past the Power family (the carpenter) at number 40 then left into The Racks to take a short cut to The Level. She might have stopped to knock on the window of number 12 along Racks Lane to see how Ellen O’Neill was settling into her son’s old house. You see (here’s the gossip) a few years back Eliza, James’ wife, had lived at number twelve while James was away in the Army. When they moved round the corner to The Level, Richard Connelly, a general labourer, had moved into the empty house. He had never married and took in his widowed sister with her three sons. All three were working, one a shoemaker, another a labourer and a young Michael a telegraph messenger, so his nephews brought a handsome sum into the house and Richard couldn’t complain. Ellen would always make a point of saying how clean Eliza had left the place for them. Taking her leave, Margaret carried on down The Racks and into The Level. She’d give a knowing nod and a ‘Howeya’ to Mrs Waters and Mrs Barry, Joseph and Kate’s neighbours, as she entered the house to help deliver the last grandchild she would see. Bridget Fahy, Kate’s 56-year-old mother was already there with the hot water and towels. On that Wednesday afternoon on the 12th May 190951 Michael Francis Cunningham was born into a Carrick which had much improved since his grandmother’s day and still had many a change to see.

Michael Cunningham b. 1909 (son of Joseph and Kate)

It may have been a difficult birth for mother and son. Kate needed time to rest up and Little Michael might not have been all that strong at first because his mother waited three weeks before going to Stephenson, the registrar, to register her son’s birth. Joseph was back labouring as it was a sure wage. The family had to make sure there was money coming in now they had four children.

The summer of 1909 came and went and the soft mellow winds left their mark on Eliza in the form of another belly. Eliza was 39 by now and with the other six children to look after she decided that seven growing mouths to feed would be enough. There must have been something in the Carrick air during the Spring and Summer months as it was then that many of the Cunninghams got frisky. This meant that Christmas was a time to remember lots of birthdays and Eliza was about to give birth to another child which would add to the long list of Christmas celebrations.

However, despite the good news about the forthcoming addition to the Cunningham family the worried thoughts turned to Margaret Cunningham (senior). She was 69 by now and was getting tired quickly. She used to be able to keep going all day and be up early to do whatever needed to be done. The fright of her husband going to prison and the extra work that had entailed had only aggravated matters. Now she had to take the weight of her feet every now and then. That didn’t stop her from sitting at home with a bottle of stout ‘to keep the thirst from her lips’ and the dust out of her throat. Sure, without the drink ‘wouldn’t she be spitting feathers!’. Her husband, John, was 79 years old and was still working as a ‘Knacker’. He had a horse and cart and would travel beyond Carrick to bring the dead animals back to the yard where the bones and waste would be boiled to separate the fat 51

See appendix for original birth certificate.

Knackers in a Knacker yard with horse and cart and holding polaxes. 1910.

26

which would be sold as tallow to make cheaper candles and soap, the rest was ground up and used as fertilizer, not that the rich soil in Tipperary needed it. The local tannery would buy the hides and the meat was used to feed other farm animals.52 It was a job that brought in enough money to survive and the fact that himself and Margaret had added a few years to Margaret’s age in order to qualify for Asquith’s pension meant that they were comfortably off and they’d have enough for a drink at the end of a long day.

It was at the end of one of those bitterly cold days in January 1910 that John came home to find his wife slumped in her chair in front of the hearth. At first he thought she had nodded off, as she was prone to do, but when he tried to wake her he realised something was not right. He called for a doctor. The closest was the doctor from the workhouse After a quick examination he stood up from the unconscious Margaret and said she was in a coma. This, he said coldly, would have been caused by bleeding in the head, otherwise known as a stroke, and that John shouldn’t hold out much hope for his wife.

John sat on the chair in front of his wife’s bed and held his head in his hands. His heart sank and turned as hard as the stone he once had to break to earn a living. He stared down at the dirt floor as his soul was wrenched from his chest and left a carcass of a man to wither away. Margaret was in a coma for a short while, just enough time for family and friends to visit and offer John their help in any way. John stared into the dying flames of the open fire but declined the offer of help and continued to feel numb and not because of the cold. On the 22nd January 1910 Margaret Cunningham (nee Glynn) gave up the fight53. The bitter Carrick winter had seen off yet another Cunningham. John was a shell of a man now and it was up to the householder (landlord) James Walsh, from the workhouse, to inform the registrar of Margaret’s death. John soon gave up the knacker’s yard.

But as is the course of life, the family continued to grow and despite the death of the ‘Rock of the Cunningham’s’, John gave up the knacker’s yard he remembered Margaret’s words that ‘life goes on regardless of who is caught up in its wheels’.’ John’s son Michael found his match in a young girl called Mary Ellen and they married. However, as they had nowhere to live it seemed logical they share the house with Michael’s father and brother William (aged 28 and a general labourer) to keep his father company now that his wife had gone. By now John, who was 76 and a general labourer, had moved a little further down the street to the three-roomed house at number 21 John Street where they were all better off. John had three out-houses at number 21 which included a stable Michael Cunningham’s signature on the 1911 census return form. for the horse which drew his cart, a piggery and a shed. The fact that his son had moved in with his new wife meant he was able to get help with the house and the work which needed doing and meant that he handed over the deeds to his son Michael which Michael would have signed with the above signature. The new woman of the house had only been there for a few months before the house was filled once more with baby cries and drying nappies. Mary was born to Michael and Mary Ellen in June 1910 , less than five months after the death of her grandmother Margaret. The new addition to the Cunningham family brought a welcome distraction for John who was still feeling empty after the death of his wife.

52 53

Information and photo taken from http://knackerman.com/history.htm See appendix for Margaret’s death certificate details.

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It only took six months from the birth of Mary before the arrival of another new Cunningham was announced. This would be the penultimate child James and Eliza would have. Christmas Day morning 1910 was a strange sight in the house on The Level. Instead of opening presents the children were wondering at the sight of Ellen Christina Cunningham, or Ellie as she was known.

Young Joseph, who was seven at the time, tugged at his father’s trouser leg and asked: ‘Pa, wasn’t the baby Jaysus born on Christmas Day?’ ‘He was that, Joseph,’ ‘And he was the son o’ God, wasn’t he pa?’

‘He was’ ‘And isn’t today Christmas Day pa?’

‘Tis me son’ ‘Pa?’ ‘What dya want now Joseph?’

‘Dez dat mean little Ellie is the darter ‘o God?’

Her mother took Ellen in her arms to register her birth. Little did baby Ellen Christina know that her husband-to-be, John William Connelly had been born only five months earlier.

Only a few months after Ellie’s birth on 21st April Constable Thomas Rooney was knocking on the door to get James to fill in the 1911 census.

James Cunningham’s original signature taken from the 1911 census return.

Despite being a labourer James had learnt to read and write and proudly took the forms in to complete. Eliza was also able to read and write, as were all the children who were doing well at school (Maggie aged 13,Patrick aged 11, Joseph aged 8, Eliza aged 6, William aged 3 and little Ellie aged 3 months) except for John who, at the age of 15, had finished school and was labouring with his father. James signed the census return and handed it back to the Constable with a nod. Then Thomas Rooney walked a few houses up the road and knocked on James’ brother’s house. The fact that James completed the census way back then means that we know today that at house number 20 on Church Street (The Level) on 21st April 1911 there lived nine Cunnighams in a house which had two rooms.

James, who was 36 years old was the head of the family which were all Roman Catholic and could read and write. James worked as a mason’s labourer and was married to Eliza Cunningham (nee Curran) who was a 34-year-old housewife and who thought she had been married for 17 years when in fact it had been longer. Eliza would stay at home with the threemonth old Ellie while the other children went to school. The orginal census shows this information completed in James’ own hand.

Original 1911 Census return for James and Eliza Cunningham

James’ brother Joseph, however, was not as fortunate in his education and never learnt to read and write. Joseph’s wife, Kate, was better educated than her mother and husband and was able

28

to read and write, as could all her children. So it was probably Kate who completed the census returns form and saved Joseph the embarrassment of having to ask his wife quietly how old his mother-in-law was. The information that Kate put down tells us Joseph (aged 36) and Kate (aged 34) lived at 13 Church Street (The Level) on 21st April 1911. They had three bedrooms for the whole family, including Kate’s mother. There were three children in the house at the time and these were John who was 14 years old and still at school, Joseph who was 6 years old and the two-year-old Michael who stayed at home for the moment with his mother and his grandmother, Bridget Fahy who was (according to these records) 58 years old. The 1911 census also changes the spelling of ‘Fahey’ in 1910 to ‘Fahy’.

Original 1911 Census returns form for Joseph and Kate Cunningham

Constable Thomas Rooney returned the following day to pick up the form and asked Joseph if he’d be good enough to put his mark on it. Standing in the doorway of number 13 Church Street (The Level) with its two windowed façade Joseph put his mark on the census form to declare that the information given about all those in the three-bedroom house was true and correct.

Not too far away at number 1 Moores Lane Joseph Cunningham’s mark on the 1911 census return was another Cunningham. Mary Cunningham and her two children John, aged twenty, and Patrick, now 13 years old, hadn’t moved from their two-room house for over ten years despite its deterioration and the abandonment of the other houses in the street. The Walsh’s, Kennedy’s and Hearne’s had all moved out and in Moores Lane, with only five houses on it, there was only Mary inhabiting the first house and at number 3 lived John Fitzgerald with his family. Mary’s house had lost a front window which was now boarded up leaving the inside darker than ever. On Mary Cunningham’s mark on the 1911 census return form th the 26 April 1911, five days after collecting the census from her brothers, Constable Thomas Rooney knocked on Mary’s door to collect the returns form.

As she could not read or write in all probability her eldest son John filled in the form for her and the Constable witnessed as she made her mark.

Mary was 40 years old and still working. She may have gained promotion from char-woman as in 1911 she worked as a housekeeper, however this may simply be a question of semantics.

Anyway, she earned enough to keep the house and the kids fed. Things were perhaps a little easier now that her son John was working as a labourer and bringing a wage into the house.

Patrick was still at school but eager to join his elder brother and contribute to the running of the house.

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James Cunningham + Elizabeth Curran John

Margaret

Patrick

Joseph

Elizabeth

William

Ellen

b.1896

b.1898

b.1899

b.1903

b.1905

b.1908

b.1910

Joseph Cunningham + Kate Fahey

John

Patrick

Margaret

Joseph

Michael

b.1896

b.1898

b.1901d.1903

b.1905

b.1909

Mary Cunningham + David Power

John

Patrick

b.1891

b.1898

Michael Cunningham + Mary Ellen

Mary b.1911

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Troubled Times The pain that came with the winter months was too much for many a Cunningham to face.

Christmas became a bitter sweet time and although John and Margaret’s son William tried to fill the gaping black hole his mother’s death had left he could not hold back any longer. The work situation was another factor. Despite all the promises made by the Gaelic League, the Young Ireland Club, the G.A.A or the Voluteers there was very little to live for in Carrick as Dollard says: The Carrick streets are lonely and the Carrick streets are still, Where drearily the empty barges wait; But every wind that blows and every ship that goes, Bears a Carrick man away from the West Gate!54 So, a few days before 12th August 1911 William said his farewells to the living and shed a tear at his mother’s grave. There was no headstone on Margaret Cunningham’s (nee Glynn) grave yet so William told the mound of earth below which his mother lay that he would soon be on his way by train to find a life in Americae. He filled his chest for the last time of Carrick air and headed south by train probably Pier in Queenstown (now called Cobh) that passengers used to board (as it had been running since 1862) to tenders to take them to their ships anchored in deeper waters.

Queenstown (now called Cobh) to walk along the rickety wooden pier that would take passengers to their ship anchored in deeper waters. It was the same pier that ill-fated Pier from which passengers would board the ship to take them aboard the Titanic in Cobh passengers would trample over to board the Titanic only a year after William’s departure.

Queenstown was a hive of activity, especially in the summertime as over one thousand emigrants left from this port every week. To pass the time there was music and dancing and pedlars trying to get William to buy a last memento of his home before he set sail, but he was too smart to throw away the little savings he had.

William felt safe boarding a ship called ‘Saint Paul’. A ship with such a name, he thought, must have the blessings of God. His voyage was uneventful and at the age of twenty-six and single the blueeyed fair-haired William walked into the immigration control building at Ellis Island on 23rd August 1911.

He was questioned thoroughly but the five-foot seven-inch William had been well-versed in what to say. His brother 54

Dollard quoted in Carrick-on-Suir - Its Origins and Growth, Patrick.C.Power, Tipperary Historical Journal, 1992. p142

31

Immigration station on Ellis Island. Photo taken between 1907-1912. William Cunningham’s first experience of America.

Patrick’s letters told him to state he was there to stay with him and he had a job as a longshoreman waiting for him on Pier 21 of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. He’d be working for a Mr Turner (the foreman) and living with his brother at 48 New Bowery, New York. When asked his age he also extended the truth and said he was 34 instead of 26 years old. When asked to put his mark on the registration card to affirm that he had verified the information and that it was true, he gladly obliged and demonstrated that not only could he read but also write.

William Cunningham’s original signature on his registration card on arriving in America on 23rd August 1911.

Meanwhile in 1911 back in Britain people were still talking about the Festival of the Empire which was held in the Crystal Palace in May. This was the beginning of the Commenwealth games but the fate of the Crystal Palace in 1936 would be the same as that of the Commonwealth and the Titanic.

Back in Carrick the Cunninghams were thinking about William, who had recently departed for America, and talking about a new member of the clan on the way. Despite sharing the same roof as his father and brother, Michael Cunningham was able to provide his wife with a second child. It was due in September of 1912 and the family took the news with mixed feelings.

‘Sure isn’t it grand news for there to be another one on the way, but there again it’s a another mouth to feed and the poor little thing will only have the wretched winter to look forward to on its arrival’.

Towards the end of September little baby John was born to Michael and Mary Ellen. This meant that Michael’s father, John, received even less attention. The cold winter soon descended upon Carrick and brought a chill to the house on John Street. By February, after a long hard winter, little John started to cough and wheeze. His grandfather was the first to put more peat on the fire and his father went looking for something else to wrap him in. It made no difference. The wintery cold had decided to take another Cunningham and would not let go of little John. His parents brought him to the hospital at the workhouse in the hope that the doctor could do something for him, but after only 21 days in the workhouse hospital and only 6 months of life, baby John died of acute bronchitis and cardiac failure in the workhouse.

21 John Street became a sad place to be but as always the cycle of life brought some good news for the Cunninghams. James was once again worried about his wife, Eliza. She was screaming again in the upstairs bedroom but this time it wasn’t at the children running amuck but about the child on the way. Mary on 20th May 1913 saw the light of day and when she was older and she would take flight to Coventry in England and marry a Patrick Blanche, although she would end up returning to New Ross in Ireland. Her father, James was out at work as a labourer and so it was her mother, Eliza Cunningham (nee Curran), who registered her birth.

Several months after Mary’s birth the First World War created war work and many travelled to Britain to enlist or to work in factories as Mary Cunningham b.20.5.1913 part of the war effort. The pessimism during these times meant that the birth rate, at least in the

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1913

Cunningham family, dropped from its usually high rate. The Cunninghams played their part in the war effort as much as any family both on the Irish, British and American sides. We know that James and Eliza’s first-born, John, (aka Alaska Jack because he had emigrated to Canada) was drafted on 16th May 1918 at London, Ontario. He survived the war and Alaska Jack, the eldest of James and Eliza’s children, died in Seattle, USA some years later.

During the First World War the attraction of a job in the British Army was a mixed blessing. Firstly it was a job and brought money into the house, but it was British money and risking the money earners’ life wasn’t a good gamble to take. Despite this it is thought that as much as a thousand men from the Carrick district enlisted in the British army.55 This did not make the John Cunningham aka Alaska Jack National Volunteers happy nor the IRA who were looking for men in preparation for the 1916 Easter uprising. Despite the events in Dublin at Easter 1916 Carrick was little affected. A mass was held for those who had died and the huge numbers that attended showed the rather nervous R.I.C where Carrick’s loyalty lay. In August 1917 the Con Colbert Cumann, a republican youth movement, was started as was a political branch of Sinn Fein. This created the need for arms and on St Patrick’s day 1918 Carrick men were involved in one of Ireland’s first arms raids from an ammunitions store on the quay.

The renewed optimism which accompanied the end of the war in 1918 also brought new blood to the Cunningham family. Joseph’s wife, Kate Fahey, was pregnant. Once again it was the sweet April air which was to blame for the new pregnancy which meant, as was almost customary now in the Cunningham family, the child would be born during the winter months. Kate feared for the little one in her belly as she knew how many of her family the Carrick winter had already claimed. However, the child inside her showed her strength and determination to survive with the kicks she often gave her mother. Almost two weeks before Christmas day Kate was giving birth and giving Bridget Cunningham b.1919 the house an additional reason to celebrate Christmas. Only one month after the signing of the Armisitice, on the 12th December 1919 Bridget Cunningham (aka Bridie) was born into the same cold morning air her grandmother had experienced 78 years earlier. This frosty welcome to a world which had only just signed the end of the war to end all wars would make Bridie a strong woman. Her parents had hoped that Bridie’s arrival at the same time as peace was a good omen.

55

p144. Carrick-on-Suir - Its Origins and Growth, Patrick.C.Power, Tipperary Historical Journal, 1992.

33

With the Great war now over Britain turned its efforts to repairing things and applying a tough hand in Ireland. The first words Bridie would hear while she played in the house at number 13 The Level (Church Street) would be about the terrible events on November 20th 1920, when British forces opened fire on the crowd in Croke Park watching a match between Tipperary and Dublin. Michael Hogan from Grangemockler was one of the many who was killed56.

The 1920 Tipperary team

This was bitter news while trying to nurture a family. However, these troubles did not stop Joseph and Kate keeping warm at night and producing another child. We do not know the exact date of birth but around 1920 Mary was born to Joseph and Kate. With time young Mary would follow in the footsteps of her namesake and aunt who also met and fell in love with a David Power. This time the young Mary would be sure to marry her Power and would not lose him even after his entrance into the army. Although their love was strong Mary Cunningham and David Power’s relationship would be put to the test with the loss of several of their children, but that was a long way off yet and for now her parents’ only thought was to protect her from the ensuing fighting and the Carrick winters so that she could enjoy her childhood which is what she did.

Mary Cunningham and David Power Guerilla warfare was a dangerous thing and the Cunningham family knew they were living in dangerous times but kept their heads down and helped those in need. There were 100 members of the Queen’s regiment of the British forces stationed at the Carrick barracks at the time as well as the R.I.C and the infamous Black and Tans who were said to have killed a Cunningham child on his doorstep. In March 1921 the Cunninghams heard that the IRA were planning to move on Carrick and heard the whispers to stay indoors and keep the children off the streets. Reports to the British cabinet tell us about the incidents in Carrick which would make walking in the streets for the Cunninghams a dangerous affair. The report by the General Officer Cammander-in-Chief of the situation in Ireland for week ending 23rd April 1921 included, among other things:

Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary. Military and Police engaged armed rebels this afternoon in Bessborough Pk. Fire opened by Military was returned by rebels who fled "leaving behind them small quantity of arms and a policeman captured by them same morning at Feddown. One soldier s l i g h t l y wounded. Some rebels believed to be wounded. 57

The Flying Column. Part of the IRA. Tipperary. 1921 56

P149. Carrick-on-Suir - Its Origins and Growth, Patrick.C.Power, Tipperary Historical Journal, 1992.

57

War Cabinet and Cabinet Memoranda. British National Archives. Kew. CAB 24/133

34

On 16th March 1921 telephone lines were cut between Carrick and Clonmel and later the courthouse in Carrickbeg was burned down. The fight for Carrick started when a soldier was killed in a lorry crossing Dillon Bridge. Eventually the IRA won a moral victory as the British forces signed a treaty and a cessation to the violence. It was time to lick wounds and honour the dead.

On 11th August 1921 a general holiday and public day of mourning was announced in Carrick due to the accidental death of Commandant Dennis Sadlier shot by a comrades rifle. The Cunninghams were pleased for the day of rest from work and many attended the funeral in Grangemockler. However, worse was to come. In December Joseph Cunningham came home to Old Bridge damaged by the retreating IRA in 1922 tell his wife Kate that deValera had done a deal with the British for only twenty-six counties instead of a completely free Ireland. Again, Carrick opinion was split between a comprimised peace or the peserverance for complete freedom. After January 1922 the IRA took over Carrick, moving into the, now deserted, Carrick-on–Suir barracks with Seamus Gilmartin in charge.

The Dairy had already been set up by this time and was called Cleaves Creamery. It employed ninety men and women some of whom would be Cunninghams. However, in 1922 there was a strike due to a threatened reduction and the workers took over the factory and raised the Communist flag above it. The IRA tried to mediate but were soon taken up with bigger issues. There was a general election on June 7th and Civil War broke out just 21 days after the supporters of the Treaty had won. The 500 Republicans in the Carrick garrison prepared to take on the Free State Army. During the battle in and around Carrick the Cunninghams remained in their houses and hid under tables and beds to avoid any stray shots finding an unfortunate target again. The lack of guns and numbers forced the IRA to blow up the old bridge and Dillon bridge as they retreated. They also burnt the courthouse and Police The Technical School in 2014 Station. Many in Carrick were glad the fighting was over although General Prout was far from popular as he made his 700 troops enforce a strict timetable on public houses and many a Cunningham went gasping for a drink if they arrived outside opening times which were from 6pm to 8pm. But the IRA, now hiding in the hills around Carrick, did not give up the fight. They returned to burn down the workhouse, which the Free State Army was using as their headquarters, as well as a building on Main Street which later became the Technical School58.

Catherine Cunningham b.1923

58

Carrick was now a war-torn town struggling for survival.

They were repairing the damaged old bridge while talking about Eamon de Valera’s speech which he made in March 1922 in Carrick itself where he spoke about Irish people spilling Irish blood for the sake of a free Ireland. But all this

Carrick-on-Suir - Its Origins and Growth, Patrick.C.Power, Tipperary Historical Journal, 1992.

35

did not take away the chill of the February wind which made many a couple cling tight to one another again in order to keep the bitter cold at bay. It was in this climate that Kate Cunningham nee (Fah[e]y) fell pregnant again, around two years after the birth of her last child Mary. At the age of around fifty it took a tough woman to give birth to her penultimate child. Joseph was unsure of what to call his latest daughter when asked but Kate knew exactly what she should call her new daughter. So, Catherine Cunningham was born on a cold 26th February 1923 in the house on The Level (Church Street). While everybody was talking about all this and more Kate was too busy nursing her new daughter to ensure the stiff winter wind would not take this one from her. Despite her nursing, the little Katherine caught a cold from which she would recover although not without a weakened chest which would come back to haunt her.

Catherine and Bridie were the two youngest and best looked after of all of James and Kate’s children. Apart from going to school with Catherine Cunningham’s travel identity card for travel between Great Britain and Ireland only the wicked nuns when they were old enough, Catherine and Bridie had the rest of the time to play when they weren’t helping their mother in the house. As kids they would... ‘flock the streets of Carrick[with their brothers and cousins] playing with sticks, climbing on walls, jumping in puddles, playing singing games, chanting and running. Because of them cars move slowly, and most people feel actively responsible for any child whom they feel needs help. As soon as a child can walk he trots around after his brothers and sisters; before this an older sister pushes him [or her] around in the pram.... The girls play school, play with dolls, ride bicycles, play tip (tag) and nucks (the Irish form of Jacks played with round, smooth stones). They bounce balls, skip rope, chant, and play’59.

This was how they spent much of their childhood which meant they knew how to have fun when they grew up. And boy did they have fun!

As young women Bridie would say to Katherine: ‘you’ve the looks and the dancing and I’ve the voice. And sure ya can’t have everything but aren’t we a fine pair!’

With these high spirits and a nack for finding the craic the two could be found tripping the light fantastic in Forresters Hall which is where dances were held. This later became the Swan club training and recreation hall which Bridie’s future husband would also visit but as a player instead of a dancer!

59 http://clancybrothersandtommymakem.com/trad_1034_so_early.htm

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Katherine would grow up to be pretty, smart and with a strength of personality that would blunt many a sharp remark from the local gossip-mongers. She loved children but had little tolerance for the menial stupidities of men. It is said that the beauty and strength of her character meant she was much loved in the town. She owed her elegant handwriting to the Sisters of Mercy and would help many a townsfolk to read letters received from loved ones afar and to write them too with a style ‘fit for a doctor’. Katherine never lost her passion for the books and would take her children (Mary and Catherine) to the library frequently to encourage them to open their minds to the world. Stories were also a wonderful form of escape from the harsh realities of the here-and-now. Katherine would often put the wireless on and sit with her children to listen to the story of the day.

The next day she would ask her children what they remembered about the story. In this she was pre-empting the reading comprehension tasks that her grandchildren would do in school many a year later. The respect she gained by many townsfolk meant that she was happy to live with her family in the town of her birth despite having had two children out of wedlock Forrester’s Hall on the right behind the R.I.C Station to two different men. Many others would have felt forced to leave the town under such circumstances but Katherine was a strong woman and put up with the looks from the few in town who were too short-sighted to see past their own noses. Katherine was clearly a woman ahead of her time in a town which, even to this day, is trying its best to catch up with less antiquated mind sets. She knew her own mind and was unafraid of expressing her thoughts as they would only be for the good of those around her, after all what good is there in hiding the truth from those who could benefit from it. Katherine would answer anyone who was short-sighted enough to pass judgement on her that ‘God is my judge’.

Wisps of her strength of character still flow through the veins of her youngest daughter and grandchildren. The staunch independence, the lack of fear of ‘what will the neighbours think’, the ability to get on with everyone and joie de vivre are all traits that are still within the family today.

R-L: Catherine Cunningham, Ned (Skirt), Mary Haines, ?, Mary Morrissey, ? perhaps in Forrester’s Hall.

37

Michael Cunningham + Mary Ellen

Mary

John

b.1911

b.1912

Joseph Cunningham + Kate Fahey John

Patrick

Margaret

Joseph

Michael

Bridget

Mary

Katherine

b.1896

b.1898

b.1901

b.1905

b.1909

b.1919

b.1920

b.1923

James Cunningham + Elizabeth Curran John

Margaret

Patrick

Joseph

Elizabeth

William

Ellen

Mary

b.1896

b.1898

b.1899

b.1903

b.1905

b.1908

b.1910

b.1913

38

The Cunninghams continue to bloom in changing conditions It wasn’t until two years later in 1925 that any Cunningham felt that Carrick was a safe enough place to bring up more children.

There were few job prospects as work was scarce and only for those who thought in the right political way. Cleeves Condensed Milk Company closed and the old Slate Quarries outside the town were in a bad way. Jobs were so scarce that the Urban Council had to ask the Tipperary County Board of Assistance to double the Wide lane, Carrick-on-Suir. 1925 amount of home help in December 1925. Those without work felt that having more children would increase the household income once the kids started earning. So, once again it was Joseph and Kate who were the ones who had news for the family about their new addition. This time it was a boy and was named after Kate’s brother Thomas. He was a new mouth to feed in the house on The Level in 1925. To distinguish which Thomas was being spoken about a nickname was required. When little Thomas Cunningham b.1925

Thomas was old enough to get a job he became a Taylor’s apprentice and a nickname was found. Taylor or (uncle Tom) would be part of Carrick life until work took him to England where he would settle down and start a family with a young girl from Blaydon-on-Tyne in Newcastle named Mary Ann Reay and where they would see their life out in Romford, Essex.

By this time Elizabeth or Betty Cunningham had married Colin Randall (with whom things were not to work out well) and in 1927, at the age of 22, she was pregnant on her first child who was to be named Roy. Work had taken Betty to England and she lived at 62 Cleverly Estate, East Acton at the time.

Roy Randall (son of Betty Cunningham)

Apart from celebrating Roy’s arrival in 1927 the whole of Carrick were celebrating the fact that the first Carrick side ever had just won the County Final It’s not until 3 years later that we hear of any more Cunninghams. In 1930 the American census tells us that John and Margaret Glynn’s son Patrick, who was one of the first to emigrate to America, was now a widower and sharing a flat with his brother William at 48 New Bowery. Both were still working as longshoremen in New York. Patrick was 63 years old and his brother William was 56.

39

They are also recorded as working in the same job 10 years later in the 1940 census only by this time they had changed address and had moved to 24, East Broadway, Manhattan, New York with Chinese and Italian neighbours. They were living the true American melting pot dream! There was probably some correspondence between the Cunninghams in Carrick and New York. Perhaps it was by post that Patrick and William heard of the latest arrival to the Cunningham clan in 1931.

In 1931 Betty Cunningham gave birth to a baby girl. She was named after her mother but it took only a few years to realise that having two Bettys in the house became a bit confusing so the baby was called ‘little Betty’. Little Betty, like her uncles in America, liked to travel and ended up settling in Switzerland with her Swiss husband.

Pier 21, New York where Patrick and William Cunningham worked

Back in Carrick in 1931 the Carrick Rugby team were showing off their new strip and having their photo taken for the records outside Pikes Hotel on Main Street. Although the grand appearance of the rugby team only gave an

Little Betty b.1931 to Betty ‘impression’ of modernity. In reality Carrick was still many years behind other Cunnignham and Michael cities in Ireland. It was only in 1930 that the high rate of scarlatina, enteric fever Fitzgerald and diphtheria due to poor living conditions (many of the houses of the large families living in the lanes had clay floors, no sewerage and no running water) meant that by 1932 the first sewage system in the town was in place, albeit in Main Street and surrounds. With 120 unemployed in the town in 1930 this meant those dependent on the man of the house being in work numbered over 800. There was only work for the Irish Free State veterans so many a many bit their lip and talked only of sport. 60

By 1931 Ellen Christina Cunningham, who had been born to James and Eliza 20 years previously, was now giving birth herself. She had met and wed a charming John William Connelly who was a few months older than her.

They had married young; the national average was 29 years old for women and nearly 35 for men. Ellen Christina’s first born was named after her two sisters and so, soon after her birth on 14th June 1931, Mary Elizabeth Mary Elizabeth b.1931 Connelly was baptised. The young Mary Elizabeth, like her ancestors, soon got itchy feet and moved to the UK where she met and wed Michael Lynch with whom she moved to the US. It was there that Mary Elizabeth and Michael Lynch had two children (Tim and Erin) and where she lived a happy life.

1932 in Carrick saw a slight lift in spirits. The government provided money for concreting the road over the old bridge and part of William Street. There were also plans to start building 36 new houses in the Ard Mhuire area which members of the Cunningham family would soon be living in. This new burst of energy in the town was also reflected in the creation of the Carrick Swans Hurling and Football Club. It was in Morrissey’s Garage in Lough Street where the club was first based and as Jack Rockett and Jack Faulkner both mulled over a name for the club there arrived divine intervention in the form of a flying piece of mortar which landed on the floor 60

Carrick-on-Suir - Its Origins and Growth, Patrick.C.Power, Tipperary Historical Journal, 1992. p161.

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beside them. As the two Jacks stood over the mortar blessing their luck that they hadn’t been in the path of the white paste they both began to see the shape it had formed on the floor and so the name of the Swans was arrived at! They were to start as a junior Hurling team in 1932 but quickly gained promotion to the senior level and won the South Tipp Championship in 1933, 1935, 1936 and 1939. It was in the year of their second Championship win that more good news in the Cunningham clan was being shared.

Updated 30.3.2015 To be continued...

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Slรกn agus beannacht leat

Goodbye and blessings on you 42

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