From Ballyboyle to Corglass... a Boyle family's story
Part 2 - Corglass
Reynolds of Ballinalee
Having been repressed for centuries, a new Catholic upper and middle class was emerging in the late 19th century, and the Reynolds typified this class. There were a few families who could claim descent from the old Gaelic nobility (such as the O'Ferralls) but for the most part, the emerging Catholic middle and upper classes were composed of peasant farmers who had succeeded in expanding their holdings and converting their tenancies into ownership, business people (who were often farmers as well) and professionals such as doctors and lawyers. While relations with the protestant Anglo-Irish landlord class might have been softening at this time into something more cordial, at least on a formal level, there was no question of creating closer relationships with them through marriage for example.
Terence Brady's purchase of the Kilshrewly estate, and the subsequent marriage of his daughter Annie Kate to Laurence Reynolds in 1911 would have put him in an elevated social position among the Catholics of late 19th century Longford.
One of the few families in north Longford who would be regarded as social equals of Terence Brady were the Reynolds, who owned substantial land and property near Granard, at Ballinalee and Dalystown. (Terence's sister Mary was already married to a Francis Reynolds, and a Mary Reynolds was married to John Harte, cousin of Bridget Brady Boyle's husband John3 Boyle, but it is not known if these were related to Laurence.)
Leaving aside any romantic considerations, a marriage link is no surprise as the families had a lot in common, and it is worth considering this family in some detail to appreciate the social milieu that Terence Brady moved in while at Kilshrewly.
As far as is known, Laurence's great-grandfather was a well-to-do farmer, probably born about 1770 and who lived near Granard. It is likely that he had two sons, Laurence (b. 1793) and Henry (b. 1799) from whom two branches of the family are descended, those of Dalystown and Ballinalee. ( See box - "Where's the Evidence?)
Henry Reynolds of Ballinalee (1799-1877)
Henry (1799-1877) laid the foundations for a family business in the village of Ballinalee that continued into the 1960s. Henry had at least two sons, James and Henry.
Henry (1840-1915) carried on and expanded the business in supplying the needs of the local farming community. In addition to his own farming activities, he was a well-known breeder of thoroughbred horses.
He was actively involved in local government for over fifty years, serving on many local committees such as the Granard Board of Guardians which administered what little health and social services were available in Victorian Ireland, and with the introduction of more democratic local bodies, he chaired the County Council in its early years. In this field, he would have had common interests with Terence Brady, father of his daughter-in-law, who had also been active in local government in Liverpool. Henry and his wife Winifred Pettit had two sons, but Henry died in infancy. Laurence (1881-1954) who married Annie Kate Brady in 1911 followed a career similar to his father's in both business and local government
Where's the Evidence?
While there is no documentary evidence that Laurence (B. 1793) and Henry (b.1799) were brothers, there is just enough circumstantial detail to support the assumption.
Firstly, they shared the same small pool of Christian names – Laurence, James and Henry account for all the males we know of over several generations. Secondly, both branches were fairly high up on the social ladder of rural Catholic society in the area of north Longford – they were prosperous and active in local government at a time when family networks were crucial in making social progress.
But with few records earlier than the mid-19th century, I could not confirm the precise relationships. Fortunately, local historian Gerry Brady was able to use his local knowledge and acquaintance with current Reynolds family members to confirm the connection. He wrote that “Surgeon Reynolds (Laurence's son) made many visits there (to Dalystown House, near Granard, his father’s residence) and to his Longford cousins, Henry Reynolds of Ballinalee, first Chairman of Longford County Council, and Rev James Reynolds, first President of St Mel’s College.”(Henry's sons)
James (abt. 1828 – 1895) was ordained to the priesthood in 1856 and almost immediately he was given the task of establishing what became St Mel’s Diocesan College in Longford where he remained as President until 1871. (His career is described in hagiographical detail in "Records relating to the Dioceses of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise" (Monahan, 1886), where it is said he was born of “most respectable and wealthy parents”).
He later became Archdeacon and Parish Priest of Ardagh where he commissioned a “spectacular” neo-Gothic church, regarded as “one of the finest churches of its type in Leinster, and perhaps in Ireland”.
His cause of death in 1895 due to ‘locomotor ataxia and hepatic cirrhosis’ hints at some personal difficulties, and possible alcohol addiction. Tragically, his man-servant who attended him in his final years was so affected by his master’s demise that he showed markedly disturbed behaviour, changing from a “steady, plodding servant to a wandering imbecile” and took his own life in a traumatic fashion a few months later. (Roscommon Herald, 05.10.1895).
