From Ballyboyle to Corglass... a Boyle family's story
Part 2 - Corglass
Gerald O'Reilly, Lord Mayor
When next we hear of Terence, it is the widely reported news of his second marriage. On the 25th November 1908 at St Andrew's Church, Westland Row, Dublin, he marries Josephine O'Reilly, daughter of Gerald O'Reilly who was at the time Lord Mayor of Dublin. The details' of the wedding were carried in both local and national newspapers. The following account from the Catholic Herald is typical.
Wedding Bells.
BRADY-O’REILLY
A wedding of special interest to Liverpool—that of Mr. Terence E. Brady SV, Hawthorne House, Oakhill Park. Old Swan. with Josephine O'Reilly, daughter of the Lord Mayor of Dublin—took place at St. Andrew's, Dublin. The officiating priest was the Rev. Fr. John G. O'Reilly C.C.. Pro-Cathedral. Dublin (brother of the bride), assisted by the Rev. Fr. John Brady C.C.. Ballinahown, Athlone (brother of the bridegroom). and the Rev. Fr. John Hatton C.C. St. Andrew’s (Lord Mayor’s Chaplain). The newly-married pair had the honour of receiving the Special Benediction of his Holiness Pope Pius X. The bride. who was given away her father, wore an Empire gown of white Oriental satin, trimmed with Brussels net and silver motifs. embroidered tulle veil and wreath of myrtle orange blossoms. She wore a diamond and pearl pendant and carried a shower bouquet of choicest flowers (gifts of the bridegroom).
Miss Polly O'Reilly, sister of the bride, who acted as bridesmaid, was dressed in white silk, trimmed with gold, Greek key pattern, and a white hat trimmed with mole chiffon and wings. She wore an emerald and pearl bracelet and carried a bouquet of pink and white flowers- gifts of the bridegroom. Captain M. J. Mahony M.D. of Liverpool, acted as best man. As the bridal party left the church, which was beautifully decorated, the organ played Mendelssohn’s " Wedding March." On returning to the Mansion House dejeuner was served to which only the immediate relatives were invited.
Mr. and Mr. Terence E. Brady left early in the afternoon for London and Paris, en route to the Riviera, where the honeymoon will be spent, the bride wearing a sapphire blue Directoire gown, hat to match, and sables. The presents, which were numerous, included the following:—Bridegroom to bride. silver card case and purse combined. Sheraton writing table, diamond and pearl pendent, and sapphire and diamond ring; bride to bridegroom, silver-backed hairbrushes, silver cigarette case. and silver-mounted umbrella; and a silver tea and coffee service and tray, on which were engraved the following: " Presented to Miss Josephine O'Reilly. from the aldermen. councillors and staff of the Corporation of the City of Dublin, on the occasion of her marriage, as a token of the respect and esteem for herself and her father, the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor. 1908."
The Longford Leader added some details of his career in Liverpool, giving some hints that he had placed some limits on his involvement in civic affairs:
Interestingly, none of the reports allude to the fact that he was a widower with three children, perhaps not a polite thing to mention in a wedding announcement in those days.
Unfortunately, it is not known how Terence Brady met Josephine O'Reilly, or how this romance came about, but the fact that Josephine's father was also engaged in both the drinks trade and civic affairs suggests one possible link. Gerald O'Reilly was an established figure in Dublin business, and like Terence, he was active in civic affairs as well as business.
He came to Dublin from Carlow and set up in business as a grocer and wine & spirits merchant at 8 Townsend St, Dublin, and was a founding member of the Dublin Family Grocers and Purveyors Association. His business was substantial and well known; being close to Trinity College it was noted that "for many years the students...made their purchases of groceries there, until the opening of a co-operative store in the college brought their custom largely to an end".
He was an elected member of Dublin Corporation from the 1880s until his death in 1915, serving as High Sherriff in 1906 and as Lord Mayor in 1908. In addition, he took on other responsibilities as a Governor of the Royal Academy of Music and of the Dental Hospital. He also served as a member of the South Dublin Board of Guardians, a role similar to that of Terence Brady on Liverpool's Select Vestry.
His election as Lord Mayor was a formality, but not without controversy. Due to new legislation in the 1880s and 90s, nationalists now controlled most local government, including Dublin Corporation, and their preferred candidate - this time, Gerald O'Reilly - could be sure to win. But his opponents did not give up without a fight.
The unionist candidate raised issues of corruption - would Mr. O'Reilly be willing to submit to an audit of how he would spend the £3,600 allowance made available to the Mayor, since, he claimed, a previous incumbent had pocketed over £2,000 of it? And a new political force on the scene, Sinn Fein, had made its appearance. Its candidate challenged the nationalists on whether they would present a loyal address to King Edward VII should he visit Dublin.
These challenges reflected the undercurrent of political tensions of the time. In the previous generation, the national movement under Parnell and Davitt had won the Land War and fought for Home Rule. But by the early years of the 20th century, the middle-class shopkeepers, publicans and business people who were running the party were coming to be seen by younger, more radical elements as complacent, self-serving and corrupt, and 'going soft' on the issue of independence.
O'Reilly was typical of an unholy alliance of the drinks trade and Nationalist politics in Ireland that was frequently condemned by these more socially-minded and radical elements. The drinks trade was also an indispensable source of funding for the Irish Parliamentary Party and its grassroots organisation, the United Irish League:
The 'advanced' nationalists, imbued with an idealistic view of Ireland and its destiny looked with disdain on what they saw as the materialism and vulgarity of the dominant political class as represented by the UIL. The poet and dramatist John Millington Synge expressed it thus:
"There are sides of all that western life, the groggy-patriot-publican general-shop-man who is married to the priest's half-sister and is second cousin once-removed of the dispensary doctor, that are horrible and awful. This is the type that is running the present United Irish League anti-grazier campaign, while they are swindling the people themselves in a dozen ways and then buying out their holdings and packing off whole families to America.... a rampant double-chinned vulgarity I haven't seen the like of". [ J.M. Synge, 1905, quoted in Foster, 1988 p.455].
Synge was talking about land-grabbing in the rural west of Ireland, but similar criticisms were directed at UIL politicians in the cities getting rich on the proceeds of dilapidated tenements.
At a time when Dublin was reputed to have the worst slum conditions in Europe, the largest occupational blocks on Dublin Corporation were those of publicans and liquor sellers (the ‘whiskey ring’) and slum landlords, and members were often both. Not surprisingly, they looked after their own interests. They were frequently accused of ignoring sanitary codes and using political office for personal advantage. Unfortunately Gerald O’Reilly was not immune from such criticisms.
One noted historian concluded that the Corporation was
“a body whose dominance by drink sellers and tenement landlords did little to articulate any broader goals for municipal government other than narrow political gain and survival in office…Perhaps the most appalling case concerned the collapse of a tenement house in Townsend St. in 1902, resulting in one death. This house was the property of alderman Gerald O’Reilly, a local publican and had been condemned as unsafe by the sanitary department…This did not prevent [him] being elected Lord Mayor in 1908. Corporation members obviously used their influence to prevent the enforcement of regulations against their properties”.[Daly, 1984]
The collapse of the tenement, in the same street at O'Reilly's business premises and former home, was covered in detail in the newspapers of the time (See below the article from the Irish Daily Independent of 10 October 1902. However there were few consequences for him; a claim for damages by the family of the victim was dismissed.
About 1900, The family was sufficiently prosperous to remove from living 'above the shop' in the crowded city centre to a suburban mansion of Riversdale, in the then almost rural Stillorgan. This was their home until Gerald's death in 1915, when it appears the family moved out. Somewhat ironically for someone who made much of his money from the drinks trade, the house was later re-named 'Granada' when it became part of the St John of God facility, best known as a treatment centre for people with alcohol dependence.
