From Ballyboyle to Corglass... a Boyle family's story
Part 2 - Corglass
JOHN BOYLE (1858-1896)
By the time of John2 Boyle's death, Patrick3 and John3, the two sons remaining at home would have been in their early twenties and would have been running the farm for some time. The Land Office records show that by 1887 the farm was in John3's name, though Patrick3 was older and still alive. As we have seen, this may have been due to Patrick's ill health. During this period John3 expanded the farm by renting a further 17 acres in Cloonelly, formerly held by Francis Reilly. Perhaps his share of the legacy of Terence2 helped him to do this. The landlord in this case was Arthur Maconchy. The Maconchys were major landowners in County Longford where they had over 10,000 acres.
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Surprisingly, John3 did not marry for nine years after his father's death, until he was about 32. The usual reason for the pattern of late marriage in rural Ireland was the economic dependence of the younger generation on the older - and by the time the purse strings were relaxed it was often too late. This does not seem to have applied in John3's case. He seems to have had the financial independence to do so, but there may have been other reasons - his mother was still alive and may have been unwilling to relinquish control, or more likely, the 1880's was a period of depression, uncertainty and hardship for Irish farmers.
However, on February 13, 1890, John3 married Bridget Brady in Ballinamuck Chapel. The priest officiating at the marriage was John Brady, a brother of Bridget's, and the witnesses were Patrick Harte (probably a cousin of John's on his mother's side - again, no sign of any Boyle relations) and Mary Brady, probably Bridget's sister.
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Bridget was the daughter of Terence Brady (c.1813-1900) and Mary Reilly (c.1825-1910) of Gaigue, in the neighbouring parish of Drumlish. In Griffiths' Valuation, there are two adjoining farms in Gaigue occupied by Terence Brady, one of 34 acres and the other of 20 acres. If these are both the same person, then he would have been a substantial farmer by the standards of the day. This land was also part of the huge McConchy estate.
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Bridget3 Brady Boyle in 1916. Her son Terence4 is standing behind her.
However, John3 and Bridget were not to have long together. On December 9, 1896 John died aged 38, just seven months after the death of his mother. Although there is a story that he died as a result of a fall from a cart at Arva fair, the cause of death given on his death certificate is Phthisis. This is an old generic term for any drawn-out debilitating disease, and generally meant tuberculosis. However, given the stigma attached to TB in those days, it is understandable if people wished to hide the fact. The death certificate also indicates that the duration of the illness was 18 months.
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He died at home, without the benefit of any medical assistance, as was the norm then. It must have been a traumatic experience for Bridget and the children.
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Bridget was left with four young sons - the eldest, Terence4 not yet six and Patrick4, the youngest, just over a year old. Terence was old enough to remember the event. Years later, in a letter to his brother Patrick he wrote:
"This is the 9 Dec the morning father died. How well I remember it sixty years ago".
We can only imagine the hardship Bridget would have faced in bringing up her young family in the conditions of the day. She must have had considerable strength of character, and in a surviving photograph she appears as a determined and resolute matriarch.
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She did have some help - in the 1901 census a house maid, Rosanna Airlie and a farm labourer, Patrick Smyth are listed, and her brother Patrick Brady seems to have taken an active interest in the family. Terence4's letter to his brother Patrick in 1957 again:
“Well I was surprised to hear Uncle Pat was dead. He must be near 100. No wonder he was silly Lord have mercy on him. He was pretty good to us long ago.”
Bridget Brady Boyle's obituary in the Longford Leader, 27 April 1935
Terence’s Christmas Card to Patrick in 1957
