Portraits Of The Family

My mothers' maiden name was Mary Mehigan. She was born at 41 Lough Hill, Cork, on 21th August 1881. Her Mother, Mary Anne Courtney, was born in Skibbereen, Co: Cork. There are still Courtney's living in Skibbereen, descendants of her brother. Her father, Charles Mehigan, was of Scottish descent. He was a moulder by trade. My Mother was the eldest of her Family and had three sisters and six brothers. My mother was attractive, well-proportioned and about 5ft. 6ins. In height. She was bright, cheerful and musical and had a very sweet singing voice. The Student Prince, Rose Marie, Ramona, the Operas - she loved them all. She loved reading and the characters from the stories she read lived for her and for us when she described them to us. Quilp from "the Old Curiosity Shop", Topsy, Eva, Simon Legree and Uncle Tom himself, from Uncle Toms cabin, were very real to us. She was quick to recognize similar traits and qualities in people she met or heard about and to identify them with the admirable or detestable characters of her reading. My mother was very hospitable and loved company. She was a marvelous cook. Nothing I've ever eaten since could compare with her dishes of Baked Sprats, Stuffed Veal, Apple Dumplings, etc. She made Jam of all kinds as we had an orchard. Yeast bread was another of her specialities. She was always busy as one would expect with a husband and a family of ten children, but she coped with it happily and, for good measure loved having visitors.

Outings consisted mainly of frequent drives in the trap and occasional trips by train to the seaside. On one occasion, my Mother spent a week in Limerick. This visit inspired the name "The rhubarb Leaf" for our family record. While she was in Limerick, Peadar wrote to her giving her an account of what was happening at home under the title of "The Rhubarb Leaf". To explain the reference, my father had, at that particular time, a great interest in the production and sale of Rhubarb. How she enjoyed that letter!

When she returned home, the welcome she got was tumultuous. The younger members threw themselves at her. She had never been away from them so long before. Even when she did her routine shopping, she would hardly be gone half an hour when the younger ones - and the not so young - would be on the road waiting for her to come home. Her parcels would be carried for her by her retinue who had run the lenght of the road to meet her when they saw her coming.

Mother loved beauty in thought, word and deed. She was broad minded, sympathetic, kind and loving. She ruled her family through love. No-one feared her but no one hurt or disobeyed her. She never grew old. She was always young at heart and she died at the early age of fifty nine. She died on 6th August 1941. The Heart was gone from our Home just nineteen months after the head had gone. Life was never the same afterwards for the family.They live on in their children and will continue to live on in their thirty two grandchildren and their twenty three great grandchildren and in the many more who will follow on.

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My Father, Daniel Stephen Crowley, was born on 28th December 1872 in the suburbs of Cork. His father James, was born in Dunmanway. He was a Fenian and had to leave Ireland after the rising to escape imprisonment or worse. His mother, Mary Crowley was a relative of the East Cork patriot, Peter O' Neill Crowley, of Ballymcoda. James returned to Ireland after an absence of five years. He died at the age of Sixty-five. His land was divided among his five sons. His wife lived to be Eighty-four years old and until the day she died she kept control over her family.

In appearance Father was tall and well built. He was a strong healthy man whose life was spent in the open air. He cultivated the land he inherited with intelligence, independance and pride and became a successful Market Gardener. He built a solid two-story house on his own land. In that house a very happy family of six boys and four girls were reared. He was very loving, but firm father, wise and just. He gave the best within his power to give, to his family. This attitude of his was symbolized by his custom of bringing "the first fruits of the earth" to Mother. These fruits were not for sale.

He was an intelligent man and ambitious for his family. He believed in the value of education for all, four University Graduates (May, Billy, Peader and Kevin?) and the winner of a Medal for obtaining First place in advanced Arithmetic in Ireland and Britain (Jerry).

He was ahead of his time in this and many other ideas. His advocacy of a United States of Europe pre dated the present day concept of the European Community by about fifty years. His concept was of a Europe united for the prevention of recurring wars. Predictably, in the light of his parentage, he was intensely patriotic. His love of Ireland pervaded his whole life. The principle by which he lived was that everything Irish was best. Goods manufactured in Ireland were not only the goods bought by him, they were the best that could be bought. In the Home Rule movement, he was a supporter of William O'Brian. During the war of Independance he transported guns and ammunition through a City swarming with Black and Tans. He was a Sinn Fein Magistrate during the years 1919-1922. On the signing of the treaty he took the Republican side. He died on 24th January 1940 at the age of 68.

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