My Mother, Margaret Heery (nee Margaret Smyth) and twin Tommy were born on 31st of January 1899. Their parents were Thomas and Margaret Smyth (nee Margaret McCartan).
Their three older children were John, Hugh and Mary, their Mother (my Grandmother) died at the twins birth.
The children still had a Grandmother on their Mother’s side and a Batchelor Uncle.
They resided on the McCartan farm at Drumaness, this was the last land in the ownership of the McCartans, the rest of their lands had been confiscated during Cromwell’s time.
The other member’s of Margaret’s family, Uncles and Aunts had settled in England, although they came home for their Sister’s funeral.
As Margaret’s father seems to have been an only child with no close relatives to help him at this time, it was decided that John and Hugh were old enough to stay with their Father on the farm.
The Grandmother took Mary to their home in Drumaness, until she was old enough to join her Father on the farm.
Margaret’s twin Tommy, who was a healthy baby, was taken to England by his Aunt, unfortunately he died of Diphtheria when he was two years old. Margaret who was the delicate twin and not expected to live was reared by a neighbour woman, an arrangement between her Father, the woman concerned and the local priest.
Margaret’s Father died when she was five years old, and the woman caring for Margaret died when she was twelve. Margaret’s carer, now deceased, had an only daughter, who was married with a young baby.
She lived in a posh area of Belfast with her Husband, a whiskey travelling salesman. He could be away for several days as his job involved the whole of Ireland.
Margaret’s Sister, Mary, was working as a maid on the Malone Road. She had left school at fourteen, further education was not an option, and most country girls would only have been trained in housework.
Margaret’s new carer sent her to the Dominican Convent, but when it became known that her Sister was working as a maid , the Holy Nuns decided that it was unacceptable for her to remain at the Convent.
Margaret continued to stay with the lady at her posh Glen Road residence, she looked after the baby when her Husband was away, as the Mother had developed a drinking problem, unknown to her Husband.
He travelled by train in his job, and one evening he arrived home unexpectedly, discovering his wife drunk, a row ensued between husband and wife. The next morning, Margaret was given ten schillings and told to make her way to her Brother John’s house at Scribb, near Drumaness, John being the eldest had inherited the farm.
Margaret didn’t stay very long with her Brother, as he was planning marriage, and she got the impression that Ellen her future Sister-in Law wasn’t too happy with her living there.
Hugh had already immigrated to America.
Margaret wrote to her Sister Mary asking her to find a job for her in Belfast. She got a job as a live-in maid for a short time, changing to stitching linen accessories in a wareroom, as she had a talent for this type of work.
She met her Husband John Heery in 1916, he was from County Cavan and serving in the Royal Irish Fusiliers. They got married after a short courtship, in Saint Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Donegall Street, Belfast in 1916.
She was 17, her Husband was 21, John her Brother and Mary her Sister, refused to attend the wedding as they thought her Husband unsuitable, due to their McCartan background.
They had two days together, and Father was posted to the North of England were he had his first encounter with lice, as the young conscripts from that area had lacked nourishment and cleanliness, so many of them had to be deloused.
Father was posted to the Middle East because the Turks were marching towards Iraq, apparently to capture the oil fields, of-course the British could not allow this.
Father was demobbed from the army during 1919, he always told people he came straight from Jerusalem to Dundonald.
His next task was to find a job, as he didn’t have a trade and limited education, the Army, in those days, didn’t train men for anything other than killing and surviving.
So Father, coming from the country, was used to farm labouring and working with animals, thus working for farmers was his only option. The farmer usually supplied a house, and milk as part payment for his work, which was usually from dawn to dusk.
The houses were a very poor standard, rain leaking in didn’t seem to
matter. There was always a good sized garden attached to the house, which Father made good use of by growing potatoes and vegetables which helped us to survive, also firewood was collected to save coal.
A problem arose if Father had a dispute with the Farmer, if they couldn’t agree, Father would have told the Farmer what to do with his job, so losing both job and house.
Poor Mother had 14 flittings between 1919 and 1938.
Although Father’s reputation as a good worker, meant that he would be re-employed by the same farmer that he was in dispute with several years previous, meaning that he was more or less in constant employment, but the wages
were low and the work was hard.
The only decent houses we lived in were Moatview Park and a house at Killyleagh which belonged to Johnnie McCartan, a first cousin of Mothers.
At the time of my Grandmother Smyth’s funeral, as I said before, my
Mother’s Uncle John, his son Johnnie and daughter Cissie, both educated in England, attended the funeral.
Cissie who later married Jim Davey was a trained teacher and Johnnie worked in a Bank. While touring around Co. Down, Johnnie was so impressed with the land that he convinced his Father to return to Ireland and buy a farm, which was purchased. It was located at the Toye near Killyleagh and was bought for 30 gold sovereigns.
The farm prospered and they lived in the dwelling house on the farm. Cissie got a teaching job in Belfast, where she met her husband Jim, they didn’t have any children.
Some years later, I’m not sure how many, Johnnie McCartan bought another larger farm, called Kingsfield, near the racecourse at Downpatrick.
Johnnie McCartan’s House. (Kingsfield Farm) Cissie, who used to visit us occassionally, knew her brother Johnnie would be looking for a man to manage the Toye farm, which was a pig farm.
She seen an opportunity for my Mother, her cousin Maggie, to get a decent house for her family, hence we all moved to Killyleagh. This house was a great
surprise to me at six years old, it was like going to live in a palace compared to some of the other dwellings we lived in.
It was a long shaped house with a sitting room and four bedrooms, we had running water, and a well laid out garden. There was an orchard with eating and cooking apples, a pear tree and gooseberries, and in Spring
plenty of Daffolils.
I started school in Killyleagh, and Tom, the eldest of our family, was taken to Kingsfield farm to work, which he was happy doing. The second eldest Johnnie, who was very clever, was allocated jobs on the farm, while still attending school.
My Mother’s cousin, Johnnie McCartan, the owner of the farm had given
instructions that he must do these jobs, Johnnie resented having to work without any payment.
One day things came to a head when my brother complained to Johnnie McCartan about having to work without payment, his manner was deemed disrespectful.
Johnnie McCartan raised the matter with my Father, who sided with his son Johnnie, and told Johnnie McCartan what to do with his job, thus the era of comparative luxury was over.
My Father told Johnnie McCartan to send his other son Tom home, so we were on the move again.
We returned to Dundonald to the same farmer and house, where we lived before going to Killyleagh, it was like going from one extreme to another. Things went pretty steadily, for I’m not sure how many years.
In 1939 WW2 started, Billy, Hugh, Joe and I went to Ballyhackamore School, Mother insisted that we attended school every day, hail, rain or snow.
Mother always told us to do our homework, although some of the older boys had paper runs or delivered milk. Tom was labouring with the builders and Johnnie, who was sadly disappointed at not being able to further his education, got
a job in a vegetable nursery.
The Head Master at Killyleagh School, had told Mother he had the ability to win a
schoolarship. Father then left farm work and went to England as there was plenty of work on building sites.
He had rented a wooden bunglow on the Ballyhanwood Road (about 4 miles east of Belfast), there was a well in the garden, which was a plus, it also had a range complete with an oven.
The house didn’t have a brick chimney when we lived there, it was
probably added in the 1960’s.
The house had been vacant for several years at the time this photo was taken, thus the extensive growth of vegetation.
When you compare the three houses shown, it’s not difficult to see who the “poor relations” are!.
I believe the family moved to Moatview Park about 1953, this house has since been demolished.
Jobs and wages increased during the war, and ordinary people were better off. Mother always kept foul and she was a very good cook, in fact Mother bought a turkey for our first Christmas in that house, we never had turkey before.
Father stayed about six months in England, building work here was on the increase, so he returned home and worked as a builder’s labourer, until he was 69, He could have retired at 65, but preferred to continue working, the extra 4 years gave him an increase in his State Pension.
During the 1950s, Local Authotities started building houses to rent, we were allocated a house in Moatview Park (about a mile from where we lived and closer to shops etc), partly because Hugh was diagnosed with a shadow on his lung, his condition strengthened our case.
To me it was a modern house, with all the mod-cons of that period.
My parents were a remarkable couple having come from two diametrically opposite backgrounds. Father had very little education, being hired out to farmers from about 12 years old, Mother attended to all the correspondence, but Father had a great head for figures.
I often thought that those members of the family who were good at Mathematics, got their talent from my Father.
They both lived to celebrate their 50th and 60th wedding anniversaries. Mother lived with Denis an I for several years.
She was always treated with respect by neighbours and shopkeepers, this was exemplified when she was admitted to Hospital, the consultant (Mr McConnel), insisted that she be given a private room. Indeed when Hugh and Clare got her into the Nazareth Old Peoples Home, Mr McConnel advised me to take her to the home to let her see the accommodation, so that she could make her own decision.
He said I should be very proud of my Mother.
Anyhow we all fared out reasonably well, of-course in large families in those days the younger members got the best opportunities, as the older ones had to help support the rest of the family. But we were blessed with good parents, although they struggled to “make ends meet”, they done their best in the circumstances.
The McCartan graveyard is in Loughinisland, Co Down, some of our ancestors are buried there.