Laois-Carlow Episodes

View of Carlow Town from the Killeshin Hills. Photo: Geraldine Doyle Carlow Town is an ancient Irish settlement, situated in the rich farming lands fed by the watershed of the Barrow River. At end of the second decade of the 20th century, the small town was comprised of close to 7,000 people. If you look to the West of the town across the Barrow River, the land rises up to form the Killeshin Hills Hills and it was there, in April of 1919, that members of the Behan family gathered at the church o...

The Delvin, Photo: Kieran Campbell / Railway bridge at Gormanston / CC BY-SA 2.0 On June 20, 1979, I learned Emily Nutty, nee Behan, my paternal grandmother and last surviving grandparent had died. I was swimming at Gormanston beach when I got the news. It was a warm Summer day towards the end of the Intermediate Certificate exam and the Franciscan brothers, who ran the school at Gormanston, had given permission to go for a swim at the local beach. On a sparkling day, I set off with my school ma...

Reading the first installment of Recovering My Irish Family again, I realized that the title was a poor description for the content. Let me clarify the shortcomings. I grew up in a home where there was little discussion of my Dad’s family. I can guess at the underlying reasons, but what I know, is my father rarely displayed any interest in talking about my grandparents: Da and Nana and by extension almost all other relatives. It begs the question why? Could it simply have been disinterest in fam...