Margaret (Ahern) Shanahan   (1916 -1987)

My Grandmother, Margaret Ahern was born in Tournafulla on February 20th 1916, the fifth of seven children born to William and Ellen Ahern.

'Magan' as she was known, loved Tour and talked about it often, laughing as she imitated the different characters in the village.  

I know she had a happy, early childhood from the stories she told us.

When she was very young she had a pet duck that she had named 'Little man' who used to follow her around everywhere she went. She told us how sad she was when it died and that she remembered opening up the duck's bill and whispering goodbye to it.

Every so often her mother Ellen would go into Limerick City (about 30 miles away) to do some shopping. After coming back she would put away what she had bought and hang up the cloth message bag, on a hook on the back of the door. But there would always be some biscuits and sweets left inside and every now and then she would reach into the bag and pull out some kind of a treat as a surprise for them.

Another story was about 'The Day of the Wran (Wren)*'. This would take place every year on December 26th, St. Stephen's Day (Boxing Day), the men of the village would dress up in costume and go door to door, then there would be a big celebration with singing and dancing.

(*The Day of the Wren was originally an ancient Druid celebration).

The family lived on a farm with cows and chickens and so on, so there was always plenty to do. 

One of the least liked chores was 'cutting the turf'. This was a process that took several days, the first day they would cut out a rectangular piece of sod and lay it out to dry. The next day they would go back and turn it on it's side, so that the sun would dry that side out and so on, until all four sides had dried. On the fifth day they would stack the turf until it dried out completely. Once it had fully dried, it could be brought in to use as fuel for the fire. 

1931 was a bad year, both their Mother and Father died, within nine months of each other, leaving the five children, the oldest, Mary being just 18. They would have had to grow up in a hurry. 

I'm not clear on the exact order of events over the next so many years, but I'll put down what I know up to now.

Mary married David 'Mon' (Maurice) Leahy who's family were from what Nana called 'the back of Tour' around 1934. They lived in the family house for some time, (four children born there) then moved up to Dublin around 1943. They had 11 children, Mary, William, Elsie, Joan, David, Margaret (Peg), Theresa, Maurice (Mossie), Michael, Eithne and Padraig. David 'Mon' Leahy died on January 4th 1986 aged 80.

Nana and Ellen went to work as house maids in a wealthy home in Dublin, but this didn't last long, the lady of the house was a right one, they hated it and were back home in Tour after a week. 

Some time during the next couple of years they went over to England and found work at a house in Worthing which belonged to 'The Major' (he was in the armed forces) and his wife. While living in Worthing my Nan met Con (Cornelius) Shanahan who was born not far from Tour, in a place called Hospital, County Limerick on Sep 21st 1912. They married in 1938 in St. Mary of the Angels Roman Catholic Church in Worthing. The following year they moved up to Birmingham, where Con's brother Mick Shanahan had a boarding house, that July my mother Mary was born, in Dudley Rd hospital. When my mother was six weeks old (the day war was declared) they moved back to the farm house in Tour. 

Then in 1947, Elsie Leahy died, she was only seven years of age. Her mother, Mary (Nana's sister) wrote a letter to my Nan, who was still down in Tour, telling her the sad news and asking her to come up to Dublin. So they left the farm and moved up to Dublin, it was a very sad time for everyone.

My Nan had two more children while she was living in Dublin, Eileen and Margaret (Rita) both born in Hollow Street hospital. In 1955 they emigrated to Birmingham, England. Joan, my Nan's fourth and last child was born there in 1956, Con and My Nan separated shortly after her birth. They lost contact completely and heard nothing more about him until news came that he had been hit by a postal van while riding a bike and had died from his injuries on January 28th 1974. We found out that he had spent the last years of his life living in the Simon Community for the homeless, in Limerick City and had kept busy doing gardening at a local convent. 

Nana remained in Birmingham for the rest of her life, visiting Ireland on a few occasions for her holidays.  She died of Emphysema on the 26th of June 1987 aged 71.

I'm not sure but I think Ellen went back to Tour at the same time as my Nan did. She married a man from Newcastle West named Johnny Moon who was a musician. They lived in Newcastle West for many years and had three children Mary, Billy and John. Then during the seventies they moved to England and settled in a place called Corby. Ellen died at the age of 56 in December, 1975.

Billy (Nana's brother William) married Johanna Leahy they emigrated to Coventry, England and they had three children Michael, Marion and Liam.

Mike was the last one left in the family home, but he couldn't take care of the land himself and left it, eventually the land commission took it over. Mike moved around between Newcastle West and Dublin for a while and then he went over to Coventry, England and lived with his brother Billy's family. Both he and Billy worked for a car manufacturing company. Mike retired in the seventies and went back to Tour, he died there a few years later. 

St. Mary of the Angels Roman Catholic Church, Worthing, England