Maryanne Crumlish is my grandmother.

She was born on 09 December 1876 in Carrowhugh, County Donegal, to John and Anne Crumlish. Maryanne had eight brothers and sisters: Denis, Margaret, Kathleen, Frances, Theresa (TJ), Nora, Evelyn and Charlie.

She left school in 1889, when she was twelve, to help her Grandmother, Mary Hernan, run her small farm in Carrowtrasna, following the death of her grandfather, Denis Hernan. It was here that she learned "the country ways" - such as cooking and herbal remedies.

She met the local postman, Tom Doherty, and married him on 12 November 1908 in St Eugene's Cathedral, Derry, and they lived in 40 Argyle Terrace, Derry. About 1916 they moved again, to 2 Beechwood Avenue, on the Lone Moor between the Bogside and Creggan.

Tom and Mary Anne had six children Adrienne, Bernadette, Gwen, Angela, Mary Josephine and Gabrielle (my mother). Maryanne is pictured, left, in the back yard at Beechwood Avenue, about 1960.

Mary Anne died in June 1971 in Derry, and is buried in the City of Derry Cemetery, Creggan.