The Family Before I Came Along and Surprised Them

My Grandfather, Michael, the great patriarch, stands in a scene more reminicent of the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the turn of the century. This picture was taken in 1907 or 1908. My father is the babe in arms. The two girls are my Aunts Elizabeth ("Lizzie") and Mary. My grandfather repaired Singer sewing machines in this little shop and raised his enormous family. His poor wife, Mary, was pregnant most of the time and apparently made banana bread and sold it by the slice to dock workers at the foot of Waterloo Street in Derry. The shop was the location of Downey's Shop when I was growing up. It is located at the corner of Waterloo Street and Harvey Street. A bar now occupies the shop.Hill, London in the early 1930s. Oddly enough, one of my better Jewish friends in New York has a remarkable likeness to my father
My father, Bernard, ("Barney") as a young man before he met my mother. The picture was taken while he was an undergraduate student at Saint Mary's College, Strawberry Hill, London.
My older siblings is one of the posed family shots, taken in Derry in 1949. Standing at rear left is the eldest, Eamonn, who face even then carries the full weight of responsibility for the younger ones; he now lives in England with this wife, Eileen and his seven children. To his right with the curly top and the protruding tongue is the adorable Muredach, now a lawyer in Dublin with one son and two daughters who bear a remarkable resemblance to their father. Seated to his right alone on the little stool or vase stand is Bernard, with that fabulous head of curls and the disarming smile. On the front row, one the piano stool is Cahir, now living in Queensland, Australia, and baby Brenda, her left hand reaching around to Muredach's knee.



My mother's mother, Ellen McCarron (center), the man with the walking stick and pipe is her brother, John, who spent most of his adult life in Philadelphia and returned in this 70s to his native Inishowen to retire. This is taken around 1959, shortly after his repatriation in Shroove (Stroove), just north of Greencastle, Inishowen, Donegal. The man on the right is my mother's oldest brother, Michael ("Mick").



My parents' wedding in Derry, July 11, 1939. I don't know all the names of the characters in the photo.   I love the expressions on each of my relatives' faces. My Aunt Mary is the woman smiling with the hat at a jaunty angle. Behind her stands her husband, Joseph ("Joe") Sheehy, from Cookstown, County Tyrone. In another place, Auntie Mary might have been Mae West, were she not burdened by her teaching post in Rosemount School, Derry. The lovely bridesmaid is my mother's younger sister, Eileen, who lived next door to us at 37 Clarendon Street. Many of my friends note that she bears a striking resemblance to Sarah Ferguson ("Fergie") the Dutchess of York. We lived in 39 Clarendon Street. The men whose faces show their live's burdens are my father's older brothers, William, Michael, Edward, George, and Thomas.



This photo is taken in the late 1930s. My mother, Sarah ("Sadie") is happier in this photo than I ever remember her. She is having fun with her friend, Nora. I love this picture.
My mother gave birth to seven children before I arrived "as a wee surprise" on the scene. I don't know how she did it.