HOUSE NO. 6.

This is the home of Mary and Kathleen Cunningham who conducted the local Post Office there. The house was built on a site that changed hands several times.  In 1843 James Coane, a brother of Roger, the proprietor of Coanes’ Hotel, later the Cope House, sold it to the Parish Priest of Killybegs, Dr William Drummond, for £10.   Then, in his will made in 1863 Dr Drummond left the site to Patrick McLaughlin of Castlemurray, in the parish of Killaghtee.

The present house was built on that site in 1893 by an unknown builder, and the first owner was Anthony O’Donnell. He was born in Enniskillen in 1837, chose the police as his career, and was eventually posted to Killybegs.  He married Margaret McGonagle, daughter of Pat ‘McMonagle’* and Catherine McShane, They had a family of thirteen, eleven of whom can be identified.  Anthony’s wife Margaret died suddenly in March 1905 while attending a concert in the Niall Mor School.  From the beginning Anthony O’Donnell ran a grocery shop in the premises until he died in 1925.

*The name ‘McGonagle’ seems to have changed to ‘McMonagle’ over the years.

Prominent among the O’Donnell family were the brothers Joseph and Frederick both of whom entered the Church.

The Family of Anthony and Margaret O’Donnell.

Joseph. After attending the Niall Mor School, Killybegs, studied in St Eunan’s College, Letterkenny.  He entered Holy Orders following a period of study at All Hallows College, Dublin, and was ordained by the Most Rev Bishop Davis on the last day of 1905 in St Mary’s Cathedral, Davenport, Iowa.   He enlisted in the U.S. Army as Lieutenant Chaplain, and left for France in June 1918.  Rising to Captain Chaplain, he had a short but distinguished career in the Army, being on duty at the battles of Aisne, The Marne, St Michel, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.  This last battle was the largest American offensive in France in World War One, with over a million soldiers participating, and about 26,000 soldiers killed in action.  Father O’Donnell was wounded in September 1918 during this battle, for which he received a gold chevron.  He was later presented with the Croix de Guerre by the late King Albert of Belgium, being cited for courage and coolness under fire.  Father O’Donnell was appointed to St Francis de Sales parish, Keokuk, Iowa, in 1934, and died there on 27^th March 1939. The funeral took place at Keokuk, and was attended by the Bishop, six Monsignori, and 150 priests, plus members of the Knights of Columbus and the American Legion.

Once, when home on a visit, Father O’Donnell had his batman with him, who stood outside the door all night.

Father Joseph O’Donnell. Photo: Paul Cunningham

The Cross de Guerre

Father Joseph O’Donnell in military uniform. Photo: Paul Cunningham

Fred became Superior of the Oblate House in Inchicore.  He was ordained in Liege in 1910, and ministered first in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He returned to Ireland in 1919 and conducted Missions throughout the country, as well as in England and Scotland. He also gave Missions in the Diocese of Raphoe in the year before he died.  While conducting a Mission in Co Cavan he became unwell, and died in the Mater Hospital, Dublin, on 7^th October 1937.

Bridget married John Flanagan, and the Flanagan line was established. She died in 1929 at age 50.  John, who died in 1936, was the father of the well-known Leo Flanagan, Killybegs. Leo resided in The Moorings, the former private residence of Captain John Gunn, Divisional Officer of Coastguards for the Killybegs District, on Church Road.  John Flanagan’s daughter, Kathleen, married James Cunningham, who served as Killybegs Postmaster.  Kathleen and Charles O’Donnell’s widow, also Kathleen, (see below), were keen card players, and won very many first prizes at the Whist Drives which were held in the Niall Mor School between the Wars.

Patrick, the eldest son, trained as a teacher and began his career in the Niall Mor School.  He married Agnes O’Connor, of Killybegs, who was listed as ‘a milliner’, in 1895, in St Mary’s church.  Their friends from ‘next door’ (Sweet News premises), brother and sister, Neil J. and Lizzie McLoone, were Best Man and Bridesmaid.  Patrick went on to teach in Rathmullan, but failing health forced him to return home, and he died at Elmwood Terrace in 1930.  His widow returned to Rathmullan and died there in 1934 aged 72; she was buried in Bruckless cemetery.

Susan Mary.  In 1930 when her brother Patrick died at Elmwood Terrace, Susan was living in Glasgow.  She had married James Mulhern of Meenreagh, Killybegs.  He was born in 1881, and entered the Commons School at age 7. He emigrated to Glasgow in about 1900 and joined the police force.  Subsequently he married Susan, probably in Scotland. He rose through the ranks, and was appointed in 1922 Lieutenant in the St Rollox Division.  In 1928 he was transferred to the Central Division, where he often performed the duties of Superintendent. He also acted in the absence of the Procurator Fiscal, and frequently conducted the prosecutions in the Stipendiary Magistrates’ Court.  James retired from the force in October 1932.

Maggie Jane. When she was 36 in 1914, she married Paddy Conwell from the grocery shop where Hegartys’ Centra store is now located on the Diamond.  They had one child, Patrick Raymond who died on the 6^th September 1917 at seven days old.  Maggie was one of a group of girls who joined the women’s branch of the Foresters in 1910, along with her friend Josephine Leeson.  Josephine and another sister, Kathleen, are mentioned below under Charles O’Donnell.  Paddy Conwell contributed largely to the commercial and social life of Killybegs, being, at various times a grocer, conductor of the Killybegs Brass Band, fish salesman, angler.  He was renowned for his acting ability on the local stage.   Maggie Jane died of the flu in 1929 at age 41, and Paddy died in 1944, aged 72.

Maggie Jane, along with her sisters and friends, plus the Conwell girls of Main Street (Hegartys’ Spar shop) were frequent performers (acting and singing) at the concerts before the First War, which were held mostly in the Niall Mor School.

Charles worked as a clerk in the Killybegs Railway office, directly opposite his home.  He married Kathleen Leeson in 1911 in St Michael’s church, Dun Laoghaire, bride and groom being 27. The officiating clergyman was the Rev. Fred O’Donnell, O.M.I., brother of the groom.  Kathleen, known as ‘Kit’, was a sister of Josephine Leeson, the wife of Mick Rogers in House No. 1.  Charles joined the British Army, 2^nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade, and went to war.  He was killed in action in France on the 19^th November 1917, aged 33.  His widow spent the rest of her life in Killybegs, for a time living in one of the houses next to today’s Boathouse Restaurant.  She took a prominent part in the local social scene and was noted for her skill at Bridge and other card games.  Kathleen also wrote poetry.  Anne Marie Ellis has drawn my attention to this poem of Kathleen’s:

Remembering Donegal Oh to feel again the magic of those hills, Cloaked in mauve and purple heather. Embroidered bracken green Above lanes perfumed and narrowed with woodbine-pinky cream Long slanting rays of westering sun, Weaves a veil of dear designing; a misty sapphire hue the many ridges show, Some towering bleak and sentry-like, foundations ‘neath the tide: Some gently sloping to a cliff with samphire covered side, And there far off like giant dolphins petrified. Then gazing o’er the valley, placid valley of one’s dream Where peat smoke slowly rising from cabins in between Weaves a veil of dear designing; a misty sapphire hue Changing mountains brown and loamy to a wondrous shade of blue. And yonder torrent, crashing down with creamy spume and spray, Enhancing all that loveliness while hurrying on its way Beneath the arched bridges to the embrace of the sea. So, whether through an April shower or Autumn gleam descried Some impress of that picture on the memory abide. (K. O’Donnell)

To Continue the O’Donnell family:

Anthony was a pupil of the Commons School, died in 1884 aged 13 years.

Cornelius Francis was born in January 1880; died at 7 days.

Rose Anne married a Mr Walker; she died at Elmwood Terrace in 1937, a widow, aged 70.

John. Born in Ballyshannon in 1864. Nothing known about him.

OCCUPANTS OF THE SHOP

Anthony O’Donnell ran a grocery shop in his house from the time he occupied it in 1893.  He also sold delph and china, and was an agent for the sewed muslin (sprigging) trade from 1900.  His was the only shop in town that sold the newspaper, United Ireland.   Anthony died in 1925, and the business was taken over by his daughter, Maggie Jane and her husband Paddy Conwell. (See above).  Tragedy struck the O’Donnell family in March 1929 when two sisters died.  First, Bridget, wife of John Flanagan, died on the 24th, followed five days later by Maggie Jane Conwell. (See Maggie Jane above).

There is a period of about ten years when the occupants of the shop cannot be confirmed.  It is possible that one of the O’Donnell family, Maggie Jane, and her husband, Paddy Conwell, moved in to run the business.  It is thought that Paddy was running his family shop (where Hegarty’s Spar shop is now located), at that time.

Meanwhile in Glasgow, James Mulhern had retired from the police force in 1932, spending a few more years there until Susan and himself, returned with their family to Killybegs.   The approach of the Second World War may have influenced them in their decision, because they arrived back in Killybegs in the summer of 1939.  They immediately re-opened the shop as a newspaper and magazine outlet, with James himself behind the old-style counter which was on the left side of the entrance.

The existing shops in town were already selling the ordinary newspapers, so James had to sell magazines and comics.  Luckily for us kids he had the Beano and the Dandy, the best reading available in Killybegs.  When you went in to get the latest episode of Dennis the Menace or Korky the Cat, Mr Mulhern would be there behind the counter wearing his hummel doddies.

All went well until James’s wife Susan died in 1951, and he never re-opened the shop, selling the contents of the house by auction on the premises.   The Mulherns had four of a family – Vincent, Rose, Patsy, and Eithne.  Vincent married a teacher, and they had two girls. Both Rose and Patsy were very good-looking, Rose being tall and red-haired.  Rose, who at that time was teaching in St Cuthbert’s School in Glasgow, married Edmund Rogers of the hotel dynasty in the same year she returned from Glasgow, and they had four of a family.  The wedding took place in St Mary’s church, the bride wearing ‘a beautiful turquoise blue frock, with brown coat trimmed with fox fur, crocodile shoes, suede gloves, brown turban hat, and accessories to match.  She was attended by her sister, Patsy Mulhern, and the Best Man was Michael Rogers, the groom’s brother. The wedding reception was held in the bride’s home on Elmwood Terrace, there being ‘upwards of twenty guests present’.

Edmund returned to Killybegs to reside in his retirement home on Church Road.  One of his regular visitors was John McGilloway, who played with him on the Killybegs teams of the 1930s.  They recalled the old days when, e.g. they were team-mates on the Killybegs side that won the final of the Holmes Cup at the end of 1931. Edmund was a genial host, putting out three glasses which he filled with the ould stuff spiked with warm milk.

Patsy Mulhern, brown-haired and handsome, married, as his first wife, Dr Malachy McCloskey of Glenties, and they had two of a family, Malachi and Claire.   Eithne Mulhern was tall and dark; she married a soldier, J. Kielty, of Athlone, and went to live in England.  She was noted as an expert card player at Whist Drives in Killybegs.

James Cunningham was born in Ballyara in 1895, and, with his brothers Con and Charles, took part in the War of Independence. James was later awarded two medals for his service. The two brothers had to emigrate to the U.S. because they were wanted by the British military between 1919 and 1922. Con Cunningham’s grand-daughter, Stacey, went on to become the 2nd female President of the N.Y. Stock Exchange.

Stacey Cunningham

In the 1930s James married Kathleen Flanagan of the O’Donnell/Flanagan family (see above), and had six children. He was appointed as the first agent of the Sea Fisheries Association in Killybegs in 1935.  This appointment was necessary because the small Dingle trawlermen, who were members of the SFA, came north to fish out of Killybegs. James was appointed Postmaster in November 1952, and his daughters, Mary and Kathleen ran a most efficient operation there until recent times. He died in Killybegs on 12th June 1973 at the age of 78

Other Occupants of The Shop

The Cannon sisters, Cassie and Anne Jane, kept a drapery, dressmaking and millinery shop in Killybegs from 1917.  There is uncertainty as to the location of their first shop, but Killybegs folklore suggests that they conducted their business in O’Donnell premises at some time. Cassie retired in 1940, and she died a year later.  In 1943 Anne Jane married Tom Small, an Insurance clerk, and went to live in Dublin.  She was known in Killybegs as ‘Nan Small’.   The sisters were aunts of the late Peg Murrin of Conlin Road. 

Rooms were taken in House No. 6 by P. J. O’Gorman, dentist, who had a visiting practice on Fair days in 1930.

House No. 6 has remained in the ownership of the same extended family.

Thanks to Paul Cunningham and Elaine Quinn, Killybegs; Marie Thornton, Burt; and the late Moira Mallon, without whose help this blog could not have been compiled.

Note: The Paddy Conwell mentioned here should not be confused with another prominent businessman of the same name, who was the owner of the former Central Bar and a great grandfather of Mary Fitzgerald Lafferty.

House No. 5.

House No. 5.

This house on Elmwood Terrace is now occupied by the Anderson family.  Some owners of the site on which it stands can be identified from the 1840s.

John Rogers of Keelogs, Inver (no relation of the Rogers family of the Bay View Hotel) is first up.  In 1842 he owned this site just east of where the Ulster Bank now stands.  John Rogers sold the plot to James Coane on 2^nd August of that year.  This is an extract from the agreement:

In consideration of £20 sterling paid [by James Coane] to John Rogers ….  ALL THAT AND THOSE that piece of Building Ground in the town of Killybegs containing in front 60 feet and in the rear 42 feet From front to rear 95 feet bounded on the East by the said John Rogers’s premises, on the West by Cornelius McGill’s premises, on the North by the Reverend Doctor Drummond’s premises and on the South by the Street.

James Coane was a brother of Roger who built Coane’s Hotel, now The Cope House.  Then, on 28^th February 1843, James sold the western half of the site to the Rev. Dr William Drummond, Parish Priest of Killybegs, for £10.  It remained vacant until Dr Drummond died in 1863, when, by his Will he left the site to Patrick McLaughlin of Castlemurray, St John’s Point.  McLaughlin was a wealthy and deeply devout person who was the occupier of many properties in Killybegs and Killaghtee.

The next reliable record comes as late as 1894 when William Houston, a Killybegs auctioneer, offered two houses for sale on Elmwood Terrace. This is the auction notice for House No. 5:

WM. HOUSTON, Auctioneer and Valuator, Killybegs. VALUABLE LEASEHOLD PROPERTY FOR SALE, BY PUBLIC AUCTION, IN THE TOWN OF KILLYBEGS, COUNTY DONEGAL. I HAVE received Instructions to SELL BY PUBLIC AUCTION, on TUESDAY, THE 4TH DECEMBER, 1894, at ONE o’clock on the Premises, in Two Lots, Those TWO NEW HOUSES, immediately opposite the Railway Station. Lot No. 1 –Large Two-storey DWELLING HOUSE, with commodious Shop and Nine spacious Rooms, with a Frontage of 42ft., and 60ft. in rere. A New Lease will be given for Ninety-nine Years, at the Annual Rent of £4 4s sterling.

The First Owner of the House

Dr Joseph W. Gallagher, a Glenties man, was appointed medical officer in Killybegs in August 1890.  He purchased house No. 5 when it came up in the above sale in 1894.  He was listed as living there in 1901 with his wife Janie, (nee Verschoyle), his two daughters and a son.  1904 was a tragic year for the Gallaghers- Janie died in February at age 38, and the doctor died of a heart attack in August.  He was attending a patient, Patrick Cunningham, in Tullid, when he died, probably of heart disease. He was just 42 years old.  

Joseph W. Gallagher II

The eldest son, Joseph W., joined the British Army as an infantryman, returned to Ireland and entered the insurance business.  He started with the Hibernian Insurance Company in 1921, and eventually rose to the position of managing director. Holding this position from 1945 to 1960, he became a prominent figure in the Dublin insurance sector.  He also served as President of the Insurance Institute of Ireland, and President of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.  He was also a director of the Dublin Port and Docks Board, and a Governor of the Skin and Cancer Hospital, Hume Street.  He was a member of the Lansdowne and Monkstown Rugby Clubs.  He died in December 1974.

The Second Owner

Readers will remember Henry Judge who lived in house No. 4; he now purchased the Gallagher house from the trustees of Janie Gallagher’s estate in 1905. 

 Henry Judge. Photo courtesy of David Henry.

The first thing he did was to advertise it for letting.  It was he who put the name Elmwood on this house. Dr Gallagher had provided rooms in the premises for the local Medical Dispensary, and Judge promised the health authorities that he would continue to make them available.  However he changed his mind for some reason. When the provision of Dispensary facilities was then put out to tender, Patrick Quinn was awarded the contract.  He agreed to provide accommodation in Drumbeagh House at a rate of £10 per year, providing ‘depot, attendance, and fuel’.  Patrick Quinn was the grandfather of the late Miceal Quinn, electrical contractor, whose shop stood on the site of the present Cara Pharmacy.

The Third Owner

Henry Judge died in 1912, leaving Elmwood House to his niece Emma Henry, who was then married and living in Ballyederlan,  St John’s Point.  Emma continued to reside with her husband and family in the Point, only moving to Killybegs to House No. 4 in 1945. (See previous blog). She sold her two-story house and farm in Ballyederlan in 1959.  It seems that she never lived in House No. 5 on Elmwood Terrace, preferring to lease it to various commercial tenants, the house having been built with a shop window in front.   For the space of 54 years Mrs Henry let out this premises to various people, both private and commercial.

Millinery and Drapery shops were very popular in the early years of the 20^th century, and several such shops are listed in Killybegs, such as: The Gillespie sisters, the Cannon sisters, Josephine McLoone, the Leeson sisters, and others.  Josephine Leeson married Mick Rogers who lived in house No. 1, his house, so it is possible that she had her shop in Elmwood House when they first met.

It is probably too late to recover the full list of tenants, but several of them are known:

Customs Officer Prosecutes French Skippers

The widow Sarah Byrne kept a millinery shop there from 1911, being a sitting tenant when Emma Henry inherited the house.  Mrs Byrne’s son Thomas was a Customs officer who was stationed in Killybegs from 1910 until 1923.  He was the complainant in 1921 against the skippers of two French lobster boats, Marie des Anges, and Turenne, which were caught fishing in inshore waters.  The charge was that they fished in the neighbourhood of Killybegs, within the exclusive fishery limits of the British Isles.  They were arrested by HMS Newark of the Royal Navy.  The skippers were fined £5 each, with £5 costs, and their pots confiscated.   It is likely but not certain that the Customs and Excise Office was located in House No. 5.

Local barber and musician Connie Gallagher leased the shop part of the premises sometime in 1930, the legal agreement being drawn up by Mrs Henry herself.  He described himself as a hairdresser. He also sold sweets, and taught the fiddle to boys in the winter months.  He was paying £1 10 shillings per month for the shop, but the business failed, and he had to vacate the premises by 1^st January 1931.   Connie is remembered in the 1950s for his barber shop on the Back Street where young lads could get a haircut with a sheet of newspaper tucked in around the neck.

There is a gap in the occupancy at this point.

Guard Manning lived there in the 1930s.

Sergeant Frank Flood, G. S., was posted to Killybegs in the summer of 1935, and he lived on Elmwood Terrace with his wife Kathleen and their two daughters Alice and Catherine. 

James McLeod’s father, Neil, came to Killybegs in 1936 to advise James on the purchase of a seiner, and stayed in Elmwood House.

Mrs Kathleen Thornton ran her drapery shop there before she moved to Upper Main Street next to the Bank of Ireland.

Jack Nolan, cashier in the Ulster Bank, & family resided there in the 1950s.

Nora and James Gallagher ran a drapery business in the premises from about 1957 but they moved to Mountcharles in 1961.

Bridport-Gundry sold fishing gear from that shop in the 1960s, with Roger Hutchins as manager.

In August 1966 Emma Henry instructed auctioneers Boyle and McBrearty to offer Elmwood House for sale:

SALES BY BOYLE AND McBREARTY Town of Killybegs, Co. Donegal For Sale by Proposal, DWELLING HOUSE, SHOP, YARD, GARAGE, OUT-OFFICES. We are instructed by Mrs Emma K. Henry, to receive offers in writing for all that dwelling house, shop and premises, situated on the Main Street in the town of Killybegs.  The premises consist of a large shop and dwelling house, containing drawing room, dining room, kitchen with Rayburn cooker, scullery, etc. On the first floor there are four large bedrooms and three attic rooms, also bathroom and separate toilet.  Main water supply and electricity.  There are several door entrances to the shop and dwelling house and a gate entrance from the street to the yard at the rear, in which there is a good spring well. These premises are held in fee simple, free of rent, Poor Law Valuation £23, and are situated adjoining the Post Office in the centre of the town of Killybegs, overlooking the harbour and are ideally situated for any class of business as well as residence.  They are in excellent repair and ready for immediate occupation. Anyone interested should take this opportunity which seldom arises of purchasing an excellent premises in this progressive and business town with fishing and other industries, extensive harbour and beautiful scenery. Proposals will be received up to 5 p.m. on 9th September, in writing, to the Auctioneers. For further particulars, apply to Messrs. Reid and Sweeney, Solicitors, Ballyshannon, having carriage of sale. Boyle and McBrearty, Dunkineely.

The Fourth Owners

The premises were bought by Patsy and Maeve McGowan who operated a B & B business there for a time, before they moved to Donegal Road.   During their occupancy the house was made available to the Kilcar Pipe Band as an ‘away’ base when they came to play at the Regatta and Sports each year, according to Maeve, who might enlarge on this at some time.  Killybegs owes a great debt of gratitude to the members of this Band for their unfailing support down the years when there was nothing here to lead a parade.  Kilcar had a marching band since at least 1875, and no doubt it performed at Killybegs events from that time onwards. However lack of records means that the earliest date now found is 1934.  In that year the Kilcar Band was recorded as playing at the Regatta & Sports in Killybegs.  From then onwards they came willingly and gave their time and their music, receiving nothing in return but maybe a meal in the Coane’s Hotel, later the Cope House.   

House No. 5 was afterwards purchased by Rolf and Siv Anderson and remains in that family today.