A Beginning: Mary & Henry

When 17 year old Mary Frances Julia Milward married 34 year old Henry Patrick Reilly in 1872, he already was a well-established solicitor with offices in both his home village of Ennistymon and in the capital city of Dublin over 130 miles away.   In Ennistymon, he kept his office at 16 Parliament Street throughout his career.  

16 Parliament Street - now the Bank of Ireland

     After graduating from Springfield College in Ennis in 1859,    

Springfield College, Ennis

    Henry served a four year apprenticeship with Solicitor, Matthew Kenny, Esq at 17 Middle Gardiner Street in Dublin.       

    But, once called to the Bar in 1864, Henry seems to have preferred working from an office on one of the picturesque Quays along the River Liffey. He had several different addresses in Dublin but he favored Ormond Quay.         

          Besides having a successful legal career, in 1876, H.P. was also a prominent landowner - a landed proprietor. At a time in history when the property in Ireland was owned by only 2,000 individuals, H.P. owned 695 acres.      

If that were not enough, in 1870, H.P. had bought the hunting lodge built in 1840 by the Stacpoole family. It is still known as The Sunny-Side Cottage.          

Aerial View The Sunny-Side Cottage 1967 with the River Inagh    

  Situated on the east side of the Cascades on Old Lahinch Road, it sits directly across the River from the Ennistymon House (The Falls Hotel) - an ancient Manor House which figures prominently in our family history.       

River Inagh flowing past The Falls Hotel  

       All in all, Mary made a good match in marrying Henry Patrick.       

Although we are yet to uncover many details of Mary's childhood, the Milward family has an extraordinarily rich history which we will detail in future posts.             

The fifth of fourteen children, Mary Frances Julia was born to Ellen Maria and John Harnett Milward on August 25, 1855 at Fountain House in Ennis.       

       

 J.H. Milward was the very well respected Manager of the Bank of Ireland in Ennis.   In the 19th century social order in Ireland, bankers wielded much power and high prestige.          

 In those days, Banks customarily provided their managers with very comfortable housing in "Bank Houses" usually located above the Bank which they managed.        

 Despite their humble exteriors, these homes were very fashionable and big enough to accommodate large Irish families  - including the requisite two or three live-in servants.        

Bank of Ireland Ennis on Bank (AKA Jail) Place

        But, Mary was not born at the Ennis Bank House.          

Earlier that year, her father had bought Fountain House in Ennis. Fountain House was a 125 acre estate which J. H. farmed.             

In those days, it was not unusual for businessmen to also farm.             

Some rented large tracts of land and then would sublet to subsistence farmers or they employed people, at subsistence wages, to work the land for them.    

They - especially bankers - were able to obtain favorable terms on these leases.              

But, according to Hugh Weir in "Houses of Clare", JH Milward owned this estate.          

Here is his entry for Fountain House -        

Weir's Fountain House from "Houses of Clare"

     

Weir's Description of Fountain House

     

Detail of Milward Connection to Fountain House

   

Another Fountain House Mention

      We don't know where or if Mary went to school, but I think she might have because she had three brothers who had earned academic scholarships.        

Two went to Medical School at Queens University in Galway and the third brother became a respected Civil Engineer.             

Mary and Henry were married on August 20, 1872 at the Church of St Michael in Limerick.    

Mary & Henry's Marriage Certificate

      Jane M Whitestone and Thomas Hugh Kenny were the witnesses for the marriage.     

We do not know Jane Whitestone but Thomas Kenny was the brother of Matthew Kenny - Henry's law mentor. Thomas was connected to the Stacpoole and MacNamara families through marriage.           

Since Mary was from Ennis and Henry was from Ennistymon, we do not know why they chose to be married in Limerick City - 40 km away.........                          

The Church of St Michael, Limerick

   

Beneath the three Windows is the Original Altar where Mary & Henry were married

   

Another View of St Michael's

   

Model of St Michael's today. In 1872, the left side annex had yet to be built. As the Bride, Mary probably entered St Michael's through the small door at the bottom. The altar was positioned at the top of the model.

The week before their wedding, Mary's family was dealt a tragic blow.    

On August 14, 1872, her older brother William accidentally drowned while fishing on the Fergis River.         

According to the newspaper accounts, his boat capsized and he could not swim.  

William's widowed mother had been in Limerick and learned the tragic news when she got home that night.          

Newspaper Account of the Accidental Drowning of William Milward

   

William's Drowning

      Could Mary's mother have been in Limerick on wedding business?        

At any rate, this tragedy must have cast a shadow of sadness on the nuptials.          

As noted above -         

Henry Patrick Reilly was a successful Solicitor and a Prosperous Landowner when he married 17 year old Mary Frances Julia Milward who was 17 years younger than her new husband.         

Although she was the fifth of fourteen children, by the time of her marriage, her father had died and most of her siblings had either passed away or had emigrated.

She did not have her first child until 1886 - 14 years after her wedding.        

 It seems the newly-weds started married life at the Sunny-Side Cottage......         

But I wonder how Mary got along by herself at such a young age.         

We know she had servants and that she was an avid equestrienne.          

She kept chickens and had a garden.         

Although her husband's cousin, Ida Burke-Browne Galwey-Foley was much younger than she, a bond might have been struck between the two women with the birth of their sons at about the same time.         

We also know that Ida was well known as an accomplished equestrienne, in her own right.             

Perhaps, they rode the Clare Hunt together - side saddle, of course.     

Not our ancestors but could have been!

Edmund Galwey-Foley was Manager of the National Bank in Lahinch at this time so he probably knew Mary's father who was the Manager of the Ennis Branch of the same Bank.        

 Perhaps that was also a bond.         

We do know that Ida was appointed Gillie's Guardian so the two women must have been friends.        

 I intend to find answers to these questions, and MORE!           

So, here we go!           

Thanks for reading our first installment of the History of the Reilly Family.         

We're hoping to add stories twice a week so Stay Tuned!               

Susan  

EPILOGUE 

History gives a nation its bearing on what it is and how its people are affected by what has happened in the past. 

Its kings and queens, its wars - with victories and defeats - these all mold a nation’s culture into the way it views itself in the present. 

In the same way, a family history presents how a family has survived and come to terms with the great social and cultural experiences of the ages.

We hope these stories will give each member of our family a foundation and, in some small way, explain how we came to be what we are today.

Hopefully, through these vignettes, our future generations will gain a knowledge of the energy and dynamism, the loves and hates, the errors and mistakes, the victories and failures, the struggles and successes that make us what we are.

Our family history presents a fascinating read - and, hopefully, some lessons to be learned in the process.