What's in a name?

Shooting and Hunting Parties were popular pastimes for the gentry in 19th century Ireland and Ennistymon House was frequently host to many of these Parties. 

Pheasant Hunting in Ireland

Some family members have been confounded by Grandpa's nickname: Gillie.   

It was the name he had carried to America from Ennistymon.   

It was the name his wife always called him: Gillie.

I can still hear her say Gillie.   

Toward the end of his life, I remember his making a point of telling my father to be sure to publish his obituary using the name Gillie because, otherwise, no one will know that he'd died.   

When my parents went to Ennistymon in 1967, they had asked locals if anyone remembered Grandpa - but they had forgotten to ask these locals if they knew Gillie.   

One old-timer told them that he thought he knew Grandpa but seemed confused because the friend he knew was not called Patrick - his friend was Gilbert - Gillie!  

So Grandpa's identity had been wrapped up in this nickname from a young age.

It was an identity which he nurtured.....

A name he felt he had earned.  

When he came to America and met new people - he told them to call him Gillie.   

When he met the love of his life - he was always Gillie.   

He obviously embraced Gillie.   

Gillie  

 As far as I have heard - no one in our family knows for sure where he got the nickname Gillie.   

In the 1930s, when my Father was a young boy living in the East Bronx, there were woods and fields across the street from their house on Calhoun Avenue.   

 He told me that his Dad often took him into those woods where he shot pheasants.

Shooting Party

So, Gillie knew how to hunt.  And shoot.

Skills he had not honed as an adult living in America.   

Hunting pheasants was more likely a skill he had acquired in County Clare rather than in New York City.  

Why am I telling you this?

I related the story of Grandpa's nickname to Kevin Haran during our recent trip to Ennistymon.   

Without missing a beat, Kevin explained what a "gillie" was and why Grandpa had probably been given that nickname.   

In the 19th century,  hunting guides were known as Gillies.     

Shooting with a Ghillie & Dogs

Victorian ghillies were extremely important for a successful hunting party.   

He had to know the landscape like the back of his hands.   

The ghillie was the eyes and ears of the stalking party on the hill, and its success depended on him.   

As soon as game is spotted, the ghillie is put to the test. His job is to get the stalking party close enough for a shot.  

Stalking skills have remained the same for generations, and the ability to allow an undetected approach is paramount.  

Crawling slowly into position, the time to take the shot is determined by the gillie - and the gillie, alone.   

The ghillie has to think about managing the herd at this point. He wants to cull only old or weak animals that may not survive the winter.   

Younger and stronger animals are preserved to keep the whole herd healthy.  

Once the ghillie has chosen which animal is the target, he ensures the stalkers' shot will provide a clean kill.  

Once the beast is dead, the ghillie guides the stalkers back down off the hill.  

So, how did our Gillie earn his nickname?  

We really don't know for sure.   

But Kevin has been very helpful in creating a plausible scenario.

He feels that Grandpa must have had a very lonely childhood. 

He probably did not fit in with his classmates because of his social position and he had no siblings at home either - an unusual situation in Catholic Ireland at the time.

His only friends might have been the children of the family servants.  

Or the servants, themselves.  

Maybe he was allowed to tag along with hunting parties as a youngster and had shown a natural aptitude for stalking game.  

Perhaps the Gamekeeper at Ennistymon House had encouraged this skill in him and had invited the boy to accompany him during Shooting Parties.

Eventually, our Gillie might have earned the right to be called a GHILLIE..... a privilege that was not simply given to him but one that he had earned and of which he was proud.

That is what I think happened.   

Patrick Henry had found something he was good at and that gave him an identity ......

He was the "gillie". 

Life of a Gillie

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.