P. E. Reilly and The Board of Guardians of the Ennistymon Union 1845-1867

In a attempt to combat the ever increasing numbers of destitute people in Ireland, the Poor Law was introduced in 1838,  It divided Ireland into one hundred and thirty districts called Unions.  Each Union was controlled by a Board of Guardians.  Most of these Guardians were elected from local landlords with a Magistrate appointed to each Board.  Landlords had significant political power in 19th century Ireland.  They were often appointed as magistrates and formed the Boards of Guardians which controlled the taxes required to support the Workhouse. The Guardians had the right to place a tax on the Union and to use that revenue to support the local poor. They also formed grand juries which ruled Irish counties  Ennistymon Workhouse It was generally believed by the middle and upper classes that if people were poor it was because they were lazy. It is interesting to note that these Guardians were the first elected local bodies in Ireland When any person in the Union area needed help, they were sent to the Workhouse.  This was not a pleasant prospect as conditions in the Workhouse were very basic with only two meals a day consisting of a breakfast of seven oz of oatmeal and a pint of buttermilk. Dinner consisted of three and a half lb of potatoes and a pint of buttermilk,  Tea, alcohol and tobacco were not allowed,and meals were to be eaten in silence. The most inhuman part of the system was that families were segregated ~ husbands from wives and children from parents, each living in separate houses.  The Workhouses were laid out on similar lines to a prison.  Ennistymon Workhouse The theory was that the inmates of the Workhouse had to earn their keep ~ the men breaking stones, the women by spinning and knitting.  The Workhouse was an option resorted to ONLY when all else had failed. It was simply seen as a means of survival.

The Workhouse of Ennistymon Union, which opened in 1845, was built to house 600 inmates but, by 1846, it was operating at full capacity. 


As disease spread in the county, medical officers continued to warn Guardians against taking any inmates with illnesses because most workhouses were not large enough to have separate infirmaries so illness and disease would spread throughout the buildings. 

Famine Memorial in Ennistymon

In the mid-1840s a fever hospital was built. 

In his role as a Guardian of the Union, P E is mentioned on almost every page of the Ennistymon  Union’s Book of Minutes. 

He was an active participant whose opinions, solutions and advice were sound and he seems to have been respected by the other members on the Board.

 EXAMPLES


April 3, 1856 ~ It seems like there was some discord among the Guardians of the Union.

At this meeting, Mr Rielly (sic) proposed Mr Thomas Lucas for the office of Deputy Vice Chairman and he was elected.

Afterwards, there was a heated discussion regarding “party feeling” on the Board.

Finally, the Chairmen put an end to the discussion by reminding the members of the purpose of the Board.

March 18, 1858

Mr Reilly’s proposal regarding the Union’s adherence to their dietary code was unanimously resolved.

January 11, 1864

Mr Reilly’s proposal regarding the charging of certain registration fees to Poor Law Unions was passed unanimously.

January 1864:

P E resolved to send a petition to Parliament to protest the unjust tax rates imposed on the Poor Law Union,

September, 1864

“Resolved that P.E. Reilly be appointed Treasurer.”

March 20, 1864

P E objects to the wording of a resolution which seemed to insinuate that the Board practiced favoritism toward its friends.

August 2, 1867

September 27, 1864

“Proposed by Mr Reilly to increase the salaries of the Dispensary Medical Officers of the Union.

November 1, 1867

“Mr Rielly (sic) proposed a resolution to the effect that “James O’Brien, Esq, DL, of Ballyvaughan be appointed vice-chairman in the room (sic) of the late George O’Brien, Esq, DL of Birchfield.

“Mr Pat Higgins seconded the Motion which was carried unanimously.

“The Chairman: I don’t think there could have been a better selection made.

“Mr MacNamara then rose and said that in the absence of Mr O’Brien, he begged to return his sincere thanks to the meeting for having unanimously elected him to the office of vice-chairman of this Board….

These have been just random minutes from P E's attendance and participation at Board of Guardian meetings. 

He seems to have never missed a weekly meeting and he always contributed something positive to the discussions

Some say that the Boards of Guardians did not do enough to allievate the horrors of the Famine. 

And, perhaps they are correct.

Some say they were just a corrupt group of landlords who couldn't care less about their starving neighbors.

And, there might have been some heartless Guardians who took advantage of the chaos.

But, through reading dozens upon dozens of Minutes from the Ennistymon Board Meetings, I feel that its members did care about those in need but were greatly overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation. They were not equipped to deal with the tremendous scope of the suffering.

From the Minutes that I have read, for the most part, this group of Guardians did care and did try but the situation was way over their heads.

We should be proud of our ancestor's civic conscientiousness during this difficult period in Irish history.

Hero or Villain?

In a letter written to her brother in 1955, Gladys Galwey-Foley mentions that the Foleys came to Ireland with the Plantagenets.

Although I have yet to uncover the Foley-Plantagenet connection, the Milward branch of our Family Tree overflows with many interesting historical figures.

Today's post features one of those illustrious ancestors - our 15th great grandfather, Sir James Tyrrell.

Doesn't everyone love a mystery?

One mystery that has captivated the imagination of historians for almost 600 years is the "Murder of the Two Princes in the Tower".

At the time of King Edward IV's death, these two young boys were his only surviving sons. Before he had died in April 1483, the King had placed them under the protection of his brother, Richard, the Duke of Gloucester.

While preparations for the older son's coronation were underway, their Uncle Richard had both boys lodged in the Tower of London - for their protection.

However, while imprisoned in the Tower, Richard Duke of Gloucester usurped the Throne for himself ....

And the princes disappeared.

It has always been assumed that the Princes had been murdered...... But, by whom?

During the reign of King Henry VI, our 16th great grandfather, Sir William Tyrrel (1415-1462) was the Sheriff of Norfolk and of Suffolk.

But, in 1462, an alleged plot to murder King Edward IV had been discovered and Sir William was named as one of the conspirators. 

Unfortunately, since no trial records have survived, his role in the plot has never been made clear. 

Our 16th great grandfather was beheaded for treason on Tower Hill on February 23, 1462 and was buried in London at the Austin Friars Churchyard.

Sir William's execution left a 37 year old widow, Eleanor Margaret Darcy and, at least, four daughters and two sons - one of whom was our 15th great grandfather.

James Tyrrell (1450-1502) was only 11 years old when his father was executed and little is known about his early life but in 1469, he married an heiress from Cornwall named Anne Arundell (1445-1483)

Sir James first became noteworthy in 1471 when he was knighted by King Edward IV on the Battlefield at Tewkesbury.

Shortly afterwards, in 1473, he was entrusted with escorting the newly widowed, Anne de Beauchamp Countess of Warwick, to the Sanctuary at Beaulieu Abbey.

Because Beaulieu Abbey was the only abbey in the region with very strongly enforced sanctuary rights, the Countess was assured of her safety.

As such a secure sanctuary, Beaulieu Abbey became a recourse of fugitives, ordinary criminals, debtors and political enemies of the government. 

And among these latter was Lady Anne de Beauchamp, whose deceased husband - Warwick the King-maker - had been killed during the battle of Barnet.

With her husband and children all dead and having been denied the restoration of her estate, The Countess spent the rest of her life in the lonely safety of Beaulieu Abbey.

She died in obscurity at the Abbey in 1492. 

In 1475, while in the retinue of the Duke of Gloucester, Sir James was with the King's Army during the abortive war in France.

James' star continued to rise with Appointments as Commissioner in Suffolk in 1475; Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1477 and Member of Parliament for Cornwall in 1478. (By this time, he was only 28.)

In a letter to his cousin, Sir William Stoner, Sir James claimed to have persuaded his Lord of Gloucester to excuse Stoner's brother for some unnamed fault.

Evidently, the Duke (Richard) thought well enough of Tyrrel to grant this personal favor.

Sir James is listed among the Knights at the coronation of Gloucester as King Richard III in 1483 and he was made Master of the Horses AND Master of the King's Henchmen.

(The Master of the King's Henchmen was responsible for training and educating squires of the King.)

That same year, he was made Commissioner of Array for Wales and was appointed Steward of Cornwall for life.

In February 1484, Sir James Tyrrel was granted stewardship of Buelt in Wales for life.

Six months later, he was made a Chamberlain of the Exchequer (Treasury). 

He was in France in 1485, so played no part in the Battle of Bosworth which signalled the end of the Yorkists and the start of the Tudor dynasty - King Henry VII.

In the following year, King Henry VII appointed him Governor of Guînes (the English possession of Calais). 

Sir Tyrrell fought at the Battle of Dixmunde in 1489 and, as Captain of Guînes, took part in the negotiations leading to the Peace of Ėtaples in June 1492. 

Sir James competed in the Tournament celebrating the creation of Prince Henry as Duke of York in 1494 and participated in the festivities marking the arrival of Katherine of Aragon in 1501. 

In short, Sir James Tyrrell had become an accepted and respected figure in the Tudor administration. 

Sir James Tyrrell was now a man of influence and power. 

However, in early 1501, Tyrrell was found to have lent his support and refuge to the leading Yorkist claimant to the English throne - Edmund de la Pole.

By spring, Henry VII had him arrested in Guînes Castle and returned to London.

Under torture, Tyrrell is said to have confessed to the murder of the two Princes but a written confession has never been found.

After a very speedy trial at Guildhall, he was charged with treason and sentenced to death by decapitation. 

For treason, King Henry VII could have had him hanged, drawn and quartered, so this sentence of beheading was lenient for the times.

On May 6, 1505, Sir James Tyrrell was beheaded on Tower Hill at the Tower of London.

His body was taken from Tower Hill and interred in the Churchyard of the Austin Friars - which is also his father's final resting place.

King Henry VII had Sir James Tyrrell executed for treason but failed to mention the murders of the two royal princes and his confession has never been found. 

Although maligned for centuries as a treacherous murderer of the worst kind, there is no real evidence to support a confession by Sir James Tyrrell. 

So - what could have happened to the two young Princes?

A Tyrrell family tradition passed down through the generations claims that "...the princes and their mother, Elizabeth Woodville, lived in the Hall by permission of the uncle....."

The "Hall" could be Tyrrell's home - Gipping Hall. The "uncle" would be Richard III.

So, the Tyrrell family believes that, instead of murdering the princes, Sir James hid them and their mother in his home where they would be safe. They were smuggled to France at some later date.

At the time of his execution, in Sir James' possession was a document detailing the entire episode. When James refused to turn it over to Henry, the King had him beheaded. 

One of the many theories in consideration about this mystery -

"In1485, Richard III gave a Charter to Llandovery, and appointed James Tyrell to be steward of Llandovery Castle. Before Bosworth he sent Tyrell to France to ‘monitor’ the build-up of the ‘invasion’ expected from Henry. Were the princes housed at that time in Llandovery Castle, or did Tyrell take them out of England into France for their safety? If we believe Tyrell to be the murderer of the princes, maybe we should start by digging up the car-park beside Llandovery Castle, to see what we may find."

”http://www.llandoverytheatre.com/richard-111

We might never know the truth.

There you have it - Sir William Tyrrell, executed for treason in 1462, was our 16th Great Grandfather and his son, Sir James Tyrrell, also executed for treason in 1502, was our 15th Great Grandfather.

Here is the genealogical line-up:

16th Grandfather: Sir William Tyrrell (1415-1462)

Sir James Tyrrell (1450-1502)

Lady Anne Tyrrell (1479-1534)

Lord Thomas Wentworth (1500-1551)

Lady Anne Wentworth (1520-1575)

Lady Susanna Poley (1539-1604)

Captain Francis Crofts of Landford (1567-1638)

William Crofts (1606-1663)

George Crofts, Esq, of Churchtown (1642-1698)

Judith Crofts (-1739)

John Freeman, Esq, of Ballinguile (1678-1741)

John Freeman, Esq, of Cahirmee (1713-1776)

Eleanor Freeman (1753- )

John William Henry Milward, Esq (1869-1882)

John Harnett Milward, Esq (1817-1870)

Mary Frances Julia Milward (1855-1904)

Patrick Henry Reilly (1886-1960)

Henry James Joseph Reilly (1922-1999)

Susan Reilly (1950- )

Reilly James Ignatius DeVore (1977-  )

Freya Vitina DeVore (2014-  )

We hope you have enjoyed learning more about our 16th and 15th great grandfathers.

We consulted many websites in our research and, to them, I offer my gratitude:

http://www.holbeinartworks.org/efaqssevenhsirjamtyrfifteen.htmg

https://murreyandblue.wordpress.com/tag/sir-james-tyrrell/

http://www.kateemersonhistoricals.com/TudorWomenA.htm

http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/Probate/PROB_11-17-263.pdf

http://www.shakespeareandhistory.com/james-tyrrell.php

http://home.cogeco.ca/~richardiii/tyrell.html

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.

Sailing to America in Steerage

When I was a girl, my father enjoyed telling me the story of his mother's emigration to America.

He was so proud of her courage and her sense of adventure and he wanted to share that with me.

Born on a farm in County Longford on October 15, 1888, Grandma ~ Mary Anne Sloane ~ was only five years old and the oldest of four children when her mother, 

Mary Dennison, passed away in 1894.

But, 2 1/2 years later, her father (James) married Bridget Mulligan. 

This was James' third marriage.

With Bridget, he added seven more children to the family (three of whom were born after Mary had emigrated.)

By all accounts, Bridget was a loving step-mother but it must have been difficult for Mary to be the oldest child in such a large family.

When she was about 16 years old, Mary overheard the adults discussing her marriage prospects.

According to my father, that was the moment she decided that she wanted more from life than what she could expect in Ireland.

She decided to go to America..

James' sister, Annie Sloane (1871-1953) had been living in New York since 1896. 

Annie was a seamstress and was living alone at 352 West 124 Street, in the Morningside Corridor in Harlem. 

Although 352 West 124th has been torn down, this is what some of the buildings in the Corridor looked like at the turn of the century.

The Morningside Corridor

Mary decided that she would be onboard the RMS Caronia when it left Queenstown in Cork on September 20, 1905.

RMS Caronia

She'd have to take two trains to get to Queenstown from Longford ~ a journey of over 400 km, with a stop in Dublin.

Leaving the Queenstown Railway Station

The Cunard Line ran trips from Queenstown  to New York about every four days and since all steerage tickets were sold without space reservations, obtaining a ticket was easy.

Before boarding, the Stewards of the Line questioned each passenger to create the Ship's Manifest. 

Mary claimed she was a Servant.

Each passenger had to answer up to 31 questions (recorded on manifest lists) before boarding the ship. 

These questions included, among others: name, age, sex, marital status, occupation, nationality, ability to read or write, race, physical and mental health, last residence, and the name and address of the nearest relative or friend in the immigrant’s country of origin. 

Immigrants were asked whether they had at least $25; whether they had ever been in prison, an almshouse, or an institution; or if they were polygamists or anarchists.

Queenstown Ship Manifest for the RMS Caronia

She probably only brought one small suitcase with her which might have been filled with clothing and food, since steerage passengers were responsible for their own meals. 

Once on board, she made her way to her room in steerage, deep in the belly of the ship. 

Third Class passengers and those traveling in Steerage found their accommodations spartan and lacking any real style or decor. 

Simple bunks, a stainless steel sink and washing and toilet facilities that were often unable to cater to the number of lower class passengers were the nature of ocean travel at the time.

However, because the Caronia was such a new ship,(she had just been launched 14 months earlier)  her steerage quarters were more comfortable and neater than some of the second cabin accommodations offered a decade earlier.

The conditions for steerage passengers had  improved by the turn of the century.

The single men were all quartered in the main and lower deck forward, and between them and the married people there was a saloon accommodation and engine space. 

The single women were still further aft, and had their quarters entirely to themselves, and as they were in the charge of experienced matrons and fully qualified surgeon, they were thoroughly well cared for in every respect. 

A hospital replete with every requirement was provided for every section and in addition there were two on deck for infectious cases. 

The steerage berths were of canvas. 

When not in use the berths could be compactly stowed away, the space vacated becoming available for tables and seats during the day. 

The steerage was also provided with a pantry, from which the emigrants could be supplied with tea and coffee made on the same principal as in the saloon, and for the women who wanted to make their own there was an ample supply for teapots and hot water. 

The main deck formed a promenade and recreation for the steerage passengers, while the saloon passengers had a special separate deck amidships, all mixing of classes thus being avoided.

Around the turn of the century, it became more common to use the term "3rd class" for the low price accommodation, some ships even had "4th class". 

The accommodation for 3rd class passengers on these ships were almost as good as for those traveling on 2nd class, however, it was more crowded and the food was a little cheaper. 

These ships could carry about 1,600 steerage passengers.

       A steerage berth on the Cunard Line

After seven days at sea, the RMS Caronia sailed past the Statue of Liberty and into New York harbor on September 27, 1905. 

How exciting and terrifying this must have been for all aboard who had left their homes and families to come to the New World. 

But that excitement soon turns into fear and apprehension once the Caronia docks and Quarantine begins.

After the ship had docked in Manhattan, while cabin passengers were being released to the freedom of New York, steerage passengers poured across the pier to a waiting area. 

Arrival at Ellis Island

Each wore a name tag with the individual’s manifest number written in large figures. 

Steerage passengers waiting for processing as seen from the second class deck

The immigrants were then assembled into groups of 30, according to manifest numbers, and were packed on the top decks of barges while their baggage was piled on the lower dec

Another Ship's Manifest is drawn up ~

Ship Manifest for the RMS Caronia in New York

Difficult to read ~ I know ..... 

Because she was so new, quarantine on the Caronia usually only took about 30 minutes.

Those passengers with landing cards pinned on their clothes next moved to the Money Exchange. 

Here six cashiers exchanged gold, silver and paper money, from countries all over Europe, for American dollars, based on the day’s official rates, which were posted on a blackboard.

And..... I am sure Auntie Sloane was right there on that Pier waiting for her brave young niece to be processed.....

The aunt and the niece lived together in the Morningside Corridor until Maggie Sloane arrived two years later and the sisters moved in together to a boarding house around the block at 446 West 125th Street.

 They worked together as laundresses.

After World War II, Grandma & Grandpa finished their basement on Calhoun Avenue to make an apartment for Auntie Sloane to live closer to them.

 Auntie Sloane passed away on Marianne's birthday in 1952.

So, in the beginning, the aunt helped the niece and in the end the niece helped the aunt.