You Sir are a Calumniator!

Main Street, Ennistymon, County Clare

1858 was still a serious time in Ireland - and in Ennistymon in County Clare.

The Famine might have been considered "over" but thousands of displaced and hungry people were still hurting.

The Board of Guardians of the Ennistymon Union was still meeting at the Workhouse on a weekly basis.

The Workhouse was still overflowing with desperate people.

There was still work to be done.

But, small towns and their small town gossip & drama will never change.

That said:

In September 1858, the Clerk of the Ennistymon Union, M Keane sued the Union's Medical Officer, Dr Charles Finucane, M.R.C.S.L. for insulting his character in public.

I am including this incident in our Family Blog because our great great grandfather, Patrick Edward Reilly, was mentioned in the trial transcript and I want everything about him to be on record.

Although P.E. refused to appear in court, his name and integrity are discussed during the legal proceedings.

M Keane and Dr Finucane had served at the Workhouse since at least 1850.

Dr Finucane was being sued for: "...Using language calculated to injure Mr Keane in his official capacity as Clerk of the Ennistymon Union..."

Because of the "absence of witnesses willing to testify", the case went to arbitration but Keane was still suing Finucane for court costs.

It all began on May 25, 1858 when Dr Finucane came to the Board of Guardians meeting and demanded that Keane give him a copy of a letter he had written to Col Francis Macnamara, Lord of Ennistymon House.

The Doctor had heard that the letter was critical of his work and he wanted to read it.

When Keane refused to turn the letter over to him, Dr Finucane called Keane a liar and a "calumniator!"

That's not all ~ he said that Keane was not "fit for his office."

What's more ~

When Keane later went into O'Brien's Shop on Main Street, O'Brien told him that the "guys" ~ Mr Crowe, Mr Reilly and O'Brien ~ had been hanging around the Shop the other day when the Doctor popped in.

Finucane had related the entire episode to them ~ including what he had said about Keane.

In his own defense, the Doctor insisted that he had never intended to destroy Keane's reputation. He also mentioned that he had later sent Keane a written apology.

I will let you read the transcript and determine who was at fault.

As you read, you will learn that his neighbors considered P.E. Reilly a "highly respectful and honorable" man.

As you can see, no matter the era or the location, small towns will always be small towns.

And, one's reputation - good or bad - will last forever.

Although Patrick Edward Reilly lived and died over 200 years ago, his reputation as a "highly respectful" and "honorable" man will live forever.

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.