1901 Census Record From Killala County Mayo Ireland Boland Family

 Residents of a house 2 in Kilroe (Killala, Mayo)

I came across a link to a genealogy site in Ireland and came across this document under the 1901 census record for my Boland family who began to emigrant to the United States in 1902. The house on #2 Kilroe located in the village of Killala just North of Ballina in County Mayo no longer stands as I located the spot via aerial shot of the area where the house once stood and located new development in the area surrounded by farm land. The farmland still exists however the house has been replaced. I remember my grandmother telling me stories of the Bolands in Ireland who were farmers unlike the Gallaghers who were fishermen in Donegal. My grandmother was the only child of Bridget Boland and John McCaffery (McCafferty) identified here as the second eldest child of John and Ellen Boland. My grandmother told me stories of Mary Boland coming to the United States first in 1902 then followed by Bridget (Agnes) then Kate (Katherine) then John, Ellen and the last two children known as Ellen and John. John Boland resided in Lower Merion on the grounds of Westminster Cemetery in a house on River Road and worked the grounds of the cemetery in exchange for free housing. My granddaughter told me that John liked living on the vast grounds of Westminster because it reminded him of the farm in County Mayo. I really do not know why the Bolands emigrated to the United States instead of remaining in Ireland. I only know they followed Mary Boland and her husband Bernard Cafferty. What is interesting about this document is it clearly stated that neither John nor his wife Ellen could read however all their children could read and write. All were Roman Catholics. Bridget was listed as a scholar which tells me she was currently a student when the census was taken on March 31, 1902. As a genealogist, I get really excited when I discover another piece of my family record. I cannot explain how it feels to see where they lived, how they worked, where they prayed. It makes them so very real. My grandmother was just three years old when her mother died in 1915 and raised by grandparents as well as her Aunt Kate only to go through life never knowing what her own mother looked like. I do not know if pictures were never taken or if pictures were hidden from my grandmother. My greatest wish is to one day discover a picture of Bridget in which some relative somewhere has in their collection.