Collum and Ann Marie Gallagher McCaffery

 Married at St John the Baptist Catholic Church in 1928.

My Amazing Grandparents

William Joseph and Anna Marie Gallagher (1978)

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.

Brian McCaffery Death Record

Brain McCaffery was born in April of 1953, son of Coll and Francis Bernerdo McCaffery Jr. who died on December 24, 1954 of Meningococcemia and WaterHouse-Friedricksen Syndrome at Roxborough Memorial Hospital. An Autopsy was performed and the child was not interred until January 26, 1955 at St John the Baptist Churchyard. Address at time of death was 618 Rittenhouse Street.

Meningococcemia is caused by a bacteria called Neisseria meningtidis.

WaterHouse-Friedricksen Syndrome is failure of the adrenal gland to function as a result of bleeding into the gland generally caused by a severe infection.

Adrenal Glands are small glands located on top of each kidney that produces important hormones in which we cannot live without.

Uncle Gene and Grandmom

Remember

It has been 24 years since you left us and it feels as though you were here yesterday. Your love has sustained me through the tough times and I will be forever grateful that I had your love for 30 years. I cannot imagine how life would have been without your constant presence in my life as a child to adulthood. You taught me by example the importance grandparents play in the life of their grandchildren. You taught me one can never love a child too much and as I look back in hindsight I know that statement is very true. It is a wonderful gift you have given me as I carry that love and those memories within my heart and I know you are an angel sitting with God watching over me.

Sitting here drinking my coffee watching the dawn arise listening to the birds sing their morning songs. I was told via in route to the shore last night my cousin was in the hospital dying. DYING. I think I may still be in shock. She is 41 years old. She is my uncle Billy's daughter. She lays in an ICU bed on a ventilator with acute liver and kidney failure. My aunt signed a "Do not resuscitate order" because there is no hope for survival. WTH! What is God's name has happened?  What is it about summer deaths in my family? My grandmother died July 30, 1990. My uncle Billy died July 14, 1996. my brother died June 29, 1997.

A Genealogist Records Everything

Just came in from my morning bike ride. I love riding the bike at the shore. Everyone is so friendly in the neighborhood and we wave to say "hello". I thought I could get the boys to ride with me however they like to sleep in so I went off on my own.

Meanwhile last night we had family time;

This morning someone fell asleep on the floor instead of his bed upstairs.

Shore house supplies when the grandpoles come to visit.

I believe my Dad placed these cuties in my garden when I was away.

Last week pictures;

And a visitor at work.

Table by the door.

Pictures of my grandchildren as babies, picture of my parents, trusty old lamp, a basket to throw my mail and keys and a portrait of a girl which was a gift from my Mom because she said it resembled my granddaughter.

What's in your China Cabinet?

Prayer of Our Lady of Knock purchased in Knock, Ireland.

 Millennium Lenox Angel which was a gift from my parents Christmas 1999. The cross hanging from the angel was found in an antique shop in Gettysburg.

Crystal rosary beads from Ireland.

 I call this my "Ava" corner. These were things she took out of the china cabinet and played with. The blue glass shoe on the left used to be my grandmother's Anna Marie McCaffery Gallagher). I bought that blue glass shoe and gave it to my grandmother when I was a child. It became mine when she died in 1990 and I will cherish it forever.

 I was left my maternal grand mom's (Anna Marie McCaffery Gallagher) china as well. The bronze stature was from my grand mom's casket. Her casket had these statures on all four corners.

The Lenox angel was a gift from a friend. The silver goblets are from my wedding. The Lenox glasses were purchased by me. The music box was a gift I bought for my granddaughter "Ava" which I will hold onto until she is older. It plays "You are my sunshine", a song Bill sang to her often as a baby as he rocked her in his arms.

Our Lady of Knock was given to me by a friend many years ago.

The things that hang on the wall surrounding the China Cabinet.

 A painting of my paternal grandmother in 1933. She was 27 years old. Her name was Marie Schroeder Weleski and she was born in Milwaukee Wisconsin in 1906. She would never grow old as she died shortly after giving birth in 1945 at the age of 38 years old. I am really glad this painting was handed down to me.

I purchased this painting in a portrait gallery in New Hope.

John Patrick McCaffery Death Certificate

My grandmother's father died on August 7, 1930 at Philadelphia General Hospital from Chronic Myocarditis complicated by Bronch-pneumonia. He was a patient at Philadelphia General Hospital from August 4, 1930 to his death on August 7, 1930 and interred at Holy Sepulcher on August 11,1930. What I found interesting was he was a Gardner at a Golf Course and he referred to my grandmother as "Annie". His birth date was listed as September 19, 1884.

Agnes Bridget Boland McCaffery Death Certificate

I came across a copy of the actual death certificate of my grandmother's mother who died August 4, 1915 when my grandmother was three years old. I was told she died of an appendicitis. Her cause of death is listed as a bowel obstruction. What was interesting is my great grandmother (Agnes Bridget) was a patient at Roxborough (formally known as St. Timothy's Hospital) from July 20, 1915 to her death @ 11:40pm on August 4,1915. It listed the doctor who took care of her as well as her husband, parents, where they lived what her occupation was to her burial at Holy Sepulcher on August 7,1915 and the funeral director.

Leigue Cemetery in Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland

"Leigue cemetery is one of the largest burial grounds in County Mayo with over 3,000 graves.  The "Friends of Leigue" organization chaired by Ballina town councillor, Johnnie O'Malley, has done a remarkable job of restoring the cemetery over the past decade.  There are about 300 headstones in the two older sections of the cemetery: the old graveyard around the ruins of Kilmore Church, and the Old Leigue Cemetery inside the walls at the top of the hill where many graves are unmarked. The majority of the headstones are in the new section where the headstones date back to about 1900.

Kilmore Church is the oldest church in the area, dating back to the 7th century, and is said to have been founded by St Patrick.  In the top photo, Kilmore Church ruins are covered in ivy.  The newer section on the left is the Lindsay family vault built out of stones from the ancient church ruins.  The special entrance (in the foreground) provided a place for the pall-bearers to rest the coffin as they entered the graveyard."

http://goldenlangan.com/graves-le.html