In 1850, Patrick Salmon was living here in a single-storey house leased from Patrick Quigly (sic) who has already appeared in connection with the old Shaw premises on Main Street. Salmon was succeeded by George Fennell, an RIC pensioner originally from County Dublin. In 1901, the household included his wife Susan from County Meath, two sons (one a law clerk, the other a scholar1), their daughter who was a telegraph clerk, and their young grandson, John Grogan. Assuming that the numbering on the 1911 census is correct, it seems that the next family here - the Mahers - have moved two doors down the street from where they were in 1901. Entirely possible of course, but for some reason I can't put my finger on, I am not convinced. Any clarification would be gratefully received. The details on the census form are also a bit puzzling: on one manuscript page, Dorah M. Maher is described as Head of Family, on another she is Norah and, according to the National Library's printed version, it is John Maher - described by Eddie Boylan as a "timber man" - who is the 'head'. Whatever the family situation, on the night of April 2nd, 1911, there were four boarders (two blacksmiths, a fowl buyer and a shoemaker), a lodger2 (another blacksmith), and a domestic servant in the house. One of my informants remembered a shoemaker here, but I have found no other reference to this. In more recent years, the Coogan family lived here and it is still a private residence today.
1 The town's future Postmaster. See 27, Main Street, North Side. 2 I've just discovered from the dictionary that a boarder pays for a room and meals, while a lodger pays for use of a room only. You learn something every day. |
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