My Story: Joe Duffy
{Series 1}
Joe's story was a Tale of Two Grannies: he had strong memories of both his grandmothers - two tough women who struggled to raise families in the tenements of inner city Dublin...
GRANNY AGNES:
Agnes Duffy was born Agnes Carroll in 1902, in a tenement on Church Street in Dublin's North inner city. Along with his late father's brother, Brendan Duffy, Joe was able to work out exactly where the tenement had stood from old Ordinance Survey maps. They were also able to tour an old tenement building just around the corner on Henrietta Street.
The 1911 Census shows Joe's granny Agnes as one of eight children living with their parents in just two rooms. But it also lists Agnes' brother, Christopher 'Kit' Carroll. Joe knew that Kit had fought and died in World War I, and years ago had tried to find out what became of him, but to no avail. Perhaps now he might have more luck...
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/
Joe met up with Tom Burke, an expert on the Great War and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. If Kit did enlist during WWI, it was more than likely the Fusiliers he joined. Tom reveals to Joe a website he knew nothing about, run by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. They type in as much information as they know about Christopher Carroll, and four entries show up. One of them records the death of a Christopher Carroll in April 1916, and his parents are listed as Mr. & Mrs James Carroll of 89 Upper Church Street – this is definitely Joe's Great-Uncle Kit. And, it shows where he's buried: Bienvillers in Northern France.
The next morning, Joe flies to France, and meets with Teddy Colligan, another expert and historian. He has managed to unearth The Royal Dublin Fusiliers' Battalion Diaries for April 1916 from the UK's National Archives. Although they show that the day Kit died was a “quiet day”, it lists one injury from bombardment the day before, and two more serious unnamed injuries in the trenches the week before. It's very likely that one of these unnamed soldiers was Kit, who died of his wounds days later. Teddy also managed to locate a photograph of Kit from records held by a colleague in Dublin, Liam Dodd.
Later that day, Joe is able to visit the military cemetary at Bienvillers to find Kit's grave. He's the first family member to visit the grave in more than 90 years.
GRANNY GRACE:
Joe's maternal grandmother, Grace Ganley, was born in India: her father was stationed there as a Connaught Ranger. Joe wanted to learn more about this side of the family, and hopefully find out what happened Grace's brother Arnold – apparently he died of a snake-bite in India, and Joe had always promised Grace that he'd return there one day to tend to the grave.
To begin with, Joe arranges to meet Oliver Fallon, an expert on the Connaught Rangers, at their old barracks: King House in Boyle. From the year Grace was born in India (1902), Oliver can tell Joe that her father Joseph Ganley must have been with the 2nd Battalion of the Connaught Rangers which was stationed there at the time. Although less than a third of military records of that time survive, it's Joe's lucky day: Oliver has managed to find Joseph Ganley's military record, online at ancestry.co.uk.
The record is barely legible, and it takes time for Oliver to decipher it. The first nugget of information is from the first page: Joseph Ganley's home was listed as “Knockroghery, Co. Roscommon”.
In the Parish house in Knockroghery, local priest Fr. Peadair Lavin is able to show Joe the birth record for Joseph Ganley, and his brother Michael... The parents are Patrick Ganley, a shoe-maker & Mary Naughton, from a townland called Killenvoy on the outskirts of town. True Blue Dub Joe has now found his culchie roots, and as he says, “You can't get more country than this!”.
At Custume Military Barracks in Athlone, where Joseph Ganley would have enlisted, Oliver Fallon was able to decipher more of the 120 year old military record. Joseph Ganley married a local Athlone girl, Lizzie Dowling, before heading off to India. Their first son was born in Athlone just 8 months later! The next three children, including Joe's Granny Grace, were born in “Ahmednagar, India”, so that's where Joe must go...
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=WM®no=15004181
Ahmednagar is an eight-hour train journey inland from Mumbai (Bombay). Not only was Joe's granny born here, so too (16 years later) was Spike Milligan, whose father was in the British Indian Army.
At the local military Catholic Church, Joe gets to see the original baptism register, and the entries for his grandmother and her brother, who appently died of a snake-bite. But the church's burial records do not survive, and the chances of finding the grave are slim...
Meanwhile, Oliver Fallon managed to transcribe the rest of the Military Record, and faxes it to Joe in India.
It shows that Joseph Ganley was reprimanded for being drunk & disorderly... But it's the day after his first son was born back in Athlone, so he could be forgiven!. The record also shows the date of Joseph's promotion, which allowed him to bring his wife Lizzie out to India. It also gives a birth date in 1903 for little Arnold Ganley (actual name Joseph Edward Ormond), which means Oliver can search for a death certificate.
The Death Certificate eventually comes through by email to Joe in India, and shows that the 4-year old boy died of dysentery, not a snake-bite. But even with the help of local children clearing weeds and brambles in the local graveyard, there is no sign of the grave. Over the years, many of the granite headstones ended up being used as mill-stones to grind wheat and maize. Also, most of the European gravestones were erected years later by family, and none of Joe's family had been back to India since the family left in 1908.
Joe buried a small Connaught Rangers badge under a tree in the heart of the graveyard, in memory of little Joe Ganley, his granny's brother.
When Joseph Ganley the Connaught Ranger returned to Ireland, his wife died within the year. Joseph re-married and ended up getting a job as Gatekeeper at Kings Inns in Dublin. So his daughter (and Joe's Granny) Grace Ganley grew up just yards from Joe's other Granny Agnes around the corner on Church Street.
