"I'm Thomas Dowling and this is my wife Bridget. I was born in Dysertbeagh, just outside Mountrath in Queen's County. That was back in October 1843. I was baptised on the 29th of that month in Mountrath. My father was Edward Dowling and my mother Julia. I am a farmer tending a number of fields passed down to me by my father, there mostly all for cattle.
Just after I was born, my father told me, there was a terrible famine from 1845 to 1847 where all the potatoes went rotten in the ground. It was a hard childhood but I, and my many brothers and sisters survived. I met Bridget Phelan from Laca in the nearby parish of Kyle and we were married in Kyle on 9th November 1875. We each signed our names in the book with a cross.
Well I'll have to go now, I must take this cow down to the bull in the far field."
Thomas died, of syncope, on his way to the field on 7th March 1910 aged 66 years. On the same day his wife went into the local shop in Mountrath and bought traditional items for the wake.
Outside his Farmhouse / Inside his Farmhouse / Author's Tree
Copyright © 1998 Brian Dowling. All rights reserved.