Remember this picture that I posted here a few weeks ago? 
The one of my great grandmother Margaret (Maggie) Duggan?
I promised I would begin to tell you the story of sweet Maggie..all the way from her roots in Ireland!
Note: This story is told thanks to the hard work and curiosity of my cousin Laura who has done extensive research into the Duggan family history (thanks, Laura!).
Much of the information here was told to Laura's mother, my Aunt Peg, in long talks with her mother, Laura, and her grandmother, Maggie Duggan McGuirk.
My Great-Grandmother Maggie/Part 1: The Early Years in Ireland
During the famine years in Ireland (around 1840) great poverty and strict English penal laws existed. Farms were owned by English land owners who exacted taxes as well as a share of the profits from crops grown by Irish tenants who farmed the land.
A tenant was allowed to keep a small portion of the crops to feed his family and a thatched cottage to live in while he worked the land.
Many stories are told that on their infrequent trips to Ireland for horseback riding vacations , the landowners would take paths that would take them directly through these family gardens.
Poverty and unemployment were everywhere and tax rates (based on family size) were very high.
In the early 1850's James Duggan met and married Margaret (Peggy)Fitzmaurice in a small town in the western part of Ireland called Claremorris in County Mayo.
James and Peggy were my great-great-grandparents.
James and Peggy became tenant farmers on a small farm located just outside of town.
They went on to have a number of children--Ann in 1851, Mary in 1856, Liam in 1859, James in 1861, Margaret (Maggie) in 1864, as well as others not recorded who probably died in infancy.
Maggie's house was a one room thatched cottage with one large room used for most purposes.
The cottage contained a loft overhead where the family slept.
The cottage did not have a bathroom, just an outhouse adjacent to the home.
Note: In the picture below, my Aunt Peg is standing in front of the Duggan cottage which they discovered on a trip to Claremorris, Ireland in 1984.
The kitchen contained a long wooden table and benches, a huge fireplace for cooking and baking, and was heated with a peat fire.
Peat is a source of fuel created from decayed vegetable matter. In Ireland peat is also in bogs which a family member would harvest and cut the peat into bricks called turf that would be used to heat the family home.Ireland contains more bog, relatively speaking, than any other country in Europe, other than Finland.
Children had daily chores which included milking the cows, feeding the chickens, and tending the crops. They were very poor, but it was a happy home.
Saturday nights were for gathering with neighbors where singing, listening to an accordion or fiddler play, or Irish step dancing took place.
Coming soon: Part 2: The Famine and Immigration
The one of my great grandmother Margaret (Maggie) Duggan?I promised I would begin to tell you the story of sweet Maggie..all the way from her roots in Ireland!
Note: This story is told thanks to the hard work and curiosity of my cousin Laura who has done extensive research into the Duggan family history (thanks, Laura!).
Much of the information here was told to Laura's mother, my Aunt Peg, in long talks with her mother, Laura, and her grandmother, Maggie Duggan McGuirk.
My Great-Grandmother Maggie/Part 1: The Early Years in Ireland
During the famine years in Ireland (around 1840) great poverty and strict English penal laws existed. Farms were owned by English land owners who exacted taxes as well as a share of the profits from crops grown by Irish tenants who farmed the land.
A tenant was allowed to keep a small portion of the crops to feed his family and a thatched cottage to live in while he worked the land.
Many stories are told that on their infrequent trips to Ireland for horseback riding vacations , the landowners would take paths that would take them directly through these family gardens.
Poverty and unemployment were everywhere and tax rates (based on family size) were very high.
In the early 1850's James Duggan met and married Margaret (Peggy)Fitzmaurice in a small town in the western part of Ireland called Claremorris in County Mayo.
James and Peggy were my great-great-grandparents.
James and Peggy became tenant farmers on a small farm located just outside of town.
They went on to have a number of children--Ann in 1851, Mary in 1856, Liam in 1859, James in 1861, Margaret (Maggie) in 1864, as well as others not recorded who probably died in infancy.
Maggie's house was a one room thatched cottage with one large room used for most purposes.
The cottage contained a loft overhead where the family slept.
The cottage did not have a bathroom, just an outhouse adjacent to the home.
Note: In the picture below, my Aunt Peg is standing in front of the Duggan cottage which they discovered on a trip to Claremorris, Ireland in 1984.
The kitchen contained a long wooden table and benches, a huge fireplace for cooking and baking, and was heated with a peat fire.
Peat is a source of fuel created from decayed vegetable matter. In Ireland peat is also in bogs which a family member would harvest and cut the peat into bricks called turf that would be used to heat the family home.Ireland contains more bog, relatively speaking, than any other country in Europe, other than Finland.
Children had daily chores which included milking the cows, feeding the chickens, and tending the crops. They were very poor, but it was a happy home.
Saturday nights were for gathering with neighbors where singing, listening to an accordion or fiddler play, or Irish step dancing took place.
Coming soon: Part 2: The Famine and Immigration
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