Moroney Family Reunion 2002

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By Kevin J. O’Brien

Figure 1 Moroney Reunion at St. Joseph's RCC, Miltown Malbay, August 2002

The Moroney Family Reunion that was held August 16-23, 2002 at Burke’s Armada Hotel in Spanish Point was a one in a lifetime event for the descendants of late Thomas Moroney of Miltown Malbay and Catherine Connole of Islandbawn.

This reunion included 56 cousins and friends from a dozen different cities and states all over America and Bernard O’Brien from New Zealand .

This was a first trip to Ireland for all but a few of the people. The travel brochures and stories from friends that had traveled before lay emphasis on the warmth and sincerity of the Irish hospitality. All those stories and guidebooks fell short of the true Irish experience. Noting could have prepared us for what we witnessed.

There were so many people that make our visit such a remarkable encounter it would be impossible to mention them all. I would have to acknowledge everyone in the Miltown and Mullagh parishes.

The Reverend Canon Mullins of St. Joseph ’s Church said Mass for the family at 10:30 AM on Monday. It was a very emotional time for my family as our ancestors were married there on 16 February 1878 and all of our grandparents were baptized within the walls of this church. Reverend Mullins whom was not familiar with my family reached out to his parishioners to ask who knew the family to make the Mass more personal.

Mr. John O’Connell of Ballard Road reconditioned the graves stones of our ancestors: Thomas Moroney of Church Street , Miltown Malbay and Michael Conole of Islandbawn. We also met him in the graveyard one afternoon and he gave us a tour of the graveyard showing us the neighboring families and the grave of musician, Willie Clancey. Mr. O’Connell also took us to the home of Francis Kenneally of Leeds a great storyteller so I could hear first hand the history of my family.

Mr. Francis Kenneally a man of 84 yeas old took time away from his harvesting of the hay on one of the few sunny days this summer to recite from memory my genealogy. Mr. Kenneally went back to Biddy Gorman, born in Shanaway in 1832 and told of her marrying Michael Connole of Islandbawn. There was also a story of Neddy Conole having the gift of prophecy. Neddy predicted many things in the future that have come true.

PJ and Teresa Donnellan of Torreen took time away from their busy schedule of collecting the hay to walk us over the Donnellan and King farms to the edge of the former Connole farm in Islandbawn. The former 88-acre farm is now a 30-year-old pine forest. After our walk we went back to their home for refreshments and musical entertainment provided by their three lovely daughters.

Joe Casey, merchant of Miltown Malbay took time to greet all of us in his store on Main Street . He was very helpful with answers to our many questions about shopping, gifts, taxes, local history and anything else that surfaced.

Mr. and Mrs. Jamie O’Connor of Ennis Road , Miltown Malbay were the former owners of the O’Brien ancestral farm in Killernan townland. On a visit to their lovely home we filled their house. There was only standing room as every chair was full. On past visits the O’Connor’s always made me feel as if I had just come home. The new owner of the farm, Stan Evans now calls the farm “The Killernan Stud Farm.” He and his daughter, Claire has been very kind to family stopping at the farm for a visit.

Noel Moroney the owner of Moroney’s Pub in Mullagh entertained the 56 Yanks on Saturday night with an evening of traditional music. My O’Briens cousins of Mullagh, the descendants of “The Baker” were there to help us celebrate the evening. Again standing room only!

My nephew, Jimmy Dole’s dream was to play golf in Ireland and my cousin, John O’Brien, Captain at Spanish Point Golf course made his dream come true. John arranged for a round of golf for a group of the cousins.

On our second day after a shopping visit to Lahinch and the Cliffs of Mohr the caravan of 15 cars went up to the Burren to visit my cousin Mary Ruane in Rinemonnia, Kilnaboy. Mary opened up her home to 50 people and provided food and drink until the sun went down. It was an Irish Hooley at it’s best with drink, song, story telling and loads of laughs.

Even the weather was perfect. The week before we came I had an e-mail warning me, to tell everyone to bring warm clothes and rain gear. They said there hasn’t been a summer yet and rain was the definite forecast. The first morning the skies shared a little rain and then it was sun for the week. Spanish Point had hundreds of bathers on the beach and just a short walk from the Armada Hotel. Every morning the family members would meet in the dinning room for breakfast. The large dinning room was painted a bright blue and had large windows on three sides of the room giving a breathtaking view of the Atlantic Ocean . This was a great way to start the day!

After breakfast people paired up and went out on their adventures for the day. Around five o’clock in the afternoon the travels started to return with their souvenirs and stories of their day’s travel. Not only were souvenir prices compared but also driving skills were discussed. The adjustment to driving on the left side of the road on narrower roads than we are familiar with took a toll on the vehicles. Everyday the list of side-view mirrors being lost grew. We ended up with about 10 side-view car mirrors being knocked off by parked cars, stonewalls or roadside branches. There were at least four tire rims purchased to replace badly dented rims from hitting curbs and stonewalls and about six news tires were purchased. My brother, Ned earned the title the “Rim Reaper.” He wrecked two rims on a trip to Cobh, Co. Cork and had to sleep in his car for the night. Looking back on that night, Ned even said that was a fun experience.

I spent about ten months organizing and planning the trip. Every night I was on the Internet sending out schedule updates, local histories and pictures and stories about the family. I wanted everyone to be familiar with the local and family history. There were times I had doubts about the amount time I spent on the trip and about the coordinating such a large number of cousins and friends. I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep everyone happy. I didn’t have to worry for long because as soon as we arrived to board the bus for the trip to Toronto everyone was helping each other load their luggage and introducing themselves to each other. This was the way it was for the next seven days. A visit to Ireland has the magic even on this side of the pond. I haven’t made plans to go back yet but I have had a number of requests to organize another trip in the next few years.