SEARCH FOR MITCHELSTOWN ROOTS

Dear Editor,

I am anxious to trace my family roots and research on my father’s family side has so far led me to Mitchelstown.

My great-grandfather, John (Evelyn) O’Mahony was born in King’s Square in 1866 and was the 4th child of 12/13 that his dad (Thomas) had between 1859 and 1884.

Thomas’s father was James who married Eliza Baily in 1832. Thomas married Mary O’Grady in 1859 and they had Thomas Francis (1859), Ellen Mary (1861), Elizabeth (1864), John (1866), David Henry (1869), twins Catherine (Kate) and Mary (1870) and Hannah (1871).

Mary and Hannah died shortly after the birth. Thomas married Margaret Walsh in 1874 and she died in 1875 when Margaret Mary was born. Thomas then married a governess called Frances Gibson in 1880 and they had Francis Joseph (1881), Charles Joseph (1882), Evelyn Maude (1884) and, possibly, Charles Kingston (1884).

The family lived for most of this time in King’s or Old Square and Thomas was an accountant and then a land agent. In 1891 the last three children and Thomas and Frances were in Liverpool. Thomas died in 1897 in poverty due to his occupation in these troubled times.

John joined the Hussars in 1886 and thus came to England having served in India for a while. He married Alice and they lived for several years in Dover. The family then split up and John later married and lived and died in St Albans.

I can find no trace of John’s Irish brothers and sisters and would love to hear from anyone who could throw light on anyone from this family or could tell me of anyone who has a particular interest in O’Mahony history.

Yours sincerely,
Gwynneth Bennet (nee O’Mahony),
48 Fairway,
Copthorne,
West Sussex RH10 3QA,
England

THE MEDAL CHANGE

Dear Editor,

The GAA decided in 2008 to sever its significant link with Irish nationhood by denationalising its All-Ireland championship medals by removing the harp and the word Eire from them.

The All-Ireland championship medals in hurling and football were not presented first until 1910, bearing the symbols of the Irish Sovereign Seal to Tipperary in hurling and Limerick in football, winners of the first All-Ireland championships for the year 1887.

The All-Ireland winning teams up to and including the year 2007 received the most prized medals in Irish sport, the medal with the replica of the sovereign seal of Ireland.

The big mystery is why, when and how this decision was arrived at, and the reason for the change and the secrecy that surrounded the decision making process.

Kilkenny All-Ireland hurling champions of 2008 were first recipients of the new medal which has GAA written on it. They have now achieved four All-Ireland hurling titles in-a-row, an achievement that places them arguably the greatest team of all time, with the best hurling manager ever in Brian Cody.

Yours Sincerely,
John J Hassett,
Croke Street,
Thurles.

ONE LAW FOR THE RICH

Dear Editor,

Since I was a boy I have been told in this country there is one law for the rich and another law for the poor. This could not be better illustrated during the downturn in our economy, then when the Government last year could not move fast enough to bail out the banks by introducing emergency legislation where NAMA was put in place that made ordinary householders guarantor for the years of reckless borrowing by the banks.

In contrast the Government has stood idly by and continues to ignore the plight of the ever increasing number of householders facing the possibility of eviction, simply because the Government will not act and introduce a state mortgage agency that will accept that all sectors of society must share the burden associated with the national economic decline facing the country.

Why should the lending agencies be exempt from the collapse of house prices and home owners be forced to except the total cost associated with their homes that bear no relationship to the real market value of the properties? This issue must be addressed by a state mortgage agency.

Equally sub prime lenders must integrate loans with the main banks who were bailed out by the NAMA process to enable householders the opportunity to make mortgage repayments and arrears over an extended period that reflects the negative economic situation we as a society find ourselves in at present.

The seriousness of the situation was confirmed by the Financial Regulator with 26,000 householders in serious arrears for the twelve month period to September 2009.

Now even the banks federation have given the wake up call predicting that, by the end of 2010, the figures of those facing the prospects of eviction will be in excess of 30,000 if the lenders are to close in on bad debts.

Under the sought-after mortgage agency all parties would have to accept economic realities where collectively, lenders, borrowers and society as a whole, would regulate a code of practice that would ensure that repossession is not the only option and that all interested parties would share responsibility for the economic realities we as a society must face in an equitable fashion, if the people of this country are to have a future.

It is only through consensus that mortgage holders can hang on to their homes while simultaneously lenders receive reasonable returns in the present economic circumstances.

In conclusion, the alternative to a state mortgage agency to regulate lenders and borrowers is stark in the extreme. The Government can continue to ignore the plight of mortgage holders who, in their thousands, are facing the prospect of eviction from their homes. Such a situation does not reconcile economically or socially.

What comfort can lenders draw from thousands of householders facing repossession orders if there is no market for thousands of empty houses, as such properties are beyond the financial reach of most potential house seekers?

Yours sincerely,
Cllr Tadhg O’Donovan P.C.,
Fermoy.