James Moriarty Died As he Lived - Chasing That Gold!

In the 1884 article that was sent to me about James Moriarty, it stated that he was "the gentlemanly and efficient agent of Wells, Fargo & Co. in this place (Idaho City,) as well as agent of the Utah, Idaho, and Oregon Stage Company. In addition to this business he carries on a thriving trade in clothing, hats, caps, etc. He is an upright, esteemed citizen of Idaho and one of its pioneers."

We have seen that James Moriarty was searching for gold in Idaho in its very earliest days. Gold drew him from one lode to another. Now it is 1880. The days of easy placer mining have faded and have been left to the Chinese. The U.S. Census of Idaho City was taken on June 1st and 2nd. Our James Moriarty is living at 43 Montgomery Street. He is a 43 year old Express Agent - just as described in the 1884 article. He and his parents were born in Ireland. Two miners are living with him - 48 year old Daniel Casey and 27 year old Timothy Kegan are also from Ireland. All three are single.

Here is that picture of James Moriarty's business again. His is the bottom picture.

The census tells us about the neighbors - besides miners and laborers, there were: a brewer, barber, druggist, civil engineer, tailor, carpenters, general merchant, shoemaker, huckster, grocers, blacksmiths, county assessor, a seamstress, and some children. They came from:  England, Bavaria, Ireland, Prussia, Switzerland, Scotland, Upper Rhine, Wertenburg as well as New York, Missouri, Idaho, Kentucky, Washington Territory, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. I keep thinking about James Moriarty - born in Caherdaniel - anyone who has been to Sneem knows what Caherdaniel is like. And look at all the places that he traveled and all the different nationalities that he met! What did he think about it all? And what did he think about the times in which he lived!

We saw that the gold rush in Boise basin spurred the development of several mining towns. 
http://boisebasinhistory.com tells us that "of all the communities, Idaho City was said to have been the bawdiest and lustiest of the Boise Basin’s offspring. A rip-roaring mining town, it became the hub of territorial commerce and almost overnight became the largest metropolis in the Idaho Territory, boasting a population in excess of ten thousand for more than two decades."

But "difficult winters and shortages of food made life treacherous. One year a food riot occurred because the spring supplies from Walla Walla had not arrived." 

"The richest claim in the Idaho City area in 1863 was owned by seven men. It contained 2,000 square feet and ran to the edge of town. Bedrock averaged one dollar per pan and as high as $9.25. Mining was done right in town. Lawsuits were numerous when houses began collapsing after being undermined. Montgomery Street panned at $16.00 a pan." This is the street where James Moriarty had his business by at least 1880! We don't know exactly when he moved into Idaho City but he was in Boise basin since 1863.

"Idaho City had two hundred merchants in 1864 and was still growing. Two new theaters were finished for the pleasure of the miners. Gambling, billiards, drinking and dancing were favorite pastimes. Most miners wore flannel shirts, a slouched hat, a large bandanna tied around their necks, pantaloons tucked into heavy hobnailed boots, and six-shooters on their hips ... Stealing horses, robbing stages, and killing were common around the Boise Basin as bands of desperadoes came into the gold camps. Vigilante Committees were formed who tried criminals in secret, and later arrested them. Their punishment was usually hanging." I wonder how much of this James Moriarty experienced!

The 1900 U.S. Census of Idaho City, taken on the 13^th of June, lists 62 year old James Moriarty, Sr. at the bottom of the page. He was born in October 1837 and is boarding with 56 year old Henry Whitney and his wife, 30 year old Geneva, – both from Maine and  renting the house but no street name is given. Their daughter Marion is 4 and was also born in Maine. James immigrated in 1863 and is a naturalized citizen.  He is able to read, write, and speak English. James is a gold quartz miner; Henry is also a gold quartz miner. The Whitneys have 3 other boarders - another miner, a blacksmith, and a steam engineer.

Further up on the census we find 38 year old Patrick and 43 year old James Moriarty – Patrick is the head of the household and James is his brother. Both were born in Ireland as were their parents. 
Patrick’s birth date was March 1862, and he immigrated in 1883 and is a naturalized citizen – he has been in the United States for 17 years. He can read and write; he speaks English. He is a gold quartz miner and has not been unemployed. He owns his house – it is not mortgaged. 
James’ birthdate is November 1853; he immigrated in 1873 and is a naturalized citizen – he has been in the United States for 27 years. He is also a gold quartz miner and has not been unemployed. He can also read and write – he speaks English. They are both single. And they are James Moriarty's nephews who immigrated from Caherdaniel.

James Moriarty was killed on January 19,1906 by a snowslide from the roof of the Boulder Quartz Mill in Elk Creek. I inserted the obituary from the Idaho World newspaper for James Moriarty but it is so faded that it is difficult to read. So I  transcribed what I can read. The paper is dated “Idaho City, Monday, Jan.22, 1906” and states: “James Moriarty, Sr., was killed last Friday at the Boulder Quartz mill on Elk creek, eight or ten miles north of this place, by a snowslide from the roof of the mill building. At about 9:30 Friday morning James Moriarty, Jr. started to shovel and finding the snow wet and heavy concluded to postpone the work, and told his uncle, James Moriarty Sr., who was also there ready to begin work that the snow was not in good condition for shoveling. The nephew then went into tunnel where his brother Patrick was at work. When they came out at noon and saw that the snow had slid from the roof of the mill building, and learning from their sister, Miss Kate Moriarty, who was at the boarding house, that the old gentleman was not there, they knew the fate that had befallen him, and they and Miss Moriarty proceeded to dig through the snow for the body. They ran several cuts through the hard snow, which was almost as compact as ice, and worked three hours before uncovering the body. Death was evidently instantaneous. The snow around his face had not melted so it was evident that he did not breathe after being buried. The body was covered to the depth of three and a half feet, but a very short distance from the body, toward the mill, the depth was much greater.

“Snow had been shoveled from this building every winter for many years by the Moriartys, and this is the first time the snow has ever slid from the roof.  Mr. Moriarty had evidently been shoveling but a short time when he was carried down by the slide. The body was almost touching one end of the ladder.

“James Moriarty, Jr. came to town for assistance, arriving at 12 o’clock that night. A crew of men, with horses, started out Saturday morning with the intention of breaking a trail from the Thorne camp to the creek for the purpose of bringing the body out that way, but this plan was abandoned. A toboggan with snowshoe runners was made at Thorne’s camp and a party of 13 men with snowshoes hauled the body down the creek to the Basin road, to a point a little over a mile from this place. They reached town at 1 o’clock yesterday morning.

“Mr. Moriarty was a native of Kerry county, Ireland, and was 76 years of age. From the old country he went to Australia and New Zealand and from there to Fraser, in British Columbia, in the early sixties. He arrived in Boise Basin in the spring of 1864, and engaged in placer mining at Centerville. After that he worked placer ground at Placerville and on Granite Creek. In 1874, when a resident of Granite Creek, he was elected Auditor and Recorder of this county, serving two years. He was appointed Deputy Auditor by Mrs. Kate Gorman, the present incumbent, and served for some time. He was for many years employed in the express office of Wells, Fargo, and Co. at this place.

“Mr. Moritrty was a charter member of the A.O.U.W. of this place. (Ancient Order of United Workmen collected $1 from each member in order to pay $500 to dependents of a deceased member.)

“He leaves a niece and two nephews at this place – Miss Kate, James and Patrick Moriarty, a nephew Ed Moriarty, of Connecticut, two nephews, brothers of the above named, in Ireland, and a sister, Mrs. Sullivan, in Ireland, who is the mother of Mike Sullivan, formerly of this place, and now a resident of Mexico.

“Mr. Moriarty was a man of very kind disposition and sympathetic nature, charitable and liberal even beyond his means.

“He was a proprietor of a boarding house at Silver Mountain in the early days of that camp, and no man without money was ever refused a meal. Many a miner and prospector would have gone hungry but for the kindness of Mr. Moriarty. He acquired the reputation of being altogether too liberal for a successful hotel man.

“The funeral took place at 12:30 today from town hall. A short biographical sketch of Mr. Moriarty was given by E.W. Barry, who also read the Catholic burial service. The hall was filled with friends of deceased.” 

Imagine how excited I was to receive this obituary!! My mother, father, and I were screaming with surprise as we read it! If only I could find one like this for everyone else! And Kate, James, and Patrick are our cousins that Father Edward Moriarty talked about in his letter. I have more information on them but that is a story for another time. Do you see how you can drive yourself crazy with genealogy?

So that is the story of James Moriarty of Cahirdaniel who was a 1^st cousin to our Michael Moriarty who settled in Loughane. No wonder some of us have the travel bug!! 

James Moriarty: Another Gold Rush

Idaho was an unexplored territory in 1800 - it was occupied by Native Americans - with the Shoshone and Nez Pierce being the majority. Fur traders came to Idaho around 1808 from both Canada and the United States. Besides working with and negotiating with the Native Americans, they had to explore this wilderness. 

In California, after 10 years of mining, the Gold Rush of 1849 was winding down. Prospectors were eager to find new areas to search.  According to Idaho: An illustrated History, "Nevada, Colorado, and British Columbia showed promise as mining regions in 1858-1859, and Idaho followed in 1860." Placer gold was found in Clearwater county in Idaho in 1860. And the gold rush was on! This resulted in the development of Idaho Territory which did not become a state until 1890.

We know that James Moriarty followed the gold rush to British Columbia although we don't know how he arrived there from Australia or New Zealand. We also know, from the article sent to me by the Idaho Historical Society, that he arrived in Idaho Territiory in 1863 and in Placerville on July 14.

Placerville was part of Boise basin where gold was discovered on August 2, 1862 - the Boise basin became the major mining region of the Northwest in 1863 and 1864. It had a population of 20,000 during its heyday - making it Idaho's largest mining community. Beginning with Pioneerville ... on October 7, 1862, several communities sprang up in the basin during the winter, and for the next few years, Idaho City, Placerville, and Centerville were the leading camps of Idaho. 

The website - www.boisebasinhistory.com - reports that this was "one of the greatest gold rushes the world has ever seen….the richest strike in America. It is estimated that more than $250,000,000 was taken from this area in the two decades following its discovery….greater than the California 49er and of the Klondike in Alaska. It is reported that Gold from the Boise Basin helped to strengthen the Union treasury during the most crucial days of the Civil War, perhaps preserving the United States." And James Moriarty was there in Boise basin for all the excitement!

Idaho: An Illustrated History tells us what life was like for James - “... eighty miles of ditches, dug in time for the 1863 placer season around Idaho City, provided water for big production right from the beginning. A hydraulic giant (a large metal fire hose that took water from a high ditch to a high bar of gold-bearing gravel, and cut away the gravel with tremendous force) already was in production on Elk Creek near Idaho City; five men operating it recovered $1400 a week. With several million dollars’ worth of gold to their credit in 1863, the placer miners of Boise basin had capital to get ready for a still bigger season in 1864."

Mining with Hydraulic Giant in boise Basin near Idaho City 

“A mild winter, with less than enough snow to provide water for a long placer operation in 1864, complicated the situation in Boise basin. An extremely dry winter in northern California drove thousands of miners out to look for other placers, though, and in the spring of 1864, Boise basin was the place for them to head for. Five or six hundred hopeful miners arrived each week. With a surplus of men on hand, and with adverse water conditions known in advance, operations went on day and night without stopping while water was available. Richer claims, each worked by several men, turned out a thousand dollars a day that way. More than thirty large fires, each lighting a different claim visible at night from Idaho City, made a grand view. Such operations went on for miles. Then by early May around Placerville and by early June around Idaho City, the streams turned to mud. With the better claims still less than half worked out, placer mining came to a halt for another year." So James had an early but productive season in 1864. I just wonder how he did financially?

Bringing Mining equipment into Boise basin

But as always, placer mining eventually fell into a decline.  The peak years for the Boise basin were 1863 to 1866 so James Moriarty had again  been in the right place at the right time.


 "A gold rush to Leesburg that year (1866), followed by a gold rush to Loon creek in 1869, renewed the placer era ... A stampede from Bannock, Montana, August 18, brought a tide of eager prospectors  to the new district, and after some initial disappointment, five or six hundred miners prepared to spend the winter at Leesburg. Five stores, three butcher shops, and a blacksmith shop  already served the new community." 

Leesburg in 1870

"Cabins were also built at Salmon, which originated that fall as a supply center in the valley below. Winter communication from Salmon to Leesburg proved rough: finally an eighteen-mile toll trail, with a twelve-man shoveling crew hired to open the route, offered access by pack train, March 8, 1867. Supplies of bacon had run out for two weeks before a herd of cattle ... relieved Leesburg from potential famine. By the end of April, Leesburg’ population rose to about 2000, a point at which the camp stabilized during the early mining boom ... Leesburg emerged as a sober, industrious camp. By the fourth season of mining there, other excitements had swept away the surplus population, and by 1870 Leesburg had declined to 170 population." Can't you just picture James Moriarty rushing to Leesburg when gold was first found?!? He always seems to be where the action is!

Bringing supplies from Centerville to Placerville

Assistant Marshall George Smith took the U.S. Census for Idaho’s Loon Creek Mining District on August 19, 1870.  He lists 41 year old James Moriarty – he is single and a placer miner. He cannot read or write and is not a citizen of the United States. The Post office is Leesburg. James was living with 4 other Irish placer miners.

Can you read where the residents of Loon Creek Mining District were from? Nova Scotia, Ireland, Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, etc. And can you see some of the occupations besides placer miner? Ranchers, ranch hands, mule packer, blacksmith. And notice that the merchant, mule packer, the blacksmith, and one of the ranchers are the only ones who have any large sums of money. Of the 39 residents listed only 1 is a female and she is “disreputable” – I guess we can figure out what that means. She is on line 25 – she is 42 and from Mexico – she is living with 2 ranchers – one from Pennsylvania and one from Ohio as well as with 3 Mexican men.

Interesting that James Moriarty has no personal estate! I wonder what he does with his money - or has he made any money?

James Moriarty - Quick Trip to British Columbia's Gold Fields

We saw that James Moriarty found his way to Australia's gold rush.  I just found a list of the crew and passengers on the S.S. Columbian with Linden Stewart, Master. They left the port of Suez in Egypt and arrived in Sydney, New South Wales on 16 Dec 1859. Burthen (load) was 2011 tons.

Seaman James Moriarty is listed on line 5. He is 23 years old. He is a coal trimmer. He is from Bangalore which is in India.

I don't know that this is our James Moriarty, but don't you wonder how he went from remote Caherdaniel in County Kerry to Australia where a British penal colony had been used to develop the new continent? I haven't found anything else.

The S.S. Columbian was used to transport troops during the Crimean War. In 1856 it was awarded the Australian mail contract. But in 1857 it entered the Sydney to Suez service - as shown above. 

The coal trimmer would load the coal into the ship. Then he would use a large shovel and a wheelbarrow to keep the coal supplies level to prevent the ship from listing.  He would get the coal to the stokers who shoveled it into the furnaces. The trimmers worked in poorly lit conditions and were exposed to coal dust. The temperature was fierce due to the heat from the boilers. And of course they were poorly paid. Prospecting for gold certainly would be more appealing! 

Bangalore had a British Army garrison. Maybe James Moriarty had joined the British Army and was sent to India? We'll probably never know.

But no matter how he got to Australia, when the placer gold dried up there, James Moriarty headed to the gold fields in British Columbia, where a rush for gold in the Fraser River basin had started in 1858. Again this was placer gold so no expensive equipment was needed. The first Europeans had only arrived in British Columbia in the late 1700s - they were fur traders. There might have been a couple hundred of them when the news about gold leaked out. 30,000 prospectors reached British Columbia by that summer.The gold rush transformed this area. The prospectors made their way up the Fraser River - this was uncharted land and the conditions were challenging. In 1860 gold was also found further inland in Caribou. Unfortunately, when the gold gave out, this newly developed area faced a recession. 

And James Moriarty was on the road again! I wonder if he found much gold in Australia or British Columbia?

Cabin from Pionerville in the Boise Basin

The article from the Idaho Historical Society said that James Moriarty arrived in Placerville in July 1863. Placerville was located in the remote Boise Basin in Idaho Territory. As more and more placer miners moved into the basin, there were skirmishes with the Native Americans - including the Shoshone - living in the area that the miners were now claiming.  

Placerville was established in late 1862 and contained 300 houses by 1863. At that time $18 a day was made by mining. On Granite Creek $10 to $50 a day was made - sometimes even $100-$200 daily were panned out. Placerville, which is a ghost town today, had a population of 5000 in 1863 and was the local supply point for the mining towns around it. So when James Moriarty arrived in July 1863, this new town was already booming. 

Because gold production in the boise Basin lasted for a longer period, Placerville grew into a thriving town. Wilkapedia says that Placerville was "unusual in that it even had a street grid and a town square, known locally as the 'plaza.' Additionally it had an Episcopal church, thirteen saloons, seven restaurants, five butcher shops, five blacksmith shops, as well as hotels, druggists, express agents, bakeries, livery barns, carpenters, sawmills, and – attesting to the presence of women—dressmakers and a millinery shop." Families settled here.

When the placer gold dried up, underground quartz mining became popular but this required money, experience, and complicated machinery. The placer miners drifted off - the population in Placerville was down to 318 in 1870.

So what happened to James Moriarty?

James Moriarty - Prospecting for Gold!

When I read about James Moriarty being the first mayor of Idaho City in Father Edward's letter, I wrote to the Idaho Historical Society asking if they had any information about him. 

On December 19, 1980 they sent me a copy of page 205 of the History of Idaho Territory published by Wallace W. Elliott & Co. in 1884. 

"James Moriarty is the gentlemanly and efficient agent of Wells, Fargo, & Co., in this place, as well as agent of the Utah, Idaho, and Oregon Stage Company. In addition to this business he carries on a thriving trade in clothing, hats, caps, etc. Mr. Moriarty is an upright, esteemed citizen of Idaho, and one of its pioneers.

He was born in Ireland, and in his younger days went to Australia, where he engaged in mining. From there he went to New Zealand, and thence to British Columbia, where he mined with various success. He left British Columbia for this Territory in 1863, arriving in Placerville July 14th. He engaged in mining for a few years, and then moved to Idaho City, where he has since resided. A view of his business place appears in this work."

So James Moriarty started off in Australia!! That was a surprise.

Australia was known to most of the Irish as a British penal colony - where Irish citizens could be transported for petty crimes as well as for political activity. But in 1851 gold was found in Australia - this was close on the heels of the 1849 gold rush in California.  The British penal colony saw an influx of immigrants from Britain and Ireland and then the United States, Germany, and China. 


According to http://www.patricktaylor.com/australian-gold-rush,

"Word spread quickly and within a few days 100 diggers were frantically tunnelling for instant wealth. The road over the Blue Mountains from Sydney became choked with men from all walks of life, carrying tents, blankets, and rudimentary mining equipment hastily bought at inflated prices. By June there were over 2000 people digging at Bathurst, and thousands more were on their way."

How did young James Moriarty in remote Caherdaniel hear about this gold rush? Newspaper? Word of mouth from travelers passing through town? Was there a relative in Australia? What made him head for this distant land? And how did he get there?

The website  http://www.goldrushcolony.com.au/australian-gold-history-culture-info/immigrant-influences-australian-gold-fields/irish-gold-fields  tells us a little bit about the Irish coming to Australia.

"Between 1851 and 1860 roughly 101,540  Irish came to Australia, mainly struck with gold fever. Most of the early gold found was alluvial,  so the fact that the Irish had little to no mining skills, was not a  problem.  Once the  alluvial gold ran out, many of the Irish  worked as unskilled labour for the  reef  mining operators, or went into other  professions available in colonial life. The diggers' needs meant there was a lot of available  and often very profitable work, either working for or becoming  brewers, cartage operators, grocers, publicans  or even policemen, with many women becoming domestic workers, and general labourers. Many of the Irish enjoyed a much higher standard of living than they had left behind in Ireland.

Pan of gold after water washed the sand and other matter away - from www.alaskainpictures.com.

The following website gives us a taste of what life was like in the Australian gold fields much better than I could.

http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/australian-gold-rush-begins:

"Arriving at Melbourne or Geelong, the prospectors walked to the fields, each loaded down like a human mule with a tent, blankets, tools, cooking pots and a supply of flour, tea and sugar. Some of them pushed their belongings in wheelbarrows. The fields were honeycombed with diggings, each with a mound of spoil, and dotted with the diggers’ tents or lean-to huts of poles and bark. Along a rough main track would be shops, grog shanties selling spirits, and amusement halls, built of canvas or calico on a wooden frame. Prices of food and necessaries rose to astonishing heights. At the richest fields there were houses, hotels and dance halls, built of wood. The main recreations were drinking, gambling and dancing. Dance girls were in short supply and hairy diggers in pea jackets and boots, their pipes in their mouths, would dance solemnly together on a floor thick with mud. Stage shows were popular and Lola Montez’s sensuous ‘spider dance’ was a sensation in the goldfields in 1853. Diggers who struck it rich might whoop it up in the bars and theatres of Melbourne, lighting their pipes with five-pound notes and treating everyone to drinks. One man filled a horse-trough with champagne and offered every passer-by a free swig.
Within ten years the population of Australia doubled. The first arrivals were mainly young men in search of a quick fortune, and the diggings were wild and lawless, but the prospectors were followed by business and professional men, traders and skilled craftsmen, who changed the nature of immigration to Australia. They brought with them middle-class standards, and often wives and children. Yet courage, resourcefulness, friendliness, helpfulness and good humour were qualities admired in the goldfields, while Old World social distinctions meant nothing. There was a democracy to the quest for gold which helped to form the Australian spirit."

Edwin Stockqueler, An Australian Gold Diggings, oil on canvas, ca. 1855, National Gallery of Australia

Sounds pretty exciting to me! The Irish used circular pans, a cradle or rocker, or sluice box or trough to wash or separate sand and silt away from the heavier gold deposited nearby the rivers.  Once this surface gold was depleted, mines were opened to obtain gold from quartz - this took financial resources that the Irish did not have. Maybe this was when James Moriarty headed to New Zealand where gold was also found in the early 1850s. But the same thing occurred - the surface gold was depleted quickly by hundreds of prospectors and then mines were opened by mining companies. 

The above picture is of a placer miner using a rocker box which separates material from the stream bed - water washes out the sand and silt while leaving the heavier gold in the box. Picture is from wilkipedia.

So what was next? Stay and settle down in Australia or New Zealand? This was not for our boy! He headed to British Columbia in Canada!!

And now our Post Mistress!

In the above photo, Maura Moriarty in the blue dress, Myra Lyons from Beverly, Massachusetts, Fr. Edward Moriarty, and their cousin who was not named. Taken in Derrynane Hotel in August 1977. Father Moriarty wrote that they had a big party that night with more from Boston.

We have heard about Maura Moriarty several times - I visited her once but I went unprepared - I had no questions ready for her. Maura later gave my letter to Father Moriarty. And Father James Moriarty mentioned Maura singing at the end of Moriarty Reunion in Killarney. 

The following article by Deidre Walsh appeared in the Kerryman, but I don't have a date for it.

"She walks along the road wearing a bright yellow jumper, accompanied by her new dog, Rover.

On seeing the strange car rounding the bend near Caherdaniel Post Office, she immediately presumes it's the reporter who has travelled from Tralee to visit her.

And before the bemused reporter has time to take in events, owner and dog are inside the car, all chat and welcomes and giving directions to her house.

After five minutes in Maura Moriarty's company, it's easy to see why she thoroughly enjoyed her 25 years as the Caherdaniel post mistress. This is a woman who truly loves people,  regardless of their nationality, age, or religious persuasion. 

Maura has just concluded a long and distinguished career with An Post. Already, she's relishing every minute of her retirement, but she's anxious to reminisce on her days behind the counter.

However, her immediate concern is for the stranger in front of her who can't stop coughing.

'You shouldn't be out at all with that cough, let alone driving all the way down here to talk to me,' she scolds.

'Sit down there now and I'll take your coat. You need tea for that cough and I know I have a bit of fruitcake somewhere.'

So motherly is this woman that it's hard to believe she never married and never had any kids of her own. She's the type of person who would instantly adopt you and make you feel like one of the family. 

Two mugs of tea and several slices of fruitcake later, she looks back on her early days in Caherdaniel.

The only girl in the middle of a family of two boys, she originally planned to make a new life for herself in America, but found she couldn't settle there.

'I was in a beauty parlor in Bosie, Idaho when news came in about President Kennedy being shot.  All the hairdressers ran out into the street crying. I reached for my rosary beads straight away to pray for him; he was such a beautiful boy, it was such a pity.'

She found America didn't suit her.

'I found they had everything and they had nothing. Too much of good things doesn't suit me. There isn't a bit of worldliness here in Caherdaniel and people lead simple lives. I found that suited me much better.'

'I joined the post office in Caherdaniel as post mistress in 1968. In those days, you had to run the phones as well but, in the beginning that was easy enough.

'You had to work until ten at night and nobody made phonecalls after that,' she recalls. 'Then the hotel was built in 1969 and they demanded that the phones be available around the clock. That meant I could hardly ever get out of the house because I couldn't leave the switchboard.'

The determined post mistress soon got fed up of the primitive equipment she was forced to work with. Rather than go through the usual channels of writing letters requesting improvements, she decided to go to the very top with her complaint.

'About 11 years ago, Michael Smurfit was visiting the area and I asked him in to watch me for a while: he sat mesmerized for a half an hour watching me trying to cope with the primitive equipment. That was that problem solved,' she laughs.

Maura is fiercely proud of Caherdaniel and though she's traveled around the world, she thinks there is nowhere like her home place.

She walks to the window and points out at the beautiful view of the sea to illustrate her point.

'I'm always boasting about Caherdaniel. The Lord blesses us with great beauty here and it's gradually being discovered. I predicted years ago that this place would become another Devon and Cornwall, a sort of heaven for retired people, and I'm being proved right.'

Maura prides herself in being able to remember the same people coming back year after year. She speaks fluent Irish, reasonably fluent French and has smatterings of Italian and German. 

'It's nice to be able to greet people in their own language and to have a few useful words for when they want to post letters. French people, in particular, really appreciate it when you make the effort.'

'In a place like Caherdaniel, the post office doesn't just provide the postal services; it's like a tourist information office as well, and sometimes an estate agent. I've often had people calling in for advice on whether or not they should buy a property. I usually tell them to sleep on it.'

The tourists, she reckons, are sometimes more appreciative of the beauty of Caherdaniel than the locals. 'I often heard them describe the place as a little piece of heaven. Some of them come here for a holiday and finish up deciding to retire here.'

And speaking of retiring, Maura is looking forward to having more time to herself now that her career in the post office has drawn to a close.

'I'm good with my hands: I love cooking and baking and I do a bit of knitting and sewing as well. And I've been in lots of plays here, we're big into drama.'

Maura is also very musical - at the moment she is teaching herself to play the Yamaha keyboard and she's already an accomplished accordion player, although Rover the dog has been known to howl when she starts practising.

As a farewell, she picks up the accordion and sings a song called 'How can I Forget You.'

'Not you dear; An post,' she laughs mischievously."

Now let's see what brought Maura and Father Edward's uncle James Moriarty to Boise, Idaho.

Father Edward: Our family has martyrs, scholars, and nobility!

"St. John's Presbytery, 
Wingfield Road, 
Trowbridge, Wiltshire
England

20th June 1981

Dear Mary Ellen,
Greetings to you. I hope that you are very well these days.

Thank you very much for your letter of 10th June, with all the news of your intended trip to Ireland in July.  I hope everything goes well with all your plans. I notice you plan to visit many places while you are over. My sister will be very happy for you to pay her a visit. She has the Post Office there in Cahirdaniel. On your way into Cahirciveen, you will pass the home of Helen Sullivan, whose mother was my father's sister - Margaret Moriarty. I mentioned her in my first letter to you.

My sister has been to Boise, Idaho, and she has been twice to Boston. In 1964 she did a 6 month trip from the east coast to the west coast. She then visited another aunt Mary Moriarty who then lived with her married daughter in San Francisco.

I found your letter of 23rd January very interesting, because of the details you got from Boise about James Moriarty, who was my father's uncle. We had heard about him, but only very little. He would have been a first cousin of Myles Moriarty of Loughane.

Now you have enquired about where I was born, etc.  Well here now is all the information I can supply.

My grandfather was Michael Moriarty , brother of James in Boise.
In my reckoning he too would have been a first cousin of Myles.
My grandfather had 11 children, all born in Cahirdaniel, where I too was born and my sister, and my deceased brother Jim.

Here are the names of my grandfather's children.

Patrick - married in Caherdaniel - with three sons - Michael, John, and James.
Myles - emigrated to Boise where he died. The name Myles keeps appearing in the family. not married.
Jim - emigrated to Boise, where he died in 1948. Not married.
Kate - emigrated to Boise, married and became Mrs. Parker. died in Boise.
Mary - emigrated to Boise, married, became Mrs Hoobing, Died in San Francisco in the 60's.
John - my father married in Caherdaniel, and died there in 1957.
Margaret - married in Caherdaniel, died there in Dec. 1980.
Edward - unmarried, lived in Caherdaniel, died there in 1953.
Michael - married in Sneem. Father of Mary and Eileen, Joseph (deceased) Christopher in New Zealand.
Ellen - emigrated to Boise in 1921 (last of the emigrants) died there in 1969.

Well now Mary Ellen what do you think of the above family. My grandmother said that none of them ever gave her any trouble. My grandfather died in 1927. I can just remember him. There are other families of the name in the Caherdaniel area. My aunt on my mother's side was married to another - Michael Moriarty. He worked at one time in Boston with his brother Myles (notice how that name Myles keeps appearing) showing a connection. Myles in America had a son also Myles, who must still be living in the Boston area.

The reason why my five aunts and uncles emigrated to Boise, was I expect because they had an uncle there. I cannot trace any more connections of James. Well I hope all this makes the picture a bit clear for you.

You may find the enclosed newspaper cutting interesting. This holy man was no doubt a kinsman of the family. A Franciscan church now stands in Killarney on the place where he together with his brother-in-law were hanged in 1653. Anybody will point out to you where this church is. So now Mary Ellen you will see that somewhere in your veins is the blood of martyrs, and scholars, and nobility from the far past

You asked me about Eileen Moriarty's address. Here it is - 
Mrs. Fernando Guerrero, 41 Kilvinton Drive, Enfield, Middlesex, England. I have been speaking to her about you. She told me that your grandmother's stepsister, whose name was Ellie used to come to Sneem sometimes to visit her father when he was alive. I do not have Mary Moriarty's address, but she lives quite near Eileen.

It was a pity that when you last visited the new Hotel in Caherdaniel you did not enquire if there were any Moriartys living around. You would I am sure have been told about my sister. She controls all telephone calls to and from the hotel from her exchange office. She is well known throughout the area.

I have just had an interruption. My sister has been on the phone from Ireland tonight; today she was on off shore cruise from Caherciveen to visit the Skelligs, nine miles out. These are small islands with a famous history going back to the 9th century. On the boat with her were four of Tess O'Donoghue's family, one a nun in Los Angeles, another a Columban Father in the Philipine Islands. They told my sister of your intended trip to Ireland.

I must now write to Peggy O' Neill in Brookline. She told me that she spoke to you. Her mother was born behind the hill where your grandmother was born. Peggy gets cross with me because I have not gone back again to Boston, since 1966.

I hope you like the enclosed magazine from Dan Moriarty about all the Moriartys in the US. It will surprise you. It was sent to me last year.

I hope Danno Myles is coming along well, and is in good shape just now. Well I hope you have a good flight, and perhaps if you get to my sister she will put you on the phone to me, for a short chat.

God speed you and may you have a good trip, and may you discover more Moriartys in the homeland. You are returning like the Kennedy to your roots.

Good luck to you and all your family,
E. Moriarty"

I love the reference to the Kennedys!! 

Father Edward was a bit mixed up re Ma's stepsister Ellie who used to visit his uncle Mike Moriarty in Sneem. Ellie, who we know as Nellie Moriarty, was my grandmother's sister - NOT her stepsister. I learned later that this Uncle Mike Moriarty lived in the original Cottages in Sneem. 

"This clip is from The Kerryman (9/1/80) the weekly newspaper of the County Kerry. Castlemaine near Inch to where you will be going when on your visits. This information will add very much to your history of the Moriartys. 

'Denis Sugrue of Milltown sent us an unusual card for Christmas. It was made by himself and contains a picture of the Penal Mass Rock - Poul an Aifrinn - in the wood at Killaclohane. It was there, on the Feast of the Assumption in 1653, that the Prior of the Dominican Monastery in Tralee, Father Thaddeus Moriarty, was captured by Cromwellian soldiers as he celebrated Mass.

He was subsequently held in the dungeon at Ross Castle and was hanged at Martyr's Hill, Killarney.

Father Moriarty was born in Castledrum in the parish of Castlemaine. He has been very much in the minds of the local people since 1971 when Bishop Casey went to Poul an Aifrinn to concelebrate Mass there with some local clergy. Every year since then, the Parish Priest,  Father John Quane, (a Ballybunion man) has celebrated Mass at the rock in the wood.

The chalice used by Father Moriarty on the day he was captured, 327 years ago, is now preserved at Holy Cross Priory in Tralee.

Denis Sugrue tells us - with fervent hope - that there is a belief that Thaddeus Moriarty will be canonized some day.

In fact he was hoping that this would be 'in the not too distant future. 

What a great day it will be for Castlemaine and Kerry when that happens!

We put through an enquiry to the Dominican Priory in Tralee this week to hear if anything is happening  about the canonization of Father Moriarty.'"

In 1653 the English issued a decree from Dublin that banished all priests from Ireland - they had 20 days to present themselves for transportation from the country. Refusal would be considered treason, and death was the penalty. Father Edward's article shows us what happened. As of now in 2013, Father Thaddeus has been beatified by Pope John Paul II.

I vaguely remember speaking to that Peggy O'Neill who lived in Brookline - Father Edward mentioned her in his letter. I left a lot of my family research in our house in Ireland when we moved back to Watertown. Unfortunately, it wasn't there when I returned. So I don't have any more letters from Father Edward. He died on Halloween in 1993.

I love the inscription on his gravestone outside Caherdaniel Church where he is buried near the famine priest, Father O'Connell. 

"I'd like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days."

Father Edward has mentioned his sister Maura of the Post Office several times.  I never did visit her that summer or any other time I was in Ireland - now of course, I am sorry that I didn't.  I have one quick article about her before we start prospecting.

The Cahirdaniel Moriartys

We have learned that Michael Moriarty of Coad married Gobnet Sweeney in 1850. They had a daughter Mary whom we may have found near Loughane. They also had a son who became the Schoolmaster in Inch. We have learned a good deal about his family.

But I want to take a quick detour to another more distant branch of our family.

I had learned from my O'Sullivan cousins in Loughane that there was a cousin Mary/Maura Moriarty running the Cahirdaniel Post Office who probably knew something about the Loughane Moriartys. I did stop in to see her on one of my trips, but she was busy and I was unprepared – I had no questions ready. I later wrote to her as well. Imagine how surprised I was to get this letter a year later.

"St. John's Presbytery

Wingfield Road

Trowbridge, Wiltshire

England

                                                                                                                                                                                                             24th Nov. 1980

"Dear Mary Manning,

Let me introduce myself to you. I am a priest, and my name is Father Edward Moriarty. In May of this year, I was visiting my sister, Mary Moriarty, who is postmistress in Cahirdaniel,  Co. Kerry in Ireland. One day she handed me an American letter which she had received from you. The letter was dated 24 November, just one year ago. She said to me, 'perhaps when you have time, you could reply to that letter, I am so busy.' I have your letter here before me now.

I was very interested in your letter, as well do I know the story of the drowning of your great grandfather Myles Moriarty of Loughane in Kenmare Bay in 1894. I heard of this from my father John Moriarty who was related to Myles, and of course his brother James who was schoolmaster in Inch. I fear that I cannot just tell you the degree of the relationship. I remember many years ago James Moriarty  of Inch calling specially to see my father. On that day his two sons,  Fr. Myles Moriarty later a priest in Scotland,  and Fr. John Moriarty, later a priest, in St. Joseph, Missouri, were with him. They would be the brothers of Nuala and Tess Moriarty.

I have another cousin, Helen O'Sulivan living quite near the town of Cahirciveen. She has five children. Her mother was Margaret Moriarty, who was a sister of my father, and she would be another family connection. I have two other first cousins here in London, Mary Moriarty and Eileen Moriarty. They are the daughters of my uncle Michael Moriarty. They were born and grew up in Sneem. I am surprised to know that you have been in Sneem three times. It is quite possible that the O'Sullivans did not know of all the connections on the Moriarty side. Some Irish people are not always well versed in relationships. But you are evidently very keen about the Irish connections on the Moriarty side, and that is why I am giving you this information. I do know that the Boston Irish love to learn about their Irish connections. The Moriartys are an old Kerry family. Our forebears have lived in Co. Kerry for more than 1,000 years, so you see how deep the roots go. In ancient times the castle of the Moriarty Clan was at Castledrum not too far from Inch. In 1641 they lost all their lands and property, and like many other Irish families of that time became impoverished. In olden times the family was known as O'Moriarty.

There have been two bishops of Kerry of the name Moriarty, Bishop Dennis Moriarty, and Bishop David Moriarty who died in 1877. He was Kerry's most famous bishop, and was a man of tremendous learning and scholarship. He attended the first Vatican Council in 1870. The present Director General of Irish Radio and Television is Patrick Joseph Moriarty, who was born west of Inch, and one of the big Irish sports commentators every week is Michael Moriarty, also born in Co. Kerry. Well now you know something of the Moriartys of Co. Kerry from whom your great grandfather Myles Moriarty sprung from. So you can tell all your family this great story. 

I was in Boston in 1966 visiting many cousins mostly on my mother's side. My sister whom you wrote to spent the Christmas season in Boston in 1977. She was also in California in 1964, where there are more Moriarty connections. On our side there are also Moriarty connections in Boise, Idaho. James Moriarty was the first Mayor of Idaho City in its early days as a mining centre in the last century. He was my father's uncle.

I work here as a priest in England, but I go to Ireland twice each year. I love Kerry, and Kenmare Bay since I was a boy. The scenery there is the most beautiful in Ireland.

I hope you like your new president, and that he does good for America, and brings much wanted employment, as I know that there are many out of work just now. 

With all good wishes for a happy Christmas,
Yours sincerely,
E. Moriarty
Reverend Edward Moriarty

P.S. There are still many families of the name Moriarty in South Kerry but I am afraid it would take much time to write about all of them." 

Father Edward talks about the uprising of 1641 which was put down by the English who then confiscated Irish lands. Then Cromwell came, and the Irish he did not slaughter, he forced west to the worst land in the country. Land was wrenched from the hands of the Irish and given to the British.

We met Bishop of Kerry, David Moriarty, whom Father Edward just spoke about, when he blessed that foundation stone of the new Sneem Catholic Church in 1863 - remember the Earl of Dunraven donated money and the landlord, Bland, donated the land.

And the new president that Father Edward refers to was Ronald Reagan.

I received this St. Patrick's Day card in 1981. 

The enclosed card was "Don't Quit " - 

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high, 

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As everyone of us sometimes learns, 

And many a failure turns about 

When he might have won had he stuck it  out;

Don't give up though the pace seems slow --

You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out --

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you can never tell just how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--

It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Inside the card Father Edward wrote:

"10th March 1981

Thank you for all your letters and interesting correspondence.

I will be writing to you later answering some of your questions but firstly I have to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on the 17th. I hope young Myles is doing well. What will Watertown be like on St. Patrick's Day?

I had an uncle on my mother's side - Daniel Shea. He died in Watertown in 1934 - more later.

Wishing you all the top of the morning for the 17th. Good luck and may St. Patrick be with you,

E. Moriarty"

"Young Myles" is my son Dan - Daniel Myles. I called him Daniel after Daniel O'Connell. The Myles was after my great grandfather - Myles Moriarty - whom we will hear more about later.

Father Edward gave us interesting information about a branch of our family that we had never heard about from Ma. My mother, father and I couldn't wait to hear what else Father Edward had to say!