The Schoolmaster - his grandson's first letter arrives!

So we saw that I wrote to Dan Moriarty, editor of The Moriarty Clan newsletter, and he put me in touch with Reverend James F. Moriarty. The following is Father Jim's reply to my letter.

"April 20, 1982

Dear Mary,

You hit it right on the target. We certainly are related! I was delighted to hear from you because I have not adequately identified the exact site of my grandfather's birthplace. In 1958, I did the Ring of Kerry with his wife --my grandmother -- and while driving through Loughane, she pointed out a road and said that James Moriarty's birthplace was down that road. That was as close as we got to it.

Let me fill in the blanks. My grandfather James was born in Loughane, Sneem. He graduated from Trinity College and became a school teacher. He was offered the opportunity of starting a school near Inch. The name of the schoool is Killeenach which was built in 1880. The building still stands, although is is now used as a community center. It is three miles east of the Inch post office. He established his home in Inch and married the daughter of the farmer next door. My grandmother's name was Ellen Fitzgerald. They had, I believe, twelve children. Two are priests -- Msgr. John Moriarty who died two years ago in St. Joseph, Missouri, and Canon Myles Moriarty who is more than 70 years of age, residing in a small parish in Ayershire, Scotland. Other children, Tess O'Donohue and Nuala Aylward, you have meet.

There was a child who became a school teacher in Donegal. His name was Mikey Moriarty. At least four of the daughters never married. Two died and are buried in Inch. Two became nurses and were in England during World War II. They were the ones who eventually inherited the post office and eventually sold it to Kathleen Casey whom you met. These two single ladies, Mary and Eilee, both retired to Waterford to be near Nuala Aylward. Eileen was struck by a car while crossing the street at age 83 and died several years ago. Mary is still in a nursing home and is in her high 80s.
My dad, Thomas Cornelius, came to Chicago and married Bridget Flaherty from Ballyferriter on the Dingle Peninsula. I am the oldest of eight children. In addition, they raised two other children of my dad's sister Dora after she died. My father died suddenly about three years ago at age 79. My youngest brother Myles died suddenly about two years ago at age 34. The rest of us are all strong and healthy.

I knew Jim Moriarty, son of your great grandfather, very well. As you mentioned, after the accident in the Kenmare river, my grandfather brought James to his home and raised him with his children. He joined the R.I.C. When he arrived in Chicago, he worked for the Illinois Central and became baggage master at their main station in Chicago. He was married and had no children and lived in an affluent neighborhood on the southeast side of Chicago. He and his wife were very, very religious people. Among my childhood memories is this tall, thin, moustached distinguished gentleman whose name was the same as mine. In fact, he died just after addressing a letter to one of his sisters. My father had me write a letter and enclose it in the addressed envelope.

One of my dad's sisters, Katherine, lives in Chicago. She is 89 years old. She had five children, the last of whom was named Myles. Isn't it strange how that name comes up again and again? In the three cases I've mentioned, Myles was always the youngest child. We have a family joke that says Moriarty is Gaelic for "stop, no more."

I have been to Ireland fourteen times and know Inch very well. One of my great joys is to sit in Foley's Pub on a quiet evening. After the locals figure out who I am, the old men drift by to tell me that my grandfather taught them their letters. the chapel in Inch has a bronze plaque in the sanctuary with a dedication to James Moriarty, the schoolmaster.

Dan was a little wrong on the relationship between Nuala Aylward and myself. She is my aunt -- my father's sister. As a single lady, she lived in Chicago. I was at her wedding. Her husband was very involved in the rebellion in Ireland. After the marriage, they returned to Ireland where he was a Senator and a very prominent businessman for Clover Meat. In fact, Nuala still resides in the executive's estate owned by the company.

I have given you some quick information. I am wondering if you could respond to me and give me exact directions on how I might locate the birthplace of my grandfather and your great grandfather. Give me road directions. Give me names of people, local residents. I can do the rest. It might be fun to meet you this summer in Ireland. As you see from the enclosed brochure, we are leaving on July 9. There will be a flight from New York and one from Chicago. Both planes will land in Shannon about sixty minutes apart.

Let's hear from you.

With every best wish, I am

Sincerely yours,
Father James F. Moriarty"

Father Moriarty was living at 528 Lathrop, River Forest, Il 60305. He enclosed the following brochure with his letter. 

Father Moriarty mentions Foley's Pub. Do you remember that Mike Shea of Loughane had sent my father there when he was trying to find out about my mother's uncle, Jim Moriarty? We got directions there for the Inch Post Office where we met Kathleen Casey.

When I read Father Moriarty's letter, I wondered how James Moriarty ever managed to go to Trinity College. How did a poor Catholic from Loughane fit into a Protestant College? And what was Trinity like? Years later I read in the Kerryman newspaper about a Reid Entrance Exhibition Fund started in the 1880s with the intention of allowing Kerry students of limited means access to the higher education. So I guess James Moriarty must have had some kind of scholarship.

The website -  http://www.tcd.ie/about/history/  - tells us that "Trinity was founded just before the Tudor monarchy had completed the task of extending its authority over the whole of Ireland. The idea of an Irish university had been in the air for some time, and in 1592 a small group of Dublin citizens obtained a charter from Queen Elizabeth incorporating Trinity College junta  (adjacent to or near) Dublin. The Corporation of Dublin granted to the new foundation the lands and dilapidated buildings of the monastery of All Hallows, lying about a quarter of a mile south-east of the city walls ... During the next fifty years the community increased. Endowments, including considerable landed estates, were secured, new fellowships were founded, the books which formed the beginning of the great library, were acquired, a curriculum was devised and statutes were framed ... During the 18th century, Trinity was the university of the Protestant Ascendancy. Parliament, meeting on the other side of College Green, viewed it benevolently and made generous grants for building."

The medical school started in 1711 - among its teachers in more recent times were Graves and Stokes - both of whom had family ties to Sneem. The first Catholics were admitted in 1793 - women were finally admitted in 1904. 

We saw that Theo Stoakley, who wrote the book on Sneem, obtained his degree from Trinity. And when I was researching this, Mary Robinson, former Irish president and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was Chancellor.  

It is hard for me to imagine that back in the 1880s, one of my relatives was attending Trinity! It was great to get so much new information about the Moriartys! My mother, father, and I were so excited!

It was two and a half months before the next letter from Father Moriarty arrived as we will see.