| John: | What was your schooling like? |
| Mum: |
We were all sent to Anamar Public Elementary School. There’s a photo of it in your Source Files. We lived through “Troubles” times too. I was born in 1921 but soon learned of The Treaty and partition. We were outraged that there was a border, but worse, we were trapped on the wrong side of it. |
| John: | How do you mean? |
| Mum: |
The Monaghan border was walking distance away. We felt Irish, not British. Those so-close neighbours were ‘free’ and we were not. There was anger, hurt, rage and resistance in the air. Most people we knew were anti-Treaty and chose to send their children to schools where teachers were thought to be of like mind. So Anamar rather than Cullyhanna National School. It was my father’s decision. Within the schools there was no politics. But we had a longer walk to school. However we had a marvellous education from a wonderful couple, man and wife. She took Primary 1-3 in the smaller room and he as Headmaster took Primary 4-7 in the larger classroom. Most of the year we walked barefoot along the stony road the 2-3 miles to school. Our older brothers Jamesy and Petie had the devilment in them and, when neighbours weren't around they'd play tricks on them. Occasionally they'd leave a farmer's gate open so his livestock would escape and wander the lanes. Jemmy Woods was the usual victim. One day he got his own back. He hid behind a gate pillar till we appeared then jumped out, wielding his hefty blackthorn stick in the air and roaring “McKeowns! Louts, all of ye! On your knees and say the rosary for your sins!” You didn’t defy your elders in those times. Anyway he might report us to our parents who would have worse punishment ready for us. Down we dropped all six of us. “You!” he roared, poking me with his stick. You start. What’s your name?” “Mary Ellen. ‘Thou oh Lord will reopen our lips and our tongues will announce Thy praise’. “You want to say the whole thing, with all the trimmings, girl? Wait. On second thoughts, Go ahead.” He had suddenly thought it best to extend the punishment so we’d be late for school and punished again by the Master. “Please Mr Woods? Asked Petie. Can I take my jacket off and kneel on it? The stones are cutting into my knees.” You may NOT! Did Our Lord gern like you at the Crucifixion? We tried to get off with just the one mystery but he was having none of it. We were detained after school for late-coming, and again at home, for the same thing. From that day onward we took to the fields to avoid passing Woods’ property. Come winter we wore boots or wellies. Except for the eldest boy (Jamesy) and girl (Delia) these were always hand-me-downs and didn’t fit properly. Since everyone was as poor as us, we never complained. We knew no different. There was a good roadside “well” on our route. It must have had the best clear spring water for there was often lines of people, armed with buckets and milk churns to fill. It was probably also a ‘holy well’ (sometimes called a Sunday’s Well - the chosen day for pilgrimage). Anyway pilgrims would toss a coin into it for luck, then say a prayer. There was a tramp-like character who frequented the well. “Good morning, Mr Quinn”, I ventured. “May I help you fill your pail?” Startled and amazed to be addressed so politely, he jumped back, twiddling his handlebar moustache. “In unnera God, child,” he roared. “What’s that you're saying?” This source of free wealth bothered me in my sleep. One night, still in my night attire but armed with the fire tongs (to retrieve the coins from deep water) I ventured there to make my fortune. Finished, I said a prayer for penance for sinning. Easy! “Sorry John, what did you ask me? |
| John: |
About your schooling. |
| Mum: |
The Conlons, man and wife were great teachers. I gave you a photo of the old building. Two classrooms, the smaller one (her’s) for Primary 1-3 and the bigger one was his, where he taught Primary 4-7. For all that they were great, they were a bit shy on sex education. We six were like peas in a pod and that would often be remarked upon. “Because you live together and are fed on the same milk!” So ended our sex education. Apart from that they were peerless! |
| John: |
What about AV material, desks, heating, books etc |
| Mum (laughing): |
There was no money for any of that, What is AV stuff anyway? We had to bring buckets of turf, coal, wood, blocks and kindling to light the fire. And our own lunch (our ‘piece’). There might be the odd text book to share among 5-6 pupils and they were passed down through the years. |
| John: | What was taught? |
| Mum: |
We started and ended with our prayers, in Irish and in English. Nature Study was a favourite, for it got us outside to find plant and animal samples. We had workers - farmers, postmen, road and service workers, blacksmiths (Dad, usually) in to teach us of their life. It was a practical education. Domestic Science meant learning how to run a home, manage a budget, sew, knit, darn. We had geography and history. Music. Singing. Poetry, my favourite. Real science too. Which is more than you got at the Abbey Grammar, John. |
| John: | Can you recite a poem you learned there sixty years ago? |
| Mum: |
Recites “A Noble Boy”. (Find it here) |
The youngest child of Jack and Mary was named Rita. In adult life she married Eddie Flynn of Forkhill. They settled in Forkhill where they had seven children. All but one of these is married now with children of their own. Most still live in or near Forkhill. Matt still lives at home with his mother in Slieve Brack Park. Next door lives Marie, the only girl of the family. A few hundred yards away lives Teddy. Jim lives a couple of miles away in Mullaghbawn. Anthony, Sean and Eugene all live within ten miles. Eddie, their father, is buried a few miles away across the border, in Kilcurry cemetery.
| Anne: | left home after a disagreement, - a rift which was never healed. I believe she is married, without issue, to a man named Mulholland. She has no contact now with her mother or her siblings. |
| Michael: | married Sinead. They live on the Armagh Road in Newry. He drives an Ulsterbus. They have one son Michéal and one daughter Anita. |
| Noleen: | married Mickey Doran and bore him five children. This marriage is now ended. Noleen has since settled with another man, by whom she has borne a sixth child. |
My mother is next (in ascending order of age, as I have here chosen) of the McKeown’s (i.e. Jack’s and Mary’s) children. As this is the longest though I will leave it to last.
Delia is the oldest of the McKeown girls. She was also the first to marry. Her groom was Hughie Laverty of Oram, Castleblaney, where they settled after their marriage. (Delia still lives there today, with her daughter Margaret Mary). They married in 1940. Six years ago they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Hughie didn’t live long thereafter.
| John James Laverty | was reared in Sheetrim by his grandparents. He trained as a psychiatric nurse when he met and married his first wife, by whom he had one daughter. He is now married to Helen, by whom he has a two-year-old daughter Annie. They live in England |
| Harry | remains single. He used to be a busker in England. I don’t know whether or not he still is. |
| Margaret Mary | married a Greek Cypriot named Columbanio, by whom she had three children, one boy and two girls. They are separated. She is rearing the children with her mum at Oram. |
| Delia | married Liam McCooey. They have three children, two boys and a girl. |
| Kassy | as a teenager married a youth by the name of Magennis. They lived in Craigavon. She bore him two daughters. They were both too young for the responsibilities of marriage. It didn’t last. Now, preferring to be known as Kay, she is married to John Barry. He once worked in the psychiatry branch of medicine. Now retired from that, he works as a supermarket manager in Dungannon. My sister Bernadette knows them and meets them from time to time. |
| Peter McKeown | married Maisie Woods and settled to his small farm at Dungooley, County Louth. They had one son, Peader and one daughter Mary. Their mother died some twenty years ago. Both Peader and Mary waited past the first flush of youth to marry. |
| Peader McKeown | married Kathleen, who like him, has unshakeable devotion to Padre Pio. They named their only child after him. This Peader lives now in Newry and is my friend and fellow genealogist More of this later! |
| Mary McKeown | married Philip Cusack. After one stillbirth, she gave birth to twins, a boy Peter and a girl Mairaid, born in 1992. |
| James McKeown | was the first born of the marriage of Jack and Mary McKeown. He married Rosaleen Keenan of Tullinavall, Cullyhanna in 1945. They had three children. |
| John | married Philomena Hackin. They live now at “The Rocks”, over the brae from Rose at Sheetrim. John knocked down and rebuilt his home a decade ago. He is soon to do the same for his mother’s house. The couple had three children, two boys and a girl. Gary is training as an accountant in Newry. Cathal works in Dundalk and helps on the farm. Their daughter is called Shauna. |
| Rose | is a district nurse. She is married to Hugh Carragher. They have no children. |
| Ann | is also a district nurse. She is married to Kieran Murray. They have three children, Loretta, Killian and Blathín. |