My Irish Women

Two people who had a profound influence

Michael Wright UK

Mary Madden Hutchinson
Courtesy: Joan Comer Durgin
Bridget Martin
Courtesy: Joan Comer Durgin
Independent Newspaper Friday 12 September 1913
Independent Photographer
Extract from 1911 Census record showing error in recording Bridget Martin's name as Hutchinson
The 1928 Champions of Massachusetts Team. Front Row shows Paddy 3rd and Michael Hutchinson 5th from left with their friend Frank Turner between them.
Courtesy: Joanie Durgin
Slattery Headstone in Abbey Cemetery
Michael Wright, holding the two precious photographs.
Courtesy: Joanie Comer Durgin, USA

I remember 1995 when I sat with my mother Mary Wright née Slattery, from Abbey, Co Galway, looking at photographs of our ancestors – my great grandmother, Mary Madden Hutchinson and my great great grandmother Bridget Martin, photos that had been sent to us from Boston USA by my mother’s cousin Joan Hutchinson Comer.  Later we were to see both of these ladies listed in the 1901 Irish Census, residents of house No 7 in Abbeyville, Abbey, Co Galway.  This information, researched for us by the East Galway Family History Society in Woodford, brought with it further questions.  Bridget Martin – she was always known by her maiden name – was listed as being a nurse who spoke Irish and English but could not read or write!  She was living with her daughter, Mary Madden Hutchinson and Mary’s husband John, whose family lived in Duniry.

We also wondered who in the family in Ireland would have had a camera prior to Bridget Martin’s death in 1914 when photography would not have been widely available.  How did the family come to have the only known photograph of the very elderly Bridget Martin in her best bonnet and shawl?  This was revealed in 2018 during an internet search of the Irish Independent archives, when I discovered an article in the 12 September 1913 edition, headlined, ‘a Galway Centenarian’ and I was so surprised to see the exact same photograph with this headline, as had been sent from Boston to my mother.  As I read the Independent article, my joy of finding the origin of the only known photograph of our very elderly ancestor, in her best bonnet and shawl left me perplexed as it said she was Bridget Hutchinson.  After discussion with Abbey Heritage, it was established how easily this mistake could have happened – the Independent photographer, visiting the Hutchinson household, mistakenly recorded Bridget’s name as Hutchinson.  We also recalled a similar mistake made two years previously, by the British recorder of the 1911 census, where the Hutchinson household is recorded as No 4 Abbeyville and where an amendment of Bridget’s surname from Hutchinson to Martin can be seen on the original form.

Some years later the Hutchinson family moved to a newly-built cottage in Abbey Village and the local blacksmith, Tim Kelly, who had set up his forge in Abbey Village, moved into the old Hutchinson home, No 4 Abbeyville.

Bridget Martin’s photograph may have been brought to America by Mary’s sons, Michael and Patrick, as beloved memories when they emigrated.  In America, Patrick, or Paddy as he was then known, was deeply homesick for his Irish family and we know that, but for his hurling team friend, Frank Turner, refusing to give him the return ship’s fare to Ireland, the path of the Boston Hutchinson story would have been different. During a visit to my cousin in Boston, I have looked closely at the two different and expensive wooden frames around the photographs of Bridget Martin and Mary Madden Hutchinson.  These precious, beautifully framed pictures of our Irish women ancestors remain treasured now by my cousin, Joanie Durgin, in Boston.  In that period too, the early 1920s, my paternal grandmother, Mary McDonagh, was emigrating from Shrule on the Galway/Mayo border to Fulham, London.

In the 1911 Census, Bridget’s daughter, Mary Hutchinson née Madden is listed as charwoman ie someone trusted to clean houses, so financially contributing to their family household budget and their seven children – one of whom is my grandmother Bridget and another Joanie’s grandfather Patrick.  Mary also looked after her mother in the Hutchinson home until her death.  Bridget’s death certificate record shows that Mary was present at her mother’s death and records Bridget’s occupation as dressmaker, confirmed in the Independent article.  This shows that she was obviously an all-round homemaker and despite her advancing years was able to use her dressmaking skills not just to supplement the family income but also to provide this service for other families in the community.  The midwife role for Abbey and District was taken up by her daughter Mary – locally known as Grandmother Hutchinson – and then by her daughter, Bridget Slattery, my grandmother.  Her daughters, my mother Mary and sisters Bridie and Josie, all came to Cambridge UK for nurse training and to that destined vocation.

In 2016, I was in Abbey again fulfilling my mother’s wish for her to be buried in the Slattery grave in her home village in Ireland.  Some days later I attended the Feast of the Assumption Mass in Kilnalahan cemetery and was fortunate to meet many people who knew my mother very well.  One elderly lady spoke to me about my mother’s nursing career in the UK and then said “she must have inherited her vocation from your great ancestor who was the ‘midwife’ for the local area”.  Subsequently the penny dropped and I recalled the 1901 census recording my great great grandmother, Bridget Martin, as nurse.  On further discussion I realised that it was not unusual at that time for a local woman to act as midwife for neighbouring women when they went into labour and I wondered how many children Bridget Martin had helped to deliver during her long lifetime.

It is certainly thought provoking for me to reflect on these women ancestors, Irish women who lived through the great famine and the subsequent land war in Ireland – my great great grandmother who never had a vote and my great grandmother who would have been among the many in the population to receive the franchise for the first time in the Irish Republic.  They are surely representative of all those other wonderful Irish women, throughout Ireland, before the occupation ‘midwife’ was used by census takers, who assisted other women across the country during the birth of their babies, brought into the world by the light of oil lamps 170 years ago.  They were followed by the many, many, young dedicated Irish women, a century later, who came to Britain and began a nursing vocation within the newly formed NHS and who nursed me in hospital as a child after my tonsils operation!

Bridget Martin was 101 when she died on 4thJanuary 1914, at a time when the average life expectancy was 60.  So it is not surprising that the story of the Galway centenarian reached the national press and through folklore, was still remembered by that local elderly lady in Abbey who spoke to me in 2016 and inspired me to write this article for the Abbey Heritage website.

This page was added on 04/03/2020.

Comments about this page

  • Margaret Elwood – do you know what years your brother would have played on the Boston Galway team? I will see if I can find any photos. You might also want to check in with the Irish Cultural Center of Boston (which I believe is technically in Canton, MA)
    Kerry

    By Kerry White (26/08/2021)
  • mybrother mike egan of clareebridge living in boston from 1947 died 1976 at only 51 years old .mike captained the boston galway team . i had a picture of that team but have lost it . i woould love to get a picture if anybody or club had it . .i think an egan from castelgar was also in it . as i was only 2 years old when he left for america it would mean so much to me . mike was caRETAKER OF HOLYHOOD CEMETERY ALL HIS LIFE AND HIS SON BILLY AS WELL UNTIL HE DIED AT 59 . HE RAISED BIG FAMILY AND NEVER GOT TO COME HOME BUT SOME OF HIS CHILDREN HAVE ..DEARLY HOP YOU CAN HELP WITH PICTURE .THANK YOU

    By margaret elwood NEE EGAN (13/08/2021)
  • I stand corrected on the date of death of Tommy Shields. For many years I labored to do better research on him under the misinformation from the site of the current “Irish Hour” program which stated that Tommy hosted the show until his death in 1974, yet I was never able to find corresponding death records to reconcile that fact. Just yesterday I finally found a memorial / headstone for Tommy in Mount Benedict Cemetery in Boston, where his parents are also buried. As it turns out Tommy Shields died in 1979, and retired from the radio program in 1975 I have attached a link to that photo. It has a nice inscription about keeping the Irish heritage alive in the United States. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/207219641/thomas-p.-shields#view-photo=199588386

    By Kerry White (31/01/2021)
  • 12 Mar 1932

    Hibernian Hall, Roxbury Mass.

    The friends and followers of the Galway Hurling Club turned out in large numbers on last Thursday evening, when they were the recipients of the splendid solid gold medals emblematic of the Bay State champoinship. Egan Clancy, editor, Boston Irish News, made the presentation. John J. Kelly, newly elected president of the Gaelic Athletic Association, and Eugene Sheehan, I. R. A. Veterans, paid fitting tribute to “Red” Flaherty and his men. Thomas Shields, president, Galway Men’s Association, was an affable and efficient master of ceremonies. The medals were the cynosure of all eyes and the proud wearers were accorded a thunderous applause by the large gathering in attendance. A most enjoyable dance was conducted preceding and following the presentation in which the hundreds present participated, evidently enjoyed themselves to their hearts content. The affair was typically Irish, practically every affiliated club being represented.

    (Excerpted from the Advocate – an Irish American newspaper published in New York at the time)

    By Kerry White (06/08/2020)
  • Since posting my previous comment, I shared a copy of the article with my mother. She is the niece of Tommy Shields, and she confirmed that he was the manager of the Galway hurling club of Boston. She also mentioned that in addition to being a huge supporter of the club, he was also very fond of the ponies. She thought that his affinity for watching horse racing also was rooted in his time living in Ireland as a boy / teen.

    By Kerry White (05/08/2020)
  • Some fascinating information contained on these pages. I read with interest the piece about the hurling team from Boston. I believe that is my great Uncle (Tommy Shields) referenced in the article. It makes me curious as well about the reference to your cousin in the US with the Comer name. Tom Shields and his siblings were the grandchildren of John Walsh and Mary Comer Walsh of Cloughbrack. These Shields children were all born in Boston, but two of them (Thomas and Katherine) were sent to live with the Walsh relatives following the death of their mother Nora Walsh. Katherine was my grandmother, and evidently she did not enjoy her time living in Ireland as much as Tommy. When they sis return to Boston several years later, my grandmother refused to ever return to Ireland. Her brother on the other hand thoroughly embraced his Irish roots and enjoyed all things Irish. In addition to escorting tours to Ireland in the summers, he also hosted the immensely popular “Irish Hour” radio broadcast on the East Coast. Tommy died in 1974.

    By Kerry White (23/07/2020)

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.