Different Language

(This post is part of a genealogy 'challenge' by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, to write about one's family history: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. This week's challenge is "Different Language.")

My dad's mother, Bridget ("Bea") Harrington [McLaughlin], was born and raised in Ireland, in Glann in the Parish of Kilmovee, County Mayo. She was the third of seven children. Below is a map of Ireland, with County Mayo (from Wikimedia Commons) in green. My Grandma Bea lived in the eastern part of the County, not near the Atlantic Ocean. Her family were farmers.

She was born on March 1, 1902. Here's the family house. This picture of the home was taken some time in the late 1930s. It had TWO rooms. In the 1901 cenus, before she was born, her maternal grandmother is recorded as the head of family there. Her parents lived there as well as her two oldest siblings; Grandma Bea wasn't born yet. There were some other outbuildings on the farm, too. However, by the 1911 census....

...ten people were living there! Her parents, six children, AND both grandmothers, Mary Harrington, age 73, and Mary McGuinn, age 78. Can you imagine? Ten people in a two room house? Oh my! Here's a layout map of the house and grounds of the Harrington property from one of my Harrington cousins in the UK.

Below are pictures of my Grandma Bea's mother, Hanoria (McGuinn) Harrington, taken in the late 1930s.

On both the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses, the grandmothers are recorded as speaking Irish and English. Also my grandmother's father, Patrick Harrington is recorded that way, too. Grandma Bea said the only thing she really remembered in Irish was, "Shut the door." I thought that was such a funny thing to remember! But old people get chilly easily, and I guess with six children in the house, they were frequently having to tell the children to keep the door shut! My Grandma must have heard it so much it's what she remembered in her older years. 

Here are images of the family the 1901 and 1911 censuses, from census.nationalarchives.ie

More to come about Grandma at a future date...