Mayo Alive - 12 November 1996

Chicago - The Mayo Abbey Connection

by
Kate Boyle, Chicago, USA

If you stand in the doorway of the old Church in Mayo Abbey overlooking the cemetery, immediately to your left is the Boyle Family plot. Buried in this plot are my great grandparents, John Boyle and Bridget (Hurst) Boyle, my great great grandparents Michael and Sabina (Canavan) Boyle and my great great great grandfather Richard Boyle. The old flag on Richard Boyle's grave reads:

'Sacred to the memory of Richard Boyle who departed this life December 1834, aged 48 years. This stone was erected by order of his son, Rev John Boyle. May he rest in peace.'

Rev Boyle is, himself, buried in the churchyard on Inisboffin where he died in 1872. I always thought it very interesting that Mayo Abbey was founded by the Saxon monks from Inisboffin and that 1200 years later a native son of Mayo Abbey returned to Inisboffin as the parish priest. The year 1872 was, also, the year of my grandfather John's birth. He was the third child in a family of 11 children. And as his older brother, Michael, and his sisters, Mary and Sabina, before him; he left Mayo Abbey and set off for Chicago. The year was 1889 and he was 17 years old. He was not to set eyes again on his beloved Mayo until 50 years later in 1939. Shortly after grandfather left, he was followed by his brothers Thomas and Patrick. Of the eleven children in the Boyle Family, six of them were destined to emigrate to Chicago. The cottage where these eleven Boyle children were raised still exists today as part of the farm were my great uncle Anthony and cousin John Eddy lived these years past.

Grandpa John 'Sonny' eventually settled on a career with the Gas Company in Chicago in May of 1899. It was a job he was to retain for forty years. His younger brother, Patrick, found employment with the Gas Company also. It became not only a family tradition, with the sons and nephews and in-laws finding work with the Gas Company, but a county tradition as well. At one time, if you were a Mayo man in Chicago, you worked for the Gas Company, just as the Kerrymen were Stationary Engineers.

As the years passed, the Boyles married. And, of course, they married one of their own. Michael married Marie O'Malley of Pontoon. Michael's sister, Sabina Boyle, married Marie O'Malley's brother, Michael. My grandfather, John, married Nell Stenson of Swinford. Thomas Boyle's wife was Mary Prendergast of Mayo Abbey. Patrick married Catherine Morley of Bacon.

Over the years, other Mayo Abbey cousins moved to Chicago, Edward Hurst and Tom Barnacle. Ed Hurst worked for the Gas Company, Tom Barnacle owned a pub on the West side of Chicago. My grandfather's first cousin, Patrick Francis Boyle, 'the Bluff' joined the Boyles in Chicago. And more continued to come including Peter and Thomas Horkan. The last to emigrate was my cousin George Boyle, brother of Michael of Currykirwan, in 1949.

The years passed and the families grew. Michael Boyle, my grandfather's older brother, died young after suffering an injury on the job. He left three young children. His widow, Marie, worked in the Cook County building as a cleaning woman to feed her family. His son, John S Boyle, grew up to become the Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. My grandfather had eight children, two of them Edward and Thomas, became priests in Chicago. Father Ed was ordained before World War II, and served as an Army Chaplain during the War. He was awarded the Silver Cross for heroism during the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne. My grandfather's younger brother, Patrick, had two daughters, Mary and Helen. Helen's son, Patrick Pagni, has his doctorate in Thermonuclear Dynamics and is a Nuclear Physics Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Grandpa's brother, Tom, became a policeman when he settled in Chicago. His son, Richard, and grandson Tom followed in his footsteps. Richard retired as a Detective from the Chicago Police Department in 1980. His cousin, Walter (Pug), son of 'the Bluff' retired from Chicago Police Department as a Lieutenant recently.

As can be imagined, the Boyles of Mayo Abbey have numerous children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren. For the past 20 years, the Boyles of Mayo gather for a family picnic in the Chicago area during the summer. This past summer the family met for the annual picnic on Sunday, July 27th . The family gathering started with Mass said by Father Tom Boyle. The Mass was dedicated to the memory of our family members no longer with us. And it was a celebration of the family as the first generation, Uncle Pat, Aunt Mary and Uncle Joe, did the readings. About fifteen of the great grandchildren read the intentions for the Mass. There were over 50 Boyles who came early to the picnic to attend the family Mass. The family members that lived further afield continued to arrive as the afternoon wore on. By the time the children's games began in earnest, there were over 100 Boyles present. There are always games organized for the children. Running games, water balloon toss, and the egg toss are the most popular. And at every picnic, there is always a number of people around the family tree sheet that lists the genealogy of the Boyles for eight generations. The children usually make a game of finding their name on the family tree chart, while I am engaged in adding more names for the children that have been born during the previous year. As it was my cousin Dick's 80th birthday, his children all gathered to celebrate. His son, Richard, arrived from Florida with his wife and two children. His daughter, Mary Lou, drove in from New Jersey for the happy event. The Talty-Boyle cousins arrived with three of their cousins from County Clare. Numerous members of George Boyle's family from Currykirwan have attended past picnics on their visits. Patsy (Boyle) Forde of Currandulla, Galway has attended with her husband Sonny and son Gearoid. Annette Foley , daughter of Nancy (Boyle) Foley of Enniscorthy attended one of the early picnics in 1978. Annette Prendergast, daughter of Agnes (Boyle) Prendergast of Barnacarrol and Annette Timony , daughter of Josie (Boyle) Timony of Mulligar, attended one summer. Two years ago, Patrick Timony, brother of Annette, attended the picnic with his friend, Louie Kiernan.

Throughout the years the Boyle's connection with Mayo has remained strong. All of my uncles have visited Mayo Abbey; my uncle, Father Ed Boyle, immediately after World War II, still in his uniform. Father Ed returned many times, with his other brothers, James, George Patrick, Joe, Father Tom and John. Patrick's daughters, Helen Pagni and Mary Gilligan have returned to Mayo for visits. The O'Malley cousins have visited on numerous occasions. George Boyle's granddaughter, Lisa, was fortunate enough last year to have spent the major portion of her summer on her Uncle Michael's farm in Currykirwan. I, myself, have made over a dozen visits to Mayo Abbey over the past twenty years. I have had the pleasure of spending many hours with my cousin John Eddy and my cousin Michael's family. I have been fortunate in that I have had the pleasure of getting to know the boreens of Mayo Abbey, visiting Moore Hall with Alice Hughes and spending a memorable afternoon visiting with my cousin Julia (Devers) Rogers of Facefield. Perhaps, my favorite memory of Mayo Abbey would be the afternoon I spent with Canon McDermott in the rectory at Mayo Abbey pouring over old parish records. I still wonder in amazement at his generous nature. I had my hand in my pocket to give him ten pounds for the Church and he beat me to it, and tried to give me five pounds for my pocket, 'because young people never have enough money with them when they are traveling.' I didn't realize how tired my attire must have looked from three weeks of traveling the country. I only wish that my daughter, Clare, could have met Canon McDermott when we were in Mayo Abbey last year.

Yes, the Boyle connection with Mayo Abbey is still very strong. Indeed whenever we meet someone new at an Irish gathering in Chicago, we are proud to tell them that we are not Boyles from Donegal, but rather Mayo Abbey.

 

Towns and villages in County Mayo, Ireland