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This letter was transcribed by Wendy Jack and footnoted by Sharon Oddie Brown. December 30, 2003
10th  Augt 1940.
Killineer,
Drohega,
Co. Louth.

Telephone: Drohega 163

Dear Mrs. Wright [1] ,

            Although we have never met yet I feel I must write to you direct to thank you for the information you sent through David Gilmore [2] . It seems to fill in what I was lacking, there is a difference in James Gilmore’s [3] year of birth  You have it as 1772 whereas on the Tombstone in Castletown Graveyard [4] it is died 1863 aged 80, but so many old people do not often admit to their true age, again his wife predeceased him by 35 years so that his children may not have known what he really was. We always understood that his father died when he was young & that he was brought up in Drohega by a female relative called Schoales [5] which family held a position of importance there in the 18th Century when several were Mayors or Sheriffs of the Borough. I have given Davey Gilmore, for you, the extracts from D'Altons [6] History of Drohega. Could you kindly tell me where Alex. Gilmore [7] lived & whether he held land. Do you know of the Gilmore Coat of Arms. If you ever trace the Christian names of his father & mother as well as her maiden name I should be also interested  The tradition in our family was that the Gilmores came from the Isle of Skye which they owned having been dispossessed by the Clans of McLeod & McLean & I understand this is borne out in history. They were also, we understood, Cousins of the MacNeills [8] of Mount Pleasant, Ravensdale, Dundalk.

            Again my very best thanks for all the trouble you have taken in helping to complete the blanks in the family history.

                        Yours Sincerely

                                    James M Carroll [9]



[1] Mary Wright née Menary 1872-1946, daughter of Mary Jackson & William Menary
[2] probably the David Gilmore who d.1959 – husband of  Elsie Muriel Coulter and son of  Eliezer Gilmore & Sarah Jackson
[3] James Gilmore who married Jane Sibthorpe - no connection that I know of yet.
[4] Castletown Graveyard
[5] The Schoals family is new to me. A George Schoales was Alderman of Drogheda in the 1700s.
[6] John D’Alton 1792-1867 The History of Drogheda with Its Environs.
[7] Alexander Gilmore 1735-1773 husband of  Elizabeth Birch had a son also called Alexander Gilmore who was was an officer in the East India Co. who fought at Seringapatam.
[8] McNeill connection unknown that far back.
[9] James M. CARROLL, eldest son of Vincent S. CARROLL The CARROLL family owned a large tobacco enterprise in Dundalk (amongst other things). James became Chairman in 1901 and held the position for 50 years until he died in 1962.

 

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