The nightmare at Greenore, part 6 ....

There are trolls out there who insist that Egan John Eoin O'Sullivan O'Rahilly who was born in 1904 at Hove (Brighton), England, bought the old railway terminal at Greenore.

He did not.

But the troll approach is to speak and write in generalities, but I am communicating in 'legal-speak' where "you know what I mean", doesn't cut it.

The plain fact of the matter is that Ronan's dad did not buy the old Greenore railway station; nor the old Greenore railway hotel.

It's amazing that I know anything about Ronan's dad, because so little has been written about him. Come to that; it is also amazing that so little has been written about the early life of his son Ronan O'Rahilly.

In fact, the entire O'Rahilly family is cloaked in obscurity!

But, if you pick up one of the 'know-it-all' anorak books, well, they will tell you everything; just like the trolls who buy and read them. The only problem is that what they tell you is rubbish!

Some are complaining that this entire recital is taking too long and it is too meticulous in its detail, but that is because it is as accurate as it is possible to be, at the moment. In fact, if more details come to light, they will be included in this recital which will eventually find its way into part of the text within a book format.

Before we delve into what the son of Egan John Eoin O'Sullivan O'Rahilly is alleged to have done, I am going to concentrate on what his father actually did.

We begin with this composite map:

First of all let's talk about the lineage of England-born Aodogán and his Pennysvalia-born wife Marion. Their offspring, in order of birth, are:

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Nuala O'Rahilly
Eoin O'Rahilly
Ronan O’Rahilly
Roisín O'Rahilly
Iseult O'Rahilly

Now a lot of what we have come to know about Ronan's grandfather has come from the pen of his own father. Snippets have been vacuumed up to compile a book, or two. Others have then incorporated that work and amplified it.

But what do some of those closest to 'The O'Rahilly' have to say to others about their kinfolk? Well here is one example, and we will comment on its accuracy or otherwise, a little later on:

On May 23, 2017, this item appeared online at http://lattongaa.com/visit-ruth-sweetman/ It is an article about a Ms Ruth Sweetman in which she spoke to an assembled gathering about her kin folk. Her own 'claim to fame' arises from her relationship to the man who has become known as 'The O'Rahilly', whose proper name is Michael Joseph Rahilly. [See the genealogy listing in yesterday's Blog.]

(Ms Sweetman’s grandfather is) 'The O’Rahilly' (and he) had 4 younger siblings: Aodogán, Niall, Maolmuire and Ruairí. 'The O’Rahilly', had lived in America just after his marriage and again a few years later, and the family finally returned to live in Ireland in 1909. On his return to Ireland he was motivated by the wish to ensure a sound education for his sons, and she knows that her father .... qualified as an accountant and later still as a barrister in the mid-1930s.

She praises her Uncle Aodogán’s book 'Winding the Clock: O’Rahilly and the 1916 Rising', and she thinks that he was most like his father in his innovative nature. As a very young man he started his own tile manufacturing company, Weatherwell Ltd, and later he formed Greenore Ferry Services, and he ran these successful businesses for many years. He was also involved in the initiation of Bord na Móna. Ruth feels that the tragedy of her grandfather was that he realised that the Rising could not succeed. His famous remark: 'I’ve helped to wind the clock, I’ve come to hear it strike' is recalled ...."

Key to understanding what happened at Greenore, is an understanding of what 'Weatherwell Ltd' was all about, and that is what we will take a closer look at in tomorrow's Blog.