Boyle not Boil

After long and arduous studies in the arcane genre of genealogy I believe I have firmly nutted my/our relationship to Mary Boyle. On the 26th. of September 1846 John and Mary Boyle (nee Meehan) begat Edward Boyle. Almost twelve years later on the 25th. of March 1858 they begat Michael Boyle. That's not to say they did nothing in between. All told between 1842 and 1858 they managed to begat eight times but Edward at #3 and the last in line Michael are the ones important to our story.

Edward married Ellen McArthey at Jamberoo in 1869 and between then and 1875 when at 25, Ellen died, begat five children the second of which, Emily, would marry John O'Keefe and become my grandmother.

Michael married Johannah Dooley in 1888 at St Peters in Kiama and went on to begat thirteen times the tenth time producing Jerome who with the help of his wife Nancy Walsh begat our Mary Boyle who therefore shares my father's generation though some 42 years younger.

On reflection it seems that this may have been explained to me as a youth and possibly again thereafter. Maybe I felt resentment that my peer could be of my father's generation with a generational advantage. Perhaps the youth unconsciously consciously (youth is capable of trickier stuff) suppressed this memory.

In case some of you might feel envy at the smallness of Edward's family of five in comparison to his brother Michel's Rugby team it's worth noting that subsequent to Ellen's untimely death he married in Bangalow one Lucy Akers who begat another four to bring the total to nine. Four short of thirteen indeed but surely enough for some sort of team.

These four half brothers to my grandmother Emily may be source to the light that shone from a grand homestead that stood on a hill behind its windbreak forest above Bangalow that I visited twice as a child.

Continuing in this line of personal reminiscence it seems odd to me in light that my dad and Mary had grandfathers who were brothers, that I recall only once visiting Mary's home, Marlevale, just a mile away and passed on every trip to school, church or town. Of course I was very young and may have forgotten other visits but I recall the one distinctly as I there learned the game of Euchre and recall that as we children were retiring ghost stories were told.

It was Michael who brought the Boyles to Goolmangar in 1908 establishing with such a brood a large presence that influenced the re-naming of the road many years later. It's my understanding that the O'Keefe presence there was established by my great grandfather, the father of the John O'Keefe who married Emily Boyle. The very fact of my dad's birth date in 1900, at Goolmangar, sets the O'Keefe presence much earlier. Mmm! that helps to make up for the generational advantage.

Yuck! Just woke from a well deserved afternoon nap, topped up my red and in the first sip almost swallowed that blowie I'd noticed lurking on the cushion before the nap. Obviously drank himself to death when he noticed the weather today signal the seasons end for his kind. Where do you suppose blowies go in winter? It's hard to imagine them all flying north, especially with all those ducks and other birds who would relish an in air snack.

Gotta hand it to those channel nine marketing folk don't you? Whoever came up with the idea of bludgeoning Carl Williams to death with the handle bars of an exercise bike in maximum security will hopefully live to get a Logie. Having the only witness on the phone giving a blow by blow recorded account was the coup de grace. I can't wait to see the episode. It's a wonder that it hasn't leaked to U Tube yet.

Without grumbling about poisonously loose teeth, ulcerated colons or the ever rising cost of living there seems little else to say this week than how good is this and hope to meet you all here again soon.

I'll see if I've got some snaps.


Just can't decide






When all else fails: the mirror image

Lovely