The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

Ann O’ Reilly from
Ballymachugh.
Kitty’s brother, Charles, her
only sibling, took over the farm
after his parents died. By that
time, his sister, Kitty, had married
Philip Callan, who lived just
down the lane. Charles became
known in Coolkill as Charley the
Cooper, a cooper being one who
crafts all sorts of things for farm
use out of wood. Luke writes
fondly about his Uncle Charley.
He and his wife, Rose, had two
children that are known about,
Philip and Ann.
Philip took over the Reilly
home after his father died. He
became known as Phil the
Cooper. In 1919, Jack Callan
stayed with his cousin Phil. He
found Phil’s mother Rose still
living, old but alert. Jack commented
on how old looking Phil
was relative to his young wife and
noted that they had three young
children.
When Jim Lynch visited
Coolkill in 1982, Mattie Lynch
directed his attention to a Reilly
tombstone. Jim took a photo of
it but had no idea of who they
were. He later realized that it
was Phil’s gravesite. From the
inscription can be found that his
wife’s name was Margaret, 13
years younger than Phil, and they
had two children buried with
them, Patrick and Annie. A third
child, Rose, is still living. She is
the Rose Coleman of
Ballyjamesduff with whom Jim
Lynch has corresponded.
Luke, in his book, writes
about visiting his cousin Phil in
1932. He notes that Phil was
now farming and no longer in
the cooper business, metal
replacing wood as the choice for
containers and that butter churning
at home was history. Luke
also notes that Phil was raising
three “motherless” children.
The tombstone data calculates
that Phil’s wife, Margaret,
died at age 36, leaving him with
three children, ages 9, 6 and 1.
Phil the Cooper died in 1961 at
age 85 years. Two of their
children are buried with them,
Patrick and Annie. Their third
child is Rose Reilly Coleman.
She was 81 years old in the year
2000, still living in
Ballyjamesduff, near Coolkill.
Their daughter Annie died
quite young in 1955 at age 31.
Her son, James, joined her in
1960 at age four. It’s not known
whether she she had other
children, nor do we know the
name of her husband. He is not
cited on the tombstone. Her
brother, Patrick, is cited as
having died in 1968 at age 52.
His name is cited without any
indication that he had his own
family. He may never have
married.
Phil the Cooper’s only
sibling was Ann Reilly who was
born about 1875. She married
the boy next door on the Lynch
farm, James Lynch. She and
James lived on the farm and ran
the farm after the death of
James’ parents. They had 8
children there, 2 daughters and 6
sons. Their two daughters died at
a young age, Annie in 1922 and
Rose in 1926.
Jim Lynch says he had the
privilege of meeting all of their
sons, Charlie and Jimmy Lynch
in Rhode Island and John,
Mattie, Paddy and Michael and
their families in Coolkill in 1982.
Paddy and his wife, Rose, were
running the Lynch farm when
Jim Lynch was there in 1982. All
of the Lynch brothers had
passed on by the end of the
1980s. Paddy and Rose’s son
Jimmy Lynch, with his family, is
now in charge.
The ancestral Reilly name
may have been lost through
marriages over the generations.
Unlike Irish traditions of the old
days, the Reillys did not have big
families, two or three children at
most, and most of the children
were female. What few Reilly
males were produced didn’t
marry, died early in life or their
child-bearing wives died early in
life. There is no known Reilly
surname today which has carried
through our direct Reilly lineage.
More research on this may prove
differently.
There is a Reilly bloodline
through other surnames created
by marriage. The Lynch family
of the Coolkill area is the most
prominent and, also, the family
of Rose Reilly Coleman. Added
research on this may identify
other family lines living today
that relate to our Reilly ancestral
name. All of the Lynch brothers
had passed on by the end of the
1980s, but many of their children
and grandchildren still live
in the area.
~ 23 ~
The Callans and McClarys
It is sad, for having stayed
on in Coolkill, they were the last
ones living who could recall the
family farm as it was before the
British destroyed it in the 1920s.