The first records
of the Eustace family in County Fermanagh are in Griffith's Valuation of
Ireland (1848-1864). Griffith's lists three household heads with the
Eustace surname:
-
James
Eustace, Rossdanean Townland, Kinawley Parish;
-
Margaret
Eustace, Drumroosk Townland, Kinawley Parish;
-
Samuel
Eustace, Drumroosk Townland, Kinawley Parish.
Andrew Eustace,
son of Alexander and Eliza (Byrne) Eustace was born Oct. 31, 1866 in
Crookradina, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin and grew up on a small farm at
Drumroosk, Kinawley, County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. (It is highly
likely that Margaret Eustace and Samuel Eustace listed above were
closely relatived to Andrew Eustace). As a young man, Andrew joined the
Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and was assigned to various places,
mostly in the Irish Midlands.
One of his first assignments was in the
Ballinalee/Clonbroney area of County Longford. There he met and in 1888,
married a local girl named Catherine Curran. Andrew continued to serve
with the RIC and as a result he and Catherine moved frequently. Andrew
served in Drumsna, Carrigallen and Johnston’s Bridge all located in
County Leitrim.
Andrew and Catherine Eustace were the
parents of ten children of which seven reached maturity; Patrick,
Elizabeth (Lilly), Andrew, Dominic, John (Jack), Louis and Fred. Gretta,
Josie and Robert died as an infants. Catherine died of tuberculosis Feb. 7,
1909 at Drumsna, leaving Andrew with seven small children. He remarried,
but his second wife soon left Andrew and the children, emigrated to
America and was not heard from again.
Life was difficult for Andrew and the
children. The younger children who were quite small when their mother
died, felt the loss most severely. Andrew moved his family to Dublin
where he took a job as a policeman. The family lived at 67 Caledon
Street, then considered a "poor" area. Later he became a night watchman
in the Amiens Street section of Dublin. Andrew Eustace died April 19,
1915, and the children were "farmed out" to various relatives. Louis and
Fred went to stay with their maternal grandmother in Clonbroney, and
Andrew Jr. lived in Kinawley with his Aunt Isabel "Bel" Eustace who was
married to Daniel Breen.
Andrew Eustace Sr. was buried in
Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. There is no headstone, but cemetery records
verify his burial in Lot P.G. 25.
The following is a brief summary of
what is known about members of the Andrew and Catherine Eustace family:
·
Elizabeth "Lily" Eustace was
born June 2, 1890 at Dredagh, Carrigallen; She married twice; first to
James Smith of Clonbroney at Longford on January 24, 1913. (She was
living in Drumsna, County Leitrim at the time.) By the first marriage
she had Frank, John James and Michael. Following the death of her
husband, she married again also to a man named Smith (Smyth) and had
Thomas, Kathleen (Hickey), Eugene (RIP), William and Teresa (Hunzcak) of
Adelaide, Australia.
·
Patrick Joseph Eustace, who was born in Carrigallen, Co. Leitrim,
Dec. 31,1891. The baptism at the local Catholic church was performed by
Father John Fitzpatrick. Patrick’s sponsors were Michael Connolly and
Joan Connolly, relatives through the Curran family. Patrick spent much
of his childhood in the Drumsna/Annaduff area of County Leitrim. The
house where the family lived still stands in Drumsna and Patrick often
pointed out the home to his children.
Patrick succeeded in getting a
scholarship to De La Salle College, a teacher training school in
Waterford City. Upon graduation in 1912, he applied for and was offered
a teaching post in the village of Newtowncashel, County Longford. The
School Principal was Joseph McNally. Patrick taught and later served as
School Principal for 45 years until retirement in 1959.
In July 1926, Patrick married Brigid,
daughter of Joseph McNally, the school principal. Brigid and Patrick
honeymooned in the Isle of Man and moved into the Teacher’s Residence,
Newtowncashel, where they raised a family of seven children. In 1954,
Patrick and Bridget left their home in Newtowncashel and moved to
Longford Town where they lived at 50 Teffia Park. Patrick died May 3,
1974. Bridget died September 30, 1980. Both are buried in Ballymacormack
Cemetery near Longford town.
·
Andrew Eustace Jr. was born
June 19, 1897 and grew up at Drumsna, Co. Leitrim. He joined the Royal
Irish Constabulary about January 1920. Following a six month training
program, he was sent to Newtown Cunningham, County Donegal where he
stayed briefly before being transferred to Longford. Andrew married
twice; first to Ann Carney (Kearney) of Fintona, County Tyrone. She died
in childbirth at Passage East, County Waterford, after giving birth to
eight children; Paddy who died in London in 2006, Andrew (Drew),
Kathleen (RIP), Noel, Philomena, Louis, Dominick and Bernadettte. He
married again but there were no children from the second marriage.
Andrew and his second wife retired in Douglas, Isle of Man.
Andrew (Drew) Eustace, son of Andrew
Jr. now lives on Templeville Drive in Dublin. Another son of Andrew and
Ann Carney, Dominick, is married to Hilary and they have three children.
They live in Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, UK.
·
John or "Jack" Eustace was
born June 10, 1895 at Knock Adrinan and seems to have been the "rebel"
in the family. He joined the Palestine Police for awhile. He visited his
brother Patrick at Newtowncashel during the 1920-30’s and was last known
to be living on Constance Street in London.
·
Dominic Eustace was born
October 5, 1898 at Johnston Bridge, Drumsna, County Leitrim, Ireland. As
a young man, he became involved with the Old Irish Republican Army (IRA)
and was a member of "K" Company, 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade. He died
unmarried in New York City in 1966. He was captured during the early
1920’s and served about two years in the Curragh prison camp. One of his
fellow prisoners was the late Irish President Sean T. O’Kelly. While in
prison, Dominic Eustace participated in a 40-day hunger strike. When he
was released from prison in 1924, he went to Brooklyn, New York where he
died in 1966. Dominic Eustace did not marry.
·
Louis Eustace, born April
27, 1902 at Johnston’s Bridge, moved to England and owned a thriving
antique and jewelry business on Church Street, Kensington. Notables such
as film stars Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner and others came
to buy. Louis was unmarried and died March 21, 1984 in Hammersmith
(London).
·
James Frederick "Fred" Eustace
was born Feb. 16, 1905 at Drumsna, County Leitrim. He emigrated to
London during the 1920s, where he lived most of his adult life. In the
early 1930’s, he married Marie Ryan, daughter of F. J. Ryan, a native of
Mallow, County Cork. They had four daughters; Margaret (Peg), married to
Phil Allen, now living in Twickenham, Middlesex, England; Marie
Elizabeth "Mola" or "Mollie" married to Leo Duggan and now living in
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire; Fredericka Susan "Freda", living in New
York state; and Joan Frances "Johanna", who married Charles B. Hill in
1979. Now widowed, Johanna is a school teacher living in Tillson, New
York. James Frederick "Fred" Eustace died in London on Aug. 16, 1971 at
the age of 66.
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