John McCarthy came there from Ballyhooly in North Cork to Newtown, Rosscarbery in 1903. John was a teacher and had the honour of teaching the famous Tom Barry, leader of the West Cork forces during the Black and Tan period.
My grandfather, John McCarthy, was a storybook grandfather – he was perfect. He was small in stature but full of fun and stories. He dressed up as Santa at Christmas time, he took me to my first circus, read me my first fairy stories and was never cross or critical. The circus was Duffy’s and was held in the big field behind Uncle Jim’s house in Rosscarbery. I can still remember laughing at the clowns who were running around in huge blue bloomers – all simple fun and oh how we loved it!; My grandfather as much as myself. I can remember just the two of us going the first time. He also took me to the Big Fair in Ross, the two of us strolling through the horses and the stalls. I felt like a princess. He showed me everything and we had great fun. He usually bought a present of some little thing for my grandmother, often a big packet of sewing needles in the shape of a basket of flowers. He told me how much he loved my grandmother and how beautiful she was. He did not have too many of the world’s riches but he was rich in everything else. One particular Christmas when my sister, Margaret, and I were young we came to Ross with our parents for the Christmas holidays. Granda dressed up as Santa in his red costume and white beard and we were all sitting around the fire in the parlour on Christmas Eve when we heard the bell ringing outside the side door of the house. Uncle Jim opened the door and in came Santa calling Ho! Ho! Ho! and with a large sack of toys. I can remember being a little bit scared but loved the lovely tin toy chair-o-plane that he gave me. It was a wind-up toy and beautiful. My grandfather retired from teaching the year I was born. Oliver Goldsmith’s poem the Village Schoolmaster “And still they gazed, and still their wonder grew, that one small head could carry all he knew” could have been written about him.
One day he went to Cork on the bus returning home with a red covered second-hand copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. I loved those stories especially the way he told them. My favourite, however, was an old story from Irish folklore called Hudden and Dudden and Daniel O’Leary. When he read this story to us I could hear the cow's hide being beaten and the coins falling on the ground. We also loved listening to stories about his own children, especially stories about our father. He often told the story of Jack riding his pony in the front door and out the side door and of another time during the troubles, when the Black and Tans used to raid the house looking for guns, telling the boys what to say if they were asked were there any guns in the house? Jack piped up, “I will not tell them that your gun is in the table”. There was a special table with a false drawer under it where the gun was hidden which was still in the hall in Ross when we were children.
My grandfather retired from teaching the year I was born but continued to work in his orchard garden. We children loved that orchard. We had birthday parties under the apple trees and often helped him to pick apples and gooseberries. He had a special robin, Billy, who used to land on his hat in the garden.
Mr grandfather led a very full life before he retired, teaching, in the army during the 'troubles', training young boys in Gaelic games and much more but to us his grandchildren, he was above all else a very special grandfather.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with John by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with John:
McCarthy-3670 and McCarthy-2315 appear to represent the same person because: We've got to merge these two profiles to create one for John James McCarthy. Thanks, Kathleen!
One day he went to Cork on the bus returning home with a red covered second-hand copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. I loved those stories especially the way he told them. My favourite, however, was an old story from Irish folklore called Hudden and Dudden and Daniel O’Leary. When he read this story to us I could hear the cow's hide being beaten and the coins falling on the ground. We also loved listening to stories about his own children, especially stories about our father. He often told the story of Jack riding his pony in the front door and out the side door and of another time during the troubles, when the Black and Tans used to raid the house looking for guns, telling the boys what to say if they were asked were there any guns in the house? Jack piped up, “I will not tell them that your gun is in the table”. There was a special table with a false drawer under it where the gun was hidden which was still in the hall in Ross when we were children. My grandfather retired from teaching the year I was born but continued to work in his orchard garden. We children loved that orchard. We had birthday parties under the apple trees and often helped him to pick apples and gooseberries. He had a special robin, Billy, who used to land on his hat in the garden. Mr grandfather led a very full life before he retired, teaching, in the army during the 'troubles', training young boys in Gaelic games and much more but to us his grandchildren, he was above all else a very special grandfather.