Maureen HUSSEY [Parents] was born 5 Jul 1924 in East Acton, London. She died 19 Mar 1995 in Mount Merrion, Dublin and was buried in Shanganagh Cemetery, Dublin. Maureen married Cormac GORDON on 4 Sep 1951 in Dundrum, Dublin.

Maureen grew up in Barnes in London. She attended school at a small French convent in Barnes and later went to the Sacred Heart Convent in Hammersmith.

By the time Maureen left school (during World War II), she had decided she wanted to be a nurse. After six months of basic training in a hospital in the Hammersmith area, she was assigned to the Navy and spent most, if not all, of her service-time at a naval base in Sherborne in Dorset.

Maureen's parents, having an Irish background, felt that their children would have a much better life if they were to settle in Ireland, so in 1947 Maureen and her sisters moved to Dublin. Within a short time, Cormac Gordon, a friend of hers whom she had first met in London when he worked in the Irish Passport Office, was back in Dublin, working in the Department of Foreign Affairs. Maureen and Cormac would later marry.

After her arrival in Dublin, Maureen began training as a medical laboratory assistant, and after qualifying, worked mainly in Trinity College and also in Dr. Steeven's Hospital. When her mother became ill, Maureen resigned from her job to care for her.

In her later years, Maureen became an active member of the Labour Party; she also devoted more time to writing, a passion of hers since childhood. After her death, family members published two books of her work: a collection of poetry, "The Tug of the Undertow", and a collection of prose and poetry, "Into the Wind".

Richard (Dick) O'CONNOR [Parents] "Dick" was born 23 May 1919 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. He died 9 Aug 1985 in Tralee, Co. Kerry and was buried 12 Aug 1985 in New Rath Cemetery, Tralee, Co. Kerry. Dick married Sheila TREACY on 11 Sep 1958 in Limerick.

Dick was also known as Richie. After leaving school he went to Maynooth college to study for the priesthood. He never completed his religious studies but left after three years with a B.A. degree. After spending a couple of years working on the family farm he went to U.C.D. and graduated in 1949 with an Agricultural Science degree. He later became an advisor with the Department of Agriculture in Co. Limerick and later in Tralee, Co. Kerry.

Stephen HUSSEY [Parents] was born 25 Jul 1895 in Hammersmith, London. He died 7 Sep 1978 in Dublin and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. Stephen married Mary RYAN on 22 Aug 1922 in Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow.

Stephen grew up in Hammersmith, Kensington, Chelsea and Brook Green. Money was short, and he had to leave school at the age of 11 or 12 to help financially in the upbringing of his younger brothers and sisters.

In 1914, when World War I started, Stephen joined the Royal Engineers Regiment of the British Army - the "sappers", as they were known - and was sent to France. Sappers endured the most atrocious conditions and were always the last to leave an area when a retreat was taking place, blowing up roads and bridges behind them so as to slow up pursuit by enemy forces. During one such British evacuation, Stephen carried a wounded man to safety on his back, under gunfire, and was awarded the Military Medal.

After the war, Stephen was trained as a builder by his grandfather, Thomas Hussey, and his uncle, Will Hussey. Stephen later formed a partnership with a Mr. Worman (Worman and Hussey), eventually setting up his own building company, Hussey Bros. (Builders) Ltd., on Queensway, Bayswater, London, with his brothers, Martin and Austin. The company was mostly involved in the building of churches, schools and convents, and for many years, Hussey Bros. had a maintenance contract with Westminster Cathedral. During World War II, once the German air assault on London started, the brothers worked mostly under official government contract on emergency repair and safety building work. After the war, the company built several modern churches.

In 1947, Stephen and his wife, Mary, decided that their daughters would be better off living in Ireland, and so the girls moved to Dublin, the plan being that Stephen and Mary would initially remain in London and eventually retire to Dublin. Stephen and Mary sold their home in Barnes, moved into a flat over the premises of Hussey Bros. in Bayswater, and  purchased a house in Roebuck Road in Clonskeagh for their daughters. However on an extended visit to the girls' new home, Mary became ill and died in Dublin.

After Mary's death, Stephen visited Dublin more and more frequently. In 1957, with Maureen married, and Una and Brigie about to be married, he decided to sell the house on Roebuck Road, and a smaller house on Cedarmount Road in Mount Merrion was purchased. In the 1960s Stephen retired to Dublin, and for the remainder of his life he lived with Sheila at 14 Cedarmount Road.

Mary RYAN [Parents] was born 24 Mar 1898 in Garryhill, Co. Carlow and was christened 27 Mar 1898 in Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow. She died 18 Nov 1950 in Dublin and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. Mary married Stephen HUSSEY on 22 Aug 1922 in Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow.

Sponsors at Mary's christening were Gerald Kearney and Clare O'Reilly.

Mary was educated at the Loreto Secondary School on Dublin's St. Stephen's Green. After leaving school, Mary went to England and joined the Post Office Section of the British Civil Service in the Brook Green / Kensington area of London.

Mary and her London-born future husband, Stephen Hussey, met at a local dance in west London. In 1921, about a year before their marriage, Stephen visited Ireland for the first time when Mary brought him to meet her family in Co. Carlow. After they married, Mary and Stephen lived in East Acton, and later at 12 Ullswater Road (which Stephen designed and built) in Barnes in London.

Around 1948, after her eldest three daughters had moved to Ireland, Mary brought Brigie, the youngest, to Dublin to join her sisters. Mary's plan was to help her daughters settle in to their new home in Clonskeagh after which she would return to London. However while in Ireland her health began to deteriorate and it was discovered she had cancer. She never made it back to London, and died in Dublin aged only 52.

John (Jack Bill) O'CONNOR [Parents] "Jack Bill" was born 23 May 1876 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. He died 8 Nov 1959 in prob. Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry and was buried in Old Cemetery, Knockanure, Co. Kerry. Jack Bill married Catherine (Babe) SHANAHAN on 4 Mar 1916 in Newtownsandes (Moyvane), Co. Kerry.

Jack Bill ran the O'Connor family farm.

Catherine (Babe) SHANAHAN [Parents] "Babe" was born 14 Nov 1891 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. She died 24 Jan 1986 in Co. Kerry and was buried in Old Cemetery, Knockanure, Co. Kerry. Babe married John (Jack Bill) O'CONNOR on 4 Mar 1916 in Newtownsandes (Moyvane), Co. Kerry.

Babe was only about 13 when her mother died. She helped raise her younger siblings.

Thomas Joseph TREACY [Parents] was born 13 Apr 1881 in Murgasty, Co. Tipperary and was christened about 13 Apr 1881 in Tipperary. He died 13 Apr 1969 in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary and was buried in New Cemetery, Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary. Thomas married Ellen O'SULLIVAN on 12 Jan 1915 in Church of S.S. Peter And Paul, Cork.

Thomas' godmother was Sarah Carew, probably his aunt. There was no other sponsor listed on the baptismal record.

Thomas began his career working at a gasworks in Tipperary town; according to the 1911 census he was a "gas account collector". Prior to his marriage in 1915, he became manager of the gasworks in Carrick-on-Suir (located on the Quay). Eventually he bought the Carrick gasworks.

Ellen O'SULLIVAN [Parents] was born 24 Oct 1887 in Glynn, Mourneabbey, Co. Cork and was christened 25 Oct 1887 in Analeentha Church, Mourneabbey, Co. Cork. She died 18 Sep 1972 in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary and was buried in New Cemetery, Carrick-on-Suir. Ellen married Thomas Joseph TREACY on 12 Jan 1915 in Church of S.S. Peter And Paul, Cork.

According to information from the Mallow Heritage Centre, the sponsors at Ellen's baptism were Cornelius Sweeney and Julia Curtin. It's believed Cornelius Sweeney was a neighbour of the Sullivans and it's thought he was married to one of Caheraveelane Sullivans who were related to Ellen. A granddaughter of Cornelius would later marry Ellen's brother Denis. Julia Curtin, the second sponsor, had been a neighbour of the Sullivans when they lived in Ballyknockane. Julia would later marry Sean O'Looney; they emigrated to the United States and had 12 children. Valuable information on the Sullivan family, for which I'm very grateful, came in November 2003 from 96-year-old Patrick "Pats" Curtin, Julia's nephew, who lived in Ballyknockane with one of his daughters. Sadly Pats died in September 2004.

Ellen met Thomas Treacy in Tipperary town where they were both working. It's believed Ellen was a parlour-maid there and it's known that Thomas worked at the gasworks in the town.

According to Ellen's marriage certificate, her residence at the time was Lavitt's Quay, Cork but it's not known how she came to live in Cork. It's thought she might have had some domestic science training - perhaps she took this training in Cork?