McCarthy is an Irish name; it’s from the Cork and Tipperary area I believe. My McCarthy’s left Ireland in the in the late 1870’s and went to Burnley in the early 1880’s. I will share a trivial family story with you, although it is not proven so it could be just a story.
My Gt. Grandma Margaret Ann McCarthy came from a very Irish Catholic family, and it turns out she had a child out of wedlock in 1907. The birth certificate does not mention the father’s name, but the same year Margaret married my Gt. Granddad Jeremiah Woodvine, a protestant. Margaret and Jeremiah had five children, two boys and three girls, although I hear the marriage was not a happy one.
During the war Jeremiah Woodvine was a soldier with the East Lancashire Regiment, but I am told he went missing, and hid in the closet when some soldiers were looking for him – not a great soldier by the sounds of it. After WW1 the family story says Jeremiah joined the Irish Constabulary, also known as the Black and Tan, and was sent to Dublin to deal with the Irish problems. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the first Bloody Sunday that took place 21 November, 1920 in Dublin, if not, 14 civilians were killed when British Forces (Black and Tan) opened fire on a Gaelic football match.
Because Jeremiah was in the Black and Tan, his wife Margaret Ann was forever known as Maggie Tan, and because her Protestant husband was back in the old country, fighting the Irish, this caused a great deal of friction with her Irish parents.
True or not, it’s an interesting story, although I have never been able to confirm Jeremiah actually joined the Irish Constabulary, so maybe it’s more fiction than fact.
This is a photo of Margaret Ann McCarthy’s grave
http://briercliffesociety.co.uk/Grave%2 ... dvine2.htm
And this is where Jeremiah is buried, although is name is not inscribed.
http://briercliffesociety.co.uk/Grave%2 ... dvine3.htm
and this is a photo of both of them together
http://burnleyinthegreatwar.info/served ... 467758.htm
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