[Edited Sept 22, 2019]
The photo above was taken at the Salthill seaside resort, on Galway Bay in Galway City, where the family matriarchs took an annual summer holiday. On the back is an early label, plus an added description by Bridget Dunne Price. L-R, we have Honoria Martin Crehan (1868-1949), Catherine Martin Dunne (1866-1944), and Mary Martin Coughlin (1872-1947).
They stayed at the Glen View guesthouse owned by Teresa Costello. Economizing by bringing all their own food, they also bartered hunks of salted and cured pork from their farms.*
Theresa Costello was the aunt of John Joe Kelly, who grew up to marry Catherine’s granddaughter Philomena Stephens (1931-2000).
According to Marie Barcoe, her grandmother Honoria (aka Nora aka Onnie) and aunts went on these trips during the late 1930s. Nora and Mary were widows by this time. All of their children were grown, except for Nora’s Bridie (b. 1929), who sometimes went with them.
More widely circulated has been another picture of the women, with Honor Crehan’s sister-in-law Mary Crehan and an unknown girl. It was probably taken on the same day as the one above.
The hardworking sisters, taking a well-deserved annual break from farms, communal life, and their children’s grown-up challenges, have been an inspiration to generations of daughters.
*Information from Martina Kelly.
Old Green River 