RETRACING THEIR FOOTSTEPS - COUNTY MEATH, IRELAND

Part 3 of the Series on Retracing Their Footsteps

May 26, 1961 – “Pat Sherlock picked us up.  What a ride in the country we had. We visited more Sherlocks, Christian and his wife, then to Dad’s father’s old homestead.  It was lovely. The people who live there did some changes [Charlie’s father Edward lived there in the 1870’s and 1880’s] but the lady let us take pictures and look around.  There was over 60 acres and all the land was green”.

Pat Sherlock, their driver, is the son of Patrick Joseph Sherlock.  So therefore, a sister to Agnes Sherlock and 1^st cousin to Charlie. Edward Sherlock’s old homestead [probably the house he grew up in] was in Demailestown [in Wilkinstown] but at some time they also lived in a house in Ladyrath [in Wilkinstown].  That seems like a place they were at for a shorter time.

“We went to Pat Sherlock’s for lunch. We saw his land and cattle then took another trip around to the Carey’s. Also saw the Ladyrath home.  We sure covered a lot of ground, beautiful roads and farms”.

Demailestown and Ladyrath are very close to one another. Actually, both of them are included in the bigger town of Wilkinstown.  While they are listed as townlands, they are more like housing developments.  So, think of a housing development in a rural setting with a few houses. Demailestown and Ladyrath are west of Drogheda, east of Kells, and north of Navan and Kilmessan.  I looked at both Demailestown and Lady Rath on Google Earth and couldn’t find a house like the one in the above photo.  Of course, this photo is from over 50 years ago and the house very likely could have been torn down and a new one built.

While we were in County Meath in 2015, I tried to find these townlands in person, but it is much harder than trying to locate places on Google Earth.  Oh, if it could be just that easy! Of course, it didn’t help that we didn’t have GPS, so it was rather like looking for a needle in a haystack!  The roads were tiny rural roads and there were not many signs. We drove past Lobinstown, Wilkinstown, Slane Castle and Navan.  Lady Rath and Demailestown is to the east of the main part of Wilkinstown.  So, alas, I did not actually get to see Lady Rath or Demailestown despite our efforts. But since Ladyrath and Demailestown is in Wilkinstown we came very close to it.  It really helped Charlie and Teresa that they had a driver who was very familiar with the area to take them to these townlands in 1961.

The Carey’s are the children/descendants of Elizabeth Sherlock [sister of Edward] and her husband Nicholas Carey.  I am not sure which Carey’s, Theresa and Charlie met with on their trip.

“We picked up Pat’s wife of 4 years and went to see Agnes who has 9 children.  Her husband was 50 years old [when they married] and she was 20.  He is now 70 and she is 40 years old.  After visiting Agnes, they visited Mary Glacken in Navan, who had dinner ready for everyone.”

Even though Charles and Theresa only spent two days in Ireland, they met a lot of relatives and visited several their homes.  Charles and Theresa also visited the old homestead of Bryan Sherlock and Margaret Caffrey Sherlock in Demailestown, where Charlie’s father Edward Sherlock was raised.  Edward died when Charlie was just a baby, so I am sure that their visit to the old homestead was rather emotional for Charlie.

I would not only have loved to visit the townlands of Demailestown and Lady Rath, but also meet any remaining Sherlock/Caffrey/Carey relatives still living in the area