Alice Kernaghan
Alice Kernaghan was a long serving & much cherished member of the Thomas Charles McCormick household. I believe that she started working for the McCormick family when she was about 16 years old & remained associated with the family until her 90s, by that I mean that she was still visiting Aunty Vie (Violet Kathleen McCormick, third child of T.C. McCormick) after she had retired, which is where I remember seeing her. T. C. McCormick, my great grandfather, died in 1935 & I believe that Aunty Vie & Granny were paying her a pension, & Alice used to go & have tea with Aunty Vie, the last of that McCormick family, still living in Ireland. My grandparents returned to Ireland, from England, in 1947 & lived north of Dublin, in Malahide, for the rest of their lives.
On the 1901 Census of Ireland it states that Alice Kernaghan was 21 years old, “Female, Servant, Irish Church, Kilkenny: Birthplace, Housemaid Domestic, Read and write, Not married.” Thus, Alice would have begun employment with the McCormick family in about 1895. My great grandparents, Tom & Kathleen McCormick, were married in 1886, and my grandmother, Elizabeth Ivy McCormick, born in 1894, would have been a baby when Alice was first employed by my great grandparents. The youngest child was born in 1896, Minnie Ella, & so it would have been a busy household. At that time the family were living in Somerset House, Blackrock, County Dublin. Alice would have been busy helping with the children, either directly or indirectly, & she would also have witnessed the sad death of Kathleen McCormick, in 1899, which left five young children without a mother! The oldest, Aunty May, was born in 1887.
My mother, Patricia, frequently stayed with her grandfather, Tom McCormick (widowed in 1899), along with her older sister, Joan, & later with younger brother, Michael. They were staying with their grandfather in Blackrock House, Blackrock, which the family bought in 1898. My mother was very fond of Alice & Alice seems to have loved children, which obviously made her a very important member of the household, in the early days, since the house was filled with five children who lost their mother at a young age. My mother said that Alice used to sneak up the back stairs to the children’s bedroom, at the end of the day, with treats! My mother only had nice things to say about Alice & had many happy memories of her & the Blackrock household.
My great grandfather also loved his three grandchildren very much & when my grandparents returned from Australia in 1926, (my grandfather was Australian), & my grandfather was looking for a job in England, the two granddaughters were left in Blackrock House, (brother, Michael, was born in 1929). In a letter to my grandmother, in England, my great grandfather wrote:
April 19, 1926: “Got your letter & wire. On no account think of returning on Wednesday, (Aunt Henrietta died), the children were never better and are in great spirits so don’t think of returning until you get all your work finished and if Julia has to leave before you return …… Alice will be in the house.”
April 20, 1926: “The children will be all right while I am away (sister’s funeral) as Alice will be in the house & Julia never leaves them.”
June 23, 1929: “We are all lost without Pat (my mother) she was the life of the house and the best child I ever knew. No trouble to anyone and as for Vie she worshipped her. We have just got in a new cook, so far she is doing well and Alice likes her.”
He wrote to my grandmother on June 25, 1933: “The moment the children get their holidays they must come over at once.” It seems that Blackrock House was a much happier place for all occupants when children were in it!
I met Alice a few times when we used to visit Aunty Vie, Granny’s sister, in Sandycove. This was when Alice was in her 80’s & 90’s. She probably saw more of me when I was a young child, for I spent every summer in Ireland from the time that I was 6 weeks old, but those early days I cannot remember! I do remember being told of an incident which happened when Alice was in her 90s: she apparently fell on a driveway, during a colder month & could not get up off the ground! She lay on the cold driveway all night until someone saw her in the morning & called for an ambulance! She survived the ordeal, was not distressed by it, nor complained of pain, & when she told my mother the story she was very matter of fact while she recounted the event, sitting in Aunty Vie’s house, telling the story with a smile on her face! In so many words she said: “I just lay there on the driveway & knew that somebody would find me in the morning!”
Alice was soft spoken, but spoke fast, with a lovely Irish accent, & a smile on her kindly face. She asked many questions & was always genuinely interested in what we had to say. She had a keen interest in what we had being doing, who we had seen, especially other McCormicks, & where we were going. She was a kind, caring person, loyal & trusted, who enriched the McCormick family & all our lives.
© Dawn Michell Hockett - September 2021
Alice Kernaghan was a long serving & much cherished member of the Thomas Charles McCormick household. I believe that she started working for the McCormick family when she was about 16 years old & remained associated with the family until her 90s, by that I mean that she was still visiting Aunty Vie (Violet Kathleen McCormick, third child of T.C. McCormick) after she had retired, which is where I remember seeing her. T. C. McCormick, my great grandfather, died in 1935 & I believe that Aunty Vie & Granny were paying her a pension, & Alice used to go & have tea with Aunty Vie, the last of that McCormick family, still living in Ireland. My grandparents returned to Ireland, from England, in 1947 & lived north of Dublin, in Malahide, for the rest of their lives.
On the 1901 Census of Ireland it states that Alice Kernaghan was 21 years old, “Female, Servant, Irish Church, Kilkenny: Birthplace, Housemaid Domestic, Read and write, Not married.” Thus, Alice would have begun employment with the McCormick family in about 1895. My great grandparents, Tom & Kathleen McCormick, were married in 1886, and my grandmother, Elizabeth Ivy McCormick, born in 1894, would have been a baby when Alice was first employed by my great grandparents. The youngest child was born in 1896, Minnie Ella, & so it would have been a busy household. At that time the family were living in Somerset House, Blackrock, County Dublin. Alice would have been busy helping with the children, either directly or indirectly, & she would also have witnessed the sad death of Kathleen McCormick, in 1899, which left five young children without a mother! The oldest, Aunty May, was born in 1887.
My mother, Patricia, frequently stayed with her grandfather, Tom McCormick (widowed in 1899), along with her older sister, Joan, & later with younger brother, Michael. They were staying with their grandfather in Blackrock House, Blackrock, which the family bought in 1898. My mother was very fond of Alice & Alice seems to have loved children, which obviously made her a very important member of the household, in the early days, since the house was filled with five children who lost their mother at a young age. My mother said that Alice used to sneak up the back stairs to the children’s bedroom, at the end of the day, with treats! My mother only had nice things to say about Alice & had many happy memories of her & the Blackrock household.
My great grandfather also loved his three grandchildren very much & when my grandparents returned from Australia in 1926, (my grandfather was Australian), & my grandfather was looking for a job in England, the two granddaughters were left in Blackrock House, (brother, Michael, was born in 1929). In a letter to my grandmother, in England, my great grandfather wrote:
April 19, 1926: “Got your letter & wire. On no account think of returning on Wednesday, (Aunt Henrietta died), the children were never better and are in great spirits so don’t think of returning until you get all your work finished and if Julia has to leave before you return …… Alice will be in the house.”
April 20, 1926: “The children will be all right while I am away (sister’s funeral) as Alice will be in the house & Julia never leaves them.”
June 23, 1929: “We are all lost without Pat (my mother) she was the life of the house and the best child I ever knew. No trouble to anyone and as for Vie she worshipped her. We have just got in a new cook, so far she is doing well and Alice likes her.”
He wrote to my grandmother on June 25, 1933: “The moment the children get their holidays they must come over at once.” It seems that Blackrock House was a much happier place for all occupants when children were in it!
I met Alice a few times when we used to visit Aunty Vie, Granny’s sister, in Sandycove. This was when Alice was in her 80’s & 90’s. She probably saw more of me when I was a young child, for I spent every summer in Ireland from the time that I was 6 weeks old, but those early days I cannot remember! I do remember being told of an incident which happened when Alice was in her 90s: she apparently fell on a driveway, during a colder month & could not get up off the ground! She lay on the cold driveway all night until someone saw her in the morning & called for an ambulance! She survived the ordeal, was not distressed by it, nor complained of pain, & when she told my mother the story she was very matter of fact while she recounted the event, sitting in Aunty Vie’s house, telling the story with a smile on her face! In so many words she said: “I just lay there on the driveway & knew that somebody would find me in the morning!”
Alice was soft spoken, but spoke fast, with a lovely Irish accent, & a smile on her kindly face. She asked many questions & was always genuinely interested in what we had to say. She had a keen interest in what we had being doing, who we had seen, especially other McCormicks, & where we were going. She was a kind, caring person, loyal & trusted, who enriched the McCormick family & all our lives.
© Dawn Michell Hockett - September 2021