Local History by Seán Beattie

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Elkins at Lecamy, Moville; Carn Show book review

Elkins LecamyPicture shows Elkin family at Lecamy House c. 1920. Edward Elkin and his wife Sara Irwin from Castleroe Mills stand outside the front door with their children to the right. Note that at this time there is no porch to the front. When a porch was first built, it had the door to the south away from the road for shelter purposes. Later the door was bricked up and a new door was installed facing the road. Edward was  a JP and a noted farmer who won prizes regularly at Carndonagh Show. He owned a famous bull called Cuilin Count which won an award for the best shorthorn bull in 1906. The bull was of pedigree stock and was reared at Glasnevin Model Farm in Dublin. The Congested Districts Board supplied bulls to farmers who were permitted to supply the bull’s services to local farmers for a  small fee. Only well regarded “strong” farmers would be given such animals. The small group at the side are Sara Elkin (nee McCandless) and the child is Elsie McCandless (Gamble). Others along the wall are James Elkin, Bob Scott, father of Charlie Scott and Annie Elkin. Jack Scott is absent and may have emigrated to the USA. Bob Elkin became a teacher. He married but his wife died one month later of TB. William joined the Customs and Excise in Manchester. Harry went to Edinburgh and Sandy went to South Africa. There were several doctors in the family. One whom I knew was a nephew of James, who had a practice in London and was a regular visitor. He had a daily drink in Tremone Bar and usually sat in the kitchen with my mother. I met him in London in the 1960s. Bob is buried in Glacknadrummond Methodist graveyard near Culdaff. The family owned a corn mill below the house but the wheel was removed. James Elkin was a member of the Carn Show committee in 1906.

Other Elkin family members lived at Turmone (not Turmone) and there was an Isaac Elkin in Leitrim, Falmore. James won a prize for a brood mare at the show in 1906. The prize winners list for 1906 clearly shows the east-west divide in the peninsula. In 1906 there are only  a handful of winners from Moville parish and W. T Baird bagged most of them. Gleneely and Clinmany are well represented. In the honey section, Gleneely district pulled in the largest number of awards. The McColgans of Crora were noted honey producers and although the family left the area half a century ago, their one acre flower garden still continues to bloom every Spring and is a  joy to behold. The abundance of honey reveals a lot about the diet of the population, traditionally represented as living on potatoes and porridge.

Jim McCarroll has just published “Inishowen Agricultural Show 1863-1941″ which provides a fascinating cross section of Inishowen rural life in this period. Lord Shaftesbury was a patron for many years. All sections of the community participated.  Jim has provided excellent photos, programmes, prize lists, and minutes. In 1902 the show was held at Hollymount but later in Scott’s field. The Congested Districts Board regularly provided prizes. The first ploughing match took place in 1906. Carn ladies held a dance in the courthouse to raise funds for the show. Philip Doherty of Glebe, Clonmany won a prize in 1905 for the best filly. This is a  typical entry and the book has some wonderful details about individuals who lived in the peninsula. The book will be of great interest to historians, genealogists, and researchers because of the wealth of personal detail. The show had its share of  celebrity visitors including Augustine Birrell, Chief Secretary and Sir John B Dougherty, Secretary of the Dept. of Agriculture. They called by in 1908, the year before the famous Birrell Land Act was passed. (See my book DONEGAL IN TRANSITION  for more information on Birrell, one of our best Chief Secretaries).

The show faced difficulties generated by the political situation. For example in 1922, it was suspended. but returned to Tulnaree in 1928 when 4,600 people attended. Reflecting the new politics, the Garda Band played free of charge. As the force was just a few years old, many of the musicians were very young. Music was always a part of the show. St. MacCartan’s Band played regularly. Surprisingly in 1915 the Fourth Inniskillings from Clonmany attended with fife, drum and pipes while their colleagues were on the battlefield. Even in July 1916, the Inniskillings and the Royal Irish Fusiliers entertained the crowds. Obviously the Rebellion of 1916 and the executions had not generated any bitterness against the local army presence. In 1917, the Royal Irish Fusiliers from Leenan Fort were present but by 1918, an invitation went out to St. Columb’s Brass and Reed Band from Derry (but they did not attend). In 1920 the band could not attend because of riots in Derry when many people were killed.

The class distinction that was a feature of rural life is evident but membership of the Show Society was open to all including farmers under £5 valuation. The vice-presidents included Sir John Johnston, Surgeon McVittie, Col Tynte, Philip O’Doherty, MP ( who collapsed in the House of Commons and died at the age of 35), JGM Harvey (who carried out the Carrowmena evictions in 1881) and James E. O’Doherty, a Derry solicitor who employed Philip O’Doherty. The Congested Districts Board offered prizes for sheep and all of the prize winners came from Coolcross, Clonmany. Today, Clonmany has its own agricultural show which attracts huge numbers.

This is an important resource for local historians and will be widely consulted. The content is enlivened with anecdotes, photos, illustrations,  and stories about problems associated with operating a country show. By publishing old programmes, railway timetables, and prize lists, Jim McCarroll has offered readers an insight into the social life of the peninsula. The book is a welcome addition  to our knowledge of the peninsula, and especially the market town of Carndonagh and its rich hinterland with its home industries, well-bred farm animals and hard-working population. Jim’s mother, Sheila  and Maura Harkin have already produced the best-selling book on the town which has a fine collection of photographs and is still in print. Jim’s book is great value for ten euro and runs to 288 pages. Well done Jim and many thanks for your dedication to this task and bringing it into the public domain.

21 Comments

  1. One of my favourite visits every summer was here .. my great grand uncles Bob and James made us very welcome . I loved that they chose to leave their clocks at GMT .. their cattle new nothing of the clocks changing so they took no heed either ! Elsie McCandless was my grandmother. This really is a family history lesson i a picture !

    • Theodore Elkin Somerville

      P.S. My email address is tesomerville@me.com.

      • Comment by post author

        Theodore

        Yes I would like to get more information on the Lecamey Elkins. Isaac Elkin, Leitrim House (not Lecamey) is mentioned in the show records for 1906 as prizewinner for a young foal.
        Sean

        • yes i have a issac elkin on my family tree culdaff

          • Theodore E. Somerville

            Are you certain that “your” Isaac Elkin was buried at Culdaff? I spent quite a while in the graveyard there the year before last, and don’t remember seeing any Isaac. (Notably, there is an Alexander Elkin there, who died in about the 1830s.) My great grandfather Isaac Elkin, together with his wife and several of his children and grandchildren, is buried in the churchyard at Gleneely. The Elkins of Termone (Tremone?) have favored the churchyard of St. Buadan’s in Culdaff. My great grandfather Isaac was in fact born at Termone, but struck out on his own, building and residing at Leitrim House, which he passed on to his son Thomas George Elkin, my maternal grandfather. Thomas sold Leitrim before retiring in 1946, and I was personally present at, and well remember, that occasion. Isaac’s brother Edward, likewise, was born at Termone and struck out on his own, settling at Lecamey. Isaac was, I understand, highly respected in the local community. His gravestone attests that he was a “J.P.” (Justice of the Peace), though I don’t know the actual significance of that honor; he may have been merely the local equivalent of a Kentucky colonel. He lived until 1920, and my mother described him as a good-natured man who was wont to jocularly threaten naughty children that “for a farthing I’d give you a clout!” Theodore Elkin Somerville, New York.

          • Comment by post author

            Not sure where he is buried. I would need to check this.

          • I MIGHT HAVE GOT IT WRONG WHERE HE HIS BURIED , I KNOW HE WAS MARRIED TO A ELIZABETH BAIRD IN 1860 I HOPE YOU FIND ISSACS GRAVE THEN IF I CAN I WOULD LOVE TO PUT FLOWERS ON ALL THE GRAVES INCLUDING ANOTHER UNCLE I HAVE WHO IS BURIED IN THE FALLS ROAD CEM , IN THE 1930S MY G GRAN WAS ANNIE ANDERSON HER PARENTS WERE MARGRET ELKIN AND JAMES ANDERSON M 1858 JAMES DIED THEN MARGRET MARRIED AGAIN TO JOHN FORMAN I HOPE I CAN GO TO IRELAND ONE DAY BUT I AM ONLY ON PENSION. PLEASE KEEP INCONTACT WITH ME

          • Theodore Elkin Somerville

            I know very well where Isaac Elkin is buried, because he is my great grandfather and I have visited his grave many times, most recently in 2013. He is buried in the churchyard of the parish of Gleneely (not far from Moville), together with his wife, his son (my grandfather) Thomas George Elkin, Thomas’s wife, and two of Thomas’s children: Elizabeth (my aunt “Lala”) and Herbert. If you will provide me with your email address, I will be glad to send you a photo of the grave and headstone. It is not the original headstone; the original had badly deteriorated, and was replaced by my mother, Eileen Elkin Somerville, not long before her death in 2008 at the age of 100½. (She didn’t live quite so long as my father, who died in 2007 on his 101st birthday.)

          • My great grandfather Isaac Elkin, who is buried at Gleneely, was indeed married, in or about 1860, to Elizabeth Baird. Elizabeth died in 1901, and is also buried at Gleneely.

          • Comment by post author

            I recently got an original copy of Bob Elkin’s Teacher Training Certificate from Marlborough Street Training College, Dublin, dated 1894 from the Commissioners of National Education. It is a beautiful ornamented document worked in Celtic design. A previuos blog stated his wife died after one month but they were together for quite a while. The College building is still in use by the Dept of Education and I have attended meetings there, just off O’Connell St in Dublin. Sean Beattie

  2. Theodore Elkin Somerville

    A a great-grandson of Isaac Elkin and cousin of the Lecamey Elkins, I’d love to exchange further information with anyone who might be interested.

    • Michael McLaughlin

      Hi Theodore
      I recently bought Lecamey House and am really interested in learning more about the Elkin’s. We were given some info about the Elkin family tree and photographs of the family just after the turn of the century. Please get in touch.
      All the best
      Michael

      • I WOULD BE VERY INTRESTED IN PHOTOS OF THE ELKIN FAMILY YOU SEE I HAVE JUST FOUND OUT THEY ARE CONNECTED TO ME FROM MARGRET ELKIN AND JAMES ANDERSON, AND MY G G GRAN ANNIE ANDERSON

    • hello mr somerville i am related to your side of the family , I have been looking for cousins since i found out that I had a irish side, i would love to write to you , and send a picture of margret elkin child annie anderson, annie moved to south wales and married a james charles williams from cardiff. thankyou jackie pearson jackie christian medium is my facebook name

      • Theodore E. Somerville

        Sorry for my delay in responding. As I recall, the last time I visited St. Buadan’s Church in Culdaff, in the summer of 2013, I noticed the grave of a Margaret Elkin in the adjacent churchyard. I might even have taken a photo of it. It stood out in my mind because “Margaret” is not a name I associate with the Elkins. Theodore Elkin Somerville

  3. I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE A PICTURE OF LECARMEY HOUSE HAS THE ELKIN SIDE WERE PART OF MY FAMILY

  4. Hello. I am looking for my family history in Ireland and having some difficulty. My great great grandparents were Summer Elkin Wylie and Thomas Wylie( born Feb. 1st 1878 in County Tyrone. I believe he was a farmer. Thomas died soon after his daughter Eliza Jane my great grandmother was born July 21 1871.Her birth was recorded in Donegal. I am planning a trip to Ireland and would love to see where my family is from. Is this Elkin family a relation?

    • Comment by post author

      Kerry – not sure if this family is related. When a family uses a surname as a first name eg Elkin, it usually means this was the mother’s name. If your family are from Tyrone, then this is where your search should begin – the Ulster American Folk Park near Omagh have a fine site and library and will be very helpful
      Sean

  5. IF ANYONE KNOWS OF A MARGRET ELKIN PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANKYOU ON KINGFISHER,1948@YAHOO.COM

  6. My great-grandparents were Annie Elkin and Robert Scott – is it possible to find out how to get a copy of this photograph – or where i can purchase a copy of the book this information and photo are in?
    Thanks

    • Comment by post author

      Rebecca – sorry for delay. I got the photos from Betty, and the photos are not in a book

      If you are related, my nephew owns the house and would welcome you if you call any time, preferably at weekends.

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