Togher Historical Association recently met up with Joan McCarthy to research her family biography on the old Sexton farm off Lehenaghmore Hill. The story takes in the 1940s right up to the 1970s and throws up some surprising pieces of information from an historical perspective. Joan recounts decades of memories covering everything from Emigrants Christmases to farming activities to a very famous opera singer! Hilary O'Donovan , the current owner and her son Adam gave the team a tour of the house and lands and provided artifacts and additional information and brought the story of the farm up to date.
John Sexton ( Togher ) and his wife Mary Goggin ( originally from Ballinagree , Macroom ) bought the farm in Lehenaghmore , Togher in the early 1940s which had been previously owned by Catherine and Cornelius Mulcahy , a married couple who
had no family of their own and who had recently passed. Cornelius' siblings all lived on the land
at the time , each owning a portion of the overall land. The Sextons would take possession of three large fields extending all the way back to the Liberty Stream and beyond the Cork Bandon railway line which ran through their land. John also had a relative living on Doughcloyne Hill , Maurice Sexton , who was a land steward for the Sarsfields and the Sexton name was well revered by that family for their " honesty , integrity and loyalty ". They would go on to have 3 children Joan b.1944 , Margaret b.1945 , Maurice b.1946 and were known as the "
Irish Triplets ". Joan explained that if you had 2 babies within a
year they were known as Irish Twins and 3 within 2 years were known as
Irish Triplets. John Kevin was born some time later and would
eventually go on to inherit the farm in 1974 before selling it on in 1985 to Hilary O'Donavan who now operates a kennels in the old stables which was recently renovated. She recalled how her parents were very kind not only to those in need but also to animals which they believed had feelings as well. Joan mentioned that early on in her life , her parents ensured that she
knew the running of the farm in case of any mishaps to either of them.
So it was that there developed 2 nuclei within the family ; Joan's
parents and herself and that of the 3 younger siblings. Joan joked that
she was never really a child.
During the war , the Irish Government decided that all farmers had to put aside a percentage of their land for the growing of grain as food imports from the U.K. were halted. 10% for small farms , 17½% for medium farms and 25% for large farms. This was essentially used to feed the country. Between 2 to 4 acres of the Sexton land was given over for this purpose. However once the War finished and there was enough food being produced
in the country , the Sexton farm was no longer required to grow grain. Joan remembers the last threshing in that field ; the big machine and the smoke and the smell. Today that land is situated between Joan's sister Margaret's house and the estate to the rear. The question then arose as to what to grow in the field. Mrs. Sexton was the manager of a large grocery retail outlet in the City owned by her cousin. Joan's mother had the bright idea of growing vegetables as there was a shortage in the country at that time of good quality vegetables. Joan described it as a light-bulb moment. All types of cabbages - Winter Cabbage and Spring Cabbage , cauliflower , broccoli , kale and brussels sprouts. There was great demand for their produce and they couldn't grow it fast enough. A stall was kept adjacent to the main house which served as both a cattle shed for milking with the other half for the horses. Their house was originally two storeys but was reduced to a single dwelling when the upper storey began to bulge outwards and was dismantled. In time it would be built up again.
when reduced to single storey
Mr. Sexton had cattle on his land and started a milk run. He would go on to become one of the founding members of C.M.P. in 1955. Soon customers started buying vegetables as well. Mrs. Sexton then introduced chickens , turkeys and ducks to the farm resulting in a mixed farming practice. Her farming background meant this was second nature to her so no additional learning was needed. Although they had hundreds of turkeys , the sheer demand at Christmas meant they couldn't meet all the orders. Word of mouth amongst the customers about the quality of the farm produce ensured a thriving business. At the time immediately following the end of the War , there were no supermarkets and grocery stores didn't sell fresh meat or eggs. Carrots , parsnips , potatoes and turnips were also grown on the farm. Joan had her own little patch where she would grow lettuce assisted by her father. The kindness of the Sextons was exemplary. If they knew of a hardship case in the locality they would help ease the burden. Mr. Sexton ran the milk run in the mornings and the meat and vegetable run in the afternoon/evening. He came to know of his customers plights and would deliver produce free of charge. This was done by Mr. Sexton making his customers feel as if they were doing him a favour. So a chicken would be delivered on the premise that they had one extra and it was in danger of going off as back then there was no refrigeration and in most cases no electricity. So it was with vegetables as well. If they could help someone in need they simply did. They also had a piggery on their farm and often the sows would give birth to as many as 15 piglets or Banbh which resulted in the children helping to feed them from little bottles.
Dinner time in the Sexton household was sacrosanct and was immediately followed by the Rosary and a litany of prayers for somebody dead or unwell etc. Joan recalls her parents always said a prayer for the souls of Catherine and Cornelius Mulcahy , the previous owners of the land. This would also include anybody who ever lived on the farm. This was a mark of respect for the people who lived on the land and the land itself. Joan recounted how an elderly Aunt came to stay who was nearing the end of her life. Shortly after she faded away and died. That night a Doctor and a Curate Priest from the Lough Parish arrived and stayed the night. The children and everybody present knelt around her bed and prayed. Joan recalls the Curate Priest saying how he never thought he'd be back in this room again and how he had slept in that very room! It transpired that he was a nephew of Catherine and Cornelius and while training in Farrenferris he would stay at the house. He was of course Fr. Mulcahy. His emotions were evident as the tears rolled down his face when he learned of the practice of praying for those who had once lived there as if they were somehow still there. Although a curate at the time he would return years later as Parish Priest of The Lough.
( from Deeds supplied by Hilary O'Donovan )
All the children of the household attended Togher National School ( now Community Centre ). It was a 2 Teacher school back then for the girls. Ms. McCarthy was the Principal and Ms. McSweeny her assistant. Joan described them as lovely people and she enjoyed her time there. Joan mentioned that such was the quality of the education she received at Togher National School that when she went to Secondary School , she could have easily sat the Intermediate Certificate ( now Junior Cert ). There was even a 7th class at Togher for those who knew they wouldn't be moving onto Secondary School. This served the purpose of compacting a de facto Secondary education into a full year to prepare the pupils for life and work. Joan was at pains to point out how blessed she was for the parents she had , the people she grew up with , the Teachers she had and the area she grew up in describing it all as wonderful and magical.
( from Deeds supplied by Hilary O'Donovan )
Many young girls would emigrate to both England and America after the War and work in the houses of wealthy people. A practice developed whereupon any clothes that their Employers children had outgrown would be rescued from the garbage and sent back home to their respective families to serve as material for making coats and trousers and dresses as fabric was either in short supply or couldn't be afforded. This coupled with also sending money back home helped to keep families afloat in hard times. The Sextons would be considered well off owning a farm but were by definition asset rich and cash poor. Irish people home on holidays would leave clothes behind when they left again and mothers all over the community would recycle them by unpicking the seams and turning them inside out as the material on the inside would not be faded and conjure up 2 coats for their children to wear until they outgrew them. Self sufficiency and recycling were the mothers of necessity long before it became fashionable. So too was the case for young adults who would wear the clothes donated them by visiting relatives , many of the clothes being from the 1940s and now still being worn in the 1960s. Joan recalls that after the end of the War , the scarcity of everyday items was very much to the fore. This included paper. Even a child's bow was a luxury. A simple pencil would be highly prized. Everything had value and nothing was thrown away.
Joan recalls how her cousins on Doughcloyne Hill , Joan and Maurice Sexton who never married , bought the house off the S.M.A. She explained that much confusion ensued over the practice of naming children after mothers , fathers , grandparents etc , so much so , that there would be a proliferation of same name boys and girls in various branches of a family. She gave one example of a boy in Macroom who was known as Pat John Jack. Pat being his given name , John being his father's name and Jack being his grandfather's name. So by using this triplet of names he could be easily identified! The same practice migrated to Togher as many West Cork people settled there over the years.
Every summer in Lehenaghmore and indeed across most of the townlands of Togher and the City , there was an annual event known as the Emigrant's Christmas. To facilitate this , a pre-ordered turkey would be kept on by local farmers including the Sextons until the warm weather approached for sale to the locals who would be celebrating such an event. This tradition came about through the practice in America of Irish families saving hard to send one member of the family home to visit relatives. The big get together would be held more often than not near the Lough and a festive spread laid on on a table. Various relatives would bring Christmas pudding , cake and other luxuries to add to the feast. Occasionally , Mr. Sexton would let out one of his fields and provide transport with his horse and cart to ferry family members to and fro. Here the Emigrant's Christmas either consisted of newspapers on the ground on which to lay out the food or a table with newspapers as people could easily dispose them. So it was that various members of families living abroad would make the journey home about once every five years or so to visit aging parents or younger brothers , sisters or cousins or aunts etc. Joan recounts her parents mantra " Thanks be to God we have enough , and those who haven't we must mind. "
found in house
When Mr. Sexton passed away , Joan recalls a group of men who approached her and asked was she called Joan. When she confirmed , they told her that they remembered her as a child when she accompanied her father on his runs and that her father had kept them alive during hard times when they were children through his generosity in supplying free food. This backed up other stories Joan was told when in secondary school by classmates who told of similar tales of kindness by her parents. She describes her entire childhood as a fairytale where every day something new would happen , whether it was the first buttercup , bluebell or blossom on the apple trees or the birth of a foal or a calf. They never played out on the road as there was always something magical to see and do on the farm.
Sexton farmland circa 1950s
Joan was an avid choir singer and besides singing in the school choir at Togher also participated in a youth and adult choir in Togher and the City in which they would represent Ireland in International contests. She also adored opera music and on one memorable occasion was mesmerized by one particular singer at the city hall. She mentions that they would often join them for after show refreshments in which the visiting Italians would have wine served to their table while she and her fellow choir members would have water or cordial to share amongst themselves. They then brought the visitors around the City for a tour of the old and new buildings. The singer who so impressed Joan back in 1963 was none other than Luciano Pavarotti! It is known that locals would take in visiting male voice choir members as lodgers during their stay in Cork. So some family unwittingly had a future Opera star in their home! Pavarotti later famously recalled his time in Cork as full of beautiful girls and hills!
Joan recalls as they grew older they would often travel to dancehalls around Cork as a group with other local boys and girls. The bus would drop them off in the Grand Parade after midnight and they would walk home from there. The street lights only went as far as the Lough and from thereon it was pitch black. The girls would be escorted each by one local boy right to their doorstep without even a goodnight kiss. This was how things were done back then when everybody looked out for each other.
Joan eventually left Togher after she married in 1970 but still frequently visits her old home , now in the ownership of Hilary O'Donovan who has lived there since 1985. Joan's sister Margaret lives in a house on the old lane leading up to what used to be their home. She also made mention of the local topography of the land being changed beyond all recognition when the nearby housing schemes were constructed. Much of the top soil was bulldozed to such an extent to level off the land that it formed a steep gradient just beyond their old home down to the stream. Previously the land there was not as high or hilly. But the land thereabouts still echoes to the laughter and memories of a bygone age.
*********************
In tandem with Joan McCarthys biography of her old home the team visited the current owner Hilary O'Donovan who welcomed them into her home and presented her deeds for analysis ( see earlier ). Adam Duggan gave a walking tour of the nearby lands which included the remains of a lodge near the Liberty Stream and remnants of the Osiery in the marshy ground where flax willow would have been cultivated to make baskets and other household items in lieu of future plastic. This would have been the primary purpose of the land under the Mulcahy owners stretching back to the 19th Century in addition to other agricultural uses.
It should be noted that an old pathway lead off the Sextons courtyard down to the lodge near the Liberty Stream ( which acts as the boundary between Lehenaghmore and Doughcloyne ) and up to the now long gone Coventry House ( only partial orchard walls remain ). This has since been more or less covered in. Adam Duggan also showed the exact location of one of two Fulacht Fia just across from the Liberty Stream. A hollow in the field which is barely visible , this would date back well over a thousand years and links to ancient human habitation on the lands. These water filled pits would have had hot rocks thrown into them to heat the water , which had many uses such as bathing , beer brewing and dyeing of cloth. The team were also shown many artifacts found in the house and on the land over the years. Following a renovation of the kennels , it has been renamed The Osiery as a legacy to the lands past.
inside old walls of former stables
*** Many thanks to Craig McCarthy for arranging the meeting with his mother Joan McCarthy and to Hilary Donovan and family for providing additional information and photographs. ***
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