Patrick Medlar
1885 - 1949
Patrick Medlar was born on 4 November 1885 to John and Ellen (née Brennan).
John was one of the 793 blacksmiths in Dublin at that time. He was living in Lr. Mayor St. on the North East Quays. He was originally from Co. Kilkenny, where his father was a blacksmith before him.
Ellen was the daughter of a carpenter turned lock-keeper in Co. Carlow, and she had come to Dublin and gone into service with Mrs Devitts, the widow of Richard Devitts, a sugar and tea merchant, who had a residence in Belvedere Place.
You could be tempted to make something of the proximity of where John and Ellen lived but in fact they appear to have been second cousins and their families lived within about 5 miles of each other (Paulstown, Co. Kilkenny and Ballyellen, Co. Carlow)
Patrick was the first of two sons and Ellen returned to her people in Ballyellen to have the baby.
Strictly speaking, therefore, Patrick J. Medlar was not a native Dubliner.
When the second son, Larry, was born in 1888 the family were living at 26 Denzille St., now Cumberland House, in Fenian St.
Marriage & Children
Patrick's father died when the two children were very young. He had gone to the USA where he had a sister, with the hope of finding work there and then bringing the family over. Unfortunately he contracted pneumonia and died. The children were then farmed out to the grandparents. Larry went to the mother's people in Ballyellen, Co. Carlow, where his grandfather, and subsequently his uncle Pat, were lock-keepers on the upper Ballyellen Lock. His brother Patrick went to the father's people, the Medlars of Paulstown, in nearby Co. Kilkenny.
After his father's death, his mother appears to have gone back into service, in 22 Merrion Square, residence of Samuel Mason, Professor of Midwifery at the Royal College of Surgeons. It is from this address in 1897 that she married James Donohoe, [then a transport brake man = train guard?], who lived at 13 Creighton St.
By 1901 Patrick, along with his mother and step-father, were living in 6 James's St. His mother is listed as a roomkeeper. Laurence was still boarded with his mother's people in Ballyellen.
By early 1911 the four of them were living at 154 James's St. James had meantime become an engine fitter. On 19 June of that year Patrick married Tess Burgess (from No. 45, and my Granny's sister) and moved into 48 James's St.
They had five children: Ellen (Nell, 1912), John (1914), Constance (Connie, 1917), Mary (Mai ,1920), and the twins Paddy and Tess (1925). Nell died of TB in 1929, aged 16.
Patrick's wife, Tess, died on 23 May 1934 of TB and heart failure at the Hospice in Harolds Cross.
On 23 September 1935 he married Catherine Roche, 6 James's St., a widow woman and daughter of Laurence Fox, a railway signalman turned dairy proprietor. Two of her brothers had been in the railway, one a porter and the other a fireman/stoker. So Patrick was marrying into a railway, as well as a dairying, family. Catherine had originally lived at 1 James's St. and her family moved into No.6 when the Donohoes moved out and across the road to No.154. When Patrick came back from the honeymoon he moved in with Catherine to No.6, back to the house he had lived in as a teenager. The best man at the wedding was John Burgess, probably indicating that himself and Patrick had been mates, and the bridesmaid was Peggy Medlar, a cousin of Patrick's.
Career
- Undertaker
In 1911, at the time of his (first) marriage, Patrick is described as a Registration Agent but his main business was as an undertaker at No. 48 James's St., and this is how he is described in Thoms between 1916 and 1942. For some of this period (1919-1927) the business at No. 48 is described at Medlar and Claffey. In 1919 this partnership also opened a premises at 10 Findlater Place, but this venue only lasted a year and quickly returned to its original use by the Rush family who were car proprietors. In 1927 the partnership dissolved, with Patrick resigning from it and the title passing to Charles Claffey. The new unit moved to 11 Thomas St. where it quickly became Claffey and Son. Meanwhile Patrick continued as a solo undertaker at No. 48a James's St.
Mary Claffey (who would have been a Claffey daughter) was a friend of my mother's. She married Matt Carberry, who son Paddy was in my class in school. Paddy was a talented musician and became a Jesuit priest.
In 1927 also, Patrick gave notice that he was about to apply for a bookie's licence for No. 48. I don't know if he got it.
I remember my mother telling me that the family sometimes used the hearse for domestic travel. The children would be in the back with the blinds down and when they peeped out they would see people blessing themselves as the hearse passed.
- Folklore
I'm sure that were he still alive, Patrick would be thrilled to know that he had passed into Dublin folklore, though not necessarily in the most complimentary way. His reputation had spread as far north as Broadstone where, in Margaret Clarke's family at least, if you were heard to have a serious cough, you'd be assailed by the phrase "Medlar's got you!". Mind you he got enough of the denizens of Dublin to keep him in business for many a year.
Pete St. John in his book "Jaysus Wept" quotes the song, The Inchicore Wake, which contains the lines:
And Bigamy O'Keeffe and Black Paddy Medlar
With the Claffy was talkin'
Of grave stones and flowers
- Alderman
Patrick was elected a City Councillor in 1920. The long form of the Council's name was "The Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the City of Dublin". Ironically, it was the Medlar and not the Burgess that occupied this particular seat.
He was one of three Nationalists standing in his area (New Kilmainham and Ushers Quay) and the only one to get a seat. Sinn Féin took five of the nine seats in the this area, and took ten of the twelve city councils on the island.
- The War of Independence
This was a very interesting time to be on the Council. Having won a majority of the Irish votes in the 1918 UK parliamentary election, the republican movement set up its own rival parliament (Dáil) supported by a parallel administration all over the country (Government Departments, Courts, and so forth). After the 1920 elections the City Council had a majority of republican members and was set on a collision course with the British Authorities.
This came to a head almost immediately when, on instructions from the Dáil Minister for Local Government, the Council refused to let the UK Government auditor have sight of its books, on the basis that the British now had no such authority and the books would be examined in due course by a duly constituted Independent Irish Government auditor. The British retaliated by withholding tax revenues from the Council and taking them to court.
Meanwhile the Council was disintegrating. It dismissed the Town Clerk and his Assistant because these refused to behave in what they considered an illegal manner (eg withholding the books from the UK auditor and registering votes cast in Irish). The Council then appointed new and more compliant staff. Voting in Irish at Council meetings was increasing and a refusal to recognise such votes would, in many cases, tip the balance towards the old Anglo clique.
Patrick voted solidly with the nationalist members. He had been Secretary of the Usher's Quay branch of the "United Irish League of Great Britain" as far back as 1910, at which time he had sent a telegram to the Belfast Convention of that year welcoming the delegates and trusting that their deliberations would "more closely unite those brave people of Great Britain who espouse our cause to give our leader, Mr. John Redmond, and the Irish Party that soul-stirring aid required in securing Home Rule for Ireland".
- The War goes on
When the new Irish (pro-Treaty) Government took over, relations with the Council were strained, and these two parties were on a firm collision course. Two examples will give an idea of what was going on. The Council instituted its own enquiry into the mistreatment of prisoners by the new Government, eventually sending its own medical officer to visit the prisons where he was refused access. The Council passed a resolution voting half salaries to the dependents of those in the Council's employ who had been imprisoned by the Government. They sort of quoted earlier Dáil authority for this type of action, but of course at the earlier stage it applied to Irish fighters in the war of independence who had been encarcerated by the British. The Council very quickly got two very sharp and threatening letters from the Government. The first from Richard Mulcahy, Commander in Chief of the armed forces, who told them in no uncertain terms that if they did not immediately rescind their order he would have them arrested. The second from Earnán de Blaghd, who was then Minister for Local Government, said that he would stop housing grants if the order remained in force. The Council promptly rescinded the order.
Patrick stood for the 1923 Local Elections on an Independent Progressives ticket but failed to get elected. He did get onto the Council, though, possibly through co-option, but I haven't yet figured out how this worked. [I'm ploughing through Council minutes.]
The Government eventually suspended the Council, in 1924, and ran the city through three unelected Commissioners right up until 1930 when new legislation was brought in reconstituting the Local Government process. The Dublin Council saw many of the powers, formerly exercised by the elected members, now handed over to an unelected manager. The geographical area covered by the Council was also extended to take in some of the new suburbs outside the two canals.
- The New Dispensation
Patrick was elected to the new Dublin Corporation, the Corpo, in 1930. He was one of five councillors elected in the Borough No. 4 area which included the Merchant's Quay, Usher's Quay and New Kilmainham Wards. [It did not include the Wood Quay Ward.] Each councillor was presented with a special commemorative medal by the Lord Mayor to mark their membership of the newly constituted City Council under the Local Government (Dublin) Act of 1930. The medal had the city arms on one side and an inscription on the other .
- The Eucharistic Congress
1932 was the year of the Dublin Eucharistic Congress which was an enormous triumphalist Roman Catholic event. On the occasion of the formal ceremony welcoming the Papal Legate to the city, Patrick is seated next to de Valera on the podium. Dev was then President of the Executive Council (Head of Government) having just come to power earlier in the year.
- Suspension
Patrick was more than a simple Councillor, he was an Alderman, a designation applied to the poll-topper in a multi-seat electoral area. He held this distinction in the 1933-1936 period. He was briefly disqualified from membership of the Corpo between October 1933 and January 1934 - the reason for which remains to be ascertained. It was most likely due to his change of address. While his office was always at 48a James's Street, his residences varied. By 1930 he had left Adelaide Road, which would have been outside the the new No. 4 Electoral area, for 149 Thomas Street, which was within it. But by June of 1933 he had left Thomas Street and I don't know where his residence was. It was most likely outside the constituency, leading to his disqualification. By January 1934 he seems to have persuaded the authorities that he was living in 48a James's Street, and the Council duly elected (co-opted) him back to the position of Alderman.
- The Medlar Bridge
A member of the Medlar family told me there was a Medlar bridge over the Grand Canal in the region of James's Harbour. It took me a while to pin this down and the outcome is a it ambiguous. There was a metal bridge linking Maryland and Basin St. Upr., but it appears to have been known locally as “The Mettler” after the substance from which it was constructed. However it was promoted by PJ both in the Council and the Housing and General Purposes Committee which was dealing with it, so I am also claiming it as the “Medlar Bridge”. It was also known as the “Cage” because it was completely enclosed from the entry at Maryland until is released its “prisoners” into Basin St. Upr. This arrangement, insisted on by the Canal Company, was to isolate bridge users from valuable and volatile stores on the Company's ground north of the Canal.
- The Tivoli Cinema
Among Patrick's public activities was the opening of the, 1,700 seater, Tivoli cinema in Francis St. on 21 December 1934. In his speech he recalled that he had attended school in the Parish forty years previously and said he was very proud to be there to open this the third largest cinema in the city of Dublin. Present in the audience that night was a fellow Alderman, Alfie Byrne, TD and Lord Mayor of Dublin. The cinema appears to have closed in September 1964. It was subsequently used briefly as a Bingo Hall and for the odd concert, until it burned down and lay derelict for many years. Following two brief temporary openings as a theatre in 1986 and 1987, it opened as a permanent double theatre, seating 1,560, in 1988. It is still in operation today, but just barely. Plans have been approved for the construction of a new complex on the site and the present building is now awaiting demolition.source
- Committees and Boards
You can get some idea of his areas of interest and the scope of his influence from his membership of various Corpo committees over the years. Compiling his list has been made possible by the release of the Dublin City Archive's new Councillors Database which lists names, addresses and membership of committees and boards of all councillors over the years.
| Committee or Board | Years |
| Improvements | 1920/1 |
| Supplies | 1920, 1921 (Chair) |
| Old Age Pensions | 1920/24 |
| Streets | 1922/24 |
| Richmond District Lunatic Asylum | 1921/23 |
| Dublin Orthopaedic Hospital | 1922/24 |
| Grangegorman Mental Hospital | 1924 |
| Dublin Union | 1931 |
| Old Age Pensions | 1931/42 |
| Housing and General Purposes both as single committee and subsequently as Housing Cttee. and GP Cttee. | 1932/42 |
| City of Dublin School Attendance | 1932/35, 1937/42 |
| School Meals | 1933/42 |
| Dublin Board of Assistance | 1933/42, Vice Chair 1933 |
| Child Welfare | 1935/6 |
| Joint Mgt Cttee Grangegorman Mental Hospital | 1935/6 |
| Dublin Port Sanitary Authority | 1935/42 |
| Dublin Fever Hospital | 1937/42 |
- End of an Era
Patrick remained a member of the Corpo until [1945], when he left to pursue an estate agency business.
Houses
While he generally gave 48 James's St. as his address, this seems to have been mainly his office and the family, at least at times, lived elsewhere. Granny Mortimer seems to have lived at 48 for a few years after the death of her husband Patrick in 1918.
Patrick Medlar is recorded in Thoms as being in 48 between 1916 and 1942, either as one of two tenants (1916-18), as Medlar and Claffey (Undertakers)(1919-27) and under his own name alone (1928-1942). [His estate agent business, 1940s, was in James's Avenue West.]
I'm working on the other houses but at this stage the sequence seems to be the following:
| 1888 | 26 Denzille St. (now Fenian St.) (Brother Larry born) |
| 1901 | 6 (9) James's St. (Granny Donohoe) |
| 1911 | 154 James's St. (Granny Donoghue) |
| 1912 | 128 SCR. (Nell born) |
| 1914 | 120 James's St. (John born) (O'Neill's Undertakers) |
| 1917-18 | Windsor House, 8 SCR Rialto (Constance born) |
| 1919-20 | 35 Mountshannon Road, SCR |
| 1920 | 17 Ushers Island (Mai born) |
| 1923-27 | 29 Adelaide Road (Paddy and Tess born) |
| 1930-31 | 149 Thomas St. Corpo dbase has him here till 1934 followed by No. 45 for a year. |
| 1937-38 | 6 James's St., with 2nd wife Catherine [demolished 1938 for flats] |
| 1939-43 | 7 Dolphin Road (owned by Catherine and sold after her death) |
| 1944-49 | 53 South Circular Road [where died] |
| 1950- | [the unmarried members of the family then stayed on here] |
Death
He died on 11 December, 1949, aged 63. You can see the newspaper reports covering the Death Notice and Obituary and Funeral Attendance.
He was buried in Mount Jerome cemetery with his daughter who had died of TB in 1929, and his first wife, Tess, who died in 1934, also of TB.
On a slightly macabre note, Patrick had a glass panel inserted in his coffin so that his face could be seen when the coffin was closed.
His second wife, Catherine, died in 1942, of subacute combined degeneration of the cord and heart failure. You can see her Death Notice and Obituary .
She is buried in Glasnevin cemetery, despite there having been two spaces in the Medlar grave in Mount Jerome at the time she died. She is the only occupant of a then newly opened grave in Glasnevin, which was never purchased by the family. It has now been purchased by a totally unrelated family the members of which will be joining Catherine in due course.