{"id":120,"date":"2012-08-29T19:17:45","date_gmt":"2012-08-30T03:17:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/?page_id=120"},"modified":"2015-02-03T14:25:46","modified_gmt":"2015-02-03T22:25:46","slug":"vincent-mccann-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/2nd-generation-2\/vincent-mccann-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Vincent Myles McCann (1894-1971) married Nora Malone (1915-2005)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_795\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-795\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dadamamatonymaureen.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-795\" title=\"Vincent and Nora McCann\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dadamamatonymaureen.jpg\" alt=\"Vincent and Nora McCann\" width=\"450\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dadamamatonymaureen.jpg 450w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/dadamamatonymaureen-259x300.jpg 259w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-795\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vincent and Nora McCann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Early Life<\/h2>\n<p><b>Vincent McCann. <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Vincent was born on 29 April 1894 when the family lived at Tallanstown Co. Louth. He was the fourth of nine children. (One of the children, Cecil, born 1892, died at the age of six.)<\/p>\n<p>They later moved to Belfast, where Edith was born, and lived in a small terrace house on Bedeque Street, Number 27. This street has gone now. They lived here when he started his apprenticeship with Harland and Wolff shipyard as a fitter. At that time, his father had retired from the RIC and was working as a warder in the nearby Antrim Road Gaol.<\/p>\n<p>The next information we have about him is from what he told my mother, backed up by census data. He served an apprenticeship in an engineering works, possibly Harland and Woolf, or else associated with the shipyard. His trade, given in the 1911 census, was Fitter, and this was the trade he took up in the army when he joined. As mentioned further down, he had to take a test for the army, and this was carried out by a civilian inspector and the location was Queens Island, which is where the shipyard was \u2013 there would probably be a number of engineering works there too. The interesting thing is that he would have been working there when the Titanic was being fitted out at the shipyard. He had a piece of steel in his eye, which he told me himself he got when he was working as a fitter. I do wish I\u2019d asked more questions when he was alive!<\/p>\n<h2>Military Career<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1514\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1514\" style=\"width: 223px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Dada-in-Army-uniformcorrected.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1514 \" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Dada-in-Army-uniformcorrected-187x300.jpg\" alt=\"Dada in Army uniform(corrected)\" width=\"223\" height=\"370\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1514\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vincent in uniform.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The most information about Vincent comes from his British Army records, which fortunately were saved. (During World War II, a number of British Army records were destroyed during the Blitz. About half were recovered, and happily, Vincent\u2019s were among those. The original copies show burn marks around the edges.)<\/p>\n<p>He joined the Army on 18th\u00a0September 1914 in Belfast, on a short service enlistment, which meant he\u2019d do three years, or until the war ended, whichever was longest. He was aged 20,\u00a0<i>which agrees with the birth date of 1894<\/i>.\u00a0 He was posted to the Royal Engineers, with the job of Fitter \u201cSkilled\u201d and on 1 Jan 1915 was promoted to Sapper; his Regimental number was 57563. (catalogue ref. no. WO 372\/12).<\/p>\n<p>His Certificate of Trade Proficiency also dated 1 January 1915, shows he was tested at Queens Island, Belfast by a civilian inspector, and found to be \u201cvery good\u201d which is the highest grade they have on the test. This was signed by John McDougall, Iron Turner. On 15 Jan 1915 he was transferred to Athy. But another document describes his transfer from Clandeboge Camp to Kilworth, (Co. Tipperary) to the 75th\u00a0Field Company. This was dated 7 November 1914. We have it that he told Uncle Leo that this was due to friction with protestant troops at the training camp in Belfast. His occupation in the army was Iron Turner, which I believe is a lathe operator. His physical report on enlistment states him to be 5 feet 8 1\/8 inches, weight 136 lbs (or 9 stone 10 lbs), his chest measurement was 36 \u00bd inches. Hair brown, eyes blue.<\/p>\n<p>Vincent, on enlistment was posted to RE 122 Company and on the 15\/1\/1915 he was transferred to 75th\u00a0F (Field) company. They were transferred to Athy for training.<\/p>\n<p>He embarked with the BEF on 24th\u00a0August 1915 for France. He was issued several campaign medals (I wonder where they ended up?):<\/p>\n<p>1914 -1915 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal.,<\/p>\n<p>On 25 July 1916, he was wounded, apparently by gas. His Casualty \u2013 Active service form shows the following:<\/p>\n<p>2 November 1915 Absent from his billet from 8 pm to 10 pm.<\/p>\n<p>25 February 1916 ?? Unreadable.<\/p>\n<p>19 February 1917 Admitted to hospital.<\/p>\n<p>24 February 1917 Rejoined his unit.<\/p>\n<p>9 July 1917 Remustered (promoted) from Fitter to Turner and raised to superior grade of C.P.<\/p>\n<p>1 December 1917 Admitted to Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>15 December 1917 Rejoined his unit.<\/p>\n<p>18 January 1918 (Date of record entry.) Leave to U.K. (Presumably Belfast) from 15 December 1917 to 29 December 1917. So it seems the army let him go home for Christmas after being discharged from hospital.<\/p>\n<p>10 January 1919 Fourteen days leave to U.K. Another document shown is a \u201cProtection Certificate of Identity\u201d which is dated 27 January 1919, where he is granted 28 days furlough.<\/p>\n<p>There is a Receipt (signed by Vincent McCann) for the 1914 \u2013 1915 Star on 22 November 1920 and British War Medal dated 25 November 1920, with his signature on it.<\/p>\n<p>His company conduct sheet, which has all entries annotated \u201cin the field\u201d i.e. in the war zone shows the following:<\/p>\n<p>11 January 1915 Absent from his billet and drunk about 10 pm. He got 7 days FP No 2 for that. On 6 February 1918 he overstayed his pass from Arras? Frp, 9 pm 6th\u00a0until 10.10 pm. For this his pass was stopped for 14 days.<\/p>\n<p>On 19 December 1918, he was absent from midday stables (whatever that was?) from 11.30 to 12.30 and he got 1 day CB which I presume was confined to barracks.<\/p>\n<p>Another statement showed that he didn\u2019t have any claim for disability, and that was dated 27 Jan 1919. Strangely enough, he died on that day, 52 years later, quite possibly partly from long term effects from his gassing in 1916. His health problems which ultimately led to him losing his leg, and probably his death, were circulation problems. Apparently one of the effects of mustard gas poisoning, is to cause circulation problems in later life. However, he was a heavy smoker all his life, as is attested by almost every photograph of him with a cig dangling from his fingers. So we can\u2019t put all the blame on Kaiser Wilhelm II.<\/p>\n<p>While he was in the army, his home address was shown as: 27 Bedeque Road, Belfast. In later records, the address changed to 13 Cranburn Street, Belfast, so somewhere between 1915 and 1918 the family moved.<\/p>\n<p>The only other story we have (via my mother) was that he joined the IRA during the \u2018Troubles.\u2019 It must have been fairly late however, because he wasn\u2019t demobilized until 1920. She tells the story of the Black and Tans looking for him, and he ran into a field where his father was working making hay stacks. His dad apparently hid him under one of the stacks. I hope he didn\u2019t suffer from allergies! After Independence, he joined the Customs and Excise, where he reached the rank of Preventive Officer.<!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Marriage<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The Story of Vincent and Nora McCann \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Derek McCann<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>They first met in 1937 when she was about 22 years old; Vincent would have been 43. By then he was working as a Customs Officer with the Customs and Excise Dept. of the 15 year old Free State. He used to come out to her family home, Strandville, on the Clontarf Road, to play cards. Back in the 1930s, before the arrival of T.V., (and probably even radio in most houses) there was a much healthier social life; card games played a major part in the meeting of many of our parents. In fact, that\u2019s how Terry\u2019s mother met her father too, though that\u2019s another tale.<\/p>\n<p>My mother quite fancied this remote and very handsome man, who was considerably older than she. He was friendly with her father, which is how he came to be invited out to the house. He was evidently single. Eventually she got to know him, and they began going out together. If you look at their birth dates, and do the math, he was 21 years older than she was. He\u2019d also been \u2018around the block\u2019 a few times, having fought in France for the duration of the First World War; after that was ended, he got involved in the IRA.<\/p>\n<p>Vincent was a very reserved, quiet man, with a dry sense of humor. This same sense of humor goes throughout the McCann family (Not me, but it shows up in my sister Pat and Anne, and Cousin Chris among others.)<\/p>\n<p>I know little about his life between 1920 and 1938 when he met my mother.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1074\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1074\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/17-Blackheath-Park-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1074\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/17-Blackheath-Park-2.jpg\" alt=\"17 blackheath Park, where Nora and Vincent lived for the first 10 years of their married life.\" width=\"600\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/17-Blackheath-Park-2.jpg 600w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/17-Blackheath-Park-2-300x192.jpg 300w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/17-Blackheath-Park-2-468x300.jpg 468w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1074\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">17 blackheath Park, where Nora and Vincent lived for the first 10 years of their married life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Vincent and Nora started out in Blackheath Park where they bought a house (No. 17). I think the price they paid for it was around \u00a3 600. Their next door neighbour was Vincent McLaughlin, who, with his wife Maura began a friendship with my parents that was to last a lifetime. They had looked at houses in Bushy Park, but preferred [the more expensive] houses in Blackheath, which had just been built. The moved in there after getting married in 1939.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1516\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1516\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/ST-Pauls-Cathedral-during-the-Blitz.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1516\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/ST-Pauls-Cathedral-during-the-Blitz-300x239.jpg\" alt=\"St Pauls Cathedral during the Blitz\" width=\"300\" height=\"239\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1516\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">St. Pauls Cathedral during the Blitz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In January 1940, as the German war machine prepared to invade the West European countries, their first son, <a title=\"Tony McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/3rd-generation\/tony-mccann\/\">Tony <\/a>was born.<\/p>\n<p>On the 2nd of January 1941 the first German bombs fell on Terenure, and South Circular Road was bombed on the 3rd. Just over two weeks later, <a title=\"Patricia McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/3rd-generation\/patricia-mccann\/\">Pat <\/a>was born. A few months later on 31 May, the North Strand was bombed with the loss of 28 lives. My mother was at home on that night, while my dad worked down on the North Wall (Dublin Port). The bombs fell very close to where her cousin, Hannah Shelley lived.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1519\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1519\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/s.North-Strand-Bombing.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1519\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/s.North-Strand-Bombing-300x196.jpg\" alt=\"The scene the next day on the North Strand. That   site was still derelict when I was growing up. \" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" srcset=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/s.North-Strand-Bombing-300x196.jpg 300w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/s.North-Strand-Bombing.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1519\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The scene the next day on the North Strand. That site was still derelict when I was growing up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Life moved on in Blackheath Park, with the War rumbling on around them.<\/p>\n<p>Tony says he saw a Messerschmidt and Spitfire dog-fighting over the houses. Money was a problem then &#8211; more due to extravagance on Nora&#8217;s part and poor money management. They had no clue, either of them how to run a \u00a0house. Like most young married couples.<\/p>\n<p>In December 1944, Nora was pregnant again. In August 1945, two weeks after the Atom Bomb (Fat Boy) was dropped on Nagasaki, <a title=\"Derek McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/3rd-generation\/derek-mccann-2\/\">Derek<\/a> and Denise were born in Nurse Drum&#8217;s nursing home on Vernon Avenue. (Just a block up from the Clontarf Road.) Things became busy then with a five year old and four year old and twins to look after.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1521\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1521\" style=\"width: 251px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/1.-Tony-and-Pat-4-yrs.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1521\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/1.-Tony-and-Pat-4-yrs-251x300.jpg\" alt=\"Tony and Pat taken about 1944\" width=\"251\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/1.-Tony-and-Pat-4-yrs-251x300.jpg 251w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/1.-Tony-and-Pat-4-yrs-858x1024.jpg 858w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/1.-Tony-and-Pat-4-yrs.jpg 1252w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 251px) 100vw, 251px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1521\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tony and Pat taken about 1944<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1120\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1120\" style=\"width: 183px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/a.Pat-5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1120\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/a.Pat-5-183x300.jpg\" alt=\"This is the only photo of Pat I have ever seen, where she is not laughing! She was about 5 years old when it was taken and obviously took life very seriously. \" width=\"183\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/a.Pat-5-183x300.jpg 183w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/a.Pat-5-625x1024.jpg 625w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 183px) 100vw, 183px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1120\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pat, about five years old.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The photo of Pat was taken around this time. In the next room, Bernie Slattery was having her first child, Bride (Donie), and as a result of that meeting, Bernie and her husband Thomas (Thos) also became lifelong friends of my parents. This is the only photo of Pat I have ever seen, where she is not laughing!<\/p>\n<p>Then on 22nd November 1945, tragedy struck. Gastroenteritis was prevalent in the area, and Denise came down with it. Dr. Lappin told my mother there was nothing that could be done, and true enough, within 24 hours she passed away. Vincent and our neighbour, Vin McLaughlin, took her to Glasnevin, where she was buried in the plot of &#8220;The Little Angels&#8221;. She was three months old. Nora was left at home, grieving and looking after the other three children. It was to be 50 years before she was ever to see the grave.<\/p>\n<p>I can just remember a few things about living there&#8230; the piano my mother bought being brought in to the house on a very icy day, the movers had to put sacks on the ground. As a little guy of about four years old, I couldn&#8217;t stand on the ground at all &#8211; it was too slippery. Tony and Pat were probably at school that day. The photo is of Pat, taken around that time.<\/p>\n<p>Vincent\u00a0would often go up the country to border posts, to relieve his colleagues for holidays etc. I can remember seeing him off one time at Dublin Airport (Collinstown) flying out in a Dakota DC3. He must have been going to Shannon then. We were standing on the balcony waving to him, and my mum was ogling the pilots, \u201coooh look at those pilots in their lovely nylon shirts.\u201d One of my earliest memories.<\/p>\n<p>It was in Blackheath Park that my parents made a lifelong friendship with the next door neighbors, Vin and Maura McLaughlin. They were two wonderful people, and were probably the best friends they ever had, outside of family.<\/p>\n<p>We all went to school in Belgrove. (We little realized that our little sister Ann would end up marrying the son of the Headmaster, Mr. Kelleher [who we despised!]) But that\u2019s jumping ahead a bit. In 1950 the financial situation got a bit grim. Their financial management skills were almost non-existent in those days. Like most of us, they learned the hard way. In the heel of the hunt, \u00a0they had to sell the house and downsize. I don\u2019t remember much about the process that led up to it, but I imagine they must have done a good bit of looking around, and eventually they came up with a new development in a place called Hollybrook Grove. This was definitely a step down for my mother in particular, as she was used to the \u2018good life\u2019 at Strandville, and was used to living in a good middle class neighborhood. Hollybrook Grove wasn\u2019t quite, umm, the same level.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1441\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1441\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kkenny17-e1422482690111.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1441\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kkenny17-e1422482690111-300x206.jpg\" alt=\"No. 62 Hollybrook Grove, taken later on about 2004.  coincidentally, my cell phone number ends in 6162, the numbers of the two semi-detached houses.\" width=\"300\" height=\"206\" srcset=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kkenny17-e1422482690111-300x206.jpg 300w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kkenny17-e1422482690111-1024x702.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/kkenny17-e1422482690111.jpg 1203w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1441\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">No. 62 Hollybrook Grove, taken later on about 2004.<br \/>coincidentally, my cell phone number ends in 6162, the numbers of the two semi-detached houses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The house was a small 3 bedroom with one bathroom. It was fine for a small family, but even with three children, it was a tight squeeze. One of the rooms was the \u2018box-room\u2019 which had a large box where the stairs passed underneath. This was my room, and I was perfectly happy there. The problem of who to put where was solved by shipping Tony out to Strandville to live with my Grandfather to \u201ckeep him company\u201d. This need for company was partly true, as my granda had been recently widowed when my grandmother died after a massive stroke \u2013 this would have been about 1949 or 1950.<\/p>\n<p>All this worked fine until 1951, when my mother got pregnant again. She had twins \u2013 Ann and Noreen, who were almost Leap Year twins, which would have been a considerable status thing. They were born on 28th\u00a0February 1952. I remember when they were brought home, they were tiny, and she put them in the deep drawers of her dressing table, padded with pillows! But this wouldn\u2019t work forever.<\/p>\n<p>When we were in 62 Hollybrook Grove, Dada\u00a0was planning to do some maintenance on the gutters of the two-story house. He made his own ladder, from two long 4&#215;2 timbers, and 2&#215;1 steps, which were nailed to the uprights. The ladder was on grass when he went up on it, and it slipped. He had a horrible fall from it, his legs going through a window, and was bedridden for quite a time. This would have been around 1955. It seems to me that it wasn\u2019t long after that when he experienced circulation problems in his feet. Then he developed gangrene in one foot. If I\u2019m right about the date, 1955, he would have been 61 at the time.<\/p>\n<p>The solution for the gangrene was to amputate his toe. This didn\u2019t work, and in the end, his leg was amputated above the knee. He was fitted with a prosthetic leg. However, my understanding is that the operation to remove the leg was somehow done badly, and he was in continuous pain from it. As a result, it was difficult to wear the artificial leg. This is my memory of him in later years; bedridden a lot, in pain a lot of the time, going to the chemist to get codeine, which he seemed to need continuously. He did have good times too, taking the family out for drives in Tony\u2019s car. (Dada never did own his own car \u2013 at least since he got married.)<\/p>\n<p>Still, they kept looking for a new house. On Saturdays they would go out for drives with Uncle Vin (McLaughlin), and I think a lot of these trips were spent looking at areas that we could move into,.<\/p>\n<p>The outcome was that we bought and moved into a house in Dollymount; <a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/374-clontarf-road-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1075\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/374-clontarf-road-2-300x206.jpg\" alt=\"374 Clontarf Coad\" width=\"300\" height=\"206\" srcset=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/374-clontarf-road-2-300x206.jpg 300w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/374-clontarf-road-2-435x300.jpg 435w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/374-clontarf-road-2.jpg 1005w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>374 Clontarf Road, in 1957. The house even had a name \u2013 St. Gerards. This was a big step up. The back garden was huge \u2013 no one thought about how my dad would look after it, but he did manage for quite a long time. It was a fine house and still is. There we settled down in happy middle class comfort. Where the money came from to buy the house is still a mystery, that wasn\u2019t revealed to me on that drive home from San Antonio.<\/p>\n<p>But things got more difficult for my dad. He tried going back to work, but that didn&#8217;t last long, and he was bedridden again. In the end he had to take early retirement, on a reduced pension. There were always money problems. Mama\u2019s life seemed to be spent between keeping the house during the day and going up to the Mater Hospital at night. Uncle Vin drove her up there almost every night, which when I look back on it, was a remarkable act of friendship. This went on for years.<\/p>\n<p>The financial situation got tighter and tighter. Each of us three older kids was working, though I was still going to school, and working at night in a cinema. Mother took all my wages. Later I got a job in a hotel in Monkstown, near Dunleary and finally ended up working as a waiter in the Royal Dublin Golf Club.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Patricia McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/3rd-generation\/patricia-mccann\/\">Pat<\/a> meantime got a job as a Rail Hostess &#8211; an idea C.I.E. were trying out, and later<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1451\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1451\" style=\"width: 238px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Photos27.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1451\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Photos27-238x300.jpg\" alt=\"Pat\" width=\"238\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Photos27-238x300.jpg 238w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Photos27-813x1024.jpg 813w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 238px) 100vw, 238px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1451\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pat in the early days as an air hostess<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>discontinued.) After that, she got taken on by Aer Lingus as an air hostess, and spent many years there. \u00a0About 1963, she came over to visit me when my ship arrived in Bristol to discharge. She told me she&#8217;d met this really nice guy (from Bristol) who was a former Royal Navy pilot. His name was John, and she really fancied him. That relationship blossomed and finally in 1963? they were married. John had lived in a little cottage on Strand Road in Sutton, which was too small, so they moved into the upstairs of No. 374. That was a very temporary move, and they later moved to a bungalow in Kilbarrack where Tanya was born.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile <a title=\"Tony McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/3rd-generation\/tony-mccann\/\">Tony<\/a> got married to Patsy (Taplin) and joined the Dublin Fire Brigade, where he rose through the ranks until his retirement in 2005, as a District Officer.<\/p>\n<p>During this period, 1960 &#8211; 1970 they decided to turn the house into a Bed and Breakfast to bring in some extra revenue. This involved some renovations to the downstairs bathroom, but nothing like you would have to do nowadays. The guests started coming in and I kind of think my mom enjoyed it. She made lot of friends and many came back for return visits. At this stage, Pat was working in Aer Lingus, Tony had got married and joined the Fire Service, and I had gone away to sea. So all our rooms were rented out, except Pat and the twins. Ann and Noreen shared a room and Pat had her own small room on the middle landing over the garage.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, my mother had to take a job herself, working in a local shop behind the counter. She would have been about 50 at the time, with two children in school, and an ailing husband, and probably still running the guest house,\u00a0but she did it.<\/p>\n<p>Around 1963 Dada and Mama went to Rome with Pat, Ann and Noreen to visit Pat\u2019s then fianc\u00e9e Carlos. I believe they had a great time there \u2013 I was at sea at the time, so only heard about it later.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1450\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1450\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Photos22.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1450\" src=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Photos22-755x1024.jpg\" alt=\"L-R Carlos (Pat's fiancee - later broke up) Pat, Ann, Noreen, Nora and Vincent. This was taken on a visit to Rome where Carlos lived. Vincent had a prosthetic leg then - probably around 1962\" width=\"660\" height=\"895\" srcset=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Photos22-755x1024.jpg 755w, http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Photos22-221x300.jpg 221w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1450\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L-R Carlos (Pat&#8217;s fiancee &#8211; later broke up) Pat, Ann, Noreen, Nora and Vincent. This was taken on a visit to Rome where Carlos lived. Vincent had a prosthetic leg then &#8211; probably around 1962<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But the house in Dollymount was proving a bit too much for them &#8211; Dada couldn&#8217;t cope with the big back garden, and couldn&#8217;t manage the stairs any more. In 1970 they finally sold it, and moved to a bungalow in Kilbarrack. But I think my father&#8217;s heart stayed in the lovely house on Clontarf Road, with it&#8217;s magnificent views of the Bull Island and Howth Head; it&#8217;s lovely gardens and conservatory, where he liked to sit in the sun.<\/p>\n<p>When Terry and I got married in 1969, he was back in hospital \u2013 in the Mater, so he was unable to be at our wedding. I don\u2019t know what the problem was, but he was pretty ill. We went up to see him after the reception. Terry and I spent a year and a half at sea together, on the Supertanker, Evgenia Chandris. I had aspirations to study, so after that we moved to Plymouth, where I started my studies for a BSc. Degree. all this time, Dada&#8217;s health was deteriorating. It wasn&#8217;t all bad. My mother said she enjoyed that time together; their finances were a bit better, and they used to have long chats together over a glass of sherry.<\/p>\n<p>In January 1971, I got a call to go home, as Dada was seriously ill. He was in St. Joseph\u2019s Nursing Home in Raheny. (I can still remember the occasion, the Nuclear Engineering Professor came over to me during class, and whispered that I was needed at home.)<\/p>\n<p>For a few days, Dada was really bad, but then seemed to make a recovery. We were all delighted, but I overheard the doctor saying to my mother that he was terminal. That was the first time I\u2019d ever heard that expression. I went back to my studies, but a week later, I got another call to return home. I just managed to see him, and say goodbye. He died shortly after. The date was January 27, 1971.<\/p>\n<p>It was doubly hard on my mother, because her father had passed away a week earlier. But she was pretty stoic about it; looking back, she had a tough life during those years.<\/p>\n<p>In 1971 he passed away, from heart failure, brought on by the continuous suffering from the leg and of course, the smoking. But they didn\u2019t know much about the dangers of the oul\u2019 fag then.<\/p>\n<p>Following his death, my mother moved to a Sutton Park to a rental house, and eventually bought a house on Balkill Park in Howth, where she lived until about the 1980\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, she complained more and more about the rigors of walking up the steep hill, and any other reason she could think of, and decided to sell the house. This was against the advice of just about everyone, because it was such a patently bad economic move. But nothing would stop her, and she sold. The next move (6<sup>th<\/sup> \u2013 if you\u2019ve been keeping count) was down to the village to a flat on Thornamby Road. This was the rear portion of a bungalow, and she had a nice back garden. The front was a doctor\u2019s surgery, so she didn\u2019t have to go far to meet her medical needs. It was a lovely situation, near the shops, with the church just across the road, and lovely walks around by the cliffs of Howth and the harbor. Tony was only just up the road, and Ann wasn\u2019t too far away either. In a lot of ways, it was more cosy than the house up on Balkill.<\/p>\n<p>She stayed there until about 1987. Things had become a little difficult because of the surgery; apparently, there were a number of break-ins \u2013 druggies looking for drugs. She felt uncomfortable with this and move no. 7 was to Sutton Cross, on the main road. This was not nearly so nice a place, but she made the most of it, and stayed there until the landlord decided to sell the property. This time, it was left to the family to find another place, (Tony and Pat mostly) and she ended up in a lovely new little townhouse in the grounds of Clontarf Castle. Again, it was convenient to shops \u2013 not so much to church, but there were nice walks around the area, and the community was gated. It was central to the homes of her kids (except pat and myself) too, and they could visit fairly easily. She became increasingly dependent on these visits. Her health gradually deteriorated, though she gave up smoking. She did walk a fair bit, but as her legs got worse that gradually stopped. Ann knew a Latvian woman named Lydia, who used to come in and look after her, and eventually moved in. She developed a good relationship with my mother.<\/p>\n<p>The 9<sup>th<\/sup> and final move was to St. Gabriel\u2019s nursing home in Harmonstown. She died there in 2005 aged 90.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Children<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Tony McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/john-mccann-and-margaret-hague\/patrick-mccann\/vincent-mccann-2\/tony-mccann\/\">\u00a0Tony<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(b. Jan 25 1940)<\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Patricia McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/john-mccann-and-margaret-hague\/patrick-mccann\/vincent-mccann-2\/patricia-mccann\/\">Patricia<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(b. Jan 19 1941)<\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Denice Marie McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/john-mccann-and-margaret-hague\/patrick-mccann\/vincent-mccann-2\/denice-marie\/\">Denice Marie<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(b. Aug. 22 1945 &#8211; Nov. 22 1945)<\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Derek McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/john-mccann-and-margaret-hague\/patrick-mccann\/vincent-mccann-2\/derek-mccann-2\/\">Derek<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(b. Aug. 22 1945)<\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Anne McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/john-mccann-and-margaret-hague\/patrick-mccann\/vincent-mccann-2\/anne-mccann\/\">Anne<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(b. Feb. 28 1952)<\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Noreen McCann\" href=\"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/john-mccann-and-margaret-hague\/patrick-mccann\/vincent-mccann-2\/noreen-mccann\/\">Noreen<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(b. Feb. 28 1952)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Early Life Vincent McCann. Vincent was born on 29 April 1894 when the family lived at Tallanstown Co. Louth. He was the fourth of nine children. (One of the children, Cecil, born 1892, died at the age of six.) They later moved to Belfast, where Edith was born, and lived in a small terrace house<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":638,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-120","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1539,"href":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120\/revisions\/1539"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/themccannline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}