MOTHER
Julia Folan (Foley) Costello
By Sarah Costello

Mother was born August 23, 1846 in Park Spiddal, County Galway, Ireland. Her mother's name was Geraghty. She died when Mother was born. After the death of Grandmother, Mother and her brother, Martin, then three years old, were taken to live with their father's mother, Julia Lydon Folan (Foley).

About 1848, Mother's father, John Folan (Foley), and his brothers Tom and Jim decided to go to America. Grandfather was only in the United States about six months when he died. (It was said he may have been murdered for his money as he was saving to send for his children and folks who were still in Ireland.)

As it was, Mother and her brother stayed in Ireland with their grandparents until they married. They had their own homes in nearby towns in Ireland. Uncle Martin lived in Ireland all of his life. Father and Mother lived on Father's parents place in Kerown. Father's mother lived only about a year after Father and Mother were married. It was a very pleasant place. A roomy stone house overlooked Galway Bay. The Costellos had lived there for generations. An ivy covered stonewall enclosed the little farm. Father and his brother Charles owned a sailboat and used it for fishing when their farm work did not claim their attention.

It was in this house that we children: Bridget, Martin, Mary, John and I (Sarah), were born. My brother Coleman was born in Galway. Other sisters and brothers were born after we were in America. We only lived in Galway a few years before leaving for the United States in 1883.

Uncle Martin, as stated above, lived in Ireland all of his life, as did his son Johnny, who became a wealthy man. Johnny was the youngest of Uncle Martin's boys. None of Uncle Martin's family ever came to America. Two of his sons went to Australia. One of them had an undertaking parlor in Brisbane, Australia; the other boy went into government service in Melbourne, Australia. Johnny, the youngest, started out as a mail carrier, and as laws became less severe for the Catholics, he saw business opportunities in and around Galway. He became agent for an importer, the Cunard Steamship Company. Eventually, he owned three department stores in Galway and in nearby towns. He had a fine home in Galway, but always kept a summer home in his father's old town of Park Spiddal, where he also had a store. He also bought the old homestead where Mother and his father were born, as he said, more for sentimental reasons than for investment. He deeded the farm to his brother Patrick, who was a farmer.

Johnny was not to enjoy his hard-earned prosperity without mishap, however. Two of his very beautiful nieces clerked in his store in Park Spiddal. During the uprising in 1916, mobs of drunken Black and Tan soldiers took possession near Spiddal. One of these drunken mobs descended on Spiddal one evening and tried to get the girls. Luckily, the priest in the nearby church saw the plight of the girls, spirited them out, dressed in the priest's clothes. Somehow, the Black and Tans got wind of what the priest had done and a few nights later, he had a "sick" call. He was told that someone was dying. The next day his body was found in a nearby swamp. His throat was cut. I read in a recent book on Ireland that a monument has since been erected on the spot where was murdered.

Johnny's store was burned to the ground, as was his home. It was done by the Black and Tans. When Johnny wrote us about the ordeal, so much of it was censored by the British, that we did not really know much about it until Mrs. Ward, a neighbor who had gone back to Ireland, told us about it. This was years later.

However, when peace was restored and the Free State established, Johnny made a good come back in business. He built a nice home in Galway and rebuilt his stores.