Person:Rosanna Reid (1)

Childhood

Rosanna Reid was baptised on 1st January 1848 at Donaghmoyne in County Monaghan, daughter of Julia Reid, formerly Hanlon, and her husband John Reid, a mason and bricklayer. The family travelled around extensively, seemingly following where railways were under construction. Less than two years before Rosanna's birth the family had been living in County Offaly (then King's County) and less than eighteen months after Rosanna's birth the family had moved on to Dundalk in County Louth. By the early 1850s the family appears to have settled in the city of Dublin. By 1870, Rosanna and her siblings and parents were living at 8 Lower Kevin Street - her sister Maria was married from that address in 1870.

Adulthood

In 1872, Rosanna's eldest sister, Margaret, was married to a Richard Farrell. Rosanna was one of the witnesses to that marriage, along with Richard's brother John. Rosanna and John would go on to marry each other three years later, on 27th June 1875, at St Kevin's Catholic Church on Harrington Street, Dublin. Rosanna was 27 when she married and still living at 8 Lower Kevin Street with her parents.

Shortly after their marriage, Rosanna and John moved to 19 Stephen Street, where they had ten children together. Sadly, most of the children died young - in 1911 Rosanna reported that only three of her children were still living. John was a tailor. He appears to have died some time between 1889 and 1901, as Rosanna was described as a widow in the 1901 census.

Rosanna's parents moved away from Dublin to Monasterevin in County Kildare in the late 1870s or 1880s. Rosanna's brother Michael stayed in Dublin, living with her at 19 Stephen Street. Michael was a grocer's assistant, but died at home in 1885, aged 38. Two years later, Rosanna's father John died at Monasterevin, aged 66. Rosanna's mother Julia subsequently came to live with Rosanna, and died at 19 Stephen Street on 25th October 1896.

In both the 1901 and 1911 cenuses, Rosanna was living at 19 Stephen Street. She worked as a machinist and tailor. In 1911 she had her nephew, Michael Thomas Reid (son of her brother William) living with her, along with her daughter Margaret. Her daughter Julia was still unmarried and living at 4 Abercorn Terrace, (also known as 297 Harold's Cross Road) in the Rathmines area to the south of the city. Rosanna's sister Maria, who had emigrated to America in 1883, was staying with Julia at the time of the 1911 census, as part of a year-long visit back to Ireland - the only one she would make.

Rosanna's son William was in 1911 studying at the Carmelite College at Terenure, to the south of Dublin, as an undergraduate of the National University of Ireland. He later became a priest. In 1915, William emigrated to New York, at which time he gave his mother's address as 4 Aberdeen Terrace, Harold's Cross - presumably a mistake for 4 Abercorn Terrace, Harold's Cross, indicating that Rosanna must have left 19 Stephen Street and moved in with her daughter Julia.

Rosanna's three children who lived to adulthood appear not to have married. Julia died on 24th March 1926, and Margaret died eleven days later on 4th April. Over in New York, it was reported that William intended to return to Ireland to visit his mother following the deaths of his sisters in quick succession, but he died himself on 15th June 1926. Thus Rosanna had outlived all ten of her children.

Rosanna continued to live at 4 Abercorn Terrace, 297 Harold's Cross Road until her death, although she did not die at home but at the St Monica's Home to the north of the city. She died on 17th December 1932, aged 84.

1. ↑ Irish Family History Foundation. RootsIreland. (Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland).

   Name: Roseanne Reed
   Date of baptism / birth: 1 Jan 1848
   Parish / district: Donaghmoyne
   County: Monaghan
   Father: James Reed
   Mother: Julia Hanlon

   Although her father's name here is listed as James, it is considered this is an error. There is no evidence of a James Reid and Julia Hanlon couple anywhere else, whilst there is good evidence for John Reid and Julia Hanlon travelling around locations where railways were under construction - as was the case in Donaghmoyne (the Dundalk and Enniskillen Railway) in 1848. Rosanna's marriage records show that she was the daughter of John Reid and Julia Hanlon, thus we conclude this baptism is the right one, but that a mistake was made on her father's name. Such a mistake is understandable in light of the short period of time the family appears to have stayed in any one location.

2. ↑ Census Office. Ireland Census 1901. (National Archives of Ireland)
   County: City of Dublin / Parish: St Peter / Ward: Royal Exchange / Street: Stephens Street / Schedule: 19, 31 Mar 1901.

   Form A (about the family):
   Rosanna Farrell, head, Roman Catholic, Can Read & write, 40 [1860/1], female, Machinist Tailor, widow, born Dublin, speaks English
   Julia Farrell, daughter, Roman Catholic, Can Read & write, 21 [1879/80], female, Cashier, not married, born Dublin, speaks English
   Margaret Farrell, daughter, Roman Catholic, Can Read & write, 19 [1881/2], female, Shop Assistant, not married, born Dublin, speaks English
   William Farrell, son, Roman Catholic, Can Read & write, 14 [1886/7], male, Scholar, not married, born Dublin, speaks Irish & English
   Form B (about the house):
   Shop & Tenement
   No out-offices
   Walls of stone, brick or concrete
   Roof of slate, iron or tile
   9 rooms
   7 windows in front of house
   3 families in house
   Rosanna Farrell's household occupying 3 rooms (a John McKenna's family occupying 5 rooms and a Teresa Hall occupying one room)

3. ↑ Census Office. Ireland Census 1911. (Dublin: National Archives of Ireland)
   County: Dublin City, District Electoral Division: Royal Exchange Ward, Parish: St Peter, 2 Apr 1911.

   Address: 19 Upper Stephen Street, Dublin
   Form A (about the family):
   Rosanna Farrell, head, Catholic, Read & write, female, 58 [1852/3], Machinist, Widow, 10 children, 3 still living, b. Dublin, speaks English
   Margaret Farrell, daughter, Catholic, Read & write, female, 32 [1878/9], Shop assistant (bakery), single, b. Dublin, speaks English
   Michael T. Reid, nephew, Catholic, Read & write, male, 23 [1887/8], Drapers Clerk, single, b. Monasterevan, Co. Kildare, speaks Irish & English
   Form B (about the house):
   Dwelling & shop
   No outbuildings
   Walls of stone, brick or concrete
   Roof of slate, iron or tile
   11 rooms
   6 windows on front of house
   2 distinct families in house (Rosanna Farrell's family occupying 3 rooms, five people in the family of a John McKenna occupying other 8 rooms)

4. ↑ Deaths register, in General Register Office of Ireland. Civil Registration.

   1932. DEATHS Registered in the Distric of N[or]th City No. 1 West in the Union of Dublin in the County of City of Dublin
   No. 439
   Date and Place of Death: 1932 December Seventeenth, St. Monica's Home
   Name and Surname: Rosina Farrell, 297 Harold's Cross Road C.B.
   Sex: F
   Condition: Widow
   Age last Birthday: 86 y[ea]rs [1845/6]
   Rank, Profession, or Occupation: Widow of Tailor
   Certified Cause of Death and Duration of Illness: Acute Bronchitis 7 days Cardiac failure Cert[ified]
   Signature, Qualification, and Residence of Informant: Theresa Quinn, Inmate, St. Monica's Home
   When Registered: December Nineteenth 1932
   Signature of Registrar: C.A. Cusack, Registrar