michel knockaert Posted 13 August , 2007 Share Posted 13 August , 2007 Hello all, thank you very much for your nice comments concerning Simone, I knew that you would like to make his knowledge, she is really a charming and pretty Lady (and her coffee is wonderful...). Ian, the thread concerning Private Patrick Barry is very interesting, thank you for the information. Jean, indeed the poem is very touching, thank you. Wait still a litte, and I will present to you another VERY important Lady... Remember, I said that your handkerchiefs had to be prepared, that will soon be the moment… Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel knockaert Posted 13 August , 2007 Share Posted 13 August , 2007 David, thank you very much for posting and sharing the picture with us. couldn't you try to photograph it with a numerical camera? The artist was it present at the time of the attack or, Like Matania, imagined the scene according to testimonys? Do you know where the original is today? I believe we can say without much risk of error that it is well "la rue du Bois" which is represented with the background. Here a sight of "la rue du Bois" now, taken from the entry of “cinder track” while looking towards Neuve-Chapelle (Arthur Port - the Bomb). very friendly Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 13 August , 2007 Share Posted 13 August , 2007 Hello all, Wait still a litte, and I will present to you another VERY important Lady... Remember, I said that your handkerchiefs had to be prepared, that will soon be the moment… Michel Tissues at the ready, Michel! Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckop4 Posted 19 August , 2007 Share Posted 19 August , 2007 Looking forward to you next post Michel. In the meantime, you might be interested in some RMF newspaper clippings, etc, at - Royal Munster Fusiliers 1914-1918 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddy13 Posted 25 August , 2007 Share Posted 25 August , 2007 I spent the past few hours scanning the entries on this tread. The work that has gone into this is truly amazing. I will surely spend much more time in the days to come reveiwing the information in detail. On May 22, 1959, my brother Greg was killed in a tragic accident at the age of 9. My parents received the following letter from "Father Frank" which I have in my possession. This, I'm sure, is one of the last letters he ever wrote. "My dearest and sorrowing mother and father, of your dear Gregory- so suddenly taken away from your own beloved arms, and placed in the merciful embracesof Godwho created him, for his love. I cannot express to you all, how deeply I am grieved at the death of our dearest Gregory, and especially the way he was deprived of life. I am not able to write a long or full letter as I am not allowed to read or correspond, (illegible). May God console you all in your hard blow. It is certain that he is now in the hands of the angels forever. Gregory will prepare a mansion for you all in Heaven. He is always looking down on you from Heaven, thinking of you all, helping you all, and getting graces that will strengthen you all in life. Also it was very sad to hear of Gregory Skelly, and it was a remarkable thing that that the two deaths were coincident. I must now conclude, again sympathy with you and all in your loss. Yours affectionally Frank (Cannon) Gleeson" At the top of this letter it says "Parochial House, Meath St, Dublin. Then there is a date 7/4/1959. The date confuses me because Father Frank died June 26, 1959. In August of 1959, my mother received the following letter from Father Frank's sister, Sister Veronica, Sister of Saint Joseph. "Dear Mary, Thank you for your beautiful letter of sympathy in the death of our beloved Brother_ Father Frank. It was a great shock and a great sorrow for Ben and myself. I had just gotten permission to go home to his Golden Jubilee but it is all changed now at least for the present. Ben and I are the last two members of a big family and I was the fourteenth. 9 Boys and 5 Girls and four were blessed with vocations. Sister Thomas a Sister of Mercy who died in 1945. Sister Margaret Mary a Sister of Saint John of God who died in 1914. Father Frank and myself. So God was good to us and blessed us with wonderful parents. There must be a great reunion of the family in heaven and Gregory and his Uncle Frank are we hope the last arrivals. We can pray to them now and be assured of their intercession at all times. We have many sacred memories and consolations in the deaths of our loved ones and we must thank God every day for blessing us with such a holy Priest and Saintly little Boy. It is hard to reply to all the messages of sympathy and prayers I received from Ireland and I have been trying to get them out otherwise I would have written you sooner. Thank you again Mary and let me hear from you again soon. I enjoy your letters. Lots of love and daily remembrance from your fond Aunt Sister Veronica." I will talk to my Uncle and see if he has any additional information that may be of interest. Sean G [/quote my name is pat i am a native of dublin i served mass at st caterines meath st Canon f.a gleeson was a personal friend of my family.(esp my father0 i served his mass for approx 5years, untill my family moved out of the area. when he died, my family attended his funeral,my brother john and myself served at his requiem. he is buried in the clerical section of glaseneven cemetry dubli i have a copy of the irish independent reporting his death,with a photo.as a footnote he addressed us as his men! nothhing was too good for us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 25 August , 2007 Share Posted 25 August , 2007 Lovely to heat these personal reminiscences of Father Gleeson. Thank you. Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian turner Posted 25 August , 2007 Share Posted 25 August , 2007 Pat, Welcome to the forum and many thanks for taking the time to contribute. As you can see we become increasingly in awe of Fr Gleeson's humanity. It is great to hear from those who knew him. All this comes from a question about a painting few of us were originally aware of, even if we already knew of the artist's other works. Now through modern technology we become in touch, in some form or another, with the friends, family and aquaintances of the people depicted. If you ever have the chance I am sure we would all love to see a scan copy of the newspaper article and picture to add to this topic. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddy13 Posted 25 August , 2007 Share Posted 25 August , 2007 Pat, Welcome to the forum and many thanks for taking the time to contribute. As you can see we become increasingly in awe of Fr Gleeson's humanity. It is great to hear from those who knew him. All this comes from a question about a painting few of us were originally aware of, even if we already knew of the artist's other works. Now through modern technology we become in touch, in some form or another, with the friends, family and aquaintances of the people depicted. If you ever have the chance I am sure we would all love to see a scan copy of the newspaper article and picture to add to this topic. Ian Thanks for your welcome, I will certainly post the clippings a.s.a.p. Canon Gleeson was indeed a remarkable man. One small antedote(I have many) At St. Catherine, His housekeeper was one Miss.Bowe,she would not allow him to answer the front door as he was known to have given the shoes off his feet to a poor begger,5 days latter Miss Bowe discovered he was wearing the poor mans battered shoes and said nothing.this was the nature of the man. When he was laid out at his house people qd to see him, after 2 days they had to turn crowds away and close his coffin. It was a very sad time for all of us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian turner Posted 25 August , 2007 Share Posted 25 August , 2007 Pat, Thanks - keep it coming! I guess some of the other regulars on this thread must be away for the weekend! I am sure there will be more comment in due course. Meantime appreciated. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 26 August , 2007 Share Posted 26 August , 2007 I will certainly post the clippings a.s.a.p. Canon Gleeson was indeed a remarkable man. One small antedote(I have many) And we have time to listen if you will share! Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel knockaert Posted 27 August , 2007 Share Posted 27 August , 2007 "Looking forward to you next post Michel. In the meantime, you might be interested in some RMF newspaper clippings" Hello Jean, many thanks for these very interesting informations very friendly Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel knockaert Posted 27 August , 2007 Share Posted 27 August , 2007 Tissues at the ready, Michel! Hello Marina, how much do you have some? Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel knockaert Posted 27 August , 2007 Share Posted 27 August , 2007 Hello Pat, Welcome to the forum and many thanks for sharing with us all these wonderful informations. Please do'nt stop we are all aware ! very friendly Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 27 August , 2007 Share Posted 27 August , 2007 Tissues at the ready, Michel! Hello Marina, how much do you have some? Michel Two boxes, Michel! I am ready for anything! Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel knockaert Posted 31 August , 2007 Share Posted 31 August , 2007 Hello all, I introduce to you Adèle, this young lady about which I spoke it to you few times ago, this photograph was taken last year with Laventie, in the garden of his daughter. Adele was born in Richebourg in 1903, she was 11 years old at the time of the declaration of the war and lived in the farm of her parents, “rue des blancs chiens” in Richebourg, an adjacent street with “la rue du bois”, located between “Le Touret Memorial” and “la rue de l'épinette”….and she walked every day, to go to the school in the center of the Village, IN FRONT OF the Chappel “Notre-Dame de Seez” and the place where Father Gleeson gave the last absolution to Munsters. Adele is always alive and is, without any doubt, the last or one of the last alive people on this earth has to have known the chappel of origin before its destruction by the bombardments. She is formal, the chappel painted by Matania does not have absolutely anything to see with that which she knew, it was, says she, almost identical to that which was rebuilt, at the same place in 1929. I hope that one day we will be able to find a photograph or a sketch. very friendly Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 31 August , 2007 Share Posted 31 August , 2007 104 years old! She looks well on it! Hello, Adele from all at the Forum! Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greyhound Posted 1 September , 2007 Share Posted 1 September , 2007 Bonjour, Adele! It is a great privilege for us to hear about your memories. Michel, thank you for the introduction. This is very exciting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel knockaert Posted 1 September , 2007 Share Posted 1 September , 2007 Hello Grace an Marina, and... await the continuation, you will not be disappointed... Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 2 September , 2007 Share Posted 2 September , 2007 Tease! Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckop4 Posted 2 September , 2007 Share Posted 2 September , 2007 Michel, So nice of you to introduce us to Adele. I look forward to hearing her story. I wish that I had heard the stories of my own grandmother, who was born in a village in Ireland in 1902 and who died in 1989. When I was a child, she told me of her experiences during the period 1916-23 somewhat reluctantly, as if it was a big secret. She spoke of overhearing the adults whispering about the 1916 Rising in the kitchen, of seeing people shot in the streets in Cork during the War of Independence. But she never ever mentioned the Great War. And when I asked her who the man was standing behind her in the picture taken, below, she told me that it was her Uncle Mick and nothing else and as nobody ever told me about Irishmen who had served in the Great War, I assumed that he was wearing an Irish Army uniform and did not question her further. Nor did she volunteer any other information. Of course then I forgot about all this until myself and Mr. JPC became interested in the Great War ourselves in recent years and I re-examined the photograph and discovered Uncle Mick's Royal Irish Regiment cap badge and the date 1917 on the back of the photograph. And in the course of our research we have come across five other male relatives who had all fought in the Great War and whose histories had never been spoken of including Mr. JPC's great-grandfather who served in the RMF. And I keep meeting other people, here in Ireland, all busy researching their own relatives, Irish soldiers of the Great War, of whom we are justifiably proud now. And how tragic that we can only be proud of them now, after all this time, and how ironic, but wonderful, that the people of Richebourg and the rest of France and Belgium, kept the memory of the Irish soldiers alive for us to come and find them again. JPC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sullivan Posted 9 September , 2007 Share Posted 9 September , 2007 Of course then I forgot about all this until myself and Mr. JPC became interested in the Great War ourselves in recent years and I re-examined the photograph and discovered Uncle Mick's Royal Irish Regiment cap badge and the date 1917 on the back of the photograph. Hi jcp, I note from the photo of ancestor Doyle, he is displaying two wound stripes on lower left sleeve. Sullivan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sullivan Posted 9 September , 2007 Share Posted 9 September , 2007 Hello all, I introduce to you Adèle, this young lady about which I spoke it to you few times ago, this photograph was taken last year with Laventie, in the garden of his daughter. Hello Michel, Once again many thanks for introducing us to Adele, a wonderful lady. Another connection with history of great interest to all of us. Sullivan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunners dream Posted 10 September , 2007 Share Posted 10 September , 2007 I must have missed this thread, or I've been asleep! If anyone is interested, I did some research on a soldier from the 2/RMF and have the war diaries from October 1914 to October 1915, although October in both years is not complete as that's when the soldier I looked at joined and was then killed. They're all hi-res photo so if you'd like copies let me know. Take care, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel knockaert Posted 11 September , 2007 Share Posted 11 September , 2007 "And how tragic that we can only be proud of them now, after all this time, and how ironic, but wonderful, that the people of Richebourg and the rest of France and Belgium, kept the memory of the Irish soldiers alive for us to come and find them again. JPC" Hello Jean, we will never forget them, you can be very proud of them, and it is better late that never. Michel PS : how lovely was your grand'mother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel knockaert Posted 11 September , 2007 Share Posted 11 September , 2007 Hello James, nice to "hear" you, I missed you ! Thank you very much for your kind comment... and wait for few days, I will speak about Adèle's missal... it is incredible !!! Very friendly Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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