HANNAH McCONNELL (née McConway), BORN 1913, MOVILLE

Hannah McConnell was born in 1913 and grew up in Leckemy on the Inishowen peninsula. Her mother died while Hannah was very young and she and her six brothers and three sisters were reared by her aunt. Hannah’s early days were challenging as she had to work very hard and her schooling was limited. She has a wonderful recall of 1922, when her three brothers, George, Harry and Joe, joined the new Garda Siochána force. She discusses the Economic War of the 1930s in fine detail. The town of Moville in the 1920s and 1930s is described as are the dancehalls and the general entertainment and pastimes. Hannah worked in a drapery shop owned by the McLaughlins for three years followed by various other employments. She then returned home to Leckemy to care for her father and her aunt until their deaths. She later married and moved back to Moville.