Peggy Reen (née Kerrisk) (part 1)

Peggy Reen was recorded at her home in Millstreet, where she recalled days of turmoil and peace, days of sunshine and showers. She began the recording by describing her earliest days growing up in Barraduff near Killarney where she was cared for by her grandparents, as both her parents worked as nurses in the psychiatric hospital in Killarney. Her paternal grandmother (O’Mahony), who was born in 1814 and died aged 104, would sit by the open fire, as she smoked a pipe and related tales of the famine times to her young granddaughter. She heard about the evictions of the 1830s and 1840s and the effects of the Famine on the local people. Peggy was educated in Killarney and at the age of 19 she emigrated to New York for some years. Before she left Killarney, she had made the acquaintance of a young man, Frank Reen, who was serving his apprenticeship in O’Donoghue’s pharmacy. He had taken up employment in Galway on Peggy’s return, and the young couple became engaged. In order to save some money for their future life together, Peggy decided to return to New York to work for a short while and when she returned again, the couple were married and began their lives together in Millstreet, County Cork.