CAPE BROYLE

CAPE BROYLE (written 1959-1960 - AUTHOR UNKNOWN)

most likely written by Jim Joe O’Brien or John Walsh

Cape Broyle is not as old as some other harbours on the Southern Shore, such as Bay Bulls, Ferryland and Renews.  In the early days there were what the English called winter crews left for the winter at Cape Broyle.

When the English came to Newfoundland fishing there were great groves of pine wood growing around the harbour.  Cape Broyle had more pine than most of the other harbours, so the English merchants left crews at Cape Broyle all winter to cut wood and haul it to the water.  The following summer they would take the pine back to England, and also the men.  They were not allowed to leave anyone in Newfoundland at that time.

Newfoundland pine was in great demand in England at that time. It was used for the interior of ships.  It has been said that this pine was used in some of the ships that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, possibly some of the pine was from Cape Broyle.

Next I heard of Cape Broyle was when Sir William Vaughan tried to form a colony there in the year 1618.  He could not get ships to Cape Broyle and had no protection from the pirates of that day.  His work was a failure, so he sold his grant of land to Lord Baltimore and returned to England.  The only work he did was to clear some land and dig a few wells.

Until the eighteen century very few people lived at Cape Broyle. Some of the settlers moved to Ferryland because it was better fortified, and they had more protection there.  As late as the year 1732 Cape Broyle had no people living there.

The oldest people we call them ‘permanent settlers’, who helped to build Cape Broyle and whose descendants are now living at Cape Broyle are as follows:  the Grant family, the Walsh family, the Aylward family, the Dalton family, the O’Briens, the Kellys, the Harterys,  the Furlongs, also, Charles Oldrich who came from England later.

John Walsh and his wife were amongst the first settlers whose descendants are still living at Cape Broyle.  John Walsh was a native of County Wexford, Ireland, his wife’s maiden name was Ellen “Nellie” Lyons. When they first came to Newfoundland in the late spring, the ice drove their vessel on the land in Petty Harbour, where they both landed for the first time in Newfoundland.  They lived at Petty Harbour until the next spring when they came to Cape Broyle in the year 1786.

They had a family of six, five sons and one daughter.  Michael the first child was born at Petty Harbour.  Three of their sons lived to a good old age, seventy years and older, their names were as follows: Michael, William and John. Thomas and Richard were lost at sea.  They went to the ice, sailed from Aquaforte and were never heard from after.  Mary, was the daughter’s name.

Michael married Catherine Grant, one of the old family names now gone from Cape Broyle.  He was married about the year 1811.  He had two sons, Richard and Thomas, and four daughters. One of his daughters married William O’Brien.  Mary Walsh was born in 1812.  They had many children, six daughters and four sons - John, Michael, Richard and Patrick. John died after he grew to manhood.  One of the daughters, Lucy, died at the age of seventeen.

Mary Walsh, the only daughter of John and Ellen Walsh, was born in 1796, and died in 1890.  She married John Cashin at the age of 18 years in 1814.  They had a large family, five sons and six daughters.  Bridget Cashin, one of the daughters, married Michael Kelly.  He did  not live very long.  They had one son, Michael, and one daughter, but some of her descendants are now living in Cape Broyle.  Bridget Kelly got married after to a man named Kirby (my note - I believe this should be Kielly) from Petty Harbour.  Her daughter went with her and married in Petty Harbour.  Michael, her son, lived with his grandmother Cashin until he grew to manhood.  He married Johannah Aylward.  The Kelly name is now gone from Cape Broyle. It was one of the oldest families in Cape Broyle.

Another of John and Mary Cashin’s daughters, Lucy, married a Grant another old family name now gone, none of his descendants are now living at Cape Broyle.  The Grant family were natives of County Tipperary, Ireland.  Mary, another of Mary Cashin’s daughters married John Battcock of Brigus.  Some of her descendants are now living at Brigus.  Another of Mary & John Cashin’s daughters, Ellen, married James O’Brien.  They had a large family (7 sons & 3 daughters).  all her children were married with the exception of one son and one daughter, both died when young.

I don’t know the date when the O’Brien family came to Cape Broyle.  James O’Brien who married Ellen Cashin had an Aunt Margaret, who married John Kelly.  He did not live long. She married a Gregory man afterwards.  I think his name was Michael. William Gregory, grandfather of William Power was one of her sons, he is eighty-four, so the O’Brien’s are also an old family name.

The O’Briens were relations of John and Ellen Walsh, first of the Walsh family to arrive in Newfoundland by their grand-daughters marrying O’Briens. Mary Walsh (daughter of Michael Walsh) who was born at Petty Harbour, married William O’Brien.  William O’Brien was born in 1811.  Ellen Cashin, daughter of Mary (Walsh) and John Cashin married James O’Brien.  Mary Walsh who married John Cashin was the only daughter of John and  Ellen (nee Nellie Lyons) Walsh. There are many descendants of the Walsh family still living in Cape Broyle.

The Furlong family is an old family name with many descendants now at Cape Broyle.  The name itself is gone from Cape Broyle.  The Furlong family came to Cape Broyle around the year 1800, only one of that family came to Cape Broyle at that time, his name was Richard.  His wife’s name was Johanna, her maiden name was Johanna Doran.  They were married in a church in County Galway, and came from the church aboard the vessel that brought them to Newfoundland.  They were natives of Tipperary.  A passage to Newfoundland in these days was not very pleasant, so they came to Cape Broyle and lived at the river head of the harbour, where their family were born.  I should have known the date and year when they came to Cape Broyle, as some of the older people told me that had seen the certificate of their wedding and marriage at Galway County.

Richard and Johannah Furlong had four children, one son and three daughters.  Their son, Patrick, married a Fitzgerald, a name now gone from Cape Broyle.  They had three sons and three daughters.  Two of their sons were married, and their other son, Matthew, was lost on Cape Ballard  Banks while fishing.  None of their descendants are living now, only one grandson, Patrick, in St. John’s.  One of Richard and Johannah Furlong’s daughters, Bridget, married Michael Lahey, son of William Lahey.  When William Lahey and his wife came to Cape Broyle they had two children, so Michael Lahey who married Bridget Furlong was born in Ireland.

They have many descendants at Cape Broyle, as the “Lahey’s”, who are at present at Cape Broyle.  Bridget Lahey’s son, Thomas Lahey, was their grandfather.  Another of Richard and Johannah Furlong’s daughters I forgot to mention is Esther, married to John Whelan.  So all the Whalens living at Cape Broyle now (1960 year) are descendants of Richard and Johannah Furlong, also  Richard Aylward, son of James and Sally Aylward.  He married Mary Howlett, so some of their descendants are at Cape Broyle.  Ann Aylward, who married John O’Brien - son of James O’Brien/Ellen Cashin have many relatives living at Cape Broyle.  They are as follows:  John O’Brien and his family, Annie who married Martin Mulcahy, Catherine who married William Hartery and their family.  Mary who married Greg Malowney of Bay Bulls.  They had nine sons and one daughter.  One of the sons became a priest (Francis). He is now parish priest of Trepassey.

Sarah or Sally Furlong married James Aylward, an old family name.  They were married in the late 1830s,1838 or 1839.  James Aylward’s father and mother also lived at Cape  Broyle. I think James Aylward and his brothers and sisters were born at Cape Broyle.  James and Sally Aylward had 9 children, 2 sons and 7 daughters.  One of the daughters. Johanna, married Michael Kelly, a few of the relatives are still living at Cape Broyle.  Another daughter, Mary, married a Walsh.  They had no children. Another daughter, Ann, married John O’Brien (son of James/Ellen O’Brien).  They had many children and many descendants are at Cape Broyle - John O’Brien, Annie Mulcahy, and also Catherine Hartery are living at Cape Broyle.  Another of their daughters, Bridget Aylward married Michael O’Brien, son of William and Mary O’Brien.  So the Walshs, the Grants, the Furlongs, the Aylwards and the O’Brien’s are relations in a far off way.

Bridget and Michael O’Brien had 7 children: 2 daughters, Sarah and Mary Joseph. “Mary-Jo”, 5 sons, William, James, John, Thomas and Stephen.  They are all dead except Thomas and daughter Sarah Carew.  They had many descendants, many of them living in Cape Broyle - others in America and other places in Newfoundland.

Margaret, another daughter, married Patrick O’Brien, son also of Mary/William O’Brien.  They had  no children.  Catherine Aylward died when she was young, and Sarah, the last of their daughters, married Philip Pendergast.  Some of their grandchildren are living in Admiral’s Cove.

As I mentioned before three of  John and Ellen Walsh’s (Nellie Lyons) children lived to an old age.  William Walsh, one of their sons never married.  The youngest son, John, married Catherine O’Brien, sister of William and James O’Brien.  They were both married, William to Mary Walsh, James to Ellen Cashin. John Walsh had two sons, Richard and John.  Some of John Walsh’s grandsons are still at Cape Broyle.  Richard Walsh had no children.  John Walsh who married Catherine O’Brien had four daughters also.  One of their daughters, Catherine, married John Oldrich, another daughter, Ann, married John Dalton.  He was a son of the first Mr. Dalton who married a girl named Grant.  So the Daltons are relations of the first Grant family.  Another daughter married a Delahunty from Calvert, her name was Mary Walsh.  The fourth daughter married a man named John Duggan from Renews, so the Walsh family has many descendants in Newfoundland. 

As I have mentioned before Bridget Aylward and Michael O’Brien had 5 sons and 2 daughters. William married Mary Coady, an old family at Cape Broyle.  James married Julia Ann Ryan from Calvert, her mother was Bridget Lahey from Cape  Broyle.  John married Catherine Battcock of  Brigus South.  Stephen married Catherine Dalton. Thomas married Mary Kearsay.  Patrick Kearsey, her father, was the son of Maurice and  Johanna Kearsey.  Maurice and Johanna came from Ireland, but did not come to Cape Broyle on their arrival in Newfoundland.  They lived at St. John’s and later at Chance Cove near Cape Race, and later they settled at Cape Broyle.  They had five children, four sons and one daughter, Mary, who died young.  The names of he sons were Patrick,  John, Maurice and Thomas.  Maurice and Thomas were at the Mines at Tilt Cove, they got a fever, mine fever they called it at that time.  They both died from it.

John Kearsey died not many years after his brother.  So there was only Patrick Kearsey to carry on. He had no relations at Cape Broyle.  He married Mary O’Brien, daughter of James O’Brien and Ellen Cashin.  They had five daughters and they all married except one.   She was a Franciscan Nun, and died a few years ago.  Mary Kearsey married Thomas O’Brien, son of Bridget Aylward and Michael O’Brien.  Patrick Kearsey has many descendants at Cape Broyle.

The ancestors of Michael and Bridget O’Brien would be on one side the first of the O’Brien’s, John O’Brien. They came from old Ireland, John O’Brien had three brothers, James, Thomas and Michael.  James was not married, Michael was lost at sea, and Thomas was married.  He lived at the riverhead of the harbour of Cape Broyle.  His only direct descendants now living at Cape Broyle are Michael and  Patrick O’Brien and their families.

John O’Brien had three sisters.  I know Margaret married Michael Gregory, and many of her descendants are at Brigus yet.  She was the great grandmother of William Power, who died this year (1960).  Now John O’Brien, the first O’Brien I know, married Mary Kennedy, daughter of John Kennedy of Renews.  Mary Kennedy had eight children and all were married.  So John O’Brien’s sons and daughters had many relations at one time.

John O’Brien had four sons and three daughters.  John O’Brien’s and Mary Kennedy’s son, William O’Brien, married Mary Walsh (daughter of Michael Walsh and Mary Grant).  Michael Walsh was the son of John and Ellen Walsh (nee Lyons). Michael was born at Petty Harbour. Catherine Grant was the daughter of the first Grant who came to Cape  Broyle from Tipperary, Ireland.

William O’Brien’s son, Michael, married Bridget Aylward, therefore, Michael and Bridget O’Brien’s children, William, James, John, Stephen and Thomas and their daughters Mary-Joe and Sarah are descendants on their father’s side from the Walshs, the Grants, the O’Briens and the Kennedys.  On the mother’s side, Richard and Johanna Furlong (nee Doran) who were married at County Galway just before their passage to Newfoundland.  Their daughter, Sarah married James Aylward, and their daughter, Bridget, married Michael O’Brien; so, William, James, John, Stephen, Thomas, Mary-Joe and Sarah, and their descendants on their mother’s side are the Furlongs, the Dorans and  the Aylwards. 

John O”Brien and Mary Kennedy had four sons and three daughters.  Their sons names were James, William, John and Patrick.  John and Patrick were married at Admiral’s Cove.  Only a few of their relatives are now living.  The daughters names were Catherine, Mary and Margaret. Catherine married John Walsh as I mentioned. They have many descendants at Cape Broyle.  Margaret who married William Pendergast was born in 1805, so the O’Briens are living at Cape Broyle a long time.

Margaret (O’Brien) and William Pendergast had eleven children.  One of their sons, Joseph, was lost while coming in to Cape Broyle in a fishing boat.  Another of their daughters, Agnes, married Martin Aylward. Some of their descendants are at Cape  Broyle now, but none of her descendants are living.  Mary married Martin Aylward, another family of Aylwards, who were in no way related to James Aylward and his brothers and sisters.

Martin Aylward, who married Mary O’Brien, had three brothers - Maurice, John and Edward and two sisters.  James Aylward’s sister, Johanna, married Maurice Aylward, and Patrick Aylward married Martin Aylward’s sister, so that was how both Aylward families became related afterwards.  Martin and Mary (O’Brien) Aylward had two children, a boy and a girl.  Mary, the daughter, married Thomas Walsh (grandfather of the Walsh’s now at Cape Broyle).Their son, John, married a Pendergast girl, they had no children.

The oldest families who came to Cape Broyle, and whose descendants are living at Cape Broyle now (year 1960) were the Walsh, Grants, Kelly, Aylwards, O’Briens and Harterys - all here before the year 1800.  Many more family names came to Cape Broyle later on; the Martins, Firtzgeralds, Daltons, Coadys, Ryans, Jones, Kearsay, Chidley and Charles Oldrich.  The Martins, Daltons all came from Wexford, the Fitzgerald came from Tipperary.  I “think” the O’Briens came from Waterford, Ireland.

CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS

The first church was built up in the cemetery, about the middle of it.  I think it was built in the year 1820.  The man who built the church was from Ireland.  He was the grandfather of John Hawkins, who is now living at Ferryland.  His name was Edward Burgess/Burris.  The second church was built near the road going to the Presbytery.  It was built in the early 1850s.  The third church, the old one still here was built by the Reverend Father Vereker.  The corner stone was marked in May 1895, and the first mass celebrated was midnight mass Christmas 1895.  The church was not really finished until the next year.  The fourth church, our new church, was started on May 13th, 1946.  It was blessed and opened by Reverend Father Kennedy on Christmas Eve 1947.

The first school house was built in 1860s. Before that time school was taught in a private house or a house where no one was living.  That school house was built by Rev Father Murphy.  He died in 1870, while celebrating mass.  The second school house was built by Reverend Father Vereker in the year 1906.  It was given up as a school soon afterwards, as it was too near the road.  The third school was built by Rev Father Rawlins in 1910, that building is now known as “the hall”.  The first of the other schools was built by Reverend Father Maher in 1928.  The other three schools were built by Reverend Father Kennedy, the new one was built in the year 1950.