A postcard from Glenaleeriska

This Hinde postcard is so terrific I had to find out what became of that lovely cottage.

The main ingredients of a Hinde postcard are bright colours and scenery. The colours were usually added later. For example, I doubt if this cottage ever had yellow walls and blue paintwork. But the lack of realism doesn't bother me. These Hinde postcards are works of art.

So many things catch my eye in this picture - the donkey and the vivid red cart, the redness of the fuchsia in foreground, the wife in her apron at the half door,  the old man in his flat cap, the thatched roof. These, together with the many shades of green in that wonderful backdrop, represent a very happy and nostalgic view of Ireland.

This is a picture taken in 1984 of the same cottage.

 Waterford Co. Museum

How the dickens could that happen in just 15 or 20 years ? I suppose the old people died and their children had made new lives for themselves in Britain or America. No one wanted to live there.

That cottage can be seen in the middle of this 1890s map showing part of the townland of Glenaleeriska in Ring, Co Waterford. The map even shows the little indentation at the back of the cottage.

That cottage was probably there in the 18th century. It is shown on the 6" (1829 -1842) map. The Griffiths Valuation ( 1847-1864) gives the tenant at this house as James Roache.  These are the occupants according to the 1901 census :

Surname	Forename	Age	Sex	Relation to head
Roche	Andrew	70	Male	Head of Family
Roche	Catherine	72	Female	Sister
Tobin	Patrick	35	Male	Boarder
Tobin	Norah	35	Female	Niece
Tobin	Denis	8	Male	Grand Nephew
Tobin	James	6	Male	Grand Nephew
Tobin	Patrick	4	Male	Grand Nephew
Tobin	Mary	3	Female	Grand Niece
Tobin	Martin	1	Male	Grand Nephew

These are the 1911 census occupants :

Tobin	Patrick	47	Male	Head of Family
Tobin	Norah	51	Female	Wife
Roache	Andrew	85	Male	Visitor
Tobin	Patrick	15	Male	Son
Tobin	Martin	12	Male	Son
Tobin	Mary	13	Female	Daughter
Tobin	Catherine	9	Female	Daughter

Ring is still an Irish speaking area and many of the older Ring people in the 1901 census like Andrew Roache could not speak English.  He had no children so the cottage passed down to his niece and her husband Patrick Tobin. I would guess that Patrick Tobin's son Patrick who was 15 in 1911 inherited the cottage. He was probably the man in the photo and I presume the lady was his wife.

In 2016 only a little bit of the ruin of that lovely cottage can be seen in google maps. The fuchsia is still there.

It's a pity Google picked a dull day to send their car to Glenaleeriska because the view here is so good the council created this viewpoint  just up the road from the cottage.

The following picture is a closer view of The Cunnigar - the thin strip of land that can be seen in the postcard and photos stretching across the bay.