Life In Galway
Galway is a city in the Republic or Ireland. At the time it was mostly large hill areas for farming, and all there was to do was farm in Galway. Ireland was under a lot of control from the United Kingdom, which caused a lot of stress on the Irish citizens. During the Irish Civil War (June 28, 1922 - May 24, 1923), Ireland split up into two republics; Northern and Southern Ireland (December 6, 1922). Previous to this, the Home Rule Act was supposed to be in place which campaigned for self-government in Ireland which was controlled by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Instead of the Home Rule Act, the southern part of Ireland became a democratic republic and the Northern part of Ireland continued to be ruled by the United Kingdom.
Lawrence is pictured in the top middle row
Lawrence Cummings was raised in a family of 2 sisters and 5 brothers in a small farming county in Galway, Ireland. Lawrence was brought up to be a blacksmith and was taught all about being a blacksmith by his oldest brother Thomas. In older Irish culture, the first born son inherits the property (most likely farmland) from their parents. Lawrence was the 5th born son, so he had to fend for his own future from a young age by learning how to be the best blacksmith he could be.
Nana May (Mary Cummings) pictured with her grandson
Mary Cummings was raised on an island off of the western coast of Galway, in the Galway Bay. Growing up, Mary’s parents’ home was a small cottage with a dirt floor. Mary’s parents were fishermen and lived in severe poverty. Since Mary had five other siblings, her parents simply did not have the money to feed all of them. Because of this, Mary moved into her aunt's house in Clifden, which was a town in Western Galway. There was still slight poverty living with her aunt in Clifden, but this never got to Mary as “she had a happy childhood despite her up-bringing” (Lawrence Cummings II).