A nearby neighbour was very helpful in providing the name Ben Carter, as was one of the senior road bowlers who pass by on Sunday afternoons. This man told me that he went to school with a little girl who lived here. I also learned from him that the father was a basket maker and always had many baskets about the property.
In the garden, I’ve also dug up (literally!) little clues to what life was like here so many years ago. Buttons, bottles and bits of pottery are uncovered nearly every time I plant a new shrub or rose bush.
I recently joined a local genealogy group and asked if anyone could recommend a source for me to find information about our property and it’s previous occupants. Instead, what I got were many first-hand accounts of the man who lived here and his family.
I’m still in disbelief as to how fast these stories came to me. This is social media at its productive best! My favourite stories were the ones about the Moses baskets that Mr. Carter made for newborns. One local told me that the willow trees that supplied the limbs for the craftsman were grown at the back of the property.
That particular story was a real “connect-the-dots” moment for me. Three years ago, we lost that huge spruce tree, then a huge, nearby Leylandii a few months later during storm Ophelia. What we discovered afterward was a line of small trees that had been smothered out by the mammoth trees for years before they came down. We’ve enjoyed seeing these trees start to thrive again, but haven’t given them much thought until recently. While weeding one day, I noticed a number of suckers coming up from the ground. Only then did I take note of the type of trees which were uncovered after the storms - WILLOWS!!!
These must surely have been planted by Ben Carter, the basket maker and former owner of Moonlight Cottage.
Another historical bit I learned was in regard to Michael Fitzgerald, Ballyoran’s most famous son. An Irish Republican, Mick Fitzgerald died 100 years ago after a 67 day hunger strike in Cork Gaol. His sister was the mother of Benjamin Carter, our resident basket maker!
Michael Fitzgerald
