The speaker, Edward Fitzgerald talks about his family. His grandfather married Brigit McKenna and they had 7 boys and 7 girls. The speaker’s father was the 14th child. His grandfather was a hard and difficult man to socialize with. He was also very talented in many ways. He had few friends in Tignish. One of them was Senator Murphy who lived in the house that was designed by Harns, the Charlottetown architect. John C. McCarthy was another friend of his. Edward’s grandmother passed away soon after conceiving his father. When she was close to birthing, her husband went to get Doctor Murphy in Tignish, who arrived 3 days later. Father Richard Ellsworth taught at St. Dunstan’s University. His grandmother was the speaker’s grandfather’s sister. Around the time his grandfather died around 1983, Father Richard told him funny stories about his grandfather. Pat Kennedy was found murdered on grandfather’s farm. His father went to Summerside to take the train but he was drunk and missed the train. The Caseys, Kennys, Kennedys, Fitzgeralds, Edwards, and the O’Sheas were all Irish names in the community. They didn’t get along well with each other. There was one family with the name of Beam, which does not exist in its original area now. John Beam was a quiet man. He was involved in a fight and he was severely injured by somebody in defense of himself. He was sprited away to N.B.. John Beam’s wife was the midwife who brought the speaker’s father into the world. His father was a very gentle man who could be very cunning verbally. His mother was Celtic. She was also an Acadian in Tignish. She had a very hard side. This contrasts with the speaker's grandmother and grandfather. His mother’s maiden name was Buote. Her people moved to Tignish from Rustico. Prior to that, they had been in Brittany for generations. The speaker grew up almost as an only child. He had a brother who was 72 years old, and who was much older than him. His brother joined the army when the speaker was 5 years old. The speaker saw a different side of both the Irish and the Britains on PEI. His father worked in carpentry in Halifax from when the speaker was 5 until he was 9. The speaker couldn’t understand why he worked away so much before he grew up. It was a coping strategy with the marriage between his parents. Sometimes it is easier long distance to stay married.

The speaker talks about a song written by Ewan MacLeod from Scotland which reminds him of his time with his mother in the absence of his father.

The speaker spent 29 years in the classroom. He used to teach 10-year-olds. He talks about being Irish in Tignish. Waterford was Irish. Tignish, although not an Irish name, it has a lot of Irish names and people. Many people with French names also had roots in Ireland, one of whom the speaker used to sing with in a group called The Countryman back in the 1960s. His last name was Arsenault but he was mostly Handrahan and Corrigan. Growing up in Tignish, most of the speaker’s friends were Acadians. Most people weren’t very interested in being Irish, so the speaker couldn’t find people to culturally connect with (e.g. sharing Irish stories). There weren’t many shared interests between the Acadians and the Irish except for a common interest in drama. There has always been a dramatic club in Tignish which still exists and puts on plays on St. Patrick’s Day. The music connected the two groups, however, the stories did not. The speaker grew up as a loner.

He stayed inside most of the time, and he wasn’t allowed to visit much and wasn’t allowed to have sleepovers. He never had people over much. As a result, he became a reader like his father. His father loved the Irish poets. He didn’t recall him mentioning Shakespeare, but he talked much about John O’Reilly and Yeats and even quoted Yeats.

The speaker talks about his family’s political and historical views. His father’s family was politically liberal. However, they weren’t (socially) liberal. His mother, being Acadian, was not accepted by most people in the family. As a result, his father received nothing from his family even though he was the youngest. One of Edward’s uncles sold the old family farm after the grandparents deaths. His father had built the house there in 1928. His father wanted to keep a rocking chair that his grandmother often sat on. However, his uncle said to his father that he could bid on that chair in the sale. The speaker found it strange that people were oppressed and having been through the famine would be so intolerant. His mother, on the other hand, was just as intolerant. (if she were alive, she would have been 100 years old as the speaker gave the lecture. She lived to be 97) The one word Edward had never heard at home was “love”. His father was a gentle and kind man. The closest thing he heard to “I love you” was “Edward, what would I ever do without you?” as he tapped on his shoulder. However, he was very definite about who he hated. The speaker felt sad when he was little about his father not expressing love. His mother, on the other hand, had no trouble expressing love. She was a grand woman and he respected her. She was the kindest woman in the community. Sadly, Edward never knew her deeply. If someone was sick in the community, she would look after them. She looked after an old lady who had cancer day after day. The stories of Ireland stayed in his head, but the fun of being Irish wasn’t discovered until he met his wife, Ruth. Her parents were the Reillys. His grandmother treated his mother like a daughter. However, his grandfather disowned her and never spoke to her until just before he died.

His father was special for having a caustic wit. He refused to wear a shamrock on St. Patrick's Day. He was taken to the test by Frank Klahasy in the post office. Frank asked him where his shamrock was. His father answered: “Christ, I’m not Acadian”. When he was old, there were three people he usually got together with every morning at the post office. They were Milton Keough, Terrance Gauin and Freddy Richard. They were conservative and his father was liberal. They talked about politics every morning and they were very serious about it. His father said that he would convert to Protestantism before he vote conservative. Another time he went to the post office, Father Cormier, the local priest, was there. He said “Bonjour Fred, my friend”, and his father responded jokingly “I can’t understand that god damn gibberish”. Father Cormier said “I’m sorry Fred I thought you were bilingual.” Fred said: “I am. English and profane”. He made fun of the French language a lot.

The speaker built a log wood house. He recalls cutting the lumber and taking logs to the Pivsville mill on his truck. He couldn’t tie ropes properly. He met Harmon Reilly. Harmon went to work when he was 13 years old and died when he was 64. He worked at lumber in the woods from the time when he was 13. Harman got along with Edward’s father. The speaker remembers the two days before his father passed away. His father told him to look after the little lads.

The speaker sings a song written for his father by way of saying goodbye.

Alexander J. Shea was also known as the Reverend Alex because once, he signed his name the Reverend Alexander J. Shea. Alex used to work at the jail. Alex was a song maker and he was quite a character. The speaker sings a song Alexander wrote called “Alex’s Lament”.

Contrary to what Edward thought before, Tignish was rich in culture. It always had the potential to be a cultural center. An art gallery was built. They had concerts, music and dance instruction there. The speaker taught in Tignish for 31 years. He then lived in Kildaire by the sea. He lives in Alberton now.

Alex Shea died in 1969 of a diabetic coma. He wrote songs in the Irish tradition since the railroad tragedy of 1932. He followed the Irish traditions in songwriting and he was a real character.

In 1900, a year before Edward’s father was born, there was a person born in Dundalk, Ireland called Paul Vincent Carol. Edward reads a story written by Carol.

The speaker sings an Irish folk song

Final comments, audience questions, discussion