Searching for Answers

By Jessica Farry
Sligo Champion
July 22, 2017

http://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/searching-for-answers-35928211.html

"Nobody should have to go through life without knowing who they are, especially when there are people out there who have the answers."

Those are the words of Councillor Gino O'Boyle is looking to find information on his father Seamie's family, and where he came from.

Seamie sadly passed away in 2015, but he, and his wife Mairead, had spent decades searching for answers.

Seamie was brought to the Nazareth House in Sligo on the 25th of July 1957 from Cavan by a Maureen McCabe and Cyril McCaul and was organised by Fr Patrck Gallagher from Rockcorry (Monaghan). The McCabe family home in Tullyvin (Cavan) was the last place Seamie was before being brought to Sligo.

That was the only information he had.

The late Councillor was 6-8 months old before he was brought to Sligo which has led to questions about where he was before he arrived here.

After reaching out to friends on Facebook, Gino has been overwhelmed by the response he has received.

"It's been coming from all over. I had a phone call from Australia, from London, from people who were in the Nazareth with my father, people that had stories similar to his and telling me that if I keep going there will be an answer out there," he told The Sligo Champion.

"We have a hunch on the parents but we can't be certain until we get direct links to it. In the last couple of years, since we started putting it out there, there's been rumours about who the parents are, names we would have heard before. It's been amazing, we probably should have started a long time ago."

Nazareth House served as an orphanage for some time, run by the Sisters of Nazareth. It was Seamie O'Boyle's home until he was old enough to leave.

"My mother started (searching) 35 years ago. Because of the internet, the information is now easier to get. Facebook for shares, the shares are lethal. There's nearly 900 shares on it and I never expected that. Where the answers are coming from - it's been unreal.

"My mother had done some research for over 30 years and I started in September 2015, two weeks after my father had died. The unfortunate thing when you're dealing with people who are very religious, they are still loyal to the church. I'm a catholic and I still go to mass. Their loyalty is with the church. I just felt that the answers we've got from surrounding circles, every time you're close to something unfortunately someone has passed away. I can't risk everybody else passing away. There's a story behind my father, I can't have his story go without us finding out," he added.

Following every lead that comes their way, the O'Boyle family are met with stumbling blocks regularly.

But, they are adamant that they will keep looking for answers because Seamie deserved to know where he came from.

"When we went searching for this Father Paddy Gallagher there was a story about him coming home from New York, which he possibly did.

"We thought he must have been based in Cootehill or Tullyvin, it turns out he was from Rockcorry so we were looking for the right person in the wrong places.

"My father had tried over the years. The stuff he was told and the stuff that's coming out now is totally different. And it's unfortunate because it's a sign of the times really," Cllr. O'Boyle added.

Even though life got in the way, Gino says Seamie wanted to know deep down where he came from. He warns that although his father might not have pushed fully for answers, he will.

"He always wanted to know, then he had us, and life kind of got in the way. There's always that thing deep inside you, 'who am I? Where do I come from?' I'm sure there was a fear of rejection there too. I think that's what stopped him. I tortured him for years about it, and he just said 'if they were looking for me they would find me'. There's always things behind it. I told him I'd go up to Cavan and have a look around but ultimately it was too late for him."

Gino is, however, prepared for the end result, should they ever reach a point where they get all the answers they are looking for.

"Coming out with stuff like this is not easy. I know the end result won't be easy because obviously there's a story behind it. There will be a story behind it and you'll be criticised for it. I can't go through life without knowing who I am. It was easy for them to brush aside my father because he was loyal to the church as well but I still want answers."

Although there have been numerous lines of enquiries, something gets in the way almost every time.

Sadly, a lot of people who would have the required information have passed away. Gino is eager to find out where he comes from, before it's too late.

"When we started off, I would have been happy if they turned around and said 'your father was born on such a day, he was brought up by such, his family is this that and the other, they want contact or they don't want contact'. There's no problem, if we find out who he is we're not looking to go down and have Christmas dinner with them or anything."

But, any leads they receive are welcome and Gino and his family have been chasing up whatever lines of enquiry they can find.

"We paid a visit to a fella on the Monaghan side and he said 'sure what would I know' and then he started crying and he said 'all I know is Maureen and Cyril dropped him down and Paddy Gallagher organised it. The way he reacted we knew there was something there. But then the poor man died.

"Another line of enquiry we were dealing with, she also passed away. And if there was ever any chance of us finding anything she was the best chance.

"We think we have a line of enquiry, the more people who can give us that type of information then at least I know I'm on the right path. There's a DNA site that you can just upload your DNA and you can find who you are related to. People got on to me and said they used that. We did all the websites for people tracing things but my father had no birth-cert so we can't follow that up. The woman that had that photo from his baptism was his godmother and she looked after him and she only came on the scene at the age of six. There was money being sent to the Nazareth for a baby O'Boyle from someone, and she worked in the post office with his other godparent. So when they went searching, the money stopped. They were close to somebody, they were nearly there. They are both dead now.

"That photo was given to me a month before he died his godmother's niece. There was a letter in the box with that photo that his godmother had sent to New York, to Patrick Gallagher, and I nearly broke down reading the letter because there was stuff in that even I didn't know about my father. Somewhere, someone gave her the picture."

Having left Nazareth House at some stage between the age of 15 and 17, Seamie spent some time on the streets, and lived in a caravan with a friend of his. He then met his future wife, Mairead, and her family took him in and treated him like one of their own.

"A lot of people never see the background behind the person, they just see the person. The dates are different on different forms but he left the Nazareth at some stage between the ages of 15 and 17. He lived on the street for around a year. Christy Jones was very good to him. He ended up giving him a caravan to stay in for a while. My father was always sticking up for people, he was sticking up for people in the Nazareth according to all the stories I hear."

As the search goes on, Gino vows to keep fighting for answers in his father's memory.

"It's either now or never. I'm getting loads of messages from people with encouragement. As a young person my father had no voice. There was no-one for Seamie. And when he's dead there's nobody to shout for him."

If anyone out there has any information that might help, contact Gino O'Boyle via Facebook or on 0860757915.