References
Kathleen Morgan, (known as Kate or Kitty), was born in Rathvilly, Carlow, in 1893 to Ellen Smyth and James Morgan. In circa. 1930 Kathleen emigrated to Australia and lived for a while with her older sister, Mary Cahill, (nee Smith), and her family. Kathleen was courted and became engaged to an American sailor who was stationed in Australia at the time. She hand sewed her trousseau and prepared for marriage but the sailor jilted her and left for America without telling his fiance.
Kathleen was heartbroken and took out some of her angst on her sister, Mary. The two had a trifling argument and Kathleen left her sister's family home, leaving her trousseau behind. The two sisters never met again. Both kept in contact with their family back home in Ireland but Kathleen demanded that her siblings didn't give Mary her address, (which Mary often requested), and they never did.
Working as a cook for the priests at the Manly presbytery, where her reputation spread across the Sydney metrolopitan area bringing priests from far afield to enjoy her culinery delights, Kathleen was content with her lot and remained single for the rest of her life. Meanwhile Mary, living eighteen miles away, raised her family and kept Kathleen's trousseau in the original metal case it had been stored in, hoping she would one day be able to give it back to her.
One afternoon while peeling peas, Kathleen saw Mary's death notice on a piece of old newspaper she was using for the scraps. She contacted the funeral home and was reunited with her nephews and niece, who were small children the last time she'd seen them. And she was given her trousseau, lovingly cared for by Mary for all those years. The metal case was opened and beautiful pieces of intimate clothing, in the style of the 1930s, were admired by Kathleen's niece and grand nieces. But she didn't want any of it and so it was distributed among her relatives.
Mary's family, (knowing how much Mary wanted to see Kathleen again), thought it tragic that the two sisters were never reunited, but they loved and fussed over Kathleen, and the aunt with the heavy Irish brogue enjoyed many happy years with her sister's family and their children. She died in Sydney in 1981.
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Jan 1893 | VIEW SOURCE |
| Date of Death | 1st Jan 1981 | VIEW SOURCE |
| Father (First Name/s and Surname) | James Morgan | |
| Mother (First Name/s and Maiden) | Ellen Smyth | |
