Two pieces follow by Paddy's daughter Catriona:
Reprinted from 'Heart and Hand, The Journal of the Family History Society of the Noble and Ancient Clan McManus'
Number 6
LOCAL HERO - PADDY MAC, 1850 - 1930
Catriona McManus, Kildare
My great grandfather, Patrick McManus, was known as Paddy Mac. He was born in 1850 in Keadue, County Roscommon, six miles from our current family home in Drumshanbo, County Leitrim. As a young man he travelled to America with two brothers, Terence and Cornelius. Family legend has it that Terence and Cornelius worked in a circus. Paddy Mac was a renowned sportsman and lover of horses and dogs. While his brothers stayed in America, Paddy returned home and married Elizabeth Cooney from Drumshanbo. Elizabeth's family were business people and her father bought her a pub on High Street, Drumshanbo - possibly as a dowry. In the nineteenth century there were numerous Mc Manus' families in business in the town. So Paddy Mac felt right at home there in the pub - as have all the Mc Manus' since. The pub is now in its fourth generation of Paddy Mac's - the current being my father.
Paddy and Elizabeth Cooney had ten children, six of whom survived to adulthood. Paddy Mac was very much an all rounder. From High Street he ran the pub, ran a horse stud and was also involved with politics and local representation. His obituary in the Leitrim Observer dated 25th. October, 1930 shows that he made his mark as a popular, good man and devoted local representative:
Paddy Mc Manus was a straightforward fighter and an honourable opponent. Lifelong temperance, a sound constitution and a buoyant spirit enabled him to face and surmount difficulties with comparative ease. He always had a welcome word, a warm heart and an 'open house' for anyone he could assist.
During his lifetime Paddy Mac was famous for two heroic deeds, which are well documented. The Leitrim Observer of 25th October, 1930 reported:
Not alone was Paddy Mac fearless in politics and in public life, but he knew no fear where danger was concerned. When a young man, he was a silent spectator at a burning building in Carrick on Shannon - Hartley House. A nanny and some children were trapped in their beds as hundreds of people looked helplessly on. Throwing off his coat, he dashed through the fire and smoke and one by one he brought the children to the windows and carried them down ladders to the street below. For this act of bravery he was presented with a gold watch suitably inscribed and his action on that occasion has not even been forgotten to this day by some of the young people whom he rescued. On another occasion, when the yacht of the late Captain Sadlier overturned in Lough Allen, bringing him to the bottom, after weeks of dragging the waters and searching for the body the police had given it up as hopeless. Mr. Mc Manus with the aid of a drag which he invented himself, started out on his own and inside of twenty-four hours he brought the body of the dead Captain to the surface. Everything he put his hand to was a success for he was a man who did not know what failure was and was possessed of an indomitable spirit and remarkable will power.
His political career was illustrious also. From the passing of the Local Government Act 1898, he was a prominent member of the Leitrim County Council and nearly all the public boards of the county. In the early days he played a prominent part in the stirring times of the Land League and after. The Land League was an organisation of the times whose aim was to take the land of Ireland out of the hands of the English landlords and into the hands of the peasant farmers who worked it. Charles Stuart Parnell was a leader of the Land League and known in history as the uncrowned King of Ireland. Paddy Mac's admiration and support for Parnell knew no limits and it landed him in jail on numerous occasions. On the other hand he had an extreme contempt for Gladstone and his English Liberals by whom he was imprisoned in 1881 - 1882 in Kilmainham Jail in Dublin.
The Paddy Mac heroics have continue with my father. In 1939 The Leitrim Observer reported:
Heroic Act
Miss Mc Hugh, Church Street, Drumshanbo had a harrowing experience recently, when throwing her dog into Lough Allen she overbalanced and fell in. She had sank twice when two youngsters of tender years came to her rescue. One of them held her up while the other ran for help. The latter boy's mother who happened to be in the vicinity, quickly rushed to the scene. They succeeded in rescuing Miss Mc Hugh who appeared to be none the worse of her experience, except for severe cuts on her legs. The youngster who held her up was young Master Niall Flynn, aged 7 years, youngest son of Dr. and Mrs. Flynn, Blackrock, Drumshanbo, while the boy who ran and brought help was Master Paddy Mc Manus, aged 4 years, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Mc Manus,Church St., Drumshanbo. Were it not for the presence of mind of these two children a tragedy would certainly have occurred. We trust that their heroic act will be brought to the notice of the proper authorities.
THE FIGHTING MC MANUS’
By Catriona Mc Manus, Drumshanbo
CON SHOT TWICE.
King McManus'
Brother Badly Wounded.
McManus in a Critical Condition.
So ran the headlines of The Morning Call newspaper in San Francisco on July 14th 1894. Cornelius Mc Manus and his eldest brother Frank (King Mc Manus) were natives of Drumshanbo and this was not the first time for them to hit the headlines either at home or abroad.
Dramatically, the newspaper went on to report that: ‘‘ "King" McManus' saloon, in Third Street, was the scene of a shooting affray yesterday afternoon in which Con Mc Manus, the King's brother, was the victim, and Charles Sweeney, the Ballplayer, yielded the deadly weapon. The "King,” accompanied by "the boys," went to a picnic yesterday morning and left his brother Con in charge of the saloon. Sweeney was one of the bar tenders. Business was not very brisk and between 1 and 2 o'clock in the afternoon a dispute arose as to whether Con or Sweeney was the better wrestler. To settle the dispute they went upstairs to one of the rooms, where they grappled and tried to throw one another without success. As the room was rather small it was suggested that they should go downstairs to the bar and resume the contest. They wrestled in the barroom and finally Con threw Sweeney and landed on top of him. He was mad and gripped Sweeney by the throat. Sweeney fought desperately to get out of the clench, and as soon as he regained the feet he pulled out a pistol and fired three shots at Con. The first struck him in the right arm, the second lodged in the back and the third struck him in the ribs on the right side and ploughed its way round to his liver. With a groan Con dropped to the floor but almost immediately sprang to his feet and made for Sweeney, who seemed paralyzed at what he had done and wisely slunk out of the saloon. Con was carried upstairs to a bedroom by Dan McCarthy and Joseph McDonnell, two other bartenders who were witnesses to the shooting. Dr’s. Bunker and Farnum were promptly summoned and attended to the wounded man. They found that the first bullet lodged in the muscles of the arm, and the third had apparently lodged in the liver. They looked upon this as dangerous, and refused to permit anyone to talk to their patient. Information of the shooting was telephoned to police head quarters and Detective Cody was detailed to find Sweeney.’’
So ended this saloon brawl which had started as a wrestling bout between friends but unfortunately got out of control. Cornelius Mc Manus died a few days later from his wounds, at the age of 24.
Charles Sweeney was an ex American Major League baseball player who had achieved moderate success in his short career and was now retired from the game due to injury. He was known for his fiery temper both on and off the pitch and was employed by Frank Mc Manus as both a barman and bodyguard. Unfortunately for him, by the end of 1894 he was sentenced to eight years in San Quentin for manslaughter, leaving behind a wife and family. He died in prison before finishing his sentence.
For Frank ‘The King’ Mc Manus, it was reported that the murder of his favourite brother drove him to drink and to a premature grave in 1896 at the age of 57.
Where it all began….
Cornelius and Frank were brothers of Patrick Mc Manus, Leitrim County Councillor born in 1844 and who lived at High St, Drumshanbo. Frank was Paddy’s eldest brother and Cornelius his youngest sibling born in 1871. This story starts around 1865 when four brothers Frank, James, William and Patrick Mc Manus left Ireland for America. They may have left this country with dreams of gold or maybe they headed with aspirations of freeing slaves as news travelled about the American civil war. Most likely they were escaping poverty and hunger after surviving the Famine and by 1880 they joined hundreds and thousands of tough, pioneering men travelling to San Francisco, in those early days.
Frank Mc Manus’ good fortune in America began when he won a hotel in a card game, the Union Hotel in Potrero, San Francisco. At that time, Irish Hill in Potrero was an area surrounding the industrial plants where many of the Irish immigrant workers of the area lived. The working day was long and transportation poor so workers lived within walking distance of their jobs, despite the noise and pollution of heavy industry. They lived in one of the many hotels, such as the Union Hotel owned by Frank Mc Manus.
In his obituary in 1896 it suggested that Frank who was known as the "King of
the Potrero" was once a power in the political arena of San Francisco.
It was reported that a great deal of the success of the Republican reform
movement in the district was due to him and a small group of like minded
businessmen. Frank was quoted in the San Francisco Morning as to why he
supported the Republican Party
‘it is the party of progress and protection .It is the party and the only party
that has elevated the workingman out of the groove in which the Southern
cotton-planter kept the negro. This party has kept up the dignity of labour,
kept up the pay of the men and regulated the working hours to eight hours a day.
It is for home production, home protection and for keeping the taxes down’.
However, times were tough in those days and business was not always above board. In the late 1880’s a bitter business rivalry grew between the Mc Manus’ and the Welch Bros after the Welch Brothers bought another saloon on Irish Hill. They both competed in business for the workers' rent and saloon trade and this spilled out into the streets where both fractions fought bloody gang wars against each other. Numerous incidents were reported in the local papers over the years.
Meanwhile back in Drumshanbo………..
Patrick Mc Manus, High St., returned to Ireland after spending just a few years in America, running a team of horses for a travelling circus. He married and started a family at about the same time his youngest brother Cornelius was born, 1870. For this reason Cornelius got the nick name ‘the Gossoon’, such was the age difference between the brothers.
Paddy Mc Manus was an agitator for land reform and a supporter of Charles Stewart Parnell, uncrowned King of Ireland. Paddy even spent time in Kilmainham Goal in 1881 for his convictions. The Land League under Parnell was trying to bring about a reduction of rack-rents and also to obtain of ownership of the land by the occupiers and farmers. It was a time of great change in Ireland and in America.
By 1891 Cornelius, ‘the Gossoon’, joined Paddy at an Anti-Parnell demonstration in Carrick on Shannon. The incident was described, albeit in a biased fashion, in the Sligo Champion as: ‘The corner boys of Carrick on Shannon had a gala day last Sunday last; when aided by the idle loafers from Drumshanbo, all of them gorged with porter, paid for by the Irish National league, they were able to prevent a meeting of the Nationalists being held in the public square of the town.’
Later that year, while Paddy continued his campaign for Parnell, Cornelius travelled to San Francisco with his nephew Terence, son of Paddy Mc, age 16. There, he met his eldest brother Frank and siblings, William and James who were around thirty years his senior. He also had a sister Margaret there, whom he knew as she was about his own age. She had gone to America a couple of years before and was married to a William Phillips.
In the 1890’s business was good in both countries for the Mc Manus family. Paddy Mc Manus ran his pub and grocery in High St, Drumshanbo which included a stable of horses which he rented whilst continuing with his political campaigns. He became a prominent member of Leitrim County Council as well as being involved with nearly all the public boards of the County. Another sister Eliza Mc Greevy also ran a very busy lodging house in Drumshanbo as recorded in the 1901 census.
In San Francisco Frank had his hotel business and his political aspirations, his brother James had a successful Undertaking business and also pursued the political job of County Coroner. And other members of the family worked with them or were set up in other business alongside them. So it was natural that when ’The Gossoon’ arrived he got a job in the saloon working for his brother the King and as a consequence, he got immediately involved with the street warfare which raged against the Welch’s.
In 1892 Con hit the headlines again when he survived a gun shot wound after a fracas with the Welch’ and a report was written up in florid prose in the newspapers of the day, like this report in the San Francisco Examiner: "J.C. Welsh asserts that McManus and his crowd came armed with knives and pistols and promptly proceeded to batter in his door, and when he went outside McManus confronted him with a pistol and fired point blank at his head [but missed]. The sound of the shot brought Sergeant Bennett and Policemen Dan Rearden and Eastman to the scene, from the station around the corner [on 20th], and when they arrived there were from eighty to a hundred men engaged on the sidewalk and knee deep in the mud of the street, assaulting each other with clubs and sticks." These Irish Hill battles came to be called "the Blue Mud Wars" (probably so-called because the serpentine rock caused the muddy streets to look bluish). It was tough times indeed.
This was followed in 1894 with the wounding from his friend and colleague Charles Sweeney, this time fatal.
In such a short life ‘The Gossoon’ met his end at the age of 24 in a drunken wrestling bout in San Francisco while working for his brother the ‘King of Potrero’. Prior to that he had left the streets of Leitrim after fighting for Land Reform and supporting the uncrowned King of Ireland, Chares Stewart Parnell.
The whole family were fearless fighters for land reform and independence in Ireland and for progress and workers rights in San Francisco. Fighting Mc Manus’s on both sides of the ocean.
REFERENCES:
The Leitrim Observer
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov