I was born and raised in Scotland but my DNA is more Irish than Scottish. That comes mainly from my maternal side as all branches there lead back to Ireland. There’s an Irish connection on my paternal too and that is through my great granny, Margaret McGarrity who was known as Maggie.

Maggie was born in Scotland but her parents were both Irish. Her father John was born in County Armagh and her mother Sarah Burrows was from County Down. The couple met in Glasgow and were married on 13 November 1874 in St Aloysius Roman Catholic chapel in the city’s Garnethill area. John was a masons labourer and Sarah a laundry maid. They were lucky to make it down the aisle at all as their first child was born just two days later at their home in South Woodside Road.

The couple had 7 children.

• Catherine born 1874
• John born 1876
• Margaret born 1878
• Harriet Orr born 1880
• Mary born 1882
• Annie born 1886
• Jeanie born 1889

Catherine and John were both born in Glasgow but by the time of Margaret’s arrival the family were in Motherwell, Lanarkshire. Apart from a brief period in Moffat, Dumfriesshire where Harriet was born the family remained in Lanarkshire.

John continued working as a labourer and the family managed to get by. It was not a life of luxury and with young mouths to feed there would have been no possibility of putting money away for a rainy day. So in 1886 when illness forced John into hospital for a spell Sarah was forced to look to the parish for support through poor relief. There are two applications recorded for that year in July and again in August with additional payments made in December and January when money was allocated for coal and clothing.

In 1897 Maggie was still living at home but had become involved with local lad, Robert Armstrong Rae. In the same year brother John was arrested for disturbing the peace and thereafter assaulting the arresting officers, Maggie announced to her family that she was pregnant. While she and Robert did not get married he did stand by her and was there to register the birth allowing the baby to take his surname. Thomas Rae was born on 28 February 1898 within the McGarrity family home.

Still in their teens Maggie and Robert must’ve felt that a child was too much responsibility so baby Thomas was taken in by Robert’s sister Sarah and her husband Archibald Smith. Sarah was actually Robert’s aunt but they were raised as siblings when, in similar circumstances, his mother had an illegitimate child that she was unable to look after.

Baby Thomas fell ill with gastroenteritis in August 1898 and died on the 27th. He is buried at the now abandoned Globe cemetery in Motherwell.

Maggie and Robert stuck together and were married in April 1899. Maggie was raised Catholic but was married away from her faith. The couple recorded as Robert’s parents were in fact his maternal grandparents.

She and Robert certainly didn’t learn their lesson after Thomas as Maggie was heavily pregnant at the time of her marriage. Sarah Rae was born less than 2 months later!

In total Maggie gave birth to 13 children between 1898 and 1925. I find that quite remarkable.

• Thomas born 1898
• Sarah born 1899
• John born 1901
• Archibald Smith born 1903
• Grace born 1906
• Robert Armstrong born 1907
• James born 1910
• Mary born 1912
• William born 1914
• Francis born 1916
• Annie born 1919
• Margaret born 1921
• Andrew born 1925

Grace was just a year old when she died of tuberculosis. while infant mortality was still high at that time to have lost 2 babies is heartbreaking.

Maggie’s life must have been exhausting constantly having young children to look after, feeding the family and looking after the home. In 1906 she lost her mother. Her father John died in 1914.

But for all the difficulties she must’ve faced there would surely have been many happy times. She saw her remaining children grow up and make their own way in life. There were many grandchildren.

Recently I made contact with her son Andrew’s daughter, Helen who very kindly sent me some family photos which she is happy for me to share here. My father Robert was the son of Archibald Rae. He was born in 1926 and while Andrew was his uncle they were so close in age they were more like cousins or even brothers.

I had never seen a photo of my great grandparents before so you can imagine how excited I was to finally see what they looked like.

Here they are looking happy at the wedding of their granddaughter May, my dad’s sister in February 1951. This May well have been one of the last photos take of Maggie who died in October of that year.

Maggie was 72 when she died. The cause of death was coronary thrombosis. Robert died just a year later in December 1952. They are buried ar Airbles Cemetery in Motherwell.