Welcome to the Cleary Family Website   

Cleary Crest copy
 
This website is about two generations of the Cleary family starting with an eviction from their home at the Pollack Estate in east Galway in the 1880's. They lived through a period in the country, shortly after the 'Great Famine', of extreme poverty, misery and hardship. Committed to a United Ireland all members of the family were involved in the Easter Rising and War of Independence resulting at one stage in five of them, a father and his four sons, being imprisoned in British jails.  


Using letters, statements and documents, some recently discovered, it is now possible to piece together the story of their lives full of adventure, tragedy, love and war. They include the remarkable account in a letter written by a British soldier to his Grandchildren about how, while stationed at Athenry, he met and later married Ciss Cleary a member of Cumann na mBan and from a strong republican family.

Many members of the family went on to be successful in business some as builders at home and abroad. But tragedy struck when Tommy fell from the roof during the construction of Gurteen Church and passed away a few days later from his injuries.

 

 Ciss Cleary 1892 - 1900xx 


The family of Thomas Cleary (Thomas B's father) were evicted, with other tenants, from their homes by East Galway landlord Allan Pollok probably in the mid1850's. At a time of extreme poverty Thomas and his wife Mary, with four children, had no resources or work. Their family had survived a series of extremely cold winters including the night of the 'Big Wind' in 1839, Ireland's worst ever natural disaster, and the 'Great Famine of 1845-1852.

Thomas B. was born in Laurencetown, south of Ballinasloe, in the townland of Crows Nest in 1859. The Pollok Estate was built into a Model Farm by the owners over a period of years starting about 1853. The farm was so advanced that at one stage Napoleon's brother visited it to learn of the methods being used to run the estate. However, the investment by the owners did not extend to the accommodation provided for their labourers and tenants. Many houses, of the most basic type, were purpose build by Pollok for them and had little protection from the weather.