The family that grew along with their city and country

This part of Ned's story is included to introduce his family. They were very important to him and their story is one of triumph and setbacks. I want to re-write this more as a scene than a recounting of the facts but that will take some doing. I have little but the facts to go on and even that info is incomplete.
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Michael McGrath, age 34, and 17 year old Catherine Brennan, married in Notre Dame Basilica in Bytown in 1854. They were both from the Castlecomer area of County Kilkenny in Ireland and had emigrated in 1847, at the height of the Great Famine. Possibly they travelled in a group on the same ship. Their families would undoubtedly have been acquainted, but the difference in their ages meant that they did not strike up a relationship until they were settled in Canada. In the 1851 census Michael was employed as a labourer and was living in Aylmer, across the Ottawa River. Catherine was a servant in Bytown. What brought them together? We can but speculate that they had been acquainted for years. Michael must have moved to Bytown before their marriage. Their past lives had been difficult but the future would show that they raised a family that prospered despite sad losses along the way. Hard work and determination raised them from the poverty that they had grown up with.

Lowertown, where they set up house, was home to most of the Irish population at that time. It was a tough area with few luxuries other than access to business and the farmer’s market. The town was named after Colonel John By who had overseen the building of the Rideau Canal from 1826 to 1832.  Its name changed when the city of Ottawa was incorporated in 1855, the year the McGraths welcomed their first child, John, namesake of his maternal grandfather. Canada was not yet a country. Two years later in 1857, Queen Victoria named Ottawa as the capital of Canada, which of course did not officially become a country until July 1, 1867. 

The McGrath family grew in parallel with the city and the new country. In the succeeding few years, more sons arrived to fill up the household. William who was born in June 1856 was the namesake of his paternal grandfather. With the arrival of third son Michael shortly before Christmas of 1858, and then James in early 1861, Catherine’s workload mounted. In 1863 baby Thomas arrived for a very short stay on earth. He lived a month and his loss broke his parents’ hearts. Edward Patrick, our Ned, was born as the middle child in what would become a large family. He was baptised in July of 1864, a week after his birth. At that same time the senior leaders of the nation held meetings in Charlottetown to plan the unification of the former British Colonies. Two years later, Joseph Eugene was born, three days before Ned’s second birthday. The celebration of Confederation coincided roughly with Joe’s first birthday. 

The birth of their first daughter, christened Mary Ellen but always called Mary, in December of 1868 was greeted with great jubilation. Dennis followed in 1871, Mary Catherine “Kate” made her appearance in 1874 and the baby of the family Francis, was born in 1877. They certainly had a houseful. As the children arrived over 22 years, Catherine’s oldest sons were gainfully employed by the time the last baby arrived. Sadly, several sons died quite young. 

During the first 12 years of their marriage, Michael and Catherine had multiple addresses. From various city directories we know that in 1861 they were living on Baird St. When Ned was born in 1864 their home was on Nunnery St, later named Water Street and now known as Bruyere St. It was mere blocks from Baird but a little closer to the centre of town and a little farther from the Rideau River which flooded every spring. It was in the immediately following years that Michael uprooted the family from their well-known neighbourhood and friends and settled his brood in Mount Sherwood, nearer to Booth Street than Bronson. This was a difficult move but the McGraths had found a community that they would never leave.

There were a few moves and Michael built two homes as reconstructed from city directories and recounted by Ned several decades later, but always in that area. Some of their moves were temporary as Michael proceeded with building their home at 146 Lebreton Street. Michael always lived with Ned, no matter the address. The family lived for over 10 years at 132 Lebreton St. In 1877 the city sold building lots and Michael acquired one almost next door to #132 and built his family their ‘forever home’. 

Sadly Catherine passed away in November of 1881. She was only 44 years old. Ned was 17. Her baby Thomas had been born and lived only two weeks, in 1863. 1873 was a sad year for the family. In July, 2 year old Dennis passed away, followed by Joseph Eugene, 7 and half when he died in November. The family was still deeply grieving the loss of their beloved mother when Francis became ill and died of diptheria in January of 1882. 

The other siblings lived to adulthood, although William was only 30 when he died of kidney disease in 1886, and Michael just 35 when he died just after moving to California in 1893. He was thought to have sufficiently recovered from typhoid fever when he left Ottawa but he died a short time after arriving to work with his brother John.