Martin was the eldest son of Francis and Sarah Curran, born around October 18th 1862, He was born in Drumphea, which is near to Myshall in rural county Carlow. little is known of his childhood, and we can only pick up on his arrival in Dublin to join the Dublin metropolitan police in 1888 at the age of 25.
He was recommended by an Edward Ponsonby Esq, who was the 8th Earl of Bessborough and sheriff of county Carlow. Martin was recorded on his appointment as being 6'1'' tall, roman catholic, from the parish of Fennagh in the post town in Garryhill, it states on the appointment that he was baptised 16/10/1862, his service number was 9422.
Whilst in service he served all around Dublin in a career spanning 32 years, he started off his service in C division, then 28/2/1890 he went to B div, 21/7/1897 over to E div, and then back to B again 21/4/1899 to the end of his career.
The divisional areas are;
Div Div HQ Areas covered
A Kevin st Chancery ln, Newmarket, Kilmainham
B Lr Castle Yd College St, Lad Ln, Clarendon St
C Store St Summerhill, Store St, Fitzgibbon St, Ballybough, Clontarf
D Green St Bridewell, Mountjoy, Chapelizod, Parkgate St
E Rathmines Irishtown, Rathmines, Donnybrook, Terenure
F Kingstown Dalkey, Kingstown, Blackrock, Booterstown, Kill O'Grange
G 3 Exchequer ct Dublin Castle(detective branch)
<1920
Brunswick St >1920
Not much is known at present about anything of the path of his career, or any cases of arrests that he made. He spent his whole career as a constable. My father has told me stories of him, one that always comes to mind was one about a time during the Anglo Irish troubles, he was on a beat close to the GPO in Dublin with another officer and the officer was killed, though unfortunately that is all the details I have. Another one, once again, very spared details, he was riding his bike along the Malahide road in Dublin and a column of IRA soldiers were marching in his direction, he made a dive into the ditch, and hid there until they passed.
Martin(top row 2nd left) in a DMP group in 1913, the DMP were only armed for one day, but it was decided against later for civil peace reasons for them to be disarmed, so this was a pretty rushed picture, as they were only armed for one day.
Martins family life
He was born into farming stock in rural county Carlow, he was the third eldest child and eldest boy of the dozen children of Francis Curran and Sarah Doyle, He was brought up in the village of Drumphea, just a few kilometers south of Myshall. He would have been 26 and in Dublin at the time of his mothers young passing, nine years after her last child she died around the age of only 48. The next family event was the marriage to his first wife, Margaret Gaul, who was from down the road in Knocksquire, though they married in Dublin around 1891. She was six years his junior and they had six children, Mary, Sarah, Francis, John, Thomas and Bridget, on martins grave in Glasnevin, Dublin, it states that john and thomas died young, Bridget only lived for two months. Mary and Sarah went to live in London, upon where they met two Canadian soldiers during the first world war, and went back to saskatchewan with them, unfortunately Sarah did not have children with her spouse John Bair(or Bear) a native Canadian from prince albert. Mary did though, and there are plenty of her descendants all over canada. Frank was in the IRA during the easter rising in Dublin in 1916, he went on to join the free state army and got to the rank of sarjeant. He married Eileen and they had two children in Dublin.
Martins father, Francis passed away in 1899.
Margaret Gaul, became ill and died in the winter of 1902/3, leavin martin with three children. Martin then married Margaret Doyle on 29/4/1908, Three weeks later they had there first baby, Martin and then went on to have another five children, Alfred, John, Dermot, kathleen and Patrick. Patrick died suddenly from meningitis in 1910.
Martin in a family group, and his first wife, margaret gaul, their two daughters, mary(l)and sarah(r), the lady on the right has always been thought to be martins sister, Sarah curran
Martin Jnr became a farmer in Santry, Dublin. Alfred went on to join the Irish army, Dermot went on to join the RAF, and served before, during and after the 2nd world war. John, who was better known as Vincent, moved to England and ended up living in Cambridge and finally kathleen stayed in Dublin, and married a fellow Dubliner, Tom Curran(not related!).
Martin would have seen a number of his grandchildren before he died in 1947, Dermot had one daughter Ivy.
Mary from his first marriage, had six children in that time, Desmond, Gloria, Wendall, Maeve, Charles and Ivor. Frank also from the first marriage had two children, Mona and Mary Patricia, I’m not sure but I think he may have had one great grandchild too, in the shape of Lionel shade, son of Gloria(his daughter marys daughter)
From what I know, Martin lived at the following places.
Birth certificate of Frank Curran 1894 6 Richmond Row Portobello, Dublin (The only house in which he lived in Dublin that still stands today from what I know)
Census Ireland 1901 23 Eastwall, Dublin
1911 census Ireland 12 Richmond Avenue, Clontarf West, Dublin
The Thatch, Whitehall Dublin (1920's)
Santry hall, Cloughran county Dublin (1930's 1nd 40's)
Martin died in 1947 from cancer of the tongue in our ladys hospice in Harolds Cross, Dublin.
Martins grave in Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin
Martins wedding certificate to Margaret Doyle, 1908
Below:Entry in Myshall parish births for martins baptism, reads Curran, 19(october 1862), martin of frank andd saragh doyle, sp(sponsors) edward fitzgerald and bridget fitzgerald, drumfea subsequently someone else has written in the book at least 46 years later the details of his second marriage to margaret doyle in dublin.
Below:Entry in Myshall parish births for martins baptism, reads Curran, 19(october 1862), martin of frank andd saragh doyle, sp(sponsors) edward fitzgerald and bridget fitzgerald, drumfea subsequently someone else has written in the book at least 46 years later the details of his second marriage to margaret doyle in dublin.
Links
Wikipedia Edward Ponsonby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Ponsonby,_8th_Earl_of_Bessborough
Wikipedia Dublin Metropolitan Police http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_Metropolitan_Police
Martin in 12 Richmond Ave, 1911 census record online http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000025885/
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