The McArdles or McCarrolls
The McCarroll Family can be traced back authentically to Kilcurry Parish , County Louth, Ireland in the early 1800's.
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Bernard (Barny) McCardle was born on the 22nd of December 1834 to Michael McCardle and Margaret McCardle (nee Toole) in Kilcurry Parish , County Louth. You will see as we move through their story that tracing them was not straightforward, as many of them could not read or write and as a consequence the surname changed in spelling, from generation to generation.
Kilcurry was the smallest and most important townland in the parish of Faughart. The parish chapel was erected in this townland, and it is therefore called Kilcurry chapel. There is an old monument of stone set in the wall, and a title is written on it, "This is to commemorate the erection of this chapel, for the glory of God and the honour of Saint Patrick by Rev. Father Keiran Pastor of this Parish and his benefactors. Pray for them. 1794."
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The surname in Irish is MacArdghail, from ardghal, meaning 'high valour' or from the Irish "ardghail" meaning "tall foreigner" with roots "ard" meaning "tall" and "gail" meaning "foreigner", indicative of their original ancestor being a Viking or from Viking stock.
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The effects of the Irish Potato Famine hit the McCardle family as hard as it hit other Irish families. In response to this Bernard did what any others did - He left Ireland and made his way to Scotland.
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He married Elizabeth Morgan on the 9th of January 1855 at St Mary's, Saltcoats, Ayrshire. He was 20 years old and she was 26 years old. Elizabeth was also Irish. Her parents were Michael Morgan and Catherine McMahon. Like the McCardle's, the Morgans had moved from Ireland in 1850 and settled in Ayrshire, Scotland. Elizabeth was born on the 27th of July 1828 in Derrynoose, County Armagh, Ireland. The Morgans were living at Schoolwell Street, Stevenson and that's where Elizabeth met a young Barny McCardle.
The McCardle's spent many happy years living in Stevenston. Barny found work in the newly opened chemical works. Nobel Industries Limited was founded in 1870 by Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel for the production of the new explosive dynamite in the United Kingdom. Ardeer, Stevenston on the coast at Ayrshire, was chosen for the company's first factory. The business later diversified into the production of blasting gelatine, gelignite, ballistite, guncotton, and cordite. At its peak, the factory employed nearly 13,000 men and women.
Barny and Catherine had seven children:
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1. Michael Thomas McCardle was born on the 10th of October 1855 in Stevenston, Ayrshire
2. Margaret McCardle was born on the 31st of January 1858 at Adam Wilsons Land, Townhead, Stevenson, Ayrshire
3. Catherine McCardle was born on the 21st of October 1859 at Adam Wilsons Land, Townhead, Stevenson, Ayrshire
4.Mary McCardle was born on the 8th of February 1862 at Kerrs Land, Schoolwell Street, Stevenson, Ayrshire
5.Thomas McCardle was born on the 12th of March 1864 at Schoolwell Street, Stevenston, Ayrshire.
6.James McCardle (my great grandfather) was born on the 25th of August 1865 at Schoolwell Street, Stevenston, Ayrshire
7.Elizabeth McCardle was born on the 6th of January 1869 at Samuel Reids Land, New Street, Stevenston, Ayrshire
Now back to this naming issue. I was once told by my grandmother that the surname McCardle was changed to McCarroll so that it would sound less Irish. The reason given for this was that Irish people were shunned by the Scots as they would work for less money and graft for longer hours.
The truth is a lot less interesting. They couldn't read or write properly.
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In the 1861 Census Barny is listed as a ridsman (coal pit) aged 26 and living at 33 Schoolwell Street. His surname is listed incorrectly as McCardell.
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1871 census also has a spelling error Bernard McCarl born Ireland 1836 age 35 bracker in coal pit Elizabeth McCarl born Ireland 1831 age 40, Michael McCarl born 1855 Stevenston age 16 collier, Margaret b 1857 age 14 bonnet knitter, Catherine 1859 age 12, James 1865 age 6, Elizabeth 1869 age 2 James Gallaghar and Bernard Murphy lodgers. 68 Andeer Square, Stevenston, Ayrshire.
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When Elizabeth McCardle (nee Morgan) died later in 1871 it's stated on her death certificate that he can not read or write.
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By the time we hit the 1881 Census the family are living at 55 Ardeer Square, Stevenston and have finally settled on the surname of McCarroll.
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As mentioned above Catherine McCardle/McCarroll (nee Morgan) died at 68 Ardeer Square, Stevenson, aged 39, on the 17th of April 1871. Her death certificate lists the reason for death as 'A fit of anger' Barny McCardle/McCarroll died, aged 51, from dysentery at 13 John Street, Greenfield, Hamilton on the 1st of June 1886.
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Their children's stories continue below:
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1. Michael Thomas McCardle was born on the 10th of October 1855 in Stevenston, Ayrshire. He married Margaret McAdam at the Roman Catholic Chapel, Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, on the 1st of June 1885. Margaret was born in Stevenston on the 12th of April 1861 - The daughter of Francis McAdam and Ann Vallely. After the marriage they moved from Arden Square, Stevenson to the McAlpines Buildings, Beckford Street, Hamilton. This was also around the time of his father's death in Hamilton. Hamilton was an alien to place to Margaret and she longed to return to her family in Ayrshire. Two years after arriving in Hamilton they left.
Michael was involved in an accident at work in 1895 at Glengarnock Iron and Steel Company, near Stevenston.He was entombed for 3 days after Pit 4 collapsed. He survived as did his wife's brother Alexander McAdam (aged 38 and unmarried at the time of the accident, of Old Square, Stevenston).
They had 5 children :
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- Eliza Mccarroll was born January 1889 in Stevenston , Ayrshire. She died aged 5 at 9 Auchenhouse Cottages, Stevenson, Ayrshire on the 15th of April 1894 from double pneumonia.
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- Alexander McCarroll was born 1891 in Stevenston, Ayrshire. He died aged 8 at 13 Ardeer Square, Stevenston, Ayrshire on the 29th of April 1900 from bronchitis.
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- James McCarroll was born 1893 in Stevenston, Ayrshire. He died aged 8 at 13 Ardeer Square, Stevenston, Ayrshire on the 25th of September 1902 from consumption.
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- Thomas Michael McCarroll was born 1897 in Stevenston, Ayrshire. He married Helen (Ella) Elder at St Mary's, Saltcoats on the 28th of January 1921. They moved from Ayrshire to Glasgow and set up home at 41 Old Govan Road, Glasgow.
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They had two children:
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- Michael Thomas McCarroll was born on the 29th of January 1923 at the Maternity Hospital, Glasgow.
At the age of 18 he was admitted to Stoneyetts Certified Institution for Mental Defectives. The following year on the 31st of October 1943, aged 19, he escaped from the hospital and was found dead on the rail tracks, 200 yards west of the overhead bridge on Wyndford Road, Castlecary, Glasgow. He had head and arm Injuries consistent with being being struck by a train.
- Robert McCarroll was born on the 29th of June 1924 at the Maternity Hospital, Glasgow. He never married and died aged 55 from heart disease at 35 Curfew Road, Glasgow on the 13th of April 1980.
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Thomas Michael McCarroll died aged 58 of a heart attack at Ruchill Hospital, Glasgow on the 2nd of May 1955. His wife Helen McCarroll (nee Elder) died at Gartnavel General Hospital , Glasgow on the 29th of March 1988 from a peptic ulcer. She was 88.
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His father Michael Thomas McCardle died at 11 Canal Street, Saltcoats from stomach cancer on the 12th of November 1921. His mother Margaret McCardle (nee McAdam) died at 45 Springvale Street, Saltcoats aged 83 on the 15th of April 1944.
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2. Margaret McCardle was born on the 31st of January 1858 at Adam Wilsons Land, Townhead, Stevenson, Ayrshire. She married James Trainer at St Mary's, Saltcoats on the 21st of August 1880. James, a coal miner, was born in Rutherglen in 1861 the son of James Trainer and Elizabeth Montgomery. They moved to Hamilton, Lanarkshire in the mid 1880's and set up home at 31 Muir Street, Hamilton. They led a fairly reasonable life and could even afford to pay a live in domestic servant to work for them.
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They had three sons:
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- James Trainer born on the 16th of April 1881 in Stevenston, Ayrshire
- Joseph Trainer born in 1887 in Hamilton, Lanarkshire
- Bernard Trainer born on the 20th of March 1889 at 31 Muir Street, Hamilton, Lanarkshire
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In 1891 Margaret (Maggie) Trainer (nee McCardle) is listed on the census at Muir Street, Hamilton, Lanarkshire, living with her husband and 2 sons Joseph and Bernard and their domestic servant Rose Ann Duffy who was 28. Sadly this was the last census she would appear on. She died in Muir Street, Hamilton, Lanarkshire on the 25th of June 1891 from consumption. She was 33. Her three sons were sent to live with their uncle James McCarroll when she was ill so they would not contract the disease.
In 1898 James Trainer remarried. He wed his new wife Elizabeth McDonald at The Catholic Chapel, Rutherglen. By 1901 they were living at Mcmillan's Land, North Road, Bothwell, Bellshill, Lanarkshire.
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Two other sons followed:
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- John Simpson Trainer born 1898 in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire. He died aged 15 at Bellshill Hospital on the 6th of July 1913 from consumption.
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- Andrew McDonald Trainer born at 262 King Street, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland on the 9th of February 1901. He never married and died on the 9th of February 1933 at the family home, 9 North Road, Bellshill. He also died of consumption.
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3. Catherine McCardle was born on the 21st of October 1859 at Adam Wilsons Land, Townhead, Stevenson, Ayrshire. Catherine died at 31 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 23rd of June 1888. She was 28 years old and another victim of consumption. Her death certificate states 'wasting away of kidney'
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4.Mary McCardle was born on the 8th of February 1862 at Kerrs Land, Schoolwell Street, Stevenson, Ayrshire. She died at Schoolwell Street, Stevenson on the 30th of September 1864 aged 2 years. She had acute hydrocephalus - ​a build-up of fluid in the brain.
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5.Thomas McCardle was born on the 12th of March 1864 at Schoolwell Street, Stevenston, Ayrshire. He died at Schoolwell Street, Ayrshire on the 27th of September 1864. He was 6 months old. Cause of death was tuberculosis of the mesenteric and retroperitoneal lymph nodes.
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6.James McCardle (my great grandfather) was born on the 25th of August 1865 at Schoolwell Street, Stevenston, Ayrshire. James appears on the 1871 census aged 6 and living at 68 Ardeer Square, Stevenston, Ayrshire. His name incorrectly spelled McCarl, living with his father, mother, brother Michael and sisters Margaret, Catherine and Elizabeth. In 1881 the family are at 55 Arden Square, Stevenson, Ayrshire. James and his brother Michael follower in their father's footsteps and became coal miners. James moved to Hamilton, Lanarkshire in the late 1880's looking for work. There were coal mines next to the Bent Road and also in Cadzow, however instead of staying in a miner's house, James found a home at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton. When his sister Margaret was ill he took care of her son James.
James McCardle married Catherine Nelson at St Brides Chapel, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire on the 31st of December 1893. Catherine had much in common with James. Her parents were from Ireland and she had also been born in Stevenston, Ayrshire. In fact her family home on New Street was only a minutes walk from James family home in Schoolwell Street. James was 28 at the time of the marriage, Catherine was 17. She left her parents house at 1 Church Street, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire and moved in with James at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton. At this point he had settled on 'McCarroll' as the spelling of his surname.
They had 9 children:
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- Catherine (Kate) McCarroll born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 16th of November 1897.
As a young girl Catherine worked in the families confectionary store which was on Muir Street, Hamilton. Many family members remember the shop yet strangely no one can remember what it was called. She worked there between 1915 & 1922.
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In the early 1900's confectionary was suddenly big business in the UK. It became something people of all classes ate, and for the first time, sweets were made with children in mind as well as adults. The commercially produced sweets came in large, well labelled jars and were weighed out to customer's requirements. Children normally bought an ounce at a time and occasionally, if they could afford it, 2 ounces. Comfits were popular (nuts and other small items given a hard sugar coating) as were liquorice, fudge, marzipan, brandy balls, fruit pastilles and unclaimed babies (changed to jelly babies in the 1950's). However chocolate was still a luxury and the ‘fancy boxes’ (like today’s selection boxes) produced by companies like Cadbury’s cost as much as a working class family’s weekly food budget.
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Catherine married Hugh McGhee on the 21st of October 1921 at the Roman Catholic Church in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. At the time of the marriage Catherine was still living with her parents in Muir Street. Hugh, who was born in Muirkirk, Ayrshire in 1893 was living with his parents at 18 Clyde Place, Bothwell. Hard as it might be to believe today, the world was a different place for Irish Catholics in the early 1920's. The media were stirring up trouble. The extent to which Scotland was engaged in IRA activities was exaggerated but there was a sense of threat in the country. In 1922 Hugh McGhee changed the couples surname to McGhie as he felt being an Irish Catholic was preventing them from getting a house in Hamilton.
Hugh and Catherine had five children:
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- John (Jock) McGhie born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 8th of September 1922.
- Mary (Mamie) McGhie born in Larkhall, Lanarkshire in 1924.
- Margaret McGhie born in Hamilton in 1930.
- Elizabeth (Betty) McGhie born in Hamilton on the 10th of May 1935.
- Richard (Dick) McGhie born at 108 Hillside Crescent, Hamilton on the 5th of October 1937.
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To read about the McGhie's click HERE
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In the 1950's Hugh and Catherine lived at 58 Burnblea Street, Hamilton
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Hugh McGhee/McGhie suffered from cancer of the spine in later life. He died, aged 68, at Cleland County Hospital on the 2nd of June 1962. Catherine outlived some of her children, she died aged 83 at 18 Wylie Street, Hamilton on the 3rd of April 1981.
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- Elizabeth McCarroll born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 24th of March 1900. Elizabeth died aged 10 months on the 13th of January 1901 at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton from meningitis.
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- Margaret McCarroll born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 5th of March 1902. She later moved with the family to 55 Dechmont Street, Hamilton. At the age of 33 she married Richard Brown at St Anne's RC Church, Hamilton on the 26th of April 1935. Richard born on the 8th of April 1903 in Hamilton was the son of John Brown and Rose Ann McKeown. Prior to the marriage he was living at 2 Hall Street, Hamilton. Hall Street is only a couple of streets away from Dechmont Street, so it's likely that the families were familiar with each other.
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Margaret died of a brain hemorrhage at 7 Hillside Crescent, Hamilton at lunch time on the 15th of March 1948. She was 46.
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Richard married his second wife Barbara Devine on the 4th of July 1949. 15 months after Margaret's death. Richard died at Stonehouse Hospital on the 30th of April 1977. His usual residence was 20 Newlands Drive, Eddlewood, Hamilton.
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- Mary McCarroll born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 5th of August 1903.She married John Dickson at St Anne's RC Church, Hamilton on the 12th of July 1935. John was originally from Bothwell, born in 1904, he was the son of John Dickson and Annie Houston.
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John and Mary only had one daughter:
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Ann Houston Dickson born on the 10th of July 1936 at 7 Almada Street, Hamilton. She died at the Glasgow Children's Hospital four days later on the 14th of July 1936.
Mary Dickson (nee McCarroll) died of a heart attack on the 27th of December 1969 at 6 Burnside Lane, Hamilton. She was 66 years old. John Dickson died in Hamilton in 1976. He was 72 years old.
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- Bernard McCarroll born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 19th of September 1905. Bernard married Grace Duffy at St Mary's RC Church, Larkhall on the 22nd of June 1938. At the time he was working as a mechanical farmer in Newcastle Upon Tyne. His address was 39 Mary Street, Newcastle. Grace was born on the 16th of September 1909. Her parents were James Duffy and Bridget Kelly.
Little is currently known about the couple. They lived in Larkhall where they had one daughter, Catherine McCarroll born in 1939.
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Bernard McCarroll died at 12 Tweed Street, Larkhall on the 1st of April 1979. Grace McCarroll (nee Duffy) died on the 31st of January 1980 at Cleland Hospital, Motherwell.
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- John McCarroll born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 22nd of September 1907. He died at the same address aged 10 months old on the 17th of August 1908. He had suffered with broncho pneumonia for 23 days. He's buried in the Bent Cemetery, Hamilton.
- James (Pud) McCarroll (my grandfather) born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 11th of December 1908. He later moved with the rest of his family to 55 Dechmont Street, Hamilton. He married Martha Strachan at St Anne's RC Church, Hamilton on the 28th of December 1935. James, or Pud as he was known locally, was a 'bookie's runner' and was never short of money. Most illegal bookmakers employed ‘runners’ who received commission on the bets that they collected from pubs, factories and small shops, especially tobacconists. These were picked up in clock bags, leather purses which, when shut, set the time on the clock to confirm that the bets had taken place before racing started. The runners had to deliver the betting slips to the bookie before the start of the race. But punters liked to study form up to the last minute and there were lots of races, so the ‘clock’ was invented. The ‘clock’ was in a solid steel case with a very stout leather bag that could be locked to the case . The betting slips were put in the bag before the start of the race, the bag was locked in and this started the watch. The bag, when full, was then taken to the bookmaker’s office and exchanged for another. The bookmaker, who had the only key, could then unlock the clock and check that bets had been placed before the start of race. Later in life Pud worked as a coal miner at Cardowen Colliery in Stepps, Glasgow.
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James and Martha had six children:
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- James (Jim) McCarroll born at 3 Burnblea Street, Hamilton on the 14th of May 1936.
- Mary (Maureen) McCarroll born at 3 Burnblea Street, Hamilton on the 17th of August 1927. She died at the same address on the 14th of March 1938 aged 7 months.
- Catherine (Rena) McCarroll born born at 3 Burnblea Street, Hamilton on the 7th of February 1939.
- Rose McCarroll born born at 3 Burnblea Street, Hamilton on the 17th of May 1940.
- Jack McCarroll born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire on the 5th of February 1947.
Margaret McCarroll born at 102 Whitehill Road, Hamilton on the 26th of March 1949.
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Full details on all of these children can be found HERE
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- Elizabeth (Lizzie) McCarroll born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 6th of February 1911. Lizzie never married. She was very interested in fashion as a young woman. She died at Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride on the 20th of June 1960. She was 49 years old. Her usual residence was 2 Burnside Lane, Hamilton. She's buried in the Bent Cemetery, Hamilton.
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- William (Bill) McCarroll born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 28th of October 1914. He married Mary Stewart in Hamilton, Lanarkshire on the 21st of December 1943.
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They had one son and also two adopted sons:
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- David McCarroll was born at William Smellie Memorial Hospital, Lanarkshire on the 17th of July 1952. He married Margaret Dolan at St Josephs Roman Catholic Church, Blantyre on the 3rd of July 1971
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They had three children:
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- William (Billy) McCarroll born 1971. He died in London in 2000.
- Emma McCarroll born in 1979.
- David McCarroll born in 1982.
The two adopted sons were actually the sons of Mary Stewart's brother, James.
- Gerard Stewart born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire in 1944
- John (Jackie) Stewart born in Hamilton, exact date unknown
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Mary McCarroll (nee Stewart) died at Law Hospital, aged 72, from chronic obstruction airways disease on the 30th of October 1982. William McCarroll died at 189 Townhill Road, Hamilton on the 20th of December 1991 from a chest infection and myocardial infaraction. He was 77.
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7.Elizabeth McCardle was born on the 6th of January 1869 at Samuel Reids Land, New Street, Stevenston, Ayrshire. She died on the 11th of January 1875 at Schoolwell Street, Stevenson, Ayrshire aged 6 years from scarlet fever.
