My Dad- writing things up

I have decided that one of the things that I need to do this year is 'write up' and check the information I have about my New Zealand family. I have started with my father, James Kevin Riordan (Jim). I have quite a lot of information about him as it happens, as he was a Railway worker, and went to the Middle East in WW2. Men tend to give rise to a more detailed paper trail than women.

This is my father with his mate Curly, somewhere at a camp in the desert in 1941.

 

 

 

 

Dad was born in 1917 in Omata, just outside New Plymouth, to Martin Riordan and Margaret Malone. At the time of his birth, the family was living on a dairy farm in Hurford Road. One of the things I would like to find out sometime is where exactly on Hurford Rd the family lived. I know it was somewhere not too far from the Royal Oak factory which his father Martin supplied. If I can find some old maps, I will hopefully be able to narrow the location down a bit.

Dad obtained Proficiency at primary school, and by 1938 was working with the Railways, firstly as a junior porter, and by 1955 he was a Guard. When men were sought for the War, he joined up serving in Railways Operating and Construction Companies, after entering Egypt in September 1940. In a chance meeting at a genealogy conference in the early 90s, I met a man who served in his unit, who told me Dad was much in demand in the canteen of an evening, where he sang Irish folk songs.

Dad moved to Waitara at some stage after his war service, where he was a guard. As a single man, he was boarding at the Masonic Hotel. It so happened that my mother, Katherine Lalor, was working there doing 'domestic duties', which I know included cooking. There was a courtship, and in 1956, my parents married, when my father was 39. Just under a year later, their first daughter was born, to be followed by three more in succeeding years.

From a moving company receipt, it was clear we moved into our Waitara home in July 1960. Dad clearly enjoyed being a husband and father, and making our house a home. (Back then, lower income people could still buy homes, through State Advances home mortgages.) I have many happy early childhood memories of Dad working hard around the property. He had a huge vegetable garden, planted fruit trees, and also numerous flower gardens. He had magic green fingers. He laid the concrete paths, dug drainage, and made a fence.

There was a day that I remembered walking down to the Railway Station with my Dad, to find the steam train was in its shed, with a wagon in front of it. I was only four at the time, but I still knew that wasn't 'normal'. I asked Dad why the wagon was there, and he told me it was so nobody could steal the train. I thought he was being silly! But it turns out that is exactly why the wagon was there. In the very early hours of 3 March 1962, shortly after my father had come home from work, he heard the locomotive AB.817 going past our house, when he knew it should have been in the loco shed. There was a chase with cars up to Big Jims Hill, but the train was by then returning to Waitara. Newspaper accounts appeared in various papers, and are all collected up in a file at Archives NZ, as are copies of 'official' documents. My father received a letter of commendation for his part in the incident. There was even an editorial in the Christchurch Star about the event on 10 March 1962.

Excerpt from editorial in Christchurch Star, 10 March 1962

 I have many idyllic memories of my early childhood. But in early June 1966, my childhood came crashing down, when Dad collapsed at work, and died not much later, of a sudden heart attack. I missed him acutely. 

Over the years, I have written various pieces about him, from the heart. The posters above are ones I prepared for the genealogy conference in the 90s in Palmerston North, when Anne Carian was organising the wall displays. The conference theme was 'Tracking the Lines' with Railways being one of the sub-themes.

Requiescat in Pace my dearly loved father.

 

 

Darfield Visit

 Today it was time for a trip out to Darfield and Charing Cross. First I went to the cemetery by the Catholic Church, where a quartet of headstones are there for my Riordan-Burke family. Mary Burke was the first one buried there, after she died of consumption when only 29 years old. Her mother Ann Philp (Burke) and her Uncle John Burke) died within months of each other in 1895. Patrick Riordan, Mary’s husband, died in 1911. 

Next I visited the Darfield Cenotaph, which carries the name of James Riordan, my great-uncle, who died of wounds received in the Battle of the Somme. 

The last visit for the afternoon was to Charing Cross where the Riordan farm used to be. Patrick raised sheep and grew crops, and it seems like similar uses of the land are still in place. But today there were large irrigators also in use. 

Burke Family Gathering

 Yesterday some of my Burke Family whanau had a gathering in Christchurch- a very enjoyable day. The first item for the morning was at Sydenham Cemetery where we had a blessing for a memorial plaque for Martin Burke- my 2x-great-grandfather. He doesn't seem to have ever had a headstone, and a group of us decided that it might be a good idea to erect one. Fr Simon Eccleton was the priest who came along to perform the blessing, a very special thing. He said he often does blessings for the month's mind at cemeteries, but for someone who died over a 100 years ago was a first for him!

Some of us then headed to Lyttelton and took a short cruise across to Quail Island. I appreciated being on the harbour to mark the day when everyone disembarked from the Mermaid, 160 years ago.

Next stop was at the Gondola, which gave a superb view down to the harbour, and also to parts of the Bridle Path that they had to climb over to reach Christchurch itself.

We finished the evening with a wonderful meal celebration with about 44 cousins. I particularly enjoyed meeting up with a couple of Riordan second cousins who I had never met before, and there was a group of Burtons there whose mother had helped me get started on genealogy many years ago. All round, it was a very special and satisfying day, getting to know a large group of whanau I hadn't met before.

Annie Riordan- Sr Majella

 The youngest child of Patrick Riordan and Mary Burke was Annie Riordan, who was just a baby when her mother Mary died of consumption. Sadly, Annie acquired it from her mother, though she lived to be 19 before she went quickly downhill with it.

Annie was reputedly very musical, and in Papers Past there are numerous references to her when at high school for passing music exams (piano and harp) and for singing in concerts. At high school in 1974 I had the lead female solo in a musical, and afterwards some nuns were telling me how much my voice reminded them of this nun who was my relative. It was only when I began doing genealogy quite some time later that I found out the nun in question was my great-aunt Annie Riordan, and that she had died in 1911. The nuns who told me the story about her singing voice could never have heard it, they must have just heard the tradition amongst the congregation about her voice.

I am presently in Christchurch for a Burke family gathering, and took the opportunity to go to Linwood Cemetery to update my photos of Annie's grave, in the plot ( Block 40, Plot 99C) of the Mission Sisters, RNDM (Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions.) Her name in the convent was Sr Majella. The plot used to have a tall cross on it, atop a base with the sister's names on it. These names were solely their names in religion, and just the date of death was recorded. Now the cross lays flat over the plots, and there are plaques that carry the names and birth and death dates of each nun. Their family names are included along with their religious names.

Here are a few photos from how the plot looks now.

Mary Burke- Biography

 

Mary BURKE was born on 21 August 1862 at Polgavie Cotter’s Houses in the Parish of Inchture, County of Perth, Scotland.

 

She was the first child born to Martin Burke and Ann PHILP. Martin her father, had been born in Co Mayo, Ireland, and had emigrated to Perth in Scotland with his family around the time of the Famine. Her mother Ann was born in Fifeshire, Scotland.

 

Mary was a passenger to New Zealand aboard the ship Mermaid with her parents, while still only a baby. On the passenger list she is described as being 5 months old^[1]. The Mermaid departed England in November 1863, and Mary arrived with her family at Lyttelton in February 1864.

Sr Martina Burke told me that her father told a story about how Mary was carried on her father Martin’s shoulders over the Bridle Track from Lyttelton to Christchurch.

 

Mary Burke married Patrick RIORDAN on 11th April 1882, at the Catholic Church in Lincoln. Her occupation was described as servant and her usual residence was given as Lincoln. Her age was said to be 20, but actually would have been 19. Ann Burke, of Burnham (at home), was one of the witnesses.

 

Mary and her husband Patrick Riordan had six children. Their first child, John, was born in January 1883, and became parish priest in Ross. Martin, their second son, was born in 1884. He was my grandfather, and settled in Taranaki. Other children were Patrick Joseph (1886), James (1887), Bridget (1889), and Annie (1891). Her youngest child, Annie, was born on 23 August 1891, when Mary was already suffering from consumption.

 

Mary died on 26 March 1892, after two years of illness with consumption (phthisis pulmonalis). She is buried in the Catholic Cemetery beside the Church at Darfield, in a group of four graves, amongst the earliest in this cemetery. She rests beside her mother Ann, her Uncle John Burke, and her husband Patrick Riordan.

---

^[1] With a birth in August 1862, I would expect her age to be 15 mths, not 5mths, on embarkation.

Waitara to Lepperton Railway Trip

Recently I was in Taranaki for the Garden Festival, and I noticed that one of the 'events' was to take a trip along the Waitara to Lepperton Railway line, run by the Waitara Railway Preservation Society. To be fair, I am not sure I would have got around to taking this trip, except it was... raining... so not ideal for garden viewing. But as it turned out, this was a dose of nostalgia plus for me, and I am so very glad I took the trip.
To put things in context, my Dad, James Kevin Riordan, was a railway guard based at Waitara during my childhood.

One of the events I recalled from childhood, when I was just four, was taking a walk down to the Waitara railway yards from our house, and seeing a wagon backed up against the engine shed. I remember asking Dad why it was there- I must have been familiar enough with the yards to know a wagon wouldn't usually be there. And Dad told me it was so they couldn't steal the train. I thought he was being a bit silly with that answer. But years later I discovered that the train had indeed been taken on a joy ride the previous night, and my father was one of those involved with 'chasing' it.

The railway line to Lepperton forms one of my special memories. When I was of school age, Dad would occasionally ring home in the school holidays if the train was only going as far as Lepperton, and we could hitch a ride in the guard's van. The guard's van door might even be open, and it seemed awfully daring to go near it. I was fascinated to watch as wagons were coupled and uncoupled and as Dad used the lever to switch over the lines that the train was moving on. 

My father, sadly, passed away of a heart attack when I was just eight, but these precious memories are still there.
So, with all that personal history behind me, I boarded the train at Waitara on 3 November 2023 for the trip to Lepperton. It was staffed by enthusiastic members of the Waitara Railway Preservation Society, and I was duly issued a ticket for the trip.

There was a great viewing wagon on the rear, but it was rather too rainy to enjoy it on this trip!

At Lepperton was an exciting part of the journey for me. The Railway Preservation Society had bought the line etc but couldn't travel on the KiwiRail part of the tracks. Where the historic line from Waitara met the Lepperton tracks, a farmer had kindly sold them an adjacent strip of land and they had built a 'deviation'. But to go back to Waitara, it wasn't really safe for the engine to be at the rear, as we had several road intersections to cross, so the engine was allowed to be driven along a section of KiwiRail track, then changed over onto the deviation to be at the front to take the train home to Waitara again.

These kind of movements were exactly the kinds of jobs my father was in charge of as a guard. When I saw the guard rejoin this engine to the carriages, it took me right back to childhood. 

There was no sign left of the Lepperton yards, and no sign of the tall signalling tower. I had actually asked if these were still in existence at the previous year's garden festival and was assured by locals that they did, but no...

We took the journey back to Waitara, over the Waiongana Stream, past the Brixton sidings where the Society has yards to repair buildings and rolling stock etc, and under the overbridge where Big Jim's Hill road passes by.

We passed above my old primary school, St Joseph's Waitara. I am pretty certain this house has been moved here more recently, as I seem to remember looking straight up the hill across paddocks to see the train occasionally passing by while I was at school.

Then finally, just a short distance from the Waitara Railway Station, we passed by the house that my parents built for us, and that we moved into in 1960. It used to have a quarter acre section below it that we played in, and where my father had planted fruit trees of many kinds. (Now there are a couple of townhouses on the lower part of the section.) It made me realise, that every day when Dad left Waitara in the guard's van, whether his journey was to Lepperton or New Plymouth, he saw our family home and was reminded of his young family.

This was a great train trip- highly recommend it- and for me personally, it was a very nostalgic one.
Margaret Riordan
12 November 2023.

Riordan Land in Ireland- Where and when?

A third cousin recently had time in the Valuation Office in Dublin, and offered to look up some of my land queries- so I gathered together some of the info I had for the Riordan (and Malone) families. Thanks Maggie! https://www.iwikiwi.com/

I knew from his marriage record that my great-grandfather Patrick Riordan was born in Curraheen, Co Limerick, about 1843 to John Riordan and Bidy Quane. I searched in several townlands called Curraheen with no luck- distinct lack of Riordans, Malones, Quanes or O'Donnells.  In the end, thanks to something I managed to find on Google, it looked like the place name had changed, and the farm was at Cullane South, Ballylanders Parish, Co Limerick, not far from Mitchelstown and Galbally. On the section I found via Griffiths, there was an old fort/tower called Carheen on the property.

 Some of the bits and pieces I found included:

1829 Tithe Applotment Book- widow Riordan is living in Curraheen in the parish of Ballylanders.                         (Also a John Quane in Knockbrack in parish of Ballylanders).

 1826- John Riordan listed as gaining lease of land at Cullane South, Ballylanders, No20.

This would seem to possibly be my 2x-great-grandfather John Riordan. Note Patrick Creagh and Jno Creagh at nearby sections (18,19) (Suspect intermarriage between families)

 On Griffiths Valuation- John Riordan has section 20 in Cullane South. A Modern overlay map shows the property is bordered by Cullane S road and Tully Rd, and is to the east of the River Ahapurca.

 1850 June 4^th- Ellen, daughter of John Riordan and Bidy Quane baptised. Last daughter in family, Bridget, born 1855.

 1871-1874- Ballylanders Evictions. New landlord, Charles Wilmot Smith, put up rents hugely. Some tenants evicted when couldn’t pay. John Riordan appears to be one of these. However, 1870 Land Act came into play, and eventually by 1874 it seems most were readmitted to their holdings. A William Creagh was the bailiff and was very unpopular. I have many DNA matches with Creagh descendants, and it seems that perhaps John Riordan’s sister might have married a Creagh, and he left for Queensland.

1877- 28 April 1877, James Riordan, the brother of Patrick Riordan, married Bridget Hanlon in church at Ballylanders.

Census 1901 James – family listed as residents of a house 12 in Cullane South
Don’t know if they have shifted from property 20, or if things have been renumbered. It's possible John Riordan bought a Creagh property when he left for Australia.
Census 1911; listed on census as living in house 10 in Cullane South.

Extract of Census Return 1916- for James Riordan Address still given as Cullane South; James Riordan’s address living with Michael O’Riordan (Michael was born in Cullane 1883.)

1916 2nd Feb, Farm transferred to son Michael Riordan (O’Riordan) on his marriage.

1921- War of Independence, death of William O’Riordan, son of James Riordan and Bridget Hanlon, James still appears to be living on farm. (Info from various sources including newspapers and military records.)

Michael – seems to have died young. His wife was forced to sell holding to pay debts – sometime between 1916 and 1931.
1931 James Riordan died

That's enough of the bits and pieces. If you are reading this and think you might be a Riordan descendant from Cullane South, I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

I also have some 'bits and pieces' about the Malone family, between nearby Ballyfeerode townland, and Ballynadrideen, Ballyhea Parish, just over the border in Co Cork. But the connections involve a lot of supposition at this stage! One day I might blog about them!

 

William O'Riordan- died in Lackelly Ambush, 1921

Having not grown up in Ireland, I often find it hard to understand aspects of Irish history I encounter while trying to learn more about my own family story. But then an event with a family connection happens, and suddenly I grasp a bit more.

William O’Riordan was the youngest son and child of James Riordan, farmer of Cullane, Ballylanders, and Bridget Hanlon. He was born around 1894, (though finding his birth registration has proven so far to be elusive.) A kind friend has sent me his baptism record, and he was baptised 21 July 1894 in Ballylanders, with John Quane and El Fitzgerald as sponsors. He died 2 May 1921, aged 27 years, in the Lackelly Ambush, a victim of bullets from the ‘Black and Tans’.

It was easy enough to find a family for William O’Riordan in the 1901 census, though until recently I wasn’t completely sure that it was linked with our family. I knew that Patrick Riordan my great-grandfather had a brother James, and that Patrick had come from Cullane South. In a search for James Riordan in Co Limerick in the 1901 census, there were 21 James Riordans, but only one was from the townland of Cullane South, Cullane, Ballylanders Parish.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Limerick/Cullane/Cullane_South/1506050/

 In the 1901 census, William Riordan was the youngest in the household, aged 6, described as a scholar who could read & write. He used the English language, and his father James was the only family member who used Irish & English. There were seven family members at home in this census, the parents and five children. His older brother Patrick wasn't at home in 1901: in mid-1903 he was ordained priest at Carlow College and then left for Australia. By the time of the 1911 census, there were four family members at home, the parents, and their two adult children Bridget (29) and Michael (27). William would have been about 16 at this time, and wasn’t living at home.

The reason I finally became sure this was the family of ‘our’ James, was because of a few ‘Trove’ mentions, when I was researching the story of Fr Patrick O’Riordan in NSW, Australia. He was known to be a cousin of the Riordan family in New Zealand, as well as of two O’Donnell priest-cousins. The ‘shorter’ version of that story is here:
http://kiwinomadancestors.blogspot.com/2022/10/fr-patrick-oriordan-1879-1933.html

 In 1921 there were two accounts in ‘Trove’ of the death and funeral of Captain William O’Riordan, and he was named as a brother of Father P O’Riordan of Binalong, Australia.
The W.A. Record, Perth, (Sat 17 Dec 1921) carried an account of the procession to the Ballylanders graveyard on 24 September 1921. William O’Riordan was described as an Irish Volunteer, and he was laid to rest in the Republican plot. Some 20,000 people took part in the procession from where they had first been buried, to their permanent resting place. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/212401323

A longer article in The Catholic Press, Sydney on 1 Dec 1921, gave more details, about how the bodies had been disinterred from a temporary resting place near Herbertstown, and High Mass was celebrated before the procession set off for Ballylanders which was 11 miles away. The chief mourners for Captain O’Riordan were said to be James O’Riordan and Mrs O’Riordan (parents), John and Michael O'Riordan (brothers) and Bridget O’Riordan (sister). https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106253922

The Lackelly Ambush is well documented, and took place during the Irish War for Independence. William O’Riordan was part of the East Limerick Flying Column, and on 2 May 1921, he was part of a combined group surprised by members of the Green Howard Regiment of the British Army. Four IRA members were killed in the ambush. According to a video, ‘Lackelly Remembered’, Thomas Howard was killed outright, but William O’Riordan was wounded, and later beaten to death.
The bodies of the four IRA members were placed on a cart for removal to Galbally by the British, but in a battle the cart was retrieved by the IRA. The four bodies were buried first at a farm, but soon re-buried in the disused Rathjordan graveyard near Herbertstown. Several months later, during the Truce, the bodies of William O’Riordan and Thomas Howard were reburied at Ballylanders.
There is a video that explains all these events, called ‘Lackelly Remembered 1921-2021’. https://youtu.be/arFLL-M6GjA

A copy of William Riordan’s death registration is available by searching Irish civil registration. https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-search.jsp
This states that he ‘died from effects of bullet wounds Killed instantaneously”.

 There is a large amount of detail available online about the Lackelly Ambush. In particular, there is a huge file on the Ambush that is on the Irish Military Archives Collection.
https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/military-service-pensions-collection-1916-1923/1916-1923-resources/operation/lackelly-ambush/

As part of this file, there is also a section devoted to William O’Riordan, DP6340, and largely that comprises applications made by family members for compensation. https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/military-service-pensions-collection-1916-1923/1916-1923-resources/operation/lackelly-ambush/  According to the rules, none of the family members qualified for compensation, as they weren’t dependants of William at the time of his death. This even applied to his elderly parents. However, the file is well worth perusing for the amount of genealogical information contained within.

The Emly Historical Society recorded an event in 2018 when they took a guided tour to the site of the 1921 Way of Independence Ambush Site. http://emlyhistoricalsociety.ie/blog/2018/04/03/hello-world-2/ There is a photo included of the memorial that includes William O’Riordan’s name.

The final resting place of William O’Riordan is in the Republican plot in Ballylanders Cemetery. https://historicgraves.com/ladywell/li-lwbl-0204/grave

About the writer: Margaret Riordan
I am a New Zealand-born Riordan descendant, living in New Zealand, and my grandfather Martin Riordan was a first cousin of William O’Riordan.
Coincidentally, my grandfather Martin also died in 1921, just  few months after William’s death, of acute influenzal pneumonia.

Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2022

For the first time, I am participating in GeniAus end-of-year blogging challenge, so here goes! 

1: I was happy to go back to my local genealogy branch meetings after a Covid absence. (I was really looking forward to going to the Lower North Island Irish Research Day as well, but managed to end up in isolation with Covid when it was on!) 

2: In 2022 I was particularly proud of writing about Fr Patrick O’Riordan who served as a priest in NSW- my first cousin twice removed. I had seen him mentioned in a newspaper when he visited another priest-cousin in New Zealand, but hadn’t managed to find out much about him. Suddenly, one bit of information from Andrew Redfern, a fellow Twitter-er, broke open the floodgates of information! 

5: A new genealogy book that sparked my interest was Chris Paton’s “Tracing your Scottish family history on the internet”, and I hope to delve into this more in 2023. 

6: A geneasurprise I received was this beautiful photo of my maternal grandmother, Rose Payn, that my cousin sent to me. I think she is probably a bridesmaid for one of her sisters in this photo, around 1912 or so.

7: In 2022 I finally met a third cousin from a Scettrini line that I hadn't had any contact with. 

8: Locating the birthplace of my great-grandmother Mary Burke in a rural area near Abernethy, Perthshire, Scotland, gave me great joy. Doing a Pharos course by Chris Paton gave me the confidence to use maps from the National Library of Scotland effectively, and led to this discovery. 

11: An informative newspaper article I found was one that told me Fr O’Riordan’s brother was killed in an ambush in 1921 in Ireland. This led to more research and discovering a military archive that contained a huge amount of information about his family, when they applied (unsuccessfully) for compensation after his death.

12: I was pleased I could contribute to my local genealogy branch by taking over as editor of the monthly newsletter. I am thankful to the long-time editor who thought to ask me to do this, and had faith that I could do it. 

14: I got a thrill from opening someone’s eyes to the joy of genealogy when I was able to go from an Irish marriage entry a friend had obtained from an old family Bible, to a whole heap more information about her family in Ireland. 

20: Another positive I would like to share is that I finally worked out how to search on Trove effectively, by using Advanced Search. This has helped me find the information I wanted, instead of being overwhelmed by 1000s of results! 

Thanks GeniAus for setting this opportunity up.

Fr John Riordan- PP at Ross

John Riordan, my great-uncle, was born 14 January 1883 at Kirwee, in Canterbury, New Zealand. He was the first child born to Patrick Riordan, from Co Limerick, Ireland; and Mary Burke, who was born in Perth, Scotland.  He was to become the elder brother of five siblings:  Martin (1884) - my grandfather, Patrick Joseph (1886), James (1887), Bridget (1889) and Annie (1891).
He faced early sorrow in his life with the death of his mother Mary, aged just 29 years, on 26 March 1892, of consumption. John was aged only 9 at the time. (From Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 8173, 16 May 1891, Page 3)

By 1906, John Riordan (aged 23) was a student at Holy Cross College in Mosgiel, where he is recorded as receiving a prize for Junior Latin. John appears in a photo taken at the seminary in Mosgiel in 1906, at the left hand end of the third row. This photo was reproduced on the NZ Tablet front cover, April 30th, 1975.

 

In 1911, John Riordan had to face the deaths of two more close family members. 

 His youngest sister, Annie Riordan, was educated as a boarder at Sacred Heart in Christchurch, where her musical talent was evident. At the young age of 15, she had entered the convent there, where her name in religion was Sr Majella. Just a few years later she succumbed to the Consumption she had 'inherited' from her mother as a baby. I was told by Sr Martina Burke RNDM, a cousin, that Annie’s brother John came up from the Seminary when she was in her last illness, and was called in the early hours when her end was near. She said that he ran over to the convent without even doing up his shoelaces. It is significant that Dean O’Donnell from Ashburton was one of the clergy present in the sanctuary at Annie's funeral. He was a first cousin to John’s father, Patrick Riordan, and there are various indications that he had a lot to do with the Riordan family over the years at Charing Cross. As well as knowing him as a cousin, John would have been very well aware of how he conducted his priestly ministry.

Less than two weeks after the death of his sister, John was further faced with the death of his father, Patrick. In his will, Patrick made specific, careful provision for John’s studies towards the priesthood. John was given the sum of £500 for his own use absolutely. Trustees were directed to make provision of “a sufficient sum for the completion of the education for the priesthood of my son John, which sum shall be in addition to the sum of £500 he had already been bequeathed.”

On 13 December 1914 John Riordan was ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral in Christchurch during a Pontifical High Mass. Fr O’Donnell of Ashburton was one of the priests assisting in the sanctuary. In the evening, Father Riordan assisted in Vespers and solemn Benediction. Fr Riordan celebrated his first Mass in the Convent Chapel of the Sisters of the Missions, the convent where his youngest sister Annie had taken her vows and died in 1911. (NZ Tablet, 17 December 1914).

 On Sunday 20 December 1914, John celebrated Mass at his ‘native parish’ of Darfield, and gave his blessing to the congregation. He also preached ‘an instructive sermon’ to the large congregation for evening devotions. (Darfield, NZ Tablet, 14 January 1915)

There are numerous references to Rev Fr John Riordan as priest on the Papers Past website. 

In January 1916 he was transferred from his first parish of Ahaura to Ross, which is where he served until he died in 1925. There were times recorded when he was part of various clerical affairs, such as the visit by Bishop Brodie in May 1916. Several priests, including Fr Riordan, had gone to Otira to greet the Bishop, and on arrival at the railway station a large gathering was present to welcome him. In January 1920, Fr Riordan went with a group of priests to Christchurch for a retreat.

 

He is listed as the celebrant for numerous weddings, at varied places on the West Coast, including Ross, Hokitika, Greymouth, Reefton, Kumara, Kanieri, and Okarito. This particular wedding was that of Mr Patrick Nolan, ‘a well known settler of Okuru’, to Miss Johanna Eggeling also of Okuru. In this instance the bride carried a ‘beautiful prayer book, the gift of Rev Father Riordan.’ (Grey River Argus, 5 September 1918, Page 3.)
Okuru is in fact particularly far south even by West Coast standards, being south of Haast. The account below from 1922, of a ‘periodical visit to the wild southern districts beyond Ross’, makes it clear it was a ‘rough journey’, though Father Riordan enjoyed ‘kindly hospitality of the people’ along the way. (NZ Tablet, 14 September 1922, Page 31)

It is also often recorded when Fr Riordan conducted funerals. In an account of the funeral of Mr Michael Moye, we read that, “Father Riordan, who was untiring in his attention to the deceased all through his illness, officiated at the funeral.”
John’s brother James Riordan died in France on 11th October 1916, of wounds received in action. The Plaque and Scroll sent to families who lost a soldier in the War was sent to Rev J Riordan, Ross, West Coast. Then on 29 August, 1921, his brother Martin (my grandfather) died in New Plymouth Hospital, aged 36 years, leaving his widow Margaret, with six young children. Soon after this, we read that Fr John Riordan had ‘holiday leave’ in the North Island, and that Father Gallagher was doing duty at Ross in his absence. Fr John had returned to Ross by early November.

 

Unexpectedly, in mid-April 1925, and to the great sadness of the people of the parish of Ross, Fr John Riordan suffered a ‘paralytic seizure’, never regaining consciousness, and he died a few days later on 18 April 1925. The Bishop, and John’s sister Bridget from Christchurch, were both present when he died. (Press, Volume XI, Issue 18361, 20 April 1925, Page 10)
Much was written about Fr John Riordan when he died, but perhaps one of the most moving pieces about him came from his first parish of Ahaura. This article describes him as a ‘devoted and earnest priest’. It says he was ‘full of missionary zeal’ when he left ‘to take charge of the far-flung parish of Ross, where his priestly ministrations endeared him not only to his own devoted people but to many outside the fold.’ It continues- ‘His simplicity of character, his genial disposition, and kindness of manner won for him the admiration of all with whom he came in contact during his sacred ministry.’ It finishes by saying that- ‘“Father John” of Ross is dead, but his memory will linger long in many a heart.’ (Ahaura Notes, NZ Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 16, 6 May 1925.)

 

 

An account of his funeral in the Hokitika Guardian (The Guardian, Hokitika, 22 April 1925, page 3) gives a great level of detail about the day. The account starts by saying: “The wave of sorrow and regret that passed over the West Coast when the news went forth of the death of Rev. Father Riordan on Saturday afternoon, was exemplified yesterday when the largest gathering of people that had ever assembled in Ross township, gathered for the purpose of paying a last tribute of respect to the memory of the deceased priest, whose funeral took place to Ross cemetery.” People came from all over the Coast for his funeral, from Okuru in the south to Reefton in the north. Two bishops and twenty-two priest were present, and ‘the celebrant of the Mass was the Very Rev Dean O’Donnell (Ashburton) a relative of the deceased priest.’ The ‘beautiful Gregorian music of the Mass, including the soul-stirring “Dies Irae” was chanted by a choir of priests.’ Bishop Liston blessed the Catafalque. In the procession to the cemetery the altar boys and priests preceded the bishops, followed by the Catholic School children and Sisters of Mercy. Next were the children from Ross State School. The coffin was carried in relays by men parishioners, and it was followed by a large gathering and many cars.
A year later, anniversary celebrations held in memory of the late Father Riordan. First there was a requiem Mass before many assembled at the “New Ross” cemetery to unveil a memorial to him.

The memorial was a 'tribute of love from his parishioners and friends'. The memorial is in an impressive position on this hilltop cemetery, with a view looking out to the ocean beyond.
In the beautifully kept historic church in Ross, there was a sign explaining that the Stations of the Cross were in memory of Rev Fr John Riordan.

(Rev Fr) John RIORDAN

 b 14 January 1883 in Kirwee, Canterbury, NZ
d 18 April 1925, in Ross, West Coast, NZ
while Parish Priest 

 

Requiescat In Pace 

 

(Please contact me via a comment if you are interested in learning more about Fr John Riordan: I do have more references.) 

Ooops something went wrong with the formatting in the published post. I don't want to try and fix it in case I delete it!!