Every Son has a mother...

Every son has a mother, and Joe-Pat was no exception ...

Molloy put it about that he didn't know where Joe-Pat came out of but he'd heard that maybe he was a tinker ... Which was not in fact the case, for we have it on record that although for many years after working in Arrahcashel House Joe-Pat had become what today we would call a "travelling person", that is, one who walked the length and breadth of Ireland, he had come originally from a fixed abode. He even made a great point of visiting his mother, a "widdy", living in the wilds of some county out on the Western Board, at least once every year, usually in Michaelmas. How his great generous heart swelled in his breast at the sight of the "Homestead" when he rounded the corner after coming down from the Perilous Pass ... the smoke, not exactly rising from the chimney (for there was none), puffing out in black dust balls through the front door (which was the only aperture in the whole structure).