Murphy, Cletus

Geoff LePage interviews Cletus Murphy in Charlottetown PEI. Cletus discusses his grandparents family, talks about storytelling and ghosts influence on the Irish. Cletus also tells about famine, church and politics, the Scottish, Irish, and French, and social gatherings.

Interview

LePage, Geoff

Murphy, Cletus

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1983-07-02

Held by UPEI Library — SMI-ARCH 1983-001. Series 1

00:57:52

[First 31 minutes very difficult to hear]
Cletus speaks of the Irish love of telling scary stories.
Cletus' father and mother's families left Ireland because of the famine. He's impressed how they succeeded after such hardship.
Cletus speaks of his family being tradespeople. His father was a school teacher but didn't pursue it as a career.
Brief mention of the Boston Irish.
Cletus speaks of church and politics in his fathers and grandfathers life. Cletus' wife, Edna, (?) speaks of the many Irish PEI people who left as missionaries.
Interviewer asks about Irish and Scottish relations, Cletus discusses Irish/French relations.
Briefly mentions issues of racism
Discusses religion on the island: Irish Catholics, Catholic Scotch and Presbyterian Scotch. Edna mentions she was the only Catholic nurse (out of 20) training in Summerside. Discusses genealogical connection between interviewer and Edna's family name, Sinnott. Lengthy conversation about Catholic/Protestant relations in Ireland. Brief mention of Island farming, fishing, and rum-running.
People loved to "scrap" at dances.
Cletus says heritage (Irish, French, Scottish) mattered less than one's religious affiliation.
The fights and feuding between communities was more for entertainment than anything else (something to do with your time). Cletus compared social fighting to hockey games... people go to see fights in hockey more than hockey itself. Interview ends with a little joke: they went to a fight and a dance broke out!

Held by UPEI Library — SMI-ARCH 1983-001. Series 1