Mary Theresa Ryan was born on 10th October 1931 in Ileigh, Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Her father was John Ryan and Mother was Mary Ryan (formerly Dwan). They lived in a small house next door to Ileigh Church.
Over the years Mary became known as Maura or Maureen when she later came to England.
A Happy Childhood
Maureen was the oldest of 8 children. Sadly 2 of her siblings died in infancy – Eileen and Vincent who are buried with her parents John and Mary Ryan in Ileigh Graveyard.
Her brothers were Thomas, Michael, Patrick, Edward and Frank. She attended Coolderry National School.
The family moved from Ileigh to a farm in Gurtnara Upperchurch while the children were young and this became the family home for many years to come, remaining in the family until 2015.
Maureen had a very happy childhood with her brothers even though times were hard in rural Ireland.
Nursing in England
Her first job was a part time job working in Thurles at Hayes Hotel. Maureen was 17 years old and had plans to become a nurse. Employment and training was hard to find in Ireland and Maureen made the decision to leave her family and travel to England to follow her dream. She obtained her travel documents in 1949 and left shortly after. She travelled to England with a friend from Borrisoleigh (Nell) and managed to find employment in York as a trainee Nurse at Naburn Hospital.
Maureen managed to make some good friends early on in her career as a trainee nurse in York. She met Phyllis, Margaret and Gisela during this period and they remained close friends for many years.
Maureen had a very successful nursing career progressing from Geriatric Nursing to Mental Health Nursing. Over the years she worked in Naburn Hospital and Clifton Hospital as a Staff Nurse, also becoming a Ward Sister at Naburn Hospital.
Maureen was very close to her family in Ireland and regularly wrote letters and made frequent trips back home when she could afford to.
In the early 1990’s she continued nursing at Fulford Nursing Home.
Significant Dates:
1st March 1949 – Mary Theresa Ryan obtained her Travel Identity Card and travelled to England later that year aged 17.
30th March 1955 – Mary Theresa Ryan was registered as a Mental Health Nurse
13th October 1956 – Mary Theresa Ryan passed her Psychiatric Nursing Certificate at Naburn & Bootham Park Hospital in York
October 1959 – Promoted to Ward Sister at Naburn Hospital York
During this time Maureen was living in the Bishopthorpe Road area of York, renting a room from a lady in St. Clements Grove. Maureen became good friends with a neighbor of hers called Mrs Gertrude Levy who lived with her brother Reginald. Maureen spent a lot of time with Mrs Levy who became a mother-like figure to Maureen after the death of her own mother Mary in 1963. They developed a good friendship which lasted until Mrs Levy’s death in 1991.
Marriage
In the early 1960’s Maureen met Edgar Benjamin who lived in York and they soon became close, spending a lot of time with each other.
In 1966 Maureen married Edgar on 25th July at St. George’s Roman Catholic Church in York. The reception was held in the City Arms Hotel. Maureen was given away by her father John Ryan and her brother Patrick also attended the wedding.
Edgar and Maureen spent their honeymoon in Austria.
Family Life
In 1969 they moved to 4 Stirling Grove in the Fulford area of York and Maureen resigned from her position at Naburn Hospital in October 1969, 3 months before giving birth to her first child.
On 23rd January 1970 Maureen gave birth to Suzanne Mary Benjamin.
The following year, on 18th November 1971, George Edward Benjamin was born.
By now Edgar was self-employed working as a Professional Photographer based at 73 Heslington Road. He has a studio downstairs in the property and upstairs the accommodation was rented out to Tony and Lena Goldsmith.
In December 1976 Maureen resumed her nursing career as both children were now at school. She started night shifts working as Staff Nurse at Clifton Hospital in York
Maureen, Edgar and family visited Ireland each year to visit her brothers who remained in the family home in Upperchurch.
Life was now very good as Maureen and Edgar brought up their young family.
In the summer of 1981 Edgar, Maureen, Suzanne and George visited Heinz Benjamin (Edgar’s cousin) and his family in Belgium.
Heartbreak
However, a few months after returning from Belgium and just a few days after celebrating his 53rd birthday, Edgar suffered a heart attack and was rushed to hospital on 24th September 1981. After a stay of 3 weeks he was discharged from hospital and returned home on 14th October to continue his recovery. However, on 17th October he was rushed back to hospital and died in the early hours of 18th October 1981 aged 53 years old. His death certificate states cause of death as Cardiac Arrest / Myocardial Infarction.
Suzanne was 10 years old and George was 9 years old.
Maureen was obviously heartbroken and now on her own to bring up her two children. Her family lived in Ireland so support from them was limited. After Edgar’s death Maureen considered moving back to Ireland with the children and her Uncle Joe (living in Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary) offered her a piece of land to build a house on. This appeared to be the best option and Maureen started making enquiries regarding schools in Ireland for Suzanne and George. Sadly, in 1983 her Uncle Joe Dwan died suddenly. This meant there would be a delay with any plans to move to Ireland until the estate was finalised. His next of kin was his sister Ciss Dwan who also wanted Maureen and the children to move back home as soon as possible. However, once again plans were put on hold when Ciss died suddenly in 1985.
This left her brother Michael Dwan (Maureen’s last surviving uncle) and once again more delays with the move home occurred until estates were finalised. Maureen had now decided to put the move to Ireland on hold partly due to the delays following the deaths of her Uncle and Aunty but also because George and Suzanne were now settled at a secondary school in York. Maureen was reluctant to move schools (and countries) at this stage.
Michael Dwan passed away in 1991 and it was a shock to everyone when his Will revealed that he’d left the house and extensive lands in Ballyroan to a young neighbour who it appears had persuaded him to change his Will shortly before his death. This obviously brought to an end any plans that Maureen had of moving back home to her family in Ireland.
Edgar had been the main provider for the family and although Maureen was a trained nurse it was impossible for her to continue in this profession due to the shifts involved. During the years following Edgar’s death, Maureen held a number of jobs to enable her to support her young family. These jobs included working in the kitchens at the University of York, as a housekeeper for a local retired doctor and as a cleaner in a local family’s house.
She held down more than one of these jobs at the same time, all to provide a good standard of living for her family. In later years she went back to nursing when she gained employment at Fulford Nursing Home which had recently opened nearby. Maureen was employed as Charge Nurse and enjoyed working there until her eventual retirement.
During her retirement she enjoyed spending time with her children and grand-children.
Throughout her life she continued to visit her family in Ireland on a regular basis right up until her death. Ireland was always ‘home’ to her.
In her final years she struggled with Dementia (Alzheimer’s) and cancer. During a period of 3 years (2007 to 2009) she dealt with one crisis after another, coping with a cancer diagnosis followed by a major operation plus her 4 remaining brothers died during this short period of time. She had already lost her brother Michael in 1999 when he took his own life aged 65 years old. In 2007 shortly after returning from a summer holiday in Ireland her brother Patrick (Pakie) died suddenly aged 72 years old. The following year Maureen underwent a major operation due to Pancreatic Cancer from which she recovered well. Later that year, again following a visit to Ireland, her brother Eddie died after a short illness aged 70 years old.
That same year her ‘missing’ brother Tommy who left Ireland during the 1950’s and cut off contact in 1963 was discovered to have died in London in August 2008. He had been living in London alone although appeared to have had a good circle of friends. He had moved to England during the 1950’s to work in the building industry and although he initially maintained contact with his family in Ireland it eventually ceased in 1963 when he failed to return for his mothers’ funeral. Over the following years there was often talk of various people from Upperchurch being in touch with Tommy but he didn’t re-connect with his family. Efforts were made by Maureen and her family to find Tommy but for whatever reason he declined any contact. Contact was finally made by a neighbour from Upperchurch in September 2008 who advised that he had heard of Tommy’s recent death. Suzanne and George contacted the council in London and discovered that a council funeral had been arranged for 14th October 2008 followed by cremation. Maureen was unable to attend the funeral due to her on-going recovery from her operation earlier that year however Suzanne and George travelled to London to attend the funeral followed by a reception in a local Irish pub where they talked to many of Tommy’s friends. Tommy’s ashes were eventually returned to Upperchurch and buried with his brothers.
Frank was now Maureen’s remaining brother but tragedy struck again when Frank’s partner Josie died in January 2009. Frank was now trying to cope with the loss of his brothers and partner. George visited Frank several times during early 2009 as he struggled to cope on his own and was now also dealing with several health issues of his own. Frank was admitted to hospital for a short stay in April but his health deteriorated and unfortunately in June 2009 he died suddenly.
Maureen never fully recovered after this upset and unfortunately the cancer returned and she died at home with Suzanne and George at her side on 25th June 2011.
