John DAVIS, the older brother of my great grandfather George, entered the R.I.C. in January 1874 aged 20 years, consistent with a birth around 1853.
According to granddaughter Evelyn “Fluffy” (Glancy) O’DONOVAN, John and his brother George ‘aged about 15 and 16 tossed a coin to see which they would run away to: RIC or India Police. RIC won…’ [1]
John served in Clonmel where he met his wife, Catherine O’SHEA. They married 7 Sept 1881, with John having already been transferred to County Cork away from his wife’s county.
John DAVIS and Catherine ‘Kate’ O’SHEA had the following children:
John Davis R.I.C.
John DAVIS served in the Royal Irish Constabulary from 12 January 1874 to 1 April 1901. He joined the year prior to his brother George and served for approximately nine years longer, retiring at the age of 47. We can see he was a cooper before joining, presumably working with his stepfather Richard BARRY.[2] We can also see he was over six foot, one and a quarter inches tall. John served in Tipperary, County Cork, Limerick and Cork City.
John appears a number of times in the court records during his career. Below John is a sub constable having collared a drunk. On March 7th 1877 in Clonmel the defendant was found guilty of being drunk in a public place, and his punishment was to pay a shilling to the Crown and a shilling in costs. Failure to pay would result in seven days imprisonment, without hard labour.
Another case, heard on August 1st 1881 at Ballymartle, Cork (N.E. of Kinsale), involved the charge of building a house in the wrong place. This case was dismissed.
John was promoted through the ranks to achieve the rank of Sergeant, the highest ranking of any of my R.I.C. family.
Pension record
John’s annual pension was £51 / 11 /8, paid in quarterly sums of 12 /17/ 11. He was by then long settled in Cork city.
Census
In 1901 the Davises were living at 1 Popes Quay (see map below). Kate (O’Shea)’s brother James lived with them, and he was also retired from the R.I.C. We can see on this return that the family was living at a private dwelling at a pub in a commercial part of the inner city. With six windows to the front, it was considered a 1st class house.
In 1911 the Davis family were living over the other side of the river at 1 Albert St, Cork, in another pub house. John was by then a commercial traveller, selling timber and hardware.[3] Four of their five children were still living. I presume the family took enormous pride in the youngest daughter Evelyn, not just naming her as a student but as an undergraduate of London University.
John was ex-directory. Was this due to his R.I.C. background? (Brother George, who did not reach the same rank as older brother John, did appear in the various Cork street directories over the years.)
This map shows the locations of this Davis family’s known residences.
According to his granddaughter, Eve “Fluffy” (Glancy) O’DONOVAN, John was ‘a member of the Third Order [4] and a daily communicant at a time when it was most unusual.’ [5]
Death of John Davis
Kate (O’Shea) DAVIS predeceased her husband, dying 19th May 1921 from a cerebral haemorrhage. They were living at 75 Old George’s Street, now known as Oliver Plunket Street.
Kate was buried on 21 May in St Joseph’s cemetery. Her burial record notes her death was on 18 May. Kate, along with her husband John, brother, and daughters Georgina (Russell) and Lucie (Glancy) is buried in Section 2, Row St. Laurence.
John DAVIS died on 16th June 1925 around the age of 72 years. He died of chronic bronchitis, like his brother George. John outlived his sister Margaret (Davis) WADDING by 25 years and his brother George by almost 13 years.
John’s death notice, in the Irish Examiner on June 17th, was exceptionally brief. His funeral was at St Peter and Paul’s and he was buried at St Joseph’s cemetery on 18 June.
There is no record of a will for John DAVIS in the years 1925 – 1930.
Eve “Fluffy” (Glancy) O’DONOVAN wrote in 1980 that the Davis brothers had been estranged. She put this down to George’s wife, believing she kept him away from their family.
We’re unlikely to ever know what the cause of the estrangement was. Could John’s ex directory status have been to avoid his brother?
[1] Eve “Fluffy” (Glancy) O’DONOVAN’s correspondence to a Wadding second cousin 16/12/1980.
[2] After John’s father John’s death his mother Maria had remarried to another cooper, Richard BARRY. We can speculate that there may have been some tension with who would take on the family business with this second marriage having produced a son, Thomas BARRY. With John and younger brother George entering the R.I.C. when their half-brother Thomas was 9 / 10 years old it cleared the way for Thomas to eventually take on the coopering business.
[3] Younger brother George was also a commercial traveller.
[4]A third order is the lay branch of particular religious orders. The most well-known third orders are the Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans. Fluffy did not say which Third Order John was associated with.
[5] Fluffy was uncertain if John’s brother was called George or Francis and referenced him as both at different times.
In Search of Thomas Davis 