I have written a lot lately about Peter Doyle since he died a few months ago. His ashes were returned to Kiltegan, his mother’s home and a service was held in the village. I wasn’t able to attend the service but Ardal O’Hanlon and his wife Melanie did go and others including members of Peter’s family.
I have since been contacted by Doris, the daughter of Eileen Hayes, the neighbour of Peter’s mother who took him in and she asked me to put a few things straight in my account. First of all I said that Mrs. Hayes had given up a child for adoption, which she did not. The parish priest did want her to but she refused to do so. I also made a reference to the child returning later to Kiltegan to search for her but this was not the case either. They came looking for her husband who had relatives in England who came seeking him out.
Peter’s mother kept him at her home when he first came to Kiltegan but asked him to say he was a relative if anyone asked. She asked him not to return and he did not until later when he started coming with Aisling after his mother had died. Doris remembers us bringing Peter to see Mrs. Hayes and us all having tea in her sitting room and Peter coming back several times after that. In her letter Doris wrote:
‘Peter kept contact with my mother by post cards about his many travels and holidays (with Aisling). Peter also kept contact by phone occasionally and in the course of one of these calls he asked my mother if he could make contact with his cousin, Micheal Clynch. Micheal’s mother, Brigid, who was Dolly’s (Peter’s mother) sister, was very good to Peter. This is how Peter came to develop a lovely relationship with the Clynch family and spend many happy holidays in Ireland with them. Peter continued to visit my mother and my home when I married and left the village. Peter was a gentle, kind soul. It was lovely for us to know how well Peter was looked after by yourself and those he came to know in England.’