Biography
Frank Callaghan (on the right) was born in 1898. The third of six children of Patrick & Mary Jane Callaghan.
In the 1901 census he is living with Mary Jane and is located at her grandparents dwelling No 11, Shields Court, Dundalk, Co Louth along with his siblings, Elizabeth and Mary Ellen. Patrick is absent from the census, Mary Jane & the children are incorrectly listed as 'Carragher' on the 1901 census.
In the 1911 census he is living in No 13, Shields Court, Dundalk, Co Louth with his parents and four siblings, he is listed as a scholar who can read.
Shields Court no longer exists. It was one of three rows of tenement houses that once ran parallel to Patrick Street. Follow the link, the houses ran at 90 degrees to the back of the Bicycle Doctor shop. I have found a thesis titled an Oral History of Dundalk that gives some insight into the area and living conditions. There is also a map from 1900 showing Shields Court location.
At some point after 1911 and before 1919 the family moved to No. 5 York Street, as this is the address listed for Mary Jane on Francis death documents. I visited Dundalk last summer (2016) and took some photo's, here is one of the dilapidated No.5 York Street, up for sale at the time.
Sometime between 1914 & 1918 Frank elected to join the British army, Kings Liverpool Regiment. He fought on the western front and unfortunately was mortally wounded. He was invalided back home to Dundalk where he died of his wounds on June 24th 1919, seven months after the war ended. It appears that his war records are part of the 'burnt' records, which were destroyed in the blitz during world war two.
He is buried in Castletown Cemetery, Dundalk, His plot is located in the remains of the old church in the centre of the graveyard. He is listed on the war graves photographic project website, and also as a casualty on the commonwealth war graves commission website. It would appear that his service records are part of the 'burnt documents', destroyed in the blitz in world war II.