Our Emerald Isle - Sir Snapper

The De'Vere family crest

 Sir Snapper

Given information about the inheritance of the Irish Pup in Devere and the Sir business, I started to check out such just to insure that Brian was not full of blarney. While Bev busied herself packing for our upcoming trip to the Emerald Isle I spent my time on the computer

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Charles McAnally came to America via kidnapped by sailors that were looking for an additional crew member.  We know he came from Glasgow, Scotland but not being of the nobility no records are available as to who his parents were.  Charles had several sons one of which was named Huge.  Huge ended up marrying a lady named Elizabeth De’Vere.  There was a lot of information about Elizabeth. 

Her father was the fourth son of Robert De’Vere the 18^th Earl of Oxford who was sent to Ireland to manage the family holdings because his three older brothers had either had inherited the title, gone into the Church of England priesthood or joined the army and there was nothing left for him to do in England.  Apparently Elizabeth’s father was not a very good estate manager, for the De’Vere’s holdings in Ireland went bankrupt and the De’Veres moved to America leaving Elizabeth’s older brother, Albert, in Ireland in a small house in a much smaller Irish cross road village.  Elizabeth eventually met and married Huge in Ameria. 

Albert was apparently much more adept in business than his father because he started a little business selling Irish cakes and pies to passer bys.  This eventually grew into an Inn and Pub.  The locals started calling the Pub and Inn De’Vere’s and the establishment was handed down from one son to another until there were not sons left to run the place which apparently happened several years ago.  The Pup and Inn had seen better days and remained vacant for a very long time but the village had been named De’Vere.  The Village council decided to demolish the long time Pub because it was in ruin anyway but a member of the De’Vere Historical Society stepped in and raised such a fuss that the Council relented if the Society could find the rightful owners and restore the place and re name the pub becasue they did not think it proper for a pub to be named after the town.  The search began. 

While searching though some old records the Society found Albert’s will which stated that if for some reason no son of the De’Vere line was living in De’Vere that the Pub and Inn should be given to the oldest living children in equal shares to the direct decedents of his beloved sister Elizabeth.  That ended up being Brian, Traci and me as best anyone could tell and such was certified by the Royal Irish Inheritance Act of 1754.  That is how we became owners of the Pub and Inn which the De’Vere Historical Society still had no name for.

The Sir Snapper comment in Brian’s telegram was based on the fact that we are decedents of English Royalty and the Earl’s of Oxford are part of our blood line which can be traced back to 280 AD.  That is staggering.  I don’t know if a Sir is appropriate given the fact that I have never been knighted and have thought about sending Queen Elizabeth II a note just in case it was overlooked.

Next week I make my final rounds visiting my students and bid them and Alaska good by, at least for awhile.