Fitzmaurice Family

Photograph of my paternal uncle, Ino LK Nuttall Service medal of my paternal uncle, Ino LK Nuttall || My paternal uncle, Ino LK Nutall, joined up on the first day of the war, according to what my father told me. He was in the Alberta Dragoons, having been about 3 years in Canada. Ino had emigrated as there were no opportunities at home, as a second son from a modest farm in Sligo. My grandfather, his father, had married a widow with a farm and a family of her own, and they went on to have a family together. Ino served in Belgium and France; he was behind the lines when he was killed in a shooting accident. He is buried in the cemetery at Chateau Kemell. As far as I understand, the soldier who accidentally shot him was not court-martialled. I am the eldest son in my family, and I inherited the farm from my father - and his desk. The medal and the photograph were in the desk. Although I don't have any items with me which belonged to my mother's father, his story was quite dramatic. He was a doctor in Dublin whose name was Dr Frank Purser. In WWI he joined the medical corps, where he treated soldiers with shell-shock. He wanted to build a hospital for recovering soldiers in Monto in Dublin, rather than Castlecove in Kerry where he felt they would be isolated, but nothing came of that plan. He was also an ex-rugby international and in 1910 was President of the RFU ( he played on the wing and he was very quick) , and this probably saved his life. On Easter Saturday he was injured playing in an Old Ulster/Old Leinster match and was in hospital rather than walking around Dublin in uniform when the fighting broke out. || || Ino Nuttall || Photograph || Ireland || Photograph of my uncle, Ino Nuttall

My uncle Edward James Tobin was a career soldier from Paulstown, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. He was born in 1888 and was married to Una May Queripel Ferguson. During his time with the army, he was stationed with the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment and fought in Belgium. While fighting in Belgium, Edward was badly injured and was transported to hospital. He died in the hospital in Switzerland on April 21st 1917 at the age of 29. He is buried in Vevey cemetery, Switzerland. || The items connected to this story is a photograph of Edward Tobin in the centre of the image. On the right side of the image is a record of commemoration to Edward and on the left side of the image is another commemoration document from the commonwealth war graves commission.