Writer for renowned American television show expresses 'joy' for Mayo town

COMMUNITY NOTES: BALLYHAUNIS - WESTERN PEOPLE (OCTOBER 1 EDITION)

Barbara Rick, a recent and frequent visitor to Ballyhaunis, has one of the bigger jobs on American television while also attending reunions of the American arm of the Morley family.

Barbara Rick is the head writer for the third hour of ‘Good Morning America’ on the ABC network.

“I’ve been a journalist and documentary filmmaker all my life... and have written a few screenplays as well,” said Barbara whose late maternal grandparents were both from the wider Ballyhaunis area.

“Celia Kedian (Brackloon) and John Morley (Aghamore) were brave young teenagers in search of a better life when they came to America aeons ago and met in New York City at a St Patrick’s Day Dance,” she explained. “Allegedly on the subway, on their way home that night... that’s the lore anyway.

“Imagine the shock they got when they realised they were both from the same tiny Mayo town!

“We’ve had a number of Morley reunions over the past 50 plus years, the last one about a decade ago. Our cousin Cele McCauley used to know the family history inside out but unfortunately she passed away a few years ago... [we] really miss her and her wealth of family knowledge.”

The latest family reunion took place September 7th in Hempstead, New York, organised by Barbara’s cousins Carol FitzGerald Walsh, Joan Fitzpatrick and others.

“Their late moms, Rose and Mary, were sisters... their youngest sister Joan, my late mom, was the baby of the Morley family. My mom used to sing Molly Malone to us on our way home from family gatherings in Astoria, Queens and her rendition of Danny Boy was renowned.”

Barbara visited Ballyhaunis this summer. Her work has also taken her to Ireland.

“In the 1980s, while working at WNBC-TV in New York City, we hired my cousin Enda Morley to be our ‘fixer’ on a trip covering John Cardinal O’Connor’s journey to Knock, Belfast, and Dublin for peace. Mayor Ed Koch was there in Knock, too. Enda’s grandfather Michael Morley and my grandfather John Morley were brothers.

“Enda and his wife Mary have been to our home in Throggs Neck in the Bronx a couple of times and we’ve hosted their children, siblings, and other extended relatives over the last few decades.

“Back in the summer of 1993, I took Creative Writing & Irish Literature courses at the University College Galway while going through a divorce and I was carted around the country with care to hear Sharon Shannon, Mary Black, and the Saw Doctors with the Morleys of Mayo and slowly healed my broken heart.

“Enda and his sisters and brothers have taken me many times to the remains of the cottage where our grandfathers lived as children. It’s one of the most gorgeous spots on the planet, rich in birdsong and the shade of ancient trees. Long ago it was known as the ‘Valley of Birdsong’.. and it’s hallowed ground to me.

“My husband and I visited there with the Morleys back in 2016 and Mary and Enda took me there again on this latest visit in July of 2024. I was invited to take a couple of pebbles from the old chimney for my grandnieces in the US, a reed of connection to their great-great grandfather who passed away in the 1960s.”

Barbara got her Irish citizenship a few years back and has a dream to purchase a modest writer’s cabin in the countryside “where I could escape from time to time to do my own creative writing”. Her cousin Merrilyn Finn, who moved to Ballyhaunis from New York several years ago, is a popular and active member of several local community groups, including Ballyhaunis Language Café, Tidy Towns and is a board member at the Family Resource Centre.

“My deep and abiding connection to our family and the hills of Mayo, the stories, and the music has been one of the bright joys of my life,” said Barbara.