The McKennas came to Mullagh in the latter part of the 1700s with, it is said, no more than the pack on their backs. However by 1795 they were established and trading from one of the earliest constructed buildings in the village as a corner house, pub and grocery.
By 1825 Nicholas McKenna, auctioneer, tradesman and big farmer had established a fortune. As TP recalled in a a profile for the Sunday Tribune by Dierdre Purcell, "My great grandfather was an extraordinary man. Although I hate to to think it, I have to suspect he was a gombeen [trans. wheeler dealer / operator]. He become enormously rich."
However, the gift of acumen was not so smoothly passed down and Nicholas's son (TP) had more interest in public life. "He must have had a guilty conscience about the money," TP ponders, " ...because he went into public life and squandered every penny."
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