TP'S FATHER: RALPH McKENNA

"My father was an auctioneer.  He was a warm man but quite stern as a father.  I remember a well-known lawyer describing him as the last of the Brehon judges.  In those days in the village of Mullagh we had no solicitors and he drew up more wills in his lifetime than any man I know.  He would travel down long country lanes of mud to visit the houses of dying men and advise them about who to leave the land to.  He was trusted in that way by local people.  People would come from all over the area for advice from him.  He was very wise."

Ralph as a young man pictured here with father TP and sister May

Ralph with his brother, TP's Uncle John