The first records of the Eustace family in County Fermanagh are in Griffith's Valuation of Ireland (1848-1864). Griffith's lists three household heads with the Eustace surname:

• James Eustace, Rossdanean Townland, Kinawley Parish;

• Margaret Eustace, Drumroosk Townland, Kinawley Parish;

• Samuel Eustace, Drumroosk Townland, Kinawley Parish.

Andrew Eustace, son of Alexander and Eliza (Byrne) Eustace was born Oct. 31, 1866 in Crookradina, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin and grew up on a small farm at Drumroosk, Kinawley, County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. (It is highly likely that Margaret Eustace and Samuel Eustace listed above were closely relatived to Andrew Eustace). As a young man, Andrew joined the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and was assigned to various places, mostly in the Irish Midlands.

One of his first assignments was in the Ballinalee/Clonbroney area of County Longford. There he met and in 1888, married a local girl named Catherine Curran. Andrew continued to serve with the RIC and as a result he and Catherine moved frequently. Andrew served in Drumsna, Carrigallen and Johnston’s Bridge all located in County Leitrim.

Andrew and Catherine Eustace were the parents of ten children of which seven reached maturity; Patrick, Elizabeth (Lilly), Andrew, Dominic, John (Jack), Louis and Fred. Gretta, Josie and Robert died as an infants. Catherine died of tuberculosis Feb. 7, 1909 at Drumsna, leaving Andrew with seven small children. He remarried, but his second wife soon left Andrew and the children, emigrated to America and was not heard from again.

Life was difficult for Andrew and the children. The younger children who were quite small when their mother died, felt the loss most severely. Andrew moved his family to Dublin where he took a job as a policeman. The family lived at 67 Caledon Street, then considered a "poor" area. Later he became a night watchman in the Amiens Street section of Dublin. Andrew Eustace died April 19, 1915, and the children were "farmed out" to various relatives. Louis and Fred went to stay with their maternal grandmother in Clonbroney, and Andrew Jr. lived in Kinawley with his Aunt Isabel "Bel" Eustace who was married to Daniel Breen.

Andrew Eustace Sr. was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. There is no headstone, but cemetery records verify his burial in Lot P.G. 25.

The following is a brief summary of what is known about members of the Andrew and Catherine Eustace family:

· Elizabeth "Lily" Eustace was born June 2, 1890 at Dredagh, Carrigallen; She married twice; first to James Smith of Clonbroney at Longford on January 24, 1913. (She was living in Drumsna, County Leitrim at the time.) By the first marriage she had Frank, John James and Michael. Following the death of her husband, she married again also to a man named Smith (Smyth) and had Thomas, Kathleen (Hickey), Eugene (RIP), William and Teresa (Hunzcak) of Adelaide, Australia.

· Patrick Joseph Eustace, who was born in Carrigallen, Co. Leitrim, Dec. 31,1891. The baptism at the local Catholic church was performed by Father John Fitzpatrick. Patrick’s sponsors were Michael Connolly and Joan Connolly, relatives through the Curran family. Patrick spent much of his childhood in the Drumsna/Annaduff area of County Leitrim. The house where the family lived still stands in Drumsna and Patrick often pointed out the home to his children.

Patrick succeeded in getting a scholarship to De La Salle College, a teacher training school in Waterford City. Upon graduation in 1912, he applied for and was offered a teaching post in the village of Newtowncashel, County Longford. The School Principal was Joseph McNally. Patrick taught and later served as School Principal for 45 years until retirement in 1959.

In July 1926, Patrick married Brigid, daughter of Joseph McNally, the school principal. Brigid and Patrick honeymooned in the Isle of Man and moved into the Teacher’s Residence, Newtowncashel, where they raised a family of seven children. In 1954, Patrick and Bridget left their home in Newtowncashel and moved to Longford Town where they lived at 50 Teffia Park. Patrick died May 3, 1974. Bridget died September 30, 1980. Both are buried in Ballymacormack Cemetery near Longford town.

· Andrew Eustace Jr. was born June 19, 1897 and grew up at Drumsna, Co. Leitrim. He joined the Royal Irish Constabulary about January 1920. Following a six month training program, he was sent to Newtown Cunningham, County Donegal where he stayed briefly before being transferred to Longford. Andrew married twice; first to Ann Carney (Kearney) of Fintona, County Tyrone. She died in childbirth at Passage East, County Waterford, after giving birth to eight children; Paddy who died in London in 2006, Andrew (Drew), Kathleen (RIP), Noel, Philomena, Louis, Dominick and Bernadettte. He married again but there were no children from the second marriage. Andrew and his second wife retired in Douglas, Isle of Man.

Andrew (Drew) Eustace, son of Andrew Jr. now lives on Templeville Drive in Dublin. Another son of Andrew and Ann Carney, Dominick, is married to Hilary and they have three children. They live in Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, UK.

· John or "Jack" Eustace was born June 10, 1895 at Knock Adrinan and seems to have been the "rebel" in the family. He joined the Palestine Police for awhile. He visited his brother Patrick at Newtowncashel during the 1920-30’s and was last known to be living on Constance Street in London.

· Dominic Eustace was born October 5, 1898 at Johnston Bridge, Drumsna, County Leitrim, Ireland. As a young man, he became involved with the Old Irish Republican Army (IRA) and was a member of "K" Company, 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade. He died unmarried in New York City in 1966. He was captured during the early 1920’s and served about two years in the Curragh prison camp. One of his fellow prisoners was the late Irish President Sean T. O’Kelly. While in prison, Dominic Eustace participated in a 40-day hunger strike. When he was released from prison in 1924, he went to Brooklyn, New York where he died in 1966. Dominic Eustace did not marry.

· Louis Eustace, born April 27, 1902 at Johnston’s Bridge, moved to England and owned a thriving antique and jewelry business on Church Street, Kensington. Notables such as film stars Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner and others came to buy. Louis was unmarried and died March 21, 1984 in Hammersmith (London).

· James Frederick "Fred" Eustace was born Feb. 16, 1905 at Drumsna, County Leitrim. He emigrated to London during the 1920s, where he lived most of his adult life. In the early 1930’s, he married Marie Ryan, daughter of F. J. Ryan, a native of Mallow, County Cork. They had four daughters; Margaret (Peg), married to Phil Allen, now living in Twickenham, Middlesex, England; Marie Elizabeth "Mola" or "Mollie" married to Leo Duggan and now living in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire; Fredericka Susan "Freda", living in New York state; and Joan Frances "Johanna", who married Charles B. Hill in 1979. Now widowed, Johanna is a school teacher living in Tillson, New York. James Frederick "Fred" Eustace died in London on Aug. 16, 1971 at the age of 66.

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