TALTY - Not many people call it Irish Ridge anymore.

The highway signs call the community Talty and that name is in general use throughout the area. But the direct descendants of the hardy Irish settlers still use the original name.

The community was legally formed on March 27, 1874, when land deeds were filed for records. Wednesday night there will be a mass of Thanksgiving at St. Martin's Catholic Church for keeping the faith of the forefathers.

Irish Ridge will be 100 years old tomorrow but other than the mass, there will be no celebrations. The residents of the scattered homes will celebrate quietly in the little church that is the center of the community.

Many of the citizens still farm the black land that provided the original families with their livelihood.

The original settlers were people like Tom Layden, Martin Layden, Edd Vaughan, Dan Vaughan, Jerry Maloney, William O'Connor, Mike Corcoran, Michael Costello and Pat Collins.

Later came families with names such as Talty, Adams, Glynn, Sline, Walker, Reynal, Moran, Dennehy, Spellman, Wilkins, Carr, Yates, Duncan, Chaffin, Fucher, Marriott, Gallagher, Brennan, Hill, Stitzle, Schmitz, Morris, Murphy, Rouvaldt, Schlebach, Popp, Kasper, O'Brien, Greenwell, Elder, Frazier, Park, Herriage, Higgins, Campbell, Bolze, Reznicek, Vargas and Urban.

Some of the older families did construction work on the Texas & Pacific Railroad from St. Louis to Fort Worth.

Homes were constructed soon after the land was purchased. The Pat Collins home is the only structure that remains of the former homes.

Since the early settlers were all devoted Catholics, one of their first thoughts was to build a church. St. Martin's Church was built in 1891. The original structure was destroyed by fire in 1928 and was rebuilt again in 1930.

A Catholic education was preferred for the children so the settlers induced the Sisters of Notre Dame to come and staff a school. The convent was built and completed in 1902. Fire destroyed the structures in 1924.

The Notre Dame Sisters staffed St. Martin's for 44 years. The boarding school was closed in May of 1945 because there were not enough children to warrant the operation.

Twenty girls who attended St. Martin's entered the religious life, nine of them Notre Dame. They included Sister Mary Bernard Brennan, Sister Patrice Maloney, Sister Edmond Vaughan, Sister Celine Adams, Sister Brendan Adams, Sister Doloretta Housewright, Sister Philip Cotten, Sister Clodovia Lochett and Sister Bedelia Corbett. Sister Regis Brennan joined the Sisters of Charity.

On May 1, 1963, St. Martin's became a mission from St. Ann's Parish, Kaufman. The present pastor, Father Casimir Glogowski, has served the parish since June 23, 1961.

Only five members of the second generation of the founders still reside on the land. They include Mr. and Mrs. Joe Adams, Jr., S.K. Adams, Mrs. Ray Adams, Sr. and Mrs. Isabel Morris.

Some of the early people had little or no education and they were determined to build a school. Sam Elder was well-educated so when the school was built he was elected to teach.

They named the school Alma and it consisted of one large room. As the number of pupils increased, Effie Montgomery was hired as an assistant. Some of the children walked four miles to school. Busing was neither a luxury or a problem in those days.

Before the rural route was started, all mail was delivered to the Talty Store and the people had to pick up their mail there.

The 100 years of Irish Ridge are recalled happily by those who can remember many of them.

C.S. Adams, now a Terrell resident, recalls that a building project was a community effort with neighbors pitching in to complete work. His father liked to tell the story about the time many of the men journeyed to Terrell to pick up lumber. Mr. Adams started early since he had only a team of oxen while the rest had mules. When the others passed him on the way to town, they kidded him about his slow progress.

Most of the others were Irish and they were not against an occasionally drink of whiskey. Terrell had plenty of it in those days. So Mr. Adams again started out alone with the load of lumber. Soon the others passed him again in a happy mood but when they reached the creek the heavy loads became stuck in the mud and the mules were unable to budge them. When Mr. Adams reached the creek he turned his head as if not to notice their plight while his powerful oxen pulled the load across. He returned, of course, to pull them out with his team.

There were sad times too. Tommy Collins, Robert Creecy and Peter J. Layden were all Air Force pilots and they gave their lives for their community and their country. They will not be forgotten.

Whatever it is called, Irish Ridge will long endure in the daily lives of the descendants who still live in the area and in the hearts of many others.