In the 1901 Census Edward is shown as being unable to read. He signed his marriage certificate with his mark X indicating that he could not write. He probably did not go to school or if he did left at an early age to work on his father's small holding in the Townland of Gortatole. On his father's death he took over the smallholding and worked there until he moved to Florencecourt after the death of his brother Richard.

Cause: senile decay

Darling is a fairly uncommon surname so a search of death registrations between 1911 and 1960 without a forename produced only one cedible result - that of an Eden Darling. As the name Eaden Darling had been used in the 1911 Census this provided a reasonable match for a name. Also on the entry the name Edward had been crossed out and Eden substituted. The age of 74 were more problematical. However, the recorded ages in many records associated with the Darlings are unreliable. It is suspected that being mostly illeratate they were not good at keeping account of their actual age or those of their relatives. When he is admitted to the asylum is not known. The modern word for senile decay is dementia which gradually gets worse over a long period. Since a period of 24 days is mentioned there are one of two possibilities - he had been admitted 24 days before his death because he has become too difficult to look after at home or he has been in the asylum for some time suffering from dementia but that his health had deteriorated over the past 24 days.

Mary Wallace (1868-1940)

Address: Devenish, Fermanagh

Who else was there is not known but the couples parents and other close family members probably were.

Address: a small farm in the townland of Gortatole

The household consisted of Eaden, his wife Mary and Eaden's brother Richard. Mary's brother Henery Wallace was visiting them at the time. The family lived in a three roomed cottage built of stone or brick with a thatch or turf roof which Eaden rented from Catherine J Buchanan who lived in a large house nearby and who was probably either the widow or daughter of Eaden's father's landlord at the time of the 1901 Census. Eaden had almost certainly taken over the smallholding which had a cow house, a calf house, a piggery, a fowl house and 2 sheds after his father's death in 1902. The acreage is unknown. Eaden and Richard are described as herdsmen so they obvious looked after the animals on the farm and it is possible that at least one of them helped on the Landholder's large farm. Athough Mary is not shown as having an occupation she undoubteldly helped with the smaller animals and chickens. In a letter to her niece Amy dated 28 Oct 1918 which is admittedly somewhat later than the census she says that she is sending her a chicken and a rabbit.

They were probably forced to move because Edward could no longer manage the smallholding at Gortatole by himself. It is thought that he found employment as a herd at Florencecourt because his death registration says that he was a 'herd late of Florencecourt'. It may have been through the good offices of Mary's brother Henery who was employed as a servant at Flocencecourt and would have known of any vaciences.