Patrick McGoldrick was born 15 December 1913 in 18 St Lawrence Street, Greenock, Scotland, United Kingdom to Patrick McGoldrick (1881-1971) and Catherine Conway (1881-1968) and died 9 February 1978 St. Luke's Hospital, Guildford, Surrey, England, United Kingdom of metastatic cancer of the bronchus. He married Ida May Ollington (1913-2008) 6 March 1943 in St. Margaret's Church, Ayr, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Nadine Ann Whittle (1938) | 1938 Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom | Patrick George Smith (1932) | |
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Terence McGoldrick (1944) | |||
| Stephen McGoldrick (1947-2016) | 1947 Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland | 4 July 2016 Kimbriki, Taree, New South Wales, Australia | |
Early life
Patrick's birthplace: the family home is believed to be in the foreground
Patrick McGoldrick was born on 15 December 1913 in the family cottage at 18 St Lawrence Street, Greenock, Renfrewshire, just 500 metres from the River Clyde, near where it enjoins the Firth of Clyde. His father, Patrick McGoldrick, was a journeyman rivetter working in the shipping industry. He had moved the family to Greenock from Dundee in 1910, as Greenock had a booming shipping trade and employment was plentiful. Meanwhile his mother Catherine Conway, who had worked in the Dundee jute mills as a girl, raised Patrick and his ten sisters. Patrick was the ultimate middle child, with five older sisters - Mary, Cathy, Annie, Rose & Peggy, and five younger sisters - Norah, Theresa, Brida, Bella & Alice. Patrick and Catherine were a hard-working, well-dressed and deeply pious Roman Catholic couple.
The family returned to Dundee in 1920, shortly after the birth of twins Brida and Bella. Sadly, the following year Patrick's eldest sister Mary died of tuberculosis aged sixteen.
Grannie Conway
The family's return to Dundee when Patrick was seven set in motion one of the biggest influencing factors in his life: the family were now joined by Patrick's maternal grandmother, Grannie Conway. Grannie Conway had grown up in the slums of Glasgow in the 1850s, her father dying in a railway accident when she was a girl and her mother, an alcoholic, stealing coal to survive the harsh Scottish winters. Her home life was filled with violence, including being the victim of a horrific assault by her brother when she was in her twenties. But Grannie Conway was different; she singlehandedly broke the cycle. She moved to Dundee to work in the burgeoning jute mill industry, and was a fiercely independent woman: she never married, and never lived with a man. She had one daughter, Patrick's mother. She was an extremely intelligent, widely-read woman who loved Shakespeare and the classics. Grannie Conway joining the family, as a full-time grandmother to help raise the ten children, had an enormous impact on all of their lives. She instilled in her grandchildren her love of literature, appreciation of education and strong ambition and independence.
First move to England
Reflecting these attributes instilled during his upbringing, as a young man in his early twenties Patrick decided to leave Scotland and head for the south of England to work in his chosen field of engineering. He chose the town of Woking, Surrey, and moved into 'Vifred', 4 Rectory Lane. Next door, at 'Diane', 2 Rectory Lane, lived a young child's nurse named Ida May Ollington, who would later become Patrick's wife. He likely worked at Vickers in nearby Byfleet.
Return to Scotland
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Patrick was working as an aircraft fitter. His skills were highly sought after and as a result he was a home reserve worker and moved around the United Kingdom to wherever he was needed, eventually settling in Ayr where aircraft engineering was essential due to the RAF base. Although his primary contribution to the war effort was through his engineering work, Patrick was also a highly skilled bagpiper in the Scots Guards.
On 6 March 1943, shortly after settling in Ayr, Patrick married Ida according to the forms of the Roman Catholic Church by canon Joseph McHardy (1874-1966) in St Margaret's Church. Patrick was an engineer's journeyman tool maker, and Ida was a hospital clerkess. Patrick's beloved sister Bella acted as a witness.
Patrick and Ida welcomed their two sons while living in Ayr. 1947, the year their son Stephen was born, was a particularly emotional year for Patrick. In addition to the birth of his son, he proudly served as best man at Bella's wedding to Harry McConnachie in Dundee. However, it was also the year the family lost their beloved and irreplaceable matriarch, Grannie Conway, who passed away aged 94.
Second move to England
In 1951 Patrick and Ida decided to return to England and raise their family in Woking, Surrey, where they had first met over ten years previously. Clearly they had fond memories of their days there and decided it was a good place to raise their sons.
They first lived at 3 Martyrs Lane, Woking, before moving in 1955 to 5 Beaufort Close, Maybury, Woking, where they remained for the rest of Patrick's life.
Patrick was an engineer by profession and a particularly hard worker. He was a tenacious man, and a very smart dresser, who wore the pocket watch inherited from his father and grandfather James McGoldrick. Patrick took seriously his role as pater familias and was a traditional family man whose ultimate goal in life was to provide well for his wife and children. He was later a very doting and beloved grandfather.
Later life
Consistent with his character, Patrick continued working until his death. He had been diagnosed with bronchial cancer which metastasised, and died in St. Luke's Hospital, Guildford, on 9 February 1978 aged 64. The Scots Guards played the bagpipes poignantly at his funeral. Probate was granted over his estate in Winchester on 13 April 1978.
Patrick's widow Ida remained in their home in Woking for many years before moving to Fleet, then care homes in Aldershot, and finally Farnborough, Hampshire, where she died on 4 November 2008 aged 95.
Descendants
Patrick's descendants live in Sydney, Florida, Edinburgh, Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, and Devon. They work in a diverse range of fields including civil engineering, real estate, publishing, maritime commerce, and law.