to Mermaid . The time taken for such a trip was estimated by my uncle, Frank Doyle , to be an hour to an hour and a half. In winter the river ice made for an even easier trip to town. Once the river was frozen, the ice was "bushed" with spruce trees to mark out a safe trail. This trail could be followed even if it was snowing quite hard. Local people would be paid a small amount of money to do the bushing. A good horse could be "given its head' in a snowstorm and would take you across the ice in a safe, reliable way. In spring or fall travelling would be more difficult, due to the mud—or very dangerous if risking a trip over the fresh or rotting ice. On April 8, 1842, when the Doylcs had been living on the Point for five years, Catherine Doyle , widow of John, transferred and assigned to James Doyle all of her estate rights and interests in the lease (really a sublease) for 100 acres in Lot 48, for the sum of eighty pounds. ( Conveyances, vol. 26 p.560-562) This agreement also states that James agrees to pay John Mutch , the holder of the lease a yearly rent of sixteen pounds. Both James and Catherine signed with an " X ". (Catherine was at that time lacking in funds since her husband John had accumulated considerable debts during the last few years of his life.) The area of this farm was later determined to be 88 acres and not 100 as stated above in the land conveyance. It must have seemed huge to James and Margaret, compared to the farms of from five to fifteen acres they had known in Wexford ! On July 18, 1843 the Doylcs were probably in attendance at the laying of the cornerstone of the new Catholic Church in Chariottetown which took place in the morning. This was followed in the afternoon by a parade to the site north of Birchwood School for the blessing of the new cemetery. ...A short time previous, the Bishop had purchased a plot of land situated on the North side of the St. Peter 's Road a little way beyond the limits of the town. As it had not yet been consecrated, the present occasion was deemed a favorable time for the performance of the ceremony, on account of the presence of so many members of the clergy. Accordingly at 2 o'clock P.M., a large number of people again assembled at the church, where they formed in procession, and headed by the Benevolent Irish Society and the Temperance League , wit h badges and banners, marched to the site of the new cemetery, was then solemnly blessed by the Bishop assisted by the visiting clergy. (MacMillan 40) One can imagine the family getting into a boat to row to town that July morning, perhaps taking a picnic basket with them. What an adventure it would be for the children! That October, a Repeal meeting was held in Chariottetown and we know that James attended that along with his brother-in-law William Lacey . Also present at this meeting were two other natives of Adamstown Parish from whence James Doyle came, Martin Brennan and John Keating . The Repeal movement was an action begun in Ireland by Daniel O' Connell , to have the 25