Chapter 1 Origin and Early Settlement ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF "O'LEARY" O'Leary was named after one of its earliest settlers - Michael O'Leary who came to P.E.I. from Ireland in 1837. He and his wife set¬ tled at the western end of what is now the O'Leary Road on farm land presently owned by Irwin Phillips . At that time, had few settlers, little land cleared, and no roads. The main business cen¬ tre and nearest store was at Cascumpeque on the opposite shore. To enable getting necessary supplies, Michael blazed a direct trail from his home through fifteen miles of woods, barren, and swamp to Cascumpeque - then known as "The Village". This trail became known as Road. The railway was completed through O'Leary by 1874. When the railway station was built, the name of the junction was changed to Road Station, later shortened to O'Leary Station and still later to O'Leary . The O'Leary 's had four children - Timothy, Henry, Mary and Jane. Mrs. O'Leary died on the Island. There is no record of where she was buried, but when the West Cape road was changed, three unmarked graves were found. Michael stayed in West Cape until his children grew up. In 1858, then an elderly man, he returned to his homeland. Disappointed when he found no friends and few close relatives, he decided to return to On his way back, he disem¬ barked at Halifax where it was reported he met an untimely death. He was pushed off a wharf and drowned. GEOGRAPHY O'Leary is located in Lot 6 in the western part of . It is on the O'Leary Road about sixty kilometers west of Summerside and ninety kilometers from Borden where car ferry service is provid¬ ed to the mainland. Since the village is in the centre of the widest part of the county, it is relatively inland — about fifteen kilometres from Northumberland Strait and eight kilometres from the nearest river. The village proper contains about two hundred fifty acres situat¬ ed in the middle of a large and prosperous farming area. The soil is chiefly Egmont clay — too heavy for growing some crops, but ideal for potatoes, the main cash crop.