Roy was the second child of Donal and Judith MacGilligan. Because of the famine, Donal was forced to sell the land he had bought from his father and in a final act of desperation took his family to the work house. Roy was seperated from his parents and his brothers and sister and only saw each other a few times when they met at work. The building they were housed in was infected with rats, fleas, and lice. Roy soon became ill from the living conditions as well as did the rest of his family. Roy's illness passed, but his father, mother and his brother Sean all died from overwork and disease. Not wanting to end up as his family did, Roy joined the British Army. Joining the British Army was the only thing Roy could think to do short of killing himself. The British had treated his people badly during the famine and the work house which the British provided had killed his family and turned his sister into a prostitute. But Roy saw little chance of surviving the work house much longer, and living as a thief in the countryside didn't appeal too much to him. After signing up and going through training, Roy was shipped off to the British colonies in Southern Africa. Roy was very depressed during his time in Southern Africa. He missed his family badly, and had a hard time "fitting in" with the others. The other British soldiers saw him as an outsider because he was Irish, and Roy soon fell into a group of friends who were fellow Irishman. Because of his depression, Roy, along with the rest of his friends began drinking heavily. Roy also had a habit of sleeping on duty which was due to his drinking habit and his late night rendezvous. When he was caught drunk in public or sleeping on duty, he was flogged. This happened on at least four occasions. Floggings occurred publicly, and the person was usually tied spread-eagle on a wagon wheel and left out in the sun for many hours afterwards. The British army felt this was the only way to keep its troops in line. After several years in Southern Africa, Roy caught Yellow Fever and his condition became worse over several months. He was no longer able to serve, and was soon shipped back to England to be treated, and soon thereafter he was discharged. Roy was then forced to find work and felt like an outsider in England. In London, Roy met Dorothy Armond, who fell in love with him as soon as they met. Roy and Dorothy soon married and Dorothy was able to secure Roy a job at the shoe factory where she worked. While married to Dorothy, Roy was able to stop drinking because he did not want to die a drunk and leave his wife a widow. Despite low pay and poor working conditions, Roy and Dorothy were able to have three children, Helen, Robert, and Victoria. Roy and Dorothy both lived into old age.