The Irish in America

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Clancy Wrap-up

Two more Clancy girls in America…

Mollie Clancy sent Margaret $100 as a wedding gift in the 1960s, and Margaret recalled posting a letter to Flushing, New York, which may or may not have been for Mollie.  Mollie never married.

That’s what Jim had to go on we he began his search for Mollie Clancy.  He positively identified Mollie’s arrival in New York using the New York Passenger Lists database on Ancestry.com.  On September 28, 1907 the S.S. Campania from Queenstown, Ireland arrived at New York harbor with Mollie Clancy, a twenty-year-old servant from Moylough, County Galway on board.  Mollie was accompanied by two other young people from Moylough: Martin Cosgrove (laborer) and Maggie Lyons (servant).

Jim was unable to trace Mollie after her arrival.  More research time would definitely result in more information on where she lived.  Mollie showed up on Jim’s radar again with documentation of a return trip from Ireland in 1938. The US Passport Applications on Ancestry.com only go to 1925, so that would not help with Mollie.

Nora Clancy O’Hara remains a mystery, for now. Margaret told us she appeared on the 1901 Irish census, but not the 1911.  We could assume she made the journey to America sometime between 1905 and 1910, but she doesn’t appear in the passenger list database.  Again, I am sure that more time could produce results about Nora.  Jim did locate a Nora O’Hara in the Social Security Death Index who died in Flushing, New York in September of 1966, with a birth date of April 20, 1885.

The Other Clancy Siblings…

Margaret filled me in on the Clancy siblings who remained in Ireland.  Her grandfather Thomas stayed on the family’s homeplace, while a grand-uncle Pat built a house nearby.  Pat is said to have helped finance Nellie’s education as a teacher.

An interesting historical side-note: Margaret had an uncle Thomas who emigrated to England and who worked for the post office in London.  He returned to Moylough with his family for a couple of years during World War II, driven from London by the German bombing.  Margaret does not know when they came or when they left, and said that Tom never returned to Ireland.  However, Margaret paid him a visit in England in 1967.

Making the connection…

Margaret emailed me the other day, and she told me that she had phoned a granddaughter of Catherine (Clancy) and John Coogan living in California, and she was writing to her to fill her in on some family history. Jim identified the California woman as a very probable match.  Margaret wrote, “It is all slotting into place.”  I am pleased that we could help her fill out the American branch of her family tree.

Only two Clancy sibling would live out their lives on Irish soil.  This story is by no means unusual for the time and the place, but that does not diminish the profound emotional impact emigration had – and continues to have – on families.  Profound enough that over one-hundred years after her grand-aunts and uncle left Ireland for America, Margaret was curious enough about what happened to her relatives to search for answers.

That’s all on the Clancy family…for now.  We will see if Margaret learns any new bits of information from her new-found American cousin!  I hope that this example has shown you how easy it can be to trace your American relatives.

Note: In an earlier post on the Clancys I mentioned their father’s name was listed as Theo. (Theodore)…I was wrong, it was Tho. (Thomas)…Thomas was Margaret’s great-grandfather’s name.


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New Life, New Century

The tools and resources available on Ancestry.com have brought family history and genealogy research directly to the fingertips of anyone with a computer and $40 a month to spare.  Fascinating discoveries are literally only clicks away.  That being said, it never hurts to have an experienced researcher like Jim on your payroll to navigate the myriad of possible matches and probable connections you encounter in your search.  Let’s continue the Clancy family’s journey to America by taking a closer look at Catherine, the first (known) Clancy sibling to emigrate.

Margaret told us that Catherine (Kate) was born in Moylough, County Galway in 1878.  Since she did not appear on either the 1901 or the 1911 Irish Census, Jim was confident in his identification of the Catherine Clancy who set sail from Queensland (Cobh) April 4, 1900, on board the S.S. Teutonic.  The journey took fifteen days, and Catherine arrived at New York City harbor on the 19th of April, 1900.  This would have been an exciting time to arrive in the US – amidst the optimistic swirl of the Spring of a new century.

With the 1920 US Census, Catherine was married to John J. Coogan from Kilkerrin, County Galway.  The young couple was living in Brooklyn, New York with two small boys (John and Joseph.)  By the 1930 US Census, the Coogan family had moved about eighty miles from Brooklyn to Wawayanda, New York.  A third son Francis joined the family in 1922.

There were some interesting items included in the collection of Immigration and Travel records.  On March 25, 1921 Catherine and her two sons returned home to New York after a holiday in Ireland.  Late in 1920, John had applied for a passport indicating travel with his wife and two sons to Ireland for three months, leaving in August – perhaps the trip was postponed or the return delayed.

The U.S. Passport Applications on Ancestry.com are intriguing and could be a gold mine of information for the family history researcher.  John Coogan’s passport application gives us not only his birth date and place, but those of his wife and children, as well as the date he was naturalized as an US citizen, where he had lived in the US, his occupation, and his current residence.  The dates and destination of planned travel are also given.  These applications can be a one-stop source for genealogical information.  Plus, some of the passport applications even include a photograph!

One of Margaret’s memories was of saying the Trimmings after the evening Rosary and the “boys in the war” were always included in these prayers.  Margaret believed the Coogan boys fought in the Korean War.  Well, Jim discovered that the three Coogan boys were indeed “boys in the war”, but the war was World War II, which may have been before Margaret’s time.  Perhaps there were more American relatives from Moylough who fought during the Korean War?

We located a few descendants of Catherine (Clancy) and John Coogan, and I forwarded that information on to Margaret.  Maybe she will connect with some American cousins…I will keep you posted as to what I hear from her.

Next time we will wrap up the Clancy family saga with the stories of Nora and Molly.


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Out from Moylough: The Clancy Family in America

Over the past several months I have had the pleasure to exchange emails with Margaret from County Galway.  Margaret has shared memories and stories about relatives who emigrated to America in the early twentieth century.  I would like to show you how we were able to take Margaret’s memories, add some Irish Census evidence, throw in Ancestry.com, and put it all in the hands of an experienced researcher to identify the American branch of Margaret’s family tree.

In the pursuit of family history research, there are times when every path seems to lead to a dead-end.  Other times the bits and pieces of information fit together effortlessly to tell a wonderful story of your history.  Luckily for us, the data slid right into place.  To get up to speed on Margaret’s research quest, click here.

Moylough Church, Galway - compliments of http://www.irelands-directory.com

When Margaret first told me about the Clancy siblings, her relatives who left Ireland for America, she shared some memories – Trimmings after the Rosary for the “boys in the war”, an old letter that mentioned debris from the Lusitania scattered in the sea as a young woman sailed to America, a generous wedding present from an American relative in New York.  Great stories that provide priceless clues for the researcher, but a few dates will always make the research process easier.

Margaret delivered again and gave us the birth dates and places for the five Clancy siblings.  She was unsure of exact emigration, but she provided information from the Irish Census – whether or not someone appeared on the 1901 or 1911 census helped us narrow our search and make positive identifications.

And did we make identifications!  Margaret may well learn more about her Clancy relatives than she ever wanted to know!

Jim, a senior research associate from Archival Solutions , stepped in and began to put the pieces of the puzzle together.  Jim told me that this project was made much easier by the information Margaret provided, and he said that the information he gathered is just the tip of the iceberg – there is much more out there, on both sides of the Atlantic and in cyber space.  This brings up a key point to remember: When you begin family research of any kind, gather all known information at your disposal – the more you have, the easier your search will be.

Over the next week, I will highlight examples from this project that will illustrate the types of information you can expect to find when you embark on researching your family history in America.  I will begin with a story with its foundations in the once-popular and treasured item, the emigrant’s letter home.

Margaret recalled an old letter belonging to her aunt.  It was from her father’s cousin Nellie Clancy who went to America.  In the letter, Margaret remembered a vivid description of the debris from the Lusitania floating in the sea as Nellie’s ship sailed for America.  Margaret believed this letter was sent when Nellie returned to America after a holiday in Ireland.  The letter is long gone, but the image of Lusitania wreckage stayed with Margaret.

Panoramic view of the Lusitania - 1907

Jim found Nellie Clancy on S.S. St. Paul ship’s manifest right away.  She sailed from Liverpool on May 8, 1915 – the day after the Lusitania was sunk on May 7, 1915.  Nellie was not returning from a holiday in Ireland as Margaret believed, but rather this was her first voyage to America.  Nellie didn’t travel alone – she was accompanied by her younger brother and the youngest of the Clancy siblings, James.  James is listed as an eighteen-year-old farmer,  and the twenty-year-old Nellie’s occupation was listed as teacher.  Their closest relative in Ireland is given as,  father Theo. Clancy, Moylough, Ireland.  All of this information is included in the Ship Passenger Manifest.  What a way to start your new life, amongst the wreckage of a torpedoed ship!

The 1920 U.S. Federal Census shows Nellie and James living in a rooming house in Brooklyn, and the 1930 U.S. Census has Nellie married and living in New York, while a James Clancy is shown living in a house with two new Clancys – Teddy and Anna.  Margaret will have to let us know if there were a couple more Clancys hanging around.  Remember back to the ship’s manifest?  The Clancy father was named Theo., so there is a chance James wasn’t the youngest Clancy after all.

Next time we will look at the “Boys in the War”: the American soldiers remembered in the nightly prayers of a family in Galway.


 


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The Unmarked Grave

I have exchanged emails with Margaret from County Galway regarding her American relatives.  When I first heard from Margaret, I thought her request was fairly standard: she was looking a relative, Catherine McLoughlin Dempsey, who was born 1887 in Coolcalliga, Moylough, County Galway and emigrated to the US.  Catherine and a daughter returned to Ireland for a visit in the 1960s.

I was easily able to find Catherine by doing an Ancestry.com search.  In addition to the census and passenger list data, there was a family tree that had been submitted by an ancestry.com user.  This family tree included Catherine McLoughlin Dempsey with the exact birth date and place.  I have attempted to make contact with the author of the family tree, but as yet have been unsuccessful.

Margaret was quite pleased to learn about Catherine’s life in America, but she wanted to learn if there were any surviving members of the family.  You see, Catherine’s mother, Margaret Clancy McLoughlin, is buried in Moylough without a grave marker.  Margaret (also Margaret Clancy before she was married) had hoped to locate a direct descendant who might help remedy that.

An Irish Cemetery (not in County Galway, but County Kildare) - photo by Regan McCormack

I am competent in historical research, but tracing living people is another story.  I found a Dempsey in the Long Island town where Catherine died, but when Margaret contacted him she learned he was a recent arrival to the area and unrelated.

There are more of Margaret’s relatives I have yet to fully research, but I was thrilled with the information on them that Margaret shared.  Here is a portion of her email:

Nora  Clancy  married an O.Hara They had 2 children (may have been adopted) mary and ?John I think he was in the Korean war AS were the Coogans .Their mother wasCatherine or maybe Kate .Her husband was from Kilkerin CoGalway  we prayed for them every night after the rosary in what we called Trimmings  They were known as:” The boys in the War.”4 of the Coogans visited Ireland late sixties or early seventies ,no one seemed to have exchanged addresses!!!    we also had Nellie clancy married Nick guerin ;They lived in Fortlauderdale on retirement.and Ive a faint recollection of Posting mail to:Flushing Newyork. ;where they had a sister Mollie  never married,She sent me 100 dollars when I got married in 1967!!! . There was a brother James  died 1952 I think,He wasnt too popular with the sisters… He never came back to Ireland, I think Nellie was the only one to visit,She was  returning to the states when the Lusitania sank,I remember finding an old letter when my aunt died and reading about the debris floating on the sea!

Margaret provides many interesting details, but I especially liked the bit about how they prayed for the “Boys in the War” each night after the Rosary.  She has so much information on these relatives.  I will trace these relatives and share the results here.  In the meantime, maybe someone will read this with ties to these Clancy siblings…



Making the Connection

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The first comment left on this blog was from Mai in County Wexford back in early October.  Mai was interested in learning about her mother’s cousins who left Ireland and settled in Pennsylvania, USA.  With the few details Mai provided, I was able to do a quick search of US genealogy records and find her family.

Mai told me the names and birth dates for her mother’s aunt and uncle who emigrated to the USA.  She also knew the place-name of their residence, as well as the names of the children.  These details were just enough for me to identify the family on a passenger list on a ship from Ireland, their residences in the US Census for 1920 and 1930, and listings in the Social Security Death Index.

Last week I received an email from Mai:

Hi Aine Thanks for your help in finding my relatives in Pennsylvania. I  have made contact with them and we now e-mail  regularly. They are delighted at finding us too. Thanks again…

I am not surprised that Mai’s American relatives were delighted to hear from her; there are many Irish Americans who would be thrilled to receive an email from a long-lost Irish relative.

Have you reached out to your American relations, or have you been contacted by an Irish relative?  Please share your experiences by leaving a comment!  I would love to hear your stories…

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Well now, of course they did!

When I read the headline, How the Irish Saved Thanksgiving, on IrishCentral.com, I was curious, but not surprised.  After all, what aspect of American culture and society has not been influenced, and quite often saved, by Irish immigrants and their descendants?

Everyone knows that the Kennedy clan changed the face of American politics, and it is impossible to imagine American business and industry without Henry Ford, but did you know that the co-founder of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher, is of Irish descent?  Or Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza, claims a couple of Irish grandparents?  Perhaps they did not “save” the airline industry and home pizza delivery, but these two Irish Americans have had tremendous influence on how business is done in America.

While the story on IrishCentral.com was entertaining, I am not certain I agree with the premise that the Irish saved Thanksgiving.  The contributions of Irish immigrants have definitely made America a better place.  And not just for inexpensive, home-delivered pizzas…

Happy Thanksgiving!


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Ireland Reaches Out: A Visit Home

I saw this item in an email from IrishCentral.com this morning and I had to find out more information…

Irish economist, writer, and broadcaster David McWilliams is behind a project called Ireland Reaching Out, which aims to bring emigrants (and their descendants) back to their home parishes in Ireland for a visit.  This is  a pilot program focusing on thirty parishes in southeast County Galway.  An article in the Connacht Tribune says that the plan is to contact 44,000 emigrants from parishes in places like Gort, Portuma, and Loughrea, and invite them back for a “Week of Welcomes” in June of 2011.

This “Week of Welcomes” will include a program of activities in the parish of origin, including lectures, tours, and samples of local culture, food, and drink.  The hope is that these visits will provide a short-term boost to the local economy as well as promote future investment in the region.

County Galway (2009, Regan McCormack)

I read some comments from recent emigrants who seemed angry and bitter and wanted nothing to do with a program like this.  Maybe for these individuals, their feelings about having to leave home are too raw; the wounds of emigration are too fresh.  I cannot tell you how many times I hear Americans engaged in family history lament that the older generations of immigrants never spoke of Ireland.  In my own family story, all we were ever told was that they came from Cork.  Many, many Irish immigrants in America came from Cork, and practically all of them left from Cork.

Further removed from emigration, you will find Americans eager to make a connection with the place their family came from in Ireland.  Granted, in light of the recent economic downturn Americans may be taking fewer vacations overseas.  But there are Americans who, if given the chance to have a pint at the local pub their grandfather frequented before coming to America, would seize the opportunity to visit Ireland.  I know it sounds a little corny to Irish people, but the attraction of Ireland to Irish Americans is undeniable.  It makes perfect sense for the Irish to capitalize on this pull.  These days it may take more than the Blarney stone to lure American tourist dollars.

Mr. McWiliams describes the program in his own words in his piece on Independent.ie – click here to read the editorial.  In my opinion, the fact that a program like this is underway in Ireland is proof that although the bubble may have burst, the Irish people are using their strengths to imagine their future.  A future deeply rooted in history…that’s nothing new for Ireland, is it?

Near Erke cemetery, County Laois (2009, Regan McCormack)

Next time I will share a bit about our most recent visit home.  By the way, Mr. McWilliams if you are reading this, you must hire my cousins Jimmy and Helen McCormack of Ballyedmond, County Laois as consultants for Ireland Reaching Out. You will have to read my next entry to see why…


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The Young Americans

First Generations Americans      (click to enlarge)

This photo appeared in the December 2008/January 2009 issue of Irish America Magazine.  The following text accompanied the photo:

In March 1864, boyhood friends John Regan and Patrick Foley from Macroom, County Cork, arrived in New York port on the City of Baltimore sailing from Cobh.  They took to life in America quickly and in 1870 both were married.  John Regan married Mary Quinn and they had four sons and two daughters: Cornelius (Neil) , Ellen, John, Patrick, Jeremiah (Jerry), and Mary.  Patrick Foley married Mary Crowley and the couple had four children: Margaret, Timothy, Mary, and John.  After 15 years at work in the mills and machine shops of Fisherville, New Hampshire both families seized the opportunity to move west, own their own land, and raise their families in an Irish Catholic community.  By 1880, the Regan and Foley families were established in Tara Township near Clontarf, Minnesota – active in township government, members of St. Malachy Catholic Church, and proud farmers on land they owned.

This photograph of the sons of John Regan and Patrick Foley – four first generation Americans – captures one of those moments in American history when anything seemed possible.  It is the turn of the twentieth century and Neil, Jack, and Jerry Regan and John Foley look poised to take on what the world had to offer.  Their confidence is palpable and represents the optimism shared by many Americans at the time.

Over the years, confidence waned as youth faded and the realities of life took hold.  This included falling crop prices, farm failures, personal hardships, and economic depression, but on the day this photograph was taken, with cigars pursed in their lips and hats perched jauntily on their heads, these four young men look as if the world is their oyster.

The Regans and the Foleys came together again in the next generation –  Mary Foley  was my grandmother’s mother and Cornelius (Neil) Regan was my grandfather’s father.

(Submitted by Aine C. McCormack, Saint Paul, Minnesota)

Since the photo was published, I have learned that Patrick Foley and John Regan came from Kilmichael Parish in West Cork.

My great-grandfather Cornelius Regan is seated on the left, next to John Foley.  These two men were members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a fraternal organization formed in 1838 largely in response to discrimination faced by Irish Americans throughout the country.  These types of organizations became very important for new immigrants from Ireland, as well as to more established Irish Americans.  More to come about these Irish American fraternal societies in a future post…


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Family and Emigration

While reading up on Irish emigration, I found an interesting article by County Fermanagh historian John Cunningham on the Cassidy family website.  In the article Mr. Cunningham considers the effects emigration has had on Ireland and the Irish people.  Click here to read the article, which is actually a lecture given by Mr. Cunningham.

Mr. Cunningham uses his own experiences to show how family members who stayed in Ireland felt about emigration.  He tackles the often complex and emotional issue of emigration in a straightforward manner with a bit of humor thrown in for good measure.  I found the account of his mother’s visit to America particularly insightful, as well as the description of the parcels and letters from America.

As his mother learned firsthand, letters home to Ireland often didn’t tell the whole story of the emigrant’s experience in their new home.  Regardless of their accuracy, letters are one of the best resources for learning about your emigrant relative by providing tangible evidence as to where the relative lived, possibly where they worked, or names of spouse and children.  Consider yourself lucky if you have an emigrant letter!

My great-grandmother came to the United States in 1899, joining an older sister who had arrived six years earlier.  A sister and a brother remained in Ireland, and one sister has previously emigrated to Manchester, England.  Unfortunately, no letters survive (on the American side) from relatives at home, but there are a few postcards, greeting cards, and photographs that were sent to my great-grandmother and her sister.  The following photograph was included in an album belonging to a niece of my great-grandmother who lived in Montana, USA.

John and Catherine (Hill) Howe Family, Johnstown Co. Kildare

John and Catherine (Hill) Howe Family - Johnstown, Co. Kildare (courtesy of M. Jeffrey Harshman)

Among the few items belonging to my great-grandmother is a sweet little Christmas card from her sister Katie (Catherine, pictured above), as well as a torn and tattered photo postcard depicting a Whitsunday parade.  It is intriguing to see what pieces of someone’s life survive for later generations.  These bits and pieces have helped us learn a great deal about my great-grandmother’s life before she came to America.

So, if you don’t have a letter, all is not lost in your quest for information about your emigrant relative.  Letters can make the initial search easier, but other information can prove to be as useful.

I invite you to share your family’s emigrant stories by leaving a comment!  Let me know what clues you have, and I will help you begin your search for information on your relative.  If you think you don’t have any information to go on, but really want to learn about what may have happened to a relative, you should leave a comment, too.  We never know what we will find when we start looking!