Clare, Sligo, Meath and More

Our Irish ancestry runs deep.  I have nothing to prove or disprove that our ancestors came to this continent escaping famine but it seems logical that there were significant "push and pull factors" (remember that from US History?).  Irish immigrants everywhere faced severe discrimination and I have no doubt the same held true for ours.

Our Irish immigrants were largely farmers or fishermen; livelihoods that depend upon unpredictable Mother Nature and many other factors beyond control.  I imagine that Henry Nevins' father was beyond proud that he became an attorney -- the grandson / son  of an immigrant.

I think I've talked before about our Irish surnames, but haven't talked too much about their Irish homeland.  That's mostly because I don't know too much first hand (yet) but one day I hope to.

My sister recently asked me to answer "in 5 words or less" where our Irish ancestors came from.  That wasn't so easy but here are our great-grands and what I know about where they came from.  Match 'em up on the map.

Patrick Flynn's mother Ellen:  County Clare
Patrick Flynn's mother Barbara came from Munich Germany (we aren't counting her right now)
Henry Nevins' grandfather Henry born Ireland:  his mother Julia born County Meath
Caroline Brown Nevins daughter of English immigrant

William H. Ryan's father Timothy born Ireland (maybe Tipperary)
Kate Bentley Ryan's mother and father born Galway
William Pierce was born in Canada latest in a long line of Canadians (Nova Scotia)
Edith Handran Pierce's mother was born in Sligo

Patrick Flynn worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad; Henry Nevins was a well known lawyer who spawned many more in the same line of work; William H. Ryan worked in various blue collar jobs such as lunch cart keeper; William Pierce was a fisherman.

So I guess the pictures in my head of our family look more like these than those pretty green shamrocks.

Violet Elizabeth Ryan 1902-1957

Aunt Bud was Viola Elizabeth Ryan, a sister to our grandfather Paul Ryan Senior and a favorite aunt of our dad Paul Ryan Junior.  Her date of death was a mystery that I decided to apply my finer detective skills to.

In this picture you see CatherinePierce Ryan, Paul Junior, Violet Ryan ("Aunt Bud") and our uncle Peter Ryan.  I believe this was taken at Paul Junior's college graduation 1955.  So I knew she was alive at least until the spring of 1955.  For a long time, I've been trying to track down some more details about Aunt Bud's life especially when she died and where she was buried.  Our uncle Peter told us once that he remembered that she was living on Haskell Street with our grandparents Paul Senior and Catherine Ryan because she was ill.  He came home from school one day and found her dead.  No one could really remember when that was but I figured 1955-1958 as a range because Peter would probably have graduated by about 1958 when he was 18.  That narrowed it down but that's still a pretty big range to search.  Both our uncles Tim and Peter thought it might be 1956 or 1957 so I started to search day by day through the Gloucester newspapers for an obituary. 

Just before we left for a recent trip to Gloucester Massachusetts, I prepped myself to research Aunt Bud and Uncle Jack (John Ryan), who supposedly had died of an accidental gunshot wound.  Lo and behold some new digital references had become available so I learned that Aunt Bud died in 1957 and Uncle Jack in 1939 (the year of the accident). So I began searching the Gloucester Daily Times at the Sawyer Library day by day through "only" 1957 without much luck the first time.  But the second time, I tried the roll of microfilm that held copies of the paper from Oct-Dec 1957 figuring that range might be a good bet because school is in session most of that time since Peter remembered he had some home from school to find her.  (Nancy Drew has nothing on my detecting skills!). And this is what I found from early December:

Peter was right again!  He's got great information.  I was quite pleased to find her.  You'll notice it says she was buried in the family plot at Calvary.  The only family plot I was aware of at Calvary in Gloucester is this one for our grandparents Paul Senior, Catherine Pierce Ryan and Paul's mother Kathryn Bentley Ryan:

We noticed her arrangements were made by the Greely Funeral Home and I remember our mother saying this is the place always used by the Ryans.  My husband Jim suggested we go there and ask.  I was a little reluctant, but off we went and BOY was it worth the attempt!! A very nice lady was wonderful enough to go up into the attic to locate their books from 1957 and show us the page in their records for Aunt Bud's services:

Perhaps you'll notice that the drawing of the plot seems to indicate the burial of mother Katherine Bentley Ryan AND Arthur 1955 from Florida!  Arthur is another "lost" Ryan so this was huge.  I was tickled to think I'd found Aunt Bud and her brother Arthur so we went back to Calvary to see if we could find Sect 15 Range 15 Lot 13.  No luck. I called the Archdiocese of Boston and they said she was in Sect 17 Range 1 Lot 13.  Back to the cemetery.  Still no luck.  Apparently there is some confusion with Calvary cemetery records prior to 1960.  The Archdiocese "cannot confirm or deny" that Aunt Bud is buried there so we cannot have her name added to the stone--which was my intention at first.

We feel Aunt Bud and her brother Arthur are also buried in this plot.  We don't know why their names do not appear but I can speculate that it was just too expensive.  The monument people told us it would be $410 plus a $20 fee to the Archdiocese to add Aunt Bud to the stone.  That was more than I was expecting so I suppose in 1955 or 1957 if you pro-rate that amount, it would still be kind of expensive to add those names, even if the other siblings helped out.  And perhaps it should just stay that way.

The Canadian Link for Irish Immigrants

Our Irish ancestors were quite extraordinary.  All Irish immigrants are quite extraordinary, actually.  I recently got to watch a documentary called "Death or Canada--Fleeing the Irish Famine".  Intellectually I know the Irish faced hard times in the Famine years (1845-1852) but this documentary put the day to day hardships into sharp focus for me.  Disease and starvation forced Irish fisherman to sell their boats and nets to buy food for their families.  Typhus caused many more deaths than starvation brought upon these families.

I'd long known that many of our Irish came to the United States through Canada.  Apparently as the wave of Irish immigrants began to overwhelm Eastern US ports, the authorities reacted by increasing the fees owed by the shipping lines and immigrants.  Canada was kinder (read:cheaper). Many Irish took the long two month voyage to Canada because they had no other choice for survival.  Survival.

I believe Timothy Ryan immigrated during the Famine years.  We know that Patrick Flynn's mother Ellen immigrated from Ireland but I believe this was later, though I'm not certain.  The Pierces and the Nevins came from Canada but each are Irish families.  Even if Ellen did not leave Ireland due to the Famine, she survived the Famine years there--imagine the strength and certain Irish luck working in her favor!

No small wonder the Irish are generally dark and brooding.  No wonder their stories are often fanciful if not outright falsehoods.  They are strong and resourceful.  And we descend from these people.  "Take a break and think about the past" came from this documentary and I think they are appropriate words for as St. Patrick's Day approaches.

This is a picture of the oldest Irish ancestors that I have so far:  William Sr (Timothy's son) and his wife Kate Bentley Ryan.  I can almost picture Timothy from this as well as so many of the other Irish fishermen and farmers.  Perhaps you've see it before but it pays to look again with new eyes.