Category Archives: Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley

NEHGS Announcement and Upcoming Presentation in Naugatuck!

18 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, Naugatuck, New Haven, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, Saint Francis Church, Tombstone Transcriptions

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Civil War Monument and Headstones, Saint Bernard Cemetery, New Haven, CT ©2007 Janet Maher

Civil War Monument and Headstones, Saint Bernard Cemetery, New Haven, CT ©2007 Janet Maher

Thank you to the New England Historic Genealogical Society for announcing the publication of my book, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut, in their current issue of American Ancestors. They are among several locations that own a copy for their library. I have begun to receive emails with questions about the cost and content of my book, so I’d like to take this opportunity to provide that information again here, as well as to announce my upcoming talk for the Naugatuck Valley Genealogy Club on Saturday, October 12 at the Naugatuck Historical Society, in Connecticut. This will follow a brief business meeting at 1 p.m., and it is open to the public.

My talk and Power Point presentation will include selections from the 363 images of people, places, details and maps included in my 400-page book, and I will discuss methods of finding illusive information when doing this kind of research.

From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley explores the history of Ireland through the perspective of religion and centuries of discord that led millions of Irish Catholics to leave their native land. It traces the origins of the Catholic Church in Connecticut, then to several Irish families whose personal stories extend to the present. It includes complete transcriptions and section maps of the first Irish Catholic cemetery in Naugatuck, Saint Francis. My research of particular families in the Naugatuck Valley has led me to the location in Ireland from which many of the early settlers and priests originated. More general information may be found throughout this blog (where the info is more specifically Maher-related) and on my Irish-oriented Pinterest site.

My book, which lists for $65.95, will be discounted for those interested in purchasing a signed copy on that day. Whether or not you can attend the talk, mention this blog posting to purchase it for $60 with free shipping in the U.S. throughout the rest of this year. (Makes a great Christmas present!) Send your check to me at P.O. Box 40211, Baltimore, MD, 21212, and let me know if you would like it inscribed.

Table of Contents 

Acknowledgments

I: Background Ireland; Arrival of the Normans; Conquest of Ireland; Rebellion; Thomas Francis Meagher; Some Potential Connections Between New Haven County and Ireland

II: Catholicism in New England; Catholic Churches; Christ’s Church, Saint Mary’s Church, New Haven; Immaculate Conception/Saint Mary’s Church, Derby; Catholic Schools in Early New Haven; Early New Haven County Cemeteries; Early Catholic Waterbury; Catholic Schools in Waterbury; Old Saint Joseph Cemetery

III: Catholicism in Naugatuck; The First Catholics; Saint Anne and Saint Francis Churches

IV: Vignettes of Selected Families: The Butlers; The Brennans; The Martins; The Conrans; The Learys; Some New Haven Mahers; Adelaide Maher Quigley, Thomas Maher, Matthew Maher, Michael O’Maher; Anthony Meagher, John Maher, Jeremiah Maher; Ireland and America Letters; Josephine Maher and Family

V:  Saint Francis Cemetery Transcriptions: Sections A & B; Sections C, G & Portion of H; Sections F & Portion of H; Sections E & Portions of D, H; Section H; Modern Section; Tombstones That Cite A Location in Ireland

Conclusion

Appendix: Selected Additional Photographs

Notes

Image Identification

Bibliography

I welcome anyone who has read and (I hope!) feels positive about my book to comment here, or add to the lovely review that one reader wrote on Amazon.com. Thank you all for continuing to follow and read this blog, and I look forward to sharing my labor of love with any who can show up on October 12!

©2013 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ni Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Our Milesian Origins

07 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by in Carlow Mahers, Mahers, Meaghers, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley

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Rock of Cashel

©2011 Janet Maher, Rock of Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland

(With some additions/edits, July 9, and Sept. 22, 2013, please also see the “Comments” section.)

While it is impossible for anyone to trace their lineage genealogically with proof back to ancient Ireland, understanding the long reach of some clans’ ties to their homeland may help to put in context the rebellious feelings that many had toward the waves of newcomers who eventually displaced them, became their landlords, or had forced their ancestors to relocate to barren parts of the island or permanently flee to other countries. Those willing to do DNA testing and participate in a surname group are potentially able to find information where no paper documents survive to neatly sequence their ancestry. One friend, a Maher who pronounces his name with two syllables, has discovered that his DNA result led him directly to Spain! What initially seemed perplexing is actually more exciting than having been pointed to a particular place in Ireland. His markers point instead to a pure connection to the most ancient origins of the native Irish, including the surname which evolved to Meagher/Maher.

The arrival of Ireland’s first population is steeped in mysticism and lore, as much a part of the poetic tradition as the sacred spirit of the place. Any ancient stories that have survived to this day may have some germs of fact involved, and the story of the Milesians is one that continues to be considered. In the early seventeenth century Brother Michael O Cléirigh/O’Clery, a Franciscan monk from Donegal, with the help of other scribes who were laymen, sought to create a comprehensive history of Ireland from as many ancient manuscripts as could be gathered. The men were all from upper class families and were trained historians. Their great work, The Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters, includes a genealogy of King Mhileadth/Milesius of Spain, through whose sons, Heber, Heremon and Ir, all the major clans of Ireland evolved from at least 1700 B.C. or earlier. Heber and Heremon were the first two of 183 monarchs who ruled Ireland from 1699 B.C. until the submission of the Irish kings to King Henry II in 1171 A.D.  While the time frames may not completely align with what is now known, and surnames as we know them did not exist until more modern times, the details in the Annals of the Four Masters form the basis of accepted ancient Irish history.

The Meachairs/Meaghers/Mahers were one of the original Irish clans, descended from petty kings of Leinster and Munster, later among the ruling lords of County Tipperary, chiefs of Ikerrin, and among the noble chieftain families of County Carlow. Among the many sources I have consulted over my years of research I have seen several Irish surname maps. The one I have found most useful, with its inclusion of references to the Annals and other texts and explanations of incoming waves of surnames beyond the original Irish ones, is Kanes’ Ancestral Map of Ireland.  It’s designers noted that among one of the primary Irish genealogy scholars, “Professor Eoin MacNeill, of the National University of Ireland concluded in his work, Celtic Ireland, that the Irish genealogical traditions are credible in detail at approximately 300 A.D. but not earlier.”

What follows is my accumulated understanding of the ancient tracks to today’s Mahers. The Nemedians, Formorians and Fir Bolgs have been explained as the earliest known nomadic peoples who lived in Ireland, each with their own characteristics as a race. From the eastern Mediterranean area, the Tuatha de Danann were a druidic tribe who worshipped the goddess Danu. They were considered to be Celtic gods, worshipped by the earliest Irish. As settlers in America would do centuries later through the formation of Native American reservations to contain those who already inhabited the land, the de Danann conquered the Fir Bolgs, allowing them to live, but constricting their habitation to the Connaught area while they settled throughout the rest of Ireland. [With the English conquest of Ireland in the seventeenth century, relocation to Connaught again became a form of banishment within the country.]

King Mhileadth/Milesius of Spain lived contemporaneously with King Solomon. When his sons invaded Ireland, they conquered and merged with the de Dannans. Lore alternatively has it that the de Dannans chose to live in the underworld, leaving Ireland to the conquerors. John O’Hart includes in his Irish Pedigrees the entire Annals of the Four Masters genealogies, beginning with Adam! According to this, Milesius was the son of Bilé and had a brother named Ithe. Bilé was the son of Breoghan (Brigus), king of Galicia, Andalusia, Murcia, Castile and Portgual, over which Milesius ruled by succession. Consult O’Hart for the complete story of the races and populating of Ireland.

The Cinel (descendents) Meachair trace our earliest lineage from Fionnchada/Finnachta, son of Connla/Conla, son of Cian, who was killed in the Battle of Samhair in A.D. 241. Cian was one of three sons of King Oillioll Olum, King of the Provence of Munster in the third century and Munster’s first absolute King. Cian’s brothers were Eoghan More and Cormac Cos.

Oillioll Olum died in A.D. 234. His father was Eoghan Taighlech, also called Owen the Splendid and Magh Nuadhat. Taighlech was descended from Milesius’ son, Heber. Joseph Casimir O’Meagher (Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin) noted that Eoghan Mor was called Mogh-Nuadadh and was killed by Conn of the 100 Battles. This was the same line as the O’Carrolls, overlords (princes) of what had once been a large stretch of area in northern Munster (Ely/Eile) that included the barony of Ikerrin, the original home of the O’Meaghers. 

According to Kane’s Ancestral Map of Ireland, some ancient Mahers were also descendents of Cormac Mac Art and Conaire Mor, both descendents of Heremon. Cormac Mac Art was the son of King Art Eanfhear, Monarch of Ireland A.D. 227 to A.D. 266. [The chapel of Cormac Mac Art at the Rock of Cashel is presently being restored.] Eanfhear was the son of King Conn of the Hundred Battles, Monarch of Ireland A.D. 166 to A.D. 195 (or, from another source, A.D. 123 to A.D. 157).  According to this map the Maher lineage of Conaire Mor appears to have died out. He had been “sixteenth in descent from Heremon” and his line included King Conaire the 2nd, Monarch of Ireland A.D. 157 – A.D. 166.

The common ancestor among the various pedigrees in Joseph Casimir O’Meagher’s compilation is Oilioll Oluim. These pedigrees had been created by different scribes for important occasions, and one was copied from the Psalter of Cashel. Saint Benignus (Beonna), the bishop of Armagh after Saint Patrick, was a descendent of Oilioll Oluim, as was Saint Cronan, Abbot of Roscrea, Tipperary, the largest town in the barony of Ikerrin.

In 1659 Sir William Petty’s census showed Meaghers in several neighboring areas of Ireland. In Kilkenny: Galmoy (23); Fassagh Deinin [Fassadinnen] (12); Kells (17); Cranagh (18); Callan (17). In Tipperary: Clanwilliam (14); Ikerrin and Eliogarty (190); Iff and Offa (21); Lower Ormond (12); Slievardagh (40). Five Meaghers each were in Idrone and St. Mollins counties in Carlow, near Kilkenny and in Middlethird. In Decies, Waterford, there were six. Of the 26,684 residents of Tipperary then, 24, 700 were Irish, with the remaining English. In 1841 fifteen per cent of the people living in Tipperary lived in Ikerrin. In that year six thousand lived in the excellent farmland of Roscrea. The townland of Tullow Mac James in Tipperary, near Templetouhy, was noted as “one of the oldest residences of Clan-Meagher, and furnished many distinguished representatives at home and abroad.”

I have compiled surnames with noble ancient Irish roots from the Kane map for the counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny and Queens (Leix, Laois) Counties:

Kings: Tipperary (Kings of Cashel) – MacCarthy, O’Brien, O’Callaghan.

Princes: Tipperary – O’Carroll, O’Donnegan, O’Donohoe, O’Brien; Kilkenny – O’Carroll, O’Donaghue; Queen’s County – MacGilpatrick (Fitzpatrick).

Ruling Lords: Tipperary – MacBrien, O’Cuirc (Quirk), O’Day (O’Dea), O’Dinan, O’Dwyer, O’Fogerty, O’Kennedy, O’Meagher (O’Maher), O’Sullivan; Kilkenny – O’Brennan (Fassadineen area), O’Brodar; Queen’s County – O’Dempsey, O’Dowling, O’Dunn, O’Moore.

Noble Chieftains: Tipperary – MacCormack, MacGilfoyle, O’Brien, O’Cahill, O’Carroll, O’Connelly, O’Cullenan, O’Hogan, O’Hurley, O’Kean, O’Lenahan, O’Lonegan (O’Lonergan), O’Meara, O’Mulcahy, O’Ryan, O’Shanahan (Shannon), O’Skelly (O’Scully), O’Spellman (O’Spillane); Kilkenny – O’Callan, O’Hely (O’Healy), O’Keeley, O’Ryan, O’Shea; Queen’s County – MacEvoy, MacGorman, ODuff, O’Kelly, O’Lawler, O’Regan

Wishing all my readers and followers well as we learn more about our ancestry!

©2013 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

References:

Bhreathnach, Edel, and Cunningham, Bernadette, editors, Writing Irish History: the Four Masters and their World, Dublin, Ireland: Wordwell, Ltd., 2007.

Finnerty, William, Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters

Kane Ancestral Map of Ireland, Kane Strategic Marketing, Inc., P.O. Box 781, Harbor Springs, Michigan, 49740; Limerick, Ireland, 1993.

Maher, Janet, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut, Baltimore, MD: Apprentice House, 2012 [This book is 400 pages and includes 336 images. It may be obtained at: Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT; Naugatuck Historical Society, Naugatuck, CT; and Quinnipiac University Bookstore, Mount Carmel Branch, Hamden, CT. In Baltimore it may be purchased from Loyola University Bookstore and The Ivy Bookshop. Online it may be purchased from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, and from me via Paypal or by check (P.O. Box 40211, Baltimore, MD, 21212).]

McCaffrey, Carmel and Eaton, Leo, In Search of Ancient Ireland, The Origins of the Irish from Neolithic Times to the Coming of the English, Chicago, IL: New Amsterdam Books, 2002.

O’Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees: or, The Origin and Stem of The Irish Nation, Fifth Edition in Two Volumes, Dublin, Ireland: James Duffy and Co., Ltd., 1892. Online.

O’Meagher, Joseph Casimir, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin,   Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., American Edition: NY, 1890. Online.

Shaw, Antony, compiled by, Portable Ireland, A Visual Reference to All Things Irish, Philadelphia, PA: Running Press, 2002.

Traynor, Pat, Milesian Genealogies from the Annals of the Four Masters

Walsh, Dennis,  Ireland’s History in Maps, History + Geography + Genealogy With a Special Focus on Ancient and Medieval Irish Tribes and Septs, ©2003.  

Walsh, Dennis, Old Irish-Gaelic Surnames, A Supplement to Ireland’s History in Maps

Book Review, Connecticut Society of Genealogists!

13 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by in Book Review, Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, Kilkenny Mahers, Naugatuck, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley

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Mary Sullivan Conran, from Janet Maher family photograph album, colorized ©2010 Janet Maher

Mary Sullivan Conran, from Maher family photograph album, colorized ©2010 Janet Maher

Although I was disappointed not to have won a literary award from the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, I very much appreciate the review they included in this issue of Connecticut Genealogy News! About my book, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut, they wrote:

A massive volume of Irish lore, this book will attract not only the beginning researcher but also those charter members of TIARA. The author, a native of Connecticut, has equipped this scholarly book with multi-colored and black and white photographs. The author uses larger print size than usual as she maps and transcribes the oldest Catholic cemetery in Naugatuck, where generations of people and their descendants who helped shape the character of southern Connecticut lay interred. An excellent set of researcher’s tools enable the user of this material to accurately navigate throughout its contents. Starting with a clearly defined table of contents and ending with a plethora of selected bibliographical works, broken into sections determined to be primary and secondary sources, this book’s organization is a reader’s delight. The concluding section entitled Recommended Organizations is a source not usually included, but is an added bonus for the researcher.

In the course of my research, photography was a partner to historical and genealogical study. Our family images provided questions and sometimes hinted at answers, helping to create ties between individuals. After years of puzzling over one large group photo, included in full in my book, I finally determined that the striking older woman in this detail, above, was Mary Sullivan Conran. Mary, the daughter of Mary Maher and Patrick Sullivan, of Ireland, had several siblings who also emigrated to Naugatuck, Connecticut. She was the wife of Edward Conran, one of the close partners of my great great grandfather, Patrick Maher, and godfather to Patrick’s youngest child, Josephine (future principal of Salem School).

In my study of birth records in Freshford, Kilkenny, I believe that I discovered Mary and three of her siblings. She was born in 1826, relatively close in age to Patrick Maher, who was born in 1811, from nearby Queen’s County/Laois. (In Naugatuck, four years were shaved from Mary’s age. This, however, was a slight amount compared to those subtracted in census and birth records throughout the decades by so many other historically young-looking Irish women.)

Mary Sullivan Conran died in June, 1910, at age eighty. My research of the first community of Irish Catholics in nineteenth century Naugatuck suggests that she would have been the last remaining elder of the original immigrant group. I discussed this revelation with a descendent of the Conrans, who thought she recognized a resemblance to another photo of Mary Conran that she remembered.

I find these kinds of discoveries to be quite thrilling. Having spent my entire life as an artist, little could I have known that the path of an historian might have been another possibility–albeit aided by art! It’s also delightful to have discovered through this work that our family was not as tiny as it had always seemed. I wish that we could have known our ancestors during their lifetimes, but am grateful for the journey they nonetheless provided.

©2013 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut was published by Apprentice House, Baltimore, MD. It is 400 pages and includes 336 images. It may be obtained at: Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT; Naugatuck Historical Society, Naugatuck, CT; and Quinnipiac University Bookstore, Mount Carmel Branch, Hamden, CT. In Baltimore it may be purchased from Loyola University Bookstore and The Ivy Bookshop. Online it may be purchased from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Amazon UK, and from me via Paypal or by check (P.O. Box 40211, Baltimore, MD, 21212).

Saint Francis Church Fundraiser

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in Connecticut Irish, Fundraiser, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, Saint Francis Church

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Tombstone Detail, Saint Bernard's Cemetery, New Haven, CT ©2011 Janet Maher

Tombstone Detail, Saint Bernard’s Cemetery, New Haven, CT ©2011 Janet Maher

(October 3, 2013: Good News! – the basement has been repaired! See: http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Naugatuck-Church-Rebuilt-After-Flood-226231281.html)

In early August, 2012, southern Connecticut was hit by a severely damaging rainstorm. Among the losses was the devastation of the basement and contents of Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Naugatuck. The space until then had been actively used by the parishioners and the Naugatuck community for events of all kinds, including a regular bingo night. Tickets from the bingo players had been one source of weekly revenue for the church. Although the extensive repairs required are gradually being made, it is unlikely that the hall will be usable until at least next September.

Videos of the flooding that destroyed at minimum a new furnance and a piano at Saint Francis Church may be seen here (1. 2).

On April 20 a fundraiser night of comedy will be held for the church at Grand Oak Villa, Watertown. In the silent auction will be a signed copy of my book and three matted artworks from my project about the first Irish Catholic community who began Naugatuck’s Saint Anne’s Church. This mission church on Water Street was the precursor to the present Saint Francis Church.

Our Lady of 1798, Monesterevin, Kildare, Ireland ©2011 Janet Maher (color is not accurate here)

Our Lady of 1798, Monesterevin, Kildare, Ireland ©2011 Janet Maher (color is not accurate here)

From the semi-monthly masses at Nichol’s Hall, house masses, the first mass in 1857 at Saint Anne’s, through the church’s dedication in 1860 and installation of its first resident priest in 1866, the predominantly Irish parish of Naugatuck grew significantly with every year. By 1877 the need for a larger structure was acted upon with the purchase of property on Church Street. Ground was broken in 1882 for a beautiful Gothic structure with magnificent stained glass windows, many imported from France. The windows “form one of the handsomest collections of art stained glass to be found in any parish in America.”*

The last mass at Saint Annes’ Church was celebrated on August 19, 1883. The building was torn down fifty-six years later. Saint Francis Church, on 318 Church Street, was dedicated in 1890 and has been in continuous operation ever since. The church’s elementary school, begun in 1900, is now combined with the former Saint Hedwig School, which had been in existence since the 1920s.

I encourage all who can to attend and support the Saint Francis Church fundraiser on April 20!

Saint Brigid's Tree, Kildare, Ireland ©2011 Janet Maher (color is not accurate here)

Saint Brigid’s Tree, Kildare, Ireland ©2011 Janet Maher (color is not accurate here)

[From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut may be purchased in Connecticut at the Naugatuck Historical Society, the Mattatuck Museum and Quinnipiac University (Mount Carmel branch). In Baltimore it may be purchased at Loyola University Maryland and The Ivy Bookshop. Online it may be purchased from Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Barnes and Nobel, and from me via Paypal or by check (P.O. Box 40211, Baltimore, MD, 21212).]

*Souvenir of the Dedication of Saint Francis Church, Naugatuck, Conn., November 30th 1890, Waterbury, Conn.: Malone & Cooley, Printers, 1890, pg. 16.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring to all!

©2013 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

An Exhibition of Digital Prints in the Month of Saint Patrick’s Day!

09 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in Book Signing, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, Exhibition, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley

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pd4CAshowSMcprtPhotography made me wonder deeply about our family’s motley archive that had survived more than a century. As a result, it drove me to an extreme side turn in my work as an artist. Almost seven years ago I chose to allow a pursuit in scholarly and genealogical study take precedence over my studio work. The cumulative effort resulted in a book, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics of New Haven County, Connecticut. 

To make and work with photographs was not new to me. This has factored in myriad ways into my artwork for decades. But to remain literal and to study photographs as if they would eventually begin to speak aloud to me in revelation was a different approach. Over time many images did overtly reveal themselves, and some seemed to serve as helpmates, guiding and supporting my research. The identities of a few individuals depicted in our family albums have remained elusive, although I know their visages by heart. The entire collection has become significant to me, and I hold out the hope that I may yet identify more.

I am currently preparing to show my favorite images from this project at Amalie Rothschild Gallery, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, Maryland, from March 1 to 23. The opening reception, Friday night, March 1, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., will also be a book signing. I welcome all who might be near enough to drop by. During this show my book will be available for $60.

When a body of artwork wraps itself up, it is natural for an artist to review it somewhat dispassionately in order to attempt to determine which pieces are the strongest and gauge the success of the whole. This project produced more distinct images than I can possibly count. Beyond the existence of so many new and preserved photographs was added the exponential capacity for digital altering of any one source and for the saving of each in multiple ways.

Some of these works were renewed from originals that had almost entirely disappeared from their supports. Some depict tombstones from several Connecticut and Ireland cemeteries. Most served as illustrations for the content of my book. For individual talks at the Naugatuck Historical Society and the Mattatuck Museum I included particular ones in Power Point presentations. Throughout most of this project I have remained on the side of the archivist and chronicler. When I have altered images it has been done with a reverence that limited my ability to be too adventurous in the service of art, although I feel that some images have succeeded in transcending illustration.

For the Creative Alliance show I have chosen what I consider to be the most artful images, aiming to present them as the final statement of this project. It remains to be seen how many will be included after the on-site installation process in two weeks. The result, no doubt, will be as much a surprise to me as to any other viewer. I hope the show will be happily received by all.

©2013 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Studying Stones

09 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, History, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, Tombstone Transcriptions

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©1997 Janet Maher, Naugatuck, Connecticut

©1997 Janet Maher, Naugatuck, Connecticut

For those doing family history research it is particularly helpful (and gratifying) to find the grave of someone whose life you have been studying. Research may, thankfully, lead one to the correct cemetery where an official government soldier or sailor’s stone may be found. Someone killed in a war may have been buried in the state where he died. Those who survived a war were usually buried where they later settled and managed to continue on with their lives. Some with notable distinction in American wars were buried in the United States’ Arlington Cemetery. In Ireland, noted individuals are buried in Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery.

In some instances veterans who could have been included in either of these cemeteries might, instead, have been buried with family. One of The Forgotten Ten, Irishman Patrick Maher, of Limerick, who was convicted of helping to rescue  Sean Hogan in 1921, was one of these. He was among the ten executed IRA Volunteers who had been buried in the grounds of Mountjoy Prison since Ireland’s final war for independence from Great Britain. In 2001 these men were exhumed and honored with a public motorcade-led funeral and the reburial of nine of them in Glasnevin Cemetery. Maher was brought home to his family’s plot in Limerick. The nine men buried at Glasnevin were Kevin Barry, Thomas Whelan, Patrick Moran, Frank Flood, Patrick Doyle, Bernard Ryan, Thomas Bryan, Thomas Traynor and Edmond Foley.

Since data is readily available about veterans, it becomes an important means of learning about some individuals. Those who may not wish to study war or issues about religion may nonetheless need to delve into these aspects of someone’s life.  Nineteenth century or earlier “brick walls” in Irish family history research might well have had something to do with religious conflict that led to death or emigration, and emigration often went hand in hand with serving in the military in some regard.

There is a great deal of interest in the phenomenon of the overly large number Irish who served in the American Civil War. Irishman Damian Shiels has been researching this topic for many years and maintaining an excellent blog (see posting below). He has announced that he will soon be publishing a book on the subject, titled after his blog, Irish In the American Civil War. In Connecticut, Bob Larkin has a special Facebook site about the notable Ninth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers in the Civil War, also worth the visit for those interested.

When I studied the graves of Saint Francis Cemetery in Naugatuck, Connecticut, I wondered if the soldiers or the native Irish buried there might have been individuals sought currently by families out of town. Might a relative not be aware of their person’s final resting place in this small borough? Complete transcriptions and many photographs from this cemetery are included in my book, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics of New Haven County, Connecticut. For this posting I have excerpted the names of those veterans and native Irish whose graves are in this cemetery:

Naugatuck Veterans in Saint Francis Cemetery

       Flags are replaced each year on known veteran graves in Saint Francis Cemetery, although no list exists for the original set of names. Those whose tombstones cited their war involvement included:

  • James Adamson, Civil War, Co. B, 20th Regt., Connecticut Volunteers
  • George T. Anderson, WW I, EM3C, U.S. Navy
  • Edmund P. Belletti, WW II, Cpl., U.S. Army Air Corps
  • Frank B. Buckmiller, WW II, M Sgt., U.S. Army
  • James J. Claffey, WW I, Co. B, 113th Inf.
  • John P. Coen, Civil War, Co. F, 9th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers
  • Michael Coen, Civil War, Co. K, 20th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers
  • Lionell H. Cote, WW II, S2, U.S. Navy
  • Daniel Cullinane, Grand Army of the Republic insignia
  • James R. Dalton, WWII, Sgt., Field Artillery Rep. Dep.
  • John R. Deegan, WW II,  PFC, U.S. Army
  • William M. Dolan, WW I,1st Cook, U. S. Army
  • James Duffin, Civil War, Co. D, 158 Inf., New York Volunteers
  • Thomas Ford, Civil War, Co. H, 15th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers
  • Michael Fruin, Civil War, Co. H,15th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers
  • Thomas P. Harper, WW I, 152D Dep. Brig.
  • Horace E. Jones, Civil War, Co. H, Second Connecticut Volunteers, Heavy Artillery
  • Arthur Keefe, Civil War, Co. E 2 Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers
  • Bernard J. Leahy, WW II, RDSN, U.S. Navy
  • Thomas Maher, Civil War, Co. E, U.S. Artillery
  • John A. Martin, WW I, U.S. Navy
  • John William McCarthy, WW I, MM1, U.S. Navy
  • Terrence McLaughlin, WW I., Co K, 53rd Inf.
  • William J. Neary, Jr., WW I
  • John O’Donnell, Civil War, Co. E [7th], Connecticut Volunteers
  • James Thomas Patterson,  WW II, Maj., U.S. Marine Corps.
  • Peter A. Reilly, WW I, 301st M.T. Co.
  • Patrick Ruth, Civil War, Capt., Co. B8, Connecticut Volunteers I

Irish Citations in Saint Francis Cemetery

       While there are many more native Irish buried in Saint Francis Cemetery than those whose tombstones cite their original home, these are the stones that do:

  • From County Cork: James Walsh
  • From County Kerry: James Carroll, Cornelius Shea
  • From County Kilkenny: Nicholas Brennan, John Cuddy, Roland Dalton, John Doolan, Martin Gibbons [likely], Julia Lannen, Patrick McCarthy, William Purcell, Charles Talbot
  • From County Laois: Michael Coen (elder), Eliza Grant, Matthew Maher
  • From County Leitrim: Elizabeth Mulvey, Cornelius Splann
  • From County Limerick: Margaret Burke, Mary Hanley, Julia Quirk, Robert Reardon
  • From County Meath: Ann Murray
  • From County Monaghan: Michael Martin
  • From County Tipperary: William Fruin, Mary Kiely, James Kirwin, William Powers, Maurice Quinlan
  • From County Waterford: Johannah Foley

christmas-swirlsSM

Looking for a Christmas present for someone interested in Irish history, Connecticut Irish, New Haven County, Waterbury and/or Naugatuck? My book may be obtained locally at: Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT; Naugatuck Historical Society, Naugatuck, CT; and Quinnipiac University Bookstore, Mount Carmel Branch, Hamden, CT. Online it may be purchased from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and from me via Paypal or by check (P.O. Box 40211, Baltimore, MD, 21212).

I wish everyone much happiness throughout the holiday season and offer prayers for peace throughout the world in the new year!

©2012 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

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Shanachie Review!

04 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley

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Bishop Thomas F. Hendricken

Thank you to Neil Hogan, editor of The Shanachie, the newsletter of the Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society, for his lovely review! Mr. Hogan is also the author of two wonderful books about the Irish – Cry of the Famishing, Ireland, Connecticut, and the Potato Famine, (1998) and ‘Strong in their Patriotic Devotion,’Connecticut’s Irish in the Civil War (2003). I highly recommend both.

Regarding my book, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut, he wrote: “Her…book…is filled with engaging text and pictures. The artwork ranges from portraits of priests, schoolchildren and families going back to the late 19th century to Irish castles and cathedrals and the Connecticut gravestones of many early Irish settlers.”

“Fortunately for the wider view of the region’s Irish pioneers, Maher delves into the history not only of one family but of a budding Irish community. In doing so, she provides more detail of the Irish people in the Naugatuck Valley than perhaps has ever been collected in one place before.”

“Of special value to readers with Naugatuck roots is a large section of the book with inscriptions and pictures of gravestones in St. Francis Cemetery, the oldest Catholic cemetery in the town. In its way, the section is as valuable, or even more so, in the details it reveals of Irish-American origins in various counties in Ireland, and of such small details as life expectancy in the age of large-scale Irish immigration.”

“Still another valuable, if usually overlooked, section of Maher’s book is that of the footnotes. In addition to providing references to sources, she has included in the notes valuable information on topics and people. For example, she provides a brief biography of Father Thomas Hendricken, pastor in Waterbury in the 1870s and later bishop of Providence, R.I…”

I so appreciate Mr. Hogan’s validation of my work, and likewise recommend that others interested in the Connecticut Irish join CTIAHS. This will entitle you to regular installments of interesting essays through their newsletter, and if you are within traveling distance, the possibility to attend meetings and celebrations around various topics. This issue contains information about the dedication of Hamden’s Great Hunger Museum, which was attended by Ireland’s Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams. It also includes, among other good articles, information from researcher Paul Keroack about early Connecticut marriage records that can now be found free online, and announces two important projects that the organization hopes to complete in the upcoming year. One will be a new CTIAHS website about early Irish in Connecticut places and stories. The other will be the transcription and publication of the diary of Irish domestic servant, Mary McKeon. Exciting news!

If you would like to order my book via Paypal, please go to this earlier post, which includes all the details. You can also send a check directly to me at Department of Fine Arts, Loyola University Maryland, 4501 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21210. My book is also available from the Naugatuck Historical Society (Naugatuck), the Mattatuck Museum (Waterbury), Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble online. I hope that soon it will also be available at Quinnipiac University Bookstore (Hamden). Please consider giving it as a Christmas present to family members or friends interested in Irish history and Connecticut Irish!

Wishing you all well, Janet.

Neil Hogan review of From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley

©2012 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

New Haven’s First Catholic Cemetery, November, & Book Signing, October

28 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Christ Church Cemetery found beneath Yale New Haven Hospital, Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, History, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, Tombstone Transcriptions

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On November 4 Connecticut’s State Archaeologist, Dr. Nick Bellantoni, will lead a panel discussion with Gary Aronson (Yale University), Sarah Brownlee (Peabody Museum), Dan DeLuca and Anthony Griego, about the discovery last year of the first Catholic Cemetery that surrounded Christ Church in the early nineteenth century. Their discussion will take place at New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Ave., from 2 to 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Also, a reminder to come if you can to my talk, No Irish Need Apply: Early Irish Settlement in the Naugatuck Valley, at the Mattatuck Museum (144 West Main Street, Waterbury) on October 25, at 5:30, also free and open to the public. My book, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut, will be available for purchase. See Table of Contents here. Hope to see you there!

©2012 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Purchasing My Book

26 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, History, Kilkenny Mahers, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Ordering From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, Origins

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Lynch’s Farm ©2010 Janet Maher, image from our family collection, digitized, restored and hand-colored by the author (pigmented ink on archival paper, 12 1/6″ x 18 3/4″, framed 18″ x 25″) included in From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut. 

After a bit of editing for unexpected typos that I found, I have reordered my book, From the Old Sod, Early Irish Catholics of New Haven County, Connecticut, which is now in its First Edition, revised, version. It is 399 pages and includes 336 images. It is now back in stock and available for sale. How to purchase my book:

1. From the author! The price is $65.95. I will pay for packing and shipping in the U.S. and will sign it if you’d like. I am offering a price break at three/four ($62) and five/six ($58) copies. You can order my book securely through this blog using PayPal (click below on correct number of copies to activate this feature) or send me a U.S. drawn check at this address: Janet Maher, Department of Fine Arts, Loyola University Maryland, 4501 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD, 21210.

Purchase One Copy Here;  Purchase Two Copies Here;   Purchase Three Copies Here;   Purchase Four Copies Here;   Purchase Five Copies Here;   Purchase Six Copies Here.

2. From Amazon.com. If you have purchased it this way and would like for me to sign it, you can mail it to me at the above address and include a self addressed stamped padded envelope for its return.

3. If you live outside the United States, it is possible to purchase my book here: Amazon.com Canada; Amazon.com UK; Waterstones.com. If you would like for me to sign it, please mail it to me at the above address and include a self addressed stamped padded envelope for its return.

I welcome reviews of my book. You can include yours in comment sections on this blog, and/or on the spaces for reviews on Amazon or Barnes and Noble sites.

To see the Table of Contents, please refer to my May 24, 2012 post here.

I hope that everyone who reads my book will enjoy it and will have found it helpful in their own quest to learn more about the earliest Irish Catholics of New Haven County and the Catholic history of Ireland. Thank you for your interest in my labor of love and thank you in advance for purchasing it!

©2012 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved