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Category Archives: Waterbury

Waterbury Irish, Available for Order!

05 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by Janet in Book Signing, Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, Irish in Waterbury, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Old Saint Joseph Cemetery, Waterbury

≈ 1 Comment

Waterbury Irish Cover, History Press, 2015

Waterbury Irish Cover, History Press, 2015

Hooray! Waterbury Irish: From the Emerald Isle to the Brass City may be purchased directly from me through Etsy! There you will also find the book that led up to this one (From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley), and will have the option of purchasing them together at a discount. Shipping prices will be determined during the Etsy check-out. Credit cards, debit cards and Etsy gift cards are accepted. In person, cash and checks are possible and there will be a way to pay with credit cards then without shipping added. Click “Custom” or email me if you would like the book signed for a particular person. For those who are near Connecticut, please note that book release events are scheduled in Waterbury for October and November. It would be wonderful to see you!

Thursday, October 15, Mattatuck Museum, 6 p.m. (PPT talk, signing)
Saturday, October 17, Silas Bronson Library, 10:30 a.m. (PPT talk, signing)
Saturday, October 17, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 5 p.m.-ish
Saturday, November 14, John Bale Book Company, (2-3 p.m. discussion following High Tea at noon)

As an Etsy listing, the term “hand-made” is necessary. Although this is a mass-market book, much hand-work went into its production, beginning with a great deal of photo restoration and preparation. The book was researched and written by me, with content assistance from John Wiehn and several additional contributors. It includes six of my original photographs, and many more that were not included may eventually find their way to the Etsy shop to be available as digital images, suitable for framing.

When I began seriously to do family history research in 2006 my goal was to find the wave migration link between the earliest Irish families who entered the Greater Waterbury area and their correct location in Ireland. Since physical records in the Waterbury and Naugatuck city halls do not go back to the decades that I needed, I began to study entire communities and search all available records sideways, with a deep focus upon surnames that applied to my extended lines. This, my second book, completes the project. I hope it will serve as a helpful foundation for others who have Irish ancestral connections to the Greater Waterbury and New Haven County regions of Connecticut.

The History Press explained, “The hard work of nineteenth-century Irish immigrants in Waterbury helped place the city on the map as the Brass Capital of the World. In the early years of immigration, Irish Catholics held Mass in secret, but eventually beautiful churches were built, attracting the most revered clergy in Connecticut. Soon Irish and Irish Americans established themselves as city leaders and professionals in the community. Dr. Charles A. Monagan was a founding member of St. Mary’s Hospital, while his son John later became mayor. Some achieved fame through their excellence in sports, such as Roger Connor, who held a long-standing record for career home runs until it was broken by Babe Ruth. Detailed research and oral histories from living descendants bring to light the remarkable Waterbury Irish legacy.”

Please spread the word! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ConnecticutIrish/

 

©2015 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ni Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Press Release for Waterbury Irish!

28 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by Janet in Book Excerpt, Book Signing, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, Irish in Waterbury, Old Saint Joseph Cemetery, Waterbury

≈ 2 Comments

Published by the History Press

Coming Soon!

Waterbury Irish!

14 Sunday Jun 2015

Posted by Janet in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, Irish in Waterbury, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Uncategorized, Waterbury

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Early Irish History, Irish Catholic History, Irish in Connecticut, New Haven County Connecticut, Waterbury Irish

©2015 Janet Maher, Home Ec, photograph from personal collection

©2015 Janet Maher, Home Ec, photograph from personal collection

Waterbury Irish: From the Emerald Isle to the Brass City is scheduled to be published by the History Press in the first week of September! More details will appear, as well as a link to a Facebook page, in upcoming weeks. For those who are within driving distance to New Haven, Connecticut, please come to my talk-with-images on Tuesday night, June 16 for the Irish History Round Table at 7:30 p.m., Knights of Saint Patrick Hall, 1533 State Street, New Haven.

©2015 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ni Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Coming to Ireland!

12 Monday May 2014

Posted by Janet in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, Mahers, Meaghers, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Pilgrimage, Waterbury

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Early Irish History, Irish Catholic History, Irish in Connecticut, New Haven County Connecticut, Patrick Maher

©2014 Janet Maher, St. Patrick's Church Window, Vox Hiber Hi Ocum

©2014 Janet Maher, St. Patrick’s Church Window, Vox Hiber Hi Ocum

When I speak with my friend, Jane Lyons, owner of the amazing web site, From Ireland, she reminds me what an unbelievable work of fate and luck our meeting is. That I have been studying a particular subset of Irish immigrants into New Haven County, Connecticut, and have found several of the specific places from which they arrived, and that Jane has been studying the same from her end is one phenomenon. That we have become friends, that she flew all the way from Ireland to attend my first book signing, and that I could bring her to the primary cemeteries in Waterbury and Naugatuck and point to the specific graves that link back to her neck of the woods is another. That I will be spending the last part of my huge Irish research trip with her and that we will be scouring together the area that I have honed in on is a true miracle! What were the odds back in 2006 when I was just learning how to do Irish research that I would be, essentially, collaborating across the ocean with the person who set me on my path and showed me the way? Although I am no longer on her massive listserv, Y-IRL, she has been at my home in America, we talk on the phone, and I will be at her home in another week! (Although I thanked them in my book, I thank again the members of Y-IRL who gave me so much welcome advice all those years ago.)

On this trip I am thrilled that I will also be meeting people I feel to be friends that I met “in real time” when my husband and I were in Ireland three years ago. I will also be lucky enough to meet some new friends that I have only conversed with through email. This is truly a dream! While it is a bit unnerving to anticipate driving on the left side and managing my way to and through so many places alone (until I get to Jane’s), I am grateful for my husband’s support in this “obsession” which is clearly not yet over. He’ll hold down the fort—and water my garden—while I proceed upon this once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am eternally lucky on so many fronts!

Last week several of us attended a visit to Waterbury Connecticut’s third Catholic Church — from 1880, St. Patrick’s. I’m including here a photo of a portion of one of its majestic windows, the bottoms of which include The Lorica of St. Patrick all the way around in Gaelic. This image illustrates Patrick’s dream in which an angel showed him a scroll upon which was written “The voice of the Irish call you.”

As the voice of the Irish is calling me loud and clear, I wish you all well in the big spirit of it all!

©2014 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ni Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

The Irish of Waterbury!

01 Thursday May 2014

Posted by Janet in Connecticut, Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, Famous Irish Individual, Old Saint Joseph Cemetery, Waterbury

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Connecticut, Early Irish History, Irish Catholic History, Irish in Connecticut, Irish in Waterbury

flagB&Wcprt I am very happy to announce that I am writing a new book about the Irish of Waterbury! My partner will be John Wiehn, the director of the Prospect Library in Connecticut. Our work will be published by The History Press in their American Heritage series, with a proposed release date of Saint Patrick’s Day, next year. John and I will be doing a scanning session this coming Monday, May 6, at the Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall in Waterbury from 3 to 7 pm. Come to 91 Golden Hill Street between those hours if you are interested in being part of our project. We are seeking your great images and stories about your Irish and Irish-American ancestors who found their way to the former Brass Capital of the World and made their mark upon it!

©2014 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ni Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

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From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley

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