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Tag Archives: Naugatuck Connecticut

Researching Irish Family History in Connecticut

29 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by Janet Maher in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, History, Naugatuck, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants

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Tags

Early Irish History, Irish Catholic History, Irish Genealogy, Irish in Connecticut, Janet Maher, Naugatuck Connecticut, Naugatuck Valley Genealogy Club, New Haven County Connecticut

©2011 Janet Maher, View from Rock of Dunamase, County Laois, Ireland

©2011 Janet Maher, View from Rock of Dunamase, County Laois, Ireland

Recently I presented a talk for the Naugatuck Valley Genealogy Club that I’d like to post (in part and expanded) here. I hope it may be helpful for researchers at any stage of experience.

Many years ago I worked at a public library. This was where I first encountered people actively looking up information in city directories. It seemed to me like such an odd thing to do, as if they were stalkers! I remembered this ironically when poring over the archives of Naugatuck Historical Society city directories myself. Preserved moments in this format initially helped me locate primary people throughout decades of time as I began to envision a larger picture. Now I feel much more poetic about this and other kinds of research we do in the world of genealogy, which is ultimately about honoring our ancestors while learning about who we, ourselves, really are. One thing is certain. Our stories are not simply lying in wait for us—neither physically nor virtually, details all neatly in place somewhere—unless we or one of our relatives already did actual research and published it. The pieces of our stories, however, may be lying in wait everywhere.

Genealogical research is often referred to as a puzzle, but, as an artist by primary profession, I’ve come to think that the process is actually more like making art. Those who do puzzles usually have a reference image already printed on a box cover to which they can compare their progress. In doing genealogical research, by contrast, we have no idea what might be revealed until we finish collecting all the unknown elements and eventually become able to put them together in some logical, beautiful way. That is a creative process. In many ways, I feel as if what I have accomplished in this area has been the most difficult and most rewarding work I have done in my life to date. It has, however, required all my skills acquired over a lifetime as an artist, and those of a hitherto-unrealized professional scholar to uncover what I have. These experiences and struggles joined in opening a new world to me. I feel that this work has been entirely worth doing, and is important for posterity—not typically the feeling I have after mounting an art exhibition! The work would probably never have been done if I had not decided to commit to a challenge that seemed to have fallen intentionally into my lap, then simply roll up my sleeves and begin.

©2006 Janet Maher, Maher-Martin graves, St. Francis Cemetery, Naugatuck, CT

©2006 Janet Maher, Maher-Martin graves, St. Francis Cemetery, Naugatuck, CT

Simultaneous to creating a beautiful product, family historians and genealogists search for TRUTH. This is where genealogy takes a turn from the act of art-making. In this type of endeavor we need to be careful about accuracy, which leads us into the scientific method. Even as novices we need to approach our project as if we would actually become experts about our particular area of research. (Thank you to the person who once told me—received, albeit, in utter disbelief—that I would become an “expert” on the Mahers!) This means that not only must we gather information from far and wide, but that we must spend the extra time trying to be as thorough and accurate as possible. It is important to find some way to keep our notes in order, to look for multiple sources of the same information, and to document EVERYTHING. Anyone should be able to find the information we present by retracing our foot- and endnotes to our sources, so they can decide for themselves if we were correct in our findings and hypotheses. (This is decidedly NOT like art-making, where we create as we will and call it complete as we feel.)

We develop our research methods along the way. One friend introduced me to her system of keeping three-ring binder notebooks for every family or person, including clear slip sheets that protected documents and were able to contain varied sized pieces of paper. This seemingly small tip was extremely helpful, affording me not only practical advice but also hinting at how vast an undertaking this project might end up becoming. (Forewarned is forearmed!) We all eventually end up with many different kinds of computer files, physical boxes of stuffed folders, overflowing shelves, data in family tree software, as well as, publicly and/or privately, trees on Ancestry.com. In addition to good storage systems, I highly recommend investing in a good magnifying glass. It will become the handiest of tools!

©2012 Janet Maher, portrait of the author's great grandfather

©2012 Janet Maher, portrait of the author’s great grandfather Maher, born in America to Irish immigrants

We typically start with very little information beyond the knowledge of our immediate family. Like artists, we dare to face a blank beginning and trust that something good will result, worth the time we’re willing to invest into a long and complicated process. As we sense how some information relates to other information, more and larger questions emerge. We may find that we need to pause and go off on what could seem to be a wide range of tangents. We might, for example, need to study more about an aspect of history in order to better understand the context for a small but important fact that we found. We will likely read a mountain of books about topics we never dreamed would some day become fascinating to us.

We often work on different parts of the amorphous overarching story at different times, allowing some parts to rest until other aspects come into the mix that will allow earlier topics to develop further. This multi-faceted activity requires an all-consuming focus (generally unavailable) that will allow for a larger view to develop over myriad tiny details. It is an organic, intuitive process that requires open-ended time and a fair amount of wandering in wonder. As in art, in the world of genealogy we know that our wanderings are simply part of the path toward other discoveries and that the work is also part of the satisfaction.

We try to picture our ancestors alive in order to holistically grasp who they were or might have been. We imagine ourselves as flies on their walls. What would they reveal if the veils between us suddenly dissolved? We try to speak with whomever is alive, available and willing to share stories about the time and place that our ancestors inhabited. This, if it is possible, is the most important gift. The concrete memories that another person has, the little details that would rarely be found in an archive, best illuminate the humanity of the people with whom we are hoping to connect through our research.

It is only recently that someone told me that into the twentieth century the last of my family’s first generation Irish-American ancestors pronounced our surname in Naugatuck in the Irish way, with two syllables, not in the way I was taught to do, with one! That is one of many treasures living people have made possible for me along this journey.

©2012 Janet Maher, presumed Leary-Farren families, Naugatuck, CT

©2012 Janet Maher, presumed Leary-Farren families, Naugatuck, CT

We look for everything that pertains to individuals in our various tree branches—vital records, baptism and marriage data, voting registrations, bits about them in newspapers, yearbooks, military and land records—anything that might provide more clarity. I am interested in also finding every person’s tombstone. What is inscribed on it? What does it look like and what might that say about the person? Who is buried nearby?

Importantly, for Irish-Catholic immigrants and their descendants, the witnesses at weddings and baptisms may be invaluable for helping to establish connections between people. While many Connecticut church baptism and marriage registries were microfilmed and can be viewed at the Archdiocese of Hartford, some were not filmed and several early books have long been lost. Whether or not one would be allowed to look at records in a rectory is a gamble. The Immaculate Conception Basilica in Waterbury, for example, will not allow this. To see early Immaculate Conception records one must make an appointment at the Archdiocese (and bring your magnifying glass along!).

Data helps to inform photographs, and so can images help to inform data. There are many articles about estimating dates of old photographs through the fashions of the time and types of photography produced. One book I recommend is Joan Severa’s Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900, which provides a broad study of cultural, photographic and clothing history. Since childhood I’ve had an artist’s sense that if I stared at certain photographs long enough and puzzled over them, eventually they would start to reveal themselves to me. Similarly, as I learned in adulthood more about my family’s history, certain characters from the past who peered out from old photos seemed to will me to find them and give them a chance to live again through my researching and chronicling of their life stories.

©2010 Janet Maher, Three Women (including the author's gg grandmother)

©2010 Janet Maher, Three Women (including the author’s great-great grandmother, from Ireland)

In order to try to identify unmarked photographs we may need to learn more about an entire community. Who else might have ended up in photographs that were saved over the decades? Who made up the extended families? What groups were individuals involved with? Where did everyone live? Who were their neighbors? The earliest Irish settlers of Naugatuck, Connecticut, were a very tight and interconnected community. Studying their neighborhoods and intermarriages became illuminating, combined with an in-depth focus upon the first Catholic cemetery, where so many of them ended up buried together.

©2010 Janet Maher, Woolen Mill, ca 1870s-80s, Naugatuck, CT

©2010 Janet Maher, Woolen Mill, ca 1870s-80s, Naugatuck, CT

Tools for Irish and Other Research in Connecticut

In Connecticut it is necessary to become a member of a genealogical organization recognized by the various departments of Vital Records (such as the Connecticut Society of Genealogists) in order to be able to do independent research. The Connecticut State Library website clearly explains what is allowed to be accessed. Do not assume that finding an immigrant’s death record will neatly provide the person’s parentage or his or her townland in Ireland. If one is lucky, however, a county might be listed and a mother’s maiden name. The early records usually do not include parents’ full names, and the birth place listed is usually, simply, Ireland (hence the title for Irish genealogist Jane Lyon’s premier web site — From Ireland).

Early in my years of researching in Connecticut I would plan to stay over in hotels or with very generous friends and family members. I was primed for (mostly) standing up throughout the days taking notes in various vital records offices, always prepared with cash to purchase certain ones (at $20 a pop!). I eventually learned that it is possible to rent microfilm from Utah that can be read at one’s nearby Latter Day Saints Family History Center. Thankfully, I happen to have one about 45 minutes away from where I live, and after renewing a film three times it remains on semi-permanent loan there. This allowed me to look at some Connecticut and Irish data when I cleared time to go out there, without the pressure of having the reels sent back within a few weeks.

Like places in Connecticut include: New Milford Public Library, and Family History Centers in Goshen, Newtown, Southington and New Haven. In these offices one can sit and study to heart’s content or until the places close, then come back again another day. In some, digital copies of the records can be saved to a thumb/flash drive and taken home.

Newspapers and microfilm can also be accessed at the Connecticut State Library, some of which can be checked out three reels at a time via interlibrary loan. See their web site for a list of what is available in their collection (in addition to clicking on other links I’ve provided here). You can also purchase a card to easily use their copy machine and not need a pocketful of change. By researching in these ways to find index information, it is then possible to go to a Town Hall and purchase copies of the necessary documents—a much more convenient way to go about things.

All town libraries have some kind of local history collection, and the main Silas Bronson Library branch in Waterbury is a good size. This library also has nineteenth century newspapers on reel that can be researched. With a library card you can access Heritage Quest from home via most libraries, and, likewise in some libraries, Ancestry.com. (At some point you will likely bite the bullet and pay for your own subscription.)

In Middletown the Godfrey Memorial Library is a treasure-trove of a collection, and they offer an online subscription membership, as does the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston. I have also found the publications of the Irish Genealogical Society International, based in Minnesota, to be quite good. Their Sept back issues that focused upon Irish counties were very helpful when I started out.

I had a subscription for a few years for Newspaper Archive, which has three Connecticut papers in its database, one of which is the Naugatuck Daily News. (Some of these may also be available on Ancestry.com.) The early papers were full of excellent tidbits about people visiting each other between cities and states and other human interest events that may help tie people together in one’s research.

Boston College hosts a database of October 1831 – October 1921 Missing Friends postings in the Boston Pilot Newspaper by Irish nationals and immigrants trying to find one another. This can prove to be of help in one’s research, as can finding evidence of ancestors in the Emigrant Savings Bank.

©2011 Janet Maher, Saint Brigid's Well, Kildare, Ireland

©2011 Janet Maher, Saint Brigid’s Well, Kildare, Ireland

Research about Irish immigrants is especially difficult if critical documents do not exist. Given all of the above, one might still not find important missing pieces. While learning how and what to research in America, it is necessary to simultaneously attempt to comprehend the history of Ireland, particularly in the era that a known family member had lived there. Historical clues might suggest possible reasons for a family or individual’s emigration and even, perhaps, why they might have kept “a low profile” once they arrived in their newly adopted homeland. Maybe there was a good reason that one’s ancestors cannot be definitively found in a passenger-list database.

It is important to know that the earliest decades of Anglo settlement in America were vehemently anti-Catholic (the majority religion of the Irish people), and to recall that religion was the primary weapon used by the English monarchy against the Irish over the centuries. Those who sought their own freedom claimed territory that was already inhabited by Native Americans, a variation on Ireland’s own colonization. Colonial America was predominantly Puritan, as was Oliver Cromwell, who succeeded in devastating Ireland in the seventeenth century. Some members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Puritans came into early Connecticut, which was predominantly Congregationalist, where a few other Protestant sects were also allowed in. Religion ruled the day for our earliest ancestors, whatever their persuasion.

The eventual overt entry of Irish Catholics into a very settled Connecticut society pre-Irish Famine and throughout the 1850s was no small thing. How this played out in all the different towns varied, particularly during the pre-Civil War era of the Know-Nothings. The earliest Irish Catholics, while bound and determined to establish and feel free to practice their religion in America, also likely tried to assimilate as quickly as possible and not make waves among the established ruling class. They sought to be considered Yankees, first and foremost. They often would seek to marry an American, which might help ensure future economic stability, as such alliances with Protestants, other non-native or Anglo-Irish residents had done in Ireland. That so many early Irish-Americans nonetheless died unmarried might have been partly attributed to their difficulty in finding an established or otherwise suitable spouse who was also Catholic or who was not still prejudiced against either the Irish or Catholicism.

Catholic laborers in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries had significantly less means in both Ireland and America than those with aforementioned ties, unless they had finally been able to become educated, enter the merchant, health care or teaching professions, or become part of the wave of Catholic middlemen—i.e. sub-leasing rent collectors. Those who were once noble had been stripped of their ancestral lands. Some sought, or were forced into military service in other countries. Some were able to rise into some level of public service, although information about such individuals is not as difficult to find. There are no bounds to the kinds of details that factored into the quality of life that Irish were able to lead both in their homeland and once they emigrated, particularly in their ability to acquire and retain property.

Many emigrated as outlaws, slaves, or indentured servants and began their American chapter in relative obscurity. Many who worked in the coal mines, quarries, laying railroad tracks, building roads and bridges, or other grueling physical jobs likely experienced life in conditions far worse than those which they had left in Ireland. Working extremely hard, earning very little money, many died quite young, some from the infectious illnesses that spread quickly through communities. (Tuberculosis appeared amid many of the families I have studied.) There may have been few or no records at all generated about many of the early Irish in America, especially if they lived and died here between the census years.

I’ve spent some time studying databases that contain indexes about Irish men and women who were considered convicts—even for such actions as stealing food during times of starvation. It could well be that someone’s elder siblings and/or parents were convicted of crimes, killed or deported, lost in such ways to the genealogical winds.

Whether we find what we need or not, in this collaborative endeavor, I, for one, am grateful for the wonderful people I’ve become involved with over the last seven years. Some have helped me learn to do this kind of research and others have been willing to share their families’ stories with me. All have helped to build a picture of early Irish New Haven County through our various perspectives and lenses, and I am bound now, in turn, to offer guidance to others. There will always be more to learn and to do in our time available, even as life pulls us in so many other directions. I have returned 180 degrees back to my studio practice, although I suspect that I will never entirely leave this research. It may simmer quietly on the back burner, so to speak, forever. I, however, am somehow altered due to what I have learned about my own lineage. For that grounding I will be forever grateful.

I have honed in on a particular area of Ireland and am interested in scouring that location in the way that I have New Haven County and the Naugatuck Valley. I am even more interested in revisiting my new-found Irish friends and meeting in person potential future ones. I have untangled some of the origins of Kilkenny-based Meagher families who have Connecticut connections, and even found Maher links to the original Sisters of Mercy in America and New Zealand. However, I can’t help but still hope to learn more about my TEN southern Irish immigrant direct ancestors with two intermarried other lines—not only all there is to learn about the illusive Meaghers!

May those who read this have much success in finding all you still seek and true Irish luck in also finding happiness and friendship along the way!

©2013 Janet Maher / Sinéad Ni Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Book Review, Connecticut Society of Genealogists!

13 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by Janet Maher 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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Tags

Connecticut Society of Genealogists Literary Awards, Irish Catholic History, Irish in Connecticut, Mary Sullivan Conran, Naugatuck Connecticut, Patrick Maher

 
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).

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

09 Saturday Feb 2013

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

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Tags

arts, Irish Catholic History, Irish in Connecticut, Janet Maher Exhibition, Naugatuck Connecticut

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 Janet Maher 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

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Connecticut, Early Irish History, Irish in Connecticut, Irish in the Civil War, Naugatuck Connecticut, New Haven County Connecticut, Saint Francis Cemetery

©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

All Rights Reserved

Catholic Transcript Review!

07 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by Janet Maher in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, History, Mahers, Meaghers, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Tombstone Transcriptions

≈ 5 Comments

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Book Signing, Irish Catholic History, Naugatuck Connecticut

A review/interview by Jack Sheedy, News Editor of Hartford’s Catholic Transcript, came out this week! Mr. Sheedy said, “Ms. Maher has succeeded in making complex migration patterns easy to understand.” “From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley gives a brief history of Ireland, a history of Catholicism in New England, a discussion of Catholicism in Naugatuck, a close-up of several Irish families in the Naugatuck Valley and a detailed photographic tour of St. Francis Cemetery. If you are related to or know someone named Maher, Butler, Brennan, Martin, Conran or Leary, you will find in the book a detailed “vignette” of that family name, including Irish origins, census information and more.” Thank you very much to Mr. Sheedy!

Hope to see you at the Mattatuck Museum talk and book signing on October 25, Waterbury, Connecticut, 5:30pm!

Review in October 2012 Catholic Transcript

©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 Janet Maher 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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Ancient Ireland, Early Irish History, Irish Catholic Immigrants, Irish in Connecticut, Naugatuck Connecticut, New Haven County Mahers

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

An Irish Music Sampler

11 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by Janet Maher in Irish Films and Books, Irish Music

≈ 8 Comments

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Music of Ireland, Naugatuck Connecticut, Such Is The Kingdom, Thomas Sugrue

Performer at Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland ©2011 Janet Maher

Last week during our wonderful visit in Nantucket, my cousin lent me her copy of a book given to her as a present from a longtime friend. The story is well-known among the Irish of Naugatuck, Connecticut. Such Is The Kingdom, by Thomas Sugrue, published in 1940, is a revery about growing up in the Irish neighborhoods of that town in the early twentieth century. I’ve been told that when it came out the townsfolk eagerly bought copies to see if they appeared overtly or in lightly disguised versions amid the story’s characters. Similarly, I inhaled this book while trying to compare Sugrue’s descriptions with my understanding of the Cherry and Carroll Street enclaves and the community about whom I wrote in my own book, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County, Connecticut.

Who were the O’Mahaney’s based upon, I still wonder? Might they have been the Learys, the Martins, or even the Mahers? Dead by the turn of the century, the original Auntie Kelly would likely have been Julia Butler Kelly Robinson, wife of John Kelly, after whom Kelly Hill was nicknamed. Apparently loved by the community, she couldn’t have been the model for the one that “Meadowlegs Fahy” thumbed his nose at while walking home one night! Might the Katy St. Martin character have been a tip of the hat to the memory of Katy Maher Martin, the “St.” underscoring the devoutness of her family and herself, the first Catholic child born in Naugatuck? Meadowlegs, who had such a beautiful tenor voice, was, unfortunately, one among the community afflicted with “the Irish curse.” Might he have been partly based upon an ancestor of mine who had been an under-age drinker?

The map in the front and back flyleaves of this book was altered by the author such that it did not exactly reflect the layout of the neighborhoods, yet the Maher’s homes on Cherry Street (labeled “Hill Street”) by the brook, could be easily spotted as “O’Boyle” and “stable.” The curve of Arch Street was also recognizable, labeled “Dublin Road,” intersecting with Scott Street, which was labled “Oak”—actually another Maher-related street in an area on the opposite side of town. These liberties likewise merged and altered aspects of the place into a fiction, but it is a rich fiction for those intrigued with this actual place and its early Irish identity.

In Ireland, the only country whose national symbol is a musical instrument, history is still contained in its music, and the Irish love of music and of the spoken, sung and written word remains. Aunts of mine played the organ in the first incarnation of Naugatuck’s Saint Francis Church, and one of them, principal Josephine A. Maher, established the first music program at her beloved Salem School. Uncles of mine were known to have been great singers and my grandparents, James and Alice, participated in amateur theatre productions (most likely with music) in Naugatuck. These thoughts inspired me to put together a collection of Irish music here, selected in part by the images that accompanied them on You Tube. Enjoy!

Street musicians, Temple Bar neighborhood, Dublin, Ireland ©2011 Janet Maher

  • O’Sullivan’s March, by The Chieftains
  • The Chieftains, The Corrs, and dancers
  • The Streets of New York, by the Wolf Tones
  • Kevin Barry, Irish Brigade; this begins with a notice of the reburial of ten members of the Irish Brigade with full military honors on 14 Oct. 2001, in Glasnevin Cemetery. “The Forgotten Ten” were: Kevin Barry, Patrick Moran, Frank Flood, Thomas Whelan, Thomas Traynor, Patrick Doyle, Thomas Bryan, Bernard Ryan, Edmond Foley and Patrick Maher. [Patrick Maher was honored here, but buried in his homeland at Ballylanders, County Limerick.]
  • The Foggy Dew, by the Irish Brigade
  • The Ballad of Michael Collins, by Padraig Mor
  • Song For Ireland, by Luke Kelly (The Dubliners)
  • James Connolly, The Irish Rebel, Margo O’Donnell
  • Grace, by Jim McCann (The Dubliners)
  • The Famine Song, by Johnny McEvoy
  • Enya, Irish Famine Film (ad can be clicked off)
  • Boolavouge, The High Kings; Wexford’s anthem in honor of Father Murphy in the 1798 Rebellion.
  • The Rising of the Moon, 1798 song, The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem (1962)
  • The Town I Loved So Well, Luke Kelly
  • Danny Boy, Sinead O’Connor
  • She Moved Through the Fair, Cailtin Grey

©2012 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

Related articles
  • The world’s biggest Irish trad music festival begins today (newstalk.ie)

Purchasing My Book

26 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by Janet Maher 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, Tombstone Transcriptions

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Amazon.com, American Mahers, Ancient Ireland, Early Irish History, Gaelic Ireland, Irish Catholic, Irish Catholic History, Irish Catholic Immigrants, Irish Genealogy, Irish History, Irish Meaghers, Naugatuck Connecticut, New Haven County Connecticut, New Haven County Mahers, Patrick Maher, Tombstone Transcriptions

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

Mahers in the Early Wars

24 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by Janet Maher in Connecticut Irish, Early Irish Catholics in Connecticut, History

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Civil War, Connecticut, Irish in the Civil War, Naugatuck Connecticut, New Haven Connecticut, Soldiers Monuments, Thomas Francis Meagher

  This is an updated version of a page that had been on my 2006/2007 Irish website. Since the time that I created the following digital print from two tintypes in our family’s collection, I have come to believe that they may contain the images of Naugatuck’s Peter Leary and my Martin relatives, James and John, who served in the Spanish-American War, and who died World War I, respectively.

Imagined Ancestors: Irregulars ©2007 Janet Maher, original digital collage, archival inkjet print, Epson pigmented ink, 13″ x 17 1/2″

MAHERS IN THE CIVIL WAR

  Thomas Hamilton Murray’s 1903 History of the Ninth Regiment C. V. The Irish Regiment is online at Quinnipiac University in New Haven, CT, and is also available in print. I have gleaned much of the following information by studying the roster that is included. The Ninth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers was an Irish Regiment of the Civil War that originated in New Haven, Connecticut, in September 1861. Two John Mahers, one from Derby, one from East Windsor, CT, were members of Company E; a Patrick Maher served in Co G; and a James Maher served in Co F.

John Maher, from East Windsor, CT, mustered in with a group from Derby and New Haven, CT, on Sept. 27, 1861. They were joined by others from Derby, New Haven, and a musician from New Orleans in October and November. John Maher from East Windsor died on Oct. 21, 1862. John Maher from Derby, CT, mustered in on Nov. 25, 1861. He died August 14,1862. I find it interesting that several soldiers mustered into the various Connecticut units from Louisiana, where battles were fought between 1862 and 1864. It would appear that some Irish immigrants who had initially settled in the south joined up with their comrades in the North during the war, perhaps to be among their own extended families.

While each company within the Ninth Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry included people from within several Connecticut cities and some in Massachusetts, the cities that predominated in the companies were:

Company A – New Haven, CT (mixed cities); Company B – Meriden, Cheshire, CT (mixed); Company C – New Haven, CT; Company D – Bridgeport, CT; Company E – New Haven, CT (several Derby); Company I – Mixed (several MA); Company F – Waterbury, CT; Company G – Hartford, CT; Company H – Norwich, CT; (No Company J); Company K – Mixed.

On October 12, 1864 many of the soldiers transferred to Company B, Ninth Battalion, including some who had previously transferred to Company K in March.

Major Patrick Maher, New Haven, also mentioned in Joseph Casimir O’Meagher’s publication, Some Historical Notices of the O’Meaghers of Ikerrin, was explained by Neil Hogan to have been intended as major for the Connecticut Ninth, although he ended up in the Twenty-Fourth Regiment instead. (This Patrick Maher was from Cahir, County Tipperary, and information about him is included in a vignette in my book, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County.) From statistics Hogan obtained from Murray’s Connecticut Record of Service, Ninth Regiment, he determined that the Ninth Regiment lost the most men of all Connecticut regiments and battalions, almost 250—predominantly from disease—with an additional seventeen captured and two missing in action.

Neil Hogan is the author of the publication, Strong In Their Patriotic Devotion, Connecticut’s Irish in the Civil War. He is also the editor of Shanachie, the newsletter of the Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society, in which information about Irish of New Haven who served in the Civil War was featured for an edition recognizing the 150th Anniversary of the war.

A Soldiers Monument for Naugatuck veterans stands prominently in the center of the Town Green in honor of the Naugatuck, Connecticut residents who served in the Civil War. (Behind the green is Salem School, where our Josephine A. Maher taught and was principal for so many years.) A Ninth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers Monument was erected in 1903 at Bayview Park, New Haven, for which Naugatuck’s Michael P. Coen posed for the sculpture of the standing soldier.

Michael P. Coen, of Queen’s County, Ireland, resident of Naugatuck, Connecticut, from the 1903 souvenir of the unveiling of the New Haven Civil War monument, for which he posed for the image of the soldier, courtesy of Bob Larkin.

ADDITIONAL NINTH REGIMENT & CIVIL WAR LINKS:

• Lieutenant-Colonel John G. Healy provided an in-depth history of this regiment that is housed online. (He was the president of the Monument Committee for the Ninth Regiment C.V. Monument, per the 1903 souvenir. Richard Fitzgibbon was the Chairman, Michael P. Coen was the Secretary-Treasurer; William Gleeson and John E. Healy were also on the committee.)

• See Jim Larkin’s Connecticut website for the Ninth Regiment.

• To find individuals and information about them, see the National Park Service’s Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database. According to this database there were twenty-six Mahers who served in the Union army from Connecticut, five Mahars and five Meaghers. Thomas Maher of Naugatuck, however, served in the Third Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Company E. He was the O.G. of the Isbell Post division of the Grand Army of the Republic veterans’ group between 1898 and 1900. (Information about him is also included in my book.)

• Damien Shiels, of Ireland, is the owner of a perhaps the best website of all, Irish in the American Civil War.

Capt. John G. Healy, New Haven, CT, Ninth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers, image from 1903 souvenir of monument dedication, courtesy of Bob Larkin.

CIVIL WAR IRISH BRIGADES – THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER

  In July, 1865, before his departure to Montana, where he would become, initially, Secretary of the Territory and, later, Acting Governor, Bridgadier-General Thomas Francis Meagher (Sixty-Ninth New York Infantry) was given a tribute from the officers of the Civil War New York Brigades. Written by Col. James E. McGee, the address stated in part:

“We regard you, General, as the originator of the Irish Brigade, in the service of the United States; we know that to your influence and energy the success which it earned during its organization is mainly due; we have seen you, since it first took the field—some eighteen months since—sharing its perils and hardships on the battlefield and in the bivouac; always at your post, always inspiring your command with that courage and devotedness which has made the Brigade historical, and by your word and example cheering us on when fatigue and dangers beset our path; and we would be ungrateful indeed did we forget that whatever glory we have obtained in many a hard-fought field, and whatever honor we may have been privileged to shed on the sacred land of our nativity, that to you, General, is due to a great extent, our success and our triumphs…  It was signed by his ‘countrymen and companions in arms’:”

P. Kelly, Col. 88th NY Irish Brigade; James Saunders, Capt. 69th NY; R. C. Bently, Lieut-Col. Com’d’g 63rd NY; John Smith, Major, 88th NY; James E. McGee, Capt. Commanding 69th NY; Miles McDonald, 1st Lieut. and Adjt. 63rd NY; Wm. J. Nagle, Capt. Commanding, 88th NY; P.J. Condon, Capt. 63rd N.Y., Co. G; Richard Moroney, Capt. 69th NY; John H. Donovan, Capt. 69th NY; John H. Gleeson, Capt. 63rd N.Y. Co. B; John J. Hurley, 1st Lieut. 63rd N.Y. Co. I; Maurice W. Wall, Capt. & A.A.A. G. Irish Bridgade; Edw. B. Carroll, 2nd Lieut. 63rd N.Y., Co. B; Thomas Twohy, Capt. 63rd N.Y., Company L; James Gallagher, 2nd Lieut., 63rd N.Y., Co. F; John I. Blake, Co. B, 88th NY; John Ryan, 1st Lieut., 63rd N.Y. Co. G; Robert H. Milliken, Capt. 69th NY; Matthew Hart, 2d Lieut. 63rd N.Y., Co. K; Garrett Nagle, Capt. 69th NY; Bernard S. O’Neil, 1st Lieut. 69th NY; John Dwyer, Capt. 63d NY; Matthew Murphy, 1st Lieut. 69th NY; Michael Gallagher, Capt. 88th, NY; Luke Brennan, 2d Lieut., 69th NY; Lawrence Reynolds, Surgeon, 63rd NY; Robert Lafin, 2d Lieut. 69th NY; F. Reynolds, Surgeon, 88th NY; W.L.D. O’Grady, 2d Lieut. 88th NY; Richard Powell, Asst. Surgeon 88th NY; P.J. O’Connor, 1st Lieut. 63rd NY; James J. Purcell, Asst. Surgeon, 63rd NY; Edward Lee, 1st Lieut. 63d NY; Chas. Smart, Asst. Surgeon, 63d NY; Patrick Maher, 1st Lieut., 63rd NY; Richard P. Moore, Capt. 63d N.Y., Co. A; David Burk, Lieut. 69th NY; John C. Foley, Adjt. 88th NY; Martin Scully, 1st Lieut. 69th NY; John W. Byron, 1st Lieut. 88th N.Y., Co. E; Richard A. Kelly, 1st Lieut. 69th NY; D. F. Sullivan, 1st Lieut. & B.Q.M. 69th NY; Joseph M. Burns, Lieut. 88th NY; James I. McCormick, Lieut. Quartr. 63rd NY; James E. Byrne, Lieut. 88th NY; John O’Neil, Lieut. 88th NY; Dominick Connolly, 2nd Lieut. 63rd NY; Wm. McClelland, 2d Lieut. 88th N.Y., Co. G; John J. Sellors, 2d Lieut. 63rd NY; John Madigan, Lieut. 88th NY; William Quirk, Capt. 63rd NY; James I. Smith, 1st Lieut. & Adjt. 69th NY; Patrick Chamber, 1st Lieut. 63rd NY; Edmund B. Nagle, Lieut. 88th N.Y., Co. D; Patrick Callaghan, 1st Lieut. 69th N.Y. Co. G; Patrick Ryder, Capt. 88th NY; P.M. Haverty, Quarter-Master 88th N.Y.

This information is from Brigadier-General Thomas Francis Meagher by Captain W.F.Lyons, published in 1886. The book is Lyon’s glowing testament to the life and character of his close friend, with several of Meagher’s speeches included. Lyons explained that the Sixty-Ninth New York Brigade was one of the first regiments to enter the Civil War and was originally commanded by Colonel Michael Corcoran. Under his leadership the regiment became infamous early on for declining to parade during a New York visit by the Prince of Wales. Lyons explained, “The Sixty-Ninth was composed exclusively of Irishmen, all of whom had experienced the malignity of British rule in Ireland, and some of them being political exiles from their native country. Under these circumstances their refusal to participate in a fulsome ovation to the representative of the British Crown, was heartily sustained by the great majority of the people.”

Thomas Francis Meagher recruited Irishmen for the side of the Union, acknowledging that, as in previous battles in Ireland, it was inevitable that brothers and friends would be paired against one another in this war. Even as there were Irishmen (and Mahers) fighting for the Confederacy, there were many more on the side of the Union. In this book Lyons included many eloquent speeches of Meagher’s, including that in which he, although initially of heavy heart about committing to the war, defended the cause of the Union in retaliation against the South.

According to Lyons, Meagher’s intention had been to assist General Shields on the battleground, not to lead the troops, but he was urged by the officers to be the commander when Shields was on route to Mexico at the same time that the Sixty-Ninth New York troops were eager to go back into battle, even without Shields. President Lincoln conferred Meagher’s rank on Feb. 3, confirmed by the Senate. In this way Meagher joined the military and commanded a three month campaign, fighting alongside his men, “the first into battle and the last out.”

Lyons described the many battles in great detail, noting the accolades that followed them for the bravery and conduct of the troops. Among the battles:  Fair Oaks, Battle of Mechanicsville, Gaines’ Mill, Battle of Peach Orchard, Battle of White Oak Swamp, Battle of Glendale, Malvern Hill, Antietam (fourteen hours long), and the final battle of Chancellorsville and Scott’s Mills. About the last battle Lyons wrote, “Reduced in numbers from its once flourishing condition, it presented now not men enough to comprise a regiment. From the first moment that it became a component part of the Army of the Potomac it shared every danger, and participated in almost every conflict.”

(There is also a section about Thomas Francis Meagher in my book, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics in New Haven County.)

OTHER WAR/CONFLICT-RELATED MAHER LINKS:

Daniel J. Meagher, Civil War, 5th NY, Co H

John William Meagher, Medal of Honor, WWII

Tipperary War Dead

Jack Wilson’s List of Mahers and Meaghers Sent to Australia

Irish Rebels to Australia 1797-1806

Irish Convicts to  New South Wales 1791-1834

Tithe Defaulters

Release of Mrs. Meagher, Ballingarry

 

©2012 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley: Early Irish Catholics In New Haven County, Connecticut

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by Janet Maher in Connecticut Irish, History, Kilkenny Mahers, New Haven Irish Catholic Immigrants, Origins, Pilgrimage, Thoughts, Tombstone Transcriptions

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

American Mahers, Ancient Ireland, Brennan, Early Irish History, Irish Catholic History, Irish in Connecticut, Irish in the Civil War, Irish Meaghers, Irish pilgrimage, Milesian Genealogy, Naugatuck Connecticut, New Haven County Mahers, Patrick Maher, Saint Bernard Cemetery, Tombstone Transcriptions

©2012 Janet Maher, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, books at home; image: Katherine Maher Martin and Eliza Maher, ca 1850s

©2012 Janet Maher, From the Old Sod to the Naugatuck Valley, books at home; image: Katherine Maher Martin and Eliza Maher, ca 1850s

First thing I did when I got the proof was to take pictures of it, then bring it into my department and show it to my colleagues, who then immediately got to hold it. Not exactly like having a baby, but pretty exciting, nonetheless.

The first mention in the press is out, on the Naugatuck Patch! The book is in the process of being offered on the Amazon website, and will also be available through Amazon.uk.

Hope to see some of you on June 21. Huge news is that Jane Lyons is flying all the way over from Ireland to be there! We’ll be going to the Irish Festival in New Haven that weekend too!

Wishing you all well,

Janet

©2012 Janet Maher/Sinéad Ní Mheachair

All Rights Reserved

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