My grandfather, Patrick Joseph Killen, (“Pop”), was born in Downpatrick, County Down, in 1897. He sailed with his sister Margaret for America in 1911, and arrived in New York on his 14th birthday. Many of his family were already here, but, sadly for him, his older sister Mary stayed behind, and he would not see her again for 57 years. In 1920, Patrick received his Certificate … [Read more...] about Photo Album: My Grandfather, the Diver
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Photo Album: My Wonderful Irish Mother
My mother, Patricia Duffy, was born December 7, 1927. She was one of two children raised by Rose and Frank Duffy in Oakland, California. Frank Duffy and his brother came to the United States from County Cavan, Ireland. Frank had a small grocery store in Oakland, which afforded them a lovely home near a small creek in Oakland Hills. Mom said that Grandpa’s Irish brogue was so … [Read more...] about Photo Album: My Wonderful Irish Mother
Photo Album: Kilcar, My Donegal Playground
When we were children, my brother and I spent our summers in southwest Donegal in the village of Kilcar, with my mother’s people. Our parents sent us there so they could build their business in Buncrana, a tourist town 100 miles north. For me the journey southwest was an opportunity to switch one thriving location for another that was wild and a bit mysterious. Harry Percival … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Kilcar, My Donegal Playground
Photo Album: My First & Only Love
My wife, Bridget Heaney, was born on June 7, 1944. She was one of 10 children raised by a single mother in Cavan, Ireland. Her mother eventually moved to England (Newbury) in search of work, and it was in Newbury that I met Bridget. I was 23 and she was 19. At the time, I was in the U.S. Air Force (U.S.A.F.) and stationed with the Strategic Air Command, at R.A.F. Greenham … [Read more...] about Photo Album: My First & Only Love
Photo Album: Nanna’s First Fourth
“Kate, be careful when you get to America, the streets are full of gangsters!” That is what my grandmother, we called her Nanna, heard before she boarded the ship to America in the 1920s. It was advice from her brother, Jim Connolly, who bonded her and paid for her third class (steerage) passage. As the story goes, Kate Connolly arrived in New York in the … [Read more...] about Photo Album: Nanna’s First Fourth