My father Jack Moran arrived in New York on April 5th, 1923. He was from Athea, a small village in County of Limerick. He loved New York. And Brooklyn. My mother was born in Kerry but raised in Limerick but she didn’t meet my father until she came to the States in 1927. The Irish in New York would all get together for parties and they met at one of those parties. My mother … [Read more...] about Jack Moran on Tar Beach
Photo Album
Photo Album: The Noone Family 1972
Luke emigrated from Curramaeigh, Kilkerrin, Co. Galway in 1922 at 20 years of age. He met and courted Mary Ellen Doherty from Fiddane, Kilkerrin, Co. Galway, who came to the U.S. in 1924. Luke and Mary Ellen married in 1927 and had five children: Luke B., Gerard, Eileen, Theresea, John and Richard. Mary Ellen worked as a domestic prior to her marriage. Luke found work as a … [Read more...] about Photo Album: The Noone Family 1972
Roger Goes to Medical School
I was born at home in Emmetsburg, Iowa in 1928. The doctor said, “You have a son!” My mother didn’t know what to name me and the doctor said, “How about Roger? That’s my father’s name. It’s a fine name.” Both my parents were Irish. Mother was born Mary Margaret Mahoney. My first memories involve living in the small town in the shadow of the Assumption Parish. We lived across … [Read more...] about Roger Goes to Medical School
Great-aunt Mary O’Toole’s Amazing, Trailblazing Life
Her first seal of office needed to have the word “his” crossed out and replaced by “hers” in pen as she was the first female to hold a municipal court appointment in the US. From Irish immigrant working as a child minder to becoming the first woman judge of a municipal court in the United States, was the unique and outstanding achievement of Mary O’Toole. Born in … [Read more...] about Great-aunt Mary O’Toole’s Amazing, Trailblazing Life
Photo Album: The Wealth of the World
At rest, this picture belongs to a wedding album from 1966. Plain, awkward even, it was composed by the photographer whose job it was to snap the parents of the groom. It doesn’t speak of small Galway farms disappearing over shoulders, the ride over the sea, their names. They are Edward Donohoe and Winnie, who was first Una Ryan, then Winnie Donohoe and, for an afternoon, Jane … [Read more...] about Photo Album: The Wealth of the World