Volume III, Number Irish-American Historical Society January-February 1991

Winter storm on Sound almost cost Irish sailor his life

-'~-'

enough to rescue three of the four sail­ors clinging to the shanered rigging.

But the fourth man, Kelly, a 50-year­old veteran seaman from New YorkCity, seemed so benumbed by the windand cold that he was unable to clamberfrom the rigging to safety, and at lengththe crew of the yawl gave up theanempt.

After depositing the three rescuedsailors at Belle Dock about 2 p.m.,theIves steamed back to Spindle Reef andmade another unsuccessful anempt torescue Kelly. The crew of the Ives re­ported that the stranded sailor did notdare jump into the water as the othershad and was too badly frozen to grasp aline.

I,n all his years at sea, an Irish-Amer­ican sailor named John Kelly never wasas terrified as he was one stormy winterday in 1884 when the schooner Janewas driven onto Spindle Reef outsideNew Haven harbor.

The Jane, bound from Elizabeth,N.J., to Providence with a cargo ofcoal,anchored at the mouth of the harborabout 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28. Duringthe night, a winter storm blew up on theSound. The wind rose to such force thatthe Jane's anchor could not hold andabout 4 a.m. the schooner was drivenonto Spindle Reef and sank.

At dawn on Friday, Feb. 29, with thestorm still raging, the tugboat Boydsteaming down the harbor toward Mor­ris Cove to come to the aid of anothership in distress, sponed the wreck of theJane on Spindle Reef.

Through their telescopes, the horri­fied crew of the Boyd saw that only therigging of the Jane remained above wa­ter and that four men were clinging tothat rigging as the wind and waves bat­tered the ship's hulk.

Because of his tug's small size, thecaptain of the Boyd did not dare at­tempt a rescue but instead steamedback up the harbor to sound the alert.Soon the Frederick Ives, the largest tug­boat in the harbor fleet, was steamingtoward the wreck.

On reaching the Jane, the rves sentout its yawl and after maneuveringback and forth in the heavy seas forsome time, it was able to get near

-........ _.=- 0_ .. _00

Although darkness was closing in, anumber of rescuers refused to give upthe anempt. A third anempt failedwhen two of the would-be rescuers werefrostbinen in the still-raging gale.

Finally at 6:30 p.m., a boat of vol un­teers led by Mate Edward Smeed of theschooner Emma P. Angell, set out fromLighthouse Point, against the advice ofthose on the beach. Rowing into theteeth of the storm, the small boatreached the Jane and was able to rescueKelly.

The next day, from a bed in the cityhospital, Kelly recounted hisexperience:

Please turn to Daile 4

City bathhouse keeper spent years in British prisonDuring the early years of the 20th

century, an Irishman with quite a histo­ry was superintendent of New Haven'spublic bathhouse on St. John Streetnear East Street.

Before coming to New Havenaround the turn of the century, PatrickHenehan had spent 15 years in an Eng­lish prison after being convicted of in­volvement in a dynamiting campaignorganized by the Fenians against theBritish.

The story, as Henehan told it to aNew Haven Union reporter in 1915, isas follows:

"I arrived in London on Christmas

Day, 1884, from America, where I hadlived for many years. 011 the evening ofFeb. 2, 1885, two detectives knocked atmy room. They examined all my prop­erty, took charge of my trunks, carefullyscraping the dust out of them. They hadno warrant for my arrest, but that tothem was nothing. They arrested me onsuspicion and took me to ScotlandYard for further questioning. I was thenonly 30 years of age.

"The dust taken from my trunks wasclosely examined by the detectives butas no dynamite was found it wasthrown away. For three days, I was heldthere, and each day paraded before a

number of people to see if anyone couldidentifY me as being connected with theexplosions. But none could do so.

"However, I was brought up to BowStreet police court and examined at fre­quent intervals during a period of 12weeks and it took all of that time tomanufacture a case against me. FinaUy,as was inevitable to satisfY a prejudicedIrish-hating populace, a true bill wasbrought in against me and on the 10thday of May following I was brought totrial before Judge Hawkins at Old Bai­ley in London.

"When arrested I gave the name ofPlease turn to page 2

Page 2

British prison was home for city bathhouse keeperContinued from page I

Henry Burton of New York and all theefforts of Scotland Yard to discover m}true identity were futile ...

"My trial was a mockery and a farce.The indictment charged me with mak­ing war against her majesty's subjects... Bribery and corruption were the or­der of the day and the scoundrels whotestified for the government gave theirevidence in such a contradictory man­ner that the simplest eyewitness couldsee that they were not telling the truth,but were relating manufactured testi­mony ...

"Aft~r the arguments had been con­cluded by the anorney-general and theanorneys for the defense, Judge Haw­kins opened his charge to the jury withthese words, 'Gentlemen of the jury,there cannot be a shadow of doubt inyour minds that this man is guilty ofthe most grievous offence against thelaws of England and any penalty whid:it lies in your power to inflict will fallfar short of punishing him as he de­serves, for he has been levying waragainst her most gracious majesty andher loyal subjects ...

"The jury retired, but well I knewfrom the judge's charge that this wasmere form and that they had their ver­dict already prepared and in a few briefmoments the prearranged verdict ofguilty was returned. Then the court ...with grim emphasis said, 'You are sen­tenced to penal servitude for your natu­ral life .. .'

"I was first sent to Newgate and thentaken to Chatham prison where I re­mained for six years ... During the firstnine months of my imprisonment, Iwas confined in a penal cell 23 out of 24hours each day. My breakfast consistedof a little coarse bread and cocoa. Ahard day's work of the most objectiona­ble kind followed, subject to the vigi­lance of officious wardens whose pro­motion was governed by the amount ofwork they could get out of me and myfeJlow prisoners and the degradationthat they inflicted on me ...

"Although we were all confined inone prison, we were completely isolatedfrom each other, so far as conversationwas concerned. To pass a look of recog­nition was deemed an offence of theworst nature. Needless to say, these of­fences were often committed.

"But whenever detected, we had topay for it in fine style - bread andwater from three to 21 days being thepenalty, and while partaking of this nu­tritious food, we would get special pun­ishment and extra hard labor to sharp­en our appetites ...

"Searches and re-searches of our per­son and our cells were the order of theday, and particularly of the night. After

two nights suffering from the adminis­tration of a drug which we got at inter­vals and which I believe was given forno other purpose than to render us lu­natics ... I would on the third nightseek the repose which had fled on theprevious ones.

"I would be lulling myself to sleepon my plank bed when suddenly Iwould be awakened and I would hearthe grim old warden exclaim in hisstentorian voice, 'You sleepy Irish dog,arise. '

"This was the case winter and sum­mer alike. Then I would be searched forwhat cause I know not unless to de­prive me of my rest and shivering andunable to sleep I would lie down again.Often I fainted over the bench at whichI worked from exhaustion and hunger.

"The state of things was bad enough,but worst of all the horrors which I wascompelled to endure I saw some of myfellow prisoners fading away physicallyand mentally before my eyes. I wellknew that their sufferings would soon

afore he came to New HavenPage 3

Blacks formed leagueto protect voting rights

be over, but I was unable to help themin any way and this awful sight had aterribly depressing effect on my ownspirits, as I well had reason to believethat what was befalling them might bemy own fate later on.

"The sight of those good and truetypes of Irish manhood and patriotismwas enough to make'the sternest heartquail. May God have mercy on thesouls of those who died and may Hegrant peace to those who live.

"During the first eight years of myimprisonment, I never saw a friendlyface from the outside world. I knewthat the world still existed, but as myidentity had been concealed from theoutside, I could not without revealing itcorrespond with any of my friends. So Iwas completely isolated and every daybrought on its new torments.

"The first time this load of isolationand misery was removed was whenMessrs. McNamara from Clare, Crowefrom Limerick and Torley from Glas­gow visited the political prisoners inPortland prison in the year 1892. Itdawned on me then, although we darednot ask any questions nor speak freely,that we were not quite friendless or for­saken. As I recall it, the next one whocame to see me was Dr. Robert Am­brose and the few words he spoke to memade my heart lighter under all itsweight of woe. Afterwards I met Mr.Fred Allen of Dublin.

"After such interview we would nat­urally think the rigid labor and punish­ment which we were subjected to wouldbe abated. But no. On the contrary, itwas, whenever possible, made worse

"Three months after my arrival atChatham Prison, I was offered fortuneand liberty if I would furnish informa­tion which was desired by Supt. Wil­liamson and the government. Andagain during the Times Commission in­vestigation of Charles Stuart Parnell, Iwas urged to give testimony against thegreat Parnell by a governmentrepresentative.

"Inspector Littlechild from thehome office visited me for this purposeand thinking that the various punish­ments inflicted on me since the firstoffer might have altered my determin­ation not to betray my fellow country­men, he said to me, 'If you don't com­ply they will keep you here for life.' Butall their efforts were in vain and webore the penalties inflicted on us likemen.

"About three months before my re­lease, I received official information ofthe fact that I was to be reprieved and Ialso learned that anxious friends eager­ly awaited the particul~r date. No letter

or notice of any kind appertaining tomy release was allowed to come intomy possession.

"When the time finally came for meto hand over my felon's garb and nolonger wear the broad arrow that wasthe symbol of degradation which hadbeen my constant companion for somany years, I was let out by stealth togo wherever I chose alone, amid acrowd of strangers.

"I asked for my property which hadbeen taken from me, but I was told thatit was all sold ... and I was offered ascompensation the mere pittance of onepound sterling. Souvenirs valued by mesuch as my watch and chain, my, cabi­netmaking tools, clothing and other ar­ticles worth in all about 25 pounds onthe open market, but far more valuableto me by association, were all confiscat­ed and I received only a fifth of theirnominal value.

"I attribute my release in great partto the efforts of the Amnesty Associa­tion of England, Ireland and America,for which I feel deeply grateful, and stillafter all this long trial ... I cannot viewwith regret my sufferings for the 'land ofmy birth if they only help, even in aslight degree, to bring about the unity ofpurpose and unity of effort whichwould cause Ireland to be again en­rolled among the nations of the Earth, afree, independent and prosperous Ire­land governed by its own people ..."

Henehan was released from Portlandprison in December 1897.

(New Haven Union, Aug. 22, 1915)

Plenty of blarneyat United Irish fair

When Ifrish New Haveners couldn'tgo to the Blarney Stone, the BlarneyStone came to them - or at least a partof it supposedly did.

At a fair sponsored by the UnitedIrish in December 1921, the prize ex­hibit was a chip of the famous stonewhich is said to endow all those whokiss it with the gift of eloquence.

"Every visitor wi'll have an opportu­nity to smack this Blarney relic," saidthe New Haven Union of Dec. l. "At­torney William B. Turley, chairman ofthe general comminee in charge of thefair, reported today that many youngand ambitious spellbinders were anx­iously awaiting the opportunity to 'kissthe chip of the stone in order to furthertheir ambitions."

The three-day fair was held at MusicHall and also featured a Lakes of Killar­ney tearoom, 12 booths, entertainmentand music.

(New Haven Union, Dec. I, 192t')

In October 1906, Connecticut Afri­can-Americans founded one of thestate's earliest civil rights organizations:the Constitutional League ofConnecticut.

Fifty representatives from commu­nities throughout the state met in NewHaven on Wednesday, Oct. 17, andpicked Dr. A. Clayton Powell of NewHaven as president and Dr. Preston M.Edwards of Hartford as secretary andtreasurer.

The purpose of the league was tolobby for the enforcement of the 14thand 15th Amendments to the U.S. Con­stitution, amendments enacted after theCivil War to guarantee civil rights forAfrican-Americans.

The league's first action was to sendletters to the state's five Republicancongressmen.

The letters stated in part: "The plat­form adopted at the last RepublicanNational Convention contained astrong plank in which was condemnedthe unjust discrimination against theblack voters of .the South. The partyalso in the same plank pledged itself tothe enforcement of the constitutionalamendment which requires the reduc­tion of the representation of a state inCongress in proportion to its restrictionof the franchise.

"At the last session of Congress, theRepublicans refused to take any stepswhatever looking toward the fulfillmentof that pledge ...

"Under these circumstances, it is butnatural that thoughtful colored menshould begin to question the motiveswhich led to the adoption of this plankand to ask whether it was a bona fidedeclaration of principle which the partywas willing to live up to or simply theconventional claptrap resorted to to se­cure the Negro vote in the doubtfulstates ..."

"Every passing year confirms thefact that the result of the doctoredSouthern constitution in that part ofthis land is a condition of quasi-slavery

"We colored men of Connecticut to­gether with other colored men of theNorth are going to make our votes asinfluential as possible in the matter ofreinfranchising the black men of theSouth whose votes are unjustly with­held from them."

Among those signing the letter wereH.H. Faulkner, L. Baxter Goodall, Al­fred W. Adams, Jno. H. Harris, PrestonM. Edwards and W.A. Harris.

PJllqe 4

War of 1812 alien list provides information on immigrants

"We have kept faith with the past; we have handed a tradition to thefuture." Padraic Pearse

THANK YOU - Our thanks to all those who helped make the Kaleidoscopeprogram at the New Haven Colony Historical Society a success.

-Briefly noted----·---~

IRISH-AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETYP.O. Box 120-020

East Haven, Connecticut 06512

and six sons, Woodbury, wheelwright,(16 Aug. 1812).

Morgan, Wm., age 30, in U.S. sixyears, Irishman, Litchfield, (26 Sept.1812).

Syres, Legar, age 34, II years in U.S..from Ireland, no family, Norwalk, notrade; superintends a ponery, (16 Aug.1812).

Williams, John, age 18, 3 months inU.S., from Ireland, no family, Norwalk,haner, (8 Aug. 1812).

Wood, John, age 37, 24 years inU.S., from Ireland, wife and two chil­dren, Danbury, haner, (1'6 Aug. 1812).

("British Aliens in the United StatesDuring the War of 1812," compiled byKenneth Scon, Genealogical PublishingCo., Baltimore, 1979.)

Shipwreck in harborContinued from page 1

"I have followed the sea all my life.having served in the English. Frenchand American navies. I have been insome rather tight places before butnothing to equal this. My sufferingsyesterday in that rigging before I lostconsciousness were fearful.

"Just imagine your comrades leav­ing you alone on a wreck, with thewaves running mountains high and theicy wind blowing a furious gale. But myfellows couldn't help me; they had atough enough time of it themselves.

"You see, I did not have the strengthleft when they were taken off to climbup the rigging and down the other sideas they had to do. My long stay in theropes before the relief boat arrived at allbenumbed me and I was too stiff tomove.

"You can imagine my feelings whenI saw the second boat shoot past me inthe waves and them make for the shorewithout me. I gradually lost my eye­sight and at last could see nothing.Nothing at all.

"The last thing I saw was a man onthe lighthouse waving his hand to me.This encouraged me somewhat. But myposition was becoming more fearful ev­ery moment. The rail' was washed awayand there was great danger of the toptimbers breaking. I shouted for all I wasworth, but it seemed useless and I grad­ually lost consciousness.

"When the boat that finally rescueddIe reached the wreck, I had not theslightest idea of what was going on.Somehow or other, I dropped off therigging. They tell me I fell into the wa­ter, but I didn't know it at the time.When brought to land, I was still un­conscious and knew nothing until Ifound myself here."

(New Haven Register, Feb. 29,March I, 1884.)

months in the U.S., from Ireland, nofamily, Stratford, laborer, (26 Sept.1812).

Davin, Patrick M., age 23, I year inU.S., from Ireland, no family, Milford,haner, (8 Aug. 1812).

Johnson, David, age 18, 6 years inU.S., from Ireland, no family, NewLondon, apprentice to a tallow chan­dler, (8 Aug. 18 J 2).

Ledger, Wm., age 47,5 years in U.S..Irishman. wife and two children, Litch­field. farmer, (26 Sept. 1812).

McFarlane, James, age 23, 1 year inU.S.. from Ireland, no family, NewLondon, currier, (8 Aug. 1812).

Manypenny, Joseph, age 37, 20 yearsin U.S.. from Ireland, wife and fivechildren. Danbury, weaver; said to'lave been convicted of passing coun­terfeit money, (16 Aug. 1812).

Manhews, John, age 22. 10 monthsin U.S., from Ireland, no family, Nor­walk, laborer, (8 Aug. 1812).

Matthews, Samuel, age 20, 10months in U.S.. from Ireland, Norwalk,laborer. (8 Aug. 1812).

May. John, age 60, 30 years in U.S.,from Ireland, wife and five daughters

WELCOME - We welcome our new members: John F. and Beverly B.Dwyer, Edward J. and Harriet O'Neill, Jack Peck Jr.

MEETINGS - Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 7:30 p.m. atthe Gaelic Club, Venice Place, East Haven. We will also meet Tuesday, Feb.26, at the same time and place.

When the War of I' 812 began. Con­gress passed legislation declaring sub­jects of Great Britain residing in theUnited States to be enemy aliens.

All such British subjects were re­quired to report to the marshal of thestate in which they lived and provideinformation relative to "the personscomposing their families. the places oftheir residence and their occupations orpursuits; and whether, at what time,they have made the application to thecourts required by law. as preparatoryto their naturalization."

The lists compiled by Connecticut'smarshals provide some interesting, ifbrief. notes about some of the Irish na­tives living in the state at that time.

The listings include the followingresidents. In parenthesis is the date onwhich they filed the information.

CoBins, Patrick. age 34, 5 years inUnited States. from Ireland. no family.Litchfield, farmer (16 Aug. 1812).

Conroy, Andrew. age 27, 5 years inU.S.• from Ireland. no family, NewLondon, grocer, applied for citizenship2 Dec. 1811, (8 Aug. 1812).

Cummerford. John. age 20, 4

President: Jeanne Hickey, 58 Florence Ave., New Haven 06512. 468­0426.

Vice President: George Waldron, 69 Pardee St., New Haven 06513.468-6948.

Secretary: Betty GUbicza, 126 Geneva Terrace, Fairfield 06430. 255­1343.

Treasurer: Michael Lynch, 171 East Grand Ave., New Haven 06513.467-5307.

Membership: $10 individual, $15 family. Send name and address andchecks made out to Irish-American Historical Society to Box 120-020,East Haven, CT 06512.

Shanachie Editor: Neil Hogan, 26 Crestview Terrace, WallingfordOt;492. 269-9154.

(The Shanachie: In Ireland, a shanachie is a folklorist, storyteller andkeeper of the people's traditions.)

ch£ sh~~ch1€Volume III, Number 2 Irish-American Historical Society March-April 1991

Charles O'Neill kept New Haveners on time for 75 yearsFor three quarters of a century,

Charles O'Neill was the best knownwatchmaker and repairer in NewHaven.

O'NeiU assisted in the constructionof the Yale College clock in 1812 andwas still repairing watches at his shopon the south side ofChapel Street in thelate 18808.

He was happiest, commented theNew Haven Register, "when busy atwork. or in conversing with friends whocame to see him and chat with him sofrequently. For a number of years hisshop was in Church Street near Chapeland his bench was near the windowwhere he could be seen sitting at hiswork day after day. It was very rare thathe was not at his bench repairingwatches, in which he was very skillful.

"In his little business, he was appar­ently very contented and had no appar­ent desire for greater success."

Tall, slim and dignified in appear­ance, O'Neill was a familiar sight oncity streets and his shop gained the rep­utation of being a good place to getinvolved in a discussion of politics, cur­rent events or the New Haven scene.

"Mr. O'Neill,". said the Register,

"was of quite a philosophical turn ofmind and was very fond of discussions,so much so that his little shop becamethe scene of frequent and interestingdebates. He could talk fluently in thecurrent topics of the day and was en­tirely at home on religious and politicaltopics. He was also interested in theinventive attainments made in thiscountry.

"He was an authority on events atYale and his place was a well knownresort for the old alumni of the college.Many of the older graduates who hadformed his acquaintance during theircollege days, would call on him when in

the city and at commencement he hadno lack of callers.

"Some of his friends thought that hewas not always on the right side of thequestion, but respected his views never­theless. He was perhaps too diffuse, buthad some very good and practical ideas.He had a retentive memory and wasoften consulted about affairs that hadhappened many years before."

In politics, O'Neill was, according tothe Register, "a Democrat all his life.He mugwumped only once and thatwas when Gen. Jackson ran for the pre­sidency in 1828. He would not vote forJackson, but he has voted for everyDemocratic candidate for president ...He represented the old Washington dis­trict on the Common Council years agowhen the city was divided into fourwards by Chapel and Church streets."

In religion. O'Neill was a longtimemember of Trinity Episcopal Church.

Born Nov. 14, 1799 just a monthbefore the death of George Washington,O'Neill was fond of saying that when hearrived on Earth Washington thought itwas time for him to leave because therewasn't room for both of them.

Please turn to page 4

Exhibits and activities scheduled during Irish Heritage MonthCongress has passed and President Bush has signed a joint resolution

designating March 1991 as Irish-American Heritage Month. At the requestof Pat Heslin of our society, Mayor John Daniels has issued a similarproclamation for New Haven, and Heslin and Jeanne Hickey are workingwith state Reps. Michael Lawlor, Pat Dillon and Martin Looney to haveGov. Welcker issue a state proclamation.• With the theme, "Irish-American Heritage: Commemorate with Pride

and Dignity," our society will have displays in the Ives Memorial LibraryIn downtown New Haven, the Hagaman Library In East Haven and theMiller Library In Hamden. On Tuesdays from 6 to 8 p.m., we also will berepresented on Johnny Moran's program on WNHU, 88.7 FM.

We will have a float in the St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday, March10, and will be featured on Storer cable's pre-parade program.

On March 24, from 1 to 4 p.m., we will have a table at the 7th annualInternational Spring Festival at the Connecticut Historical Society inHartford. Johnny Moran will provide Irish entertainment at the f&stival.

Society members working on this project are Eleanor Connelly, PatHeslin, Kenny O'Brien, Diana O'Brien, Eva Madigan, Norman and JeanneHickey, Joanne Connolly, Ed and Kay Ahern, John Moran, Mike Lawlor,Pat Dmon and Martin Looney

Page 2

Anglican priest received a chilly reception in Connecticut

Waterbury factory hands played 'hurley' match

One Irishman who found himselfunwanted in ·Connecticut in colonialtimes was an Anglican priest, the Rev.James Lyons.

Lyons, a member of the London­based Society for the Propagation of theGospel which sent missionaries intoConnecticut in the 1700s, ran into op­position not only from Congregational­ists who opposed the planting of theAnglican faith in the colony, but alsofrom those sympathetic to Anglicanismwho did not wish to be ministered to byan Irishman.

Lyons was in Connecticut in the ear­ly I740s. He preached several times atGuilford where his efforts seem to havebeen fruitful for he reported to churchofficials in London that eight familiesincluding 36 children plus their parentshad declared their acceptance of theAnglican faith and that three childrenhad been baptized.

He also visited New Haven where hesaid he found a few Anglicans and con­siderable opposition from the adminis­tration and faculty of Yale College,which was a Congregational institution.The rector and tutors at the college, hesaid, would not pennit any of the stu­dents, except those whose parents werealready Anglicans to attend his lectures.

In West Haven, Lyons reported thathe had "baptised two children and offi­ciated frequently."

In 1743, Lyons was assigned to thegrowing parish in Derby, but he soondiscovered that his flock didn't takekindly to the ministrations of anIrishman.

Shortly after his arrival, he wrote tothe society's headquarters in London:"As soon as they had advice of myappointment, and from what country Icame and, indeed, before I arrivedamong them, they abused me, callingme an 'Irish Teague and Foreigner,'with many other reflections of an un­civilized and unchristian kind; theyboasted they would either find or fastensomething upon me relating to mycharacter or conduct whereby theymight get rid of me ... It would be tootedious to record aU the abuse and in­sults I have received at Derby; so manyand so severe, that some of themselves,more moderate than the rest, remon­strated to them the danger they were inof losing the mission by their abuses tome ..."

In another letter, dated Sept. 14,1744, Lyons laid much of the blame forhis treatment in Derby at the hands ofone parishioner named Samuel Plumb.Lyons said that Plumb had asserted "hewould never be at Peace while I was inDerby, that he would clear the town ofIrish Jeans hunting all ye Country

round for Scandal and reporting wher­ever he went that he did not like my lifeand Conversation ..."

Lyons said that he had been forcedto suspend the discontented parishionerand forbid him from receiving com­munion because of the lies Plumb hadbeen spreading: "He reported as I canProve that I keep misses at Boston and. . . that bad Stories always come afterme wherever I went. That I offered vio­lence to a young woman at Derby andthat her Father Delivered her out of myhands ... Reporting also that I wasrude and immodest with Mrs. Beach inNew Haven and tho' she told many itwas false and give under her hand allsuch reports were groundless ..."

Whatever the truth or falsity of thecharges against him, Lyons left thechurch at Derby about 1746 and re­moved to Brookhaven on Long Islandwhere he became pastor of CarolineChurch at Setauket.

Apparently, his labors there were notvery effective for in 1764, a Connecti­cut missionary writing to London de­scribed the problems at Brookhaven: "Ihear he (Lyons) has but 6 or 7 left ofwhat was a considerable congregationin Mr. Brown's time; and it is nowdoubtful whether any people wouldhave him, he having fallen into greatdisgrace by unmercifully beating a man,who, it seems, never struck him a blow.He has not yet had his trial, so I knownot how it will tum out as to whatprovocation he had ... Mr. Lyons is

Among their other customs, Irishimmigrants who settled in Connecticutbrought with them their love forhurling.

The sport never has enjoyed any­where near the popularity here that ithad - and still has - in Ireland, butthere are occasional references to it inold Connecticut newspapers.

One such reference appeared in theWaterbury American of Sept. 10, 1866with the headline, "Hurley Match."

"The hurley match between the Irishemployees of Scovill ManufacturingCo. and Benedict & Burnham Manu­facturing Co., 25 on a side, came off onthe grounds above the iron bridge onSaturday last," the account began.

"The players looked finely with theirpeculiar caps wound around their headsand all in white shirtsleeves. The Sc0­vill men wore red caps and the B. & B.men white.

"The game is played with an ordi­nary sized ball and with sticks aboutthree feet long, curved at the end forstriking the ball.

greatly blamed and the Society as wellfor supporting a man that does nogood, but much hann ..."

At the time of the RevolutionaryWar, Lyons gained an extra bit of noto­riety as a British sympathizer. The Con­necticut patriot, David Wooster, in1775 wrote that the patriots in Brook­haven, "have taken and sent to me theRev. James Lyon, a Church of EnglandClergyman - a man of infamous Char­acter, but a pretty sensible fellow, whothey say has corresponded with HenryLloyd of Boston. This Parson Lyon bywhat I can learn is the main spring toall the Tories on that part of Long Is­land. He has a considerable money atinterest in different hands among hisneighbors, which gains him ascendancyover them, and he has been indefatiga­ble both by writing, preaching and inevery other way to gain proselytes andby his connections with those in otherparts of the country who are inimical tothe cause we are embarked in, he willbe able to do great mischief."

Wooster added that the patriots onLong Island "thinking him a very dan­gerous person to remain among them,have desired me to take care of him. Ishall therefore by the first convenientopportunity send him to the care of theCommittee of Hartford ..."

After the war, Lyons apparently re­turned to Long Island where he died in1787.

·'The game commences at the centerof the field, one of the judges taking theball in his hand and tossing it up andthe best man strikes it first - that is,the one who gets the first chance - andthen they all go in with their hurleys,striking, hither and yon, caring nothingwhether they hit the ball or the shins orheads of those men by.

"The object is to drive the ballthrough the goal, which is composed oftwo stakes, driven nine feet apart.

"The baH must be driven throughthem twice in order for victory to perchon the banner of either party. There is agoal at each end ofthe ground defendedby the two opposing parties.

"After about three hours work, theBenedict & Burnham men succeeded indriving the ball through the Scovillgoal, but it wasjudged out by the judgesand was not admitted and the gamebroke up without a victory for either.

"The stake on the game Saturdaywas $50, $25 a side, but what disposi­tion was made of the money we havenot been advised."

Page 3

Life of New Haven-born pirate, Delaney, ended on the gallowsOn the morning of Dec. 10, 1875, an

Irishman with roots in New Haven wasexecuted on the gallows in the yard ofthe Queens County Courthouse inNorth Hempstead on Long Island.

His name was William Delaney andhis short life - he was only 25 yearsold when he died - made a strangeand sad story.

Delaney had been found guilty ofmurdering Capt. Leverett Lawrence ofthe schooner Joseph E. Potts. Delaneywas mate of the vessel and while it wasanchored in Cow Harbor on Long Is­land on Aug. 27, 1874, he entered thecaptain's cabin and choked him todeath. Delaney escaped, but a fewweeks later he was picked up in Phila­delphia. He was tried in Hempstead onOct. 24, and sentenced to hang.

Shortly before his death, Delaneywrote the storv of his life and it waspublished in several papers. The storywas as follows:

"I was born in New Haven, Conn.,on the 15th of April 1851, and livedthere until I was four years old, andthen my mother died and left me anorphan and my father and me went toIreland and there lived for 10 months.

"We went from there to Melbourne,Australia, where we lived for eightyears. My father getting married, Icould not agree with my stepmother; soI left them to do for myself. I had mon­ey enough to buy a pistol and fromMelbourne I traveled to Geelong, suf­fering for the want of water terribly; butI managed to get there after three days'hardship. .

"I then paid my passage back agalOand then went to San Diego and wenton board a Boston ship and worked mypassage to New York. Then I went cookof a New Haven vessel, plying betweenNew Haven and Demerara.

"I made the voyage and then went toNew London in a packet ship whichcommenced my wild career. We wereonly 14 days out when we mutinied andtried to take the ship and fought fourdays, but they arrested the ringleadersand put them in irons three days. Wewould not work and the ship was a totalwreck. Work we would not till theywere released and sooner than lose theship and passengers, they let them out.

"We arrived in the river Thamesand came to anchor and 17 of us madeour exit to Liverpool and two of usshipped in a National Line boat forNew York. We arrived here safe onlywith the exception of a bunged eye andsplit lip.

"Then I shipped for Hong Kong,China, and after four months arrivedthere safe and while in port me and themate had words which came to blows. I

split his head open with an iron belay­ing pin and then went into the forecas­tle with the intention of killing the firstman that tried to take me.

"They hoisted the ensign upsidedown and the police boat came along­side and was told what was the matterand they came to pull me out and Ifought desperately and they saw theycould not capture me without, so theydrew their cutlasses and sooner than berun through I surrendered.

"I was taken before the council, triedand sentenced to four months in thechain gang. I came out and went tobeachcombing and river piracy. .

"I shipped in a bark loaded WIthwith silks and teas bound for San Fran­cisco. Five days out I made a plan tocapture the vessel and kill all the offi­cers and take her and run on some ofthe Sandwich Islands, but we had onegiveaway in the forecastle and the nexttime I went to the wheel I was knockeddown and ironed hand and foot till wecome to port. I was turned over to th.epolice and confined in prison to awaIttrial for mutiny.

"I was in two months and I mademy escape, with a 32-pound ball andchain and got into Eureka, Oregon, andthen joined the United States 12th Reg­iment and stayed there one pay day.

"I was in the stables and two of mychums came along and we took three ofthe best horses and swam the river andmade our escape into Indian country,defying anyone that would undertake tocapture us. Then we traveled to RogueRiver and there we stole a 20-ton_

schooner and put to sea with her andcame down the coast about 100 milesand ran her ashore and left her.

"There was a quarrel among our­selves; knives and pistols were freelyused and after the fray we separated. Iwent to Boston and then to Portsmouthand there joined a coaster.

"I had a quarrel with the mate andthrowed him from the deck to the dockand broke his collarbone. They got awarrant out, but by that time I hadjoined the Marine Corps. I stayed t~ree

weeks and one night swam the nverPiscataqua, made my ~ay to Bostonand then to Philadelphia ...

"Only for fighting and raising hell, Icould be master ofas fine a schooner asploughs the salt ocean.

"Then I went to Elizabethport andback to Providence and from Provi­dence to Boston and me and my chumjoined an oyster vessel bound to Tole'sPoint up the Rappahannock. We putinto Hampton Roads; then we made aplan to rob her. They always carried$300 to buy their cargo and when theywent to supper, we burst open the safeand escaped ashore.

"We paid our passage to Boston andlived like fighting cocks. Then weshipped to Philadelphia and back to Sa­lem and then we went to Fall River andlived with the factory girls like kings.

"Then I want mate of'a Fall Rivervessel for nine months and while trad­ing off there, I had over 50 pitchedbattles. Then I got a fall of 82 feet andnearly killed myself and I had to go tothe hospital and ever since then I havebeen subject to hemorrhage of the lungsand I never had the use of myself since.

"After I came out of hospital, Ijoined my vessel again and went toPhiladelphia and fought the cook andthumped the life out of him. I left a.ndjoined the Clara Bell and had a failIngout with the captain. I was going toleave.

"Then I shipped with Capt. law­rence to go to Stonington and my inten­tion was to go to Stonington and leavehim there, but fortune did not favorme. We only got as far as Cow Baywhen he slipped his wind. William M.Delaney, alias Red Pirate, ~lias Cast­Iron Bill, who fought 100 pItched bat­tles and never was beat."

Delaney told the priest who attendedhim just before his execution that hehad no relatives in America and that hedid not know where his father was inAustralia. He told the priest, however,that he had an uncle in Co. Longford inIreland and asked the priest to notifyt,he uncle of his nephew's fate.

(New York Times, Dec. 11, 1875:New Haven Register, Dec. 9, 1875.)

Editor's note: In recognition of thebond between our historical society andthe other societies in the Ethnic Heri­tage Center and to foster appreciationfor all ethnic groups, we print in each~sueofournew~eneratkastonestory

about another ethnic group.

Englishmen celebratedon St. George's Day

Each April, the Sons of St. George,the major organization of English im­migrants in New Haven in the 19thcentury, sponsored a banquet to honortheir patron saint.

On April 24, 1888, the Register de­scribed that year's festivities as fol1ows:

"The annual banquet in honor of St.George's Day was held last evening atGunning's restaurant, State Street.About 150 sat down to an elegantly pre­pared banquet.

"The place was decorated with theAmerican and British flags adorned inthe center with the picture of QueenVictoria. The festivities opened with aselection by the St. George's band, theirfirst public appearance, after whichprayer was offered by Rev. Fletcher.

"The toast 'the president of theUnited States,' was responded to by Dr.J.A. Dobson, and after remarks to thecredit of our chief magistrate all re­mained standing and drank to the·health of our president. The next toast,'the Queen,' was responded to by Mr.J.A. Foster. He spoke finely and paid agrand tribute to England's admirablean.d !oved queen, the ruler of so manymtlltons. All rose again and amidcheers and hand clapping drank to herhealth...."

New Haven watchmakerContinued from page I

O'Neill wasn't the first of his familyin America for he once told the newspa­per that his great-grandfather, HenryO'Neill, had come to Connecticut fromIreland. Henry O'Neill had a sonnamed Abraham and he had a sonnamed John.

John O'Neill served in the Revolu­tionary War and after the war married a

, Miss Sherman, a descendan,t of one ofthe early settlers of Stratford. TheO'Neills had six children, one of whomwas Charles.

"Mr. O'Neill watched the growth ofNew Haven with interest," said theRegister at the time of his death onAug. 9, 1894. "While seeing the remov­al of some of the older buildings with afeeling of sadness, he realized that itwas for the best and for the benefit ofthe future of the city ... He was a verygenial man, of pleasant address and ofavery kind heart."

. flPage 4

LineI

ELLIS ISLAND TRIP - Our society is sponsoring a bus trip to the EllisIsland Immigration Museum on Sunday, May 5. The cost of $25 for adultsand $23 for children includes bus, ferry boat, admission ticket and tip. Theschedule includes: 8 a.m., departure from Howard Johnson's restaurant andmotel on Long Wharf; 10 a.m., arrive at ferry dock; ferry stops at Statue ofLiberty; 3 p.m., bus leaves parking lot for South Street Seaport for shoppingand eating; 6 p.m., bus leaves for New Haven; 8 p.m., arrive New Haven.For reservations, send checks to Irish-American Historical Society, P.O. Box120-020, East Haven 06512. For information, call Ed and Kay Ahern, 467-0216, or Norman and Jeanne Hickey, 468-0426. Space is limited.

-MEETINGS - Tuesday, March 26, 7:30 p.m., Gaelic Club, Venice Place,East Haven, a tape of the talk by Neil Hogan at the New Haven ColonyHistorical Society on the census and New Haven history. Also, Tuesday,April 23, 7:30 p.m., Gaelic Club, program to be announced.

DONATIONS - Our thanks for donations to: Mr. and Mrs. William C.Barrett, William and Dorothea Bartek, Patrick W. Bohan, Rita Breese,

I Lawrence and Mary Joan Coyle, John J. and El1en Donahue plus a matchingI

gift from the Orion Group in Farmington, John and Helen Farrell, Corne-lius, Irene and Lorraine Healy, Patricia A. Heslin, Norman and JeanneHickey, Neil Hogan, Patrick M. Hogan, Paul Keroack, Daniel Kirby, ColleenKissane, James Lamey, Ruth Logan in memory of Nora V. Joyce, George

Iand Marion McWeeney, James K. Reardon and family, Tom and NoreenSlater, George Waldron, John J. White, Mrs. Francis Winston.

ISPECIAL THANKS - To Mary Plaskonas of the Ukrainian-American His-torical Society for her work on the census exhibit sponsored by the EthnicHeritage Center. Also, to participants in the Kaleidoscope program at the

, New Haven Colony Historical Society: Edith Davis. Hortense Lewis, RoseI Evans, Edna Carnegie and Sam Slie of the Connecticut Afro-American

Historical Society; Christine House of the Greek community; Elva Aponteand Celestino Cordova of the Spanish Cultural Association; Patricia Tiradoof the Mexican community; Hesung Chun Koh of the East Rock Institute;

II,

Lyent Russel1 of the Connecticut River Pow-Wow Society; Ola Nagorski ofthe Veselka Dancers and Ray and Mary Hezzey of the Ukrainian-American, Historical Society; Ann Fraulo and Phil Paolella of the Italian-American,

I Historical Society; Herbert Setlow, Sherman Kramer, Carl Newlin, JudithSchitfand Miriam Schwartz of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater NewHaven; Michael Lynch, John Moran, Frank Sinnott and the Abbey WestPlayers, John O'Donovan, Mary Stokes Ahern, Eva Madigan, Pat Heslin,Charles O'Hagan, the Horgan Academy of Dance of Naugatuck, Normanand Jeanne Hickey, the O'Brien family, Carolyn Westerfield and GeorgeWaldron of our society.

IRISH-AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETYP.O. Box 120-020

East Haven, Connecticut 06512

"We have kept faith with the past; we have handed a tradition to thefuture." Padraic Pearse

President: Jeanne Hickey, 58 Florence Ave., New Haven 06512.468-0426.

Vice President: George Waldron, 69 Pardee St., New Haven 06513.468-6948.

Secretary: Betty Gubicza, 126 Geneva Terrace, Fairfield 06430. 255-1343.

Treasurer: Michael Lynch, 171 East Grand Ave., New Haven 06513.467-5307.

Membership: $10 individual, $15 family. Send name and address andchecks made out to Irish-American Historical Society to Box 120-020,East Haven, CT 06512.

Shanachie Editor: Neil Hogan, 26 Crestview Terrace, Wallingford06492. 269-9154.

(The Shanachie: In Ireland, a shanachie is a folklorist, storyteller andkeeper of the people's traditions.)

Volume III, Number 3 Irish-American Historical Society May-June 1991

75TH ANNIVERSARY, 1916-1991

Easter Rebellion planted seeds of Iri h independenceAt noon on April 24, 1916 - Easter

Monday - a group of about 100 Irishrebels seized the General Post Office onSackville Street in Dublin, cleared thebuilding of customers and workers, ran up I

two flags - one the traditional green ban­ner with the gold harp, the other a newtricolor of orange, green and white - andproclaimed the birth of the Irish republic.

More rebels occupied other key build­ings in Dublin and word soon was flashedto London and to the world that a full­fledged rebellion had broken out inIreland.

The British brought in troops and gun­boats, shelled the strongholds of the rebelsand by April 30 quelled the rebellion. Inearly May, 14 of its leaders were court­martialed and shot.

The English thought that was the end ofthe matter, but at his court-martial, one ofthe Irish rebels, Thomas MacDonagh pre­dicted, "The Proclamation of the IrishRepublic has been adduced in evidenceagainst me as one of the signatories; youthink it is already a dead and buried letter,but it lives, it lives. From minds alightwith Ireland's vivid intellect, it sprang; inhearts aflame with Ireland's mighty love,it was conceived. Such documents do notdie ..."

MacDonagh proved to be an excellentprophet. The Easter Rebellion put downso quickly by the English simmered in thehearts of the Irish people and within threeyears all Ireland was aflame with revolu­tion.

Unable to extinguish the flames, theEnglish in 1921 accepted a truce and atreaty that within a few years ended thecenturies of occupation of most ofIreland,and in the words of Thomas Davis, madeIreland "a nation once again."

This year, 199 J, we mark the 75th anni­versary of the Easter Rebellion, whichproved to be the beginning of the end ofEnglish rule in Ireland.

We devote this issue of The Shanachieentirely to telling the story of the EasterRebellion as it was reported and reacted tohere in Connecticut. We dedicate the issueto those who gave their lives for Irish in­dependence in that rebellion.

In its Issue of Aug. 10, 1916, The Irish World and American IndustrialLiberator, an Irish nationalist newspaper printed in New York and with alarge readership in Connecticut, published this tribute to the EasterRebellion leaders executed in Dublin. Missing from the list on the Celticcross is the name of Roger Casement who was hanged Aug. 3.

..-age 2

In wake of rebellion, Connecticut Irish flailed England and worked forThe first news Connecticut people

had of the Easter Rebellion was in dis­patches published in state newspaperson Tuesday, April 25, 1916, indicatingthat an Irishman - ironically a Britishknight - Sir Roger Casement, hadbeen captured near Tralee in CountyKerry attempting to land weapons froma German ship.

The next day, the papers containedvery brief accounts of, not an insurrec­tion, but an "anti-British riot in Dub­lin." The accounts said, "Politicalrioters took possession of the post of­fice and being well armed, defied thepolice and soldiery to dislodge them ...The military authorities now have thesituation well in hand ..."

As the week progressed, it becameobvious that the unrest in Dublin wasmore than just anti-British rioting andthat the authorities didn't have the situ­ation in hand at all. By Thursday, April27, the New Haven Union's lead storyon page one appeared under the large,three-deck headline, "Martial Law De­clared Throughout Ireland As The Re­bellion Spreads."

The same day, the Union publisheda story on reaction to the revolt amongNew Haven Irish-Americans. PatrickA. Henehan, who during the late 19thcentury had spent 15 years as a politicalprisoner in England, praised the rebels,"The Irish volunteers have certainlymade a great stand in Dublin," he said,"and I believe that the revolution willset Ireland free. To set any nation free,the first blow must be struck by thenation itself. There is no doubt thatGermany is in sympathy with the Irishpeople. She knows the history and thesufferings of the Irish people better thananyone else."

Another New Havener active inIrish causes, John J. Splain, told thepaper that the rebels and those in sym­pathy with them were justified "in at­tacking England and English rule wher­ever and whenever the opportunitypresents itself."

Splain defended the reliance of therebels on Germany.

"This- is not Ireland's war," he said,"and the Irish people cannot hope togain anything from the success of theallies. They mayor may not be thegainers from German success, but theyhave never had and haven't now anyquarrel with Germany or the Germanpeople, and there are possibilities inGermany that appeal to them mightilyin the direction of Ireland's welfare ..."

The commonality of German-Irishinterests was emphasized again a fewdays later when Irish nationalist Jere­miah O'leary of New York was themain speaker at a benefit sponsored bythe German-American Alliance at theOlympia Theater in New Haven.

POBLACHT NA H EIREANN.

THt PROVISIONAt GOVERNMENTOF THE

IRISH REPUBLICTO THE PEOPLE or IRELAND.

IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN. In the name of God and of the dead gelleratlOn,from which she receives her old .radition of nationnood. l~eland. through us. summonsher children to her flag and strikes for ber freedom.

Having organised and traioed her manhood tbrough her secret revolutionar,·Jrganisation. the Irish Republican Brotherhood. and through h~r open militaryorganisatioM, lhe Irish Volunteers and the Irish CHi zen Army, having pAlienllyptlrfected her dlSctplme, havmg resolutely wailed for Ihe right moment 10 revellitself. she now seizes that moment, and. supporled by her exiled children io Americland by gallant allies in Europe. but relying in the firsl 00 her own strenglh. shestrikes In full confidence of victory.

We declare the rigbl onhe people of Irelaod to the ownersbip of IrelaDd. and tothe uofellered cootrol of Irish rtestinies. to bo sovereign and indefeasible. Th, longu.surpation of that righl by a foreign peop;e and government bas 001 eXtinguished Itorlght. Dor can II ever be .extinguished except by Ihe destruction of Ihe Irish people. Ul

every generation the IrISh people have asstrt,d their right to national freedom ar,dso.vereignty; six tim,s during the pastthru bundred y,ars th,y bave ass,rt,d il iuarms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in rhe fareof tb. world. we h,rtby proclaim tb, Irish Republic as a SOVH.igD Ind'!kDd,nt SlaL"and w, pkdgc our Iiv,. and th, liv,s of our comrades-in-arms 10 lhe cause of its freedom.of ils welfare. and of Its exaltation among tbe natiODs,

. The Irish Republic is entitled to. and hereby claims. the allegiance of everyIrIShman and IrIShwoman. The RepUblic guarantees religious 8Ild civil liberty, oqualrights and equal opportunities to all its citizens. ahd declares its resolve to pursu,tbe bappiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts. cherishing .11tb. ebildren of the nation equally, and oblivious of tbe dilTerences carefully fosteredby an ahen government. which bave divided a minority from the majority in the past.

Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of •pDrmanent National Government. reprcsentative of the whole peo~le of Ireland andelected.by lbe suffrages of all ber men and women. the Provisional Governmeot, he"o)'constituted. will administer lhe civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust forIb- people.

We place the cause or tbe lrisb RepUblic under tha protection of the Most High God,Whoso blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that Do one who serves thatcause will dishonour it by cowardice. iDhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme boqrIbe Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its chilll"n10 sacriOce themselves for lhe common good. prove Itself worthyof the /lugust destinyto whIch It i. called,

Slr"~ on Behalf of the Provhlon.1 Ooufnmcnl.

THOMAS J, CLARKE.SEAN Mac DIARllIADA. THOMAS MacDONAGH.

P. H, PEARSE. [AMONN CEANNT.JAMES CONNOLLY. JOSEPH PLUNKETT

A facsimile of the proclamation read on the steps of theGeneral Post Office in Dublin on April 24, 1916.

Speaking before a crowd estimated from throughout Connecticut gatheredat 4,000 -"one of the largest and most in afternoon and evening sessions at theenthusiastic meetings ever held in this Bijou Theater in New Haven to organ­city in connection with war activities," ize a Connecticut chapter of the Friendssaid the Journal-Courier - O'leary of Irish Freedom.tore into those who criticized the Irish "The meeting of the afternoon wasrebels. "Why criticize the Irish who are largely devoted to business and discus­now striving for the same liberty in sion of the principles of the Friends oftheir little island that the American Irish Freedom, while the evening meet­Revolution strove for?" he asked. ing might be said to have been a giant"Why call Sir Roger Casement a traitor protest meeting against the martyrdomswhen the only difference between him of the Dublin men," reported the Jour­and Washington was that he failed nal-Courier.where Washington succeeded?" The Register described the meeting

After O'leary's talk and a program thus: "Denouncing England as a ravish­of music provided by the city's German er of small nationalities and defenselesssocieties, the hat was passed and $1,700 I people; declaring that that country iswas collected to be used for the rebuild- shrewdly asking at the expense of hering of homes in East Prussia destroyed allies only to gather the glutton's sliceby the Russian army. when the spoils of the great war are

The execution of the leaders of the thrown on the bargain counter of Eu­Irish rebellion beginning on May 3 rope, and asserting that the home rulestirred up even more resentment and measure is insincere, used as a bait toon Sunday, May 14, Irish-Americans' cheat Ireland and delude the world,

freedom of Emerald Isle3,000 Irish men and women yesterdayafternoon resolved to join the move­ment to free Ireland from English rulein one of the greatest mass meetingsever held in the state."

After a prayer by Father JeremiahCrowley of New London, attorneyFrancis F. Guilfoyle of Waterbury waselected temporary chairman. He toldthe audience that the purpose of theFriends of Irish Freedom was not toinfluence the United States to takesides in the war in Europe, but to re­mind America of the advice of Gen.Washington to avoid entangling alli­ances and to be "watchful to preventthe baleful influence of England frompoisoning the life of free America."

The Friends of Irish Freedom, hesaid, were American citizens but theirlove of their race was instinctive andnatural, and no true Irishman couldlook with equanimity on the loss ofIrish nationality and its blending withBritish imperialism.

Another speaker, Charlotte Molyn­eaux Holloway of New London, wasgreeted, said the Union, "with an en­thusiasm that was a faint echo of theesteem and appreciation in which she isheld. Miss Holloway, who is a patriot,original and brilliant, referred to Ire­land's heart which is bleeding todayand will not cease until the wrongs ofher martyrs are righted."

Still another speaker, Judge John W.Goff, chastized England and the Ameri­can press for playing down the signifi­cance of the rebellion. "Persistent ef­forts have been made by the Englishnews agencies, speaking through theAmerican newspapers to minimizewhat was really a rebellion into an in­consequential street riot.

"That it was a rebellion, and a san­guinary one while it lasted, is now re­luctantly admitted. It has been so de­clared by the proclamation ofexecutioner-shot rebels and not streetrioters.

"Were they street rioters, we wouldnot be here to acclaim them, for whilethe Irishman may have his faults, yet inthis and every country where he has fairplay, he measures fairly well up to thestandards ofgood and loyal citizenship.

"In Ireland only is he a rebel. There,from historical association the termsrebel and patriot are synonymous andso long as unjust and tyrannical Englishrule affiicts Ireland, so long will he be arebel and patriot."

Officers elected for the new organi­zation included Philip J. Sullivan ofThompsonville, president; Michael J.Quinn of New Haven, secretary; JamesP. Larkin of New Haven, treasurer. Theexecutive committee comprised M.1.Clabby, Fairfield County; Timothy

Please turn to page 8

Page 3

The Easter Rebellion at a glanceThe Easter Rebellion in Dublin in 1916 was over in

a week, but like a stone thrown into a pond, theripples it caused were felt long after the events them­selves.

April 21 - Friday - Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement is captured nearTralee in County Kerry attempting to land a shipment of 20,000 rifles and 5million rounds of ammunition provided by the German government for therebellion.

April 24 - Easter Monday - Irish rebels occupy the General Post Officeand other buildings in Dublin and proclaim an Irish Republic.

April 25 - Tuesday - English rush reinforcements to Dublin. Connecticutpapers publish brief announcements of "anti-British riot" in Dublin.

April 26 - Wednesday - Irish rebellion becomes lead story in Connecti­cut newspapers. Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, a Dublin editor who had lecturedin New Haven in November 1915, is shot by an English firing squad.

April 27 - Thursday - Martial law proclaimed throughout Ireland.April 28 - Friday - Former Hartford and Waterbury newspaperman and

New Haven lawyer James M. Sullivan is arrested in Dublin for complicity inthe rebellion.

April 29 - Saturday - Leaders of the rebellion surrender their troops.April 30 - Sunday - 4,000 German-Americans and Irish-Americans hear

Irish nationalist Jeremiah O'Leary compare the Dublin rebels to AmericanRevolutionary War leaders at a meeting sponsored by the German-AmericanAlliance at the Olympia Theater in New Haven. .

May 3 - Wednesday - Rebels Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh andThomas Clarke executed.

May 4 - Thursday - Rebels Joseph Plunkett, Edward Daly, MichaelO'Hanrahan and Willie Pearse executed.

May 5 - Friday - Rebel John MacBride executed.May 8 - Monday - Rebels Edmund Kent, Michael Mallin, J.1. Heuston

. and Cornelius Colbert executed.May 9 - Tuesday - James M. Sullivan released.May 12 - Friday - Rebels Sean MacDermott and James Connolly

executed.May 14 - Sunday - Connecticut branch of Friends of Irish Freedom

organized by 3,000 Irish-Americans from throughout the state at a meeting atthe Bijou Theater in New Haven.

June 4 - Sunday - 2,000 attend mass meeting in Waterbury to showsupport for Irish rebels.

June 10 - Saturday - Irish Relief Day is conducted by Irish-Americansthroughout the state.

June 11 - Sunday - Mass meeting of Friends of Irish Freedom inAnsonia.

June 16 - Friday - Padraic H. Pearse Branch of Friends ofirish Freedomis founded in Derby.

June 25 - Sunday - Mass meeting ofIrish at Plaza Theater in Bridgeport.July 16 - Sunday - Lithuanian convention in New Haven adopts resolu­

tion sympathizing with the people of Ireland.July 22-23 - Saturday-Sunday - United Irish Societies meet in Hartford

and adopt resolutions supporting Ireland.August 3 - Thursday - Roger Casement is hanged in England. Walling­

ford Auxiliary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians announces plans for raisingmoney for Irish Relief Fund.

August 6 - Sunday - John Dillon Club of Meriden denounces executionof Casement.

August 24 - Thursday - A.O.H. state convention adopts resolutionsabhoring butchery in Ireland. New Irish tri-color flag is displayed by A.O.H.

, chapters.October 14 - Saturday - Fenian Ram submarine is removed from shed

, on Mill River in New Haven where it has been stored for 40 years. It will be an\ attraction at the Irish Relief Fund bazaar at Madison Square Garden in New, York City., January 28, 1917 - Sunday - Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington, wife of the

slain editor, tells a packed house at New Haven's Poli threater that Ireland does: not want reconciliation with England, but will settle only for complete divorce.iJ .....J

Page 4

Letters from kin in County Wicklow and Dublin described devastationLetters received in New Haven and

Derby shortly after the rebellion endedgave some insight into the situation inIreland.

One letter was written by a Yale pro­fessor's sister who lived in the town ofBray, County Wicklow, just 12 milessouth of Dublin. The professor suppliedthe letter to the Journal-Courier whichprinted it, unfortunately without theoriginal date or the name of the authoror the professor, on May 16, 1916.

"Even today," the letter began, "wecan't hear much news - none in factexcept what comes through the Englishpapers. The isolation has beenextraordinary.

"For two days we heard nothingfrom Dublin. Then on Friday morningS. got through in a laundry van to En­niskerry. She could not get back totown that night. Dr. S. motored her byBallsbridge next day. She had an awfultime.

"The fighting round LandsdowneRoad has been presistent. The stationand houses nearby have been taken andre-taken. The Trinity Botanic Gardenshave been occupied by the rebels and ofcourse no one round was safe.

"S. had to take in a family from oneof the homes overlooking the square.Bullets had reached S.'s garden and hitthe walls of the house. The soldiers ranall over the place. An English officersaid to her: 'Your Irishmen fight well.They went on fighting us in the school­house even when their clothes were inflames.'

"The rebels have had to be burnedout of many of the houses. It was des-

perate fighting for the soldiers, as theydidn't know where the rebels were norwhere they would be sniped from. Butwe haven't failed to learn somethingfrom the Germans. One device theytried to escape the sniping was to stringtwenty-five or so of the rebels to form aguard for a company of soldiers - buteven then the rebels fired at them.

"What an incredible tale of wild ro­mance it all makes! The Germancruiser captured - Sir Roger Case­ment's escape from her and landing ­the leaders who were to have met himastray on the Kerry roads and drownedin their wild rush to escape from pursu­ers - Casement's capture.

"The plans all came to near success.Then it seems the leaders of the rebelswere divided as to action. The oldermembers wanted to postpone theplanned rising, did in fact their best topostpone it. MacNeill and the O'Rahil­Iy went personally to all the southerncenters begging the men not to rise. Butthe younger leaders in Dublin were de­termined to rush the thing, oblivious ofthe initial failure of their plans. Andhere we are!

"There's an awful bitterness againstthem all, of course. One of the mostmelancholy things about these misguid­ed patriots is that all the world callsthem traitors, never realising that menof this sort never gave any loyalty toEngland nor really accepted her rule.Would you ever have believed all thesame that so much of this so-called dis­loyalty still lived in Ireland? It certainlyis an amazement to me to find themovement so strong. I had got into the

habit of thinking so much of it was talk."The soldiers are all over the

country now. Killiney Hill is held byabout two hundred. Vico Road is en­trenched. Another lot occupy LittleSugar Loaf watching for the Wicklowmen. It's so strange to hear the old, oldcries! The Wicklow boys are up! Derryis up! There's a rising round Wexford!

"We are all short of food, of course,S.c. is trying to get a food ship fromLiverpool for Bray."

On June 7, the Ansonia Sentinelprinted portions of a letter written toJohn P. Wall of Derby by his niece wholived in Dublin. The letter was writtenMay 22 and bore "the seal of the offi­cial censor."

"I suppose you have heard," theniece wrote, "of the rebellion in Dublinand of all the brave Irish boys who havemet their death there. Ireland at thepresent time is in a dreadful state. Thebeautiful metropolis is destroyed. Imag­ine the most beautiful street in Europe- I may say in the world - in a heapof ruins and thousands of wives andorphans starving.

"England sent her soldiers over hereand has about 2,000 of our gallant Irishboys transported to England there towait til it suits England to get themback. God alone knows their fate. Agood many men especially have beenshot. "

"You in America cannot realize howour little isle is today. No, you can't. Ittakes ourselves who are born andreared on the land to do that, ...;,

Journalist slain by firing squad visited state five months before uprisingFive months before the Easter Re­

bellion, one of its heroes spoke before alarge audience at Eagles Hall in NewHaven.

On Nov. 30, 1915, Francis SheehySkeffington, editor of the Irish Citizenin Dublin, spoke at a meeting comme­morating the death of the Manchestermartyrs - William Allen, Philip lar­kin and Michael O'Brien, three Irish­men who were executed in Manchester,England, in connection with the fatalshooting ofa policeman during the free­ing of Fenians from a prison there.

At the New Haven meeting, spon­sored by the Wolfe Tone and Emmettclubs, Skeffington spoke of the deter­mination of many in Ireland to resistany attempt to conscript Irishmen tofight in the English army againstGermany.

"But already," he said, in a prefigur­ing of later events, "large armed bandsof Irish volunteers are ready and wait­ing for England to make a more seriousmove toward conscription. Better to die

at home, refusing to do the dirty workof England, than to die in the trenches

""It is a lesson of self-sacrifice," he

continued, "that comes to us from theexecution at Manchester, a self-sacrificethat we may need to display ... Thererings today through the hills and dalesof old Ireland the burning prayer of asuppressed people, 'God punishEngland.",

While not one of the rebels, Skeffing- .ton, a pacifist, was killed in a particu- ;larly brutal and senseless incident dur­ing the uprising.

Early in the week, he had risked hislife in an attempt to help a British offi­cer who had been wounded and waslying bleeding in a crossfire. Even so,Skeffington was arrested on Tuesdayevening, April 25, forced to go as ahostage on a British patrol and the fol­lowing morning shot to death on theorders of a Capt. Bowen-Colthurst.

The firing squad did its job badly

and a second squad had to be called outto finish the job.

In 1917, Skeffington's widow, Han­na Sheehy Skeffington, came to Ameri­ca, although denied a passport by theEnglish, and went on a lecture tour topromote support for the cause of Irishindependence. After speaking at Carne­gie Hall in New York City and FaneuilHall in Boston, she came to New Ha­ven on Jan. 28 for an appearance atPoli's theater.

"She made an almost pathetic fig­ure," reported the Register the nextday, "as she stood on the platformdressed in black and simply and repres­sedly told her tale in simple, but force­ful English. She said she felt if she hadconverted one person to the cause ofIrish freedom she would have dis­charged the vow she made to her hus­band's memory."

"We don't want reconciliation withEngland now," she said. "It is too late.We want absolute divorce and willstand for nothing else."

The submarine did, indeed, prove tobe a big drawing card at the Irish reliefexhibit. "Perhaps the most interestingexhibit at the Bazaar," commented theIrish World, "is the original Hollandsubmarine,the history of which is wellknown to Irish World readers. It wasconstructed by John P. Holland, aidedby funds collected by the Irish World."

The paper indicated that the job ofmoving the submarine "was a big oneand cost between $1,000 and $1,500.Smedley & Co. worked three days to getit from the shed to Belle Dock and it isunderstood it cost $500 for their workalone."

"It was an odd coincidence that thequaint craft, dedicated to the cause ofIrish freedom nearly a half century agoby the hand of stalwart Irish patriots,shljuld today be chosen as a big draw­ing card at a fair dedicated to the reliefof suffering Ireland.

The Register ran three pictures ofthe submarine with its story, one ofthem showing Capt. O'Brien and an­other man standing atop it. "Capt.Larry O'Brien," it reported, "says hedoes not know whether it will evercome back to New Haven, but that hethinks not: 'If it is a means of helpingthe fund for Irish relief, it will be doingas great a work as was originally intend­ed. After they get through with it atMadison Square, I think it will be ex­hibited at other fairs.'''

I

'. I r~ ~ til ~.

1.0----- - ..• -------

J.

~-": .... ~

'.:~'" \.

This diagram of the Fenian Ram, with both side and head-on views, waspublished in the New Haven Register on Sunday, March 21, 1915, with astory about the history of submarine warfare.

also indicated that 1,500 tag boxes were might be of service in the cause ofbeing constructed for placing in stores Ireland.and shops around the city. "Late yesterday afternoon," reported

As it turned out, the women did the Register on Sunday, Oct. 15, 1916,such a thorough job that they ran out of "the Fenian Ram, mother of all mod­tags and an extra 10,000 had to be fash- ern U-boats, and for forty years hiddenioned, according to the Union, "with under an old shed in River street, wasno printing on them, which many of the safely hauled to Belle Dock and it willpublic thought were fake tags and later be put upon a barge and taken to Newin the day 10,000 green tags with 'Irish York today or tomorrow where it willRelief Fund' printed on them were giv- be the feature attraction at the Irishen out for distribution. As it was, up- relief bazaar at Madison Squarewards of 50,000 tags were sold by the Garden.400 ladies and girls who took outboxes."

The proceeds from the collection inNew Haven totaled $4,300.

Later in the year, New Haven's Irishfound another way to help their needykinsmen - a miniature submarinenamed the Fenian Ram.

In the I870s, John Holland, a nativeof County Clare, with the financialbacking of the Fenian organization inthe United States built one of the earli­est submarines as a weapon againstEngland. Dubbed the Fenian Ram, thesubmarine was constructed at the Dela­mater Iron Works in New York Cityand tested in the waters around thatcity.

Subsequently, the Fenians had theirRam hauled up to New Haven with theidea that it could be tested better andwith more secrecy in the calm waters ofthe harbor than around New York City.

Here in the late I870s, Irish patriotssuch as James Reynolds, PatrickO'Connor and Lawrence O'Brien aresaid to have put the Ram through trialruns up and down New Haven Harborin anticipation of the time when itwould be used against English ships.

Eventually the scheme to strike ablow for Ireland with the submarinefaded and the Ram, which was only 33feet long, was stored in a shed owned byReynolds along the Mill River and allbut forgotten.

After the Easter Rebellion, however,New Haven's Irish hit upon anotherscheme by which the Fenian Ram

In the wake of the death and destruc­tion in Ireland, Irish-Americansmounted a nationwide campaign toraise funds for those left hungry andhomeless and for the families of thesoldiers who had been sent to prison inEngland.

Many of the fund-raising activitieswere scheduled on the weekend of June10 and Connecticut communities largeand small participated.

In little Ridgefield, reported theDanbury News on June 14, "St. Mary'sHall was taxed to its capacity at thebenefit entertainment for the relief ofthe sufferers in Ireland. Ed J. Roachpresided and after a few remarks intro­duced the first speaker, Rev. R.E. Shor­tell. Father Shortell spoke touchingly ofthe beauties of charity which those whowere present were practicing in assist­ing the distressed in the far-off land."

In addition to speeches, the programfeatured, "recitations, songs and Irishjigs ... An orchestra from Danbury fur­nished the music. The evening endedwith Irish songs and all enjoyeddancing." ..

In Danbury itself, the fund-ralsmgtook the form of "a pictorial review andtravelogue of Ireland, presented byMiss Kathleen Mathew of New YorkCity." Mathew showed streets scenesfrom Dublin, including the sights of therecent revolt, and scenes from Limer­ick, Mayo, the Lakes of Killarney andBlarney Castle.

The program, which also includedvocal selections by Lillian C. Lynchand James E. Brennan, was sponsoredby the Ancient Order of Hibernians, theEmmet Club, the Knights of Columbus,the Young Men's Temperance Associa­tion and St. Peter's Young Men's Club.

In many communities, the fund-rais­ing effort took the form of a tag day onSaturday, June 10, when volunteers,mostly women, sold green, orange andwhite tags in public places with the pro­ceeds going to the Irish Relief FundCommittee based in New York.

"Nearly $800 was raised for the re­lief of the distressed people of Ireland...," reported the Ansonia Sentinel."The tag day was brought to a close at 7o'clock in the evening when the taggersreported to the committee ... and thecou!1ting commenced. After the count,the money was taken to the Bir­mingham National Bank where it ~ill

remain until turned over to the InshRelief Committee .,. It is estimatedthat about 11,000 tags were sold in(Derby) and Shelton ..."

In New Haven, more than 100 wom­en attended a meeting of volunteers onJune 7. Chairman Philip Troup, thecity postmaster, announced that theWolfe Tone Club had gotten the driveoff to a good start by donating $250. He

"In the same proportion are the dis­contents and trouble-makers for theIrish cause in this country. These dis­contents are so voluble, so domineer­ing, so perniciously active that theyhave apparently overawed the greatb~dy of modest, silent, intelligentthInkers who have given moral andfinancial aid to the cause of Ireland aspersonified today by John Redmond.

. "~hy should a hundred loyal, aspir­Ing Inshmen and Irish sympathizers becowed by one, noisy, vociferating dem­a.gogue? Th~t is about the true propor­tion of sentiment in this country as wellas in Ireland; and that 'one' whose oc­cupation would be gone if the Irishquestion was finally settled brings hu­miliation and a sense of shame to thereal friends of Ireland.

"Were it not for the innocent bloodspilled by the fanatical rebels on Dublinstreets, the recent uprising in Irelandwo~~d be t~e joke of the century. InfutIlity nothIng compares with this op­era buffet rebellion."

Lithuanian convention gave support to IrishUnder a dateline of July 16, 1916, the Irish World and American

Industrial Liberator reported from New Haven, "A conference of LIthuani­ans was held here this evening, under the auspices of the AmericanRelief Fund, In aid of Lithuanian war sufferers. The resolutions calledupon the American Government to use Its 'best efforts at the PeaceConference for the restoration of independence to Lithuania, as well asother oppressed nations,' and referred especially to Ireland:

"'We desire to express our deep sympathy with the Irish people intheir struggle for Independence of their country, and we protest in thestrongest manner against the recent wholesale execution of Irish leadersand the prospective execution of Sir Roger Casement now under sen­tence of death."

death, and crowded into unsanitaryquarters and compelled to lie on a barefloor with groaning and wounded men,and told when I protested that the placewas 'too good' for me, and I ought to bepoisoned.

"That I was compelled to sleep onthe bare boards of a crowded room foreight nights, the same room serving fora lavatory for the thirty-odd souls con­fined therein, no one of whom was fur­nished with any means of preservingthe most elementary laws of cleanli­ness, that in this room there was notprotection from the damp and cold ex­cept that in the later days of my impris­onment I was given a blanket.

"That from the time I was arrested Iwas not permitted to communicatewith the American counsel and thatwhen my family, having learned of myimprisonment, was told upon inquirythat I was sent to England. I was still inDublin Castle, from which place I wasremoved on April 30 to Kilmainham

Attorney denounced 'opera buffet rebellion'Not all Connecticut Irish stood be­

hind the rebels in Dublin. A New Ha­ven attorney, John F. Wynne, wrote ascathing letter which the Register print­ed on May 15, 1916.

"There are a few pestifarous, ma­chine-made Irish patriots in thiscountry who noisily misrepresent agreat body of men of Irish birth andIrish parentage," he began.

"These disturbers of the peace arenow holding meetings in the variouscenters of population in our countryand indulging in the most vitriolic dia­tribes against all things English and in­cidentally against John Redmond, theuncrowned king of Ireland, who hasgiven the best years of his life and hissplendid talents to the service of theIrish people and the ever-present Irishcause. That Redmond is appreciatedand revered by the people he has sofaithfully served is demonstrated by thepitiably few 'scatter brains' in Irelandwho are out of touch with the exaltedhopes and aspirations of this greatleader.

Page 6

Onetime Connecticut newspaperman was jailed for alleged role in plotjail.

"That at the time of my arrest, I hadupon my person a proper passport is­sued by the state department at Wash­ington, and renewed by the Americanconsulate at Dublin. That since I havebeen in this country, I have faithfully inletter and spirit complied with the regu­lations and rules governing the conductof aliens, and that I have had no com­munications or dealings with the menwho have had the revolutionary move­ment in hand.

"That at no time during my arrestwas I charged with any offense. in con­sequence of the aforesaid arrest, I havesuffered greviously, my wife has beensubjected to much mental anguish at atime when her condition is most deli­cate, my own health is shattered by thecruel conditions of my imprisonmentand I respectfully request that a properclaim for compensation and damagesbe made on my behalf by my govern­ment upon the British government."

Connecticut residents were shockedto learn that James M. Sullivan, anIrish-American lawyer with state con­nections, had been arrested for compli­city in the uprising.

Born in Killarney, County Kerry, in1873, Sullivan came to Massachusettswith his family when only a child andlater became a newspaperman, firstwith the Hartford Courant and then theWaterbury American.

He entered Yale Law School, gradu­ated in the class of 1902 and beganpracticing in New Haven where he wonacclaim defending members of theTeamsters Union during a strike.

While in New Haven, he also wasactive in the Ancient Order of Hiber­nians and the Clan-na-Gael and was indemand as an impassioned and effec­tive orator for Irish freedom.

Moving to New York City, Sullivanbecame involved in Democratic Partypolitics, and was· rewarded by beingnamed ambassador to the DominicanRepublic by Secretary of State WilliamJennings Bryan.

He was forced to resign that postafter an inve~tigation into the awarding i~f contracts In the Dominican Repub­lic, although the investigation uncov­ered no evidence to suggest that he hadprofited from irregularities in the con­tracts.

J\fter the Dominican Republic affair,Sullivan returned to Ireland with hiswife and son to live with her fatherattorney Stephen O'Mara, a forme;mayor of Limerick.

On May 4, 1916, Connecticut papersreported that Sullivan had been arrest­ed in Dublin as one of the plotters ofthe rebellion.

Released on May 9, Sullivan laterfiled a complaint that provides somedetails about the treatment of those ar­rested at the time of the rebellion: "I,James M. Sullivan, an American citi­zen, at present residing in Dublin wason April 28th last placed under ~rrestby the Dublin military authorities andthat I was kept a prisoner for eight daysand at the expiration of that time I wasdischarged from custody. '

"That I was held a prisoner undermost cruel conditions insomuch that Iwas not given proper or necessary food.I had no protection from cold, I wasdenied drinking water except at rare in­tervals and was without the most prim­itive sanitary accommodations.

"That, although my residence wasbut a short distance from where I wasincarcerated, I was kept from any com­munication with my home, preventedfrom securing clean clothing and de­nied the request to use my own moneyfor the necessities that were denied me.

"That I was handled roughly by thekeepers, constantly threatened with

Page 7

Milford resident recalls Casement's capture and County Kerry fighting

Newspaper editorialist was good prophet

Executions changed views of state's press

Probably the most incisive analysis of the uprising in Ireland was thatoffered by the New Haven Times-Leader in a remarkably prophetic edito­rial:

"At intervals during 700 years, Irish leaders have been shot to deathor hanged on the scaffold high. England has shown no mercy, but history

; tells us that her acts, which are called 'military justice,' have not beenfollowed by political benefits.

"The Irish desire for freedom and fair play can"t be killed by killingthose who fight to win it. The Irish leaders who were executed yesterdayundoubtedly violated English law, but death sentence was not a wisesentence to impose - all past history proves It - all future history willmake the error plainer than it is now."

door, ordered us out and proceeded topour gasoline over everything. Theystole anything of value and smashedanything breakable.

"My parents, my sister and I wereout in the front yard and in our nightclothes; it was a very cold Novembernight. The soldiers were very drunk andI feared for my father so I pushed himinto the stable with our very bad tem­pered horse who hated strangers.

"Our neighbors were kind and tookus in for sleeping. We had to returnduring the day to take care of the ani­mals so the windows got boarded upand the roof held. It was not exactlyluxury living."

vinced that the action of the (English)government in executing the three lead­ers of the insurrection, while absolutelywithin legal and moral rights, was inex­pedient and will ultimately make Eng­land's problems in Ireland more diffi­cult to solve ..."

"A dispatch telling of the Irish pris­oners marching from Richmond bar­racks to the quay preparatory to beingsent to England, says that many personsgathered at the windows. There were afew cheers and some waving of hand­kerchiefs. One of the spectators whoseemed to voice the feelings of manyothers remarked, 'Why shouldn't wecheer them; even if they have done acrazy thing. They have been brave andare our flesh and blood.'''

The third editorial, published May13 after all the leaders had been execut­ed, stated, in terms. considerably lessgenerous to the Engli h, "The Britishershave stirred up a are's nest whichpromises to bring ut their ears acontinuous performa ce of trouble. It iseasy to see how the istake of shootingthe insurrectionists as made, but it isnot easy to see wh re the difficultieswhich the shootings ntailed will end."

Newspaper editorials in Connecticutwere at first generally unsympathetic tothe Easter Rebellion, but when the Brit­ish began systematically shooting itsleaders, the tone of many editorialschanged.

Three editorials that appeared in theMeriden Morning Record in rapidsuccession illustrate the metamorphosisof newspaper opinion.

The first editorial was published onMay 2, after the rebels had surrenderedbut before the executions began. "TheIrish Republic died aborning," it began."The schoolmaster president's (PadraicPearse) authority was so brief that de­priving him of it was not taking any­thing to which he was accustomed. Atragic farce which has been punctuatedwith blood and fire and all to no pur­pose. A flash in the pan was the insur­rection by the Sinn Feiners. ". The second editorial appeared on

May 6, three days after the first three ofthe rebellion's leaders had been shot,and showed the beginning of a changein opinion both in the newspaper andin Ireland: "Even those who considerthe recent happenings in Ireland from adisinterested point of view are con-

also. Sgt. Reagan and his family leftCastlegregory, never to be seen again.

"My three brothers were on the runin the mountains and we do have a lotof mountains in Kerry.

"England was getting desperate ­what to do with the Irish - so theyopened up their jails, put the convicts

. in uniform and sent us the black andtan. They came in big caged lorries.

. They shot at anything that moved, in­nocent men doing their farm work inthe fields were shot for no reason.

"They raided our home at least fourtimes a week, tore it apart looking forarms and my brothers. Finally, theycame at 4 a.m., kicked in our front

Even though 7S years have passed,there still reside in Connecticut todaysome Irish people who lived throughthe years of the Easter Rebellion andthe ensuing War of Independence.

One of them is Nora BrosnanMcKenna, a native of Castlegregory,County Kerry who now lives in Mil­ford.

Several years ago, Mrs. McKennatold Johnny Moran of our society abouther experiences during the troubles:

"This is my memory of 1916 to1923. I was 10 years old and I knew theboys drilled every evening and week­en~ All the kids watched them. Mybrother Tadg was commandant of WestKerry. Tadg was waiting for word fromDublin about the landing of the Aud,the ship bringing arms from Germany.

"In the meantime, the Aud was atanchor off the coast of Kerry. It wassupposed to arrive on Easter Sundaybut instead arrived on Holy Thursday.

"Roger Casement was on boardwaiting for a pilot that never came. OnGood Friday, he came ashore in a smallboat and landed at Banna Strand, andtook refuge in McKenna's fort - myhusband's uncle's farm. No one knewhe was there. The Royal Irish Constab­ulary got a tip, went to Banna Strandand arrested him. He was taken to Tra­lee jail, sent to England to Penningtonprison, tried and executed.

"The Aud was captured and the Brit­ish knew the whole story before theship left Germany.

"May I, 1916, my brothers Tadg andSean were arrested and taken to Dub­lin. Our local RIC sergeant -'- by theway, his name was Reagan - knew allTadg's activities and was there to tes­tify. Tadg was sentenced to life com­muted to 20 years. He was sent to Eng­land to Dartmoor Prison.

"England was trying very hard to re­cruit the Irish to fight her war withGermany and in 1917 there was a gen­eral release of all political prisoners.Tadg came home and went right backintI) the fight.

"We had a police barracks in Castle­gregory, four RICs and Sgt. Reagan.They were the eyes and ears of the Brit­ish military. They were all young Irish­men and were asked to resign and jointhe IRA. Some did while others stayed'­and helped by giving information an~

the remaining became spies for theBritish military.

"The fighting got hotter with am- ,bushes everywhere, roads blown up andCastlegregory barracks was blown up

Page 8

Easter Rebellion supported at mass meetings throughout Connecticutletter to his mother were read.

In Derby a few nights later, a Friendsof Irish Freedom unit was organizedand took the name of Padraic PearseChapter.

On July 23-24, a convention of theUnited Irish Societies of Hartford metat the Michael Davitt Club on PearlStreet and, said the Hartford Courant,"passed resolutions denouncing thedespotic attitude of the British govern­ment toward the Sinn Feiners who in­stigated the recent rebellion in Ireland."

In August, 10,000 Connecticut Irishmen and women gathered in Middle­town for the Ancient Order of Hiber­nians' convention and field day. Theconvention adopted a resolution de­nouncing England's reaction to the re­bellion after hearing its chaplain, Fa­ther ~dward Flannery, state, "Thebarbanty toward Ireland of her ancientfoe has proved once more that the leo­pard among the nations never changesher spots. The prediction has come trueagain that where Ireland is concernedEngland is not to be trusted." ,

of the two former colors representedthe two major divisions of the people ofthe island while the white betweenthem represented peace andreconciliation.

Previous to the rebellion, the flagdisplayed by Irish nationalists was thetraditional gold harp on a green back­ground and in Connecticut, as else­where, the use of the new tricolorevoked comment.

When o.range, green and white tagswere used In Derby and Shelton in thetag day fund-raising activities in earlyJune for the relief of the Irish the An­sonia Sentinel reported, "Ma~y peoplewondered and asked the members ofthe committee what the tricolorssignified. "

And when the New Haven divisionsof the Ancient Order of Hibernians leftfor the annual state field day and con­vention in Mi~dletown in August, theiruse of the tncolor was noted in theRegister in a page one headline:"A.O.H. Men Fly New Irish Flag Col­ors of 'Irish Republic' Unfurl~d at

I Head of Hibernian Parade on Way toBig puting."

"Conspicuous in the line of march"said the paper, "was the display of thenew Irish flag of green, white and gold.It waved gaily side by side with theUnited States banners, while the old~ag of .the golde.n harp on a green bodyintermingled With the red, white andblue from the sides of theautomobiles."

Tri~olor flag is legacy of 1916 insurrectionOne of the legacies of the Easter Re­

bellion was a new tricolor flag of green,gold or orange, and white. The stripes

nities also.In Bridgeport, on Sunday, June 25,

hundreds of people packed the PlazaTheater to hear talks by Splain andJohn Jerome Rooney of New York."Enthusiasm ran high throughout theevening and the speakers met with anunusually warm welcome," commentedthe Bridgeport Telegram.

In Bridgeport also, on May 31, dele­gates to the Connecticut Socialist Partyconvention welcomed Cornelius Le­hane, an Irish socialist leader. Lehanetold them that the Dublin revolt wasengineered to forestall a plan of theEnglish to seize the city and break theanti-conscription movement. He saidthat the rebellion in Dublin was theonly bright spot in the war and declaredthat the shooting of the leaders of therising would only inspire others to workand die for the cause.

At a mass meeting at the AnsoniaOpera House, the Irish World reported"many men and women gave way totears," as the proclamation of the IrishRepublic and Padraic Pearse's farewell

IRISH-AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETYP.O. Box 12CH>20

East Haven, Connecticut 06512

"W~,have kept faith with the past; we have handed a tradition to thefuture. Padraic Pearse

Shanachie motto taken from speech by PearseThe motto which appears in each issue of The Shanachie has its roots

in the Easter Rebellion. At his court-martial after the surrender, PadraicPearse told the court that he was, indeed, the commander-in-chief of theuprising and said of the rebels, "We have kept faith with the past, andhanded a tradition to the future." We think Pearse's words summarizewell what our historical society hopes to achieve, just as they summa­rized well what the 1916 rebellion did achieve.

President: Jeanne Hickey, 58 Florence Ave. New Haven 06512 468-0426. ,.

Vice President: George Waldron, 69 Pardee St. New Haven 06513468-6948. ,.

Secretary: Betty Gubicza, 126 Geneva Terrace Fairfield 06430 255-1343. ,.

Treasurer: Michael Lynch, 171 East Grand Ave. New Haven 06513467-5307. ,.

Membership: $10 indiVidual, $15 family. Send name and address andchecks made out to Irish-American Historical Society to Box 12CH>20East Haven, CT 06512. '

Shanachie Editor: Neil Hogan, 26 Crestview Terrace Wallingford06492. 269-9154. '

(The Shanachie: In Ireland, a shanachie is a folklorist, storyteller andkeeper of the people's traditions.)

Continued from page 3

Luddy, New Haven County; Thomas J.Smith, Hartford County; Dr. TimothyF. Ryan, Litchfield County; Thomas C.Donahue, New London County; JohnC. Healy, Middlesex County; John J.McYoung, Windham County; PatrickJ. Murray, Tolland County.

The meetings adopted a series of res­olutions, one of which stated, "Re­solved that we give our hearty and un­qualified endorsement to the aims andpurposes of the Irish volunteers; thatwe hope for the spirit animating themto become the spirit of the whole Irishpeople; that we pray God may speedthe hour when the seeds of religiousdissension and the fires of religious ani­mosities planted and fed by England tokeep Ireland divided shall vanish forev­er in the sunlight of a broad and com­prehensive union of thought and affec­tion and national brotherhood that willmerge orange and green in a commonbond of unity and purpose to work outIreland's destiny as a nation governedby her own people, for her own peopleand with no alien flag flying over asingle inch of Irish soil."

While New Haven seems to havebeen the hotbed of reaction to the up­rising and executions, mass meetingswere held in other Connecticut commu-

ch£ sh~~ch1eVolume III, Number 4 Irish-American Historical Society July-August 1991

Beautiful lassie from Norwich had baseball hero's numberDan Murphy had a lough lime

choo 109 belwe n hi two love ­baseball and the girl from Norwich.

Back around the lum of Ihe century,Murphy was one of Ihe most promisingyoung ballplayers in the ConnecticutLeague, a professional league whichsupplied a number of players to themaJors.

Murphy was, said one Connecticutnewspaper. "without a doubt the b stand timeliest hitter in the Conne ticutLeague. though a a second basemanthere are others ... who are his equals."

In 1900, Murphy got hi first chancein the big leagues when he was acquiredby the New York Giants. He playedwell 10 his first few games with the Gi­ants, but when the team went to Bostonfor a series, Murphy went AWOL.

"At once Murphy was absenl," re­ported the newspaper, "and coul notbe accounted for. He was in Norwich.After the serie , the team went back toNew York by a route which passesthrough Norwich. Murphy was withthem until the team got to Norwich andthen he disappeared. When he did howup, he had a story for the New Yorkmanagement about having gotten lostIn Boston. a place he knows as well ashis own room."

The Giants promptly s nt Murphyback to Norwich.

"Murphy likes Norwich," conlinu dthe paper, "but it is not Norwich thathas the heart of the great batter."

Indeed, what had the ballplayer'sheart was a Norwich lass. "The onlyreason that Dan Murphy has not goneto faster company long before and theonly reason why he id not stay therewhen he was there ...," commentedthe paper. "is that he has a girl in Nor­wich that he will not leave. Fo Dan tobe away from that girl is an exi teneethat holds out ab olutely no charms forhim. Money can ot make up for theabsence of his sweetheart. As long asshe doesn't consent to marry him and

do It, Dan Murph J ' heart will be inNorwich no matter where he and hisbat are."

Murphy's girl, ontinued the new ­paper ' is a thoroughly fine youngwoman who is said to possess morethan her share of good looks . .. heresides on Foresl Street in Norwich inthe district known locally as 'the Kerry'from some tradition f years ago."

The love-struck second baseman hada great year with the Norwich club in1901 and in 1902 the Philadelphia Ath­letics wanted to purchase him. The A'sran into the same pr blem as the Gi­ants, however.

"Jt was not easy work convincingDan that he ought to get out of theConnecticut League and join someteam which would pay him more mon­ey," said the newspaper. "He wouldrather take a Connecticut League andbe with his sweetheart."

After a good deal of talking. Murphyagreed to go up to the Athletics. Hejoined them at Boston and in his firstgame had six hits in six trips to batagainst the Red Sox. Immediately afterthe game, Murphy hopped a train forNorwich indicating that he intended tosee as much of hi girl as possible be­fore the A's went off to some other partof the country.

Please tum to page J

Hartford priest spearheaded state temperance movementThe roots of the Calh lie temper­

ance movement in Connecticut go backto th'e effort of an Lrish-Americanpriest in Hartford in the middle of the19th century.

(n late 1841, Father John Brady,known as a very zealous priest and astrict "teetotaler," organized the state'sfirst Catholic total abstinence society inthe basement of the old church on Tal­con Street.

The society made its first public ap­pearance in Hartford's Fourth of Julyparade in 1842. That the society hadgrown quickly among the city's Irishwas evident from the fact that it wasable to muster 102 marchers as well as acadet, or junior. organization of 40boys.

Around their necks the marchers all

wore green silk ribbons from which when Father Mathew made a tour ofwere suspended medals with the like- New England. visiting Bridgeport, Newness of Father Theobald Mathew the Haven, Hartford and Norwich. Speak­famous Irish patron of temperance: The ing before large crowds, the Irish priestmarchers were led by two color bfoarers. promoted the caus..: of total abstinenceone carrying the Amencan flag, the oth- and admini tered the pledge to thoseer carrying a green banner with a harp who were determined to absta.in.and shamrock and the inscription, Years later, a Hartford Inshman,"Hartford Catholic Temperance Socie- Cornelius B. Sullivan, recalled that vi ­ty, Founded by Rev. John Brady." it "I was but three years and nine

After the parade, society members months old. but I re~ember him well.gathered at a park known as The Grove My father came out In the year 1847where sandwiches, gingerbread, oranges and my mother, bnnglOg me, came IIand lemonade were served. That eve- months later. Before taking ship, myning, the society's members met in the father went to Father Mathew's churchchurch hall and Father Brady compli- in Cork and took the pledge.mented them on their conduct in the "Father Mathew came to Holyoke inparade. 1849 and my father took me to se him.

The state's Catholic temperance There were ix priests with the temper-movement got a boost in October 1849 Please tum to page 2

Page 2

Temperance promoted by Hartford priestContinued from page I

ance di iple and when Father Mathewcame down the long tine my father hadme in his arms.

'''Oh, ho. didn't I see you the otherday in Cork?, Father Mathew asked mfather.

"Father said he did.'''And i thi your boy?' asked Father

Mathew taking me in his arms. 'Andid you keep your pledge?'

"Father said he did.'''Then: said the eloquent temper-

nce apostle. 'up with you; once forhealth, once for wealth and once forhappiness: tossing me in the air, whilemany people looked on amu ed and I

w that my father was very proud.That may not have been exactly takingthe pledge from Father Mathew, but Ihave always regarded 11, and havekept it."

The Civil War lowed the growth ofthe temperan e mo ement, but afterthe war there as a re urgence of inter­e t nd in I 66 and 1867 many socie­ties were founded in Connecticut cities.

Typical of the charters of such socie­tie wa that of "The t. Patrick's Tem-

ranee and Benevolent ociety of NewHaven." Chartered by the General A ­sembly on June 30. 1866. the New Ha­ven rganization had a its purpose notonly the promotion of temperance, butalso the provision of financial benefitsfor its members and for their families incase of death

It charter read: "Resolved b thiAss mbly: - Sec. I. That Jame KJO­sella, Hugh J. Reynolds, James Si k.Patrick B. O'Brine, Nichola Brown,Thoma J. Kennedy. Bemard heehan,Andrew Bohan, Patrick Demp ey,James McCollough, Michael Smith,James Gorman, member of the volun­tary ssociation known as the t.

trick' Temperance an Benevol ntSociety of New Ha en, onnecticut.and such other person as now are orshall her after become members of saidassociation together with their succe ­sors be, and they are here y con titutcda body politic and corporate ... for thepurpose of promoting the cause of tem­perance, and of rendering, under cer­tain conditions, a sistance to ic mem­bers of said corporation and theirfamilies, and aid in the payment of fu­neral expenses of the members of saidcorporation ..."

A number of the t mperance unItswere named in honor of the BlessedMother. Saint Mary's Benevolent Tee­total Temperance S iety of Bridge-

rt, Saint Mary's Temperance and B ­nevolent iety of New Britain. SaintMary's Catholic Total Ab tinence Ben­eficial Society of Norwalk.

As the movement grew, fforts beganto form regional organizations. In Janu­ary 1869, for example, the total ab-

stainers of WJllrmantlc, Rockville,Manchester and Baltic met in Willi­mantic and tormed the t. Jo eph'sCatholic Temperance Mutual In ur­ance A sociation. Denis F. Mc arthyofWIllimantic was elected presid nt; JohnW. Purtill of Manche tcr wa ice pres­ident; Edward arey of Willimantic.

cretary and treasurer. The executivecommittee IOcluded Jame J. Regan ofRockville. J hn Larkin of BalLic anMorri Monarny of Manche ter.

Only members of Catholic total ab­stinence so ietie could jOin the St.Jo-eph's association. Upon the death of

any member, an a sessment of $1 wasIe ied on all members with the amountraised donated to the family of thedecea cd.

In 1870. the groundw rk wa laid fora state temperance union. A committeewas organized with Thoma J. Kennedyof New Haven as chairman and orne­lius T Driscoll. also of New Haven. assecretary.

The committee' wor re fruit onAug. 15, 1870. when a conventi n of 56delegates r presenting 28 s ieties gath­ered at mith's Hall in New Haven.Kennedy called the convention to orderand Deni F. Mc arthy of Willimanticwa appointed temporary chairmanwith Thoma O'Bnen of New Ha en assecretary.

ddres s favoring the formation ofa stateWIde union were given by FatherHugh Carmody of New Haven, FatherLawrence Walsh of Hartford. FatherHugh Mallon f Wallingford andothers.

At the aftem on se sion, the dele­gates adopted a re olution to form The

atholic Stat Temperance Union ofonnectieut. The principles of the or­

ganization stated:"Viewing WIth sorrow the misery.

degradation and want which JOtemper­ance is daily bringing upon our coun­trymen causing some, by their frequentappearance at police courts, where theyare brought to answer for variouscrimes, which in almost every in tanceare the direct results of intemperance.to bring disgrace upon the fair name ofIreland and the Irish, and consideringthe many disadvantage under whichthe separatt> 'iocieties labor in combat­ing this evil. unaided and alone, we theund rsigned delegates to the first annu­al convention of the atholic Tempe ­ance Societie of Connecti ut have,upon this 15th day of ugu t 1870,united our SOCieties in a tate organiza­tion for the purpose of making greaterand more united effots to remove thecur,se of intemperance from our people

("History of the Cathohc Total Ab­stinenc Union of Connecticut," byThomas H. Kehoe; Hartford ourant,June 13, 1920.)

New Haven was homeof Jewish seminary

At one time. e Haven wa thehome of a eminary for orthodo Jestudying to become rabbiS.

Establishment Of the mlOary Inonnecticut wa due in large measure

to the efforts of Rabbi J.H Levenbergand Rabbi Mose D. Sheinkopf. Thetwo rabbis began making plan lor theinstitution in the ummer 0 1923, ands on after the Orthodox R bblOlcal

minary f New Haven was toundedand a building on Park Street acqUired.

The building wa equipped with asynagogue, classrooms. dormitories.kitchen and dining room. In 1925, 50students ranging in age from 16 to 25were enrolled in the school takingcourses in the Talmud and Commen­taries along with regular academicia ses.

Rabbi Levenberg was director of thechool and the faculty included three

other rabbis: heankopf. hertel Kramerand Jacob Safsel.

When the seminary held Its firstgraduation JO May 1925. the ew Ha­ven Union commented, "Onc of themost important e ent in the Hebraichi tory, not only of New Haven, thehome of the Orthodox Rabbinical Sem­inary, but of the whole body ofJewry inthe United tates WIll take pia e thiafternoon in the Ro treet ynagoguewhen the first class of students t grad­uate from this institution of TalmudiClearning will receIve their diplomas. in­scribed JO the ancient languag andcharacters of the Talmud and withoutwhich no one is permitted to rabinatein any synagogue.

"The services incident to this auspi­cious occasion will bring to this city oneof the most di tinguished gatherings ofJewish dlvin s that has ever visited thl

ity. Amongst those who WIll gra e thoccasion with their presence WIll beRabbi Silver of Springfield. Mas ., whois president r the Union of OrthodoxRabbis of the United tate and ana­da; Rabbis Kruger of Boston, Forier ofHolyoke, Silver of Wor e ter, Hurvitzand Hoffenberg of Hartford. Hershen·hon of Hoboken, Moshcwitz of Tren­

ton, Pfeffer, Liber. ohen and Rosen ofNew York, Marcus of Baltimore, 0­hen of Montreal, Sher, Permuth andDvoretz of Europe."

"The afternoon meetjng is to be fol­lowed by a banquet which will takeplace at 6:30 p.m. in Dormans Hall, 20Rose Street. and will be anended bymany dignitarie of the city andelsewhere."

Editor's note: In recognition of thebond between our historical society andthe other societies in the Ethnic Heri­t1Jge Center and to roster appreciationfor all ethnic groups, we print In eachi~ueofournewskneratkastonestoryabout another ethnic group.

Young and old alike enjoyed 51. Patrick's picnic

--Family history----------.COUNTY BY COUNTY - cry u 'eful book lor Irish geneal gists i therecently publish d "Iri h Records. ources for Family & Local Hi tory," byJames G. Ryan. The 600-page bo k i a gold mm of basic information thatcan help a family hi tonan cut many comers. One panicularly useful featureof the book is that the information I broken down In chapters devotedexclusively to each of Ireland s counties. Since researchers generally know atleast the county from which their ancestors came, the classification finformation in this way save the time of looking through a chapter oncensus records or ital stati tic to dig out what is availabl in a specificcounty.FROM SOUP TO NUTS - In ach chapter. the author has ompiled acomprehen i e digest of ources ofgenealogical information. Item are listedin arious major categories uch "census and census ub tltule ," "churchrecords," "commercial directorie ,'. "family histories," "gravestone in crip­tions," "newspapers." "will and administration." are also ha be n takento make the individual listings as helpful a po sible by telhng not only thatcertain records eXist - a many genealogy book do - but al 0 indicating inmany cases where they can be found. Thu , for example, the ounty I rchapter not only notc as one source the records f migration from theworkhou at Ennistymon but also points out that tho e record have beenpublish d in the magazine. lri h ncestor, No. 13 (2), 1981, page 79-82.

WHERE TO GET IT - "Insh Re<:ords, Source for Family & Local History,"can be ordered fTom the publisher. Flyleaf Pre s. 4 Spencer Villas, Glen­geary. Co. Dublin, from Ance try, P.O. Box 476. Salt Lake City Utah 84110,or from mo t bookstores specializing in bo ks of Irish interest.

The New Haven mon of Aug. 17,.874. contained thi de cnption of theannual picnic of the children of \.Patrick's hur h:

"At ten 0 clock nearly 2.000 of thehildren, accompani d by theIr teachers

a sembled at the chur h and after beingformed in line. marched IhroughGrand. Stale. Chapel and York streetsand Br adwny and Whalley avenu toHamilton Park. headed by'\. Patrick'sT.A.B. Band which discoursed sweetmu ic for the children to march 10. Onthe Green th proce sion topped a fewmoment for th children to re t andthe band serenaded the rc 'idence ofGo . Ingersoll.

"At the park. the unda} cho Iform\:d the principal part of the a -emblage until aboul tw 'c\ ck when

the picnicer came out in greatnumbers. Large number rode on thehorses and omntbu e . Many walked,while a large number of ehicles of allkinds strugg} d along the road ladenwith children and older persons bent onhaving a joll time.

"At twelv o'clol:k. a dinner was

served to the officers of the picnic inthe largest house on the grounds andFalher Hart hanged hi occupation forthe time being and mmistered to thebodily Instead of the spiritual wants ofhis pari hioner in a highly pleasingmanner.

"The dan ing commenced at two0' 10 k, the floor being scarcely largeenough to hold the dancers. Lennon'tring band furnished the musl and

Profe or Flaherty prompted.

" bout no n, th member of theT.A.B. band had a number of race.The first, which was between Richardand James Henne sey, was won by theformer. Th race between J. Murphy, J.Moran and E. ullivao wa on byMurphy. Th walkmg mat h was wonby Eugene ulhvan, he defeating Wil­liam Carr.

"All of the atholi clergy of the citywer present and united with their pa­rishioners in appreciatmg the thorough­ly enjoyable character of th occasion.II IS estimated that upwards of 8,000persons were n the ground."

Page 3

Irish cheered rebelsThe following Item appeared

In the New London Gazette onFeb, 14. 1766, during the heightof the agitation against theStamp Act:

"Extract of a a letter fromPhiladelphia. Capt. Jackson leftKlngsroad the 15th of Nov. andAshmead the Cove of Cork the12th of December: The People ofIreland say we are fine Fellows,and most heartily wish us Suc­cess In our OpposiUon to theLaws of Tyranny: The Toast Is'Destruction to the Stamp Actand Success to the free Sons ofLiberty In America.'''

Murphy had two lovesContinued from page I

That season. Murphy hit .313 in 133games with the Athletic and he soonestablished himself as a Philadelphiaregular, playing second base and out­field for the A's for the next 12 years. Inthe World Series of 1910, he hit .350and in the serie Ihe next year he hit.304.

Traded to Brooklyn in 1914, hewound up his major league creer thenext year with a .288 batting average in16 seasons and then came back to theConnecticut League t6 play second basefor New Haven.

The years hadn't dimmed the aftee­tion of Norwich folks for their formersecond ba eman, however.

When the New Haven nine played atNew London on May 25. 1916, Mur­phy was honored by the people of Nor­wich. "The many friend of Danny inthese parts nocked to Plant Field Fri­day afternoon [0 see the former big lea­guer and hi New Haven brigade inaction," reported the New LondonDay.

"The grandstand was crowded ...The NorwIch friends of Danny camedown by a special car with Tubbs'band. There were about 75. Shortly af­ter 3 'clock they alighted from the trol­ley at Thames Street and paraded intothe park. They came around throughleft field with the band playing and two32nd-degree Murphy rooters carrying abig American flag.

"The band sat in the south end ofthe right field bleachers and enlivenedhe game with little popular snatches

between innings. In tribute to Murphythe band played a little Irish melodywhen Danny singled in the ninth and'Where the River Shannon Flows' whenMaurice Shannon came home on thathit,"

(Bridgeport Herald, July 13, 1902;New London Day. May 26, 1916.)

Page 4

-Briefly noted----------.FESTIVAL EXHIBIT - Once agam. we will have a booth at the C nnecticutIrish F: llval at Yale Field in New Ha en on Saturday and Sunday, July 6-7and at the Irish American Home ociety Fe tival In Glastonbury on Friday.

aturday and Sunday. July 26-28. Anyone lOt rested In manning the boothfor a ouple of hours on those day hould contact Jeanne Hickey. 468-0426WELCOME - New member include: Florenc\.' Moriarty arpentcr. Edward& Mary Clifford. Stephen J. Collms. Pet(f .J. (Ufley Margaret MeenanD Luea, Jo ephlOc Dunn. Edward 0:\. Patneia Howard. nn B. Massengill.Mary Ellen McDevitt. Nora Brosnan McKenna. .John F. McNamara. MarieMihone. BeHy Moylan, Maureen & Christopher Mulhall. N'w Haven GaelicFootball & Hurling Club. H Mary Monarty Northrup. Wilham & MaureenO'Brien. Curti T. O'Connor. Rosemary Roy, .Joan cg~r.

DONATIONS - Our special thank to tho e who ha~e made monetarydonation: James K. Bradley .Ioeph & Mary Bray. James & Catherine S.

ondron, John & Leonora Farley, Mary Ford Griffin. ister Ann VirgmieGrime. Vincent J. Hinl:s John J. Keefe Jr., Richard C. Lee & family, RobenJ. Leeney, John M. Maher. New Haven Gae1Je Football & Hurling Club,Curtis T. 0' onnor Jocl Wasserman.QUINNIPIACK CLUB RECEPTION - Thanks to mcrican National Bankand to Wilham r. O'Brien Jr., Its senior vice president. and his secretary.Dodie Vitale, f r sponsonng a recepllon on May 15 at the Qumnipiack Clubin New Haven to acquaint local bu me leaders of Irish de ccnl with oursocIety. Th e 31lending Included. Scan anOing. Peter J. (urley, JamesDahIll, Maure n Delahunt Jim Dmn<1n retired Police (hlef William F.Farrell. Patncia Heslin, Nonnan & Jcanne Hickey. Martin J. Kenny. JohnM Lyons. E\a Madigan. K(VlO McNamara, IC rgc McWeeney, JohnMoran. Walter J. NeSler Jr. Bill O'Bmn Curl O·Connor. John O'Donovan,Pat O'Leary. Ed.... ard J O'Neill. Jack Peters, Robert ~ i. k, Thomas later,Michael J. Whakn

THANKS - To Mih l.~ neh tor Ilrgani7lng the East 'r Rebellion program onthe N w Havcn Green and to Nor', Brosnan McKenna. onnie Fitzgerald,

heila O·Bnen. Da\ Id LIllis, John MOr:ln. C'harli.: O'Hagan AI Howard. andJohn Boyle for as Istan,'c. Tn Eva Madigan for her Insh baked goods sold atthe ~onnecticut Hi~tonc.1I SO(iel}' pnng festival. 10 Norman Hickcy forbUildmg the /loat lor lh, . 'I. Patnck's Day parade. to Jim Wickwire ofAnch r ign for signs for the float and to Dr. Brian Palri k Vitelli of FoxonVe.terinary HOlipnal for the I an of his truck. To tate Rep. Patricia Dillon.Michael Lawlor and Marlin Looney, to 1a\ow John Daniels of New Havenal"!d to Go . Weicker for help wllh Iri h-Hcnlagc Month proclamations ToDIane O'Bnen • nd Kenny O'Bri~n for ompuler help wllh various projects.To Ed and Kay "hem anI.! George Waldron 10r the EIII Island tnp and thetag all' at the Knights of Sl. Patri<:k.

IRISH-AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETYP.O. Box 120-020

East Haven, Connecticut 06512

"We have kept faith with the past; we have handed a tradition to thefuture." Padralc Pearse

President: Jeanne Hickey. 58 Florence Ave., New Haven 06512.468-­0426.

Vlce President: George Waldron, 69 Pardee St., New Haven 06513,468-6948.

Secretary: Betty Gublcza, 126 Geneva Terrae, Fairfield 06430. 255­1343.

Treasurer: Michael Lynch, 171 East Grand Ave., New Haven 06513.467-5307.

Membership: 10 ndlvldual, $15 family. Send name and address andchecks made out to Irish-American Historical Society to Box 120-020.East Haven, CT 06512.

Shanachie Editor: Nell Hogan, 26 Crestview Terrace, Wallingford06492. 269-9154.

(The Shanachie: In Ireland, a shanachie Is a folklorist, storyteller andkeeper of the people's traditions.)

Of Irish WaysOften worn by Irish peasants,

especially 10 the Arao islands,pampooUe were rawhide slip­per. fa hioned by brogue-mak­ers from a single piece of leathercalled a kip and were sold inlarge quantities at local fairs.

Many items donatedfor society's library

The New Haven Insh-AmericanCommunity Club. Venice Plac , EastHaven. has provided space to enable usto develop a research library. A numberof people have made contributions toour archival collection and we hopesoon to have the donated items on dis­play or a allable for research there.

We thank Mary tokes Ahem for g ­nealogical charts and for New Havencity dire lOry excerpts for 1862 and1863; Maureen & Chris Mulhall for achart of Insh literary figures and a hi.­lorical map of Ireland; J. Philip Gal­lagher. nalional dlf(~ctor of the AnCIentOrder 01 Hibernians for information onthe AOH conventIOn.

Iso Yale Professor David Mont­gomery for his article, "The Irish Influ­en in the Amencan Labor Move­ment" and for information on TerencePowderly; former New Haven MayorRIchard C Lee and Italian-AmericanHistorical Society President Phil Pao­lella for mformauon on the Patri kGoode family: Edith C. Davis of theAfro-American Historical Society forcurrent information on Irish i sues.

Also. Jam s & Priscilla earle for amap of Ireland.; Mary Waldron forlri h pIctures, postcards and book;Tom & Noreen Slater for Irish POSl­cards; Beverly Tabak for current infor­n~atlon on Insh activities; Sean Can­nlOg of WYB -94. FM for tnterviewof ConOle Fitzgerald and Jeanne Hick­ey; Eva Madigan for a slide pr gram onIrish art history; Norman & JeanneHi key for lIbrary books andmemorabilia.

Volume III, Number 5 Irish-American Historical Society September-October 1991

have your hands ready for the bar as itswings to you. For a mistake means afall and falls are likely to put you outofbusiness even though there is a net un­der you. I never had but one accidentand that was 10 years ago when I had totake to a hospital for 10 weeks.

"There have been three·of us in ourspecialty up to this time, but we havenow arranged to take in four others andmake seven altogether in our act fornext year. It will be the most interestingaerial specialty ever put on in the worldand we expect to strike this city duringthe summer. I want the people here towatch for it. We will have three womenand four men and we aU appear in fulldress or dress suite upon the bars.

"While some of us are doing the longswing, the others are doing fancy workat short distances and all combine in agreat finale. Our apparatus for it is nowbeing made in New York and will costover $2,000.

"The only trouble we have abroad isgetting used to the languages. After wemake a few stops in a country, we usu­ally managed to pick up enough of thelanguage to get along, but just about thetime we are getting accustomed to thelingo. we cross the border into anothercountry and had to begin to learn allover again ...

"The circus business across the wa-Please tum to page 2

"Our regular act, the best we do, isthe long swing across the big tent, turn­ing a somersault and grasping the othertrapeze. We begin with shorters swingsand now have it up to a point neverequaled by others. From the time I letgo of one bar until my hands touch theother is a distance of 18 feet. We get agreat momentum, of course, from thelong swing and it is easy enough afteryou get used to it although never with­out its interest. That 18 feet takes only afew seconds to get over and yet youwould be surprised at what we can seewhile doing it.

"We work in a lot of little fakes tocatch the people. I have carried a fanand drawn it from my breast as I turnedand have also worked the handkerchiefracket. But all the time you have got to

,Library and archives open for members' useOur new library and family research center will open for the first time

on Thursday, Sept. 19, from 7 to 9 p.m. The library Is located at the Irlsh­American Community Center, Venice Place, East Haven. It Includes anumber of books on Irish history and genealogy to help members In theirfamily research. We hope to have the library open each Thursday eve- .nlng and we will be able to expand the hours If there Is sufficient Interestand If we get enough volunteers to help out. We also need to expand thelibrary's holdings and we are seeking donations of books, copies offamily papers, letters, dlarl'es, documents and photographs dealing withthe experience of Connect/cut's irish-Americans.

In the late l800s ana early 1900s, aWaterbury Irishman, Dennis Ryan, andhis wife thrilled CTowds of circus-goersthroughout the world with their acro­batic performances.

Ryan, who toured Europe with theBarnum circus in 1899 and 1901, was,according to the Waterbury Republi­can, "a veritable bunch of muscles andrecognized as one of the cleverest aerialmen in the business. He began the workas a professional many years ago and isnow drawing a salary second to none ofthe high-priced performers. He hasbeen with aU of the big tent shows andvisited all of the principal countries,including Australia and the HawaiianIslands."

Ryan's wife. one of the famousMeers sisters of London. came from acircus family. "She is a fearless littlerider." said the paper. "and her fatherand mother and grandparents were allnoted circus riders. Her grandfatherwas the originator of Newsum's ridersin England."

In December 1902. the Ryans -re­turned to Waterbury for a vacationand, on Dec. 18. the Republican print­ed an interview with Ryan who de­scribed life with the circus as follows:

"Our work heretofore has beenmostly on the trapeze. We have had amonopoly of the long distance work inthis line and although there have beenhundreds of performers of merit at theregular work. we have been quite alonein the long distance. There have beenthree of us. Zoerla, Weitzel and myselftogether for several years. Mid-air tra­peze work has always been my longsuit, although I have done leaping andalso taken turns at clown work.

The majority of Irish-Americanshave traditionally been faithful to theDemocratic' Party in politics, but therehave been times when the wisdom ofsuch faithfulness has been challenged.

Such was the case in Meriden in1884, when O.K. Murphy wrote a letterto the editor of the Meriden Republicansuggesting that Irish-Americans werebeing treated shabbily by the party oftheir choice.

"The Democratic Party," wroteMurphy, "sets itself up as the friend ofthe foreigner, and for years the Irish inAmerica have been solid in its support.An Irish Republican was an anomalyand because he exercised the right tothink for himself, he was often ostra­cized, villified and abused. But what doIrishmen owe the Democratic Party inMeriden?

"Ifwe ask recognition we are politelytold we are 'too previous, just wait an­other year,' and 'for goodness sake,don't introduce race distinctions andprejudices in our politics.' As if raceprejudice and religious bigotry was not~he lever which is continually remand­109 us to the rear.

"Since Meriden was incorporated acity, no Irishman has received a Demo­cratic nomination for alderman in the

Page 2 .

Meriden· Democrats chastized for prejudiceFirst Ward. People wondered if this·was an accident, or was it the charmedand sacred circle within which no Irish­man. could enter? And so, Mr. C.W.CahIll was presented as a candidate.No~ Mr. Cahill is the largest Demo­cratic taxpayer in his ward and hasstamped his ability by a most remarka­bly successful business career. He wasdefeated in the caucus.

"And again at the caucus Wednes­day eveni!'g, Dr. Tracey was presentedas a candIdate and the element whichdrove Mr. Cahill out one year ago againdefeated him.

"The cont~st, between Dr. Traceyand Mr. BevlOS IS too great to justifyt~e defeat of t~e former when the ques­tion .of capacIty and qualification isconsld~red. Menta~lx, intellectually, byeducatIOn and tralOlOg, Dr. Tracey isthe best ~presen~tive the Democracyever had 10 our cIty council and IrishDemocrats can only account for his de­fea!, on the ground of race prejudice.

H?w long, 0 Lord, how long willthe tatl wag the dog in Meriden? Godhelps those who help themselves andIrishmen would do well to reme~berthis when they drop their ballots intothe ~x next Tuesday,"(Menden Republican, Dec. II, 1884)

Aerial daredevil described life with the circus .Continued [rom page J met~ods, care of horses and other

ter is entirely different from what it is de~:uls, , ,in this country. Over there when a We had roya~ty 10 our audience fre­show ,visits a town once, that generally qu~ntly and King Edward and theends It so far as individual spectators ~nnce of Wales were often at the ~howare concerned while in America if the 10 London. In ~~nce, the. preslder,ttsho~ came to. a town twice a year the was a frequent vIsitor and 10 Austnaentire populatIOn would be out just the the emJ;>eror ~s so pleast:d th~t he sentsame and just as often as it appeared. Mr;, Batley. a cigar ,case With diamonds.

"When the show first went to Eng- .' In ~ns last Winter, the newspaperslan~, it para,lyzed the people completely JOlOed 10 ~ boycott of the show. Weby ItS magmtude and by the rapidity of were shoWl~g at the Salle Des Fetes,the movements. They had had tent one ofth~ big world's fair bui~dings andshows before, but they were all single- were domg all of the busmess. Wering affairs and with only one act at a turned away more people every daytime. than we could accommodate and most

"Wh of the other attractions were sufferingen the sho~s pulled up to move ~ccordingly. They turned in, therefore,

to another town, It took them several 10 a boycott against the American showdays to move the ,stuff, several more and compelled the newspapers to refuseda.ys to get up theIr tents and every- our advertisements. We put out ourthmg. was slow. Our show, as every' own paper, however, and continued to~mencan knows, could be pulled down do more business than all of the others10 an ~our, loaded on the .cars ~nd. set put together.up agam and ready for busmess I~ time "The circus life is not the hard ex-for}he next afterno<?n very eastly, perience one might think We have

The ease WI~h which all.or our work good sleepers to travel in ~nd I havewas don~ astomshed the Bntlsh and we gotten so used to the rumbling and rat­~ad as bIg crowds to. watch our ~reak- tIe of the cars that it is really hard for109 up and our load109 as we did our me now to sleep in a bed h _performances ' ., . were every

" '. thlOg IS qUIet. We hve well sleep wellEverywhere 10 Europe they ~ade have lots of time to look ~round and

the most careful study of our buslOess the work is not hard Of coursemethods. In .E.ng1and, there wen~ gener- have to take good care 'of ourselves'a~~als ar,td Bntlsh officers conttnu~lIy drinking is out of the question, especial­watchlOg us to study the transportatIOn Iy with those of us who work in the air.

Italian built airplanesA young Italian who loved to tinker

with machinery was one of New Ha­ven's first aviators.

Salvio Antonelli, said the New Ha­ven Union, "became enamored withthe idea of bliilding an aeroplane whichwould fly and with which he would soarover New Haven and the surroundingcountry."

Antonelli built his first airplaneabout 1910 and took it out to the hillsaround the Foxon section of East Ha­ven to test it. The plane, reported theUnion, "proved to be a great glider,"but its two-cylinder engine did not havethe power to lift it more than a few feetoff the ground.

The disgruntled Antonelli discardedthe first plane and immediately beganto build a second, more powerful craft.In a year, that machine was completed,bu~ was smashed up during a trial atYale field. "The great weight was thetrouble with this machine," said thenewspaper. "He had started out tomake it out of bamboo, but before itwas completed it was made entirely ofsteel tubing. The weight of this added tothe small power of the motor kept themachine from flying."

In late summer 1915, Antonelli com­pleted still another plane. "This ma­chine," said the Union, "is one of themonoplane type and has a tractor body.It has an eight-eylinder Ashmusen mo­tor, which it is said will develop about90 horsepower.

"In building this machine, Antonellihas been aided by Frank Spinelli andHarry Daves, two young men who alsohave the flying fever. It is equippedwith what is known as the dual control,that is, in flying the machine you useboth your feet and hands. The steeringis done with the feet while the rest ofthe flying is done by manipulating of awheel which resembles an automobilesteering wheel.

"To warp the wings, the wheel isturned and to raise up and down, thewheel is moved forward and back. Inthe rear, the fan-shaped tail rests on aregulation skid while in the front aretwo wire wheels equipped with regula­tion motorcycle tires which receive thelanding shock when the huge machinehits the ground.

"The motor in the monoplaneweighs about 235 pounds and the frameand passenger will weigh about 500pounds, making the weight in the prox­imity of 700 pounds.(New Haven Union, Jan. 14, 1923)

Editor's note: In recognition o[ thebond between our historical society andthe other societies in the Ethnic Heri­13ge Center and to [oster appreciation[or a// ethnic groups, we print in eachisslJe o[our newsletter at least one storyabout another ethnic group.

Page 3

In 1920s, grocery store in Fair Haven was run by 2 blind entrepreneurs

......~IFamily history:l-----------.HERITAGE CENTERS - Throughout Ireland, a number of centers have

been established for those interested in genealogy and family history. Gener­ally, the centers serve as repositories for records of a particular county orregion and will do research on a family or name for a fee. Among theheritage centers are:

Co. Armagh: Family History Research, Ara Coeli, Armagh BT61 7GY.Co. Carlow: Carlow County Heritage Society, Scots Church, Athy Road,

Carlow.Co. Clare: Clare Heritage Center, Corofin, Co. Clare.Co. Cork: Dunhallow Heritage Center, Newmarket, north Cork records;

Cork Heritage Center, P.O. Box 17, Bandon, west and south Cork records.Co. Derry: Derry Youth and Community Workshop, 15 Bishop St., Derry

BT486PW.Co. Donegal: Ramelton Heritage Project, c/o Parochial Centre" Ramehon.Co. Galway: Galway Heritage Society, c/o 46 Maunsells Park, Galway.Co. Kerry; Kerry Genealogical Centre, c/o John Griffin, Town Hall,

Princes Quay, Tralee; Kerry Diocesan Genealogical Centre, c/o Fr. CiaranO'Shea, Castleisland.

Co. Kilkenny: Irish Origins, College Road, Kilkenny, specializing in Kil­kenny, Wexford, Waterford and Tipperary families.

Co. Leitrim: Leitrim Heritage Center, Leitrim County Library, TheCourthouse, Ballinamore.

Co. Limerick: Limerick Regional Archives, The Granery, Michael Street,Limerick.

Co. Mayo: South Mayo Family History Research Society, BushfieldHouse, Hollymount.

II CO. Offaly: Tullamore Heritage Centre, Charleville Road, Tullamore,research for C9' Offaly and parts of Co. Westmeath and Co. Laois.

Co. Roscommon: Strokestown Heritage Centre, Church Street,Strokestown.

Co. Sligo: Sligo Family History Society, c/o Columban Club, CastleStreet, Sligo.

Co. Tipperary: Roscrea Heritage Centre, Damer House, Roscrea; NenaghDistrict Heritage Centre, Governor's House, Nenagh.

Co. Tyrone: Irish World Citizen Organization, 26 Market Square,Dungannon.

Co. Waterford: Waterford Heritage Survey, St. John College, Waterford.

In the 1920s, two Irishmen ran one ofthe most unusual grocery stores in NewHaven. The store was located at 119Lloyd St., at the comer of SahonstallAven ue, and its proprietors wereThomas J. McCoy and Andrew J.McManus.

What made the business unique wasthat both McCoy and McManus wereblind.

McManus, who was born in NewHaven in 1862, lost his sight in anexplosion in 1885 at the Winchestergun factory where he was employed as acartridge charger.

McCoy, a native of New York City,was afflicted at the age of six with aspinal disease and he believed that alarge dose of belladonna, given as medi­cation, caused his blindness. He cameto New Haven to study at the YaleSchool of Music and for some yearstraveled with a concert company.

The two men met at the Perkins In­stitute for the Blind in Boston and in1922 decided to establish the grocerystore in New Haven.

A visitor to the store described itthus, "It is the average size for grocerystores and is laid out just like any otherstore of its kind. The counters extendaround three sides and behind them areshelves rising up to the ceiling. In therear of the store are two rooms, a kitch­en and a bedroom where the two menlive.

"In these rooms and in the store, thelives of the blind men are spent, forthey seldom have a chance to go out.While one is preparing the mea,ls andtaking care of the house, the other hasto tend to the store. Between the twojobs. they have but few moments tospare. They do their own cooking on asmall range and keep the living quartersand store tidy without the help of any"outsiders."

The visitor also described how theblind men waited on customers: "Awoman came into the store and walkedup to the counter. Upon hearing herfootsteps, Mr. McCoy emerged fromthe living quarters in the rear. He stoodin the doorway for a moment waitingfor the sound of her voice to tell him inwhat part of the store she was. 'A box ofmatches and a cake of W.K. soap,' or­dered the woman. Immediately hemoved to the left side of the store andreaching up to the second shelf, placedhis fingers unerringly on a box ofmatches and removed it from the shelf.

"Next, he turned and without thenecessity of finding his way by touch,walked to the other side of the store. Hereached the shelf where the soap waskept, but all $OOps are usually the samesize and shape so he could not tell withhis hands just what the brand was.

"He accordingly held the one which

he had picked up beneath his nose for asecond. It was not the brand that wasasked for, so he replaced it and triedanother. This time it proved to be therequired W.K. soap. With this in hand,he returned to the spot where he hadleft the matches. 'Anything else?' heasked.

"'Yes,' was the reply, 'Let me have apound of sugar, please.' Without hesita­tion. he proceeded to the nearby sugar

barrel and removed the cover: Hereached for a bag with one' hand andtook the scoop from the shelf with theother. The bag partly filled, he carried itto the scale, bringing a little sugar withhim in the scoop. By placing his lefthand over the weights on one side ofthe scale while he poured the sugar ...the blind man was able to tell just whenthe two sides balanced.

"When the sugar had been weighed,McCoy tied it up as neatly as if hecould see every move he was making.

"'How much is that?' asked the cus­tomer. McCoy named the price and shehanded him a dollar bill. Here he hesi­tated slightly, fingering the bill in hishand. 'That's a dollar bill,' said thewoman. He turned to the cash register,quicky rang up the amount and extract­ed the correct change from the com­partments of the machine.

"Thus, the business is taken care ofby these two men who despite theirmonstrous handicap are determined towin out by sheer grit."

(New Haven Union, Jan. 14, 1923)

G;~lic was used to entertain and instruct at Naugatuck 'feis ceili'

IRISH-AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETYP.O. Box 120-020

East Haven, Connecticut 06512

"We have kept faith with the past; we have handed a tradition to thefuture." Padralc Pearse

President: Jeanne Hickey, 58 Florence Ave., New Haven 06512. 468-0426. .

Vice President: George Waldron, 69 Pardee St., New Haven 06513.468-6948.

Secretary: Betty Gubicza, 126 Geneva Terrace, Fairfield 06430. 255­1343.

Treasurer: Michael Lynch, 171 East Grand Ave., New Haven 06513.~~~~. .

Membership: $10 IndiVidual, $15 family. Send name and address andchecks made out to Irish-American Historical Society to Box 120-020,East Haven, CT 06512.

Shanachle Editor: Neil Hogan, 26 Crestview Terrace, Wallingford06492. 269-9154.

(The Shanachle: In Ireland, a shanachle Is a folklorist, storyteller andkeeper of the people's traditions.)

AUTUMN MEETINGS - With the end of summer, the society's regularmeetings will resume. The next two meetings will be held on Thursday, Sept.26, and Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Irish-American Co~munity

Center Venice Place, East Haven. Please plan to attend. Your mput asmemm;rs is important to the continued vitality and success of our efforts topreserve and promote the history of Connecticut's Irish-Americans.

WELCOME - Our new members include Francis J. Berry, Mary EllenCarolan, Robert W. Casey, Steve Dargan, Ernest Diette, John J. Don~hue, !

Joe Duffy, Juliette Roche Ewart, Ann Foley, Sean qaJlagher, Davl~ C.Howe, Rev. Christopher Kennedy, Robert Keogh, Justme Landa, Kevm J.McKenny, Lawrence O'Keefe, Dr. Joseph E. Reese, Joe Ring, Thomas F.Scanlon, Bonnie M. Smolskis.

THANKS - We thank those who helped at our booth at festivals in July inNew Haven and Glastonbury: Ed and Kay Ahem, Mary Stokes Ahem, JimCondron, Maureen Cosgrove, Maureen Delah~nt, Ray Donahue,. Betty G~­

bicza, Pat Heslin, Dorothy Heslin, Jeanne HIckey, Norman HIckey, ~<:I1

Hogan, Joan Kennedy, Michael Lynch, John Moran, Tom Slater, PatnclaToohey, George Waldron and Kathy Wynne.

Around the tum of the century, therewas a revival of the Irish language inIreland and that revival was reflected ina renewed interest in the language here.In February 1904, the Irish World pubJished an article about an Irish languageprogram conducted in Naugatuck:

"A most successful 'feis ceili' wasgiven here last week in Hibernian Hallunder the auspices of the Gaelic Societyof Naugatuck. It was of a unique kind,it being the first public entertainmentgiven here that the Irish language wasused as a medium to entertain and in­struct. It was largely attended by Gael­ic-speaking people and judging by thehearty applause they were in ecstasy atthe ability of their entertainers.

"The programme opened with an

Briefly noted

address of welcome by the president.He was followed by the members of thesociety singing, 'Irish Race Forever,'which was well received. A four-handreel by John Driscoll, William Dona­hue and Misses Mary and Agnes Mac­Elhon was loudly applauded. And theywere followed by Elizabeth Shea, 13years old, who sang, 'Dawning of theDay,' in a faultless style.

"A jig by William Donahue was wellexecuted; 'Kathleen Mauvourneen' wasrendered by Mrs. Mary Donahue withmuch success.

"A martial recitation, 'HughO'Neill's Address to His Army,' by Ab­bie Connors was warmly applauded.She was followed by the Gaelic quartet ..

composed of John Gilbert, John Dris­coll, Mary Cahill and Mary J. Donahue.They sang 'Pretty Maid Milking HerCow.' It evoked much applause.

"The next tunes were a reel and ahornpipe by John Carroll and PatrickFitzpatrick. They stepped sprightlyamid much applause. The members ofthe society appeared again and sang the'Meeting of the Waters' with muchemotion.

"Refreshments were served while aphonograph played selections of Irishairs. It fitly substituted the bagpipes asmost of the selections by it were verygood productions of that famedinstrument.

"A jeweled ring was presented toMiss Bridget O'Neil and an umbrellawas presented to Mr. Jeremiah Connel­ly for the excellent work they have ren­dered the society as teachers.

"The attendance numbered about200. Among them were members of theWaterbury Gaelic Society. Viewing itfrom all points it far excelled our last'feis ceili' and we pride ourselves forthe advancement we have made in thepast year. The 'feis' closed b)( memberssinging, 'God Save Ireland.'''

,AOH auxiliary celebratedThe Ladies Auxiliary of the Ancient

Order of Hibernians in New Britain cel­ebrated its 12th anniversary in Febru­ary 1909 with a program at St. Mary'sSchool Hall. The Irish World on March6 carried the following description:

"The hall was nicely decorated andthere was a large attendance. Miss Sa­die A. Grace, the president, made theopening address, in which she wel­comed the guests and gave a brief histo­ry of the society.

"During the year, there was paid insick benefits $900 and in death benefits$150.

"Addresses were given by Rev. JohnT. Winters, chaplain; John F. Leeney,county ,president; Thomas Murray,president, Division No.1; B.C. Twin­ing, vice president, Division No.2; andWilliam Mangan, secretary, DivisionNo.1.

"Violin and piano selections weregiven by Miss Mary Donahue and Mas­ter Edward Crowley; piano selection,Miss Anna Forsythe; song, Miss Cath­erine Gaffney, accompanist, Miss MaryDonahue; song, Mrs. John J. Crean, ac­companist, Miss Lillian Dwyer; songand recitations, Joseph Fortin, withHarold Tevlin at the piano.

"At the close of the entertainment,refreshments were served. Mrs. Thom­a5 Murphy was chairman of the ar­rangement committee and Miss MaryFaulkner had the entertainment incharge."

Volume III, Number 6 Irish-American Historical Society November-December 1991

ociety will publish its first book in 1992The Connecticut Irish-American

Historical Society will publish its firstbook in early 1992.

In commemoration of the 150thanniversary of the first St.Patrick's Dayparade in New Haven, the society willpublish "The Wearing of the Green: St.Patrick's Day in New Haven, 1842­1992 n in time for distribution during theSt. Patrick' Day festivities.

The book, which will be betw n 160and 200 pages in length, will tell thestory of the parad banquets, dramas,religious services. lectures and massmeetings on St. Patrick's Day in NewHaven during the past c Drury and a halfand of the people who organized andparticipated in them. It will beillustrated with line drawings depictin!;the early celebrations and photographsof the most recent parades and activities.

It is hoped the book wi U be asignificant addition to the storehouse ofNew Haven history because up untilnow little if anythjng h been recordedof th experiences of the city'S largeIrish-American community. In thisregard. the publishing of "The Wearingof the Green," wilJ mark a milestone inone of the ma,jor goals of those whofounded the Irish-American HistoricalSociety in 1988 -- the preservation ofthe story of COOl1ecticut' lrish­Americans through publications.

The "Wearing of the Oreen" has beencompiled mainly from newspapersources which provide contemporary,on-the-scene accounts of St. Patrick'sDay activities each year since 1842.That year the first public celebrationwas organized by about 90 immigrantswho the year before had founded thecity's first Irish organization,the NewHaven Hibernian Provident Society.

On March 17, members f thesociety, led by the New Haven BluesBand, marched along Chapel and York

MUSIC HAI.;,Lrt( Cead MiUe Failthe!"

St. Patriek's Night.~riday, March-17,1876.

The Grand Opera H~ COJDIJ3IIY,PROll NEW YORK. WILL PERI'OR'It

Boooioault's Greaf Irish DraIllAOP'l'lIlI:

~n_1 I -='EN SAWN,Ok THE

streets to the city's only Catholic churchfor a morning Mass and then marched inthe afternoon to the Exchange Saloonwhere they heard a speech by Irishmanand Yale graduate William Robinson.To conclude the day's festivities,members of the society mar hed back totheir quarters and Street's Building anddisbanded after a rendition of "YankeeDoodle. "

Not all the SI. Patrick' Daycelebrations were that routine. Indeed,the 150-year history of what has to beone of New Haven' premier folkfestival, has been punctuated with bothhumor and pathos, triumph and tragedy.

In 1874, for example, there was averitable mutiny on the paradecommittee when at a meeting atExchange Hall the subcOmmil ee on theI.ine of march came in with a reportsuggesting that Fair Haven be omittedfrom the parade route. The Fair Havendelegates to the meeting promptly leftthe room and went into sessionelsewhere in the building.

Parade Chairman Daniel Cahill

appointed a three-man committee toparley with what was described as the"seceding delegation," and eventuallythe Fair Haveners rejoined the meetingand after further deliberation the paraderoute was amended to include FairH ven.

£n 1905, an alligator in a laboratoryat Yale University almost became avictim of the celebration. Whilesweeping the lab the evening before 51.Patrick's Day, an Irish janitor namedRichard Brady decided to get into thespirit of the day by draping a greenribbon around the reptile. During thenight, the alligator attempted to eat theribbon and when the lab was opened inthe morning he was discovered halfchoked to death. Fortunately, hiskeeper, a German named Max Schwartz,was able with the help of severalattendants to pull the ribbon from theall igator' s throat before it was 100 late.Schwartz agreed to wear a green ribbonhimself. if the Irish would leave hisalligator alone.

Politi has often gotten tangled up inthe St. Patrick's Day festivities. In the1850s, the Nativist or Know NothingParty, hose main tenet was hatred ofthe Irish immigrants, came to power inConnecticut and quite literally turnedthe 51. Patrick's Day observances intohostile confrontations. One newspaperarticle said of the 1854 parade: "TheAmerican Nativity feeling was strong inNew Haven. On the day of the parade... the tlllrty-three original members (ofthe Iri h society) came together, eachbringing a substitute that the processionmight not seem insignificant. A brassband headed the whole, which paradedthrough the city amid the jeers andcurses of the citizens. Trees weredisfigured with effigies of the good

(Please tum to page 2)

Page 2

Society to publish first book(Continued from page 1)

saint, bearing around his neck bags ofpotatoes, stumps of cabbage and othersimilar token of derision, both of thesaint and of the race. In orne treetsviolence was apprehended, and for 8

number of yea foUowing tbememorable parade the member of tb~

association were anned when passin'through the streets in procession ... "

A few years later, the observance: gottangled up in the Civil War when theMontgomery Society and HibernianProvident Society invited a Southerner,Thomas Yeatman, to be the speaker attheir gathering in Music HaiL Yeatmanwas later identified by John Niven in hisbook, "Connecticut for the Dillon: TheRole of the State in the Civil War," as aConfederate spy wh once wroteJefferson Davis that he could raise aregiment of troops for the Southerncause in New Haven. Needle s to say,Yeatman's speech on St. Patrick's Dayurged Northerners to I t the Southernstates secede in peace.

During the darkest days of the CivilWar, the Register printed one of themost touching items in the 150-years ofSt. Patrick' Day bservances, a letterfrom a soldier in tb 9th ConnecticutRegiment, known as the state's Irishregiment. The letter, written fromL uisiana wh re the regiment wasstationed, read, "The adopted citizens ofNew Haven need not fear but what theNinth will do th ir part, when they areled forth in defence of the countrywhich gives more freedom to thestranger than any other on the fac ofthe earth. Irishmen have fought for

ranee under Sar field, for Russia underDelacy and for Spain, in their shortsleeves, under O'Donnell, at Bull Rununder Corcoran; and the adopted sons ofConnecticut will prove themselves asgood as their ancestors either in france,Spain, Russia or in America. ~

More recent SI. Patrick's' Dayobservan es bave had their moments ofexcitement and emotion, too.

In 1932 the occasion was saddenedwhen much beloved New Havenresident, Edward J. Moriarty, who hadbeen toastmaster at the Knight of SI.Patrick banquets for 27 consecutive

years, suffered a heart attack and diedwhile serving as toastmaster at theKnights banquet.

In J956, after a hiatus of nearly half acentury, the SI. Patrick's Day paradewas reborn only to have a late wintertorm dump eight and a half in hes of

snow on the city the day before theparade.

The parade survived that problem andin 1969 it survived the only legalchallenge to a SI. Patrick's Day event in150 years. Shortly before the parade thatyear, a New Haven resident, John F.Curran Jr. sought an injunction toprohibit the parade pennanently on theground that it was a religiousobservance whose purpose was "topropagandize Roman atholicism to thepopulation of the city of New Haven. "

These and other incidents of thecentury and a half of St. Patrick's Dayfestivities are narrated in "The Wearingof the Green" in the hope that the bookwill serve not only as a listing of event:;,but as a chronicle of the causes andconcern., the joys and sorrows, thetriumphs and failures of the city's lri h­Americans as they have gone aboutestablishing a place for themselves intbeir new homeland and still kept alivethe memory of their heritage.

It is expected that "The Wearing ofthe Green" will be available for sale at$10 per copy in late February.However, those wi bing to res rvecopies now may do so by sending acheck for $12.50 per copy ($10 plus$1.50 for postage and handling) to P.O.Box. 120-020, Ea t Haven, CT 06512.Please be sure to include your name andaddress and a note on the check that it isfor the purchase of the book.

One thousand copies of the book willbe printed at a cost of about $6,000.Any profits from it sale will go to thesociety for future projects, such asanother book, microfilming of churchrecords for genealogy purposes orexpansion of Uf library. We hop thatall our members will purchase a opy of"The Wearing of th Green," andespecially that member will mentionthe book to friends and relativ so thatthe society can at least break even andperhaps profit from the book.

Gypsy horsemanwon city's respect

No ethnic group bas been 0

misunderstood and a mistrusted as theGypsies. Yet, right here inConnecticut there lived in the late1800s a well-respected Gypsy leader.

Hi name was given variously asWilliam William; or Thomas Williams,but he was known throughout NewEngland as Prince Williams.

It was said that Prince Williams wasborn in Devonshire, England in 1830and that he came to this COUll try in1851. After living in the South forsome years, Williams settled in NewHaven where be developed a reputationas a horse breeder and trader.

While some people laimed he wasof strictly English ancestry, otherswore that William was f Gypsy

stock and his manner of living lentcredence to the latter belief. "He pentmoney lavishly in the paraphernaliawhich goes to make up a gypsy outfit,"one acc unt said, "and his train ofwagons wa one of the richest in theountry, 'ome of the vehicles being

marvel' in their way."In their traveling compartments,

the family lived the greater part of eachyear; here the dozen r more cbildrenwere born, grew up and drifted into theeasy-go-Iucky life that had become afixture with their parents' they in tummarrying and dropping into the longtrain which has come to be one f thepicturesqu sights of a 'ummerafternoon in the country for milesaround. "

Williams uppo edly hecame rich inth horse trading bu iness, but had nofaith in bank and melted all hi goldand silver into bullion.

Despite his exotic lifestyl • Williamshad a solid reputation for respectabilityin New Haven. One paper said that hewas "square in his dealings and kind­hearted beyond the average of menwho constantly rub against the rougherside of life. "

Editor's '/Ote: /n recognition of thebond between our historical societyand the other societies in the EthnicHeritage Center and to fosterappreciation for all ethnic groups, weprint in each newsletter at least onestory about another ethnic group.

Pa 3

Samuel McCarthy and his dog after their return from the Klondike.

Bridgeport youth struck gold in Klan e

Forty-Fives playedby Ansonia Irish

The persi tence of ethnic customs isevident in many ways - song, costumeand food to name just a few. One waynot generally thought of is in card play­ing.

On March 18, 1905, however, theAnsonia Sentinel reported a revival oftheIri h card game of Forty-Fives. The Sen­tinel aid there was an epidemic ofForty­Fives playing "that bids fair to rival inpopularity pinochI , ping-pong, tiddledi­winks, whi t or any of the games whichhave occupied public favour generally."

A number of teams had been formed,the paper reported, and the game wasf10uri hing in Derby as well as Ansonia.An Ansonia team, it said, "went acrossthe river to play in the sister city last nightand defeated the cbampions of the west. ' ,

There were Irish people in Ansonia,the Sentinel said, "who recount how,when they were small children in the oLdcountry, they would peep down from theloft of their cottage hom s and watch theirelders play this Forty-Fives, when theywere upposed to be fast asleep."

"Forty-Fives," the Sentinel explainedto its non-lri h readers, "is played with afull pack of cards, in which each trickCOWlts five and the game is forty-five.Five cards, two and three or three andtwo, are dealt to each player, and the topard after playing is turned as a trump.

The ace of hearts is always a trump,ranking next below the knave of the trumpsuit, which is itself second in rank, thefive- pot being the highest.

"The other cards have their normalvalue, except that in the black suits thelowest pot card takes the trick when noface card i played. Suit must be followedwhen a trump is led, but in other cases aplayer may tromp ifhe chooses. A playertaking all five tricks in one hand wins thegame."

Old-time Irish people, the paper said,watched the Forty-Fives matches withgreat interest because the game revived"memories of their youthful days in oldErin's Isle."

The game, sai the paper, required"skill in handling the cards to as great adegree as in pinochle, whist or cribbage.It is fuji of excitement and tends to pro­mote sociability as it generally is playedby four or six persons. "

, rI '

I

I

An 18-year-old Connecticut youthnamed Samuel McCarthy was among thosewho set out for the Klondike when gold wasdiscovered there in 1897. McCarthy ranaway from his home in Bridgeport withouta word to his widowed mother, Julia.

Then, one night in late July 1902, hismother was awakened by a loud knockingon the door of her borne at 30 Bishop St..

When she opened the door she wasconfronted by a tranger and when sheasked who he was, he replied, ,. I thoughtI would come home and see how you aremother. "

.. Sammy, is it you." asked the oldwoman.

., Yes, mother, it's Sammy," the manreplied.

In its Aug. 3, 1902 edition, the Bridge­port Sunday Herald told the story of thereunion of the mother and on and of hisescapades in the Klondike.

.• For six years," the paper aid,Samuel McCarthy has n in the goldregions of Alaska. He never wrote to hiparents or friends after he left home. Yearsago, they gave him up as dead. Last Satur­day night the runaway son returned a big,

stout man with sprinkling of gray hairsscattered through the black ones. And hecame back a ricb man.

, , For six year ,Sammy McCarthyhas been in the gold regions of Alaska . Hewas one of the first to blaze a trail throughto the Klondike. He has many a stOf"y toteU of the hardships that the mine of !hegold regions were obliged to endur Untiltwo and a half years ago, Mr. McCar!hynever truck good luck. Then, aU mouthof the McKenzie River, on Koci y Soundin northwestern Alaska, he truck the for­tune he had long been prospecting for. Hehas two claims there now and both are veryvaluable. ' ,

'" While Me. McCarthy is Dot a mil­lionaire, he is so well fIXed tbat he no Ingerneeds to worry about the future.. Sommonths ago, he decided to c me back tBridgeport and see hi mother if she wasliving. He brought with him ome 3,000in gold and his mother will never Dl foranything now.

• 'With him, Mr. McCarthy br ughtan E kimo dog. He is only a pupp now,but will grow to weigh eighty ninetypounds...

Page 4

Many hands turn dream of library into reality

Briefly noted~----------

WELCOME .- New members include Franci J. Barry, Frank Corden,Maureen Cosgrove, Francis Doolan.

IRISH-AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETYP.O. Box 12<>-020

East Haven, Connectlcut 06512

"W~,have kept faJth with the put; we have handed a tradition to thefuture. Padralc Pear8e

04~~~8Ident: Jeanne Hickey, 58 Florence Ave., New Haven 06512. 468­

46~:4~~esldent:George Waldron, 69 Pardee St., New Haven 06513.

13:;~retary:Betty Gublcza, 126 Geneva Terrace. Fairfield 06430. 255-

Treasurer: Michael Lynch, 171 East Grand Ave New Haven 06513467-5307. ., • .

Membership: $10 Individual, $15 family. Send name and addre8s ndchecks made out to Irish-American Historical Society to Box 12<>-020East Haven, CT 06512. '

Shanachle Editor: Nell Hogan, 26 Crestview Terrace Wallingford06492. 269-9154. '

(The Shanachle: In Ireland, a shanachle Is a folklorist. atoryteller andkeep r of the people's traditions.)

by the hi tories): Father Chri topherKennedy (William Kennedy, HelenKennedy Mitchell), Paul Ker ck(Down ), William T. O'B,rien Jr.(Doyle. Walsh), Beverly Tabak..

Books have been donated by Ed &Kay Ahem (Ryan), Mary Stokes Ahern,Maureen Delahunt (a' eill), LiamDelaney, Mary Curtis Embler(Flannigan), George & Helen Gannon,Patricia Heslin (Gildea), Norman &

Jeanne Hickey (Roche), Neil Hogan.Mary Ellen McDevitt, John & KathleenO'Donovan, Dr. Brian P. Vitelli,George Waldron, Mr.and Mrs. JohnWaldron.

Materials have been donated by thefollowing: Mrs. Margaret Cashman(family document of Dr. Tim thyO'Neill, Margaret BeecherCunningham, Mary Jane O'Neill, HenryO'Sullivan, McNamara and Fitzgerald);Frank Corden, newspaper clippings

about Feis Ceoil of Gaelic LiterarySociety of Waterbury and ThomasMoore tribute; John DonneUy (FenianRam); May Duffy (Joseph & PatrickDuffy, Pete Malloy, Hartford GaelicFootball Club picture, 1902); JeanneHickey Barry, Roche, Meagher,Nutley, O'Reilly); Jamts & EvaMadigan; Jeanne Parziale; Thomas P.Roche Sr. (athletic scrapbook of NewHaven Harriers Holy Cross College,1920s); Tom Slater, ship manifest.

Thanks are due also for pr fes ionalhelp to Judith Ellen Jobo on, referencelibrarian and genealogi t at theConnecticut Historical Society inHartford; Arthur Reinhart, hi torylibrarian at the ew Haven PublicLibrary; and Judith Scluff, chiefarchivi t at Yale' Sterlin Library.

One of th important resources n win the library is a microfilm which thes iety made of the record of old St.Patrick's Church in New Hav n. Ithere any member who ould like toundertake the indelting of th recordsto mak them more readily accessible totho e doing genealogical research?

Anyone who has documents, pictures,family histories, oks, family papersshould consider donating them, orc pies of them to our library 0 thatthey will become avadable to others for

ear h purposes.

for a filing cabinet and three bookcases;Maureen Delahunt, Pat Heslin, theHickeys and Beverly Tabak: forsupplies; John Boyle, Paschal Brennan,Tom Faherty, Pat & Dorothy Heslin,Norman and Jeanne Hickey, JohnMackey, Chris & Maureen Mulhall,Madge Mulhall, Jobo O'Donovan, TomSlater and George Waldron.

The following people have donatedfamily hi tories the names inparenthe e indicate th~ names covered

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR -- Our society will have a table at the ChristmasBazaar sponsored by the New Haven Gaelic Football and Hurling Club and theNew Haven Irish-American Community Center. The bazaar will be held from10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30, at the community enter, VenicePlace, East Haven. Our society will sell plants and flowers for holidaydecorations with proceeds to be used for books and supplies for our library atthe community center.

ETINGS -- Our next meeting will be on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.Ol.in the library at the Irish-American Community Center. Gu t speaker will bePatrick O"Leary of the Iri h History Roundtable. His topic will be "ThoseAmazing Iri h.· The December meeting will be on Thursday, Dec. 11, at 7:30p.m. in the library at the community center. At that time, members willi presenta workshop entitled "Sources of Genealogical Re earch in Our Library."

fJ:jIAI'Il1\. YOU -- Thanks to Barbara C. Revay for a donation a companyin J

her membership renewal.

WISH LIST -- We need a copying machine and a microfilm reader.

Thanks to the efforts and genero ityof many people, we now hav a small,but growing library on the second floorof the ew Haven Irish-AmericanCommunity Center, Venice PIa ,EastHaven. The library includes a variety ofbook and materials both forgenealogical and general Irish hi toryresearch.

We thank the following for theirhelp: Southern New England TelephoneCo. and K vin and Barbara McNamara