THE IRISH CAME TO AMERIKAY

A series of essays.....

GREAT FAMINE NATIONAL MONUMENT IN MURRISK, IRELAND

.....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E. Hughes

Who knew that having coffee with a good friend last week and spending nearly three hours reflecting upon our various travels throughout Europe would lead me to Orchard Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York, New York. But, it did. I am most grateful. And, here is my story.....

I have always been fascinated by other cultures, history, Romance languages, and, most recently, the unique preservation of time via time and space itself. Egyptian pharaohs mummified in magnificent pyramidal tombs. The deterioration of artifacts being hindered or slowed within the wet, spongy ground of a peat bog. A dust laden Parisian apartment locked-up and untouched since the World War Two era. A beautiful stone church abandoned by its human parishioners only to be embraced by surrounding nature, one tendril at a time.

Wondering what the spirits inhabiting these special places would say to me, I have admittedly taken it upon myself to supply words to their personal stories....upon occasion, through my writing. They have become as real as old and dear friends watching over me long into the night. I am reminded of several black and white movies I cherished as a child which included Constance Bennett and Cary Grant in "Topper" and "The Canterville Ghost" starring Charles Laughton. They were movies with friendly spirits who have long held my attention and encouraged me to watch them over and over again.

My story leads me to a 'spirit filled' and wonderfully preserved spot located in Manhattan entitled 'The Lower East Side Tenement Museum' which is a National Historic Site managed by the National Park Service.

However, before I take you into the museum, let me tell you how I got there in the first place.

Our conversation over coffee in Kalamazoo last week brought Michael and me to the conclusion that our travels in France and Ireland have greatly influenced who we are today. As self-professed Francophiles, we reasoned that the pull of France and French culture influenced both of us at an early age. The irresistible attraction of its culture, beauty, history, and refinement builds to an even greater crescendo with each subsequent visit to France.

THE SUN BEGINNING TO SHIMMER OFF OF
THE ATLANTIC~~TAKEN FROM THE SUMMIT
OF BENBAUN AND LOOKING WEST

Considering we both have ancestors deeply rooted in Ireland, it did not surprise me that much of our verbal exchange encapsulated this amazing island. From driving on the left side of its narrow roads to embracing the sheer rugged beauty of its Western Coastline, we determined that Ireland afforded the most natural 'photo opportunity' for amateur and professional photographers alike. The light shimmering off of the Atlantic can be more than amazing and there is a fresh and steady stream of smiling Irish faces to always lighten-up even an overcast day! 

Visiting there today, it is difficult to imagine that approximately one million people died and another million or more emigrated from Ireland in the mid-1800's. The Great Famine or the Great Hunger, due to a potato blight, was a 

CLOSER DETAIL OF
FAMINE MONUMENT

period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 when about two-fifths of the population, for a number of historical reasons, was dependent on this cheap crop for sustenance. According to Wikipedia, "The famine was a watershed in the history of Ireland. Its effects permanently changed the island's demographic, political, and cultural landscape. The massive famine soured the already strained relations between many of the Irish people and the British Crown, eventually leading to Irish Home Rule and United Ireland movements."

However, the Great Hunger devastated the 'backbone' of this country affecting its strength and character, its past, and most assuredly, its future.  How could it not? It caused the island's population to fall by between twenty and twenty-five per cent at the time. Unimaginable  statistics!

IRISH FAMILY BEING EVICTED
FROM THEIR HOME BY THE BRITISH

Over a million Irishmen, including complete families and lost, defeated youth, caught the glint in their eye from the sun's bright shimmer off of the hypnotic Atlantic waves and set sail upon rickety boats to far-off places such as Canada, Australia and Amerikay (America).

Many Irish Traditional songs were written due to this mass exodus to America to find a better life, brighter future, all at the expense of solid, Irish family traditions. Many feared that the Irish culture would be greatly diminished by its youth leaving and forsaking their heritage. Songs such as "The Shores of Amerikay" have captured the emotions of a generation that sought a better life for themselves and for those they loved so dearly......even at the expense of bidding farewell to their home and loved ones left behind. To many, it was the ultimate sacrifice.

"The Shores of Amerikay"
(Author Unknown)

I'm bidding farewell to the land of my youth,
And the home I love so well,
And the mountains so grand 'round my own native land,
I'm bidding them all farewell.
With an aching heart I'll bid them adieu,
For tomorrow I'll sail far away,
O'er the raging foam for to seek a home,
On the shores of Amerikay.

It's not for the want of employment I'm going,
It's not for the love of fame,
That fortune bright may shine over me,
And give me a glorious name.
It's not for the want of employment I'm going,
O'er the weary and stormy sea,
But to seek a home for my own true love,
On the shores of Amerikay.

And when I am bidding my last farewell,
The tears like rain will blind,
To think of my friends in my own native land,
And the home I'm leaving behind.
But if I'm to die in a foreign land,
And be buried so far far away,
No fond mother's tears will be shed o'er my grave,
On the shores of Amerikay.

Immigrants entered America from various places. They trickled down from Canada into Michigan's Upper Peninsula with many entering Detroit, as well, to stay and create a new life, or spread out into Ohio and Pennsylvania. Eventually, they entered American ports to settle in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. A story in The History Place states that "New York was better able to absorb its incoming Irish. Throughout the Famine years, 75 percent of the Irish coming to America landed in New York. In 1847, about 52,000 Irish arrived in the city which had a total population of 372,000."

"They arrived in great numbers, most were able to speak English, and their Western European culture was similar to American culture," accounts Brendan A. Rapple, author of an article entitled, 'Irish Americans.'

So, you know what it's like to be able to suddenly spot every Buick Encore on the road right after you've decided you'd like to purchase one yourself? Well, that's a little bit like how my story progresses. After returning home to Orlando, it seemed as though all of my energy was focused upon Ireland and the spirit of her people who remained there, as well as those who fled across the sea so many years before. Everything I saw or thought about revolved around Ireland and the many memories I had formulated of Ireland throughout our years of traveling there and writing about this beautiful place.

Taped on our DVR was a program we watch each week called 'Out of Ireland' featuring news, public affairs and cultural information of interest to Irish-Americans. Its host, Patricia O'Reilly, featured an unforgettable place located in Manhattan called 'The Lower East Side Tenement Museum' that has since jumped high in position of importance on my list of 'Must Sees.' And, for very good reasons!

Unlike most history museums whose curators display collections of artifacts they have compiled from a particular era via multiple contributors.....The Tenement Museum in Manhattan has opened up the doors to that lost 'Parisian apartment' after all of these years. The dust has been gently brushed aside and now the history of 97 Orchard Street, built in 1863, is like a little time capsule enticing us back into the past....

THE DUST BEING BRUSHED "ASIDE" AT
AN APARTMENT AT 97 ORCHARD STREET
  

A historian and social activist, Ruth Abram wanted to build a museum that honored America's immigrants. New York's tenements were the perfect place for her museum: these humble, multiple family buildings were the first American home for thousands of immigrants. It was a frustrating search until she stumbled upon the tenement at 97 Orchard Street which was called 'home' to nearly seven thousand working class immigrants.

Co-founder, Anita Jacobson, said, "97 Orchard's initial appeal was an available storefront which we considered renting this space to run tours of the Lower East Side." While inspecting the storefront, Jacobson went to the hallway to look for a bathroom. She saw sheet-metal ceilings, turn-of-the-century toilets and an aging wood banister. "It was as though people had just picked up and left. It was a little time capsule...I called Ruth and said 'We have got to have this building.' It was perfect."

The search was over and for the past twenty years, the Tenement Museum has blossomed from an idea into a thriving institution. Shuttered for over fifty years, 97 Orchard's apartments were in ruin. It would take time to transform the tenement into a museum. Undaunted, researchers scavenged through 97 Orchard and combed through archives, compiling evidence about tenants and tenement life.They have carefully restored six apartments, including the home of the Moores, Irish immigrants who lived at 97 Orchard in 1869.

 GUIDED TOUR AT 'THE TENEMENT MUSEUM' 

They continue to grow each year by expanding the Visitors Center, exhibitions and classrooms. The museum can only be seen by guided tour suggesting that they wish to preserve the integrity of 97 Orchard, as well as carefully educate the visitor about every detail this time capsule has to offer. In recognizing the importance of this seemingly ordinary building, the Tenement Museum has reimagined the role that museums can play in our lives.

The 'Power of Suggestion' can lead us down so many new and exciting roads. I certainly enjoyed following this one.....! As their 'Mission' states, "The Tenement Museum enhances appreciation for the profound role immigration has played and continues to play in shaping America's evolving national identity."  Let us never loose sight of how important immigration has been in creating the rich melting pot of cultures we enjoy today.


Road trip to New York City.....anyone?

LANDING IN NEW YORK CITY