Charles M. Carletta
Published: 2021-01-29
Total Pages: 296
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Part genealogy and part history, this book tells the fascinating story of Marion Tiernan's family, emigrants from County Meath, Ireland, who arrived in northern New York in the 1820s. Among the earliest settlers of Waddington, Madrid, and Norfolk, their stories unfold with descriptions of their home parishes, journey to New York, and life on the frontier. Most of the families established farms in Saint Lawrence County, an area of subsistence farming that became an important dairy farming region. This book contains a deeper historical context and includes more neighboring families than the typical family history.Chapter 1 reviews County Meath's history up until 1800 when Marion's great-grandparents, Thomas Tiernan & Bridget Duffy, were born. Chapter 2 describes the economy and situation of Catholic tenant farmers. Chapter 3 describes the persecution of the Catholic Church following Cromwell's conquest and the gradual recovery of the church. Details for the home parishes of many of the families are given.Genealogical material begins in Chapter 4 with the Michael Duffy & Ann Cormick family, Marion's paternal great-great-grandparents. The Duffys and other families emigrated in the 1820s. Chapters 5 to 7 present the history of the St. Lawrence Region, frontier conditions in Waddington and Madrid, the ocean voyage, and travel on the St. Lawrence River. Chapters 8 and 9 cover neighboring families that immigrated at this time. Chapter 10 presents conditions and events in Ireland from 1820 to 1845, and Chapter 11 describes the years of the Great Famine. Chapter 12 returns to the genealogical material with the Thomas Tiernan & Bridget Duffy family. It includes a speculative account of their experience in Ireland leading up to the Great Famine. Chapters 13 to 21 cover the remaining families in Marion Tiernan's line in rough chronological order. The final chapter reveals Marion's own journey, from the Bellhurst Club in Geneva, New York, to Miami Beach, Lake Tahoe, and Carson City. Readers who are descendants of these families will discover their Irish roots, and family history researchers will profit from the broad picture of Irish settlement in Saint Lawrence County and numerous connections to Irish sources.