Transplanted Shamrocks Recollections Of Central Ohio's Irish Americans

In 2005 four people decided to collect stories about the Irish-American men and women who lived in central Ohio. Why? Irish immigrants have been coming to Central Ohio since before Ohio's Statehood began. Thousands more Irish came in the 1840's as a result of Ireland's "Great Hunger" yet there were no markers or monuments to remember these many people who became an integral part of Central Ohio. In 2002 there was an Ohio Historical Marker erected in Downtown Columbus. On the one side of the marker there is a timeline to note prominent local Irish-Americans while on the reverse side there is a simple paragraph stating the collective accomplishment of the group, not singling out any individuals. This is fine for a marker inscription but several of us felt that many individuals had a story to tell. We all have a story to tell even though one famous Irish folktale is entitled, 'The Man who had no Story'. We also knew that as children we had heard our elders tell stories and snippets about their Irish ancestors that felt like part of local lore. Yet as the older people died, much of these stories would be lost. So we began a project to collect the family stories of these immigrants. We had family stories, we were sure other people did too or else why did so many show up for St. Patrick's Day festivities or become members of the Irish-American groups in town. We set out to collect these stories of those immigrants. We did get stories! We have a diverse collection with something it for everybody. There are factual bits of information about daily life of individuals and some institutions, humorous stories about the funny side of life, glimpses of local politics and organized labor, moving stories of the difficult life of Irish immigrants and moving stories of individuals and their families who persevered in their quest for a life in this country. We have accounts of the people banding together to form groups that enabled them to retain pride in their heritage while becoming assimilated into the land they adopted. When we began 'passing the word' that we were collecting stories to compile into a book and that we wanted to collect them from the Irish-American community in Central Ohio, we asked for stories that had been passed down in the families about people and the events that had happened to them. Hopefully there would be evidence of connections to their Irish heritage and possibly tell what the family's Irish origins were. We focused on family stories because often they are the stories that are lost as the older generations die. We asked about families Irish origin because when examining at old ship records, until the late 19th century they often only listed a person as Irish with no indication of from which county in Ireland they immigrant had departed. Not surprisingly, we found that about half of the families that gave us stories did not know the Irish origins of their family. We included a chart of the families that did know their counties of origin. Interestingly some of the stories in the book relate very well to that chart. After several years, we find ourselves with an excellent collection of stories covering events both current and past, some even going back to their origins in Ireland. Also, many of the participants found this rewarding because it caused them to investigate and cherish their backgrounds in a way they never had before. Julie O'Keefe McGhee