[pictured above: The Irish Famine Ship Memorial, Westport, Ireland}

What made Patrick Riley (Reilly) and Rose Kiernan (Kearnan) leave Ireland?

There are many questions and, sadly, too few answers.

Why did they leave the place where their family had existed for generations? Was it for adventure, the promise of prosperity, or to escape the English religious and cultural persecution? How and when did they get to mid-19th-century America?

Some answers may be deduced from the early United States census forms and other documents. From what I have gathered, it appears Patrick was 23 and Rose was 17 when they came to the US in 1862. Using that time frame means they were both children during the Famine Years (1845-1852). How did they survive when so many others died (estimates of over a million dead)? What must it have been like? How did they and their families sustain themselves?

Whom did they leave behind in Ireland? Patrick’s father’s name was Michael, and Catherine was his mother. Rose Kiernan’s parents were Patrick and Rose Kiernan (Kearnan); that is all I know about them. Did our immigrants have siblings they left behind? Did they come from a long line of tenant farmers, laborers, or other occupations native to that time and area? How must it have felt to leave their parents, brother, or sister behind, knowing that they would never again see their loved ones?

They came by the only sure means at their disposal: by boat. In 1862-1866, depending upon the type of vessel and weather, the Atlantic crossing could have lasted up to fourteen days. The documents I found state they left Liverpool, England, sometime around the middle of May 1862 and sailed directly into New York Harbor. To view a copy of the ship’s manifest, see the blog post – “Ship Passenger List 02 Wednesday, Jan 2019.”