+- St. Columban-Irish Forum (https://www.stcolumban-irish.com/irishforum)
+-- Forum: Categories (https://www.stcolumban-irish.com/irishforum/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Forum: General Enquiries (https://www.stcolumban-irish.com/irishforum/forumdisplay.php?fid=13)
+--- Thread: Paterson N.J. & St. Columban Connections? (/showthread.php?tid=61)
Paterson N.J. & St. Columban Connections? - Fergus_Keyes - 05-12-2006
In an e-mail discussion with Geralyn Barry <gbarry@proaxis.com> we have talked about the possible connectionm between some St. Columban families and the Irish settlers in Paterson - Paterson, Passaic Vounty - New Jersey. Does anyone have any family connections recorded for this area?
Hi Fergus,
Thank you for writing. I have seen your name before and have wondered if
some of the early Irish settlers in Paterson might have come down from
Canada. There are so many names in Paterson that also appear in St.
Columban - all names that appear in eastern Tipperary, Laois and
Kilkenny. The website for St. Columban is very impressive. I hope to set
up a more modest website for the Irish of Paterson, New Jersey in the
not-too-distant future. (I've been saying that for many years... but it
is actually in the more definite planning stages now.)
Do you know if any people from St. Columban later settled in Paterson or
in other particular places in the US? I was thinking especially of a
Charles A. (b. abt 1803 Ireland) and Margaret O'Neill (maiden name
unknown - or I may have it in my paper files). They were in Paterson by
the late 1820s but had children born in Vermont just before that. I have
wondered whether perhaps they had entered through Canada and migrated
down from there by way of Vermont. They later had very close
associations with the Tipperary-Laois-Kilkenny immigrants who arrived in
Paterson in the 1840s and 1850s. They achieved some local prominence as
merchants (and employers of other Irish) in the building trades and in
politics. Their son Charles Henry O'Neill was elected the first Irish
mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey around 1870. There were several
marriages between my Cavanaghs and the O'Neill families.
There were a few Irish families in Paterson in the 1850 census with
children born in Canada. Among them were Robert and Fanny McLaughlin
(both born in Ireland), who had children born in Scotland (ages 24 and
21), Lower Canada (ages 14 and 13) and New Jersey (age 11). There was
also a Healy family who had children ages 5 and 6 born in Canada. I know
nothing more about either family at the moment. But I wonder if there
could be some connection to St. Columban.
And my reply:-
All the names that you mention were definitely present in St. Columban ? O?Neil (sometimes O?Neill); McLaughlin; Healy; Purcell; Farrell; Maher ?. and, there are a number of records of marriages between St. Columban and U.S. residents (most often these seem to be in the New York City area)?. so all the signs would certainly indicate that within at least some of these families there must have been some kind of connection to the individuals that you mentioned. I will check the records that I have for any indication of ?Paterson? in the files. Also I will post your note on our ?Discussion Forum? in case someone else doing research in St. Columban (about 35 people now) has a note concerning Paterson in their family histories.
Re: Paterson N.J. & St. Columban Connections? - jeff.legault - 05-12-2006
This same person also posted Patterson New Jersey silk industry related information on the Tipperary mailing list yesterday on a very similar thread (pardon the pun) :
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/IRL-TIPPERARY/2006-05/1147409910