This is a second look at some book excerpts for The Irish Ties That Bind, which introduce the four families that left southern Ireland to come to the American Midwest in the 1850s and 1860s.
(Family Origins and Early Settlements)
“Ronald Reagan’s Irish ancestry traces back to Ballyporeen, a town in Tipperary County in southern Ireland. His paternal great-grandfather, Michael O’Regan or Regan, was baptized there in 1829. Baptismal records for Michael’s ancestors in Ireland show both “O’Regan” and “Regan” for the same family, which was not uncommon. In Ireland, the “O” prefix in Gaelic names was frequently dropped . . . After Michael Regan moved to England in 1850, he adopted the more phonetic “Reagan” surname spelling due to how many British citizens pronounced his name. . . .
John and Margaret Hynes emigrated from Limerick, Ireland, just after their wedding on February 11, 1843, seeking a better life by establishing roots in the Irish neighborhood of Bridgeport in Chicago, Illinois. . . . Sean and Mary Cullen decided to leave Ireland for America in 1849, seeking better opportunities and pay, despite Wexford being less impacted by the Great Famine. In 1850, the couple settled in Chicago’s Canaryville (south of Bridgeport), a neighborhood that welcomed many Irish immigrants during the Great Famine, especially after the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. . . .
In early 1852, shortly after Ellen Power turned eight years old, David and Bridget Power, along with their five daughters, joined hundreds of others aboard the Asia, a barely seaworthy vessel from Southampton that often leaked. The ship headed for New Orleans in the United States after leaving Queenstown and stopping in Waterford. . . . Passengers died of typhus (black fever), dysentery, cholera, starvation, and various forms of malnutrition, including “famine dropsy” that caused severe swelling of limbs. Even so, the surviving Irish passengers carried with them a profound spirit of resilience, unyielding determination, and a blend of intense sorrow with a burning desire to forge a better future in America.”