Nellie Moriarty - Another Sister From Loughane

 We have already learned that Myles Moriarty and Ellen Leary had a third daughter. Ellen Moriarty was born 12 June 1891. James Sullivan and Helen Moriarty were her Godparents when she was baptized 2 days later on 14 June 1891. 

Helen Moriarty might have been her aunt - Myles' youngest sister who went to America and died of tuberculosis - she left the two children, Helen and Joseph Murray, whom her brother Con Moriarty adopted. Con is the uncle that lived in Newport to whom Myles' two older daughters emigrated in 1906.

Ellen/Nellie Moriarty leaves Loughane in September 1907 for Queenstown. How does she get there? Does she go to Killarney and take the train? How will she even get to Killarney? Is there some kind of bus - remember this is 1907 in rural Sneem - there aren't buses as we know them going around the Ring of Kerry. A horse and trap? How do people get to Killarney or Cork?

My cousin John Huliston took this photo of the White Star/American Line's terminal in Queenstown/Cobh, County Cork.  This building shelters first class passengers from the weather while waiting for a tender to take them to the passenger liners which are too big to dock in the inner harbor. The Cunard Line has a terminal as well. Our relatives have to wait outside no matter what the weather! 

Nellie is just 16 years old when she sets off for New York with neighbor Nellie Brennan of Dirrenauliffe - this Nellie is 20. Our Nellie is probably not even through school. Their sisters have bought their tickets for the SS Etruria of the Cunard Line. Catherine Moriarty is still with their Uncle Con Moriarty at 27 Clarke Street in Newport - I wonder if Mary is there as well. Nellie Brennan is going to her sister, Mary Brennan, at 12 Thames Street which is not far that from Clarke Street. At least they are traveling together. 

They leave port on 29 September 1907. They are numbers 3 and 4 on the manifest below. Both are listed as servants, and they both read and write. Nellie Brennan's nearest relative in Ireland is Nellie Brennan of Dreenauliffe, Sneem. But get this - our Nellie's nearest relative is not her mother Ellen Leary of Loughane but Patk Brennan of Glenlough!! I wonder if she left without telling her mother and stepfather? There were 2 Brennan families at the end of the road that goes thru the Moriarty-Sullivan property – and there was another Brennan on the old road that comes out at Paddy Dennehy’s – one of these must have been this Patrick Brennan. (In the 1911 Irish Census of Lower Glenlough, the three Brennan families are listed; but only the family in house #9 has Patrick Brennan - in fact there are two Patricks! One is the 68 year old head of the family. His wife Abbie is 69, and his single son Patrick is 23 - he would have been 19 in 1907 when Nellie Moriarty left.)

The Cunard Line ship on which they are traveling was built in 1884 in Glasgow on the River Clyde.  The SS Etruria and her sister SS Umbria were the fastest ships of their time - they were also the last passenger liners to have sails. The Etruria originally had NO steerage passengers but had 550 1st class cabins and 800 2nd class cabins.  By 1893 emigrants were getting to be quite the money maker - larger numbers could be packed together in smaller quarters with less cost for food and accommodations.  The Etruria's accommodations were changed that year to accommodate 800 3rd class passengers, 160  2nd class passengers, and 500 1st class passengers. I guess there wasn't much profit in 2nd class accommodations - that was a pretty big drop from 800 to 160!!

Our Nellie is traveling on the Etruria when it is almost 25 years old. The bigger, faster, more luxurious Lusitania and Mauretania are scheduled to start service this same year. 

The Etruria was involved in a collision in August 1908 with a barge - her propeller and steering gear were damaged. She was sold in 1909 and scrapped in 1910.

In 1893 her accommodations were altered to 500 - 1st Class, 160 - 2nd Class, 800 - 3rd Class. In 1901 she was fitted with wireless. In 1893 her accommodations were altered to 500 - 1st Class, 160 - 2nd Class, 800 - 3rd Class. In 1901 she was fitted with wireless. 

The Etruria arrives in New York Harbor - I imagine people are lining the rails to get a look. I wonder if Nellie is jockeying for a good position to see the Statue of Liberty?Are people cheering when they see it? What do they think of the New York skyline? 

The next stop for Nellie is Ellis Island - was this terrifying for a 16 year old? Or did she consider it just part of the adventure? 

The Boston Globe reported on May 26, 2002 that "Ellis Island is where most immigrants came to the United States between 1891 and 1954." 20 million immigrants came through its doors.

In the early years of the United States, each state regulated immigration within its own borders. In 1891 the federal office of Superintendant of Immigration was established  to prohibit unwanted persons from entering the country - this is evident in the questions we saw on the previous passengers' lists for Mary and Catherine. And remember how doctors examine passengers on board the ships - we saw the doctor's statement when we were learning about Catherine Moriarty. This was because the ship companies had to pay for any immigrant who was sent back to his country, and I think also for any sick passenger who was put up in the hospital.

Ellis Island opened in 1892 in New York Harbor - it was for steerage passengers only. 15 year old Annie Moore from Cork was the first person to go through.

Lizzie and Joe Huliston with Annie Moore and her brothers at Cobh.

American inspectors come on board the ship and examine 1st and 2nd class passengers. But the steerage passengers - including Nellie, her two sisters before her, and millions of others - are ferried to Ellis Island where they are directed to the main building. I read somewhere that 5000 passengers could be processed in one day - it took about 4-5 hours for each passenger. In the baggage room, Nellie can check her suitcase - many immigrants brought suitcases, trunks, or bundles. Many were afraid to leave any belongings here - this was all they possessed - so instead they carried them through the inspection process. I wonder what Nellie is carrying with her? A suitcase, a bundle? Does she take a chance and check it or carry it with her?

Leaving the Baggage Room, Nellie next climbs the stairs to the Registry Room or Great Hall. Most immigrants are not aware that doctors are observing them as they climb these steep stairs - the doctors are looking for immigrants who have trouble walking, are short of breath, or for any signs that they will not be able to support themselves financially.

When Nellie reaches the second floor, the Great Hall is in front of her. Doctors at the top of the stairs examine each person's skin, throat, hands, scalp. Nellie is asked her name to see if she can hear and speak. The doctor also checks for trachoma - a contagious infection that can cause blindness and thus make Nellie unable to support herself - and that might make her a public ward. The doctor would use his finger or a button hook (used to fasten shoes with buttons) to flip up and turn back Nellie's eyelid so he could look for the infection. It sounds like an awful thing to me - it's making me ill thinking about it! Imagine waiting in line for someone to do that to you?

Aunt Helen Murphy's button hook

If Nellie passes the medical exam, she will move on. If not, the doctor marks her coat with chalk - for example,  "E" for eyes, "H" for heart, "P" for pulmonary or breathing, "X" for mental problems. Then she will need to go for further examination. She could be hospitalized if her condition is curable; if not, she is deported back to Queenstown where she just came from.

I guess Nellie passed the medical exam so she moves along an aisle in the Great Hall. Metal pipes divide the floor into narrow aisles - some sections are enclosed by wire. Legal inspectors sit at the end of the hall. Everyone has an ID card with the ship manifest number on it. When the ship number is called, everyone from the ship moves up the aisle - imagine how long this will take for the 800 steerage passengers on Nellie's ship! The inspectors are sitting at high desks with interpreters available. Nellie is asked between twenty and thirty questions - mostly to double-check the information on the ship's manifests. The most important thing for Nellie is to answer "No" when she is asked if a job is waiting for her. American labor unions are afraid that all these immigrants will take away jobs and that the immigrants will work for lower wages.

There must be a cacophony of sounds in that Great Hall - with hundreds of  immigrants, the inspectors, the interpreters - all the different languages. The inspector registers Nellie and gives her a landing card.

Now Nellie goes down the Staircase of Separation. At the bottom she might turn right for the railroad ticket office. Others will turn left for the ferry to Manhattan. Others, being detained, will walk straight ahead for the detention rooms.

While on Ellis Island, Nellie can exchange her Irish currency into American money. She can buy a box lunch for $1 for the train trip - sandwich, fruit, and a piece of pie. I wonder, if no one is meeting her, if she sends a telegram to Catherine to let her know what time her train will be arriving. But wait - where will it take her? Hartford, Connecticut?  Or does she take the Fall River Line ferry to Newport? Remember that we learned about that when we were talking about Aunt Margaret Moriarty's husband, Michael Dwyer? We do know that a ferry carries Nellie and her friend to the railroad depots or to the connection for the Fall River Line.

I read somewhere that unmarried women and children could not leave Ellis Island until a family member arrived to meet them. So does someone come to meet our girls? After all, Nellie is only 16. Whether someone meets them or not, we do know that Nellie makes it to Uncle Con Moriarty's in Newport. Then what happens?

Just an aside before we go on. I can't help thinking of our family every time I hear "Isle of Hope" - so many came though Ellis island. So here are the words from http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/celticthunder/isleofhopeisleoftears.html


"Isle Of Hope, Isle Of Tears

On the first day of January,
Eighteen ninety-two,
They opened Ellis Island and they let
The people through.
And first to cross the threshold
Of that isle of hope and tears,
Was Annie Moore from Ireland
Who was all of fifteen years.

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it's not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again
But the isle of home is always on your mind.

In a little bag she carried
All her past and history,
And her dreams for the future
In the land of liberty.
And courage is the passport
When your old world disappears
But there's no future in the past
When you're fifteen years

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it's not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again
But the isle of home is always on your mind.

When they closed down Ellis Island
In nineteen forty-three,
Seventeen million people
Had come there for sanctuary.
And in springtime when I came here
And I stepped onto it's piers,
I thought of how it must have been
When you're fifteen years.

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it's not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again
But the isle of home is always on your mind.
The isle of home is always on your mind."

I found a listing in the 1910 U.S. Census that I believe is our Nellie Moriarty. She is an 18 year old servant for the Hubbard family – she is single and immigrated in 1907. The family lives at 11 Forest Street in Cambridge’s Ward 10.  This is off Massachusetts Avenue between Harvard and Porter Squares. The head of the family is 68 year old Sanford Hubbard who was born in New Hampshire as were his parents. He is an agent for the City’s School Board. His wife is not working – Emma Hubbard is 58 and was born in Massachusetts as were her parents. She has had 3 pregnancies and the 3 children are living. William is a 26 year old assistant instructor at the University (Harvard?) Roger, 21, and Francis 20, are “at home.”

11 Forest Street in Cambridge.

I just - yesterday/March 15, 2014 - found a record for Nellie returning from Sneem! So she has been home to visit. The S.S. Laconia leaves Queenstown on 1st October 1913. Nellie is on line 27. She is 22 years old, single, and a servant. It is interesting because stamped across line 27 is "Legal Entry for Permanent Residence Verified" and it looks like two initials - maybe MG. Then another stamp says "Jul 2 1925" - the last number is smudged, but I think it looks like a 5. What do you make of this? Was Nellie applying for citizenship? I didn't find any naturalization papers for her on www.ancestry.com. She is listed as a British citizen - Irish race. Her last permanent address is Cambridge, and I think the prior column says USA.
Her nearest relative in Ireland is her mother - Mrs. Moriarty - of Glenlough, Sneem. That sounds very formal.

It is interesting that she is traveling with Patrick O'Shea of Indianapolis, Indiana. I think it says that his mother, Mary O'Shea, is from Loughane, Sneem. The only Sheas I know that lived in Loughane are Mike Shea's family. Remember Mike was the one who sent my father and me to Foley's Pub looking for information on my mother's uncle Jim Moriarty? I looked them both up on www.irishgenealogy.ie. This is Mike Shea's older brother - their father is Patrick O'Shea and their mother is Mary Kiely or Kelly.

The Laconia docks in Boston on October 9, 1913 - so it was an 8 day voyage.  Nellie bought her own ticket to her final destination - which is Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has $10. She was in the U.S. before in 1907 - does that say June 10 to June 1913? I don't know on what line that notation belongs. It does say she was in Cambridge. And she is going to join her sister Catherine Moriarty! It looks like Catherine is at 7 Frances Ave in Cambridge.
Nellie is not a polygamist, she has not been in an almshouse or received charity. She is not an anarchist and has not been promised work.
Catherine is 5' 5" - with a dark complexion, dark hair and brown eyes. She was born in Glenlough.

I haven't been able to find Nellie in any other records. I know that 
Nellie was out in the Boston area when my grandmother got married around 1918 - she stood up for her. 

9 July 20121 - I just found a Declaration of Intent to become an American Citizen for Nellie.

Nellie never marries. She travels to Ireland with my grandmother’s sister-in-law, Nellie Keohane, and Steve Casey, her neighbor in Loughane. She goes back again to Loughane when her half sister Bridget is sick. 

At some point Nellie goes home to Loughane and can not get back to the United States. Someone told me that it was because of a medical problem.  

Nellie’s half brother Mike O’Sullivan builds a new house when he is getting married. I presume the old people and Nellie remain in the old house. Aunt Nellie Keohane talked about going to Sneem with Nellie Moriarty and staying in the old cabin. One day she was drying her hair in the front window when Stephen Casey came along and pulled her out through the window!!

I believe Aunt Nellie Keohane took these pictures of Nellie Moriarty.

Nellie Moriarty in front of the Moriarty cabin - is that the window that Steve Casey pulled Nellie Keohane through? That is John L O'Sullivan on the ladder fixing the thatch roof on the cabin near the house. Look at those boulders!! Ring of Kerry road is up behind the cabins.

Nellie Moriarty on the "farm" in Loughane.

Nellie Moriarty at the bog. See the turf stacked up behind her? Must be time to take it home.

Larry John L told me that Nellie raised him and the other children because his mother, Lena Nash, was back in Tahilla caring for her family.

Here Mick John L is holding Gerry. Nellie has an arm on Hannah and that may be Larry’s hand behind Hannah.

Here is a Christmas card from Nellie to my grandmother - I don't know what year.

"will write later" 
                          "From Sister Nellie to Margaret - A Happy Xmas"



And here is a letter that Nellie wrote to my grandmother in 1967. 

                                                             "Loughane Sneem
                                                                      Dec.10.1967
My Dear Sister Margaret,

                                           Just a few lines hoping you are all well as this leaves all here at present Thank God. Christmas is drawing near. Years don’t be long passing. We have very bad weather - rain and cold. I will be glad when the winter is over. I have a cold since the winter started, it is hard to get rid of it. I hope you are well also all the family and grandchildren. Excuse the bad writing. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Prosperous New Year.

With Love to all from sister Nellie to Margaret xxx"


Someone in Sneem told me that Nellie Moriarty used to wear a black shawl. Here is a postcard showing two women wearing black shawls.

The Learys from Bohocogram remembered Nellie – she used to ride a bicycle. Aunt Helen Murphy told me that Nellie was a friend of her grandmother, Mamie Dick Curran in Gortdromagh. I've also heard that Nellie was very religious. 

I have a note that Nellie died 10 June 1968, but I found the following information a year or so ago on the Kerry Graves website.

Nellie died 7 June 1969. She is #861 on the log below from Kerry County Council. She is listed as Eileen Moriarty of Loughane. She was 72 when she died of the flu – four others on this page also died of the flu. She must have died at home because it says she died in the Sneem Sanitary District – there was no hospital in Sneem. Her occupation was housemaid – I don’t know if she worked when she returned to Loughane. Michael O’Sullivan was in charge of his sister’s burial on 9 June 1969.  John Hussey registered the death. I know my mother and Hannie were disappointed that Nellie had died so recently when they visited Loughane for the first time in 1972.

So that is all I have for Nellie. I always wonder how she felt leaving home at 16. But then how did she feel when she later came home to Loughane and couldn't get back to Boston?  Especially if she had taken out naturalization papers!