The migration of our family, the Sullivans, from Ireland to upstate New York State around 1820 can be seen in the context of the British oppression of the Irish Catholic population. The Sullivans were poor farmers in the tiny town of Clunsast, in King's County (now Offaly County), west of Dublin. There was a more well-to-do family in Clunsast, the Ennis family. Their son, Thomas, was a revolutionary who became involved in the failed Rebellion of 1798 against the British occupiers. The British put prices on the heads of the organizers of the Rebellion and Thomas Ennis fled Ireland for America. He was an educated man (rare for Irish Catholics in those days) who had studied mathematics and engineering. He became a surveyor for the original Erie Canal in upstate New York State. He was well paid for his efforts, and received gold and land. He received a tract of land called the Pagan Purchase near Verona, New York, because it had been purchased from the Oneida Indians who were presumably pagans. He desired to establish an Irish Catholic town on his land and wrote back to his home town of Clunsast, Ireland that any family which would immigrate to America would receive forty acres of land and 100 dollars in gold. Our ancestors, the widow Elizabeth Sullivan and her sons, were among the dozen families who immigrated and formed the Irish Catholic town of Irish Ridge around 1820. They eventually moved to the western part of New York State, south of Buffalo, where my grandfather was born. He became a high school mathematics teacher. and married and moved to the New York City region, where I was eventually born and raised. Happy St. Paddy's Day!
Slainte!
Frank |
