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| A typical County Kerry, Ireland tenant farmer home during the 1800s |
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| The topographical landscape of the Kenmare valley Co. Kerry, Ireland |
Maytor Healy (pronounced HAY-lee) [9] was born about 1817 in Ireland.
The first record for Maytor, shows him living in the beautiful Kenmare valley of Co. Kerry, located in south-west Ireland. Co. Kerry forms part of the province of Munster, and is bordered by only two other counties: County Limerick to the east and County Cork to the south-east. The Catholic diocesan seat is Killarney, which is (and was in the 1800s) one of Ireland's most famous tourist destination. The Lakes of Killarney, an outstanding natural beauty are located in the Killarney National Park, to the north, and many tourists travel the beautiful Ring of Kerry.
The first record for Maytor, shows him living in the beautiful Kenmare valley of Co. Kerry, located in south-west Ireland. Co. Kerry forms part of the province of Munster, and is bordered by only two other counties: County Limerick to the east and County Cork to the south-east. The Catholic diocesan seat is Killarney, which is (and was in the 1800s) one of Ireland's most famous tourist destination. The Lakes of Killarney, an outstanding natural beauty are located in the Killarney National Park, to the north, and many tourists travel the beautiful Ring of Kerry.
Kenmare, Co. Kerry is Located in a vast mountain valley, about thirty miles long and sixteen wide. An arm of the sea, usually called the Kenmare River (actually a bay) runs up the center of this valley for the distance of seven or eight miles from the shore and meets the Roughty River which continues inland past townland Kilgarvan. The Beara Peninsula, Co. Cork is located on the south side of the Kenmare River.
County Kerry, Ireland sits on a mineral-rich seam that runs across west Kerry, through the Beara Peninsula to Kenmare, and contains copper, lead, zinc, even silver and cobalt. The oldest copper mine in northwest Europe is on Ross Island at Killarney in Co. Kerry. During the 1820s there was talk of draining Killarney's main lake to make mining easier, in the end tourism won out, the lake was left, and in 1829 the last mine closed, and the site was landscaped. Visitors who follow the Ross Island trail today can see the remains of old mines, including flooded mine shafts. The Beara Peninsula is known for it's active Allihies Industrial Copper Mines which opened in 1812 and reached it's peak of activity in 1845, employeeing around 1600 miners. During the 1800s there were nine active mines in County Kerry, Ireland.
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| Historically accurate geological and geographical maps of Co. Kerry and Co. Cork, Ireland during the early to mid-1800s |
The above illustrations show historic mining activity of the mid-1800s and the known residences of Maytor Healy in Ireland. During Maytor Healy's life in Ireland, we know he married, worked, leased property, and had children in the townlands of Mangerton and Knockeens in the parish Kilgarvan, and townland Caher East in the parish Kenmare of Co. Kerry. I believe Maytor worked underground, in the Ardtully Mines owned by the Kenmare Mining Association from the time of his marriage until he immigrated in 1859 to the Keneenaw Peninsula (later known as the "Copper Country" or "UP" meaning Upper Peninsula) of Michigan in the United States.
It is possible Maytor resided in another area until the Ardtully Mines began operating, drawing him to the Kilgarvan area around 1843, where he met and married Nellie Donovan, daughter of a tenant farmer, Daniel Donovan and his wife Arabella. At age 26 years, Maytor was 8-years-older than the common marrying age. [1] Why did he wait so long? I believe he was occupied underground, mining in another area of Ireland. During the early to mid- 1800s, the largest concentration of mining activity was south of Kenmare in the Beara Peninsula of County Cork. Additionally, it is documented that the Quincy Mining Company recruited immigrants from Ireland beginning in 1845 to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Irish that came were from the Beara Peninsula of County Cork, the Knockmahon mines in County Waterford, and mining communities in County Tipperary and they were skilled experienced copper miners. [8]
It is possible Maytor resided in another area until the Ardtully Mines began operating, drawing him to the Kilgarvan area around 1843, where he met and married Nellie Donovan, daughter of a tenant farmer, Daniel Donovan and his wife Arabella. At age 26 years, Maytor was 8-years-older than the common marrying age. [1] Why did he wait so long? I believe he was occupied underground, mining in another area of Ireland. During the early to mid- 1800s, the largest concentration of mining activity was south of Kenmare in the Beara Peninsula of County Cork. Additionally, it is documented that the Quincy Mining Company recruited immigrants from Ireland beginning in 1845 to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Irish that came were from the Beara Peninsula of County Cork, the Knockmahon mines in County Waterford, and mining communities in County Tipperary and they were skilled experienced copper miners. [8]
When searching for Maytor Healy's parents and siblings, it's important to be aware that there is a record of one other "Maytor Healy" living in the area of Kenmare, Co. Kerry at the same time as our Maytor. He was born 1805, leased property in townland Upper Letter in 1852, and died there in 1875.
Now for the story of Maytor Healy,
Born about 1817, (we don't have his birth or baptism record) Maytor was 26 years old and living in the small farming community of Mangerton when he married 20 year old, Nellie Donovan. She was the daughter of a tenant farmer named Daniel Donovan and her mother was known as Belle, her baptismal name was likely Arabella. Maytor Healy and Nellie Donovan married in the Roman Catholic church in the neighboring village of Kilgarvan in November, 1843. Their marriage was witnessed by Daniel Donovan and Patrick Healy, probably Nellie's father and Maytor's brother or father.
Born about 1817, (we don't have his birth or baptism record) Maytor was 26 years old and living in the small farming community of Mangerton when he married 20 year old, Nellie Donovan. She was the daughter of a tenant farmer named Daniel Donovan and her mother was known as Belle, her baptismal name was likely Arabella. Maytor Healy and Nellie Donovan married in the Roman Catholic church in the neighboring village of Kilgarvan in November, 1843. Their marriage was witnessed by Daniel Donovan and Patrick Healy, probably Nellie's father and Maytor's brother or father.
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| Maytor Healy and Nellie Donovan's Marriage Record. This is the link to the record image. This is the link to the index of the record. |
In 1843, Maytor's immediate community, and all of county Kerry, was heavily populated. Official population counts do not exist because Ireland's census records before 1905 have not survived, so estimated counts by unofficial sources must be used [10] . Almost twelve years previous (1831) to Maytor's marriage, county Kerry's population was about 29,152 people of which 4,963 people lived in Kenmare, and 3,436 in Kilgarvan. By 1841 Kenmare had 4,500 residents, plus 500 Workhouse occupants and 716 houses. [10]
Fifty years previous (about 1800) Kenmare was a poor hamlet, with only 3 or 4 good houses, and by 1844 it was a very sequestered and remote yet respectable small Irish town. It had a parish- church with a spire, a large Roman Catholic chapel, a market house, a petty-sessions house, a small an not very well kept bridewell, an inn and a post office. A newsroom and a number of good, new, two-story dwellings. There was a new road from Kenmare to Killarney and a mail-coach arrives daily along this route with post by way of Dublin about 25 hours distant. [10]
A grand suspension-bridge had been constructed in 1838 across the Kenmare river eliminating the daily ferry from one side to the other. The Kenmare Harbor was not of much use for commercial fishing. The english parliament had instituted the Poor-law Union in 1840 which formed medical dispensaries, one in Kenmare and one in Kilgarvan. Having available medicine was a new development but in a two year period 1839-40 only 1,500 medicines was dispensed to a population of at least 35,000 people. [10]
The society consisted of a few, ultra wealthy individuals who inherited their fortunes or through social connections owned land and lived in large homes on planned estates. Then there were a few members of the Catholic clergy, priests and nuns living in parsonages and performing religious functions for a fee.
In Kenmare there were shop owners and government employees, but the majority of the people were poor from one degree or another, Roman Catholic families with numerous children. Few children, especially girls had the opportunity of education in either their homes, from their parents, in the National School of which Kilgarvan and Kenmare each had one or one of the Roman Catholic Schools. In 1840 Kilgarvan's one National School had 119 boys and 56 girls on it's books and a total of 98 boys and 42 girls attended one of the three Roman Catholic Schools, in a population of about 5,000 people. [10]
The majority of people survived by living off the land. Using spades they amended the rocky soil with seaweed to grow potatoes, turnips, and a little oats but the soil was too rocky for corn.
Those who were better off, could afford to lease small parcels of land, three acres or less, from a wealthy landlord who lived outside of the Ireland. These people were called tenant farmers and they payed rent to their landlord and taxes to the church of England.
However, the majority of people and families were squatters, living where they could find a place, building makeshift, one or two room homes of mud and thatch or sometimes rock and often without a single window.
Lastly, there were the most unfortunate people of society called paupers. They were unable to take care for themselves because of age or mental illness, perhaps they were orphaned or widows, or even families with too many children and unable to find enough food to prevent starvation, they entered the Workhouse in Kenmare about three miles from Kilgarvan, as a last resort. This is the community Nellie and Maytor lived in.
Fifty years previous (about 1800) Kenmare was a poor hamlet, with only 3 or 4 good houses, and by 1844 it was a very sequestered and remote yet respectable small Irish town. It had a parish- church with a spire, a large Roman Catholic chapel, a market house, a petty-sessions house, a small an not very well kept bridewell, an inn and a post office. A newsroom and a number of good, new, two-story dwellings. There was a new road from Kenmare to Killarney and a mail-coach arrives daily along this route with post by way of Dublin about 25 hours distant. [10]
A grand suspension-bridge had been constructed in 1838 across the Kenmare river eliminating the daily ferry from one side to the other. The Kenmare Harbor was not of much use for commercial fishing. The english parliament had instituted the Poor-law Union in 1840 which formed medical dispensaries, one in Kenmare and one in Kilgarvan. Having available medicine was a new development but in a two year period 1839-40 only 1,500 medicines was dispensed to a population of at least 35,000 people. [10]
The society consisted of a few, ultra wealthy individuals who inherited their fortunes or through social connections owned land and lived in large homes on planned estates. Then there were a few members of the Catholic clergy, priests and nuns living in parsonages and performing religious functions for a fee.
In Kenmare there were shop owners and government employees, but the majority of the people were poor from one degree or another, Roman Catholic families with numerous children. Few children, especially girls had the opportunity of education in either their homes, from their parents, in the National School of which Kilgarvan and Kenmare each had one or one of the Roman Catholic Schools. In 1840 Kilgarvan's one National School had 119 boys and 56 girls on it's books and a total of 98 boys and 42 girls attended one of the three Roman Catholic Schools, in a population of about 5,000 people. [10]
The majority of people survived by living off the land. Using spades they amended the rocky soil with seaweed to grow potatoes, turnips, and a little oats but the soil was too rocky for corn.
Those who were better off, could afford to lease small parcels of land, three acres or less, from a wealthy landlord who lived outside of the Ireland. These people were called tenant farmers and they payed rent to their landlord and taxes to the church of England.
However, the majority of people and families were squatters, living where they could find a place, building makeshift, one or two room homes of mud and thatch or sometimes rock and often without a single window.
Lastly, there were the most unfortunate people of society called paupers. They were unable to take care for themselves because of age or mental illness, perhaps they were orphaned or widows, or even families with too many children and unable to find enough food to prevent starvation, they entered the Workhouse in Kenmare about three miles from Kilgarvan, as a last resort. This is the community Nellie and Maytor lived in.
Shortly after Maytor and Nellie married, they moved less than half a mile away from Nellie's childhood home in Mangerton to a village along the Roughty River called Knockeens. Maytor needed to be closer to the Ardtully mines in Cloontoo where he worked. The Kenmare Mining Association had just taken up management of the mines and hired about 120 men to extract copper and lead from the ten mine shafts which extended from 78 feet to 396 feet into the ground. [5]
With the assumption that Maytor did indeed work in the Ardtully mines, three miles northeast of Kenmare, the question arises, what was his work life in the mines? Life of an underground miner, in Ireland was exacting, and at middle-age, or soon after, their health began to fail. The maturity and confirmed strength of that time of life seemed to be denied to them, they rapidly acquired the feebleness of declining years. A person of fifty is old for a miner. [11]
Some of what brought about the early aging of Irish miners was the underground elements, "The shaft was plumb down, the ladders had no inclination but were straight up and down the face of the stone with scanty room for the foot to rest on. Some of the rungs were iron, some wood, some broken, some entire - all more or less slippery. Each ladder is 24 feet in length and at the foot of each is a small platform just sufficient to support your feet while you are looking for the top rung of the next which is generally on the opposite side". [11]
All of these maneuvers occurred by the flickering light of their tallow candles, purchased from the company, for distances of up to a quarter of a mile. Once the underground passage was reached, conditions hardly improved,
"With backs bent to very nearly a right angle, with devious footsteps at no time on dry land in the full sense of the term, but often indeed up to their knees in a pool, with a splash which spurted up acherentic mud into eyes and mouths
Almost exactly one year after Maytor and Nellie married their first child was born. Mary Healy was baptized 29 November 1844 in Knockeens, parish Kilgarvan, Co. Kerry, Ireland.
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| Mary B Healy, 1844-1928 |
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| Mary Healy Baptism Record |
Mary Healy, the oldest child and daughter of Maytor, she received some education and likely attended one of the Roman Catholic schools in Kilgarvan or Kenmare. She was a religious and devout Roman Catholic throughout her life and in fact raised two daughters who would become Nuns and one, a Mother Superior in the United States. Mary was able to read and write when she emigrated with her mother and siblings in 1862. At age 30 she married the German immigrant and new widower with four children, Bernard Hoppenyan in Hancock, Michigan.
In 1884, Mary and Barney along with Maytor and Nellie moved from Hancock, Michigan to Ashland, Wisconsin where Barney owned property. Together Barney and Mary Healy had six additional children and died in Ashland. Mary travelled overland to Leadville, Colorado to attend the funeral of her younger brother, Daniel Healy in 1912 and six years later she was by the side of her brother Patrick Healy in Ogden, Utah when he died in 1918. You can read more about Mary Healy, Bernard Hoppenyan and their family here.
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| Inside the Old Kilgarvan Burial Ground, Kilgarvan, Co. Kerry, Ireland. Courtesy of Find a Grave. |
Mary Healy's obituary states that she was the oldest of ten children however records for only eight have been found. It is probable that two additional children (names, date, and genders unknown) were born to Maytor Healy and Nellie Donovan in the Kilgarvan or Kenmare parishes between 1843 and 1850. This was during Ireland's Potato Famine 1845-51, when an estimated 2,000 deaths from starvation and disease occurred in County Kerry, Ireland.
Thankfully, Maytor and Nellie had a son, who was born during the Potato Famine years who survived to adulthood, and we have a record of his baptism in the Roman Catholic church. Patrick Healy was baptized almost three years after Nellie and Maytor's first child Mary, on February 17, 1847 in the Kilgarvan parish of Co. Kerry, Ireland.
Patrick Healy was the oldest son born to Maytor and Nellie who lived to adulthood. At age 11-years his father left Ireland and immigrated to Hancock, Michigan in the hope of providing a better life for them. Patrick was 15 years old when he immigrated with his mother and siblings to join his father in Hancock, Michigan. Once he reached Hancock he "worked in the timber" and at the smelting plant on the banks of Portage Lake in Hancock. Next he joined the Union Pacific Rail Road, laying line for the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. In Utah, he went into the sheep and cattle business with his brother in law, Adam Patterson then later was an Ogden businessman and hotel owner. He married Mary Ann Patterson and had eight children, but sadly, five died in infancy. Patrick was fun-loving, gregarious and a hard-worker. He loved his father, and his sibling and kept in contact with them throughout his life, traveling long distances to be with them during important life events. He attended his mother's funeral in Wisconsin and he accepted financial help from his siblings, and gave help in return when needed. Today, he is remembered as "Uncle Patsy" by his family who are old enough to remember him. You can read more about Patrick Healy's life here.
The first seven years of Maytor and Nellie's married life together was during some of the worst years in Ireland's history. The horrible Potato Famine 1845-1851 probably contributed to them loosing three children to death in Ireland, and led to their immigration to America. To describe the circumstances of Maytor's community at that time, I am including the following journal excerpt, written by the land agent, assigned to the Kenmare district in Co. Kerry - W. Steuart Trench [1]
"The district of Kenmare at that period - January 1850 - was not in a desirable condition. 'The Famine', in the strict acceptation of the term was then nearly over, but it had left a trail behind it, almost as formidable as its presence. The mountain district around Kenmare had not escaped its effects. The circumstances of the country were peculiar."
"The Union of Kenmare consists of a vast valley, with an arm of the sea, usually called the 'Kenmare River' running up the center for the distance of about six to twenty miles. On either side of this estuary, the mountains rise continuously to a distance of seven or eight miles from the shore, thus making an enormous valley about thirty miles long and sixteen wide."
"Within this district but little corn is grown. The portions of land reclaimed from the rocky mountains, on which alone corn could be raised, are so small, that they are barely sufficient to grow potatoes and turnips enough for the consumption of the people, and their cattle throughout the winter. The exports of the district may be said to consist exclusively of butter, young cattle, and sheep - whilst the inhabitants subsisted on potatoes, milk, and butter, together with cured fish, bacon, and a very small supply of oats, grown upon the reclaimed portion of land amongst the rocks. There is no access nearer than Killarney, which is twenty miles distant, to any corn-growing county."
"The estate of Marquis of Lansdowne in the Union of Kenmare had at this time been much neglected by its local manager. It consists of about sixty thousand acres and comprises nearly one-third of the whole union. No restraint whatever had been put upon the system of subdivision of land.
Boys and girls intermarried unchecked, each at the age of seventeen or eighteen, without thinking it necessary [see a different view of this] to make any provisions whatever for their future subsistence, beyond a shed to lie down in, and a small plot of land whereon to grow potatoes. Innumerable squatters had settled themselves, unquestioned, in huts on the mountainsides and in the valleys, without any sufficient provision for their maintenance during the year. They sowed their patches of potatoes early in spring, using seaweed alone as manure."
"Then as the scarce seasons of spring and summer came on, they nailed up the doors of their huts, took all their children along with them, together with a few tin cans, and started on a migratory and piratical expedition over the counties of Kerry and Cork, trusting to the adroitness and good luck in begging, to keep the family alive till the potato crop again came in.
And thus, in consequence of the neglect or supineness of the agent, who - in direct violation of his lordship's instructions, and without his knowledge- allowed numbers of strangers and young married couples to settle on his estate, paying no rent, and almost without any visible means of subsistence, not only the finances, but the character and condition of the property, were at a very low ebb indeed. The estate, in fact, was swamped with paupers.
The desolation which a sudden failure of the staple food of the people, in a remote valley like this, must necessarily bring along with it, may be imagined. ... As the potato melted away before the eyes of the people, they looked on in dismay and terror; but there was no one with energy enough to import corn to supply its place. Half Ireland was stunned by the suddenness of the calamity, and Kenmare was completely paralyzed. Begging, as of old, was now out of the question, as all were nearly equally poor; and many of the wretched people succumbed to their fate almost without a struggle.
The agent of the estate, who on my first arrival was my chief informant, did not seem to consider that anyone, in particular, was to blame for this. He talked of it as 'the hand of God'. The whole thing had come so suddenly, and all those residing in Kenmare were so entirely unprepared, and incapable of meeting it, that an efficient remedy was utterly out of the question.
In the midst of this most dire distress, Lord Lansdowne came forward and offered money to any extent-in fact a carte blanche- to save the lives of the people. But there was no one in the country capable of undertaking the task. The magnitude of the suffering seemed to paralyze all local efforts to avert it, and his lordship's unbounded liberality was but little tested or applied. And thus almost in the midst of plenty-for, there was an abundance of corn within a few miles distant-famine stalked unmolested through the glens and mountains of Barony Glanerought.
Several of the shopkeepers in the town of Kenmare informed me that at this period for or five dead bodies were frequently found in the streets, or on the flags, in the morning, the remains of poor people who had wandered in from the country in search of food; and that they had dreaded to open their doors lest a corpse would be found leaning against it.
.... Such were the scenes which had taken place in that then secluded valley, not long previous to my arrival.
When I first reached Kenmare in the winter of 1849-50, the form of destitution had changed to some degree; but it was still very great. It was true that people no longer died of starvation; but they were dying nearly as fast of fever, dysentery, and scurvy within the walls of the workhouse. The food there was now in abundance; but to entitle the people to obtain it, they were compelled to go into the workhouse and auxiliary sheds, until these were crowded almost to suffocation. The workhouses being at this time quite unable to hold the numbers who crowded in, large auxiliary timber sheds were erected in convenient places and in these were housed immense numbers of paupers, for whom room could not be found in the main building."
"Although out-door relief had also been resorted to in consequence of the impossibility of finding room for the paupers in the houses, yet the quantity of food given was so small, and the previous destitution through which they had passed was so severe, that nearly as many died now under the hands of the guardians, as had perished before by actual starvation."
" As an illustration of this state of things, I may mention an event which occurred to myself, soon after my arrival in the district.
I was in the habit, at this time, of attending the meetings of the Poor Law Board of Guardians, of which I had not yet become a member.
The numbers at that time receiving relief in the whole union of Kenmare were somewhere about ten thousand. In June 1849, six months previous to my coming, they had reached the highest point, about ten thousand for hundred persons being then in receipt of relief.
My first step was to endeavor to relieve, to some degree, the plethora of the poor-house; and for this purpose, I offered employment, outside, to all those who had entered it chargeable to the Lord Lansdowne's estate. I promised them wages in draining, subsoiling, removing rocks and stones, and such like out-of-door labor."
"No sooner had I made this proposal, than about two hundred gaunt half-famished men, and nearly as many boys and women appeared in my field the next morning, all of them claiming my promise, but none of them having any tools wherewith to labor. Here was a new dilemma. The offer of employment had been accepted with only too great avidity, but the creatures had not a spade, nor a pick-ax, nor a working tool amongst them. Fortunately, a large depot of these articles had lain stored in a tool-house hard by- remnants of the public works. These I immediately appropriated, and before noon about one-half, the people were employed. The remainder I sent again to the poor house, telling them, however, to return the next day and I would endeavor to procure implements to lend them. They did so. and partly by buying, partly by borrowing, and by making some of them work with their hands alone, I managed to keep most of them employed. But although at first, this system met with great approbation in the district, yet I found it quite impossible to continue it. In the first place, not much more than one-fourth of the reasonable value in labor could be obtained from those who proposed to work; and in the next, being now in employment, they had of course to leave the workhouse. Where then were they to lodge at night? Every land, every alley, every cabin in the town was crowded to excess with this unhappy work-people, and they slept by threes and fours together wherever they could get a pallet of straw to lie upon. But I plainly saw that this could not go on. The townspeople began to complain of the scenes in the town at night; and when a wet day came and the people could not work, nearly one-half of them were obliged to return for the day to the poor-house, creating immense confusion by the sudden influx of such a body of famished new-comers, and the remainder wandered abut, objects of the utmost compassion.
Accordingly, after the most anxious deliberation, I arrived at the final conclusion that this system could not be carried on. I felt it would be madness in me to assume the responsibility of keeping three hundred paupers in employment, most of them removed only one step from the grave, as, if any accident should happen to prevent them from obtaining daily pay.
I therefore resolved to put into practice a scheme which I had meditated for a long time previously, namely, to go myself to Lord Lansdowne at Bowood, to state to him the whole circumstances of the case, and to recommend him to adopt an extensive system of voluntary emigration as the only practicable and effective means of relieving this frightful destitution.
This plan I carried into effect. And in the month of November 1850, I went to England and presented my plan. I showed him by the poor-house returns, that the number of paupers off his estate and receiving relief in the work-house amounted to about three thousand....
Link to complete detail of the immigration plan presented....
... I plainly proved that it would be cheaper to him, and better for them, to pay for their emigration at once, than to continue to support them at home...
On my leaving Bowood he gave me an order for 8,000 wherewith to commence the system of emigration, with a full understanding that more should be forthcoming if required.
I shall not readily forget the scenes that occurred in Kenmare when I returned, and announced that I was prepared at Lord Lansdowne's expense to send to America every one now in the poor-house who was chargeable to his lordship's estate, and who desired to go; leaving each to select what port in America he please - whether Boston, New York, New Orleans, or Quebec.
The announcement at first was scarcely credited; it was considered by the paupers to be too good new to be true. But when it began to be believed and appreciated, a rush was made to get away at once. The mode adopted was a follows; - two hundred each week were selected to those apparently most suited for emigration; and having arranged their slender outfit, a steady man, on whom I could depend, Mr. Jeremiah O'Shea, was employed to take charge of them on their journey to Cork, and not to leave them or allow them to scatter, until he saw them safely on board the emigrant ship. This plan succeeded admirably; and week after week, to the astonishment of the good people of Cork, at times not a little to their dismay, a bath of two hundred paupers appeared on the quays of Cork, bound for the Far West.
A cry was now raised that I was exterminating the people. But the people knew well that those who now cried loudest had given them no help when in the extremity of their distress, and they rushed from the country like a panic-stricken throng, each only fearing that the funds at my disposal might fail before he and his family could get their passage. In little more than a year 3,500 paupers had left Kenmare for America, all free emigrants, without any ejectments having been brought against them to enforce it, or the slightest pressure put upon them to go.
It must be admitted that the paupers despatched to America on such a sudden pressure as this, were of a very motley type; and a strange figure these wild batches of two hundred each- most of them speaking only the Irish language - made in the streets of Cork, as well as on the quays of Liverpool and America. There was great difficulty in keeping them from breaking loose from the ship, not only in Cork but in Liverpool, where the ships touched before they left for the West.
Their chief device was to escape out of the ships almost naked, to hide all their good clothes which had been furnished them as an outfit, and to appear only in their worst rags. In this costume, they took delight in rushing through the streets of Cork and Liverpool in large bodies, to the real terror of the inhabitants. In short, I do believe that so strange, unmanageable, and wild a crew had never before left the shores of Ireland. But notwithstanding their apparent poverty, they were all in the most uproarious spirits; there was no crying nor lamentation, as is usual on such occasions; all was a delight at having escaped the deadly workhouse. Link to read detailed account, description and consequences of the above events.
"I am happy to say that the most favorable accounts have been received- and are to this day coming back- from every quarter to which the emigrants were despatched. Money in large quantities has been sent home by them to their friends. Happily, no accident ever occurred to a single ship which carried out the Kenmare emigrants. Almost all, down even to the widows and children, found employment soon after landing, and escaped the pestilence of the workhouse; and to this hour I can never experience any other feeling but those of pleasure and gratification at having been the means of sending so many miserable beings to a land far richer and more prosperous than Ireland.
The condition of the estate outside the poor-house was also vastly improved. Great numbers of the smaller class of tenantry, men whose holdings amounted in value to five shillings, ten shillings, or one pound per annum, and who could scarcely be expected to find the means of decent support on such a holding-even thought they paid no rent at all- now voluntarily gave up their plots of land, and most gladly emigrate to the Far West. These plots were added to the adjoining tenants' farms, and thus the number of tenants on the rent-roll was considerably reduced." - End of Excerpt [1]
In total, 4,600 people, from the Kenmare Estate immigrated in a 4 year period at Lord Lansdowne's expense and at least 5,000 people died within the Union of Kenmare, from starvation. The total diminution of population from 1841-51 was approximately 7,000.
The next child born to Maytor and Nellie that we have a record for is Ellen Healy, born during the last official year of the Famine.
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| Patrick Healy, 1847-1918 |
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| Patrick Healy Baptism Record. Here is the link to the document. Here is the link to the index of the document. |
"The district of Kenmare at that period - January 1850 - was not in a desirable condition. 'The Famine', in the strict acceptation of the term was then nearly over, but it had left a trail behind it, almost as formidable as its presence. The mountain district around Kenmare had not escaped its effects. The circumstances of the country were peculiar."
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| Main St. Kenmare |
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| District Kenmare, Co Kerry 1847 |
"Within this district but little corn is grown. The portions of land reclaimed from the rocky mountains, on which alone corn could be raised, are so small, that they are barely sufficient to grow potatoes and turnips enough for the consumption of the people, and their cattle throughout the winter. The exports of the district may be said to consist exclusively of butter, young cattle, and sheep - whilst the inhabitants subsisted on potatoes, milk, and butter, together with cured fish, bacon, and a very small supply of oats, grown upon the reclaimed portion of land amongst the rocks. There is no access nearer than Killarney, which is twenty miles distant, to any corn-growing county."
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| Marquess of Lansdowne - Henry Petty Fitzmaurice |
Boys and girls intermarried unchecked, each at the age of seventeen or eighteen, without thinking it necessary [see a different view of this] to make any provisions whatever for their future subsistence, beyond a shed to lie down in, and a small plot of land whereon to grow potatoes. Innumerable squatters had settled themselves, unquestioned, in huts on the mountainsides and in the valleys, without any sufficient provision for their maintenance during the year. They sowed their patches of potatoes early in spring, using seaweed alone as manure."
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| A Kerry family in the wake of the famine |
"Then as the scarce seasons of spring and summer came on, they nailed up the doors of their huts, took all their children along with them, together with a few tin cans, and started on a migratory and piratical expedition over the counties of Kerry and Cork, trusting to the adroitness and good luck in begging, to keep the family alive till the potato crop again came in.
And thus, in consequence of the neglect or supineness of the agent, who - in direct violation of his lordship's instructions, and without his knowledge- allowed numbers of strangers and young married couples to settle on his estate, paying no rent, and almost without any visible means of subsistence, not only the finances, but the character and condition of the property, were at a very low ebb indeed. The estate, in fact, was swamped with paupers.
The desolation which a sudden failure of the staple food of the people, in a remote valley like this, must necessarily bring along with it, may be imagined. ... As the potato melted away before the eyes of the people, they looked on in dismay and terror; but there was no one with energy enough to import corn to supply its place. Half Ireland was stunned by the suddenness of the calamity, and Kenmare was completely paralyzed. Begging, as of old, was now out of the question, as all were nearly equally poor; and many of the wretched people succumbed to their fate almost without a struggle.
The agent of the estate, who on my first arrival was my chief informant, did not seem to consider that anyone, in particular, was to blame for this. He talked of it as 'the hand of God'. The whole thing had come so suddenly, and all those residing in Kenmare were so entirely unprepared, and incapable of meeting it, that an efficient remedy was utterly out of the question.
In the midst of this most dire distress, Lord Lansdowne came forward and offered money to any extent-in fact a carte blanche- to save the lives of the people. But there was no one in the country capable of undertaking the task. The magnitude of the suffering seemed to paralyze all local efforts to avert it, and his lordship's unbounded liberality was but little tested or applied. And thus almost in the midst of plenty-for, there was an abundance of corn within a few miles distant-famine stalked unmolested through the glens and mountains of Barony Glanerought.
Several of the shopkeepers in the town of Kenmare informed me that at this period for or five dead bodies were frequently found in the streets, or on the flags, in the morning, the remains of poor people who had wandered in from the country in search of food; and that they had dreaded to open their doors lest a corpse would be found leaning against it.
When I first reached Kenmare in the winter of 1849-50, the form of destitution had changed to some degree; but it was still very great. It was true that people no longer died of starvation; but they were dying nearly as fast of fever, dysentery, and scurvy within the walls of the workhouse. The food there was now in abundance; but to entitle the people to obtain it, they were compelled to go into the workhouse and auxiliary sheds, until these were crowded almost to suffocation. The workhouses being at this time quite unable to hold the numbers who crowded in, large auxiliary timber sheds were erected in convenient places and in these were housed immense numbers of paupers, for whom room could not be found in the main building."
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| A Famine Soup Pot used in Co. Kerry 1847 Before the famine the Quakers had pioneered soup kitchen relief as a way to feed paupers outside of the Workhouse. When the famine struck, and the Workhouses were filled beyond capacity with societies paupers, became overcrowded and stressed as Irelands poor tenant farmers and families searched for food and relief. The "Poor Law" commissioners still initially refused to sanction any expenditure for what they considered tantamount to "outdoor relief" other than the Workhouse. In February 1847 the "Soup Kitchen Act" was passed by London Parliament as a means of keeping the Irish alive until the next potato harvest. The Soup Kitchens became a regular feature in famine life however the rations barely gave enough nutrition for the person to function properly. Many people travelled miles, expending more energy and strength than the soup restored. In August 1847, about 3 million people were being fed at soup kitchens everyday throughout Ireland. In the Autumn of 1847 the British government shut them down. |
"Although out-door relief had also been resorted to in consequence of the impossibility of finding room for the paupers in the houses, yet the quantity of food given was so small, and the previous destitution through which they had passed was so severe, that nearly as many died now under the hands of the guardians, as had perished before by actual starvation."
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| Kenmare Workhouse The Kenmare Workhouse was designed by George Wilkinson based on his standard plan to hold 500 inmates. Workhouses were used by those who were unable to find food for themselves. The workhouse was declared fit for purpose on 19th August and took it's first admission on October 1st 1845. There were male and female wings, master quarters, utility rooms, a bake house, and wash house, as well as a psychiatric ward. A fever hospital for 40 was constructed in the mid-1840s. |
I was in the habit, at this time, of attending the meetings of the Poor Law Board of Guardians, of which I had not yet become a member.
The numbers at that time receiving relief in the whole union of Kenmare were somewhere about ten thousand. In June 1849, six months previous to my coming, they had reached the highest point, about ten thousand for hundred persons being then in receipt of relief.
My first step was to endeavor to relieve, to some degree, the plethora of the poor-house; and for this purpose, I offered employment, outside, to all those who had entered it chargeable to the Lord Lansdowne's estate. I promised them wages in draining, subsoiling, removing rocks and stones, and such like out-of-door labor."
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| Kerry Evening Post 30 January 1847 |
"No sooner had I made this proposal, than about two hundred gaunt half-famished men, and nearly as many boys and women appeared in my field the next morning, all of them claiming my promise, but none of them having any tools wherewith to labor. Here was a new dilemma. The offer of employment had been accepted with only too great avidity, but the creatures had not a spade, nor a pick-ax, nor a working tool amongst them. Fortunately, a large depot of these articles had lain stored in a tool-house hard by- remnants of the public works. These I immediately appropriated, and before noon about one-half, the people were employed. The remainder I sent again to the poor house, telling them, however, to return the next day and I would endeavor to procure implements to lend them. They did so. and partly by buying, partly by borrowing, and by making some of them work with their hands alone, I managed to keep most of them employed. But although at first, this system met with great approbation in the district, yet I found it quite impossible to continue it. In the first place, not much more than one-fourth of the reasonable value in labor could be obtained from those who proposed to work; and in the next, being now in employment, they had of course to leave the workhouse. Where then were they to lodge at night? Every land, every alley, every cabin in the town was crowded to excess with this unhappy work-people, and they slept by threes and fours together wherever they could get a pallet of straw to lie upon. But I plainly saw that this could not go on. The townspeople began to complain of the scenes in the town at night; and when a wet day came and the people could not work, nearly one-half of them were obliged to return for the day to the poor-house, creating immense confusion by the sudden influx of such a body of famished new-comers, and the remainder wandered abut, objects of the utmost compassion.
Accordingly, after the most anxious deliberation, I arrived at the final conclusion that this system could not be carried on. I felt it would be madness in me to assume the responsibility of keeping three hundred paupers in employment, most of them removed only one step from the grave, as, if any accident should happen to prevent them from obtaining daily pay.
I therefore resolved to put into practice a scheme which I had meditated for a long time previously, namely, to go myself to Lord Lansdowne at Bowood, to state to him the whole circumstances of the case, and to recommend him to adopt an extensive system of voluntary emigration as the only practicable and effective means of relieving this frightful destitution.
This plan I carried into effect. And in the month of November 1850, I went to England and presented my plan. I showed him by the poor-house returns, that the number of paupers off his estate and receiving relief in the work-house amounted to about three thousand....
Link to complete detail of the immigration plan presented....
... I plainly proved that it would be cheaper to him, and better for them, to pay for their emigration at once, than to continue to support them at home...
On my leaving Bowood he gave me an order for 8,000 wherewith to commence the system of emigration, with a full understanding that more should be forthcoming if required.
I shall not readily forget the scenes that occurred in Kenmare when I returned, and announced that I was prepared at Lord Lansdowne's expense to send to America every one now in the poor-house who was chargeable to his lordship's estate, and who desired to go; leaving each to select what port in America he please - whether Boston, New York, New Orleans, or Quebec.
The announcement at first was scarcely credited; it was considered by the paupers to be too good new to be true. But when it began to be believed and appreciated, a rush was made to get away at once. The mode adopted was a follows; - two hundred each week were selected to those apparently most suited for emigration; and having arranged their slender outfit, a steady man, on whom I could depend, Mr. Jeremiah O'Shea, was employed to take charge of them on their journey to Cork, and not to leave them or allow them to scatter, until he saw them safely on board the emigrant ship. This plan succeeded admirably; and week after week, to the astonishment of the good people of Cork, at times not a little to their dismay, a bath of two hundred paupers appeared on the quays of Cork, bound for the Far West.
A cry was now raised that I was exterminating the people. But the people knew well that those who now cried loudest had given them no help when in the extremity of their distress, and they rushed from the country like a panic-stricken throng, each only fearing that the funds at my disposal might fail before he and his family could get their passage. In little more than a year 3,500 paupers had left Kenmare for America, all free emigrants, without any ejectments having been brought against them to enforce it, or the slightest pressure put upon them to go.
It must be admitted that the paupers despatched to America on such a sudden pressure as this, were of a very motley type; and a strange figure these wild batches of two hundred each- most of them speaking only the Irish language - made in the streets of Cork, as well as on the quays of Liverpool and America. There was great difficulty in keeping them from breaking loose from the ship, not only in Cork but in Liverpool, where the ships touched before they left for the West.
Their chief device was to escape out of the ships almost naked, to hide all their good clothes which had been furnished them as an outfit, and to appear only in their worst rags. In this costume, they took delight in rushing through the streets of Cork and Liverpool in large bodies, to the real terror of the inhabitants. In short, I do believe that so strange, unmanageable, and wild a crew had never before left the shores of Ireland. But notwithstanding their apparent poverty, they were all in the most uproarious spirits; there was no crying nor lamentation, as is usual on such occasions; all was a delight at having escaped the deadly workhouse. Link to read detailed account, description and consequences of the above events.
"I am happy to say that the most favorable accounts have been received- and are to this day coming back- from every quarter to which the emigrants were despatched. Money in large quantities has been sent home by them to their friends. Happily, no accident ever occurred to a single ship which carried out the Kenmare emigrants. Almost all, down even to the widows and children, found employment soon after landing, and escaped the pestilence of the workhouse; and to this hour I can never experience any other feeling but those of pleasure and gratification at having been the means of sending so many miserable beings to a land far richer and more prosperous than Ireland.
The condition of the estate outside the poor-house was also vastly improved. Great numbers of the smaller class of tenantry, men whose holdings amounted in value to five shillings, ten shillings, or one pound per annum, and who could scarcely be expected to find the means of decent support on such a holding-even thought they paid no rent at all- now voluntarily gave up their plots of land, and most gladly emigrate to the Far West. These plots were added to the adjoining tenants' farms, and thus the number of tenants on the rent-roll was considerably reduced." - End of Excerpt [1]
In total, 4,600 people, from the Kenmare Estate immigrated in a 4 year period at Lord Lansdowne's expense and at least 5,000 people died within the Union of Kenmare, from starvation. The total diminution of population from 1841-51 was approximately 7,000.
The next child born to Maytor and Nellie that we have a record for is Ellen Healy, born during the last official year of the Famine.
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| Ellen Healy Baptism 12 April 1851, |
Ellen was just 7-years-old when her father immigrated. She saw him again at age 11 years, in Hancock, Michigan after she immigrated with her mother and siblings in 1862. She didn't remain in Hancock very long, and does not appear in Hancock in 1870. She next appears in the booming, lawless gold mining town, Leadville Colorado in 1878. At age 27 she is married to Irish immigrant, Patrick Albert Kelly. He's a gold miner who becomes Leadville's town marshal for two terms, he bartends and works the mines, purchases a Leadville home and takes in boarders. Ellen has two daughters, Claire and Belle. Tragically, in 1895 she died while trying to give birth to their son, Patrick Albert Kelly. Their son also died. You can read more about Ellen Healy and her family here.
In 1852 Maytor is found leasing a house, office, and land in Caher East, Kilgarvan parish from the absentee landlord Marquis of Lansdowne. He then leased part of the land to Denis Sullivan. One of his neighbors was J. Healy (perhaps his brother) also a tenant farmer.
In the springtime of 1852, and one year after Ellen's birth another child was born to Maytor and Nellie.
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| Julia Healy with her husband, James Wilson Young and family in Marquette, Michigan |
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| Julia Healy Baptism, 25 April 1852, Cahir, Kenmare, Co. Kerry. Here is the link to Julia's baptism record. |
Julia Healy was the fourth child born in Caher and baptized on April 25, 1852 in the Kilgarvan Parish, Co. Kerry
Julia Healy immigrated with her mother and siblings when she is 11-years-old. At age 19 she married James Wilson Young in Marquette, Michigan and together they had two daughters and two sons. You can read more about Julia Healy and her family here.
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| Arabella Healy Baptism, 19 May 1854, Cahir, Kenmare, Co. Kerry. Here is the link to Belle Healy's baptism record. |
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Two years later, Maytor and Nellie had their fifth child. Arabella Healy was baptized in the Kenmare parish of County Kerry on May 19, 1854. Belle's family, Maytor and Nellie, Mary, Patrick, Ellen, and Julia were living in the Caher, less than two miles east of Kenmare. Arabella was named after her maternal grandmother and was called Belinda as a child and Belle when she was older. Belle immigrated with her mother and siblings at 8 years of age. She attended school in Hancock, Michigan with her younger brother Daniel and at age 17 years she was the witness at Mary's wedding in Hancock, Michigan. Belle died at age 24 years and was buried in the old St. Joseph Cemetery. In later years her father and mother were buried next to her. You can read more about Belinda Healy and her life here.
Two years later, Maytor and Nellie had their fifth child. Arabella Healy was baptized in the Kenmare parish of County Kerry on May 19, 1854. Belle's family, Maytor and Nellie, Mary, Patrick, Ellen, and Julia were living in the Caher, less than two miles east of Kenmare. Arabella was named after her maternal grandmother and was called Belinda as a child and Belle when she was older. Belle immigrated with her mother and siblings at 8 years of age. She attended school in Hancock, Michigan with her younger brother Daniel and at age 17 years she was the witness at Mary's wedding in Hancock, Michigan. Belle died at age 24 years and was buried in the old St. Joseph Cemetery. In later years her father and mother were buried next to her. You can read more about Belinda Healy and her life here.
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| Baptism of Maytor Healy, 6 April 1856, Cahir, Kenmare, Co. Kerry |
Two years after Belle's birth, Maytor and Nellie had another child. Their son, Maytor Healy was baptized April 6, 1856 in the Kenmare parish of Co. Kerry.
We know this first son named Maytor died before Nellie emigrated with her other children. Probably about 1860. Descendants of Maytor and Nellie, the Armstrong grand children, recount memories of being told of a son named Maytor who died in Ireland. Maytor would have been buried in the Kenmare and Kilgarvan area, along with his two other siblings who I spoke of earlier.
Note - another son will be born in Hancock, Michigan to Nellie and Maytor who will be named Maytor James.
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| Daniel Healy Baptism, Cahir, Kenmare, Kerry. Here is the link to Daniel's baptism record. |
One year later Maytor and Nellie had their 7th child. Daniel Healy was baptized December 23, 1857 in the Kenmare parish of County Kerry. His family was still living in Caher.
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| Daniel Healy 1857-1912 |
Daniel was an infant when his father immigrated to Michigan the following year and 4-years-old when he left Ireland with his mother and older siblings. In Hancock Michigan he attended school and as a boy of 9 years he worked in the smelter plant in Hancock. Saving his money he attended school in Indiana and taught school in Marquette Michigan. Then he joined his sister Ellen in Leadville. Daniel did not live to old age but he accomplished so much. You can read more about Daniel Healy's life here.
One 1858 immigration record has been found that could belong to Maytor Healy, he is shown traveling alone. There is one account that claims Maytor immigrated with his brother (name unknown). Based on Maytor's son Daniel Healy and the birth of his last child who was born in Hancock Michigan in 1862 Maytor James Healy, it is probable that Maytor Healy immigrated from Ireland in 1858.
The following link will take you to the information about Maytor Healy's life in the Keneewaw Peninsula of Michigan
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Sources
[1] The Realities of Irish Life by W. Steuart Trench, Land Agent in Ireland
Written in 1869. The digital copy available at Archive.org
[1] The Realities of Irish Life by W. Steuart Trench, Land Agent in Ireland
Written in 1869. The digital copy available at Archive.org
[2] Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Ireland by Grenville A J Cole 1922, pg 49 - Ardtully Copper Mine
[3] Pre-famine Ireland: A Study in Historical Geography by Thomas Walter Freeman, pg 102
[4] The National Archives of Ireland
[5] Memoir and Map of Localities of Mineral and Economic Importance and Metalliferous Mines in Ireland, Dept. of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, Glenville A.J. Cole, FRS, MRIA
[6] GeoHive, Historic Ordnance Survey Ireland map 1829-42
[7] Hollowed Ground, Copper Mining and Community Building on Lake Superior, 1840-1990 by Larry Lankton
[8] New Hibernia Review, Irish Immigrants in Michigan's Copper Country, by William H. Mulligan
[9] Daniel Sampson Healy, an oral history about the Healy and Patterson family, Daniel Sampson Healy was the great grandson of Patrick Healy, Maytor Healy's oldest son. This oral history was taped on Oct. 5, 1990 at the Johnson County Library in Worland, Wyoming. The full transcript is available at Archive.org and is linked above.
[10] The Parliamentary Gazeteer of Ireland, 1844-1845, pages 344-46;
Page 346: Population in 1831 Co, Kerry was 29,152, Kenmare 4,963, Kilgarvan 3,436. Workhouse pop. 500; 1841 population in Kenmare 4,500 with 716 houses. About 3 to 4 miles east of Kenmare are copper and lead mines of the "Kenmare Mining Associaiton;" the former at Ardtully, the royalty belonging to J.D. Croker, Esq., but the property in 1844 was in dispute; the latter on the estate of the Marquis of Lansdown at Shonagarry. Mining began in 1841 with limited success in 1844. The principal shaft at 17 to 18 fathoms; and a steam engine was erected in 1841. In 1844 the mines employed 120, nearly all Irish. The Captain of the mine is "Thomas" and the levels extend from east to west above 60 fathoms;
KILGARVAN - 1840 A NATIONAL SCHOOL in Kilgarvan had 119 boys and 56 girls on it's books. Three ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLs with 98 boys and 42 girls.
[11] Life and Labour in Three Irish Mining Communities, circa 1840, Vol. 9 (1983), pp. 10-19; published by Irish Labour History Society
[3] Pre-famine Ireland: A Study in Historical Geography by Thomas Walter Freeman, pg 102
[4] The National Archives of Ireland
[5] Memoir and Map of Localities of Mineral and Economic Importance and Metalliferous Mines in Ireland, Dept. of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, Glenville A.J. Cole, FRS, MRIA
[6] GeoHive, Historic Ordnance Survey Ireland map 1829-42
[7] Hollowed Ground, Copper Mining and Community Building on Lake Superior, 1840-1990 by Larry Lankton
[8] New Hibernia Review, Irish Immigrants in Michigan's Copper Country, by William H. Mulligan
[9] Daniel Sampson Healy, an oral history about the Healy and Patterson family, Daniel Sampson Healy was the great grandson of Patrick Healy, Maytor Healy's oldest son. This oral history was taped on Oct. 5, 1990 at the Johnson County Library in Worland, Wyoming. The full transcript is available at Archive.org and is linked above.
[10] The Parliamentary Gazeteer of Ireland, 1844-1845, pages 344-46;
Page 346: Population in 1831 Co, Kerry was 29,152, Kenmare 4,963, Kilgarvan 3,436. Workhouse pop. 500; 1841 population in Kenmare 4,500 with 716 houses. About 3 to 4 miles east of Kenmare are copper and lead mines of the "Kenmare Mining Associaiton;" the former at Ardtully, the royalty belonging to J.D. Croker, Esq., but the property in 1844 was in dispute; the latter on the estate of the Marquis of Lansdown at Shonagarry. Mining began in 1841 with limited success in 1844. The principal shaft at 17 to 18 fathoms; and a steam engine was erected in 1841. In 1844 the mines employed 120, nearly all Irish. The Captain of the mine is "Thomas" and the levels extend from east to west above 60 fathoms;
KILGARVAN - 1840 A NATIONAL SCHOOL in Kilgarvan had 119 boys and 56 girls on it's books. Three ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLs with 98 boys and 42 girls.
[11] Life and Labour in Three Irish Mining Communities, circa 1840, Vol. 9 (1983), pp. 10-19; published by Irish Labour History Society
