To America!

 In the bleak Irish spring of 1880, Matthew Ryan and his wife Margaret (Caples) left their home in the area of Kilcommon, Tipperary Ireland along with their eleven (11) children ages 26 to 4.  They endured a 60 mile trek by foot or by carriage or maybe a combination of both to the port of Queenstown, Cork (now called Cobh) and on March 23rd boarded the SS Helvetia, a 419 foot, tripled-masted, single-stacked clipper ship. The thirteen members of the Ryan family joined 557 other English, Irish, and Scandanavian passengers for the nearly two-week voyage across the temperamental Atlantic.

   

The morning of April 6, 1880 was unseasonably warm in New York City.  I envision my third great-grandfather, Matthew Ryan, aged 55, and his family made their way up to the main deck as the ship exited the Atlantic Ocean and slowly entered the upper bay, sailing between Staten Island and Brooklyn via the Narrows toward the Bedloe's Island, later named Liberty Island after France's gift to the US.  They docked at either Castle Gardens or Ellis Island.  I can only imagine they were exhausted, excited, relieved, and both leery and hopeful. An unknown future lay ahead.  Nearly 140 years later, six of their descendants will soon return to visit the places they lived, worked and raised families.  

On a side note of interest, The SS Helvetia was owned by the  Norwegian National Line Steamships Company. Coincidentally, I was unaware when I booked our airline tickets,  my family and I are flying Norwegian Airlines out of Providence, Rhode Island.  According to the Norway Heritage website, The National Line (National Steam Navigation Company) was founded in Liverpool in 1863. The first intention of this line was to sail Liverpool to the US south. However, due to the civil war, routes were set up to New York. The National Line was one of the first lines to establish agencies all over Norway, and became quite popular in the early years. The Norwegians that traveled by this line had to go via England, as they had no direct sailing from Norwegian ports. In 1870 the company added London - New York sailings and made irregular Boston sailings.

So now back to the family.

I'm sure the Ryans were eager to see their oldest son Michael Charles Ryan who, along with his new (and pregnant) wife Honorah made the voyage one year earlier. Their vessel was the SS Pennslyvania.  Michael Charles and Nora Molamphy set up homestead in Thomaston, CT in the early 1880s and had eight children.  Their oldest child  Matheu Lawrence would be the first Ryan born on American soil.  

Michael Charles Ryan's youngest child was John Francis Ryan (b. 1885), my great-grandfather.  He married Augusta Miller Hart  who was of German descent, and for reasons unknown, was adopted by the Hart family when she was quite young.  John Francis and Augusta had seven children, their second oldest John Vernon Ryan, my grandfather was born in 1913.  

Sadly, in 1930 Augusta died.  She left the children, ages 18 to 3 without a mother.  According to family members, the children were split up and placed with relatives as John Francis was unable to successfully fill both roles.  This move did not bode well with my grandfather or his older brother Lawrence Joseph.  The brothers rented a house in town, worked multiple shifts at the factory and were able to slowly collect their siblings into one household.  Lawrence and my grandfather held ill feelings toward their father for the remainder of their lives.



Over the next few months and during our much anticipated trip to Ireland.  I'll be sharing some history, pictures, and journal entries, pub pictures, and humorous stories as we Ryans carefully fumble our way over the Emeral Isle.  

I would like to thank my cousin Kathleen Ryan Zenko.  She has done quite a bit of research and shared detailed ancestry work from another cousin.  Kathleen was kind enough to give my parents and me a historical and insightful tour of Thomaston to see where and when our family spent their lives. 

My wife Beth and I are traveling with my father John V., son Ethan, daughter Samantha, and niece Abby Rose.  We're hoping to be joined by my brother Michael and his lovely wife Amy.