Lets just start off with a little story I shared with one of my nieces a number of years ago which I think draws a nice picture to get things going.
Bob HNovember 3, 2017 This was a note to my niece Kaitlyn Burke who needed some info for a school project.
So here is the ( Very Confusing) Emigration - Immigration (Yo-Yo) story of the Higgins Family. Your great-great-great-great grandfather Garrett Higgins lived in Cork Ireland in the mid 1800's. Unfortunately that was during the Great Potato Famine . Like so many small land owners during that time he lost his farm land when he could not pay his rent to the landlord . In order to support his family ( a wife, 7 sons and 1 daughter) he became a wheelwright ( working out of his small rented house, making and repairing wagon wheels ). We know that three of his older sons emigrated to America starting in 1857.
The first brother William sailed to Boston in 1857 on board the ship Meridian at the the age of 18. He became sick during the (approx 12 day) voyage and was quarantined out on Rainsford Island ( also known as Quarantine Island) in Boston Harbor. After a few months in the hospital on the island, he died of typhoid fever and is buried in a mass grave on the island.
About 10 years later (1867), two of William's younger brothers , John and Timothy (your great-great-great grandfather) sailed from Cork to Liverpool England and then on to Boston on board the ship named the Peruvian. They were listed as laborers. As steerage passengers their accommodations on board the ship were very poor in the lower deck of the ship. Unlike their brother they survived the voyage and settled in Rockport MA where they found jobs working in the stone quarries (not an easy life during the No Irish Need Apply era). After a couple of years, they married two sisters from Gloucester and were soon raising families . In early 1877 Timothy, his wife Catherine and his two youngest children Ellen and Garrett returned to Cork where after a few months your great great grandfather Patrick was born. Timothy and Catherine's two oldest children Mary (known as Mame) and William (fraternal twins) appeared to have remained in Rockport probably with their uncle Johns family for quite a few years . The reason for this is not clear as well as why Timothy and Catherine returned to Cork. It may have been to take care of Timothy's father Garrett. Sometime after Garrett's death in 1884, Timothy and his family relocated to Blarney, Cork to work in the Blarney Woolen Mills (which are still in operation today). Sometime in the mid to late 1890's both Mary and William (who completed his enlistment in the US Army) rejoined their parents in Blarney.
Not long after (1901) , Mary (now married) and her two younger brothers ( Patrick and Garrett) returned to the US and rejoined their uncle John in Rockport. Shortly after, Mary, Patrick and Garrett all relocated to Wakefield MA. Patrick soon married a girl (Mary Stanley), he grew up with in Blarney. She arrived in the port of Boston in 1903 on board (are you ready for this) a shipped called the Mayflower !!! Patrick and Mary raised 3 children in Wakefield including your great grandfather Timothy. He was born in 1911 a few months after his grandfather Timothy passed away in Blarney. Unfortunately over the following decades the link between the families in the US and Ireland faded slowly but surely .
In the late 1950's and 1960's your great grandfather's younger brother Joe ( a priest stationed in Rome ) reestablished the connection with the cousins in Cork. Soon your great grandparents Timothy and Peg were visiting the cousins in Cork every summer. In 1969 they bought a house around the corner from your great grand father's cousin. You won't be surprised to learn that his cousins name was also Timothy Higgins. Just be glad they were always known as Cy and Teddy so not everyone was confused. So your great grandparents Cy and Peg soon had all of their 7 kids (including your grand mother Patsy) over for visits. The youngest, your great uncle Billy spent a few summers with them when he was in his early teens.
Your great uncle Bob (from Medford MA) after graduating college lived in Cork for a few years in the mid 1970's. Because all of his grand parents were Irish, he was registered on the Irish Foreign Birth Register , which gives him Irish citizenship. This allowed him to get a job and stay in the country indefinitely. So he worked in Cork City and played basketball for a Cork team in the National Basketball League of Ireland. His adventure eventually ended and he returned to the US when the economy in Ireland went into a depression and he lost his job like so many others. This was another time when thousands of young Irish emigrated to the US, UK, Canada and Australia.. Over the years your uncle Bob has been back to Cork many, many times to see the Higgins cousins in Douglas.
Your great uncle Jerry (from Medford) married a girl from Blarney and raised a family of 3 kids here in Medford before also moving to Cork and buying a Pub in the mid 1980's. Unfortunately Ireland was still making its way out of its depressed economy and after a few years Jerry and his family returned to Medford. But is was a special experience for all of them. And yes (as you know) uncle Jerry's son is also named Timothy.
Over the years most of Cy and Peg's grand children have spent some time with their grand parents in Cork (including your mom, Marianne). I even know at least one great grand child was over for a visit. She has red hair , a gorgeous smile and laughs a lot !!!
And finally, you know how this story started with Garrett Higgins. Can you guess what his father's name was? I'll give you a hint it starts with Tim...... !!
