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Sligo to coal mining regions in Pennsylvania

Mayo

Does anyone have any info on groups of families that would have immigrated to the Scranton, Pittston coal mining regions in the 1860-1880 time period.? In my research I have found so many reoccurring last names and I was curious if there is any record of groups from certain areas in Sligo that moved to this region. My great grandmother Bridget Carden arrived as a young girl in 1865 and settled in the area. It is not exactly a place you would just pick! You would have to have a reason. Some of the names I have seen frequently in addition to Carden and Langan are Reddington, Golden, Loftus,Connors, Holleran, McAndrews and Burke.

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Are you aware of the book "The Irish are Coming: From Sligo to Scranton" by Jim Dolan?  It is freely available from the Lackawanna County rootsweb site, and contains a list of surnames.

I am descended from Thomas and Bridget (McNulty) Langan who emigrated from Sligo around 1872.

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I have read the book but wasn't able to make any direct connections with his information. Just can't seem to connect the dots! My Great grandmother's mother was Mary Langan, her father John Carden. I don't know if they came to Pennsylvania or remained in Ireland. Bridget settled in Pittston she married Patrick Cooney and raised her 6 children there.

Thanks for the tip about the book, do you know where in Sligo your family is from?
Colleen

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Hi Colleen,
My father's side all settled in Scranton and worked the coal mines. Some from Newport Mayo; many from near Killala; but also some from outside of Ballina in Sligo (which is Mayo now). The borders between Sligo and Mayo changed in 1898. I also have some other contacts who' ancestors came from Sligo and settled in Sxranton.

My 3rd great grandmother was Bridget Langan, from Kilcummin, Mayo. My grandfather's brother also married a Langan.

When I get a chance, I will see if I can look up anything on yours.

John

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Colleen,

My grandmother always claimed that in the early 1900s, Scranton was were the fancy people lived, and it was much better than NYC.  It seems that the coal mining and railroad businesses were quite strong back then, and it was a very good place for the Irish to settle.  The Irish tended to go where other Irish lived, and it was relatively easy to get work in the mines and make good money.  One of my great grandfathers, John Joseph Cunningham, arrived in Scranton in 1880 at the age of 16.  By 1892, he had bought his own house and went on to buy 2 more.  

Kilcummin MayoIrelandXO Volunteer

My family is from Kilglass.  I have a copy of Thomas and Bridget McNulty Langan's marriage certificate which says they lived in Cabra at the time they were married.

I wonder too at the connection to Scranton and mining, especially since the Langans were farmers.  One of my English relatives came from a farming community in Cambridgeshire to Scranton in the late 1880s and also worked in the mines.

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Colleen,

The Famine times in Ireland were particularly scarring for most that went through that.  All of my ancestors had been farmers as well, but from what I heard, most Irish wanted to have nothing to do with farming after leaving Ireland, not wanting to be at the mercy of landlords.  If you read up on any of the Famine history, you'll quickly see that many landlords were complicit in much of the hunger, shipping crops to England, etc. while people starved on their lands.

You also might want to look at this link:

https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Kilglass_Civil_Parish,_County_Sligo

as well as this one:

http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/sligo/sligo-parish-registers.htm
 

btw - I just noticed I am posting under two accounts, the earlier posting from user loughney is me as well.

Kilcummin MayoIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi. My husbands great grandmother was (Mary) Ellen McNulty. Her parents names were Dominic and Sarah. I don't yet know where they were from in Ireland but if there's a connection anywhere, I hope you'll let me know! Ellen emigrated and married a John Storey in Renfrew, Ontario, Canada on 19th Nov. 1877.
Thanks.
Fran Reddy

reddyclan

Hi    need some help -  went to rootsweb and found the Lackawana county site, got switched to BWO " Books we Own" but this title wouldn't come up.  would love to find it - am looking for POWEL or POWELL or CASEY names from Sligo circa 1845.  thanks

 

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Google Sligo to Scranton and you should be able to download the PDF file as provided through the generosity of the author. Colleen

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Interesting information with a positive spin on the region. It seems that my bunch didn't fare as well in Pittston. My Great grandfather Patrick Cooney died in a mine accident in 1882 leaving his wife Bridget Carden a widow with 6 children under ten. My great grandfather Martin Tighe died in a mine accident also, leaving his wife Bridget Healey a widow with 6 children. Her son Martin was also killed in a mine accident in 1918 leaving his wife a widow with 2 children. My grandfather John Cooney lost his leg in a mine accident in 1906, he was a young married man with one child at the time. 

It is no wonder my grandfather sent his two sons to live in Detroit with his sister to learn a trade at the Henry Ford Trade School! Glad he did since one of those boys was my dad.

Colleen

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Hi Colleen,

Well, both of my great grandfather's died in their 60s from lung ailments, probably from coal mining.  My great grandfather had a brother who died "in horrible agony" according to his obit a week after being in a mine explosion. Any histories about coal mining make it seem like a very dangerous and back braking job. Most of my Irish ancestors were illiterate, because they were native Irish speakers, when they arrived in America, so I guess coal mining was an available option to make money.

It puts into perspective the troubles we face today.

John

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My family is also from from Cabra, Kilglass, Sligo.  Sometimes I've seen Cabra listed as Cavanagh's Town, and there were many Cavanaghs there.

My great uncle said that the mining companies had representatives waiting in News York to get as many immigrants to Scranton as possible to work in the mines.  It's not just the Irish who went there.

Would love to chat with anybody researching in Kilglass, Castleconor (Sligo) or Ballycaste (County Mayo).  I'm researching Cavanaugh, Carden, Lyons, and Blanche with some extended lines of Connolly and Cawley.

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