My father emigrated from Lurgan Parish, County Cavan in 1928, with the four oldest children in our family, two boys and two girls, all under age ten. My mother came a year later with the four youngest, three girls and a boy. The family settled on the west side of Manhattan, New York City, and I was born the next year, 1930.
When my mother was pregnant with me, the doctors told her he had but just six months to live, having contracted TB. As it turned out, he lived for another nine years, but spent most of it in TB hospitals, or rest homes. Our family was in for some hard times making a go of it in America. I will write about what they were like in my next post
Terry
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We lived in a tenement apartment on the second floor front of a five or six story building, each floor having four apartments, mostly other Irish immigrant families with children. There were about eight to ten of these tenements on just on one side of the street, and more on the other side of the street as well as some brownstone homes where the more affluent folks lived. The street was teeming with children all day long when they were not in school. There was never a lack of friends, or games to be played, hockey, stick ball, kick the can and many more. If you ventured even one block away, you were in foreign territory. I remember having made this mistake at an early age,when I somehow wandered into the next block, and ended up in a brawl with another youngster, surrounded by all his friends, cheering him on.
I started earning money to help put food on the table when I was six years old. We were in the depths of the depression at that time, and the government had started a road repair program on our block. The workers had no portable water, and seeing an opportunity to make some money, I spent the day, running up and down from our second floor apartment, with two bottled quarts of water each time, and selling them for two cents each to the workers. At the end of the day, I gave all the pennies I had made to my mother, which she gratefully accepted,as they were enough perhaps to buy we a loaf or two of bread.
Another way I made money in those days was to stand outside the local A&P grocery store and offer to help the women coming out in carrying their packages to their homes. Practically no one in our neighborhood had cars, and there was no way of taking a shopping cart. One day as I was doing this and carrying packages for a women who lived on our block, two of my sisters who were looking out our front window, saw me, and started yelling and screaming at me. I had no idea what they were making such a fuss over, but I found out as soon as I got home. I got a real dressing down from my mother as well as my two sisters, and was told in no uncertain terms, that I was never again to carry the packages of any lady with the letters PWA on them. PWA stood for Public Works Administration, and indicated the carrier was on the dole,as the Irish ssy, that is receiving public assistance or welfare.
God forbid any of the neighbors might think the Fitzsimmons family wss on the dole. Even though, many times food was in short supply, or we didn't have the money to pay the rent, we never applied for public assistance.
More later about life in America for my Irish family. I do hope someone in Ireland, or America, or anywhere will read, and comment, or make their own contribution, on my blog.
I am going to leave off for now and watch the Superbowl and will be rooting for The New England Patriots, whose quarterback is a lad named Tom Brady. There are Brady's on both my father's and mother's side of our family.
Terry
With my father totally disabled with TB,and in the hospital most of the time, things were tough.
Fortunately, my father had two brothers who were pastors in churched in NYC.. I am sure they helped the family from time to time. Also my next to eldest sister, Kitty lived and worked in the Rectory of one of these priests. My oldest sister, Rose became a telephone operator, I think. Both of my brothers joined the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps )cutting down trees in Idaho.
They were paid $25 per month, plus room and board, and from what I understand,could get by on spending just $5.00 per month for incidentals.uncle
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