The Shanachie, Volume 26, Number 2
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Vol. XXVI No. 2 Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society www.ctiahs.com 2014 You can blame an Irishman from Limerick for all the uproar on the Connecticut shoreline in 1814 t may be a bit harsh to point a finger at or houses that still dot the Irish countryside Peter and St. Paul Church. The standing of one Irishman for all the trouble the and ruled the Irish peasantry with an iron the Coote family is evident from the fact I Brits brought down upon Essex during hand. that in the choir of that church there was a the War of 1812. But, it cannot be denied Charles Coote settled in County Roscom- handsome monument to the family of that the leading man of the devastating mon in Connaught, Ireland’s western prov- Coote. Royal Navy raid on Essex just 200 years ago ince, but his offspring and kinfolk spread The record of Richard Coote’s nativity was a native of County Limerick. It is also throughout the island. Within a generation stated: “This is to certify that Richard true that there were many, many Irish-born or two they were influential and powerful Coote, fourth son of Charles Coote of Mount sailors and marines in his supporting cast. landlords in counties Cavan, Leitrim, Sligo Coote in the Kingdom of Ireland was born Richard Coote, the Royal Navy officer who and Laois. In southeastern County Limerick on the tenth day of May 1782 in the Parish led the attack on April 7, 1814, hailed from of Kilfannan …” Strangely, the record Kilmallock in the southeastern corner of makes no mention of the infant Richard’s Limerick. He was a descendant of Charles mother or the maternal family. Coote, a Devonshire soldier of fortune In any event, it was common in as- of Anglo-Norman French ancestry. cendancy families that first sons Charles landed in Ireland in the inherited the lands while siblings year 1600 and immediately be- often were left to choose careers came as much a thorn in the side either in religion or in military ser- of the native Irish as did his descend- vice. Such was the case with Richard ant, Richard, in the side of the resi- Coote of Kilmallock. In 1804 when 22 dents of Essex in 1814. years old, he was already on his way Charles was a captain in the army of up in the Royal Navy. That year he was pro- Lord Mountjoy who had been commis- moted to lieutenant, the lowest ranking sioned by Queen Elizabeth I to stamp out a alone, two brothers of the Coote clan, Rich- commissioned office. He was then serving nine-year-long rebellion in the province of ard and Chidley, were awarded almost on HMS Centurion, a 50-gun ship launched Ulster. Mountjoy adopted a scorched-earth 10,000 acres of confiscated land in the in 1774, on duty in the exotic Bay of Bengal. policy that did the trick. 1660s. Richard became baron of Colony in In 1810, he moved up a step to commander. Cavan, while Chidley was the ancestor of With their Ulster mission accomplished, In June 1812, Richard Coote was chosen the Cootes of the area of Limerick around Charles Coote and many of his fellow ad- to command a newly launched ship, the 14- Kilmallock. venturers remained in Ireland, prospering gun brig Borer. Built at Bursledon in Hamp- Among them was the Richard Coote who and proliferating. During the 1600s, they shire, England, the Borer arrived in Halifax, was destined to play a role in the history of and their descendants wrested ownership Nova Scotia, on Sept. 13, 1813. Capt. Coote Essex, Connecticut. He was born at Mount of most of the land of Ireland from the na- and his ship must have departed almost Coote, the manor of the family at tive Irish. The invaders-turned-Irishmen immediately for their first involvement in came to be designated “the ascendancy.” Kilmallock, Limerick. His birth was regis- They were the folks who occupied the man- tered by the Church of Ireland rector of St. (Please turn to page 4) Waterbury Irish factory workers of the 1890s Page 2 2 Folksy paper portrayed Waterbury’s Irish in the 1890s Sketches and profiles are unusual, but valuable, historical records he Sunday Waterbury Herald is one of “The Brass City,” the Herald explained in its and white that one cannot help but remark T a kind in the more than 200 year his- usual bold and authoritative style, “has them. A smile that shows she is ever cheer- tory of newspapers in Connecticut. established its claim as being the leader in ful plays about her mouth … Dora is but 18 The Herald — published at different this state for having more pretty girls with- years of age and promises to be a hand- times in Bridgeport as well as Waterbury in its borders than any other city in the some woman. She is the sister of Miss Liz- — was a sensational, flamboyant, disre- state, and the young men (of Waterbury) zie Egan to whom the Herald gave the plume some years ago for being spectful, gaudy and occasionally bawdy maverick among the journals pub- the best looking girl in the lished in the Land of Steady Habits. clock shop.” From the 1890s to the 1930s, the Another remarkable young Herald was to mainline Connecticut Irish girl was Evangeline Hol- newspapers like the Hartford land. The Herald described Courant and New Haven Register, her as the most stylish maid- what the New York Mirror and Post en of all the clock shop ladies. are today to the New York Times. Holland, it said, had a dress The Herald’s pages told stories for every week of the year. It not only of political corruption and added, “She always keeps her petty crime, but also of folksy hair short and curled and neighborhood news from all over there is a dreamy tenderness the state. Equally important, in the in her dark eyes and when she early years at a time when newspa- smiles she is quite attractive, her per illustrations were uncommon, the Her- manner being her most winning have placed it foremost in sporting, singing ald went out of its way to publish sketches point.” and other records of their abilities.” of many of the people it wrote about. Fortu- An outstanding male specimen in the nately for the cause of preserving grass- There were, claimed the Herald, more clock shop was the Irishman James Lynch. roots history, the Herald is available today pretty girls and manly men employed in the He was, according to the Herald, “the on microfilms at the Connecticut State Li- clock factory in Waterbury than in any oth- smartest young fellow of his age employed brary and elsewhere. er town in Connecticut. in this concern. He is fast acquiring a popu- Ethnic groups, immigrants and The newspaper apparently assigned a larity both in social, church and business circles that threatens to blue collar workers got plenty of ink in the Herald. The timing was perfect Waterbury Irish photos, stories sought dethrone the many who for Connecticut’s Irish. Arriving in now move with power in Authors Janet Maher and John Wiehn, both members of huge numbers from the 1830s on up them. At the recent election to the early 1900s, the Irish made the CIAHS, are writing a book about the Irish of Water- of Division 2 AOH, he was just the kind of news the Herald bury. The book will be published in early 2015 by History elected recording secretary loved. The Herald was filled with Press. Anyone having stories or pictures about the Water- though he is comparatively insightful stories of the everyday bury Irish should contact John and Janet by email: a young member in that lives of the Irish — their strivings, society.” The paper noted [email protected] or [email protected]. successes, failures, foibles and hu- that he also was an excellent mor. singer. Another fine young Irishman was For example, in just two issues in June reporter and an artist to visit some of the Michael J. Keefe, perhaps the most ambi- 1891, the Herald published thumbnail biog- factories for the proof of the pudding. raphies and pen and ink sketches of several tious young man among the army of work- “The prettiest girl among all the clock dozen people in Waterbury. Most of them ers in the shops. “He is very widely known,” shop belles,” concluded the Herald, “is Miss were Irish. said the Herald, “… for on entering active Dora Egan. Her eyes send rays of sunshine life he became a coachman and now can In the June 14 issue, a story titled “Brass into an admirer’s face and between her handle the line as well as any of the coach- City Boys and Buds, Sketches of Water- scarlet lips are two rows of teeth so regular men in town. When not engaged in the bury’s Lilies and Lilacs” filled half a page. 3 shipping department he is out driving … At the Plume and Atwood’s factory, Miss gan at the East End Democratic Club. The Michael is level-headed and free from the Maggie Casey was singled out by the Herald. club asked Owen Finnegan, who was em- common vices of young men about town “ She commanded the admiration of her gen- ployed in the rolling mills at Scoville and Another woman who caught the newspa- tlemen friends with … “the inner being that who had “an idea how tug-of-war teams are per’s attention was Mamie McCormick, de- beams through her eyes and while it sheds managed,” to pick four men to compete scribed as “a pretty blonde of the purest thoughts of home comfort and kindness against a team from Rogers & Bros.