I had a fruitful visit to the Irish Shrine and Railroad Workers Museum today. It is located at 918-920 Lemmon Street, a short walk from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum. I was there due to a notice that I had seen on their web site: http://www.irishshrine.org/ . They had a grand re-opening to display several updates to their restored rowhouses, one of which was lived in by the Feely family. On previous tours, I had learned about the home they lived in, the church that the Irish workers built in their spare time, and the West Baltimore Cemetery where they were buried. Today was a good day for meeting new people, especially those that belong to an organization that remembers East Baltimore's 10th ward, home of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. This church was the spiritual home for both sides of my family, including the Irish Matriarch. I am hoping to follow up on some contacts I made, and see what I can learn about the Irish on the East side of Baltimore.
I was struck today by how the Irish lived during the time of the Railroad Strike of 1877. As I looked at the modest home they lived in, I thought of how horrified that generation of immigrant Irish would have been to lose it. That cut in pay that they simply could not tolerate represented more than a loss of conveniences to them. Undoubtedly, the Irish that lived in the area of the B & O remembered the horrors of The Great Hunger all too vividly, and viewed their home as life itself.
I was also reminded of another Baltimore reality. I first visited the Irish Shrine a few years ago with my Dad and Aunt. It was surprising to us that this neighborhood, and its important church, even existed. After all, we were from East Baltimore.
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