Irish in Franklin

Local historian Alan Earls will deliver a unique two-part program on Saturday March 11that the Franklin Historical Museum. Earls will first discuss the arrival of the Irish in Franklin in the 19th Century– why they came, how they made Franklin home and the challenges they faced. He will then introduce Mr. Dooley – an “Irishman” who became the public face of the Irish in America. It was Dooley and his popularity as a political commentator that had much to do with the growing acceptance and appreciation of the Irish across the United States.
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the Franklin Historical Museum takes a look at the arrival of the first Irish residents to the town in the mid 1800s. With the help of former Franklin School Teacher Mrs. Nina Santoro, we have determined that the first Irish residents arrived as early as the late 1840s. The first children born to Irish immigrants in Franklin had the surnames Mee, Robinson and Murray. The first Irish marriage recorded was that of George B. and Jane Robinson in 1853. And the first death, by a resident born in Ireland was that of 28-year-old Mary Rourke, who died of consumption in 1851. To learn more about the arrival and influence of the Irish to the Town of Franklin and ‘Mr. Dooley’, please join us for Alan Earls’ enlightening presentation at 10:30 a.m., March 11th. Earls is the author of Franklin Then and Now (Arcadia Publishing).