To keep me organized I have created a page that will provide links to resources that can help me document the Jennings family in Ireland.
American arrival
March 9, 2020 posted by Stephen Jennings
April 14, 2020 updated Ahascragh status relative to Caltralea
At first I was suspicious of this record because his last place of residence was listed as Ashcragh, Ireland which was a few miles north of Caltralea. I confirm Ashcragh as the town seat for the Townland of Caltraghlea. What I believe at this writing , his birth place was Poolboy, Ballinasloe and that he lived in Caltralea when he departed Ireland. I partially confirmed this by the 1911 census which was taken three years before he left Ireland in 1914. Fortunately, I was able to find the Ellis Island document which provided me with a treasure trove of information. It was from this document that I confirmed he stated Ashacragh, County Galway as his residence.
It appears that grandpa had to get to Dublin and then take the ferry to Liverpool where he departed to America. He left on the RMS Campania which was owned by the Cunard Line. Fortunately the Cunard Line kept very accurate records. The Campania has an interesting history. This site has a lot of details and pictures about the Campania. According to various sources the cost of a fare west in 1914 was about 5 1/2 pounds from Liverpool to New York. The Ellis Island Passenger list below is divided into parts. The two heading from left to right span the two pages. The next three images cover the document from left to right. Grandpa’s information is on the very bottom line. Using control + on a pc can help you enlarge the document. I cannot read columns 19 and 22 heading. I logged that task for another day.
Just some observations. He paid for the voyage himself. They confirmed he had $25.00 to his name on that date April 12, 1914. He stood in line with at least two other Irish male immigrants. James Kilmartin was the first of the trio to answer the interrogatories and was from Althone, County Westmeath about 26 km from Grandpa’s homestead. The second companion was Patrick Connolly from Tullamore, County Offlay about 56 km from grandpa’s residence in Caltralea. Grandpa had a plan and a destination of San Francisco where a friend Wm Fallon was waiting for him. It’s interesting to note that the administrators of this list required an answer to the destination question. It had to be a friend or a relative. I will try to confirm whether the relationship actually existed. Grandpa was only 5 feet 9 inches tall at age 17 which means he grew 6 more inches in America. His occupation was farm laborer and he was in good health with no visible problems. Questions to column heading 19 through 29 were edited at the discretion of the administrator because those questions were used to filter out undesirables.
Tracing my Grandmother’s voyage to the new world from the town of Arva, County Cavan Ireland is not nearly as easy. I finally found Grandma in one of the passenger lists.