Visiting Anne

Visiting Anne Hoey's home town in 2024

My family and I "visited" with Anne Hoey in June of 2024.  

To our delight, a beloved cousin married a young man (a complete charmer) in Ireland and we joined the happy day.  After the wedding, we saw Anne's home town and the location of her childhood home.

We know from my grandmother's story that Anne was born in Kilcumnin Point Parish, Tirawley Barony, Killala Union in County Mayo, Ireland in April of 1835. I have not found a record of her birth or baptism. Nor have I found documentation on her parents, Nicholas Hoey and Elizabeth McConnel Hoey (died 1845). Anne's childhood was likely spent in Kilcummin.  It appears her father was a tenant farmer, and that his son, Stephen, took over the tenancy after his death. I found Stephen listed in the Griffith's Valuation of Ireland and confirmed the location of the farm with a local historian in County Mayo.  

The land is lovely - raw - and standing here was grounding; this was truly an experience I cannot explain. 

Thank you again, Brendan Walsh

Anne's mother passed away when she was ten (approximately 1845) and Nicholas remarried.  In 1847, at the start of the famine in Ireland, the family decided Anne would go to America and live with her maternal aunt, Anne McConnel Edwards.  Anne departed Ireland from Galway on June 23 via the Emma Prescott; this departure is listed in the New York Daily Herald July 19, 1847; family stories tell us the Emma Prescott landed on August 10, 1847

As we all know, Anne never found her aunt and her life took an amazing and exciting turn.  The result - some amazing women and a few men of course -  are living exciting and full lives - each a tribute to her bravery.  Meet them -- I know there are hundreds more photos I could share - but here are a few memories I love revisiting.......