Providence, Rhode Island

Let's explore Nana Ready's Irish and English roots!

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/providence-port-2209

Nana Ready, great-grandma Rita Mary Shae had two parents that travelled a lot. However, originally, both her parents were from Rhode Island. Tracing her paternal line back, her ancestors arrived in Rhode Island on June 5th, 1884 when James Shae and Catherine Flynn came over from Kerry, Ireland. Tracing her maternal line back gets a bit more complicated. One couple of her ancestors, my 5th great-grandparents, arrived on June 22nd, 1855 from Gloucestershire, England. That was Thomas Merritt and Harriet Cooke with their son Caleb. A 4th great-grandfather, Thomas Francis Landy, appears to have been born in Ireland in 1840 but died in Rhode Island though no immigration records can be found. Lastly, another couple of 5th great-grandparents, James Hyland and Mary Kehoe, appear to have been born in Ireland around 1815 but died in Rhode Island as well. (Ancestry.com)

Life in Providence

Like Cambridge, Providence became another industrial center on the east coast of the U.S. in the 1800s. That also happened to be the times of a large number of people leaving Ireland around and after the Great Famine. Great waves of immigrants flocked to Providence all throughout the 1800s. There were lots of factory jobs frequented by immigrants.

Then, my ancestors settled in Pawtucket or Providence to start a new home. They made their way up to Boston eventually, because here I am. In a funny parallel, today athletes settle in as Pawtucket Red Sox or Providence Bruins to start a career in the minor leagues before being sent up to Boston.