Local resident Anne Johnson’s voice was full of joyful lilt as she recently shared her immigration story with us. She stated several times how much coming to America in 1954 meant to the McEntee kids, twin brother Patrick, brother Brendan, and sister Bridget.
The family dreamed of coming to America, their mother’s country of birth. But let’s back up a moment on that point.
Johnson’s mother was named Mary Kearney. She was born in the US. She would immigrate to Northern Ireland where she met and married Patrick McEntee. The McEntees would live in Northern Ireland for a few years before Mary, her husband, and their four little children would head to the US and settled their clan.
That’s not where the trans-Atlantic journey ends. The siblings would travel back to the motherland many more times over the succeeding decades.
Johnson shared how thrilled they all were to be coming to the US and all the opportunities the family looked forward to. There was no homesickness or trepidation on the part of the little ones. She did allude to the economic difficulties gripping the whole of Ireland during the post-WWII years as a driver for the move across the Atlantic – as well as the brewing tensions that would come to be The Troubles
We asked Johnson if there were any strong first impressions remaining with her today, “Cornflakes!” She said they had been growing up on a diet of porridge, eggs, and “rashers,” (aka bacon), and that the less soggy breakfast mainstay of the US made for a welcome change.
Transitioning to a new school in a new country didn’t present too many difficulties for the wee babaí. “We had thick Irish brogues. My brother and I decided we needed to get rid of that,” Johnson said with a tiny chuckle.” She said they did not experience bullying or similar difficulties and that their neighborhood was home to people from many different places, “We were all facing the same challenges.”
Johnson recalled their enrollment in a Polish Catholic School. There had not been enough time to enroll her children in an English school so the mother did the best she could to give them an education. The following year found the McEntees enrolled in an English-speaking Catholic school.
One memory is still vivid in Johnson’s memory bank – seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time.
Another memory crept in, how hot the country felt to the new commers, and experiencing a hurricane, something unknown in Ireland. Much later on, Johnson would be introduced to Mattapoisett by family member Ellen Flynn, a well-known member of the Mattapoisett Land Trust and other organizations. Johnson and her husband put down their roots in 1974. She can confidently call herself a townie!
Three of the four siblings recently took another trip to the old country, but at least for Johnson, that is the last. Confessing that the family is aging beyond a point where travel is easy, she was clear that they had a fine visit, even going to tourist areas. She noted how their Belfast home has changed but that the countryside was and is, “…beautiful and the people are lovely and welcoming.” Of course, going on the journey was a copy of The Wander.
By Marilou Newell
