Garrett Egan 1832 : Short Biography

Garrett Egan (Jnr.) , sometimes spelled Eagan , was one of my wife's great-grandfathers. He was born in Galway in 1832. 

In 1849, Garrett along with his parents and other family members immigrated to the United States; Massachusetts to be more specific.

It's not clear where or when Garrett married but it is clear that by 1855, he was married to Honora T. Nally and had a five month old child, Maria.  That information was taken from the 1855 Massachusetts State census for the community of Greenfield.  Just a few months earlier Garrett became a naturalized citizen of the United States having taken the oath in Greenfield, Massachusetts at the Court of Common Pleas.  Witnesses during the ceremony were James Eagan, most probably Garrett's brother And Jeremiah Eagan.

By the time of the 1860 census, the family was still living in Greenfield but by 1865, the family had moved to Northampton just south of Greenfield along the Connecticut River.

1870 found the family growing and still living in Northampton.  The family had grown to eight children with one apparently having died.  Two other children, including my wife's grandmother Charlotte, aka Lottie (the youngest child were born after 1870 making for a total of ten children which was not all that unusual by the standards of the day.

Garrett supported his family throughout this time by working in the Cutlery industry.  Many of his family members worked in that industry as well.

On September 4, 1877 Garrett died at the young age of 45.  The cause of his death was listed as Consumption otherwise known as Tuberculosis.  He was interred in St. Mary's cemetery in Northampton.  He and his wife Honora are buried along with their eldest child, Maria and some of her family members.

At the time of his passing, Garrett left a large family some of whom were born, lived and died in Massachusetts while others moved to new locations such as New York, Connecticut, North Carolina and Florida.

My wife's grandmother, Lottie, Garrett's youngest child married Edwin Lincoln and together they moved to Holyoke, Massachusetts to raise their family.

The above was kindly  written by Edward O'Connor whose wife Marge was a great-granddaughter of Garrett Egan (Jnr.).  Marge and Edward were the first members of the Irish Diaspora to sign up for the first Week of Welcomes, June 2011, organized by the pioneer branch of Ireland Reaching Out  in Galway South East.  Marge and Edward, together with cousins Ruth Moore Kiley and Bob Driscoll  have been very good friends of Ireland. 

Garrett (1832-1877) was the son of Garrett Egan (Snr.) (1796-1859) and Margaret McNamara (1815-1888) of Kiltartan, Gort, Co. Galway. As he lived close to Kiltartan Chapel  Garrett Snr's children  probably attended a  school held in the chapel  by hedge-school master, Willie Daly. The present Kiltartan Church was built in 1842 and the Egan family probably attended their last Mass in Ireland in that church.

Garrett (Snr's) name appears in the Tithe Applotment Books. He farmed 9 acres 3 roods 14 square perches. He was a tenant on Glebe land (owned by the Church of Ireland) of Kiltartan. 

In 1846 Garrett(Snr) was a member of the Kiltartan Famine Relief Committee. As part of the Famine Relief Works, a contract was given to himself and Andrew Kelly to repair roads, walls, and bridges. A lasting monument to his work is the wall around Kiltartan cemetery. His  great- great-granddaughter, Marge was able to touch that wall in 2011 . His great-granddaughter Ruth Moore Kiley did likewise a few years later. There is a headstone in the cemetery with the following inscription: "Erected by Michael Eagan in memory of his son John Egan who died May 2nd 1821 aged 22. " John may well have been a brother of Garrett (Snr.). If he was, we can state that Michael Eagan was Marge's  greatx3 grandfather.

Then Garrett disappeared from official records.  What happened?  The answer came 160 years later. A letter arrived at Kiltartan Cross in August 2007  form Edward O'Connor, above. Garrett (Snr.) his wife Margaret McNamara, his children and his brother Denis  had emigrated to Deerfield MA in 1849, at the height of the Great Famine. The rest  is history!