Life on Gorham Street: the other Irish settlement

A second Irish settlement began evolving in Lowell's early years.  The Paddy Camps grew and developed into the Acre neighborhood as the Irish began their settlement in the 1820s.  By the 1830s the area around Chapel Street and Gorham Street took on its own Irish flavor.  Just like their neighbors, the Irish on Gorham Street opened their own shops and eventually had their own church, Saint Peter's.  After your shift at the mills ended you'd walk up Central, doffing your cap as you passed St Peter's and maybe stop by one of the shops before going home.

Philip Haggerty and his wife were well known in the area.  Both Irish natives, he was known for his fine singing voice, and she for her playing of the organ.  He not only played in every Catholic church in the City, but in almost every other denomination as well.  If there was an event, he was there to sing.  He was known to walk along Gorham Street greeting folks right up to the end of his 100 years.

He began by working with Terrence Hanover cutting wood for making caskets.  Being a good Irish son he lived with his mother and never married.  He was a member of the Irish Benevolent Society.  Upon his death he left $500,000 and real estate holdings all over the city.

If you did your shopping at McKearney's he would be sure to deliver your groceries for free.  He advertised English breakfast teas and fine meats.  He belonged to the Irish Benevolent Society, AOH, and Foresters.  Maybe it was on one of these deliveries he caught cold and died on congestion of the throat.  Two hundred friends and families walked from St Peter's to the cemetery.

If you were trying to get family members over from Ireland, Sheahan and his brother were there to help.  Tickets began at $27.50.  His shop was directly across from St Peter's Church.  There you could buy tickets for the dedication of St John's Hospital.  He arrived with his family during the Famine years from County Clare where he worked in the grocery business.  He must have worked very hard since he retired after working 25 years.  He was a devoted parishioner of St Peter's. 

Besides operating his store, James Owens worked diligently for the Naturalization Club.  An Irish native, he took his American citizenship seriously and helped over 900 people attain citizenship.  He was a strong Democrat and served as Alderman.  On the 4th of July he joined many other businesses by lavishly decorating their store fronts.  



The Neighbors - the Irish on Gorham Street

The Acre was not the only place of settlement for Lowell’s Irish in the 1830s.  A growing number of Irish were moving into the area around Gorham Street.  Similarly to their fellow Yankee counterparts in the Acre, the Yankees along Gorham Street were not too welcoming to their new neighbors.  As a matter of fact, the summer of 1832 became quite turbulent in August between the two factions.

It appears that the locals were not happy with the goings on in Gorham Street.  The loud noises and brawls brought out the constables who counted 72 persons living in just one half of a house!  “Their want of cleanliness invites pestilence,” was the quote from the newspaper.  The decision was made that all inhabitants would be removed from the house, but the Irish had a different idea.  They refused to move. 

Rumors spread that a number of guns were kept in the house.  On the second night a crowd of about 800 gathered to witness the attempt to evict of the Irish.  Stones were thrown and 2 Irishmen were knocked down. The pleas of the constables were finally heard and the crowd dispersed when they saw there would be no more action that evening.   Five people were arrested.  Bail was set, and the accused were to appear at Court in Concord.  Some put the blame solely on the “Irish population who do not know how to conform to Yankee regulations.”

When September rolled around, the Irish were still in the house.  One of the young residents fell into a sewer and almost drowned.  A terrible “pother” was raised in fear that the little “darlint” may die.  Twenty Irish women gathered and “howled” loudly while the child struggled for his life.  A “stout Paddy” climbed down and dragged the child out by the heels lessening the probability of the “number of tenants in the house being lessened by one.”