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Thomas Patrick Darcy
The Oldest Son of Michael and Catherine Donahue Darcy
- Thomas Patrick Darcy was born March 3, 1868 in
Coon, Kilkenny Co., Ireland. Thomas Patrick was
the first of the Michael and Catherine Donahue
Darcy's children to come to the USA.
- Thomas Patrick left Ireland from Queenstown April
22, 1886 aboard the SS Circassian, on the White...
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Thomas Patrick Darcy
The Oldest Son of Michael and Catherine Donahue Darcy
- Thomas Patrick Darcy was born March 3, 1868 in
Coon, Kilkenny Co., Ireland. Thomas Patrick was
the first of the Michael and Catherine Donahue
Darcy's children to come to the USA.
- Thomas Patrick left Ireland from Queenstown April
22, 1886 aboard the SS Circassian, on the White
Star Line,arrived at the port of Quebec, Canada on
May 3, 1886, traveling by train he crossed the
border at Buffalo, New York, arriving in the USA on
May 6, 1886. Also aboard the SS Circassian was his
Paternal Uncle John Patrick Darcy age 27), John's
wife Kate (age 26), and their three children John P
(age 4), Mark Pierce (age 2), and Margaret J Darcy
(infant).
- Declared his intentions to become a citizen of the
USA on Sept 8, 1888 at Niobrara, Nebraska.
- Returned to Ireland for a 2 months visit in
1901, did not have a passport at the time.
- Naturalized a US citizen before the District Court
of Knox Co. at Center, NE on April 12, 1911. His
maternal Uncle Thomas W Donahue of Creighton,
Nebraska and Knox County Supervisor, Charles
Sneurich of Center, Nebraska witnessed his
petition for naturalization.
- Applied for a passport April 19, 1921 in Omaha, Ne.
it was issued April 20, 1921, he had lived in the
USA for 36 years at the time. He planned to go to
Ireland to visit his father and for his health.
- He left Creighton on June 22nd, on June 28, 1921
he left the Port of New York. and stated on his
application for a passport that he would not be
gone for more than 12 months, but planned to be
back in 2 about months. He arrived in London,
England July 28, 1921 aboard the US Centennial
State from New York. The ship was flying the USA
flag, rather than the English flag, this was very
important to him.
Following are two news article from the Creighton
News: Another news article in the Creighton News
of Oct 6, 1921 (originally published in the
Norfolk Paper) upon his return describes his trip:
WILL LEAVE FRIDAY FOR IRELAND
Thomas P. Darcy, upon his return from Omaha last week informed the News that he had completed sailing arrangements for his trip to Ireland. He will sail on the ship .. Centennial State.. under the American flag, on June 28, 1921 from New York and will land at Plymouth, England. Mr. Darcy stated that he had some difficulty in securing passage on a ship that sailed under the U.S. flag as the steamship agent seemed to be pulling for the English ships. He will visit his father and numerous other relative in Ireland. He expects to leave Creighton on Friday morning, 21st.
The Creighton News
June 21,1921
LEAVES FOR IRELAND
Thomas Darcy departed on Friday morning for New York City, N.Y., where he will sail on June 28th for Ireland. It has been a number of years since Thomas visited old Ireland and be no doubt will enjoy a pleasant visit with his father, brothers, sisters and scores of other relatives. He expect to be away for about two months.
The Creighton News
June 28, 1921.
INSERT OCT 6TH STORY:
HOME FROM IRELAND ON SEPT. 30, 1921:
Tom Darcy, who has been absent a few months on a visit to his old home in Ireland, where he visited his father returned last week. On his way home he stopped in Norfolk and gave an interview to the Norfolk News which we herewith reproduce.
________
After three months' visit to Ireland during which he had many experiences with the unrest in that country, Thomas P. Darcy of Creighton, stopping here (in Norfolk, Nebraska) over night to visit friends who wanted to hear impressions of the fight which is being waged on the Emerald Isle for Irish freedom.
Mr. Darcy sailed on the SS Centennial State to Ireland, an American ship and landed at Queenstown. He returned on the RMS Cedric, a British liner (Royal Mail Ship), going aboard at Plymouth. For three months he was the guest of his aged father, Michael Darcy, in County Kilkenny, in the heart of Sinn Fein activity. He passed over destroyed highways and rode jaunting cart through dangerous passage in the dead of night and because he was an American, he was able to hear both sides of the controversy.
SEE IT IN DIFFERENT LIGHT.
Mr. Darcy declares that he sees the battle for Irish freedom in a different light now. " Americans would have to go over there and see the things with their own eyes before they could understand it from a true light. Many Irish people in Ireland don't know what is really being done. Some of them are ignorant of happenings. There has been so much terror there that minds are in a chaotic condition. They seem to fear to say to say anything about their inner-most feelings because they might create their enmity from one faction or another. Personally I believe Sinn Fein movement foree of arms is wrong. I told that to one of the Sinn Fein leaders and he partially agreed with me. I don't believe Ireland can ever defeat England with arms . I think it must be done through diplomacy.
FINDS LITTLE HUNGER.
There is apparently very little hunger in Ireland today. Mr. Darcy says, the people appear to have made considerable money during the war and there seems to be no scarcity of food. The factories in many center have been destroyed and in some of those places there are signs of unemployment, but elsewhere everyone seems to be working. The political situation is a puzzling one, and Mr. Darcy does not believe the Irish situation is thoroughly understood even at home.
He predicts that another election will be held in Ireland over the offer made to Éamon de Valera by Lloyd George. On the result of that election he believes, will rest Ireland's future.
Mr. Darcy is bitter against the English lack of appreciation for the part played by the United States in the world war. England, he says, wants all the credit.
He gave as a general illustration his experiences with a English sailor who employed on an American boat and who told Mr. Darcy that the Yankees deserved no thanks for their part in the great war.
Curfew systems are maintained around Kilkenny, notwithstanding the truce which is now in effect . People must be off the streets at a certain time of night. Police patrol the town and the roads. Many of the police barracks were destroyed during the revolution which continues to keep the people terrified.
Mr. Darcy indicates that Americans should be thankful they live in the United States and have the protection of a nation of many races which are united against any movement which would threaten the peace and happiness of their adopted land. – Norfolk News.
Description of the Cenennial State:
United States Line
10,516 Tons
502' | 65' | 28'
Ship History
Launched in December 1920 as 'Centennial State', and completed in May 1921. The ship's maiden voyage was from New York to London in June 1921 for the US Mail Line with a peacetime crew of 117 men. Commanded by J.D. Ryan. The ship was sold to the United States Line. In May 1922, the ship was renamed 'President Adams' and sold to Dollar Line. It ran aground in 1945 and was lost.
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Thomas Darcy's maternal Uncle Thomas William Donahue had helped him come to the USA in 1886, and helped him get settled in the Creighton, Nebraska area. Thomas W Donahue was Thomas Patrick Darcy mother's youngest brother, he had come to the USA in 1874. Thomas W. Donahue lived in Pennsylvania for a short time and worked in the coal mines, and then moved to Creighton, NE. He came to Creighton because another Donahue relative, Henry F Kennedy of Norfolk, Nebraska; born Dec 14, 1847 in Ireland and died March 30, 1935 lived nearby. Henry Kennedy worked for the railroad and helped Thomas Patrick Darcy get a job working on the railroad as a section hand. Henry Kennedy is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Norfolk.
Note: 52 PA Infantry Co. K U.S. Army
Find A Grave Memorial# 59778004
Thomas Patrick Darcy worked for the railroad as a section hand around Creighton, then became a farm worker at various locations in northeastern Nebraska and into northwest Iowa. By the early 1890s he was working for Frank and Carlos Pulsifer at Crowell, NE. (Between Norfolk and Fremont, Nebraska) In 1895 Thomas Patrick Darcy married Mary Augusta Moodie, on Jan 9, 1895 in West Point, Nebraska; conducted by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph Ruesing (a Catholic Priest) attendants were William H. Green of Creighton and Elizabeth Kennedy of Norfolk (William H Green and Elizabeth Kennedy were married later and moved to Los Angles, California).
Thomas Patrick and Mary Augusta moved to Knox Co. and lived the rest of their lives in or near Creighton, NE., where they had 7 children and an adopted son. Thomas Patrick Darcy went to Ireland in about 1901, for about 2 months, this may have had something to do with Michael Joseph and Anne Marie Darcy (his brother and sister) coming to the USA the following year.
Thomas Patrick farmed until his retirement in 1937. He was naturalized a US citizen on April 12, 1911 in the District Court of Knox Co. Nebraska. The Thomas Patrick Darcy family had an adopted son, named Jeffie Ryan, born in 1891 in Nebraska. Little else is known of Jeffie Ryan. Their oldest daughter Mary Ellen Darcy married Emmett J Lee, a farmer and agriculture extension employee. Mary Ellen and Emmet Lee had six children and lived in the Spalding, Nebraska area, about 60 miles southeast of Creighton.
Kathleen Augusta Darcy born in 1899 never married and was an attorney in Yankton, South Dakota. She graduated from High School in Creighton, NE and Midland College in Fremont, NE. She moved to Yankton, SD in 1926. She was employed by the Law Firm of Orvis and French as a stenographer until she was licensed as an attorney by the South Dakota Supreme court, on July 14, 1941; one of the last to do so before the law school requirement was passed by the South Dakota Legislature. She was, at the time of her death, affiliated with the law firm of Goetz, Hirsch and Haar. She died in Jan 27, 1973, and was buried at Creighton, NE in St. Ludger's Cemetery, Jan 31, 1973, next to her father Thomas Patrick Darcy.
Thomas Patrick's youngest daughter Alice married John Evers and had two children, James and Johna Evers. Alice Darcy Evers died in surgery at the age of 30. Mary Darcy Lee, her sister, and Emmett Lee took the children into their family and raised them as their own. A number of the children of Mary and Emmett Lee moved to Northern California, some moved to Colorado, to southwestern Nebraska and Texas.
Four sons were born to Mary and Emmett Lee, only two survived. Robert Michael Lee married Mabel Marcum in 1922 in Omaha, NE. The following year they moved to Illinois, the western suburbs of Chicago, where they lived until 1970. Robert Michael Darcy had two children in Chicago, Robert L Darcy, born on May 11, 1928 and William (Billy/Bill) Eugene born Feb 16, 1926. Robert Michael Darcy had a 3rd son, Robert Michael, Jr. who was born Oct 26, 1924 and died Mar 9, 1925 at 4 months and 10 days old.
In November 1956 Mr. and Mrs. Darcy moved to Yankton, SD. and lived with their daughter Kathleen Darcy until their deaths. Mary Augusta Moodie Darcy died Jan 3, 1959, Thomas Patrick Darcy died Sept 4, 1959, and both are buried in Creighton, NE. in St. Ludger's Cemetery with a number of other Darcy family members. Also with two of their infant children, Thomas Darcy who died shortly after birth and Michael Darcy also died as an infant. Thomas died at Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton after a short illness. Interestly, Michael Joseph Darcy (Thomas' brother, my grandfater) was a patient in Sacred Heart Hospital at the time of Thomas' death. Funeral service was held Monday Sept 7, 1959 at St. Ludgers Church in Creighton and buried in St. Ludger Cemetery. The pallbearers were Leo Stortz, Harold Randall, Henrey Sebade, Pete Thomassen, Thomas Kennedy, and Joe Wagner. He was survived by four children (Mary Ellen Lee of Spalding, Kathleen of Yankton, Robert of Berwyn, illinois, and William of Monterey Park, Calif. Also surviving are nine grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren, four sisters, and two brothers. Preceeding him in death his wife, and three children, both of his parents, two sisters, and two brothers.
Children not listed below: Mary Ellen Darcy Lee
Find A Grave # 11268049
Alice Ann Darcy Evers
Find A Grave # 74002774
William Charles Darcy
Born in Creighton Sept. 14, 1909
Died in Sun City, Riverside, California
June 29, 1999
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