Mary Lynch

MARY LYNCH COYNE EMIGRATED TO AMERICA WITH HER TWO YOUNGEST CHILDREN OF NINE, CATHERINE AND PETER, TO THE HOME OF HER SON, PATRICK, AT 5645 SOUTH MORGAN STREET, ON CHICAGO’S SOUTHSIDE.

THE OCCASION OF HER MOVING TO CHICAGO WAS THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND, PATRICK COYNE IN JANUARY 1925. ACCORDING TO JOHN LYNCH OF YOUNGSTOWN, OH, PATRICK WAS A RELATIVELY SHORT MAN, HARD WORKER, WELL LIKED AND RESPECTED. HE WENT TO ENGLAND PRACTICALLY EVERY SUMMER TO WORK TO SUPPLEMENT THE FAMILY INCOME. FOR THREE YEARS, HE WORKED IN SCRANTON AND SHARPSVILLE, PA, RETURNING TO IRELAND IN 1908.

MARY WOULD LIVE ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE HOUSE, OF WHICH THERE WAS NO HOUSE IN CRIMLIN VALLEY OF THAT HEIGHT. FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, SHE WAS AN EXCEPTIONALLY REVERED PERSON.

WHEN SHE DIED IN 1940, I ASSUMED THE WAKE WAS ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE MORGAN ST. HOUSE. BUT AN OLDER BROTHER CLAIMS IT WAS ON THE SECOND FLOOR, HER FLAT. RATHER DICEY TO HAVE TO CARRY A CASKET DOWN THROUGH A NARROW HALLWAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN IRISH WAKES WERE NOT KNOWN TO BE SOBER VIGILS. FROM THE ORAL TRADITION THAT I RECEIVED, THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE ROOM THAT THE FLOOR COLLAPSED! IF THE WAKE WERE ON THE SECOND FLOOR, REASONABLE TO CONCLUDE A CROWDED ROOM WOULD BE VULNERABLE. FROM AN EYEWITNESS, THOUGH, WHO WAS AT THE WAKE, REMEMBERED THAT HIS FATHER WORRIED THE FLOOR WOULD COLLAPSE SINCE THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE ROOM. IT DIDN’T, ONLY IT SOMEHOW GOT DISTORTED AS TIME MOVED ON.

IRONICALLY, MARY LYNCH’S HOUSE IN CRIMLIN VALLEY, THERE ARE VESTIGES OF HER HOUSE. THE CHICAGO MORGAN ST. HOUSE IN WHICH SHE DIED IN DECEMBER 1940, IS NOW AN EMPTY LOT.

(I DO NOT KNOW IF SHE EVER BECAME A CITIZEN; PROBABLY REMAINED AN IMMIGRANT?) I MADE A WRONG ASSUMPTION.
LINDA COYNE, A GREAT GRANDAUGHTER, DISCOVERED THAT SHE BECAME AN AMERICAN CITIZEN ON APRIL 8, 1939. THIS IS THE BEAUTY OF A WEBSITE WHERE OTHERS IN THE FAMILY TREE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TOWARD A MORE COMPLETE HISTORICAL RECORD.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN A QUANTUM LEAP AS AN IMMIGRANT TO EXPERIENCE A WORLD BEYOND HER RURAL ORIGINS. CRIMLIN VALLEY IN CONNEMARA WAS NOT ONLY RURAL, BUT REMOTE. SO MUCH SO THAT THE DESPISED ENGLISH MILITARY DICTATOR, CROMWELL, WHEN BANISHING SOMEONE WOULD EXCLAIM, “TO HELL OR CONNEMARA!”. THIS REMOTENESS ALLOWED THE IRISH THERE TO PRESERVE THEIR GAELIC LANGUAGE. THE COYNES WERE GAELIC SPEAKING AND IT HAS BEEN NOTED THEY WOULD SPEAK ENGLISH ONLY TO STRANGERS AND ANIMALS.  

MY FATHER MAINTAINED READING BOOKS IN GAELIC (HARD TO FIND THEN) UNTIL HE DIED. HE HAD ONLY THREE YEARS FORMAL SCHOOLING BUT SPOKE TWO LANGUAGES; I HAVE 20 YEARS AND SPEAK ONLY ONE! I GREW UP WITHOUT GRANDPARENTS. SHE WAS THE CLOSEST I WOULD HAVE AS ONE. I IMAGINE SHE MUST HAVE HELD ME AS SHE LIVED UPSTAIRS AND WOULD HAVE WELCOMED HER LATEST GRANDCHILD. SHE DIED ABOUT 8 MONTHS AFTER I WAS BORN. THE ONLY GRANDPARENT WITH WHICH I HAD ANY PERSONAL CONNECTION. (EAC)