The Pre-1930 Photos of the Reenogreena Hayes. The photos sent home by the American emigrants.

Описание: When we cleared my cousin Eileen's House following her passing away in 2015 we discovered numerous old photos dating from 1914 onwards. Most of these were not not marked to explain who was in them so over the years we have tried to unravel who these people were.

My grandfather Michael John Hayes was born in 1895 at Reenogreena, near Glandore in County Cork Ireland. One of nine children he joined the British Navy in 1917 emigrated to England. Five of his siblings Catherine Kate, Ellen, Mary, James and Jeremiah emigrated to America in the early 1900’s so the family has spread far and wide.

The newly emigrated American Hayes sent photographs back to Reenogreena. Initially these were studio based photos which were popular at the time because cameras were very expensive. The Irish family at home viewing these must have thought their siblings had made their fortune posing in grand rooms in fine clothes whereas the reality was that the studios provided the backdrop and very often the fine clothes they posed in. The earliest photo is of Kate Hayes marrying Tom Purcell in 1914 and a little later there are photos of Kate and Tom
and their children and Ellen Hayes who emigrated in 1912. Interestingly she sailed
from Queenstown (now Cobh) on April 14th 1912 two days after the Titanic departed
on it’s fateful voyage. In 1921 the American Hayes family purchased their own camera
enabling them to take more natural and candid photos. The first of these photos
depicts the three Hayes sisters who emigrated namely Kate, Ellen and Mary who had
just joined them in 1921 and Kate’s three children Nora, Billy and Elizabeth. Thankfully
one of the photos had their names written on which has helped identify them in other
photos.

This video is an attempt to explain to the wider family and anyone interested who they were and how they settled in their new world. There were many emigrants during this period from Ireland, Europe and Scandinavia and I would imaging they had a similar tale to tell.

Music from the lovely people at Purple Planet: www.purple-planet.com