Both my mother and father were born about 4 miles from each other on the Mullet. And in case I haven’t already bored you with the story – my mother’s maiden name is also Coyle, so I’m a Coyle on both sides of the Family Tree.
Today, I’d like to introduce you to a gentleman named James Tuke. He lived in the latter half of the 19th century and almost single-handedly saved hundreds of Irish families, and at a minimum gave thousands of people a shot at a better life.
During the Great Famine of 1845, Tuke was part of a Quaker group that organized famine relief for the west of Ireland. Some of the worst hit areas were along the western coast from Clifden to Belmullet. While there were some primitive roads reaching these areas, any sizable shipment of goods in or out had to be done via ship. Due to politics, weather, and even pirates, those ships were few and far between.
After the Great Famine, Tuke searched for a way to minimize the effects of the next inevitable famine. Even after the huge number of deaths and emigration, there were still too many people on small plots of land. Tuke saw the only solution as emigration to the US and Canada, but it had to be entire families or else within a generation the land would again be severely subdivided between families. And so, together with other Quakers, he formed a committee to raise money from both private and government sources to charter ships.
These wouldn’t be Coffin Ships, which were nothing more than empty cargo ships from the US and Canada looking for a quick way to make a little money on the return journey across the Atlantic. Tuke raised enough money for passenger steamers and even arranged sponsorship and jobs for many of the families who were accepted into his program. From the Belmullet area, 2,420 people applied for emigration. 996 were selected.
One lucky family from the village of Aughalasheen was James Coyle, his wife, Maggie and their four children. In 1883, they boarded the S.S. Phoenician at Blacksod Bay and after landing in Boston, made their way to the western edge of Wisconsin to a town called Hudson. It’s likely James was my Grandfather’s grand-uncle. His decedents still live in the Hudson area. That’s just one of the hundreds of Belmullet families helped by the Tuke’s Committee. It’s a story that was repeated on Achill Island, in Newport, Westport and Clifden. In all, over five and a half thousand people were able to emigrate. I can’t help but wonder, why is there no memorial to this man, James Tuke?
This web page will allow to to search the passenger lists of all the Blacksod Bay Assisted Emigration Sailings.
Additional information from the excellent book “Within the Mullet” by Rita Nolan.