I’ve been thinking about my ancestors lately while listening to the rhetoric on immigration in this Presidential election. Somehow my great grandparents managed to make what was properly an arduous trip to America and become citizens.

One day I hope to look into my family’s genealogy and track down my roots. I’m sort of a mutt with Irish, English, Scottish and Dutch grandparents, but my maiden name is Sullivan, so I’d start with the Irish part of my lineage.

The Sullivans probably came here during or after the Great Famine between 1845-1849 when about two million Irish emigrated with 70 percent of them going to America, 28 percent to Canada and 2 percent to Australia.

When I began reading this wonderful book, I thought about my Irish ancestors and how difficult it must have been to leave their country, probably starving from years of famine, cramped onto a freighter or other in an ill-equipped boat over the Atlantic and then arriving at Ellis Island without money, a job or food. I’ve often wondered what they felt when they passed the Statute of Liberty. Was this country all they hoped it to be? How long did it take them to adjust? Did they ever want to leave? (more…)