Omey Island - 1879 - Catholics v. Protestants

The Riots at Connemara – The Times (London) – April 19, 1879

A row occurred in the schoolhouse at Omey Island between Mr. McNeice and the Reverend Mr. Rhatigan – The following is a summary of the appearance before the magistrates.

Constable Michael Murphy deposed that he was stationed at Cleggin on Sunday, the third of March with five men, and he went to Mass with three of them. The Rev. Mr. Rhatigan officiated, and before the service was concluded, he addressed the congregation: “I wish to give notice to anyone outside who wishes to take down my words and convey them to the magistrates, or whom they like—I mean the police. You are aware of what occurred at Omey Island on the 20^th of last month (March)—that I was near being murdered by six persons in the church at Omey Island.” He gave the names of McNeice and his wife, daughter, and son, and the teacher Davis, and a man named Coursey from Claddaghduff.

Mr. Rhatigan appeared somewhat agitated, and said that from the treatment he had received, he should not be surprised if the people tore down the church. He did not say what church; but he alluded to the church at Omey Island. He added that if such a thing occurred in Mayo or Tipperary, the people would not stand it, and that if the people were ever insulted by “jumpers” [Catholic converts to the Protestant faith] to resent it to the last. He then called on the people to attend to Clifden—if necessary, every man, woman, and child in the parish—and show that they were no cowards and loved their faith better than the world. He charged them [his parishioners] with being cowardly—so cowardly that one would imagine when they were talking to a magistrate or the police that they were actually standing on the Queen’s toes.

Letters From the West of Ireland - Maam to Cong

Letters from West Ireland, XI, (From our Special Correspondent)

The Times London, September 15, 1884

Cong, Mayo, Sept. 8

Connemara scenery can never have been in greater beauty than on the night when I drove back from Kylemore to Leenane. The full moon dimmed the twinkle of the stars…each summit stood clear as at noonday; and the black shadows of the opposite mountains fell across the silvery locks. So that it was little of a surprise…when I looked out next morning on a thick, gray drizzle. Such sharp transitions in the weather are the rule rather than the exception here. The rain came down heavier and more heavily; and towards afternoon it was tumbling in torrents… I ordered round the car that was to take me to Cong.

The heavy wet of Connaught, even when you have it in excess, is unlike any I have met with elsewhere… Driving towards Lough Corrib, the whole country was surging, foaming, and murmuring with the course of the river Maam through the bogs, always sweeping in a brown torrent round the corners and often flooding the intervening _____. It was fed from the hills by a thousand little tributaries, falling from shelf to shelf in cascades… The very ditches by the roadside had become lively brooks, running along under a green fringe of ferns and flowerless foxgloves.

After a short, sharp climb from Leenane, we have crossed the lofty watershed, and the Maam now helps to drain the vast watery basin of Lough Corrib. Sheep and cattle that have been driven down from the high grazings are standing huddled together in the valley bottom in piteous plight, often bogged half way up to the hocks in swamp. They have been collected for the fair on next Monday at Leenane, and in this part of the valley are two or three large hill farmers, one of them owning nearly 250 cattle. Cattle [prices] have fallen, as well as the fleeces of the sheep; but the sheep themselves fetch fair prices…

Prize Winning Essays - July 1924

Winners of American Legion Essay Contest

Are Announced – Scranton Republican – July 16, 1924

“Minooka Post Awards Gold Medals to Three Students

Who Submitted Best Compositions on Popular Subjects”

Patrick Diskin, of 2700 Birney avenue, age 13 years, a fifth grade high school student; Frances J. Powell, an eighth grade student of the Woodrow Wilson school, and Robert Coyne, age 11, a fifth grade student, of 2726 Birney avenue, were last night named as winners in the American Legion essay contest conducted in Minooka by Connolly post, No. 568.

Gold medals were awarded the three winners. Diskin’s essay was entitled “The American Legion,” Coyne’s essay was “Personal Hygiene” and Miss Powell’s essay was on “Minooka.”

The three winning essays will be published in The Republican, the first of three: Master Diskin’s work, this morning and the other two on Thursday and Friday mornings, respectively.

Patrick Diskin’s essay, “The American Legion,” follows:

There are always arguments in the world by different people, and taking some of them into consideration, we find “The American Legion” the topic of the day.

The American Legion is the G.A.R. of the great war. It was not organized by any individual for a selfish purpose, nor was it conceived by any group of men. It sprang into being the result of a universal demand among the soldiers and sailors of the great war for an effective nationwide organization, which would enable them not only to perpetuate their relationship formed in service, but also to carry on in time of peace, the defense of America which they had so well begun in time of war.

World War II Honor Roll - Minooka and South Scranton

Honor Roll for Minooka and South Scranton

World War II

Killed in Action and those who died from their wounds

Bielski, Leo P. - 3rd Class United States Navy - 3210 Oak Street - Buried January 8, 1944

Buckley, John F. – Army – Cedar Avenue

Parents: Peter and Alice Buckley

Buckley, William – Private - Army

Burke, Leo – Staff Sergeant – Army – Battle of Bulge, Ardennes, Germany

Parents: Michael and Catherine Burke

Burke, William – Army Air Corps – North Africa and Italy

Carroll, Charles - Grandson of John Jings

Ceresko, Edward - "Navy dead: Marine PFC Edward F. Ceresko 3720 Laurel Avenue, Greenwood" - April 24, 1945  Scranton Tribune

Connolly, Gerald – Private - Sicily 

Parents: James Connolly and Esther Shea (raised by sister Esther Connolly Thomas)

Coyne, Thomas “Tommy” and "Tip" – Staff Sergeant – Army – Brittany

Parents: Martin and Bridget Coyne

Faherty, Patrick – Seaman – Navy – Ship sunk by German U-boat off Georgia Coast (12/16/43)

Parents: Patrick Faherty and Mary Golden

Haggerty, Francis J. "Joe" and "Rabbit"  – Marines – Okinawa - "Navy dead: Marine Pvt. Francis J. Haggerty, 229 Ash Street." - May 27, 1945 - Scrantonian

Jennings, Thomas P. – PFC – Army – Battle of Bulge (1/12/45) – Buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, Belgium

Joyce, Gerard- Private – Army

Keegan, Joseph J. – 2^nd Lt. U.S. Army Air Corps – 499^th Bomber Squadron (11/13/44)

Memorialized at Manila American Cemetery, Fort Bonifacio, Philippines

Parents: Joe and Beatrice Keegan

King, William, - PFC – Army – Died of wounds

Kobeski, Frank - Memorial Mass on June 17, 1945 - Son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kobeski, Greenwood Avenue

Kosokosky, Frank J. (29) - Tech. 5th Grade - 3201 Birney Avenue - Death announced May 14, 1945

Maxwell, Hubert T. – Private – Army - Killed in action in North Africa on July 11, 1943. - Parents: Timothy and Mary Maxwell - "Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Maxwell, 3200 Cedar Avenue, Minooka, were notified in a telegraph received from the War Dept. that their son, Pvt. Hubert Maxwell, was killed in action in Sicily, July 11. Several weeks go the parents were advised that their son was MIA. Pvt. Maxwell was the first Minooka young man recorded as having made the supreme sacrifice in WWII. He was inducted Aug. 29, 1941, and trained at Camp Lee, Va.; Camp Wolters and Camp Barkeley, Tx; Camp Devens, Mass.; Pine Camp, N.Y., and Camp Pickett, Va. Prior to his induction, he was employed by the Bethlehem Steel Company, Lackawanna, N.Y. - Sept. 1, 1942 - Tribune

O’Malley, James Joseph – Able Bodied Merchant Seaman (10/15/44)

O’Malley, James R. – Seaman, 2^nd Class – Navy – (9/12/44) - Memorialized at Sicily Rome American Cemetery, Nettuno, Italy

Polakanis, Frank

Polakanis, John

Pompey, Andrew – Parachutist and Italian Translator – Army – Anzio

Pompey, Durando – PFC - Army – Italy

Poplowski, Barth P.

Rosar, Joseph - 2^nd Lt. – Army Air Corps – Grenoble, France

Parents: Adolph Rosar and Honora (Anna) Lydon

Ryan, Robert P. – Private – Army - "Pvt. Robert Ryan, eighteen, son of Mrs. Elizabeth Ryan, 2819 Pittston avenue, Minooka, was killed in Luxembourg on Feb. 1--less than three weeks after his arrival overseas. Three brothers are in the army. He graduated from St. John's H.S., and was inducted into the army on August 13. He received basic training at Camp Wheeler, Ga., and went overseas the second week in January from Fort Meade, Md. with his infantry unit. He was a member of St. Joseph's Church, Minooka. Besides his mother, Private Ryan is survived by a sister Mary, at home, three brothers: Corporal Joseph, Spokane, Wash., Corporal Patrick, 109th Infantry in France, and Corporal John, attached to a tank destroyer battalion in Hawaii." February 17, 1945, Times Tribune

Salvin, Henry

Shanoski, Matthew

Stewart, Charles J. – Marines – South Pacific (buried at St. Joseph’s)

Parents: Thomas and Delia Stewart

John Francis Shea - Tech Sergeant Shea was wounded on January 16, 1945 at the Battle of the Bulge. He died three months later on April 7, 1945 in a hospital in Belgium. His remains were returned to Scranton in May 1949. John was the son of Daniel Shea, born in Ireland, and Mary Corbett, born in Wales. He grew up in Minooka before the family moved to Scranton.

Toole, John R. – 2^nd Lt. Army – Killed at Battle of Bulge - Mother Catherine Toole - 3607 Birney Avenue, Moosic

Vernal, Richard J. – Corporal – Technician 5^th Class – Army Air Corps – 15^th Cavalry Recon  Squadron – Holland (3/31/1945) – Buried at Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands - "Cpl Richard Vernal, Jr., thirty, husband of the former Miss Ruth Rowan, 2826 Cear Avenue, Minooka, was killed in action in Germany on March 31, 1945." - April 22, 1945 - Scranton Times-Tribune 

Walsh, Francis J. “Buster – TEC5 – Army Killed by sniper - "Cpl. Francis J. Walsh, 2524 Birney Avenue, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Walsh, was killed in action in France July 3, 1944, a War Dept. telegram disclosed. He graduated from Technical H.S. and prior to his induction in Dec. 1942, was employed at the Scranton enginehouse of the Lackawanna R.R. He received basic training at Camp Barkeley, Texas. August 7, 1944 - Scranton Times-Tribune - Parents: Hannah and Michael Walsh

Walsh, John Francis "Tree" – Battle of the Bulge – 11^th Armored Division – Died of wounds after the war Parents: Michael Walsh and Sarah Connolly (Pittston Avenue)