Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1898-12-24


Certainly the objects for which this
institution was founded are alone suffi-
cient to merit and to hold the attention,
at least of those who were once exiles
from their native homes. and who in
this land of religious freedom and polit
ical equality have prospered to a degree
not warranted in country that for CEN
turtles has suffered from tyrannical OPP
preston, persecution and starvation.
If the founders of this home had no
other object in mind than to supply
Catholic bureau for the information of
Irish immigrants, their purpose would
yet be deserving of praise and commend
alton, for such department would of
necessity materially aid the immigrant
to obtain some knowledge of the country
to which they have come and would fur
nish them with reliable information
which in many cases is very much
needed. How many of the Irish people
leave their native country with no par
ticular place in view other than the vast
country of America, trusting to God and
the magnanimity of the American people
to formulate their future designs3 Fol
lowing the methods of their ancestors
who since the year 1916 have immigrated
to the haven of the West in search of
life and liberty. But, alas, they fail to
appreciate that times and circumstances
have changed and that the country that
received the Irish exile of half a century
ago is not the America of today, and that
the resources which then lay hidden and
uncultivated have long since been devel-
oped, leaving fewer opportunities to
strangers who come in search of liveli-
hood.
The false idea of America which the
Irish immigrant girl entertains leads her
to believe that her landing upon Ameri-
can soil is sufficient to insure her imme-
date success and prosperity. Quite laud-
able therefore is the work of the institu-
ton that would prepare the immigrants
and particularly the Irish immigrant
girls for the disappointments which must
certainly come to them, and which would
supply them with knowledge that will aid
them to avoid or to overcome the difficult
ties which have so often crossed the path
way of exiles who have begun life in
America without the advice of anyone
competent to give wise counsel.
Many, too, reach New York with the
expectation of meeting friends who in
many instances either neglect to meet
them or prove prejudicial rather than
favorable to the progress of the irnmi-
grant. Under such circumstances the
immigrants find that they are friendless
and without homes or prospect of work,
and must seek aid from some charitable
refuge where they remain until they find
employment.
But the second object is even more
worthy than the first. What grander
thought could engage the mind, or what
nobler purpose actuate the efforts of man
than that which would seek to establish
a home for the protection of young girls
in order that they might be saved from
temptations which otherwise might engulf
them3 It may not be dificult for the male
immigrant, with the aid of advice, to find
employment, and especially when that
counsel comes from those who are inter
ested in his welfare, but with the immi-
grant girl it is different some of them
have found themselves unequal to such a
task, and hence to obtain livelihood
have even sacrificed their honor Chiefly
to overcome such baneful consequences
was the Home for Irish Immigrant Girls |
established, and it is pleasing to note that
open its portals to all immigrant Irish
girls irrespective of creed, and has well |
comed or protected over 100000 of
them until their friends have been found,
or until employment is obtained for them
in such places as were best adapted to
their conditions and education. Some,
however, have been unwilling to accept |
the counsel of those i'll charge of the
home, and have continued upon uncertain |
journeys with no other recommendation |
than an address of some relative of a
friend in their native land, who, perhaps,
If the truth were known, is unable to
offer hospitality.
Let us now consider the third object
for which the home was founded-to |
establish an immigrant chapel. Many an
immigrant girls heart has throbbed with
joy as she beheld on landing the immi-
grant chapel in the midst of the activity
of New York, where, after long and
tiresome journey, she might receive the
consolation of her religion for whatever
may be said of the Irish exiles they have
in America held tenaciously to the doc
trines of the Catholic church, enunciated |
to them by the soggarth of the old home.
Like Longfellow's Arcadian exiles. the
Irish immigrants as they fingered for the
last time upon the shores of their native
land are consoled by the encouraging
words and blessings of the Irish pastor
and il was the idea of the founders of this
home that the same exiles might, upon
their arrival upon American soil, give
thanks to God for their safety by assist
ing at the divine sacrifice.
The work of the mission is not confined |
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