West Orange St. Patrick's Day Parade

10/09/2026

☘️ Every Irish family has a story worth telling! Did your ancestors leave Ireland during the Great Famine and find a new home in New Jersey?

Help the Global Irish Famine Way NJ uncover and preserve their journeys. Even the smallest family memory could be a missing piece of history. Share your story and help keep their legacy alive! 🇮🇪

🇮🇪AN OCEAN BETWEEN. A FAMILY STORY CONNECTING US.

An old letter. A family name. A story passed down from your grandparents. Any of these could be the beginning of discovering your family’s journey.

Did your ancestors leave Ireland during the Great Famine, 1845–1852, and later make New Jersey their home? Whether they arrived through Canada or a port in the United States, we want to hear from you.

You don’t need a complete family history. Let our research team investigate.

Share whatever you know even if it’s just a name, a letter, or a memory. Our Historical Research Committee will work with you, investigate the records, and help piece together the story. You don’t need to know the ship, the arrival date, or every generation before reaching out.

Their journey helped shape the family you are today. Help us preserve it for those who come next.

💬 What family name, letter, or memory could begin your story? Tell us in the comments.

👉 Connect with our research team at www.globalirishfaminewaynj.org and select “Share Your Story.” On Instagram, follow the link in our bio.

Their story is our history. Their journey is our heritage. Their legacy is our future.

Please share this post with family and friends. Someone may have a letter tucked away or a memory waiting to be told.

10/06/2026

🇮🇪Different Shores, The Same Strength💪

When thousands of Irish men, women and children fled the Great Famine of 1845–1852, the New York Harbor they entered looked very different from the one we know today.

There was no Statue of Liberty welcoming them. That would not stand in the harbor until decades later.

Instead, they arrived aboard sailing ships after an often dangerous Atlantic crossing, carrying what little they could and facing an uncertain future.

Many continued on to New Jersey, where they found work, established homes, raised families, built churches and communities, and helped shape the towns and cities that generations after them would call home.

But behind that larger history are thousands of individual family stories and many are disappearing with each generation.

☘️ Do you have one of those stories in your family?

Who left Ireland?
Where did they come from?
When did they arrive?
Where did they settle in New Jersey?
What became of their children and grandchildren?

Even if you only have a name, photograph, old document, family memory or place in Ireland, we encourage you to share it. It could be the beginning of uncovering a remarkable story.

Help us preserve their journey for future generations.

Their story is our history.
Their journey is our heritage.
Their legacy is our future.

Global Irish Famine Way New Jersey
Share Your Story⁠

10/03/2026

🇮🇪One name on a passenger list. Five years old. A New Jersey family story begins.

Look closely at this excerpt from the Marmion’s 1846 passenger manifest. Among the Flannelly family’s names is little John, recorded as just five years old.

That year, William and Mary Flannelly fled County Sligo with their six surviving children. Traveling through Liverpool, they crossed the Atlantic in steerage, arriving in New York on November 28, 1846, before making Jersey City their home.

Reaching America was only the beginning. John later served in the Civil War and was hospitalized after battle. His daughter Mamie faced poverty, working in a laundry to support herself and her baby. His granddaughter Kate lost her mother to tuberculosis and entered domestic service at just 13.

Generations later, Kate’s granddaughter, Maureen Wlodarczyk, spent 30 years uncovering their history—connecting the names on that passenger list to the lives and struggles of her New Jersey family.

Could your family hold a story like theirs?

If your ancestors left Ireland during the Great Famine, 1845–1852, and they or their descendants made New Jersey home, we invite you to share their story.

You don’t need to have every answer. A surname, an Irish county, a document, or a family memory can be a starting point. Our Historical Research Committee can work with families to help uncover their journeys.

👉 https://globalirishfaminewaynj.org/share-your-story

Their story is our history. Their journey is our heritage. Their legacy is our future.

Story and manifest source: Maureen Wlodarczyk, “Who Was My Grandmother Kate?” published in Irish America.

10/02/2026

☘️ Experience the Sounds of Ireland! 🇮🇪🎻

Come out to the The Shillelagh Club in West Orange and enjoy an afternoon of traditional Irish music at the Irish Trad Sessions!

Beginning this Sunday, gather with friends, family, and some wonderful local musicians for an authentic Irish music session. It’s a great opportunity to immerse yourself in the sounds and spirit of Ireland—and maybe make a few new friends along the way!

🎶 First Sunday of every month
🕒 3:00–6:00 PM
📍 Shillelagh Club, 648 Prospect Ave., West Orange
☘️ Free admission

Whether Irish music is part of your heritage or you simply love the sound of a great trad session, come by, grab a seat, and enjoy the music! All are welcome! 🇮🇪☘️🎻

10/01/2026

☘️ Let’s come together to support the Sean Cassels Family☘️

The West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade community encourages you to support this worthy fundraiser, with all proceeds benefiting the Sean Cassels Family Trust Fund.

Enter for a chance to win one of two beautiful co****le sets including a special “Irish Heritage” set! Each set is valued at $250.

🎟️ $20 for one entry or $30 for two
📲 Scan the Venmo QR code on the flyer to send payment to the WO PBA account. Include “Cassels Cornhole” in your payment note.
📍 Drawing: Sunday, October 11, at 2 p.m. at the Shillelagh Club.
Tickets are available in advance or on the day of the event.

Please enter, share this post, and help us show the Cassels family the kindness and generosity of our community. 💚

10/01/2026

What would you carry if you had to leave home forever?

As we celebrate our Irish heritage through the West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade, we remember the courage and hope of those who came before us.

Did your ancestors leave Ireland during the Great Hunger, 1845–1852, and eventually make New Jersey their home? Help the Global Irish Famine Way - New Jersey preserve their memory by sharing your family’s story.

Visit www.globalirishfaminewaynj.org to submit your story and tell us in the comments about a treasured keepsake or memory passed down from Ireland. 💚

A meaningful new topic for the Global Irish Famine Way NJ page would be “What Did They Carry?”

Imagine leaving Ireland during the Great Hunger with only what you could carry—a few clothes, perhaps a prayer book, a letter, or a small keepsake from home. Those belongings could become a family’s lasting connection to the people and places they left behind.

It offers a personal way to invite participation:

“Does your family still have a keepsake, letter, photograph, or story passed down from an Irish ancestor? What has survived through the generations?”

09/23/2026