Return to flip book view

Pearse Pop Fagan Lucky Breaks a keepsake from Memoir for Me

There is no story that can t be improved by a little embroidery Pearse Fagan Thank you Dad for being courageous and brave in taking a chance to move our family from Ireland to America in hopes of providing a better life for all of us I know it was hard leaving family and Ireland behind but it turned out very well and we are all happy living here with all our families Thank you for showing us so much love and the importance of being a family I remember all the times over the years when we would ask you a question no matter what and somehow you always knew the answer How did you do that Thank you for planting a tree in the Moy when I was born so when I visit it I always know where my roots are That tree is pretty old now Love you Finola Daddy your amazing life story needs no embroidery It has taught us how blessed we are to follow in the footsteps of such a strong courageous compassionate learned and loving husband father grandfather and greatgrandfather Just look around you you ll see it s true Your apples didn t fall far from your Mom s tree Love Always C C Pop you are the smartest person I know Your quest for knowledge is amazing as is your zest for life I want to be like you when I grow up You always make me feel special and loved as you do for all the members in our family the newest baby is always the best ever Love you always Patsy and Jack

To Pop Thanks for always being there for us and for all the invaluable lessons you ve taught Lots of love Jim Alyssa Matthew Ethan Danielle Pop you showed me the world I have shared the love of travel because you and Mom Fagan opened that door for me You also taught me the value of using the right tool for the job Love you always Tara Pop you taught me how to love unconditionally have unwavering faith and how salt got in the ocean Dierdre Pop Your life has shown all of us to take chances be curious about the world and above all be there for your family You are a living connection to our family s heritage and your stories will live forever Rory To the man who taught us all to lead by example prove yourself through actions the importance of humility to never give up that less is always more and that all you really need is the love of your family Janessa To Pop a man who taught me how to love and be loved how to enjoy the simple things in life and how to tell a great story We love you Bridget and Family Pop You are an inspiration to your children grandchildren and great grandchildren You are an amazing man and we love you so much XOXO Katie and Abby Pop you have taught me the power of curiosity and how to enjoy life Your stories have inspired me to learn about and see as much of the world as I can all the while knowing that you and our amazing family will always be there to welcome me home Maureen Pop Your heart beats for this family and because of that I have learned so much from you You have not only shown me the importance of love and family but you also taught me to always be curious and fill my life with countless stories Siobhan Pop thank you for showing me just how beautiful life can be Eilis To Pop who has helped shape a mind that one can only hope is half as good as his Conor

Is this taping everything 6 Jaysus you ll have to censor the lot of it so you will

Pearse and Esther Fagan 1996 Patrick Pearse aka Pop Fagan has done what many of us only wish to do He is 97 years old and still sharp as a tack full of wit and wisdom But he credits his longevity to a bit of Irish luck I saw my end three or four times in my life I thought for sure I was getting me self killed The first time was while working construction in Dublin remodeling a house that had been badly damaged in a fire The firemen who had been through the house prior were supposed to have shut off all water and electricity as part of their routine exit procedures Only the bloody fireman hadn t turned everything off I reached up to pull a bunch of papers off and dammit if I didn t grab a bundle of wires that were live Luckily the shock threw Pearse still clutching the live wires across the room He couldn t let go and pulled the electric clear out of the wall He was knocked unconscious Finally I came to but god I was shaky after The second time he thought for sure he was a goner was as a teenager in Ireland He and a cousin Peter Fox were in his mother s car They were coming back from a dance in Kilcock Co Kildare and it had been raining all night We were coming down this big hill and the bloody road was flooded When Peter hit the water he thought he had hit the ditch 7

Cousin Peter tried to pull the car out but ended up throwing the car completely upside down in a ditch The boys couldn t open the doors and they heard water rushing in all around them I was in the backseat and I finally could get one of the back doors open four or five inches Pearse was the first out and helped his friends escape But there still was the matter of the car They tried to push it back upright but it was now solidly stuck in the mud They saw lights in a house nearby and interrupted a group of older men playing cards The men offered to help them right the car The roof was all dented in the interior covered in water and mud but the engine started right away and the boys happily drove home Peter Fox locked the car in the garage and hid the key until he could get the car off to a mechanic But the plot thickens A few weeks later Pearse and Peter Fox were working admission at a local dance greeting people and taking their tickets Pearse s father was also there and within earshot of the boys Of all the townspeople to show up the same group of older men who had been playing cards and helped Pearse and Peter a few weeks before were also at the dance They approached the boys and said Aren t you the young lads we helped out of the ditch Pearse s dad overheard and questioned his son on it I told him I never saw that man in my life 8 Summerhill Ireland late 1940s Back Row Pearse Oliver Maureen Thomas Pearse s father Front Row Jerome Bernie John Niall

Pop with the Seider family and grandniece Freya Fagan at Finola s Tree Co Meath Ireland 2013 His parents never learned of it We were afraid we d never get out again The third time Pearse nearly saw his end it was while working construction on the Dan Ryan expressway project in Chicago He was struck in the head by a large piece of metal The accident broke his leg flattened his hardhat and gave him a concussion The crew s crane driver was negligent It took years to remember what had happened The final time Pearse nearly burned his house down trying to make a candle He was supposed to slowly soften some wax over the stove but instead the wax melted down to the temperature of hot lava boiled over and caught fire That was the end of his candle making These days Pearse is happy to just sit back with a cup of tea and talk with one of his children Finola Colin and Patsy or one of countless other grandchildren and great grandchildren He has 10 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren to his name You re facing different problems all together When I was growing up in Summerhill my biggest problem was keeping my bike on the road and air in my tires 9

x IRELAND Patrick Pearse Fagan was born July 30th 1918 in Summerhill Co Meath Ireland His parents Thomas Fagan and Elizabeth Harnan named him after a famous Irish patriot Padraig Henry Pearse who was shot to death in 1916 for his role in the Easter Rising My grandfather was alive and he was also Patrick Fagan and they didn t want an old Pat and a new Pat So he went by his middle name Pearse Pearse is the eldest of seven brothers and sisters All the children were born at home with the help of a neighbor midwife No hospital We re all pretty hardy This was common in rural Ireland After Pearse came Oliver 1920 Maureen 1922 and Niall 1925 Premature twins John and Tom were born 1927 but sadly Tom only lived a few days Bernie was born in 1929 and Jerome came in 1934 The midwife would ride around the village on her bike with her big bag on the back of it When we were young lads we didn t know anything about babies being born We used to think that she was bringing the babies in the bag These midwives had their work cut out for them with the commonly large Irish families If you saw the nurse s bike outside a house you d say oh they must be getting a baby I see the nurse with the bag outside 10 Pearse and Esther demonstrating for a united Ireland late 1970s Sophia Seider age 7 giving Pops a lesson 2013

Fagan Seider and Cannon families together on Christmas 1993 His family owned a small mixed farm in Summerhill Growing up all the Fagan kids were assigned farming chores to help out His parents Thomas and Elizabeth were hardworking but loving parents My parents were always good to us My father had a nice head of black hair and he d be so busy combing and adding Brill cream to it they d be late for church His father appreciated life s pleasures His mother was more of a pragmatist My father would come home with a new pair of football boots for the lads but mom would say you should ve bought boots for Sunday Growing up Pearse went to the National School in Dangan until he was 15 Pearse never wanted to follow in his father s farming footsteps unlike several other siblings I always wanted to get away from the farm During this time Pearse started working with his uncle Jack Tracy and his three sons Tommy Paddy and Rory They worked odd jobs all around Meath This was Pearse s first taste in carpentry and he enjoyed the work tremendously 11

He left for Dublin around 16 and attended Bolton Street Technical School to learn woodworking and other carpentry skills He took a bus to Dublin and stayed with Aunt Marcella Massy who lived close to the school on Finglas Road He came home to Summerhill some but not all weekends to play football and be with his family But still he yearned to learn more skills At the age of 18 or 19 he left Bolton School for Parnell Square to learn bookkeeping and advanced mathematics After school he found work with a lawyer who needed help keeping books and running other errands Dublin was the best city in the world to live in that time Twenty minutes would bring you out to the Wicklow Mountains and ten minutes would bring you out to the sea There were plays dances and lots of entertainment I rode my bike all over Dublin I loved it He lived and worked in Dublin for four years learning as much as he could This sense of wanderlust and his crave for knowledge would stay with him the rest of his life Pearse with Patsy and grandchildren Deirdre Bridget and Katie in Wisconsin 1986

Esther Fallon 1940 Pearse with workmates England x ENGLAND Pearse was 21 when World War II began He wanted to continue working in carpentry but times drastically changed When the war started the building jobs stopped But there was work in England and if Pearse kept working an assigned job there he would avoid the draft Irish labor was in demand so Pearse together with his cousin Sean Fox left Ireland for more opportunity You couldn t pick your job in England The war was in full swing and officials had the control of labor They would only put you to work where they were short of people So even though Pearse and Sean both arrived with nothing but a suitcase and hopes of working in carpentry the jobs available were in mining manufacturing and transportation The two chose transport as their next career move thinking they could work together We got our gas masks our instructions and our ration cards to get ready to live in England Then Sean was put on the trains in the way north of England and I was put on the buses in Birmingham Pearse was alone working a job at which he had no skills and he could not understand the locals I didn t know anyone in Birmingham Not one And worse I didn t know the language 13

Lodging was scarce during wartime so Pearse was sent to live with a family The couple had older children even close in age to young Pearse but no friendships were made Dinners together were awkward and silent Jaysus the Birmingham accent I couldn t understand it was words you never heard in your life I was there for three months and I d sit there like a dummy never take part in a conversation The accent also caused challenges on the job He was in training as a conductor taking fare from riders based on their stops He had studied the routes and stops by name the 28 the 11 But customers threw him for a loop The Bermies would get on and say Get me to the top of the King s Head Everything was by a pub at the corner the Boars Head the Royal George Jaysus and then their accent I didn t know where we were going Pearse worked on the buses for three years and eventually learned the swing of things He found time for movies the racetrack and even balls It was at one of these dinner dances that he met his future wife Eileen McCormick a friend of Pearse from Roscommon persuaded him to skip the racetrack for a ball instead The boys would all line up on one side and girls lined up on the other They would pair off two bytwo for a spin on the dance floor Pearse saw one girl in the corner that caught his eye I saw this lassie sitting on the side with a cast up to her hip I said to me self what the hell brought that lassie to a dance with a cast up to her hip Curiosity got the best of me Esther and Pearse in 1956

The wedding party 1944 They talked and he discovered her name was Esther Fallon Although she was born in a hospital in Ballinasloe Galway she was from Roscommon She was studying to be a nurse but was working in the ambulance services to do her part in the war efforts The cast he learned was healing a job injury She had a dangerous job Her crowd had to go down to Coventry the night it was bombed really bad Mostly there were night raids at that time and she would be picking up bodies of the dead and wounded to transport back to the hospital Weeks after their first encounter Pearse spotted her at mass still with the cast A few weeks after that he saw her again at a dance this time free of the cast They danced and then dated In 1944 they arranged with Esther s parish priest to get married The couple picked a date in June and started preparing Friends helped to gather rations of sugar and tea and Esther rented a dress They were going to make this wedding special despite the complications of war and scarcity of luxuries Weeks from the wedding the war turned all their plans upside down Esther left a note for me to meet her after work 15

Below is the conversation that followed Esther Go to the priest and cancel the wedding Pearse Jaysus what s wrong now Esther We re going away we don t know where we re going and we can t talk to anybody about it We can t write It s top secret All I know is we re going to start a hospital somewhere Esther and the rest of her work colleagues shipped out a few weeks later to take over a mansion on the south coast of England On June 6th 1944 otherwise known as D Day more than 9 000 Allied troops were killed or wounded in Normandy France Many of the wounded ended up in Esther s makeshift hospital She couldn t even write home Every letter you wrote had to go through a censor I never heard a word from her Pearse worried about his fianc fearing the hospital could become the next bomb target Thankfully she returned three months later and they could have that wedding after all They were married September 18th 1944 And we lived happily ever after Laughs 16 Pearse and Esther 1944

Jerome and Esther sending Pearse off to America 1955 x AMERICA Esther soon was pregnant and Pearse was adamant to have his children born in his homeland They moved back to Ireland to settle down and lived on Pearse s family farm in Summerhill Finola was born in 1946 Colin came along in 1949 then finally Patsy came in 1951 Work opportunities were still better in England so Pearse traveled back and forth often gone for long stretches of time After working for three years driving a bus often in blackout conditions Pearse wanted a change I wanted to get out of the buses Much of England was destroyed from war so on the upside there was rebuilding to do Labor controls were relaxed so Pearse was able to find construction jobs in London finally putting some of his carpentry skills to good use He rebuilt the bombed out docks in London which had completely burned down during the war After nine years of traveling back and forth from London to Summerhill to see his growing family he grew weary of the travel and also realized that rural Ireland could not provide everything he wanted for his children We didn t live in a big town we lived in the country I could see no way of Finola Colin and Patsy going to high school because I wasn t rich 17

But first the Fagan family nearly moved to Australia After the war Australia was trying to promote itself to fellow Allied countries as a great place to live They would pay your fare to Australia and bring your family out and all They were anxious to build up the white population of Australia So in 1953 the Fagans had all their paperwork completed and bags and steamer trunks packed for Australia But then Esther became gravely ill with jaundice and they had to postpone their travel While Esther recuperated for the next year her brother Emmett who was in the American army and stationed in Germany at that time came home to Ireland on leave When he heard about the planned trip to Australia he urged them not to go there but to come to America instead promising to sponsor them He said Jaysus what would you go all the way to Australia for You re at the other end of the world You ll never get to see anyone And he was right There was no flying around You had to go by boat and it took a week or more to get there Emmett was nearly done with his time in the army and would soon be returning to the States He had been living in San Francisco before the War but when he got out he said he was moving to Chicago It was the 1950s and Chicago was booming with opportunity He persuaded Pearse to change his mind But before dragging his whole family across the pond Pearse decided to live in Chicago for a year first to make sure it would be a good fit for his family In May of 1955 Pearse his wife Esther and two of his brothers Niall and Jerome drove down to Cobh Cork where the boat was waiting to take Pearse to America It was a very sad day saying goodbye to his wife and children and all the rest of the family He would not see his family for a full year 18 Esther with Santa Pearse in the 1990s Conor Eilis Carm Pop and Colin Fagan 2013

Esther Finola Patsy and Colin leaving for America from Dublin Port 1956 His journey to America was full of surprises It was a six day journey by boat From Cobh Cork the boat sailed across the Atlantic Canada to Halifax Nova Scotia From there it headed to New York City Pearse left Ireland with little money in his pocket There were all sorts of regulations around currency You could only bring 25 pounds about 60 with you overseas That s why you had to have someone sponsor you But there was a casino on board and Pearse got lucky winning 80 the first night That boat was the best holiday I ever had There was a dancehall on the first floor and all kinds of stuff going on in the boat Once Pearse landed in New York he spent the day seeing all the sights with a fellow passenger from the boat hopping a train to Chicago in the evening He pulled into Union Station a day and half later Pearse s plan was to meet Emmett at Union Station Only there was no one there to meet him Pearse called the house number he had for Emmett but the woman who answered simply told him Emmett had left and would not give him a forwarding number or address Luckily he had found a directory of lodging available around the city and decided he had best book a room 19

There was a YMCA on Wabash not far from the station I booked a room for the night But I decided to go back to the station just in case someone might show up Union Station was a busy place at that time I was just sitting in the lounge reading me paper Without word from Pearse Emmett still figured out his approximate arrival date He and three friends Bill Grehan Mike O Toole and Bart Whelton went to the train station to go look for him Bart spotted a man sitting on his own Emmett told me this afterwards Welton says there is a guy over there now that looks Irish but he s reading an American paper Emmett knew right away it was Pearse They reunited and went back to Emmett s apartment on Belmont Avenue on the north side of the city There were several other guys over preparing to welcome Pearse into the fold and they were all enjoying a few beers They handed me a can of beer I had never tried beer in a can before It s all bottles in Ireland and England I held the can and geez I didn t know what to do with it In the 1950s beer cans didn t have the flip tops they have today People carried punch top can openers or church keys as they were called The guys were quick to notice Pearse just standing there holding his unopened beer They said why aren t you drinking your beer Pearse And I said Jaysus how do I drink it I can t even get into it They had a good laugh at Pearse the new kid on the block the Greenhorn I didn t know the American way 20 Celebrating 50 years together 1994 Pearse and his brother in law Emmett 1998

Brian and Eileen Bradley Esther and Pearse and Mike O Toole at Montrose Beach Chicago 1957 The next day Pearse set off to look for work He went to the local carpenters union hall and signed up Emmett s friend Bill Grehan was also out of work and the two went around together looking for jobs but no one was hiring By lunch Bill suggested to go to the track First I win this money on the boat Then I come to Chicago and the next day I m off to the races where I win a bunch more money I says to myself I ll never have to work a day again I m richer than anybody who came over It was great fun But Pearse did take his assignment seriously He wanted to see if Chicago would be a good fit for his family After working hard and saving money for a year he decided that he would send for the family It was very hard to find an apartment once you told them you had three kids all under the age of 10 People didn t want the noisy little buggers in there especially Irish kids He did eventually find a suitable apartment on the north side of the city in St Benedict s parish The area was mostly German immigrants at the time recently over many with families and young children As a result the German landlords were wecloming to families with children In May of 1956 Esther and the kids came over and they settled into a 3rd floor apartment on Bell Ave But this wasn t without resistance Pearse s family was not supportive of the move My parents were absolutely against it My father never even said goodbye to the kids He used to spoil them The day they were going he went way up the field and never came down until they were gone He couldn t say goodbye to them 21

His father s reaction weighed heavily on him But Pearse knew America offered his family more than Ireland could at the time He thought it was my fault He said You were never out of work you re all right you did okay Enough to eat you had a place to live But I was thinking of the kids really The promise of free education may have prompted Pearse to move his family to America but he didn t take the offer up once his children arrived in the Chicago All three children went to St Benedict s grammar school Finola and Patsy also attended St Benedict s high school and Collin attended St George in Evanston That first summer in Chicago proved to be one of the hottest summers on record Finola recalls Our Irish family was not used to the heat and had to take salt pills to keep from overheating Most evenings after my dad came home from work he would pile everyone into his old car and drive down to Montrose Beach We all went swimming and stayed down there till it was almost bedtime Those evenings were wonderful I remember a lot of Irish hung out at Montrose Beach Pearse found regular work in Chicago and did well for his family He bought a new car a 1957 Chevrolet The same year he took his family on a camping trip through the Black Hills of South Dakota The kids were young and fascinated with cowboys and Indians thanks to several viewings of Calamity Jane in an Irish movie house They thought they would be reliving scenes right out of the film Finola and Colin made me go to South Dakota I didn t even know where it was Pearse had picked up a brand new tent for the trip and when they were ready to pitch it they had no idea how to start Thankfully a neighboring camper took pity on them and helped but chastised Pearse for not checking to make sure he had all the parts before driving halfway across the country 22 Tara Pop and baby Katie Cannon 1984 Pearse Patsy Esther Siobhan and Maureen 1993

Cannon Family 2014 After eventually getting the hang of it the family had a memorable time camping in the Black Hills We got to see a lot of Indians and had great fun in Deadwood attending a parade and seeing Mount Rushmore said Finola On the way back home they stopped at a small town in Wisconsin called Baraboo We nearly ran out of money for gas Though it was unplanned they discovered a quaint town a beautiful state park called Devil s Lake and it became a vacation destination for the Fagan family and descendants for years to come Every bloody year we went to Devil s Lake In all his working years Pearse never had the luxury of a paid vacation but made sure his family enjoyed ample time at the lake Every summer my dad would drive us up on Friday night set up camp and stay until Sunday said Finola Then he would head back to Chicago to go to work while we stayed in Wisconsin for the week After work on Friday he drove back up and stayed the weekend with us It was a lovely campsite with swimming and trails everywhere The family continued camping through the years They camped in Toronto Canada visiting Niagara Falls and even camped abroad 23

Pearse s favorite vacation spot was and still is France He enjoyed going into small towns picking up a baguette and some deli meats and cheese and then going up the road to have a little picnic in the French countryside At night they would have a proper dinner pulling out the pots and pans to cook some rice and beans at a campsite over an open fire Pearse has since visited France over a dozen times in his life People used to say mean things about the French I ve never found a bad French man But they don t like Americans Esther and Pearse travelled all over the world Esther had a special account bookmarked for travel She had three accounts She had a checking savings and then a holiday account She was great for managing money Besides the many trips to France they travelled to South America Italy Egypt Jordan Israel China Japan Thailand and Jamaica They even visited Russia in 1980 during the Summer Olympic games where many countries led by the U S were boycotting to protest Russian military takeovers of Afghanistan Even in Moscow they heard Irish music Esther and Pearse took a trip to Buenos Aires where Pearse had looked up some cousins He spent four days trying to track them down and finally did on one of his last days in town The cousins Tom and Brian Harnon lived 200 miles from the city but still took a train out to see him That was very good of them In Lima Peru Esther and Pearse both fell victim to pickpockets Some bold thief somehow stole the earrings right out of Esther s ears Esther was so upset about it that she retired early for some alone time in the hotel that is until Pearse walked in holding up his arm 24 At home in Addison 2008 Can I have the floor please 2008

Esther with Finola Patsy and Colin at Lord Langford s Castle Ireland 1955 Esther and Pearse 1979 Pearse My watch had gone off me arm Esther And you re the smart fellow In Santiago Chili Pearse recalls visiting a hotel named after a famous Chilean national with Irish roots Bernardo O Higgins Outside the hotel 12 flags flew 6 on each side of the grand entrance way But there was no Irish flag flapping in the wind Pearse was so incensed that he demanded to see the manager He wouldn t see me so he wouldn t But Pearse did not give up On his last day in Chile Pearse sat down and wrote the hotel owner a letter Some countries with flags flying weren t even in existence a couple of years ago You have this guys name on your hotel you have his name on your street and he was born in my parish and you don t his flag up there The hotel management wrote him back and promised to fly the Irish flag for his next visit Bullshite In addition to all these exotic destinations they always returned to visit relatives in Ireland and England 25

Today he still visits Wisconsin to enjoy Devil s Lake but enjoys staying closer to home in Addison Illinois about 20 miles west of Chicago He and his brother in law Emmett had bought empty lots here more than 50 years ago and built their houses brick by brick after deciding they had enough of renting in Chicago It is now in this same house that he enjoys seeing his children grandchildren and great grandchildren often I couldn t give advice to any of them They have to live their own life They wouldn t listen to me anyways They d say to themselves What s that old guy talking about But at 97 years of age Pearse Fagan knows way more than he lets on and his life reads like one of the many history books that he loves to read so much He also reads the newspaper cover to cover daily making sure to find time for the Sudoku and crossword puzzles And don t even bother calling when one of his soccer matches is on His desire to learn hasn t slowed down one bit and he loves to ask his grandchildren to look things up on Google for him I never had any regrets Everyday I get up and I m happy Pop and extended family Devil s Lake 2011