Mayo Alive - 2 June 1997

Patrick Horan - Mayo Man
by Noel Horan

He was from Westport, Co Mayo, Ireland and he left his native home in the year 1928 to take a sea voyage to a new and exciting land. He left Cobh and boarded the tender which would take him to the liner waiting in the harbor. He didn't know anyone on board and no one had come to see him off yet this could not dampen the excitement he was feeling. The ship he was on was named the "George Washington" and it seemed fitting that he was on a ship named after the first US president and himself bound for New York.

The voyage was uneventful and he had made the acquaintance of a few other young irish men and women who so to speak were in the "same boat as him". They were all fine people who would be great assets to their new adopted country and welcomed the chance for a prosperous life.

The "George Washington" arrived in New York harbor with its human cargo and the dreams and aspirations of all who were on board. The Mayo man stepped off the gangway and set foot in his new adopted land and he made his way to a public telephone. Being unsure how to operate the telephone he produced a piece of paper with a friends name and phone number and asked a stranger to dial the number of Mike and Mae Sherry who lived in upper manhattan. Mae was from Westport and she considered the Mayo man like a brother and it was here that he stayed on his first night in his new country.

After settling down it was time to look for employment and after numerous ups and downs he landed a job with the New York City Transit Authority. The Mayo man now was well on his way to establishing a new life for himself in the USA. He worked and saved his money so that he could send the fare to his sister Kathleen still living in Westport so that she could join him in the US. The Mayo man and his sister were like "ham and eggs" and they were very protective of each other throughout their lives.

The Mayo man joined the Mayo mens association and very rarely missed a dance or social function. He met other Irish men and women and soon was very comfortable in his new country. He served in the US Army and was proud of that fact all of his life. The Mayo man married and had a wife and son and settled in Queens NY. The Mayo man used to visit his native land every three years and bring back necessary items to his relatives in Westport and Mount Brown. He never over the passing of years forgot who he was and where he came from. When the Mayo man would read of Ireland and "old iron drawers Maggie Thatcher" it just reinforced his feelings about England and what he thought of their government.

The Mayo man was now 89yrs old and the strong hands and body were attacked by his enemy which was time. He never complained about the ravages time had taken on him and was always concerned about how I was doing. You see I am the son of this Mayo man and he passed away in March,1995. He was a fixture in both myself and my mothers life and I miss him terribly. We did not have the typical father/son relationship and I suppose that may have been because of the circumstances of his childhood rather his "manhood" as he never had the opportunity to be a child.

He was the oldest and with that came many responsibilities which caused the Mayo man to have been robbed of a childhood. But that is OK because I know that a father could not have loved a son more than he and if I had asked him to give his life for me he would have done so. There is no son that is more proud to have had an Irish emigrant father than me and there is not a day that goes by or an Irish song that I hear that I do not think of the Mayo man.