Dedication

I would like to dedicate this work to two of my great grandfathers who epitomised the Irish immigrant of the 1800's. Through their hard work
they established themselves and saved enough money to bring their
families to America from post famine Ireland. Like so many others my ancestors encountered racism but overcame it with their pleasantness,
courage, and perseverance. That time of hate seems so far away from my experience growing up in Addison. My father had served on the town board and school board and the Catholic Church my great grandfather helped build was a strong establishment.

Michael Troy, my father's grandfather, came to America from Co. Clare. Working hard on the railroad, he earned enough money to buy a farm near Addison, in upstate New York. Through diligent work he became the local milkman driving his cart past the homes, dipping milk out of cans packed in ice to fill each woman's tin milk pail. Michael was able to bring his father and younger sister and brother from Ireland. They were living with friends in Clare who risked losing their own home and lives for taking in an evicted family and giving them safe harbor. We are forever indebted to the Lynch family.

My mother's grandfather James Lyons came to Keuka Lake in upstate
New York delivering horses from Kerry. He worked as a horse trainer then moved on to work in the vineyards and the railroad. Black Jimmy, as he was called because of his dark hair, often walked from Tyrone to church in Corning, which was about 20 miles away. He too, bought land in the Addison area in 1859. Eventually the area became known as Paddy's Hill for the many Irish immigrants living there but when Jimmy bought the property the whole region was heavily wooded with no cleared land. He began by building a log cabin and clearing fields, eventually building a frame house and barns. He married and started a family but was still able to send for several of his siblings. Jimmy found them work in the tanneries and they moved with their families near that area. The farm stayed in the family. UncleTom and Aunt Garry retired in 1996. Their son, John Lyons and wife Teresa, still operate the farm that is a New York State Century Farm.

Thanks to my mother, Mary Lyons Kane, for her love of singing, dancing and passing on the family stories.