There is one relative that emigrated to the U.S. that I have previously mentioned, but not elaborated on. Elizabeth Fay was the eldest daughter of William Fay II – the brother that stayed in Ireland and took over the tenancy in Rathcogue. William had married Mary Kiernan and had two daughters – Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth was born on March 15, 1882. But when she was twenty she decided to follow her uncles and make the trip across the Atlantic. On April 17, 1902 Elizabeth boarded the S.S. Oceania in Queenstown , Ireland . Accompanying her were her cousin Mary Lyons, also born in 1882, as well as Bernard Carey, ten years her senior .
Bernard was the eldest son of Patrick and Bridget (Kelly) Carey, who had settled in Rathduff, Milltown Parish, just a few miles from Rathcogue. Bernard had originally moved to New York in October of 1896 , but had apparently returned to Westmeath for a visit. He had initially been located in Brooklyn but was by then living in Manhattan on 21st Street. He must have taken a shine to Elizabeth at some point and pursued a relationship with her, because five years later , on June 5, 1907, they were married in Holy Trinity Church on 82nd St., on the west side of New York City.
Bernard had secured a job as a chauffeur for a private family, and was living on Amsterdam Ave. in Harlem in 1911, when he submitted his Petition for Naturalization. This was of course the same area that Elizabeth’s cousins, the children of Pat Fay, were living. One has to wonder if there was a connection. By that time Bernard and Elizabeth had had three children – Mary (1908), Bernard (1909) and Peter (1911). They would go on to have a total of nine children.
In 1918, when Bernard had to register for the draft during World War I, he had moved upstate to Harriman, New York, and was working on the farm of Mrs. Thomas Alexander. During the 30’s and 40’s Bernard continued working in the area as a chauffeur and caretaker – perhaps for some of the wealthy New York elite that spent their summers in nearby Tuxedo Park.
Bernard died on April 12, of 1951 at the age of 79 years. Elizabeth continued on till February of 1974. She died in Monroe, New York just shy of 92 years old.
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