Burke - Greely genealogy - Ireland to Portland, Maine, USA

Burke-Greely Family
Ireland to America

Portland, Maine Irish


Portland Maine

* Perpetually under construction *



Family Current Research Portland Irish History St. Dominic's and Cathedral



Irish genealogy has certain challenges. This site serves as a place to share some research tips and resources as they pertain to genealogy and family history of the greater Portland, Maine Irish. A family history is often reconstructed by piecing together evidence from a variety of sources. It is important to identify and consider links within a community. This is known as the Family, Friends and Neighbors "FAN" approach. Follow the "bread crumbs" as one clue leads to another. Gather data and exhaust sources before attempting to "cross the pond" to learn more. Rely on primary, then secondary sources as much as possible. (Learn more about primary and secondary sources.) Always verify the validity of information, regardless of where it was acquired from, including this site. Sometimes even primary source record information can be incorrect. Remember, too, just because a story is popular doesn't make it true. 

Irish family history researchers deal with large scale emigration from Ireland and over a lengthy period of time. In typical chain migration fashion, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins of various degrees, and even later generations of family follow the original immigrants. For example, I once found a passenger record for a man who immigrated almost 50 years after an aunt. People from the same parishes in Ireland frequently immigrated together creating their own communities or enclaves that could involve large neighborhoods or be as small as a street corner. Sometimes people had their passage paid by their relatives abroad, landlords, employers, through lottery and immigration schemes, such as the James Hack Tuke fund, or an immigrant aid society. By investigating the records on this side of the Atlantic, one can, hopefully, sort out tangled family relationships and discover more about their ancestor's origins, and their lives, in the Old Country.

Anyone who is researching their 19th century Irish immigrant ancestors should take care to consider the circumstances driving emigration from the homeland. It is well known the Great Hunger was the most significant event causing out-migration during the period. Experts estimate 2+ million people left the country in less than a ten year span of time (1845-1855). Yet, this 'famine' was neither Ireland's first, nor would it be its last. Population losses were not geographically uniform across the island, or even locally. In Galway, for instance, Annaghdown lost almost half of its population while the nearby community of Oughterard only saw a drop of slightly over four percent within the same time period, 1841-1851. Intermittent famines, chronic poverty, high unemployment, population congestion, political, social and economic instability, or, perhaps, family members who had already left, were all driving forces behind people leaving home.

Mary Ann Burke

In addition to the above, these pages allow for me to share some information on my own ancestors who settled down in Portland. They include the surnames Burke, Greely/Grealy, Cunningham, Reily, Welch/Walsh, Staunton/Stanton, etc. and were part of a network of families, friends and neighbors coming over from adjoining parishes on the eastern side of the Lough Corrib in Galway, and south Mayo. The families arrived in Maine's largest port city area as early as the 1840s and continued coming to the area right up through the early decades of the 20th century. My direct maternal line goes back to Bridget I. Grealy and her husband, Michael J. Burke. They joined hands in marriage in 1857 at St. Dominic's church, Portland's first Roman Catholic parish. They had ten children and, at least, twenty five grandchildren. Like many other Portland Irish immigrants in his day, Michael quickly found steady employment in the booming railroad industry, with the Portland Company on Fore Street. Home ownership, too, became a reality. In 1860, he saved enough money to purchase a two-family house on Adams Street from his employer. This property would remain in the family for over a century, until it was sold to the city during the Urban Renewal era (slum clearances) in the 1960s. Michael and his older brother, John, served in the United States Army during the American Civil War. Afterwards, they joined the newly formed Grand Army of the Republic. Military service offered a little bit of income, a pension and perhaps a faster path to citizenship. 

Where did the Maine Irish come from? Where did the Maine Irish settle? It is interesting to research Irish patterns of settlement within the state of Maine during the 19th century. For example, greater Portland's Irish is heavily represented by Irish that came from counties Cork and Galway. The community also received a large number of immigrants from the northern counties in Ireland, such as Donegal and Armagh. (see my index of naturalization records project) Biddeford Irish appears to be heavily represented by immigrants from counties Cork and Mayo. Bangor and Lewiston received many immigrants from Cork. Some Rathlin Islanders settled down in a spot in Washington County. Not to forget, at the tail end of the 18th century, some Wexford pioneers who first went to Boston, made Damariscotta Mills their home. They formed one of the first Catholic churches in New England, St. Patrick's church.


Micheal Burke signature

Michael's signature


Bridget's signature


If you note someone or something on these pages, please contact me as I may have additional information to share. I'm local, too, for a quick record look-up, a photograph of a home, building, or other location and gravestones in Calvary cemetery in South Portland.



"The literature of a nation is spun out of its heart.

If you want to know Ireland, body and soul, you must read its poems and stories. 

They are Ireland talking to herself."

- W. B. Yeats



© 1998-current. K. Heatley.

E-mail(push all words together): maine geni @ me. com

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