Mary Agnes (Diskin) Concannon

I never met my great-grandmother Mary Agnes (Diskin) Concannon, but I owe her everything for her perseverance and strength. The youngest of three children, Mary was born in 1871 in Skehana, County Galway, Ireland, to Mary (Costelloe) and John Diskin.

By the time she was 10 years old, Mary had lost both her parents and her home. With the death of their mother in 1881, the three Diskin children were orphaned, then split up and put to work. The eldest, a 16-year-old son, stayed locally but soon died in a game of knives. Ellen, the middle child, was shipped off to relatives and employment in Australia. Mary earned her keep at an older cousin’s pub and general store or by picking rocks out of planting fields. The hours were long, and the schooling nonexistent.

After about a decade of this arrangement, in 1892, when Mary was 21, she boarded a crowded steamship (the Samaria) to the United States. A cousin in New Jersey sponsored Mary and found her housekeeping work in Boston. Luckily, the cousin visited Mary at this employer, for he found that Mary was being exploited and worked round the clock. He extricated Mary and got her a very fortuitous posting as a nanny to a family in Milton, Massachusetts. This family was kind to Mary, and she thrived and was much loved by the children. It was here that short and solid Mary met coworker Michael Francis Concannon, a tall, thin, red-headed carpenter and animal caretaker. Like her, he was also an emigrant from County Galway, who arrived in the United States also in the spring of 1892.

Mary and Michael married in 1898 and had six children, one of whom was my mother’s mother. Mary and Michael saved their money and bought some land in Milton, where Michael built their house. Despite Mary’s functional illiteracy, most of her children went to college. Mary was very generous and loving, particularly to her grandchildren, and often hosted lively gatherings of friends and family, in a mix of English and Irish languages.

Although her husband returned to Ireland for a visit each year, Mary never went back, saying, “Why would I ever return to that hell hole?” I celebrate Mary Agnes (Diskin) Concannon’s ability to overcome the deep misfortunes of her childhood, persevere, make a bold move, thrive, and enjoy life. She got herself out of a bleak situation and gave her American descendants a strong foundation.