The Regan Family
This is a photograph of the Regan family of Kilmovee, County Mayo, Ireland, which was taken circa 1933 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The photograph is interesting and innovative because four of the people pictured were absent at the time the photograph was taken and were later inserted. The missing four, Aunts Annie and Mari, Uncle Hubert and great-grandmother Bridget, had their photographs taken separately then we sent the pictures to the photographer. He then inserted them into the spots that were left open for them.
It was Catherine and Delia’s idea to have the photograph taken because the family was now separated by an ocean and would most likely never be all together again. Uncle Hubert, Aunt Mari, and Bridget lived in Ireland. Aunt Annie was a nun with the Order of the Sisters of Charity stationed in Manhattanville College in New York.
The family began its immigration to America in 1921 when my grandfather Martin and his sister Annie came to join cousins here in Philadelphia. They were followed later by Catherine, Michael, Tony and Delia. The family, except for Tony who went to Ardmore, PA, settled here in a predominately Jewish neighborhood where they were the first Catholics on the street. They were welcomed with open arms by their neighbors. My grandparents were notorious for their Saturday night house parties with Irish music and dance.
All in the photograph have passed away except for Delia, who is quite active at the age of 94 and a great source of information for the family. In 1944, my grandfather Martin purchased a tavern in Philadelphia, “Regan’s on the Boulevard,” which is still owned and operated today by my father. – Submitted by Patricia Regan
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