Annie Moore (April 24, 1874 – December 6, 1924) was a leading figure in Irish history. She was best known for being the first Irish immigrant to enter America via Ellis Island in 1892. She was 17 at the time. His adventure made him the living symbol of “successful” Irish emigration to the United States. This has earned him monuments, songs, and a popularity still alive in the minds of modern Irish society.
For decades, “rosy-cheeked” Annie Moore of County Cork was celebrated as the first immigrant to enter America via Ellis Island, when the famous processing plant opened in 1892.
The Irish girl was soon praised for her perfect integration in the United States and her honorable accent.
But her story has been somewhat confused with another Annie Moore, sometimes fueling myth, not fact.
For many, Annie Moore was the woman who left for the western territories and married a descendant of the great Texas liberator Daniel O’Connell, before dying in 1919 in a streetcar accident.
But in reality, a journalist from New York Mag was able to shed light on the true destiny of this Irish emigrant in 2006, thanks to a great deal of research and genealogy… And the conclusions were quite different.
The real Annie Moore, who was the first Irish emigrant to pass through Ellis Island, came from County Cork. She would have embarked for the United States with her two brothers, with the aim of joining their parents, who had left four years earlier for New York.
On her arrival at Ellis Island on January 1, 1892, she was greeted by officers who gave her a gold coin worth $10. A comfortable sum to kick-start his new American life!
Annie Moore lived the rest of her life on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. There she married a German who worked at the Fulton Fish Market… She gave birth to eleven children! And her life has clearly not been easy…
She spent almost every year of her marriage pregnant, giving birth or burying a child,” wrote New York Mag reporter Jesse Green.
As a result, she experienced precariousness, financial problems and illness.
A far less glowing picture than the “alleged success of his emigration to the United States”!
She died of a heart attack on December 6, 1924, at the age of 47.
The Annie Moore Monument in Cobh – © Luis Santos
Although the facts about Annie Moore’s existence have been re-established, Irish society continues to celebrate her as if nothing had happened!
Two statues pay tribute to the young Irishwoman: one at the Ellis Island Museum in the USA, and the other in Cobh, Ireland, where she is depicted with her two younger brothers, gazing out towards the horizon.
A song was also dedicated to him. It was written by Brendam Graham and Ronan Tynan and performed by Celtic Woman.
