The very first immigrant to step through the threshold of Ellis Island was a fifteen year old Irish girl named Annie Moore. Annie arrived on January 1, 1892, and although her place in history is commemorated in New York and in Ireland, until recently nothing was known of what became of her.
It has been discovered that she raised five children, spent her entire life on New York's Lower East Side, and is buried in an unmarked grave. Philanthropists on both sides of the Atlantic have now raised the funds for an appropriate headstone.
The Irish Echo reports that the "headstone that will mark Annie Moore's grave, and that of five of her children, is being carved from Irish Blue Limestone. It's currently being finished in County Clare by master carver Francis McCormack of Irish Natural Stone and will be imported by the company's Boston affiliate."
It has been discovered that she raised five children, spent her entire life on New York's Lower East Side, and is buried in an unmarked grave. Philanthropists on both sides of the Atlantic have now raised the funds for an appropriate headstone.
The Irish Echo reports that the "headstone that will mark Annie Moore's grave, and that of five of her children, is being carved from Irish Blue Limestone. It's currently being finished in County Clare by master carver Francis McCormack of Irish Natural Stone and will be imported by the company's Boston affiliate."
The monument is a "simple but elegant Celtic cross" with elements that represent both Annie's Irish and American heritage, and her connection to the Ellis Island story.
Annie Moore and the millions of immigrants she represents are commemorated in the song "Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears," beautifully performed in the following video by Ronan Tynan of the "Irish Tenors."
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