The Julia (Donovan) O'Neill story

My Great-Grandmother Julia (Donovan) O'Neill was born in Firies, Co. Kerry, in 1893. In 1914, she set sail on the S.S. Baltic for Detroit, Michigan. She was hosted by cousins and supported by Holy Trinity Catholic Church, which provided her work in the rectory until she was able to find permanent employment as a maid for the Buhl family. She was very proud that the family used to request to "have the pretty Irish girl answer the door."

Letters her mother wrote to her at this time gave updates on the farm and Julia's pony, Black Polley. Each one begged her to mind her money so she could save up enough to come home. Then her mother had a recurrence of stomach cancer. Later letters detail doctors' appointments, hope for recovery, and ultimately a grappling with the plan God had laid out for her. She wrote that "I had the rest of the family around me but you I think of - would not be much pleasure to come home if I was not before you [as] the old saying [goes] what is home without a mother but I trust in God I never die till I see you again in the old corner at home." Unfortunately, she passed away before Julia could come home and, possibly as a result of her grief, Julia never made it back to Ireland, even when invited on trips later in life.

In 1922 she married Jack O'Neill, himself from Boolteens, Co. Kerry and a World War I veteran. They had four children they raised through the Great Depression and then World War II hit. Dennis, their oldest son, was keen to enlist like his classmates but he was not yet 18 so he needed his father's signature who, knowing what war was was about, refused to sign which meant Dennis had to wait until he was of age. Dennis's sister Nora said the only time she ever saw her father cry was the day her brother went off to war.

Dennis served with the 45th Infantry Division nicknamed the Thunderbirds. He stormed the beach at Salerno and fought through Italy going over mountain after mountain. At the Battle of Anzio he was wounded and captured by the Germans. For six months he was listed as Missing in Action. In Detroit during this time there was a priest named Father Solanus Casey who was known for performing miracles. Julia wrote regularly to Fr. Solanus, imploring him to pray for her son. In the exact same batch of mail where she received a response that Dennis was in his prayers and he knew she would hear he was alive, she received a letter from the U.S. Army informing her Dennis had been located in the German prisoner of war camp Stalag VII-B just outside Munich. Julia later submitted testimony about this, which contributed to Fr. Solanus's beatification as a saint.

When I knew Great-Grandma O'Neill, she was in her 90s. I remember visiting her in the nursing home and a particular visit where I asked her what Ireland was like. My parents quickly shushed me. It was later explained to me that, well, sometimes, when you ask her about Ireland, she wants to tell you about the fun dances, but most times, she gets upset and says she can't talk about it because it makes her feel too lonesome. She felt the loss of her homeland deeply to the end of her days. I often think of the sacrifices she made to secure better opportunities for her family.