Krista Luttrell

Happy New Year! As the United States of America celebrates its 250th birthday, I’ll be sharing 12 bite-sized stories, one per month, throughout this year to explore how Maine’s Irish community helped shape the incredible experiment in democracy we know as the United States of America.

Picture Revolutionary-era Maine: its dense, dark, primordial forests, biting Atlantic winds, and rugged, rocky coastline. In the 1700s, Maine was still part of Massachusetts, and it bordered what would become Canada. Indigenous communities have called these lands home for thousands of years, and the tribes such as the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot still do. English settlements began dotting along the coast and rivers starting in the previous century, and some Irish were found among them.

The British Isles and Ireland experienced much unrest during the 17th century. Oliver Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland was a hostile takeover of the island, and any Irish who were perceived as a threat may have been killed, imprisoned, or sent off to America and sold into indenture contracts, typically for a period of seven to ten years. Some, however, arrived in the new world of their own free will, and some of them may have agreed to a contract to pay for their ship passage. In New England, including Maine communities, they worked in mills and on farms, and as servants in local homes. Once a contract was up, they could truly begin their lives.

The O’Brien family is perhaps one of the better-known Irish families in Maine during this period. They exemplify what it means to be an American pioneer, and with a patriotic spirit. Maurice O’Brien left County Cork, Ireland in 1737 and joined a growing number of Irish settlers in the Maine frontier. He first lived in Kittery, married a local girl, and together they raised a large family with several sons. They moved to Machias to start a lumber mill. His son, Jeremiah, became a War hero when he captured a British ship during the Battle of Machias. Their family story will be the focus of my first post in this series.

I hope you’ll join me on this journey as I share stories about Irish Maine Patriots, such as Jeremiah O’Brien, and others who helped shape our country during this important time in our nation’s history.

Thank you for reading.

♥︎ Krista

Photo: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Amos Doolittle (1754-1832), engraver. Library of Congress website.