Carney Tutors Come To You

According to Carney tutors, it was in the late 1800’s that a man named Thomas Carney traveled to the United States from Ireland. Like many emigrants that traveled from Ireland at that time he was no doubt looking to leave the country of Ireland having just survived the 1879 famine, and had hoped of improving his life by moving to the United States.

Many of those who left Ireland sent money back home to support their families, as the country at that time was devastated. The earlier famine of 1845-1852 had caused many deaths due to starvation, and the more recent famine was an all to familiar reminder of the suffering of friends and family. Some people panicked that they would starve and die, having witnessed or heard about the severity of the famine only 30 years prior. As the potato crops were sparse and the climate made farming other crops incredibly difficult, there was a feeling of foreboding that hung like a dark cloud over the country. Many were disillusioned and saw no hope in staying in Ireland, others had no choice but to leave with no employment prospects and families that were in need of financial support. Unlike the previous famine better infrastructure was in place to help those that were impoverished and hungry. Railway lines had been built that connected remote areas that lay to the far west of the mainland, so food could now be sent and reach those in need within days, as opposed to the weeks that it previously would have taken.

The United Kingdom’s government had actively assisted in the distribution of aid to those in distress and the United States now having a substantial sized Irish-American population saw it their responsibility to step up and assist as well. The United Stats Navy sent over three thousand barrels of food aboard its “USS Constellation” to Ireland in the same year that Carney arrived in the United States. The plight of those suffering in Ireland hit headline news and picked up support from U.S residents who wanted to pitch in and help, which encouraged more journalists to report on the significance of the suffering that those back in Ireland were experiencing.

When Carney arrived in Maryland originally he settled in Texas where he met and married Mary McDermot. It was roughly five years later that they set up a general store in the area, which is now called Carney. Carney tutors tell students that he was able to purchase over forty acres in the area, which is where the store was located and the Carney family home.