Helena O'Brien : Short Biography

Helena (Lena O’Brien) Connolly,
(1911, Fermoy, Cork Ireland – 1944, Boston, Massachusetts)

Oral history: Her children; her sister Mary (O'Brien) O’Flaherty of England; her brother, Tom O'Brien of Youghal, Cork and countless O'Brien/McGrath cousins in Waterford and Cork Counties, Ireland and in Massachusetts. One cousin indicated that Lena's father was probably in the Guarda Siochana in 1911 when the Census of Ireland for Barrack's Hill, Fermoy was recorded in 1911. Also, he indicated that when Lena's father was Corporal in the British Army during World War I, the family) lived in Deal, Kent, England.

Lena’s Nephew Kevin O’Flaherty wrote:
"Robert was a corporal in the Royal Engineers being in the building business this is a logical place for him as their jobs included various construction tasks. You will find no record of him as the records of two thirds of WW1 soldiers were destroyed when the Germans bombed Somerset House which was then the Public Records Office in WW2. I have searched & there is nothing. I do know however that he was involved in the 1st Battle of the Somme a deadly affair when 20,000 were killed on the first day. As an engineer he would probably have been a tunneler as the British dug under the German lines & planted explosives beneath them to mixed effect. My grandmother, mother & Lena plus a son were relocated to Deal, England in 1916 because of animosity to the families of British soldiers from the (Irish) rebels.

"An interesting anecdote that I picked up on one of the rare occasions that I actually listened to my grandmother was that the Somme only being about 100 miles away from Deal they could hear the artillery from the battle at night. Also she used to grow beetroot & the Germans fired a gun nicknamed "Big Bertha" across the channel at night to intimidate the populace however they had not quite got the rifling of the shells right & they broke up in flight so spread fairly harmless shrapnel all over the place including in the beetroot which was pockmarked with metal shards."

I believe that his mother (Lena's sister Mary, born in 1915 in Ireland was also relocated to Deal.

CENSUS OF IRELAND, 1911

Residents of a house 33.2 in Barrack Hill (Fermoy Urban, Cork)

Surname Forename Age Sex Relation to head Religion
O Brien Helena 22 Female Head of Family Roman Catholic Church
O Brien Helena Female Daughter Roman Catholic Church

Please note that the Census-taker incorrectly identified Ellen age 22 as Helena. Also, Lena's father Robert was a mason working with a brother on his Grandmother Elizabeth (Dillon) Walker's house in Youghal, Cork when the Census was taken.

DATE OF BIRTH
On Lena's first Declaration of Intention to Naturalize (to become a US Citizen) dated May 2, 1935,
she indicated that she was born on 18th of January 1911 in Fermoy, Cork, Ireland. She also indicated that she came to the United States on May 11, 1930 on the Scythia.

ARRIVAL IN MASSACHUSETTS

Her 1930 passenger record in Ancestry.com follows:
Helena O'brien Massachusetts, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963
Name Helena O'brien
Gender Female
Age 19
Nationality Irish
Birth Date 1911
Birth Place Fermoy, Irish Free State
Departure Place Cobh and Queenstown, Ireland
Arrival Date 11 May 1930
Arrival Place Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Last Residence Irish Free State
Friend John Mc Grath
Ship Scythia

Oral history indicates that she came to Boston to help her uncle and aunt (William and
Nora McGrath) raise their children while Nora was incapacitated.

She filed her first Naturalization Declaration for Citizenship form on 2 May 1935. She resided at 274
Dudley St., Brookline, MA.

HELENA O'BRIEN IN THE MASSACHUSETTS, STATE AND FEDERAL NATURALIZATION RECORDS, 1798-1950

Name: Helena O'Brien
Gender: Female
Declaration Age: 24
Record Type: Declaration
Birth Date: 18 Jan 1911
Birth Place: County Cork, Ireland
Arrival Date: 11 May 1930
Arrival Place: Boston, Massachusetts
Declaration Date: 2 May 1935
Declaration Place: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Declaration Number: 255416

During the period that she was living in Brookline, she met her future husband, John
Joseph Connolly (who at that time was also living in Brookline).

After filing the initial Declaration, she returned home to Youghal on June 8, 1935 on the Scythia.

Less than a year later, she returned to Massachusetts. Interesting,

Please note that she indicated that her last residence was USA.

PASSENGER RECORD FOR LENA's RETURN TO BOSTON IN 1936:

Helena Obrien in Massachusetts, Passenger And Crew Lists, 1820-1963
Name Helena Obrien
Gender Female
Age 24
Nationality Irish
Birth Date 1912
Birth Place Fermoy co cork, Ireland
Departure Place Cobh and Queenstown, Ireland
Arrival Date 8 Mar 1936
Arrival Place Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Last Residence United States of America
Friend T McUrath
Ship Samaria

Please note that the friend's name was her first cousin Tom McGrath (son of John Joseph McGrath). The Surname is incorrectly spelled on the Ancestry.com transcription record.

Oral history indicates that she really connected with her uncle John's 3 children: Dolly, Father Joe and Ann.

She married John Joseph Connolly in 1938. Their marriage is recorded in Boston. The Index record in Ancestry is Volume 10, page 430. Massachusetts requires two entries for individuals who live in a different city. Both are recorded as living in Boston MA. Massachusetts is currently digitizing the records for 1922.

FAMILYSEARCH, US CENSUS OF 1940
Helena Connolly
United States Census, 1940
Name Helena Connolly
Event Type Census
Event Date 1940
Event Place Ward 9, Boston, Boston City, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
Sex Female
Age 29
Marital Status Married
Race (Original) White
Race White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Wife
Relationship to Head of Household Wife
Birthplace Irish Free State
Birth Year (Estimated) 1911
Last Place of Residence Same Place
Household
Role
Sex
Age
Birthplace
John Connolly Head M 30 Massachusetts
Helena Connolly Wife F 29 Irish Free State
Barbara Connolly Daughter F 1 Massachusetts

When Lena updated her Massachusetts and US Naturalization Declaration after her daughter Ellen's birth in 1942, she and John had 3 children. The family was living at 18 Jewett St. Roslindale, Boston, MA. Bernie Geoghan (John's first cousin) was one witness. She first met Bernie in 1935. The second was Celia Tracy from Medford MA who she first met in 1930. (I have a copy of the Form which is not in Ancestry. Massachusetts and US Naturalization forms .)

Lena passed away in Boston on 13 February 1944 less than six years after her marriage. She died of kidney failure in St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Boston.

When she passed away, her children were under 5 years old: Barbara, age 4; Robert, age 3 and Ellen, age 1.

Lena O’Brien Connolly, her husband John Joseph Connolly, his brother Uncle Thomas F Connolly and his sister Aunt Mary J Connolly are buried together in New Calvary Cemetery in Boston. His parents and the other 3 of her husband’s siblings are buried a few hundred yards away in another section of the cemetery.

Sources

Web Sites: Ancestry, Ireland, Catholic Parish records; National Archives of Ireland, 1911 Census; Ancestry, Massachusetts Passenger and Crew Records; Ancestry, Massachusetts and Federal Naturalization Applications; Ancestry, Massachusetts Marriage Index; FamilySearch, US Census of 1940; and Findagrave for New Calvary Cemetery, Boston, Massachusetts.