Founded in Friendship

Embedded in Clinton County history are the lives and loves of people whose differences brought them together while at the same time wove them into the fabric we know and admire as our community today. One such grouping of like comrades was the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) founded in New York City in 1836 for Irish Catholic men and their male descendants.

The word Hibernia is Latin for the Island of Ireland, and over the years the term Hibernian was commonly used to refer to those of Irish descent, sometimes featuring them with a manner of speech which was not quite English or as a good humored laborer with a clever comeback, and then also as a derogatory description for someone who didn’t quite make the grade. Nonetheless the Ancient Order of Hibernians will remind you that their members, the Sons of Ireland, have held “every office of honor and dignity in this government becoming millionaires, famous lawyers and orators, great newspaper editors, statemen and soldiers loving with passionate devotion the new land which received them kindly and gave them the opportunity for free development.” This is the description of Hibernians we recognize today.

There were a number of Hibernian societies recorded in the Clinton County area beginning in at least 1840 with the Hibernian Provident Society meeting at the Phoenix Hotel (Cumberland) called by Michael Hagerty. Clinton County’s Michael Hagerty would have been 48 years old at the time and would be identified in the 1850 census as a Beekmantown farmer with seven children and married to Massachusetts-born Margaret Adams. He lived to be 76 and is buried in the Old Roman Catholic Cemetery in Plattsburgh. The Hibernian Provident Society described the United States as “our happy republic, the land of liberty, peace and plenty.” Later in 1840, Irish-born Charles Kean (Kane) called a meeting of the Hibernian Benevolent Society at St. John’s Church in Plattsburgh. Kean, a carpenter and member of the Phoenix Engine Company #1, was married in that church to Irish-born Margaret Tracy. They had 11 children.  He is also buried in the Old Roman Catholic Cemetery in Plattsburgh. When Patrick Moffitt died in the Palmer Hill disaster in 1875, his funeral procession was led by the Palmer Hill and AuSable Forks Hibernian Benevolent Society in full regalia.

Nationally, the Ancient Order of Hibernians had their ups and downs.  At one point, in 1875, they were accused of being a front for the Molly McGuires, a group fighting for better working conditions in the Pennsylvania coal mines and accused of condoning “murder and other forms of outrage.” But in 1887 at the Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia, President Grover Cleveland spoke to at a Hibernian banquet saying, “long may the Hibernian Society live and prosper.” He also referred to George Washington’s recognition of the contributions of the Irish in the Revolutionary War. AOH Historian Patrick Walsh records that 40% of George Washington’s troops were Irish, and Irish-born John Barry was the first to receive the rank of Commodore in the US Navy. There was a Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians named after him.

In December of 1894, the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division #1 was organized in Plattsburgh, with D. H. Cotter as President. Meetings were most often held in St. John’s Church and meeting times were posted regularly in the newspapers. The public was always invited to their St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. One such event was accompanied by the 21st Infantry Band from the Plattsburgh Post and at another event, the public was reminded that the Irish and their descendants supported the nation in both the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Nationwide, the Ladies Auxiliary of the AOH was also founded in 1894. They specifically supported the teaching of Irish history, raising funds to support college classes on the subject.

In 1903, the National Board of Directors of the Ancient Order of Hibernians held their Annual Meeting at the Catholic Summer School of America, Cliff Haven. The event was usually held in large cities but was here in recognition of the ‘great educational work being done” at the school. The Irish-born Archbishop of St. Louis, John Glennon attended. Wikipedia reports he was an opponent of divorce, gambling and racial integration of catholic schools. The AOH was praised by Rev John Mullany for its ‘thorough Catholicity and its successful propaganda in the cause of education and the uplifting of the masses.”  Later in 1907, Patrick Haltigan, Editor of the National Hibernian, spoke at the Catholic Summer School on “The Irish in the American Revolution and their early influence in the colonies.” The National Hibernian was a monthly journal published by and devoted to the interests of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America. Haltigan was a reading clerk in the House of Representatives for 26 years and described as having a booming voice.

Obituaries often referred to a Hibernian connection. William Davern, owner of the Davern House (tavern) in Peru and who later opened one in Plattsburgh, was honored at his death in 1895 when the AOH officially went into mourning for 60 days. The Mount Carmel and Old Roman Catholic Cemeteries hold many of our county’s proud Hibernians.

Each March, the Chamber of Commerce celebrates St. Patrick’s Day, honoring an ‘Irishman’ of the year, not because they are actually of Irish descent or Irish born, but because they represent the community spirit that our Irish history represents, a history of “friendship, unity and charity”. Present-day Hibernian activities can be followed through their website - aoh.com.

-Written by Helen Nerska, Clinton County Historical Association Director