[caption id="attachment_70083" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="At the opening reception were Consul General Noel Kilkenny, Dr. Maureen Murphy of the Irish Mission at Watson House Project, Minister of State Kathleen Lynch and the Rev. Peter Meehan."]
From the 1880s through World War I, the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary for the Protection of Irish Immigrant Girls assisted more than 100,000 get settled in this country. In recent years, the Rev. Peter Meehan, the pastor at Our Lady of the Rosary, found records for 60,000 of those young women and girls at the parish’s offices 7 State St.
The Irish Mission at Watson House Project grew out of that discovery, with plans for the full digitization of the records, a family research center and a permanent exhibition on Irish women’s emigration.
Last week, Irish Minister of State Kathleen Lynch TD formally opened, at 7 State St., the permanent exhibition. Prof. Maureen Murphy of Hofstra University spoke on behalf of the project.
