Local Ties to the Emerald Isle

​With St. Patrick’s Day upon us once again, I challenged myself to think of obvious, yet non-obvious, places in Frederick County that have been distinctly "Irish" since Frederick’s earliest days.  Here’s where our forefathers could have “tied one on” during those colonial era pub crawls I guess.  Feel free to add more!

Frederick’s Patrick Street
Frederick (city and county) can thank an Irishman for their existence.  The founder hailed from Queen’s County in the Emerald Isle, coming to America in 1703. When Irishman Daniel Dulany laid out Frederick Town in 1745, he made provisions for two principal streets. The main north-south corridor was named Market Street as the market house and adjacent space would be located here. The main east-west corridor was called St. Patrick’s Street in honor of the founder’s Irish heritage, and this was originally intended by Dulany to be the principal street of town.  Its importance would grow as it became part of the important turnpike used for transporting wheat and other products to Ellicott Mills and thus to the Port at Baltimore.  It would also become part of the National Road, the first major interior road to the Ohio River Valley and would make travel better for settlers heading west, and travelers heading east. You will find early deeds of Frederick with references to St. Patrick’s Street. 

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Dr. Patrick Dulany

​In some histories, it is said that Daniel Dulany named this street after a favorite cousin named Dr. Patrick Dulany, but I find this somewhat doubtful.  Who names a place after a cousin, especially one that never visited Frederick Town or America for that matter? Anyway, Dr. Patrick was an alumnus of Trinity College, Dublin, and an eloquent theologian and preacher. He was a close friend to Jonathan Swift, author of “Gulliver’s Travels,” and the man that gave us the term "Liliputians."

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​Carrollton Manor
In 1723, Charles Carroll the Settler (1660-1720) had this 17,000-acre manor surveyed.  It takes up a majority of the lower Frederick Valley below the City of Frederick stretching to the Potomac River.  Charles Carroll emigrated from Ireland and the County Offally where his family lost much of their land and wealth in the English Civil War (1642-1651) against Great Britain.

Unable to serve in local politics because he was Catholic, Carroll gained power and prestige through land acquisition. Multiple heirs would own this parcel which Carroll the Settler claimed was bought originally from the rightful owners, a subgroup of the Tusacarora Indian tribe that had previously lived here from about 1713-1723. This is why we fittingly have Tuscarora High School today in the vicinity. And ironically, the school’s colors include green.

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​The land conveyed to Charles Carroll the Settler’s son, Charles Carroll of Annapolis (1703-1783), and finally to his son, another Charles Carroll (1737-1832), who took on the place name to differentiate himself from other Charles Carroll’s.  It was this “Charles Carroll of Carrollton” who eventually signed the Declaration of Independence, and became a significant leader throughout the American Revolution. Years later, his family built St. Josephs on Carrollton Manor Church and Cemetery in close proximity to their Tuscarora manor house. 

One tombstone in the churchyard exclaims that it marks a mass grave of over 100 Irish Catholics who perished while constructing the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. In the early 1820’s & 1830’s the area experienced a calamitous outbreak of Asiatic Cholera which sent many of the Irish workers to their grave. The Irish were plentiful in the creation of both the C&O and B&O.

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Emmitsburg
Speaking of Irish Catholic, you would expect some sort of Irish connection to Emmitsburg. Irish settlers were also prevalent here. Amidst the final resting place of America’s first native born saint, two national shrines and the second oldest Catholic Independent college in the country, there can be found an Irishtown Road. This leads from North Seton Avenue northward over the Mason–Dixon Line and into Pennsylvania.

  As for Irishtown, it apparently ceases to exist as it would have been located north of Emmitsburg, and likely the spot where a number of Irish families lived in close proximity.  As the Boyle family is prevalent here, I’d bet they were one of them.  Other early families included the Shields, Harrigans and Callahans. There is an Irishtown about fifteen minutes away and located just north of New Oxford (PA) so you could feed your fix there.  

​One of the best known Irish families associated with Emmitburg in the last century is the Fitzgerald family. In the 1930’s, they opened a makeshift eatery off their farm property located on the old Gettysburg turnpike (US15).  This eventually grew to be known as Fitzgerald’s Restaurant, operated by Allen and Naomi Fitzgerald until 1941.

Just over 20 years later, the Fitzgerald’s middle son Donald (better known as “Mike”) and his wife Doris bought a restaurant and club south of Emmitsburg on US15. This joint was formerly known as the Casablanca and located near Franklinville (just north of Thurmont). 

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​In 1963, the couple renamed the business “Fitzgerald’s Shamrock” and it would hold the distinction of being one of the first establishments to serve cocktails in Frederick County.   Five sons and four daughters grew up working here, with daughter Donna still operating the business. As the Fitzgeralds gear up once again for their 53rd rendition of the biggest day of the year (St. Patrick’s Day), they won’t have their family patriarch with them. Mike Fitzgerald passed away on February 28, 2016, but I’m sure the remarkable north county businessman will certainly be there (with family and patrons) in spirit. Mike will be attending an even greater St. Patrick’s Day party in heaven, with the patron saint himself!
 
Erin go Bragh!
 

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