Tom Mulcahy : Short Biography

TOM MULCAHY

1838-1882

Tom Mulcahy, my great great grandfather, was born in Waterford and baptized in Newcastle in 1836. His parents were Patrick Mulcahy and Johanna Flynn. Patrick and Johanna had at least five other children: Bridgid (born 1826), Patrick (born 1828), Ellen (born 1830), Michael (born 1832) and Catherine (born 1838).

Tom emigrated from Ireland to the United States about 1852, and fairly soon thereafter was in Memphis, Tennessee, where he spent the rest of his life.  Presently I don’t know whether any of his siblings emigrated with him, but he was part of a relatively large group of people from this small area around the border of Waterford and Tipperary who left and ventured to Memphis, some of whom no doubt were his extended family.

However, one other person who did emigrate was Alice Ahearn.  Alice was born right up the road from Tom in Ardfinnan.  She emigrated with her brothers in the late 1850s, and they all went to Memphis.  In 1860 she and Tom were married.  But they had to put their family plans on hold, because a few months later Tom enlisted in the Confederate States Army to fight for the South in the U.S. Civil War. He was originally in Knox Walker’s Tennessee 2d Infantry, known as the “Irish Regiment” from Memphis (and no doubt many were from Ardfinnan/Newcastle area). In the small skirmish of the Battle of Belmont, the Irish Regiment saw their first action and very nearly killed General U.S. Grant. But their next engagement was the Bloody Battle of Shiloh, the first major clash of the U.S. Civil War, resulting in 23,000 casualties, and the Irish regiment was “shredded.”

Fortunately, Tom was a teamster, and apparently a good one.  He was quickly tapped by General Leonidas Polk to be part of his cannon battery, which kept Tom away from most of the scorching hand to hand combat for the duration of the war.  The remainder of the Irish Regiment was combined with other units, and they ultimately surrendered in North Carolina in 1865.  Tom was paroled and returned to Memphis.  Anecdotal reports are that he was one of only five of the original 500+ to return home.

Tom and Alice then started a family, including Mary Mulcahy (c. 1867-1940), my great grandmother, Tom, Jr. (1868-1912), John (1872-1873), Lily (1874-1905), William (1876-1910), and James J. (1878-1940).  Tom continued his teamster skills for Orgill Brothers Hardware (the oldest continually operating business in Memphis today) where he worked non stop for the next 14 years.  After the Civil War, many more Irish came to Memphis.  Quite a few settled in South Memphis, where Tom lived, and this growing number soon justified the construction of a new church in 1867, St. Patrick’s, to serve the Catholics of South Memphis.  Family legend is that Tom and Alice provided the money for the first altar.

Tom died in 1882 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Memphis.  Although Tom fought for the South, and the South’s cause was unjust, I do not judge his character by that.  He endured the Hunger in Ireland, and then sailed into the complete unknown in search of a better life. I imagine he enlisted in the army mostly as a matter of survival. Memphis was a tough place immediately before the Civil War, especially for an Irish immigrant, and a wild and lawless place immediately after.  Not every Irishman in Memphis distinguished himself during this time, I must admit. But Tom did.  All indications are that he was a reliable and honorable man of integrity while performing his job and raising a family.  He is a hero to me, like many other Irish immigrants of this time.

I will continue my research and hope one day to learn how just many people from this small area of Ireland  emigrated to Memphis in the 1850s, why, and who was first.