Researched and written by Bernie Scallon, a great great grandson of Patt and Anna Furlong Murphy.

The following is a summary of a longer story prepared by Bernie Scallon. Read the full story here.

In the mid-19th century, three Irish sisters - Mary, Elizabeth, and Anna Furlong - embarked on perilous journeys that would take them from the windswept fields of County Wexford, Ireland to the fertile prairies of Iowa.

Their story, as told by Anna’s descendant, Bernie Scallon, is not just a tale of immigration, but one of courage, conviction, and the enduring power of family and faith.

Roots in County Wexford

The Furlong sisters were born in Ballygarra, a small townland in southeastern Ireland, during a time of deep political and religious oppression. British rule had stripped Irish Catholics of land, rights, and dignity. The Penal Laws, enforced since the late 1600s, had left generations of Irish families impoverished and disenfranchised.

Despite these hardships, the Furlongs were a devout and resilient family, deeply rooted in the Catholic traditions of Our Lady’s Island parish – a place that had been a revered pilgrimage site for centuries. Indeed, two of the sister’s nephews were the Very Reverend John Lambert Furlong, an Archdeacon and Vicar General of the Diocese of Ferns, and the Very Reverend Patrick M Furlong, parish priest at Piercestown and Taghmon in County Wexford.

Each sister married a man with patriotic spirit and disdain for British rule. Mary married James Scallan, a member of the radical Young Ireland movement. Elizabeth wed John Lambert, and Anna married Patt Murphy, a farmer from the nearby Chour hill. These men, like many Irish Catholics of the time, were inspired by the American and French revolutions and longed for an independent Ireland.

The Great Famine and the Call to Leave

The 1840s brought the Great Famine, a devastating period of starvation and disease that claimed over a million lives. The British government’s inadequate response, coupled with continued food exports from Ireland to England, fueled resentment and desperation. The Young Irelanders attempted a rebellion in 1848, but it was quickly crushed. James Scallan, fearing arrest, decided to flee with his family that winter.

The Scallans sailed from Liverpool and arrived in Philadelphia in February 1849. Their journey was influenced in real time by Irish monks scouting for a location for a new home in America. The Scallans spent a year in Pennsylvania waiting for news of the monks’ decision on a site, and eventually followed them there.

The Monks of Mount Melleray

The Trappist monks of Mount Melleray Abbey in County Waterford played a pivotal role in this story. Led by Abbot Bruno Fitzpatrick, they sought to establish a new monastery in America to serve the growing Irish Catholic immigrant population. After exploring sites in Pennsylvania and Canada, they accepted an offer from Bishop Loras of Dubuque, Iowa, who donated over 600 acres of land to them. The monks founded New Melleray Abbey 12 miles outside the city of Dubuque in July 1849.

Fr. Thomas Hore’s Epic Migration

Another key figure was Fr. Thomas Hore, a first cousin to the Furlong sisters. A seasoned priest who had previously served in Virginia, Fr. Hore was deeply moved by the suffering of his parishioners in southern County Wicklow (just across the border from County Wexford) during the famine. In 1850, he organized one of the largest group migrations in Irish history, leading over 1100 people to America.

Fr. Hore chartered three ships to New Orleans and planned to lead his followers up the Mississippi River to Arkansas. However, upon arrival, they found the promised land already claimed and were struck by cholera.

Many families splintered off, some already staying back in New Orleans and some opting to settle in Arkansas. After leading the rest further up the Mississippi to St. Louis, he had everyone wait there while he alone continued upriver to Dubuque to see Bishop Loras and the newly-established monks that he knew had settled in the area.

But he soon learned that he again had been too late to find enough affordable land for sale (by the U.S. government) in the area around the monks. Then, after being told about the abundance of available land in Allamakee County, nestled in the far northeast corner of Iowa, Fr. Hore traveled there to explore the opportunity. Impressed by what he found, he quickly returned to Dubuque and purchased over 2000 acres up there, all within five miles of the Mississippi River. Eager to share the exciting news with the monks and his extended family, the relieved and tired Fr. Hore likely chose to stay in the area for a few days – allowing him to attend the first-ever wedding at Holy Family Catholic Church, established by the monks. The bride, afterall, was the daughter of his cousin, Mary Furlong Scallan.

When Fr. Hore returned to St. Louis to retrieve his remaining followers, he learned that many of them had decided to stay there. So it was just 18 families that followed him up the Mississippi to their new homes in Allamakee County - where the settlers managed to build a church within a month of arriving. His followers thought his new Catholic settlement there should be named Wexford, in honor of Fr. Hore’s original home – and so it was.

The Murphys and Lamberts Follow

Back in Ireland, the Murphys and Lamberts remained behind, partly due to newborn children in both families and the need for discretion. British authorities were still suspicious of anyone associated with the Young Ireland movement.

Eventually, both families left Ireland in 1851 - taking separate routes to minimize the risk of detection. The Murphys traveled via New Orleans, while the Lamberts went up Canada’s St. Lawrence River and through the Great Lakes.

By June 1851, all three families had reunited in Dubuque. It was a joyous and emotional moment - after more than two years of separation and thousands of miles, the three sisters and their husbands and families were together again. The difference was that they then saw themselves as being in a land of freedom and opportunity.

Settling in Iowa

With the three sisters presumably keen on being a part of their cousin’s new Catholic settlement, the three husbands steamboated their way up to the new Wexford community to evaluate the farming opportunities there. They ended up deciding that they preferred the less hilly terrain of Dubuque County, and that they would go back down there and look for land near the monks.

It was in August 1851 that the Scallans bought their farm in Prairie Creek township, just over a mile from New Melleray Abbey. The Murphys bought their farm in the same township just four days later.

The Lamberts, however, suffered a tragic loss when John Lambert died of cholera shortly after returning from northeast Iowa. His widow Elizabeth and their children remained in Dubuque, where their eldest son, John J. Lambert, began working at a local newspaper at the age of 14.

He would later become a prominent editor and publisher in Colorado, and be knighted by Pope Pius X for building and supporting an orphan asylum. He would also spend many hours in Colorado sharing life stories with a friend, Fr. W. J. Howlett, who later shared some of those stories in a remarkable seven-part tribute published after John J Lambert’s death in 1916.

Fr. Hore’s settlement in Wexford, Iowa flourished initially. He built a church, welcomed new settlers, and even deeded land to the monks in hopes of establishing a branch of New Melleray there. However, the monks ultimately decided against expanding there for familiar reasons: the region’s hilly terrain and logistical challenges. In 1857, some six years after arriving in Allamakee County, Fr. Hore returned home to Ireland.

Legacy and Reflection

The story of the Furlong sisters and their families is a testament to the enduring spirit of Irish immigrants. They left behind a land of oppression and famine, risking everything for a chance at a better life. Their journey was shaped by faith, family ties, and a deep commitment to community.

For American readers, this story resonates on many levels. It speaks to the immigrant experience, the importance of religious freedom, and the sacrifices made by ancestors to secure a brighter future. It also highlights the role of the Catholic Church and monastic communities in supporting immigrant families during times of great upheaval.

Wexford