LAOH: Conclusion

With this in mind, the Hibernians turned their attention to the fears of Communism and the Cold War. Members were American first and Irish second. This sense of being American first and Irish second led to many Irish rallying around the American and even, the British flag during World War II and the Cold War. They felt that it was their patriotic duty to defend America from the evils of Communism. As the Irish became more educated, they became exposed to improved economic conditions, and they were soon swept in the consumer culture that began in the 1950s.[1] Throughout the next thirty years there was a lack of Irish-American involvement in their culture. By the 1980s, Irish-American attention became centered on the conflict in Northern Ireland. This new found interest in the current events of Northern Ireland combined with the new found interest in understanding their ethnicity led many Irish, Catholic Americans back to the old fraternal organizations, especially the AOH and the LAOH.[2] Historian Ronald Takaki summarizes this need to understand our ethnic heritage with the words of Walt Whitman, “of every hue and caste am I, I resist any thing better than my own diversity.” For example, Sister Ann McManus joined the LAOH because “it means I’m continuing my Irish heritage.”[3] Her parents were born in Ireland and by becoming a member; she could ensure that “Irish roots would continue in Toledo.”[4]

The LAOH re-emerged in Toledo at a meeting at OB’s Tavern on May 17, 1990 when a group of Irish-Americans met with the purpose of organizing a new chapter. The person responsible for leading the charge was Mary Ann Buckley.[5] Buckley had received a phone call from the Dayton, Ohio LAOH about starting up a new division in Toledo.[6] Shirley Keaton, on behalf of the state LAOH board, initiated new members into the division. On June 2, 1990 a meeting was held at Chicago’s Restaurant with LAOH state president Kathi Linton present to witness the election of officers.[7] This served as the first official meeting of the new division in Lucas County. In addition to the election of officers, the determination of the amount of dues and names for the new order were suggested. These included Cardinal O’Faigh, Bernadette Devlin, and Oliver Plunkett, but Mother Catherine McCauley was chosen as the name for the division.[8] One charter member, Sister Ann McManus, along with Mary Ann Buckley went on a “rampage for new members” for the division.[9] The result of this rampage was between 25 and 35 new members.[10] The resurgence of the LAOH in Toledo and the state of Ohio was reflected nationwide as well.

Today, the LAOH nationwide has over 12,000 members in thirty states.[11] The LAOH remains committed to their motto of “friendship, unity, and Christian charity.” The lady Hibernians actively raise money for various Catholic charities and to support the renovations of historical Irish parishes throughout the United States. An excellent example of this is the annual St. Patrick’s Festival held by the AOH and LAOH of Toledo, Ohio to raise funds for the restoration of Historic St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. The LAOH actively promotes Irish culture through lectures at schools, Irish dancing demonstrations, exhibits at libraries, and musical gatherings held at local Irish-American pubs such as Mickey Finn’s on Lagrange Street in Toledo. The LAOH in Dayton also participates in promoting and preserving Irish culture. The division organized an Irish step-dancing school in the 1950s in order to instruct its junior members in that tradition. The dancing school known as the Celtic Academy participates in parades, banquets, political rallies, and dance contests throughout the state. They also “heartily support national LAOH efforts such as the Columban Missions, the Irish Brigade Civil War Museum at Antietam, scholarships, vocations, and the annual Irish history essay contest.”[12] In addition to all of the activities just mentioned, the LAOH is actively involved in the conflict in Northeastern Ireland.

The Mother McCauley division works with Project Children to bring the children living in northeastern Ireland, both Catholic and Protestant, to America. Here they have an opportunity to see that they have quite a lot in common, although they are raised in northeastern Ireland to be on opposing sides. Since the Good Friday Agreement, Project Children is more focused on bringing the disabled children of northeastern Ireland to America where children with disabilities are more widely accepted than in their homeland. A second activity of the LAOH is to give the Catholic families of northeastern Ireland a vacation outside of that area. Because Catholics have the highest unemployment rate in northeastern Ireland, they often do not have the money to escape the conflict for a few days. A third activity involving LAOH is the Between Project, which brings children from both northeastern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland together in order to show that the children are the same, rather than different from one another.[13] Dayton LAOH chose to get involved in northeastern Ireland by “adopting” Sister Corrigan at St. Paul’s parish in Belfast “in efforts to help diminish the affects of The Troubles among the youth there.” Some of their contributions to the children there are “sports uniforms, monetary donations, and many prayers.”[14]

The emphasis on historic preservation, raising funds for Catholic based charities, promotion of Irish culture, and involvement in the conflict in northeastern Ireland is a shift in the focus of the LAOH in the late twentieth century from that of the LAOH in the early twentieth century which focused its energies on social gatherings and raising money for the scholarship endowment at Trinity College and local charities. This shift in focus of the LAOH can be traced to the liberation of women from the traditional roles of society. During the early twentieth century, married women were expected to not work outside of the home. Society’s gender roles deemed that middle class women belonged in the home cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children while men worked outside of the home. However, Irish women did not always fulfill the traditional role in which society deemed appropriate for them. Many Irish immigrant women worked outside of the home as domestic servants, nurses, teachers and only left the work force when they married late in life when compared to other immigrant women in America according to Diner. But, the overwhelming majority of LAOH members worked inside of the home, due to the fact that the majority of the LAOH members were part of the middle class.[15]
Since the LAOH members of the early twentieth century worked inside of their homes, their activities within the order were confined to the traditional middle class activities such as planning socials and raising money for local charities. The AOH discouraged the LAOH during the early twentieth century from taking part in the cause of Irish independence from Britain; this cause was strictly reserved for the male organization.[16] As middle class Irish women began to bend society’s traditional roles and left housework for work outside of the home, the scope of their activities within the order changed. They honored their roots by raising money to preserve historically significant buildings, which are important in Irish-American history and by hosting Irish dances, speakers, and other events to promote Irish culture. The AOH during the late twentieth century encouraged the women to become involved in Irish nationalism. LAOH delved into issues by the 1970s and 1980s that they had not dealt with before, such as the conflict in northeastern Ireland. By joining the LAOH, Irish-American women were able to go beyond the “green beer” aspect of their heritage and to use the organization as “an eye opener to my Irish heritage” according to Ann Dollman, a heritage where their Irish ethnicity is intrinsically linked with their Catholic faith.[17]

[1] McCaffrey, The Irish Catholic Diaspora, 172-177 and interviews with J. Michael Finn and Thomas O’Mahoney.
64 Ronald Takaki, A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (New York: Little, Brown, & Co., 1993), 1-17 and 378-428 and interviews from the following individuals: Ann Dollman, Mary Ann Buckley, J. Michael Finn, Thomas O’Mahoney, and Sister Ann McManus.






65 Quote from Whitman comes from Takaki, A Different Mirror, 428 and the other quote comes from: Sister Ann McManus, interview with author, 12 December 2003. Sister Ann McManus is an Ursuline nun born to Irish immigrant parents from County Roscommon. She has held every office in the Lucas County LAOH division except for Treasurer. She was involved in various Irish organizations as a child and young adult such as the Irish Benevolent Club and Knights of Equity. Information and quote taken from interview dated 12 December 2003. Uncatalogued material, Ward M. Canaday Center, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio.
66 Ibid.
67 Mary Ann Buckley is an Irish immigrant born in County Mayo, Ireland. She began working in Dublin as a waitress at an ice cream parlor on O’Connell Street. She moved to London and trained as a typist and began work in the Ministry of Works. Poor wages in London led her to follow her brother to immigrate to America, who was living in Toledo in 1947. She worked in a local office doing secretarial work until she met her husband, Morris in 1949. She was actively involved in several Irish organizations in Toledo such as the Irish Social Club and the Knights of Equity before starting up the new LAOH division in Toledo in 1990. Information gathered by author in interview on 24 November 2003 in Toledo, Ohio. Uncatalogued material, Ward M. Canaday Center, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio.
68 Ibid.
69 Ibid.
70 Kathi Linton went on to become the national president of the LAOH during the latter half of the 1990s.

















67 Mary Ann Buckley is an Irish immigrant born in County Mayo, Ireland. She began working in Dublin as a waitress at an ice cream parlor on O’Connell Street. She moved to London and trained as a typist and began work in the Ministry of Works. Poor wages in London led her to follow her brother to immigrate to America, who was living in Toledo in 1947. She worked in a local office doing secretarial work until she met her husband, Morris in 1949. She was actively involved in several Irish organizations in Toledo such as the Irish Social Club and the Knights of Equity before starting up the new LAOH division in Toledo in 1990. Information gathered by author in interview on 24 November 2003 in Toledo, Ohio. Uncatalogued material, Ward M. Canaday Center, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio.
68 Ibid.
69 Ibid.
70 Kathi Linton went on to become the national president of the LAOH during the latter half of the 1990s.
71 Membership drive correspondence from Mary Ann Buckley dated May of 1990 and minutes from the June 2, 1990 meeting of the Mother Catherine McCauley division of Lucas County, Ohio. Uncatalogued material, Ward M. Canaday Center, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio.





72 Sister Ann McManus interview.
73 June 2, 1990 meeting minutes of Mother McCauley division of Lucas County Ohio.
74 National Hibernian Digest (Philadelphia, PA: Ancient Order of Hibernians & Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians), July-August 2003. Eileen McNeil is a past state of Ohio LAOH president.
75 Information from Toledo taken from meeting minutes and Dayton came from the Townsend article on the history of the LAOH in Dayton, pgs 6-12.
76 Information contained in paragraph was obtained in interviews from the following people: Sister Ann McManus, and Ann Dollman. Additional information was obtained from meeting minutes of the Lucas County LAOH and Townsend, 12. The term “The Troubles” refers to the conflict in northeastern Ireland from 1969 to the present.
77 Information contained in paragraph was taken from the following sources: Diner, Erin’s Daughters in America,, Nolan, Ourselves Alone, Ann Dollman’s private collection of LAOH in Ohio historical papers. Uncatalogued material, Ward M. Canaday Center, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio.

78 Diner, Erin’s Daughters in America, 25 and interviews with Mary Ann Buckley, Ann Dollman, J. Michael Finn, & Thomas O’Mahoney.
79 Ann Dollman interview.