Bernard McKnight - The Early Life
|
| In July of 1834 Bernard McKnight was born to Mary Fitzsimmons and John McKnight in Drogheda, County Louth,Ireland. There are still numerous McKnights in this region. Though some records show County Louth, this is most likely the point of departure, not the area where the McKnights lived. Mary and John probably named their son for his maternal grandfather, Barney Fitzsimmons. And like his grandfather was also called Barney. Three years later a second son, Owen, was born. Barney surely grew up in an atmosphere of poverty and illiteracy. Drogheda was a growing industrial center offering jobs in textile factories and iron foundries. But, Ireland in the 1850s was not a land of opportunity for a young man. The Penal Codes restricted Catholics from owning land, and famine gripped the whole country following the failure of the potato crop of the 1840s. With the crushing of the Munster Rebellion in 1848 came |
 |
| constant British harassment against Irish Catholic men. Bernard, like many others, saw their future ironically in England. The growing industries of central England were creating a huge labor market. That was the incentive for many young poverty stricken Irish men to relocate. Their escape was the free shuttle linking the shipping center of Drogheda directly to Liverpool.
|
| John died in 1848 during "The Great Famine" 1845-1852, and Mary was left with two sons entering adulthood. She recognized the opportunities for her sons in England and decided to leave her native land. It is possible Mary had a brother named Patrick who had emigrated earlier to Sunderland County Durham England. The McKnights made the voyage across the Irish Sea in 1849 or 1850. They traveled across the country to the city of Sundeland on the English |
|
| west coast. By 1851 the family lived at 1 Kirtley Building in Suderland, England. The rent was paid by housing two boarders: Patrick Murphy and John Fitzsimons. Barney and Owen probably found work in the new iron foundries/ beginning a relationship with iron and steel in the McKnight family that would last for the next four generations. In late 1851 Barney married Ann Quinn and the couple had a son John in 1852. They probably met shortly after Barney's arrival in Sunderland. It is not known if Ann was a native of Ireland or England. The couple had their only child, John. |
