A few weeks ago, in honor of the start of Irish-American Heritage month, I shared a colorized photo of Annie Moore, the first immigrant to arrive at Ellis Island, along with her brothers, Anthony and Philip. My hope was that the colorization would bring that moment in history more vividly to life.

Well, a lot has happened since then, including a first-time meeting between two of Annie Moore’s Irish and American relatives! The picture above shows us enjoying a laugh together, along with that same colorized photo, this time enlarged to poster size. Paul Linehan, of Ireland, is to my left and Michael Shulman, representing the American side of the family, is to my right.

Pictured below, Paul Linehan closed out the evening at the 2016 Irish America Hall of Fame Awards with a final song, “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears,” a ballad chronicling Annie Moore’s experiences of immigration. I was able to record a video of Paul singing, which you can enjoy here (or just click the picture below).

Annie Moore cousin Paul Linehan

You might also enjoy finding out how I found Annie’s Irish family (see pages 76-78). History lives on through all of us and helping to facilitate a meeting between these two branches of Annie Moore’s family was more than satisfying for this genie.