Irish Railroad Workers Museum, Baltimore

A growing museum in Baltimore is the Irish Railroad Workers Museum, right near the B&O Museum (naturally). It's set in row houses where the Irish lived just a few streets from the large train yard complex that made up the eastern end of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Irish Railroad Workers Museum

Our tour started with a video overview of the history of the Irish coming to Baltimore (no pictures for the blog!). Then we went outside where a picture display shows the houses the Irish left behind when The Great Famine desolated their lives in the 1840s. Many fled their very modest homes and found passage to America, hoping for a new start. The ships were often called "coffin ships" because many died en route. American ports like Boston, New York, New Orleans, and Baltimore were the first stop for most of the Irish. The Irish in Baltimore settled in this neighborhood and many lived the American dream, working hard to improve their lives and achieving success.

Pictures of the journey

Evocative harp below the pictures

These row houses eventually fell into disrepair. The back of one of the houses even fell off! When the museum purchased the land, the builder said it would be expensive to redo the building in brick. They had the idea to make a glass wall that would show the interior of the house much like a doll house. 

The back of two houses

Back yards were not the play area for children back then. The yard was used for small live stock (chickens and such), vegetable gardens, and, since there was no indoor plumbing, the outhouse. 

A recreated outhouse?

The insides of the buildings needed a lot of work too. One wall shows where the original staircase was. The museum has since put in a more modern staircase on the other side.

Original masonry and angle of the stairs

The second floor has exhibits about the local church, St. Peter's, the Catholic Church for the Irish. It was also a social hub.

Second floor

Artifacts from the original church

The front end of the second floor has information about the work of James Feeley who owned one of the houses. He started at the B & O as a laborer in the 1860s. He worked hard and learned skills, eventually working as a boilermaker, building the large boilers used by steam engines. His sons also worked at the train yards.

Boilermaker information

Boilermaker tools

The top floor is a recreation of a "man cave" from back in the day. Often, men would entertain their fellows at home, much the way a pub would. They might have a bar, a table to play cards, and other entertainment. Women weren't allowed and priests from the parish did not come either.

The bar

A friendly game of poker

Game table

A little heat for the winter

After touring the first house, we went over to the neighbor house. The main floor shows a parlor where the woman of the family would be in charge. Back then, clothing was hand-made and sometimes even cloth itself was made at home starting with wool or cotton. The guide said that it could take a year to make one shirt!

Mrs. Feeley and the spinning wheel

The front parlor

Tea things set out

The kitchen was originally just a shallow fireplace. As Mr. Feeley became more successful, they were able to upgrade many things, including adding this multi-level stove that provided heat for the house and a lot of options for cooking and baking.

Multi-use appliance

Women were not allowed to work outside the home, so many times they would "take in washing" and clean the clothes of others.

Washing and ironing

As I said, the family became successful and would have good breakfasts, including luxury items like orange juice (the oranges were shipped up from Florida). Such a meal was a long way from the meals in Ireland--potato porridge for breakfast, potatoes and milk for lunch, and potato stew for dinner!

A nice breakfast

When the back wall of the house fell off, these shelves somehow remained standing. They would have been the kitchen's pantry but now are home to many family pictures and a few other historical items. 

Original shelves

As a prelude to the next floor, the guide told us about the hardships of trans-Atlantic travel. Passengers had few rights and many duties. Captains could and did make rules about when meals were and where people could be at certain times of the day. Ships had curfews and hard conditions.

A long list of rules

On the second floor, a sample of "coffin ship" bunks are shown. Often one family had to share one bunk. To maximize profits, ships were overloaded with passengers who had to fight for space and rations during the voyage. 

Bunks

Water and food storage

The house has several upstairs rooms, most used as bedrooms. 

Kids' bed with dolls

Before they had many kids, the Feeleys rented out rooms (another way to make money on the side), often with several gentlemen sharing one room. They would get a meal or two as part of the rental agreement.

A bed for two or three!

Homemade covers

The "sink"

The master bedroom is the largest upstairs room. The parents often shared their room with the youngest children.

Mrs. Feeley taking care of the baby

The homemade clothing meant that the family members did not have many outfits. Closets were little more then pegs on the wall for a Sunday outfit and a workday outfit. Mrs. Feeley had more to wear since she had maternity clothes too.

The closet

Wall decorations were minimal, often pictures taken out of magazines or advertisements.

The master fireplace

The museum has purchased more of the neighboring building and plans to expand the displays and create a genealogy center. The immigrant history of the Irish has many interesting stories that are well worth hearing and remembering.