Anna "Annie" Moore (April 24, 1874 – December 6, 1924) was an Irish émigré who was the first immigrant to the United States to pass through federal immigrant inspection at the

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

station in

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

. Bronze statues of Moore, created by Irish sculptor

Jeanne Rynhart Jeanne Patricia Rynhart (17 March 1946 – 9 June 2020) was an Irish sculptor and creator of the Molly Malone#Statue, Molly Malone statue. Background Rynhart was born Jeanne Scuffil in Dublin on 17 March 1946. Her parents were Kathleen Connoll ...

, are located at

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. With a population of 14,148 inhabitants at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, Cobh is on the south si ...

in Ireland and Ellis Island.

Immigration

Moore arrived at Ellis Island from

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, aboard the Guion Line

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

''Nevada'' on January 1, 1892. Her brothers, Anthony and Philip, who journeyed with her, had just turned 15 and 12, respectively. As the first person to pass inspection at the newly opened facility, she was presented with an American $10 gold piece from an American official.

Family

Moore's parents, Matthew and Julia, had come to the United States in 1888 and were living at 32 Monroe Street in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Annie married a son of German Catholic immigrants, Joseph Augustus Schayer (1876–1960), a salesman at Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market. She died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

on December 6, 1924, at age 50 and is buried in

Calvary Cemetery, Queens Calvary Cemetery is a Catholic Church, Catholic cemetery in Maspeth, Queens, Maspeth and Woodside, Queens, in New York City, New York, United States. With about three million burials, it has the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the ...

. Her previously unmarked grave was identified in August 2006. On October 11, 2008, a dedication ceremony was held at Calvary which celebrated the unveiling of a marker for her grave, a Celtic Cross made of Irish Blue Limestone. She had 11 children of whom five survived to adulthood, and three of them had children. The rest all died before the age of three.

Mistaken identity

A woman named "Annie Moore" who died near

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, in 1924 had long been thought to be the one whose arrival marked the beginning of Ellis Island. Further research, however, established that the Annie Moore in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

was born in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Legacy

Annie Moore is honored by two statues sculpted by

. One stands near Cobh Heritage Centre (formerly Queenstown), her port of departure, and another at Ellis Island, her port of arrival. The image is meant to represent the millions who passed through Ellis Island in pursuit of the American dream. Annie Moore's life also inspired the song "Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears", which was written by Brendan Graham after visiting

. The song has been performed by Ronan Tynan, The Irish Tenors, Sean Keane, Dolores Keane, Daniel O'Donnell, Celtic Thunder, Celtic Woman, Tommy Fleming and The High Kings. Things named in honour of Moore include the Annie Moore Award, presented annually by the Irish American Cultural Institute, a utility vessel operated for the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

, and a software program developed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, Lund University in Sweden, and the University of Oxford in Britain which uses a "matching algorithm" to allocate refugees with no ties to the host country to their new homes.

Gallery

Annie Moore Statue by by Jeanne Rynhart, Cobh.jpg, Statue of Annie Moore and her brothers on the quayside in Cobh, Ireland. Annie Moore Arrival.jpg, Annie Moore's Passenger Arrival at Ellis Island in 1892. Annie Moore grave marker.jpg, Grave marker for Annie Moore at

, New York, US.

References

External links

A Ticket to History - Famous passengers
on the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation website
"Irish Immigrant First To Pass Through Ellis Island"
from the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation website (archived 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Annie People from the Lower East Side People from County Cork 1874 births 1924 deaths Ellis Island Irish emigrants to the United States Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) Catholics from New York (state)