It was in 1823 that Patrick Cowhey, a young man, arrived in New York from Ireland. Earlier than the swell of Irish immigrants that came as a result of the famine of the 1840's, Patrick found himself in a new country, not yet a century old. He settled in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania (pronounced skool-kill) and many of his descendants remain there today.
In honor of the limerick challenge created by Terry Thornton, I've written a poem about the patriarch of the Cowhey family. I have not yet confirmed his original home address in Ireland, but he was either from Cork or Limerick, both places well-known for a love of poetry. He departed from Ireland via Queenstown's port (now known as Cóbh) in County Cork.
Here is my verse dedicated to Patrick and all his descendants:
Pat Cowhey found to his dismay
Green Ireland's prospects were grey.
He set out from Cork,
Made his way to New York,
Then settled in Schuylkill, PA.
A century plus since he came
They'd hardly remembered his name.
Now from ancestral fog
He's emerged, and this blog,
Small-leaved Shamrock, has given him fame.