Granny Nolan and her Button Box
Granny Nolan and Her Button Box
Mary Helen O’Neill Nolan, originally from Marshalstown, Ballymitty Parish, County Wexford, came to America in 1900 and married John D. Nolan on February 26, 1908, at Baltimore’s St. Ignatius Catholic Church. They had four children together, but daughter Margaret was lost to diphtheria on January 21, 1913. John also passed away, as so many did, during the Spanish Flu epidemic of October 1918 and left Mary to raise their three young children. She pressed on and built a life for them in the St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church parish.
Success in life was not optional for their three children. Daughter Mary Ellen is featured below at her graduation from St. Peter’s Female School. She received a scholarship from Mount St. Agnes High School, established by the Sisters of Mercy, and did well. Her sister Kate graduated from Seton High School, run by the Daughters of Charity, and brother John completed his studies at Mount St. Joseph High School, under the instruction of the Xavieran Brothers. These successes were realized in no small part at the insistence of their dear mother, who made her living working at Hochschild-Kohn department store in downtown Baltimore.
West Baltimore’s Irish families maintained musical and dance traditions in their modest rowhomes as well. Descendant Mim Quaid shared with us stories from a hooley in 1914:
“The kitchen of 921 W. Fayette St. rang with the sounds of a button accordion pumping out jigs and reels and the pounding of hard shoes on the kitchen's linoleum floor. John and Mary Nolan had put their children to bed early and were hosting a party of Irish friends and family who lived and worked in the neighborhood. Some party goers had been fellow servants at the great Winans/Hutton estate, Alexandroffsky. Party hostess Mary Helen O'Neill Nolan had learned to play the "squeezebox" in earlier years and provided some of the entertainment. Guests arrived at the door with contributions to the evening's refreshments that were guaranteed to get the party going. At some point, dancers got up on the floor and the party became a ceili where they all danced to traditional set dances. Finally, tired out after having worked all day and danced until their legs gave out, they found places to sit and sang old Irish "Come all yas" with words remembered from evenings spent in their homes in Ireland. Such evenings provided a link to a past that they remembered gratefully while providing a sustaining path to their new lives in America.
The Nolans' oldest child Mary, who was not asleep as she was supposed to be, heard all the craic taking place in the kitchen. Later in life, she described the scene with the clearest of memory and enjoyment. Her mother (image above; Mark Evans, artist) died in 1982 at the age 99 and 11 months. She left the button accordion to her grandson Kevin Farrell who treasures it as he does all things Irish.”
Kevin shared with us,“Here is my song lyric about Granny Nolan and a picture Itook of the display at my house (above)” …
Button Box Accordion
My grandmother lived with us when I was still young.
Though between us, there were few words said.
But I remember those nights upstairs after dinner,
When she sat there alone on the edge of her bed.
And she'd play her old button box accordion.
She remembered just a handful of songs.
So, she played them over and over again.
And, in her half-spoken whisper, I could hear her sing along.
They were old Irish songs. The real Irish songs.
The ones she learned when she lived there as a child.
I stayed awake all those nights, just listening. Just listening.
So, the music and the memories were gathered and filed.
(Chorus)
She played
“Come to The Bower”
“Her Mantle So Green”
“The Star of County Down”
“The Galway Shawl”
“The Rose of Tralee”
And “The Boys of Wexford Town”
When my grandmother died, that button box was mine
To save for the next generation.
Yes, I was the one who sought out that treasure.
So, to me it was given, without hesitation.
And I promised to keep it always, safe in my care
Where I lived, I would proudly display it.
While the music and the memories were kept close to my heart
For the day I could learn how to play it.
Now the thumb strap was broken. The wood stain had faded.
The pearl buttons were tarnished and worn.
But I could hold in my hands, my grandma’s memories
Of those old Irish songs from before she was born.
(Chorus)
When she came to America, she was just seventeen.
Thirty-five, when my grandfather died.
So, she raised up the family, more or less on her own
Through War and Depression. But, with God by her side.
She was here when the first car rolled off the line.
And she lived to see a man walk the moon.
But though she lived nearly 100 years
I would swear that she died too soon.
Oh, I wish I knew then some of what I know now.
I would have listened to the things that she said.
I would have asked her a thousand questions
While she sat there alone on the edge of her bed.
But I still have that button box accordion.
And her memory will not let me mourn.
While me and these steel reeds are still going strong
And I can play you those songs from before she was born. I’ll play…
(Chorus)
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Graduating Class of 1922, St. Peter the Apostle Church Schools. Mary Ellen Nolan, daughter of Mary Helen O’Neill Nolan and John D. Nolan, is in the second row from the bottom, second from right.
Another notable graduate is Elizabeth Agnes Herbig, a future railroad clerk. She can be seen in the second row from the top, third from the right. Elizabeth was a descendant of County Roscommon Irish.
We invite you to consider other stories about the Irish of Baltimore on the website of the Irish Railroad Workers Museum. They can be found on the Big Pivot blog found at
www.irishshrine.org