My ancestor Francis Sullivan immigrated to Baltimore
from County Meath, Ireland, in 1847, during the
Great Famine. He was twenty-one and illiterate. Like
many Irish immigrants, he found work on the B&O
Railroad. Francis liked to drink a lot. So did most of
the other railroad men. It was starting to become a
problem — fights, broken marriages, the usual — so
some women and priests started an abstinence
movement called Society of the Divine Thirst. It was
kind of like Prohibition in the 1930s, except drinking
wasn’t outlawed, just severely frowned upon. Read More
from County Meath, Ireland, in 1847, during the
Great Famine. He was twenty-one and illiterate. Like
many Irish immigrants, he found work on the B&O
Railroad. Francis liked to drink a lot. So did most of
the other railroad men. It was starting to become a
problem — fights, broken marriages, the usual — so
some women and priests started an abstinence
movement called Society of the Divine Thirst. It was
kind of like Prohibition in the 1930s, except drinking
wasn’t outlawed, just severely frowned upon. Read More