John Cassidy (1834 - 1885)

It looks like we are fourth cousins, related by the name Cassidy. Here is what I know about the Cassidy side of the family.

My Grandmother Genevieve’s grandfather, Peter Tyrrell, left Ireland in 1863 with his wife and children for England for a job as a fishing boat builder.

Genevieve’s father, John Tyrrell, left England in 1886 with his wife and three small children for the United States for a job at Dobson Mills, located on Ridge Avenue near the Schuylkill River in East Falls. Dobson Mills produced blankets and overcoats, and also had facilities for wool yarn production, a carpet mill and a plush mill.

John Tyrrell sailed across the Atlantic Ocean at the age of 32 with his wife Bridget Cassidy Tyrrell, who was also born in Ireland and raised in England, and their children John, age 6, James, age 3, and Mary, age 1. Helen, Joseph, Harriett, Genevieve and Frances were born in East Falls.

Bridget Cassidy Tyrrell, left Ireland with her family when she was six years old for England, probably because her uncle, a baker who owned a bakery near Liverpool, England, could provide jobs for family members. He taught Bridget and her siblings how to bake.

Many people in Liverpool are of Irish descent, including Liverpool’s famous Paul McCartney. His grandfather was born in Ireland in 1880, moved to Liverpool where he worked as a coalman, and was married at St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church. Paul McCartney would be baptized Roman Catholic. It would be interesting to learn in which Roman Catholic Church in Liverpool John and Bridget Cassidy Tyrrell were married.

In East Falls Bridget Cassidy Tyrrell was known for her baking, especially for her bread and rolls. As the mother of eight, Bridget had a steady clientele for homemade bread and rolls.

John and Bridget Cassidy Tyrrell lived in the house on Krail Street for over 30 years. The house is still there, as is the church on the corner, as is Dobson Mills, and although it is still called Dobson Mills, it is now luxury apartments.

After John retired from Dobson Mills, he and his wife Bridget moved in with their youngest daughter Frances and her family, and they lived with them at 3406 Vaux Street in East Falls. When my mother was growing up and living at 3428 Vaux Street she would walk over to 3406 Vaux Street and visit her grandparents, and enjoy a homemade roll just out of the oven, with some peach preserves.

Both John and Bridget Tyrrell lived into their 90s. At one point they along with their daughter Frances Sullivan and her family moved from 3406 Vaux Street to a larger home on Ainslie Street in East Falls.