From Famine to Fairfield County: The Irish Experience in 19th Century Darien with Jane Halloran Ryan

Darien Library and the Museum of Darien (MoD) are pleased to welcome Jane Halloran Ryan, M.A., Ph.D., who will explore the journey and settlement of Irish immigrants in post-Famine Darien. Through their hard work and fortitude, these early settlers helped shape the community we know today.

Do you have Irish ancestry? Join us to discover how these families built new lives and left a lasting legacy in Darien!

About the Presenter

Jane Halloran Ryan, M.A., Ph.D. is a Darien native whose family grew up on Leeuwarden Road. She attended local schools and graduated from Darien High School. Jane’s great-great grandfather, Richard Dunn, was one of the early Irish immigrants to Darien. Settling in the town in the mid-nineteenth century, he and his wife, Anna Purcell Dunn, raised a family of six daughters on Noroton Avenue in the "Amanda Waterbury" house.   

In 2017, Jane completed her M.A. in Local History at the University of Limerick. In October 2024, she was awarded her Ph.D. from Mary Immaculate College, in Limerick, Ireland. Her thesis, "Networks of Necessity: The Clunes, Clare and Connecticut Connections," focused on the networks between Irish and Irish American communities and their assimilation into Irish American culture in late19th-century Norwalk. Jane is currently working on a book on the Norwalk Irish American community. She resides in Tulla, County Clare, Ireland with her family.