Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears - The Irish Tenors

Here is The Irish Tenors {Finbar Wright, Anthony Kearns and Ronan Tynan}, singing Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears. Annie Moore was the first immigrant to the USA to pass through the Ellis Island facility in New York Harbour. Moore arrived from County Cork, Ireland aboard the steamship Nevada on January 1, 1892, her fifteenth birthday. As the first person to be processed at the newly opened facility, she was presented with a $10 gold piece. Moore was accompanied by her brothers Phillip and Anthony.

Annie Moore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Moore_(immigrant)

The History of Ellis Island

http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_history.asp

On the first day on January,
Eighteen ninety-two,
They opened Ellis Island and they let
The people through.
And the first to cross that threshold
Of that isle of hope and tears,
Was Annie Moore from Ireland
Was all of fifteen years?

CHORUS:

Isle of hope, isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, isle of fears,
But it's not the isle you left behind.
That isle of hunger, isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again
But the isle of home is always on your mind.

In her little bag she carried
All her past and history,
And her dreams for the future
In the land of liberty.
And courage is the passport
When your old world disappears
But there's no future in the past
When you're fifteen years

Chorus

When they closed down Ellis Island
In nineteen forty-three,
Seventeen million people
Had come there for sanctuary.
And in Springtime when I came here
And I stepped onto its piers,
I thought of how it must have been
When you're fifteen years.

Chorus

Category:

Music

Tags:

• annie
• moore
• ellis
• island
• irish
• tenors
• anthony
• kearns
• finbar
• wright
• ronan
• tynan
• 1892
• irelamd
• yt:crop=16:9

[adabee]

Beautiful! Does anyone know what orchestra this is? Thank you for posting.

[machree01]

@adabee The Sinfonia Varsovia is a Polish Orchrestra

and conducted by Frank McNamara from Ireland.

[Murrayfamilytree]

Where are the Tenor's singing? Ellis Island?  Is that the main hall?

[machree01]

@Murrayfamilytree it was recorded in the Registration Hall on Ellis Island,

[Murrayfamilytree]

According to my American Spectrum Encyclopedia, it closed in 1954 and some 20 million passed through.

Does anyone know the exact number of people that past through Ellis Island when it closed in 1954?

[machree01]

@Murrayfamilytree There is more information in the description bar above and a link to ellisiland, which has a timeline on the site.

[SOI4ever]

actually Annie died in her 40ies. The grave had a marker put up on 10/10 or 10/11/08 with some family members in attendance. It was done by 2 sides of the family (Smiths and Donovans) and a Irish Center out of AZ (family was on both coasts) and Ronan was gracious enough to join us and perform the song. We also got to meet the writer, another charming and gracious man.

And yes, I know this because I was a member on the committee (Donovan side) and was there for the ceremony

[Annonymus121]

I'm into a lot of rock music but damn I love this!

[KJH24oktober1952]

The text is so beautiful that I always gets tears in my eyes and the images of a little scared girl with her​two little brothers' arrival in this large and confusing and slightly scary place, appears in my mind's eye. Is there anyone who can tell me, who wrote this beautiful lyric and when?

The song argued, moreover, as a typical Irish folk song by an Irish couple Sean Keane & Dolores Keane.

[PAyscue]

@Murrayfamilytree 17 million, God bless them all

[latin7093]

the song states it closed in 1943 and that 17 million people passed threw..musta been tough for them..

[JESTER588]

GBA

[Jenweightwatchers]

I love this music. And even though I am a New Zealander, I really relate to this . My grandfather was born in Ireland, and left in 1888 to escape the poverty he was facing. I would love them to come "down under" to sing for all of us who think of Ireland as our roots. Jeng

[Dvitosims]

For someone who loves Ireland and America both, The Irish Tenors and this song brings a person to tears, and full of hope for the future.Superb Men of Erin.

[mmedefarge]

@Murrayfamilytree I'm pretty sure it closed earlier than 1954. My father came over in 1948 by plane at Idlewild Airport (now JFK) & he never so much as step foot on Ellis Island. Ditto for my mom who came over soon after.

[machree01]

@baguinaldo1630 Thank you for the comment and kind words

[Murrayfamilytree]

Beautiful song.