Sara McLaughlin (b. 1928) was born in River, Achill Island, County Mayo, Ireland. Her father, Charles Boyle, came from County Donegal and her mother, Ann Kilbane, came from Achill. Her father, a farmer, traveled to Scotland for work, while her mother was a homemaker. Sara had three aunts living in Cleveland, Ohio, who invited her to the United States. Seizing this opportunity, Sara arrived in Cleveland on March 16, 1952. Shortly thereafter, she joined the West Side Irish American Club, then located on West 98th Street and Madison Avenue, where she met her husband, Michael McLaughlin, who was born and reared in County Mayo. Sara and Michael were married on August 30, 1958, in St. Vincent de Paul parish in Cleveland. Together they had three children. The Maureen McLaughlin Scholarship for Music was established by Sara and Michael in honor of their only daughter, Maureen, a violinist, who was tragically murdered in 1990. This scholarship is awarded annually at the Cleveland Feis cultural competition in Berea, Ohio, to a student in the Cleveland area. Prior to retiring in 1990, Sara supervised custodians at John Marshall High School for twenty years. She has been member of the West Side Irish American Club for more than fifty years and is an avid volunteer, co-managing volunteer waitresses, assisting at the Cleveland Feis, family picnics, Ohio Irish Festival, awards dinner, and the Mother's Day breakfasts. Sara has also made appearances on television station WJW Channel 8 in Cleveland. Sara was named 2000 Woman of the Year by the West Side Irish American Club, and 2001 Mother of the Year by the St. Patrick's Day Commitee. Both awards were in recognition of her contributions to the Irish American community in Cleveland.
The Sara McLaughlin Papers, 1928-2001, consist of car banners, brochures from the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Irish Music Academy of Cleveland, a birth certificate, a marriage certificate, a naturalization certificate, various congressional recognitions and resolutions, correspondence, a liturgy from the 2001 St. Patrick's Day Mass, newspaper clippings, and two photographs (one original, one photocopy).
This collection is of value to those seeking information about the Irish community in northeast Ohio. This collection will be of special interest to those seeking information about first generation Irish immigrant women and their adaptation to life in the United States. It demonstrates the celebration of an Irish culture and participation in various Irish activities. It highlights the spirit of volunteering of Irish people and their interest in living and promoting an Irish culture. The collection tells a positive story of a young emigrant from a tiny island off the coast of Ireland to leading a fruitful and successful life in the United States.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by document type, and then chronologically.
Processed by Regina Costello in 2002
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4870 Sara McLaughlin Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Sara McLaughlin, 2002
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.