Arriving in Boston Harbor in June 1891, Mary Dolly [Fowler] did not become a citizen until 1932 when she went back for a visit to her ancestral home in Anbally, Co Galway.
As a child, I remember the room where I slept at my grandmother’s house on Brackett Street. The room had 3D type wallpaper which looked like buttons on upholstery. I used to stare at it until I fell asleep, that is ONLY after I made my grandmother remove all the holy statues, like the Bishop of Prague with his satin robe, and the 5 foot long thunder and lightning beads made of wood which hung on the back of the door. Of course, I did not want that crucifix on the wall above my head either. These things were very scary to me even though I was raised a Catholic. I think somehow I believed they belonged in church, where we were supposed to be scared. Anyhow, back to this room of many memories. There were many things which belonged to my great grandmother in there. The hope chest also had some weird furs that had fox heads on them which she wore when they were fashionable. I remember the smell of that old button box and I recall the picture on the bureau of her in a tiny frame. The photo from the above document had been cut out and put into the frame. When I was a teenager, I taped it back together. Then I began to wonder where this great grandmother of mine lived when she was in Ireland. I was lucky enough to also have her passport from 1932.
 If you should ever find any Naturalization Papers also called Citizenship Papers, hold onto them as they hold valuable information. Under US Government in the phone book, you will find an address for that department in most major US cities, such as Boston, or NYC. I actually wrote to the office in Portland, Maine to request information about her. I received an informative letter full of details. I found the name of the ship she embarked upon and the Date she arrived as well as the Port where she entered the United States. I also found the Date of her marriage and the births of her daughters. I was seventeen when I received this information, much to the delight of my grandmother as she wasn’t familiar with the name of the town land of Anbally. Many of these town lands are so tiny (a couple of blinks of an eye) that it is best to buy survey maps which cost between ten to fifteen dollars. These survey maps show all the holy wells, and many other details of the land. Only after I purchased some of these maps was I able to locate Anbally which was halfway between Galway City and Tuam on N17, near Claregalway. Since 2002, I have visited this area a few times.