In 1832, a group of 57 Irish immigrants from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry arrived in Philadelphia, brought to Chester County by a fellow Irishman named Philip Duffy as laborers for the construction of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad at a cut-and-fill site known as Duffy's Cut. Within six weeks, all had died amid a cholera epidemic and were buried in a mass grave. In 2009, excavations at the site produced remains of eight of the workers. Analysis of the skulls indicated death by blunt-force trauma and one had evidence of a close-range bullet hole. Recent research suggests that a mass murder may have taken place by local vigilantes fearful that cholera would spread. Two of the bodies, Catherine Burns and John Ruddy were identified and returned to Ireland for burial. The remaining bodies were buried at West Laurel Cemetery on March 9, 2012.
In 1832, a group of 57 Irish immigrants from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry arrived in Philadelphia, brought to Chester County by a fellow Irishman named Philip Duffy as laborers for the construction of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad at a cut-and-fill site known as Duffy's Cut. Within six weeks, all had died amid a cholera epidemic and were buried in a mass grave. In 2009, excavations at the site produced remains of eight of the workers. Analysis of the skulls indicated death by blunt-force trauma and one had evidence of a close-range bullet hole. Recent research suggests that a mass murder may have taken place by local vigilantes fearful that cholera would spread. Two of the bodies, Catherine Burns and John Ruddy were identified and returned to Ireland for burial. The remaining bodies were buried at West Laurel Cemetery on March 9, 2012.
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