43
Logo on old postcard inspires coin’s design
Photo
Richard Quinn of Boardman discovered a postcard with an early Ancient Order of Hibernian logo, which is now being used on the back of the AOH’s national commemorative coin to celebrate the organization’s 175th anniversary. Quinn said the postcard design was created by Youngstown Hibernian Cornelius J. Cronin in the late 1800s.
Boardman
A chance purchase at an antique shop by a township man is the inspiration for a national commemorative coin’s design.
Richard Quinn, 62, said he would stop at “Flip Side & Collectibles” in Hermitage, Pa., almost daily during his lunch break. Quinn, a member of the Irish-American, Catholic fraternal organization the Ancient Order of Hibernians, took a special interest in Irish postcards.
“I happened to come across one with an AOH logo,” Quinn said. “It turned out it was one of the oldest representations of our logo from 1880.”
The postcard featured an Irish and American flag on it, a harp, and in the center was Gaelic text and two hands shaking across the ocean with a sun shining in the background.
Quinn purchased the postcard and stuck it in a drawer, where it remained for nearly seven years. Then the National Ancient Order of Hibernians announced it would create a commemorative coin for the organization’s 175th anniversary.
Quinn contacted Michael McCormack, historian for the national AOH, and told him about the postcard’s design.
“I was very happy that they chose the postcard. It was like finding a needle in the haystack,” Quinn said.
Other AOH members agreed. Earlier this year, Quinn received the Historian’s Award by Ohio State AOH President Joe Casey and state historian J. Michael Finn. It’s the second time the award was given to Quinn, who serves as local AOH historian.
“What Richard’s doing is integral to keeping up information for our order,” said Rebecca Davey, who serves at the state level of AOH.
Davey said as the organization evolves — its core mission used to be assisting Irish immigrants in America — it’s important to record history.
“Mostly what we do now is historical and charity-type work,” Davey said.
To join the AOH, an individual must have Irish ancestry and practice Catholicism, she said.
Quinn, who joined the AOH in 1999, said local membership is holding steady at about 165. The first American AOH chapter was founded in New York City in 1836, and the organization came to Mahoning County in 1869.
Irish history “is my hobby, my passion,” Quinn said. “I like going to the library and looking through microfiche. ... A lot of people remember the Italian neighborhoods, but there were a lot of Irish neighborhoods in Youngstown, too.”