Duffy's Cut

Immigrants generally and Irish Catholics specifically were often viewed by the owners and managers of railroad and coal mining companies as expendable components, and by Anglo-Germanic Americans as unwholesome and even dangerous. Official record of the deaths at Duffy's Cut remained locked in the vaults of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) until Joseph Tripican, a secretary to a former PRR president, removed them after the company's bankruptcy in 1970. In the 1990s, one of Tripican's grandsons, Reverend Dr. Frank Watson, discovered the papers in a file and began to research the history with his brother Dr. William Watson, Professor of History, and adjunct professors Earl Schandelmeier and John Ahtes of Immaculata University. Bone expert Janet Monge was included in the analysis of skeletal remains. On March 9, 2012, the remains of five men and one woman from those who died at Duffy's Cut Shanty Town were laid to rest with a religious service at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. The men and woman were unearthed by researchers from Immaculata University at the location of the Shanty Town near an Amtrak railroad line in Pennsylvania. A sixth body was recovered and identified as John Ruddy from Inishowen, County Donegal; his remains were returned to Ireland for reburial there. In 2013 the remains of Catherine Burns of County Tyrone who died in Duffy's Cut in 1832 were reburied in Ireland in 2015 ==In popular culture==

Television • Tile Films of Dublin, Ireland produced "The Ghost of Duffy’s Cut", a documentary on the story for broadcast on the Irish State Broadcaster RTÉ. They then went on to produce a follow-up with WNET, "Death on the Railroad". as an episode of the PBS series Secrets of the Dead (season 12, episode 3) first aired May 8, 2013 Print • Greenwood Publishing Group published ''The Ghosts of Duffy's Cut'' in July 2006. Music • Robert Sheldon wrote a song that features Brian Boru's March called "Mystery of Duffy's Cut", which incorporates other Irish songs and deals with the mystery of it. • Irish musician Christy Moore released a song, written by Wally Page, called "Duffy's Cut" (2009), whose subject matter is the death of the workers on the railway. • In March 2011, Celtic Punk band The Dropkick Murphys released a song called "The Hardest Mile", which also deals with the newly discovered evidence that some of the men may have been murdered rather than having died of cholera. • Americana Songwriter Rick Shelley released the song "Dead Horse Hollow" in 2017. The song references young John Ruddy and the 56 other Irish immigrants lost to Duffy's cut. • In 2012, Celtic Punk band The Kilmaine Saints released “57” as part of their album “Drunken Redemption”. This discusses the anti-Irish sentiment in the 1840s and the fact that some may have been murdered. ==Gallery==

File:Duffys Cut track n tool.jpg|Construction tool (top) and iron strapping (bottom) that was attached to a wooden stringer and used as a rail. Both items recovered at the site. File:Duffys Cut Cross West Laurel Hill.JPG|Grave of some of the victims in West Laurel Hill Cemetery File:West Laurel Hill Cemetery - Duffys Cut Memorial Names.jpg|Duffy's cut memorial marker at West Laurel Hill Cemetery ==See also==