Annie Moore (immigrant)

Anna "Annie" Moore (April 24, 1874 - December 6, 1924) was an Irish emigrant to the United States in 1892. She was the first immigrant to the United States to pass through federal immigrant inspection at the Ellis Island station in New York Harbor.

Moore arrived from County Cork, Ireland aboard the steamship called the Nevada on January 1, 1892. It was reported that her arrival was on her 15th birthday, but records in Ireland reveal that her birthday was in May and she was actually 17. Her brothers, Anthony and Philip, who journeyed with her, had just turned 15 and 12, respectively. As the first person to be processed at the newly opened facility, she was presented with an American $10 gold piece from an American Official, which is the equivalent of $267 in 2015 dollars accounting for inflation. From 1820 to 1920, more than 4 million people left their native shores of Ireland bound for the Port of New York and a new life in America. When Ellis Island officially opened on January 1, 1892, the first passenger registered through the now world-famous immigration station was a young Irish girl named Annie Moore. Annie departed from Queenstown (County Cork, Ireland) on December 20, 1891 aboard the S.S. Nevada, one of 148 steerage passengers. The trio would spend 12 days at sea (including Christmas Day), arriving in New York on Thursday evening, December 31. They were processed through Ellis Island the following morning, New Year's Day. All three children were soon reunited with their parents who were already living in New York.

Her parents, Matthew and Julia Moore, had come to the United States in 1888 and were living at 32 Monroe Street in Manhattan. She married a son of German Catholic immigrants, Joseph Augustus Schayer (1876-1960), a salesman at Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market, with whom she had at least eleven children. She died of heart failure on December 6, 1924, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens. Her previously unmarked grave was identified in August 2006. On October 11, 2008, a dedication ceremony was held at Calvary which celebrated the unveiling of a marker for her grave, a Celtic Cross made of Irish Blue Limestone.

A woman named "Annie Moore" who died near Fort Worth, Texas in 1924 had long been thought to be the one whose arrival marked the beginning of Ellis Island. Further research, however, established that the Annie Moore in Texas was born in Illinois.

• The Irish American Cultural Institute presents an annual Annie Moore Award "to an individual who has made significant contributions to the Irish and/or Irish American community and legacy."
• Annie Moore's story is told in the song "Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears", written by Brendan Graham. The song has been performed by Tynan and by The Irish Tenors, of which Tynan was formerly a member. Other artists performing the song include Sean Keane, Sean & Dolores Keane, Daniel O'Donnell, Celtic Thunder, Irish tenor Brian Dunphy, Celtic Woman and Tommy Fleming.