Meeting Isaac Sandler

One of my poems in Jewtown is called, Meeting Isaac Sandler, but who was he? According to the 1901 census, there were 2 Isaac Sandlers in Ireland, both living in Cork. One lived in the Hibernian Buildings and the other lived around the corner in Elizabeth Terrace. The one I refer to in the poem is the former of these two Isaacs and he was the man who according to my records went to the harbour to meet Jewish immigrants from Lithuania.

The census records for 1901 say that Isaac was a 45 year old pedlar from Russia. Unlike many of the first generation of Jewish immigrants to Ireland, Isaac and his wife could read and write in English. By 1911, there was no sign of this Isaac Sandler on the census records.

As for the other Isaac Sandler, the 1901 census claimed him to be a 19-year old scholar living in Jewtown. By 1911, the family appear to have moved out to Blackrock but he doesn’t seem to have aged in the ten years as quickly as one might deduce mathematically. He is down as being aged 24. He has also left school and is now a draper, like his father. I assume the number 9 and number 4 look very similar on the handwritten census record and it’s likely that in 1901, Isaac was actually 14 years old. There weren’t too many 19-year old full-time students back in those days – especially if they were to become drapers.

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