Sean was torn apart by his mother's death during the famine and knew he needed to do what he could to help his father and brother raise money so they could continue to live. Sean first searched for work in Ireland and even traveled around the island for a year trying to secure a job. But the famine was just too much, and there was little work that could be found. The thought of living and working in a workhouse was too terrible to Sean and he knew his only option was to immigrate to another country. As with many Irish at that time, the thought of leaving the homeland was almost unbearable. Sean was a true Irishman at heart, but he was also very devoted to his family. Sean wanted to go to the United States but knew that if he wanted to be sure of getting work he needed to go somewhere else to avoid the poor working conditions and overcrowding of cities like New York and Boston. Disgusted by the British rule over Ireland, Sean was less than thrilled about moving to England. Instead, Sean settled on Canada, even though he knew that Canada was under British rule. After a long and tearful goodbye to his family, Sean boarded his ship to Canada. During the long journey, Sean became sick with what was called "Ship Fever", a type of typhus. Because of this, once the ship reached St. Lawrence, Sean was put into a quarantined medical center on Grosse Island to be treated for his illness. After being released, Sean made his way to Montreal, where he jumped from job to job. While working, Sean stayed at a boarding house run by Heather Stephens, a local business woman. Sean and Heather soon fell in love and married. Soon after wedding, Sean secured a job working on a timber crew in Northern Canada. Sean had a scare when he caught a severe cold one winter and was unable to work for two months. Despite his hardships and being away from Heather for long periods of time, they were able to have children of their own. The first child was a boy named Robert, their second child was stillborn, but their last three children, Helen, Heather, and Harold, all lived. After his children were grown, Sean decided to leave the timber industry only to be crushed to death by a falling tree during his last year on the crew. Heather, devastated by Sean's death, decided to move back to her husband's native Ireland because she had always been fascinated by stories Sean had told her during their marriage about Ireland. She stayed with her son, Harold, near his small church in Dublin, where he provided for his mother until her death from old age.