Digital Archive
Ann [Martin] McNally [i.e., Mrs. Thomas McNally?], Mullanarry townland, Magheross parish, near Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, to her sister, [ ? nee Martin], upstate New York, no date
Luaigh an doiciméad seo Amharcóir IIIF
Bailiúchán Gaffney-McNally Letters
Title Ann [Martin] McNally [i.e., Mrs. Thomas McNally?], Mullanarry townland, Magheross parish, near Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, to her sister, [ ? nee Martin], upstate New York, no date
Description According to family information, this letter's recipient (surname Martin) emigrated in the 1870s, and her sister, Ann McNally, wrote this letter to her when she (McNally) was late-middle-aged or elderly, probably c.1910. Although the descendants of the Gaffney and McNally families married in the United States, and although Ann McNally's letter was written some six decades later than Molly Gaffney's, the contrast between the two women's literacy levels and, hence, their educational and (probably) socioeconomic backgrounds was profound. McNally's letter contains little information of general interest (except perhaps for a student of north Monaghan dialect), although it provides a poignant illustration of the difficulty and infrequency of transatlantic communication, even in the early 20th century, when one or both correspondents were semi-literate.
Date Issued 27/03/2023
Cineál Acmhainne Text
Archival Record Id p155/6/2
Publisher University of Galway
Extent 6pp
Topic Gaffney-McNally Letters
Geographic Mullanarry (townland),Monaghan (county),Ireland,Upstate New York,New York (state),United States
Temporal Twentieth century,Nineteen tens
Genre Transcript,Reproduction
Note Title, description and transcript text by Professor Kerby Miller.
Creator / Author Name Ann McNally