Digital Archive
George Beresford O'Reilly, New York, to his father, Myles John O'Reilly, 19 November 1851
Luaigh an doiciméad seo Amharcóir IIIF
Bailiúchán O'Reilly Letters
Title George Beresford O'Reilly, New York, to his father, Myles John O'Reilly, 19 November 1851
Description O'Reilly was a young clerk in a firm in NYC; he made about $300 per year, but since he boarded, he was forced to rely on his family for supplementary income. Like other Irish, he seems to have a hard time adjusting to the climate in NYC, and to have suffered from disentary as a result; this must have been a great hardship for those, unlike O'Reilly, who had to do physical labor to stay alive; it must have been very weakening, and would have tended to increase their unhappiness in the US. O'Reilly also wrote that "The climate of New York is very stimulating & I should think not very good, especially to a foreigner who has been accustomed to live in a moist climate, this is the reason why the natives appear so thin & anxious looking added to this nearly all chew & smoke & eat the most indigestable kinds of food." Was able to visit Niagara Falls; was very impressed. [The O'Reillys were landed gentry living at Heath House, county Laois. George Beresford O'Reilly ( b.16 January 1829) married Harrietta, daughter of H. Adams of Sante Fé de Bogota, U.S. Columbia, in 1867. His brother Myles O'Reilly lived at Heath House (as the O'Reilly heir). (Burke, Bernard, Sir. A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland 6th ed. London : Harrison 1879. Vol II. page 1207) According to Myles, his father's income suffered greatly because of the Famine and through an arrangement with creditors and ill health he resided in Italy and France with his two daughters for the latter years of his life while Myles remained in Ireland to manage the estate. Myles John O'Reilly's address is given in George's letter to his sister of 19 October 1852].
Date 19/11/1851
Date Issued 27/03/2023
Cineál Acmhainne Text
Archival Record Id p155/63/21
Publisher University of Galway
Extent 2pp
Topic O'Reilly Letters
Geographic New York City,New York (state),United States,Abbeville,Arrondissement of Abbeville,Somme (department),Hauts-de-France (region),France
Temporal Nineteenth century,Eighteen fifties
Genre Transcript
Note Title by University of Galway. Description and transcript by Professor Kerby Miller.
Creator / Author Name George Beresford O'Reilly