| Title: | 27. From James Prendergast to his children in Boston |
|---|---|
| ID | 5672 |
| Collection | The Prendergast Letters. Correspondence from Famine-era Ireland (1840-50) [S. Barber] |
| File | prendergast/27 |
| Year | 1846 |
| Sender | Prendergast, James |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | farmer |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Milltown, Co. Kerry, Ireland |
| Destination | Boston, Mass., USA |
| Recipient | Prendergast children |
| Recipient Gender | male-female |
| Relationship | father-children |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 516 |
| Genre | family, economy, politics |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Mr Cors Riordan N° 16 Pearlplace Boston Massachusetts N. America Paid Milltown 11th August 1846 My dear Children I received your Letter of the 16th of July on the 2nd of this Month. I presented the check at the National Bank Tralee last week. The Manager Mr Quill said that it was payable in Cork However he paid me the compliment of advancing me the amount as he usually does and transmitted the check on his own ace1 to Cork, He charged me nothing for his trouble. He refused even the postage of the Letter which I offered to pay. My dear Children nothing can give ^us^ greater pleasure than to hear that ye are well and enjoying good health. May God continue his favours to you all. My dear Children your Mother and I are in much better health now than ^when^ we wrote last. I may say, thank God, that we are now perfectly recovered from our illness. Your Brothers and their respective families are well and so are all your friends. Your Cousin Francis Hurly (Jerry's son) is to take holy orders this week. On Saturday next he comes to the Altar (for the first time) a priest. Sometime since he intended going to america and received an Exeat for a foreign mission. But since that time he was countermanded and is now kept on the home mission to the great joy of his parents and friends. He is a very fine man and it is expected will be a good priest. The state of the Country is not as distressing as was dreaded in the beginning of this year, but that was owing to the supplies of foreign provisions brought into the Country and to the public works carried on to give the poor em =ployment. Relief committees were formed in every locality and the Board of Works empowered them to repair byroads and carry on different other works of public utility, to employ the labouring classes young and old, and to give them food for their labour. These arrangements were well observed, and real distress was scarcely known here, thank God. Even the markets were kept down to reasonable prices for such as did not labour. But unless some such measures be taken to provide against next years greater fears are entertained for the coming than the present season. The Potatoe crop is much worse than the last. The disease that was not perceived until September, and even December in other places last year is now complained of throughout the Country. It is felt more severely as we have not the fourth part of last years produc even diseased. We expect good measures from the British parliament this year but we mus wait to know the issue. Our Irish members stood their post well and were not unsuccessful. My dear Children I will say no more than that your Mother joins with me to send you our blessing and so do your Brothers and that I remain affectionately your Father James Prendergast |
