Margaret McCarthy ( – death date unknown) was an Irish migrant to the United States. On September 22, 1850, she wrote a letter to her family, as a guide for other

emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

. She explained that once in the United States, moving west was very expensive, though she did not know that those who did go rarely had an improved standard of living. Her letter is typical of that of many immigrants, containing optimism about her own condition, and concern for the family and people she left behind.

Biography

She was born to Alexander "Sandy" McCarthy, a carpenter for the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

who lived in Boherboy, Ireland, and his wife, Neil. McCarthy travelled from Kingwilliamstown in

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

to Nohavaldaly, near

Kanturk Kanturk () is a town in the north west of County Cork, Ireland. It is situated at the confluence of the Allua (Allow) and Dallow (Dalua) rivers, which stream further on as tributaries to the River Blackwater. It is about from Cork and Limeric ...

, during the Great Famine. She left from

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, c ...

, on September 7, 1849, on the ''Columbus'', and arrived in

New York City, United States New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive wit ...

, on October 22 of that year.

References

{{Reflist Letters (message) 1850 documents English-language works Works by Irish people Works about immigration to the United States