Mary Cafferky to Patrick O'Donnell
“It is six weeks and two days since the night of the wake, and I have counted every one of them.”
Written for her by Father Mullan.
The first letters · Mailing one, 1847
Two letters crossed in the Atlantic.
Mary wrote from Ballycastle not knowing if Patrick had survived the crossing. Patrick wrote from Boston before her letter reached him.
Read the opening exchange in full.
- Both letters
- The history behind them
- No cost, no obligation
Mailing one
Read their opening lines.
Mary Cafferky to Patrick O'Donnell
Patrick O'Donnell to Mary Cafferky
“I am landed and I am living and I am in work.”
Written before Mary's letter reached Boston.
Read them your way.
The world around them
Every pressure was real.
The family is fictional. The records and places surrounding the correspondence are not.
Black '47
Famine and disease devastate rural Ireland.
Ballina workhouse
Relief arrived with rules that cost people dearly.
Boston harbour
A city fed by labour and opportunity.
Broad Street wharves
Crowded piers and long days of uncertain work.
Made to be held
This is what the story feels like in your hands.
- Two separate letters
- Posted from Ireland
- Made to be read slowly
- Yours to keep
The opening is free
The rest arrives by post.
The promise at the gable is only the beginning. What becomes of Patrick and Mary stays sealed inside the later letters.
Begin with the two that crossed.
Read the opening exchange first. Decide from the writing itself.