Hurley Family Emigrant Letters (Ref. U170)

U170/

‘They whom the gods which to destroy they first make mad’ (Euripides , Greek tragic dramatist 484 BC - 406 BC ), referring to England in her treatment of Ireland. Says ‘The world had gained very little in smashing the German Government, if it permits English atrocities the world over…’. He is glad that the Irish people are pious ‘in these trying times’. Mentions Father Murphy of Virginia City arriving back from Ireland. His conditions of life are ‘very agreeable’. The government has a ‘hard time’ in enforcing the prohibition of alcohol, with ‘A good many violators of the law…’ brought before the Federal Court where he is in attendance and ‘many old and indigenous devices for the manufacture of illicit liqour exhibited’. 2pp 7 August 1921 Letter from Denis Hurley, Carson City, Nevada to ‘Dear Niece’, Mary Hurley, Tawnies, Clonakilty, County Cork. He has returned from a visit to San Francisco, his first in 4 years. Glad to hear his immediate relatives in Ireland have ‘escaped the storm of desolation that has swept the country’. He purposely refrained from writing ‘lest anything I might say result in doing you any injury’. He has subscribed to funds and spoken at meetings to secure the American recognition of the Irish Republic, ‘If the battle was waged against any other government than England, recognition would be had long ago…but the money power of both countries and the press…is trying to misrepresent the real situation…’. Sir James and the Ulster Parliament ‘receive undue prominence’. Mentions ‘one of the grandest sights’ he ever witnessed being ‘KC’s convention’ in San Francisco. Michael is well, but investing his money in ‘hopeless’ stocks in ‘played out mines’. 2pp 2 January 1922 Letter from Denis Hurley, Carson City, Nevada to ‘My Dear Niece’, Mary Hurley, Tawnies, Clonakilty, County Cork. Thanks her for her ‘welcome and interesting letter’ and encloses a £5 New Year’s present. He read the account of the funeral of Monsignor O’Leary in the Cork Weekly Examiner. Notes that his young relatives are ‘branching out in various professions…In my day if one went to Ballydehob or Bantry Fairs, he was regarded as having seen much of the world…’. Hopes peace in Ireland will continue and that the treaty (the Anglo Irish Treaty 1922) will be ratified. 2pp

17 March 1922