The amazing letters between members of an Irish family

From the beginning of our adventure through the history of the Irish Hunger Memorial, the word “PEOPLE” was constantly spinning in my head. We wanted our project to cover everything-from architecture, geography, ethnography and history, to people and their faiths. Being a communication major, the first thing that always captures my attention is the personal element, and in our case, the people-those thousands of immigrants who came hungry and poor in America in search for a job and a chance for survival. I find their stamina fascinating, and that’s why I wanted to introduce them in a credible and realistic way to the class.

I was searching through the Internet and various libraries for a story, a person, or a family that can illustrate the reality of the Irish immigrants in America. After a solid research, I found a wonderful correspondence between the members of the Curtis family, who, separated by migration, had been exchanging letters over a couple of years.

The correspondence starts with a letter from John and Jane to their mother in Ireland about what their life in America looks like. Being written in 1845, it reflects the busy life in the U.S., the difference in mentality of the people there compared to the one of those suffering in Ireland. John and Jane are “living happily and healthily,” while in their homeland their sister Hannah has to sell her furniture just in order to survive. She also writes that people in Ireland are dying like flies, and that “there is no room in the church yard to bury the dead.”

Part of the correspondence is also William Dunne, the uncle of John, Hannah and Jane. He still lives in Ireland, and informs the Curtis family in America about Ireland’s poor condition, struggles and pathetic attempts for survival.

All these letters have an important role in our project. They illustrate the reality in both Ireland and America, as well as the thoughts, actions and needs of the suffering Irish. Usually, letters between family members represent a very intimate type of correspondence that could reveal a lot about their relationship and problems. Even though the letters stop after almost three years of an occasional, but informative correspondence, they perfectly capture key points in the way Irish and Americans used to live, as well as the alienation of the family members resulting from the physical distance between them. Their lives and mentality eventually became different, and they no longer felt as close and attach to each other as before (it could be assumed by the letters). However, thanks to the Curtis family, we are able to have a glimpse in their interesting destiny that became part of history.