Portion a letter written by Pharaig Cúndún to Tomás O Briain of Méin
Choitcheann in the parish of Balle Macóda, Co. Cork, dated May 27, 1848.
Pádraig Cundún, i Machaire an Fhiaidh, taobh le cathair Utica, i Stat
New York, san Mír Iarthar, tré sheachrán na, beathadh boichte seo, do chum
Tomás O Briain, i Móin Choitcheann, i bparóiste Bhaile Mhacóda, i
gConndae Chrocaighe, in Eirinn, an seachtmhadh lá fichead de Bhealtaine, 1848.
A chomhdhalta ghrádhmhair:
Is mian liom an beagán línte seo do scríobhadh it dhail, dá fhiosrughadh
cionnus mar até tú féin is do chuid 50 buile. Tá mo mhuinghin iomlán i
nDia go bhfuil sibh uile i slainte mhaith: tá mo mhuinntirse uile mar sin,
buidheachas nor do Dhia.
Guidhim tú scéala do chur chugham cionnas mar atá na barraí in Eirinn
i mbliana. Is clos dam gur dealbh, casbhathach tearcbheathach, dichairdeach
or. (10 lines illegible)
don bhaile margaidh so atá againn-na, .i.
Utica. Tr_1 ceathramhna dalaeir an buiséal atá ortha ann, acht taid siad níos
saoire 'na san isteach i gerioslach na tire, abhfad 6 bhailtíbh móra. Buiséal
coirce annso, leath-dhalaeir atá air. Céad den mhin bhuidhe, dhá dhalaeir.
Céad pluir, tri dhalaeir is ceathramha. Céad muidfheól cheithre dhalaeir
go leith. Céad ime, ocht ndalaeir déag. Tá gach earradh dhíobh so uile níos
saoire 'na san insna Stait Siar, agus mórán níos daoire i New York agus i
gcathrachaibh móra eile.
Pádraig Cúndún, in Deerfield Hills, near the city of Utica, in the state
of New York, in the western part, astray in this poor life, to
Tomás 0 Briain, in Móin Choitcheann, in the parish of Baile Macóda, in
County Cork, in Ireland, the twenty-seventh day of May, 1848.
Beloved friend:
I want to write these few lines to you to enquire how you and yours all
are. My whole trust is in God that you are all in good health, as is my whole
family, thanks be to God.
I implore you to send me news of the crops in Ireland this year. I hear
that they are wretched, deficient, scanty, and miserable
to the market town
we have, viz. Utica. They (sci. potatoes?) cost 75c a bushel, but they are
cheaper than that in the interior of the country, far away from the cities.
A bushel of oats costs 50c here. A hundredweight of yellow meal costs $2, a
hundredweight of flour $3.25, a hundredweight of pork $4.50 a hundredweight
of butter $18. All of these goods are cheaper than that in the western states
and much more expensive in New York and other big cities.
