Series 5 - Hurley brothers letters

3 sub-series

The original manuscripts of the Hurley family letters are held in the Hurley Family Emigrant Letters, Cork City and County Archives (reference number U170) and are accessed through them. Copies of the Hurley letters were provided to Kerby A. Miller by Cork archivist Ann Barry in February 1975, from which Miller created transcripts for his doctoral dissertation. Publication of these letters is provided through the courtesy of Cork City and County Archives (per letter of 17 May 1991). Hurley family descendant John Fox provided Miller with extensive family information and an additional letter (P155/40/5/1/129) via letter of 1 January 1996.

Materials pertaining to a set of 124 letters written between 1871 and 1938 by brothers Michael Hurley (1845–1926) and Denis Hurley (1849–1938), who emigrated from Clonakilty, County Cork, to the western United States in the 1870s, plus 5 additional letters written to the Hurley family between 1900 and 1939. Denis wrote the vast majority of the letters. The letters were initially sent home to their parents in Tawnies, Clonakilty, later to siblings, and eventually to nieces in Clonakilty and Timoleague, County Cork. The letters document: western American emigrant life; railroad and mining work; the 1906 San Francisco earthquake (which Michael survived); Denis's career as a Carson City, Nevada commissioner and mayor; economic hardships; and commentary on U.S., European, and Irish politics (including Home Rule and Independence). In addition to the letters, the series contains extensive research compiled and/or provided to by Kerby A. Miller regarding Denis Hurley, and Miller's related correspondence with archival insititutions and fellow Hurley researchers.