Series 11 - Robert E. O'Neill-Mary Cleer letters

152pp

The transcripts were excerpted from Robert Eugene O'Neill and Laurence C. O'Neil (1964), "Letters from Robert Eugene O'Neill", The Past 7, pp. 95-118. These transcripts were created by Rev. Joseph Ranson, editor of the journal. Permission to publish the letters was given to Kerby A. Miller by Fr. James Hammel of Carnew, Co. Wicklow (nephew of Rev. Joseph Ranson) and John R. Bennett of Enniscorthy (descendant of John Bennett II who had provided Ranson permission to publish the letters in The Past) per their letters of 26 January and 25 February 1990, respectively.

The O'Neill-Cleer letters are a set of ten letters, nine of which were written by Robert E. O'Neill from Indiana, Illinois and New York to his mother (maiden name Mary Cleer) and stepfather William Bennett in Enniscorthy, County Wexford between 1861 and 1874. Also included is a letter from William Bennett's niece in upstate New York, also named Mary Cleer.
The series includes: Rev. Joseph Ranson’s 1947 transcripts of the letters; biographical notes, census data, and land valuation data pertaining to the family; correspondence between Kerby A. Miller and members of the Bennett family; and reproductions of the letters provided by Rev. Ranson’s nephew Father James Hammel.