Your Fondest Annie: Letters from Annie O'Donnell to James P. Phelan 1901-1904

by Annie O'Donnell

Annie O'Donnell left her native Galway for America in 1898, one of 15,175 Irish women who left that year; they far outnumbered the men, and most of them went into domestic service. She became friends with Jim Phelan on the ship to Philadelphia. He was a 22-year-old farmer from Co. Kilkenny who had run away from home during Sunday mass to join his uncle, a tilesetter in Indianapolis. Annie went to work as a children's nurse for the W. L. Mellon family of Pittsburgh. Her letters to Jim Phelan, published here for the first time, are a unique contribution to the growing literature on women's emigration: they provide a sustained three-year narrative of her life as a children's nurse. Annie O'Donnell had been well educated in Ireland and her letters are lively and enjoyable to read. Maureen Murphy has provided an introduction and notes to the letters.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1904558372
• ISBN13: 9781904558378
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: University College Dublin Press
• Length: 154 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.0" x 7.4"