Margaret McCarthy (– death date unknown) was an Irish migrant to the United States.
On September 22, 1850, she wrote a letter to her family, as a guide for other emigrants.[1] [2] She explained that once in the United States, moving west was very expensive, though she did not know that those who did go rarely had an improved standard of living.[3]
Her letter is typical of that of many immigrants, containing optimism about her own condition, and concern for the family and people she left behind.[4]
She was born to Alexander "Sandy" McCarthy, a carpenter for the Crown Estate who lived in Boherboy, Ireland, and his wife, Neil.[1]
McCarthy travelled from Kingwilliamstown in County Cork to Nohavaldaly, near Kanturk, during the Great Famine.[5] She left from Liverpool, England, on September 7, 1849, on the Columbus, and arrived in New York City, United States, on October 22 of that year.[6]