Letter written by Fr. John McCarthy, (b.1875)Leadville, Colorado, U.S.A. on 2nd May 1916 to Mrs. Sarah Kelly (1857-1920) (addressed 'Mrs. P.J. Kelly' as Sarah was widow of Peter J. Kelly), The Octagon, Westport, Co. Mayo. The writer enclosed a 'draught for £20 on account', part-payment of a debt owed to Mrs. Kelly for goods supplied him. M Fr. McCarthy asks after 'Miss Mary' in the letter; she was Mary McEvilly, an aunt who lived with Mrs. Kelly & family.His worries about sending 'money across the seas these times' most likely relate to transatlantic travel upsets caused by the World War, although McCarthy may also have been unsure about postal services within Ireland following the Easter Rising. Mrs. Kelly was running the business which had been founded by her late husband: wholesale & retail grocery, spirit importation, bonding & wholesaling, etc. Fr. McCarthy had been a customer in Kelly's since at least 1902 (according to the business records) and had been a curate in Westport and later Aughagower; he went to America in c.1908. In Kelly's business records, his cheque is recorded as having been received 'from America' on 25th May 1916, so the letter may have taken over 3 weeks to arrive in Westport, perhaps because it had been opened by the censor (see envelope). His debt was cleared in 1943, almost 40 years after it had been amassed.