Because Martha's father was a mortician, she grew up in a fairly well to do household. While the Dunn family never had a lot of money, they were far better off than some of their neighbors. Martha was a young girl when the Famine hit, and she remembered it all to well. Her father had lots of work, due to the growing number of deaths. The Dunns were able to scrape by during the Famine years.

When Martha was about ten years old, her brother Luke was tragically killed by a runaway cart of coal. Martha had grown very close to her older brother during the difficult Famine years, and she was devastated by his death. Martha became determined to escape the terrible nation of Ireland, even if it was the last thing she would do. It had only brought her pain and loss, and she wanted as little to do with Ireland as possible.

When Martha was sixteen years old, she obtained permission from her parents to emigrate to America. Martha had saved up a little bit of money over the years, and her family contributed what they could to the boarding fee on a boat to New York. Martha left terrible Ireland and her family behind, never to see her parents again.

Martha embarked from Cork, anticipating a pleasant sea voyage. For her, New York harbor was the light at the end of a long tunnel. Unfortunately, the voyage was far from pleasant. Martha only took a little bit of food that her family and friends had given her. This food soon ran out, and Martha was forced to live on the meager ship rations. Martha, being a good Irish Catholic girl, was far too modest to use the exposed toilets on the bow of the ship. Instead, she would often sneak into a corner of the cargo hold to relieve herself. This habit became more and more revolting as the voyage progressed, due to the sheer accumulation of feces and urine. Martha also had to deal with lice infestation. Everything she owned, as well as her own body, was covered with the tiny white bugs. In order to combat the lice, Martha would wash her clothes in saltwater whenever possible.(1)

Somehow, Martha managed to make it through the trying voyage to New York. After a few days' stay in New York, Martha heard about the textile mills in Massachusetts. She was assured that she would find steady work there, and that the pay was pretty good. Martha relocated to Lawrence, Massachusetts where she was hired to work on a power loom. While working in the Lawrence mill, she met immigrants from all over Europe. All of them had come to America for almost the same reasons, and all were doing far better here than they ever had in their native countries. Although Martha was one of the hardest workers in the mill, she was passed over for promotions to better, higher paying jobs. The reason was that Martha was a Catholic, and the mill owners didn't allow Catholics to rise beyond a certain point.(2)

Work in the Lawrence mill was very difficult. Martha frequently had to lift heavy items, and she was constantly breathing in cloth fibers. Thankfully, Martha met a local farmer named Jack Glover. Jack came from a strictly Protestant family, and he worked very hard on his small farm. Martha and Jack soon married, although Martha continued to work in the mills until she had children. After the birth of their first child, Lucia, Jack insisted that Martha stay at home with the children rather than working in the mill. This action probably saved Martha's life.

Despite their long marriage, Jack's family never truly accepted Martha because of her Catholicism. Martha doggedly refused to give up her beliefs, and she continued to go to Mass every Sunday until her death in 1910. When it came to the raising of Martha's children, at first she insisted that they be raised as Catholics. However, Martha soon realized that she was outnumbered by Jack's family, so she relented and her children were raised as Presbyterians. This added to Martha's growing sense of religious alienation from the world around her. Martha never felt accepted by her in laws or society in general. Things grew worse when Martha tried to bring her little brother, Jacob, to the United States. He was also going to work at the mill. However, Jacob died of typhus on the ship. Martha grew quiet and sullen; now she had lost two of her brothers and she began to fear that she would lose her entire family in one way or another. Although Martha had done well for herself in the New World, she sacrificed her happiness in the process.