John McCarthy - Property Question

[David Orsam]

He possibly made his money from organizing illegal prize fight boxing matches (for which he was arrested in March 1882).

[MsWeatherwax]

Good evening all.

I'm on one of my occasional Mary Kelly binges...as ever, I just have a scrambled brain, sore eyes and an annoying sensation that someone has a box of paperwork in their attic that they don't understand.

However, trawling through the threads I've become aware that Mr McCarthy was quite the property developer in his day. I assume that even in the slums he would have needed quite a bit of capital to do this. Do we know where his money came from? Was he from a well-to-do family, or was he 'self-made'? Am I wildly over-estimating how much money you'd need to be a Victorian slum lord?

Any info appreciated, and if I've missed this info along the way. ..My apologies. You lot could write for Britain, though.

Many thanks, ladies and gents.