Frongoch prisoner's letter

This material is held atNational Library of Wales / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru

  • Reference
    • GB 210 NLW MS 24044D, ff. 34-36.
  • Alternative Id.
      (alternative) 99751516502419
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1916, [?20 cent., second ¼]
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • English English.
  • Physical Description
    • 3 ff.
  • Location
    • ARCH/MSS (GB0210)

Scope and Content

A letter, 30 August 1916, in pencil, from the Irish nationalist [Seán] Hales of Bandon, County Cork, then a prisoner at Frongoch Internment Camp, Merioneth, to his friend [William] McDonnell, Bandon, in which he describes life during his incarceration and pays tribute to McDonnell's wife, [Kathleen], for her support (f. 34). The letter was apparently smuggled out of the camp by a visitor.
Also included is a typescript transcript of the letter, [?20 cent., second ¼], apparently supplying the fragments of text now lost in the original (ff. 35-36). Hales was later a member of the Dáil Éireann but was assassinated on 7 December 1922.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically at NLW.

Acquisition Information

De Búrca Rare Books; Blackrock, County Dublin; Purchase; May 2017; 99751516502419.

Note

Title based on contents.

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

Torn, and repaired at NLW with some loss of text.

Custodial History

Letter previously mounted on card, inscribed 'Sean Hales - Frongoch Camp. 1916' and '[p.] 58'. Bought by Eamonn de Burca at an auction in Cork, together with other papers relating to the Keyes McDonnell family.

Bibliography

Liz Gillis, The Hales Brothers and the Irish Revolution (Cork, 2016), pp. 44-45.

Additional Information

Published