Letter from M. L. Waller, Home Office, to the Commandant, Prisoner of War Camp, Frongach, 9 October 1916
he has had under his consideration the case of the
prisoners now under punishment for refusing to perform
fatigue duty ordered by you (removal of rubbish from the
guard's quarters), and it appears to him that they have
now been sufficiently punished for this offence. He has
therefore decided to remit the remainder of the punishment
and also for the future to relieve them from this
particular duty, which he understands from you can be
properly performed by the guard. In announcing this decision to the prisoners, the
Secretary of State desires that you should make it clear
that in his opinion you were right in requiring them to
perform this duty and right in punishing those who
refused, but, the matter being a trifling one, he does not
desire to carry the punishment further. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, (sgd) M. L. Walker The Commandant, Prisoner of War Camp, Frongoch.
This is a letter from M.L. Waller of the Home Office in Whitehall, London, to the commandant of Frongach internment camp in Wales. After the Easter Rising over 3,400 men and women were arrested and interned in prisons and camps in Ireland, England and Wales. The majority were released after a short imprisonment and eventually most of the men who remained imprisoned were transferred to Frongach in north Wales. By October 1916 there were still over 500 men interned there. This letter refers to the case of a number of prisoners who were punished for refusing to perform 'fatigue duty'. Walker asks that the remainder of the punishment be remitted and that the men are no longer asked to perform those duties. This letter is contained in the collection of papers relating to the Cowan family of Drumcondra and their uncle, Seamus McGowan who was a captain in the Irish Citizen Army and was one of the men imprisoned in Frongach after the Rising.
How to cite
Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__0005.html)
- Place
- Home Office, Whitehall, London, England
- Mentioned in
- Letter from M. L. Waller, Home Office, to the Commandant, Prisoner of War Camp, Frongach, 9 October 1916
- Letter from John Pedder to the Under-Secretary, 2 August 1916
- Letter from John Pedder to Matthew Nathan, the Under-Secretary for Ireland, 6 April 1916
- Letter from John Pedder to the Under Secretary of Ireland, 27 March, 1916
- Letter from Arthur Eagleston to the Under Secretary of Ireland, 13 July 1916
- Letter from Arthur Eagleston to the Under Secretary of Ireland, 4 July 1916
- Letter from S. A. Arthur to Sir Robert Chalmers, the Under-Secretary for Ireland, 13 July 1916
- Letter from Edward Troup to the Under Secretary of the State for India, 19 July 1916
- Letter from Arthur John Eagleston to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 7 January 1916
- Letter from Andrew Philip Magill to sir George Chrystal, 15 April 1916
- Letter from E. Blackwell to Gertrude Bannister, 2 August 1916
- Letter from J. F. Henderson to Matthew Nathan, 28 April 1916
- Letter from M.L. Waller to Sir Robert Chalmers, 5 July 1916
- Letter from John Peddar to Matthew Nathan, 22 January 1916
- Letter from M.L. Waller to Robert Chalmers, 10 July 1916
- Letter from A.B. Adams to Robert Chalmers, 19 July 1916
- Letter from George Chrystal to Andrew Philip Magill, 14 April 1916
- Letter from J.H. Morgan to Herbert Samuel, 4 August 1916
- Letter from Arthur John Eagleston to the Under-Secretary, Dublin Castle, 4 April 1916
- Letter from Arthur Eagleston to the Under Secretary for Ireland, 8 June 1916
- Place
- Frongach Internment Camp, Wales
- Mentioned in
- Letter from M. L. Waller, Home Office, to the Commandant, Prisoner of War Camp, Frongach, 9 October 1916
- Letter from Michael Collins to Nancy O'Brien, 27 July 1916