Letter from Herbert Pim to Nancy O'Rahilly, 26 May, 1916.

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Herbert Pim to Nancy O'Rahilly, 26 May, 1916.

1 From H. Pim Irish Prisoner (Stafford) c/o Chief Postal Censor, London, May 26th My dear Madam O'Rahilly Turlough
& I were on holiday
in Tyrone when the news
burst upon us. I haden't
the faintest suspicion
of trouble. The whole
business even now
seems like a nightmare
from which we shall
wake to find everything
all right. I heard
on Wednesday 3rd 2 about The O'Rahilly; &
from that moment I
ceased to feel anything.
The tragedy & the deaths
before that had made
me weep & suffer; but
this news provided
so great a shock that
I found myself atrophied. It was a great relief
to be arrested, to
suffer a little personal
inconvenience. Words must be vain
things for you. But if
it comforts you to know
that you have the most
whole hearted sympathy 3
of one who loved The O'Rahilly as
a dear friend, & who respected his
brilliance & fine spirit, you have
that sympathy. Turlough was oh so sorry for
you all. I don't know how to
write this letter, but I want you
to convey my sympathy to your
dear boys. One's little
troubles are a mere detail in
the disaster which has overwhelmed
our people. They took me away
before Turlough returned from school,
so I could not say good-bye; & he is
in a spiritual atmosphere antagonistic
to his Religion. You will pray for
us both, won't you? My life is
quite monastic here; & one has ample
time for one's prayers. We are allowed
papers, books & tobacco; but between
me & vacuity is one fill for a pipe & a volume of The Lives
of the Saints. Yours ever Herbert M Pim

This is a letter from Herbert Moore Pim (1883-1950) to Nancy O'Rahilly (1875-1961). The writer describes receiving news of The O'Rahilly's death as a nightmare - he hopes everything will be all right on waking. He loved O'Rahilly as a dear friend. He and his son want to convey sympathy to 'the boys' (Mrs. O'Rahilly's sons). He himself was taken away while his son was at school and didn't have a chance to say goodbye. He also describes prison life.Nancy O'Rahilly was a member of the Provisional Council of Cumann na mBan aand the wife of Michael Joseph O'Rahilly, self-styled as 'The' O'Rahilly (1875-1916), who was shot in Parnell/Moore Street on 28 April 1916 and died some time later. Nancy was pregnant at the time of her husband's death. Herbert Pim had joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914, published a pamphlet series entitled 'Tracts of our times', including writing by Patrick Pearse, and in early 1916 founded the literary and political monthly, 'The Irishman'. He was arrested after the Easter Rising and was detained in England for three months.

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__0023.html)