1 24 Grattan St . April 27. 1916. My dear Donald, I suppose you are all wondering
what has become of us & only hope you have not
all been in a fright about us. Well we are in
the thick of it I may say but are hoping things
may be all right in a day or two. On Monday
Aunt K. & I were having a good holiday clean
up when we were told the Sinn Feiners had taken
possession of all the Railways had seized the
G.P.O. St. Stephen's Green, Jacob's factory, & several
other places including Bolands bread factory
quite close to us across the street from Sir P. Dunne's
all through the day we heard odd shooting &
of course there were great crowds up & down.
Aunt K. went out for a walk in the aft. with
Aunt J & coming home down Northumberland
Rd she saw 3 Ambulances & plenty of evidence
of people wounded. The S.F. had taken a corner
house & fired on several people. all that eve
no policemen or soldiers to be seen near this.
Mr B. came down on Tuesday & also Mr. Steele
each had plenty of news, also Aunt K. met 2 Ms. Murray as she was coming from the Aunts she
had called up to see if they were nervous about us
& found they were not at all as they knew nothing
Ms M. had been all over the place & told her Trinity
was held by O.T.C. till relieved by military. I went
out for a short walk Tuesday aft. with Mrs. Green
we three are all alone here except that Aunt J.
comes over each night. I was able to buy 1/2 lb butter
but most of the shops were shut & barred to
prevent looting which we heard had started
in Sackville St. We had a pretty quiet night
on Wed. seemed quiet enough at the start, but
at 12:30 yesterday morning the real noise commenced
near here, the S.F.s had St. Stephens Schools walls a large
house this side of Canal. Daddy will know which if
you tell him it was the corner one where Mrs Cooper
of Sandymount started a boarding house after her
husband died. Well the military had guns on
Baggot St. bridge & thundered on from 12.30
until 8.30 when we heard great cheers & shouts
afterwards found that the corner house had been
set on fire it blazed away for a long time & we hear
they got 30 prisoners there. Today they started the
guns again about 12.30 but they have not gone
on so continuously though plenty of smaller
shots are heard from all directions. Mrs. Brid
did not get down at all we suppose no one is allowed 3 to pass in. The military are in Mount St. & we hear
have taken this Street. The others have a corner house
opposite Boy's Home. The boys have been most of
the time in the gardens Mrs Irwin says it is the
only place where she can keep them quiet. We
hear today that the soldiers from Beggars Bush are
knocking down houses between them and Bolands
so as to be able to shell it next. Yesterday morning
a shell from a munition opposite Custom House
knocked Liberty Hall to the ground. On the
whole as you may imagine our holiday is not
all that we would wish. No post either in or out
no trams no trains & today no breadman & I have
a nasty cold. We don't know what Dona is doing but
expect John W. knows something of what is going on
& will keep her there. I didn't think they could cross
Dublin very easily we have only seen a glimpse
of Tuesdays & Wednesdays I. Times & there is no news
of course only Royal Proclamation, telling everyone
to stay indoors as much as possible. We are very
thankful that Miss Staples went to Sandycove last
week & Miss A. to England. They must be very
uneasy without any letters. I had a cake to send
you when we got address but it is half eaten now.
I hope you are quite well again April 29. I was too sick yesterday with my cold to
go on with this but feel a bit better today. 4 Aunt K. spent Tuesday aft. with Aunt Jo & had
to make a great rush to get back here at all.
She tried to come by herself at 5 o'clock but the soldiers
were preparing to fire in the Street & would not
let her cross, then she & Aunt J. got ready their tea
& had only just started when the soldiers came in
to the house to search for S.F.s it seems they had
taken some empty houses & the soldiers were
trying to find out exactly where they were.
Aunt K. asked the soldier in their room could she
get over to Grattan St. & he said yes if she went
at once so they both took up what they could
carry in the way of eatables & none of us have
been out since. Last night the firing over our
heads & down the Street was terrific we hardly
slept at all. we get little or no news. Mrs Irwin
& her boys stay in their garden a good bit & she
sometimes hears a bit of what is going on. Her
top rooms are cannot be used as the bullets
are flying through. What we are having great
cooking of soda bread as we have had no bread
since Wednesday. Mrs Irwin got some tinned milk
& gains & flour from a small shop in G. Canal St.
The owner had closed up for fear of looting but was
glad enough to sell to her. The big guns are not
firing so much today but the rifles are going like
mad every now & then, there is a barricade 5
across the top of street & we hear the soldiers
are gradually getting possession of all the city
there were 60 soldiers wounded in P. Dunnes on
Thursday & to judge by the cries a lot of people in
the streets have been shot. We also hear that
the ladies in Merrion Sqre are nursing the
wounded soldiers as the Hospitals are so full.
Bolands factory is still in S.F. hands. Sunday April 30. Last night we were all so tired out
that we slept pretty well, except Mrs. Green, but
the firing wasmust have been very bad. One
bullet came into the bathroom, broke the blind
stick & made it fly up then across to the door & seems
to be embedded in the wall. No one attempted
to cross the street this morning to go the Mass. The
soldiers kept all indoors & the shooting was
very bad. However at 1.30 a man S.F. was seen
walking from up the street bareheaded carrying
a white flag & before many minutes were
gone the whole street was filled. We all
rushed out & shortly after about 80 S.F.s
marched round the corner by Boys' Home
& were halted in front of Office, the man
with the white flag met them & they all laid
down their arms & marched to one side of
street the farthest from us & held up their hands,
a few soldiers came down with 6
bayonets fixed etc. & marched them
all up towards Slpis then other soldiers
came down & all arms & kit were examined
& carried off. We hear the G.P.O. & north
side of city surrendered yesterday &
the rumour goes that the R.C. Archbishop
& a priest went to Bolands & other centres
& gave them a message from the Authorities
to the effect that if they did not surrender
the city would be blown up at once by
warships in the River. Things are much
quieter tonight but shooting still goes on
we hear it is a distillery behind Bolands
that some are still holding. Priests & doctors in white coats & red cross are up & down
with the Ambulance motors. One of our neighbours
of the Terrace down side of house gave us a loaf
this morning & Mrs.Irwin gave us each a thick slice
of hot ham for dinner. We were going to have ½ a
goose egg each Aunt K. & I but the ham was a
greater treat as we have had nothing but eggs
one since Tuesday. I don't think we will be anxious
on soda bread again in a hurry. & are hoping to
see our bread & milk men in the morning.
Poor Aunts we don't know how they are feeling
not hearing a word from us & we are afraid to
go out yet for fear we might be kept out. Aunt 7
K is writing to Gleneely and we are wondering
if you will all wade through our letters
it is hard not to repeat ourselves. We hear
Sackville St is in ruins and a good many of the
people who lost their lives were shot while
looting the shops & stores. Leeson St and Baggot St
have not suffered, but, St Stevens green is like
a wilderness & trenches dug all over it. We
are looking forward to seeing Mr Baird in the
morning. I am sure he is in a very anxious
state about us all. Townsend St Has suffered
a good deal but the soldiers took possession of
it almost from the beginning. We are very
thankful to think the worst is over. Monday May 1st. Last night was almost the worst
we had. Though i am glad to say I slept through
it all. Mrs Green says it was dreadful. We
made up the last flour & eat our last potato at
dinner & were proposing to have porridge for
tomorrow, when all stopped suddenly. Mrs Lu
saw a group of men marching from Hollies St. headed
by a white flag and almost at once the street
became alive with people. About 2 o'c Celeste
Ledony came down the street in Red Cross cap etc.
She is helping in Merrion Square to nurse the wounded
& she came to see if we were alive. She only stayed at
the gate a couple of minutes & came back then 8
less than 1/2 hour with some cold mutton
6 eggs & 6 scones which she had got for us from
Mrs Finney the Doctor's wife, we were glad
to get the things & since then the soldiers
dragged down a bread cart & sold the bread
for 3 a loaf, so we were able to get one. We
hear there are snipers all over the city
& the streets have now been cleared & we
have been told no lights are to be seen after
7.30. So we are preparing to go to bed in the
dark, & get up to breakfast about 6. We
are going to try the daylight saving bill!!!
I hope we will soon get word of the Aunts,
No one as far as we can hear can get in or
out of town except the Red Cross people,
but we think Rathmines is quiet beyond
Portobello & Ranelagh was all right on
Tuesday. Wed. May 3. I walked up to the Aunts new house
yesterday they are most uncomfortable only
1/2 moved as the vans did not come to finish,
them & also they had been very short of
food in Rathmines they were glad to hear we were
all right. Today I walked down town to see the
ruins, it is dreadful but already people are
trying to start work again. I called to see how
Uncle James was he has been ill for the past 9
2 weeks he is better now & the sisters say will
soon be alright. I saw both him & Aunt Maggie
& Dora. They are having a bad time with snipers
there have several bullets through their
windows. Things seem very quiet tonight & today
the trains were running from Balls Bridge to
Kingstown. Our breadman came this morning but
our milkman did not. Aunt K got a bit of
meat for tomorrow. No posts have come yet
but we posted a p.c. to Daddy yesterday & papers today
& tomorrow I hope to post this, With love to you
all. Your loving Aunt Sarah