Letter from Fr Michael O'Flanagan to Alice Stopford Green, 30 July 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Fr Michael O'Flanagan to Alice Stopford Green, 30 July 1916

1 Crosna , Boyle, July 30th 1916 . My dear Mrs Green, I enclose testimonial
signed by the people of this
half parish. I never saw
the people so unanimous
before. We have two old
factions here, as they have
I suppose in most places.
The leaders of the two factions
never cooperated in anything
before, but this time they vied
with each other in procuring signatures. Some of us do not like
the quasi apology for the
execution of the Irish
Volunteer Leaders, insinuated 2 in the fourth paragraph
but we are willing to
waive that point for the
purpose of doing our part
for Roger Casement. The men
who were executed in Dublin
are to us martyrs & heroes,
& the Government that
ordered their execution
are guilty of a great crime.
We know that Roger Casement
would gladly join the glorious
band of those who have given
their lives for Ireland. But not all of us hold these
views. One thing we are
all agreed upon, & that is
the desire that Roger Casement
should not be executed. Yours faithfully
M.O'Flanagan C.C.

This letter was written by Michael O'Flanagan (b. 1883), a Catholic priest in the Boyle parish in Co. Roscommon. The letter was addressed to Alice Stopford Green (1847-1929). Alice Stopford Green was the wife of historian John Richard Green (1837-1883). Stopford Green was a nationalist, involved in the Howth gun-running and a historian in her own right. She was shocked by the 1916 rising and horrified that Casement had been plotting to obtain German assistance. Nonetheless, she visited Casement in prison and lobbied hard to prevent his execution. In the letter O'Flanagan remarks that he is enclosing testimonials signed by the people of his half parish. O'Flanagan notes how unifying Casement's reprieve campaign is and that the people have never co-operated so much before. O'Flanagan mentions that himself and other were not satisfied with the 'quasi apology' issued by the British government for the execution of the Irish Volunteers, men who he believes were martyrs and heroes.

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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__0319.html)