1 stamped on the right hand corner in red BUREAU OF MILITARY HISTORY 1913-21.
BURO MILEATA 1913-21
No. C.C. 45/4/17 31st July 1916. Measrs Corrigan & Corrigan 3 ST. Andrew Street, Dublin. Dear Sirs:- The Irish Prisoners:- I have carefully considered with Mr McDonnell your
suggestion that we should reduce our proposed charge of 3/4d per
head to cover the costs and expenses herein, for we are both anxious
to meet you in every possible way. When you and Mr Byrne first instructed me, I did not
realize that the Nation Aid Committee was instructing you and
I feel considerably embarrassed now, because it is repugnant to take
money from that source in competition with the destitute. Had I not been so deeply engaged in Roger Casement's case
as to have had to refuse all new work & devote practically every
moment of my time to him (as you will readily understand, I felt
bound to do), I should have felt it a pleasure and a duty to take
up the cases of the Irish Prisoners myself with to without any
promise of reward. But as it was quite impossible for me to look
after them, I delegated to Mr MacDonnell the bulk of the work. He
is literally the only solicitor in London to whom I should have
cared to confide this business and my confidence in him is not
misplaced for, not only has he given up the past month almost
exclusively to the Irish Prisoners at the expense of very long hours,
as you know, but he has done the work and advised the prisoners with
really remarkable skill. It is due to Mr McDonnell that your
Committee should know that I have satisfied myself of this fact. His
labours have necessarily been a very great strain upon him, but I 2 Messrs Corrigan & Corrigan.(2)31/7/16
need not dwell on this because you are yourselves in a position, from
your own observations, to give the Committee full information on that
score. All the Irish Prisoners in this country (some 1,800, I think)
have now been dealt with and we are now met with the unpleasant dilemma
of our fees on the one hand, and Irish distress on the other. The
original fees ask/ed for were by no means excessive - in fact quite the
contrary, but we cannot hold our for them in the special circumstances
and, after consultation with Mr McDonnell, I have decided to ask your
Committee for a sum of 200 guineas in settlement, of which about £20
represents disbursements out of pocket. This will cover all the work
we have done, including the Nunans' case. I only wish I had been in a position to tell the Committee
that I should make no claim at all; nothing would have given no greater
pleasure. As to the Nunans' case, I have taken the advice of Senior
and Junior Counsel and have reluctantly come to the conclusion that
there is no prospect of doing anything for them by way of habeus
corpus. As to Collins & Stack, I am in communication with Dr. O'Connell
of Tralee who is specially concerned for them. As to the prisoners in England generally, you will receive
by this mail a list of those who have been released from Mr McDonnell
and a further list will follow. I am very anxious to apply for habeus
corpus in the case of any of those unreleased prisoners where we have
a prospect of success, but, on the other hand, I really do not think
that there is anything to be gained from there present temper of public
opinion in England by making applications (if they are foredoomed to
failure) with the object of enlisting public opinion upon the hardships
these men have suffered. I am going to consider with Mr McDonnell any particular case
of a person who, upon special facts, may have grounds for claiming
his liberty by habeus corpus, but, apart from such special cases, as 3 Messrs Corrigan & Corrigan (3) 31/7/16
to which I am still very doubtful of any success in the Law Courts,
I think your Committee will agree that legal proceedings should not
be taken unless there is, at least, a fair prospect of a favourable
issue. In my view, public opinion in Ireland should be publicly
acquainted with the facts concerning the prisoners, so far as it is
possible for you to obtain publicity and the Irish members of
Parliament should be pressed to take up the matter as a body and this,
I think, they might be prevailed upon to do if your Committee's demands
were supported from the various constituencies. As they are the only
people who can voice Irish opinion freely at the present moment and
as they are the elected representatives and ambassadors of the Nation,
it is quite obviously their duty to take this matter up whole-heartedly
and I think it is quite obviously the duty of those interested in the
prisoners to press their claims on the Irish members, however much
the politics of many of us may differ from the politics of the Irish
parties. Re Tierney. He has been before the Committee, but he is very
seriously ill and I have very grave doubts as to his recovery. Yours faithfully,