1
Sunday 25 Coulson Av Dear Mrs Coffey I have just returned
from a lecturing tour &
found notice of junior
Irish Literary Theatre
awaiting me. I hope
it went off all right.
I am sorry I was in
the wild west. Yours sincerely
George Russell
Letter from the Irish writer George Russell (known by the pseudonym Æ) to Jane Coffey
(1857-?). In the letter, dated only 'Sunday', Russell apologises for missing a meeting
of the Junior Irish Literary Theatre. He was in the West lecturing and had only recently
returned to Dublin. Coffey was born Jane L’Estrange. She married Hugh Diarmid James
(Diarmid) Coffey, and their home at number 5 Harcourt Street became a meeting place
for Dublin society, including the forerunners of the Celtic Revival movement. Neighbours
included Thomas W. Lyster of the National Library of Ireland and Sarah Purser. Most
of Jane Coffey’s relations refused to speak to her because she had married a Catholic.