1
9 June 1916 Dear Sir, The enclosed anony-
mous communication
has been addressed to
Mr Balfour. For
what it may be
worth I send it to
you. Yours faithfully
Wilfrid Short
2
Dublin 7th June 1916 Sir I wish to let you
know that the Irish are
rising again on White
Monday or so, and
your Government would
want to take precautions
This is why they want
Home Rule in order
3
to get the military and
ships that guards the
coast of Ireland with-
drawn until they get
in the 3 millions of
Irish American Fenians
who are coming over to
take not only Ireland
but England. the way
Asquith has acted in
letting out the rebels
has demonstrated to them that they can kill
police etc. with impunity
and so they are re-forming
and are rising again. You must see that
the Liberals are not let
wipe out the whole
Constitution and it is
time they were put out
before they trail England
in the dust any more.
and you should see that
a good Conservative
4
General is appointed
in Lord Kitchiner's
place. England's difficulty
is Ireland's opportunity
has long been the rebels
motto, and this rising
in Ireland is made
whilst the men are in
France, and unless this
war is stopped these traitors
will eat the heart out
of this Empire
A letter from Wilfred Short (1870-1947) to the Chief Secretary's Office. Short is
writing to enclose an anonymous letter addressed to Arthur James Balfour. The enclosed
letter claims that the Irish are planning another Rising, and warns that the British
should prepare the military and navy. The writer says that millions of Irish American
Fenians plan to take over not only Ireland but England.'These traitors will eat the
heart out of the Empire'.Wilfred Short was a British civil servant. In 1916 he was
serving as private secretary to the statesman Arthur James Balfour (1848-1930), a
British Conservative politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from
July 1902 to December 1905. The letter is addressed to the Chief Secretary for Ireland.
At this time there is no official Chief Secretary for Ireland following the resignation
of Augustine Birrell (1850-1933) on 3 May 1916. Birrell's resignation was a consequence
of the 1916 Rising for which he accepted responsibility. His successor, Henry Edward
Duke (1855-1939), was not officially appointed until 31 July 1916.