1 Cloghran Co. Dublin 9.6.16 My dear Louisa You will be glad to hear we have
had one of your nephews, Ernest, here, we all
liked him so much & were very sorry indeed
when he had to return to duty, as we
did not think he was at all fit; the last
time we had a letter he seemed to be very
busy & in much better health, but oh
the severe weather they had this year
how they stood it I cant imagine, frost
& snow nearly every day for weeks at
a time, he was to have come over to see
us but have not heard from him for
some time, the rebellion here might
have prevented him, as people from
England were not allowed over & 2 vice versa, was it not a most unlucky
thing to have happened Ireland just as
this time too, see what German money
& influence can do, it should never
have been allowed to happen, I am sure
you were sorry too when you heard, being
in the Co Dublin we were in the thick
of it & never knew what might happen
next, hearing the big guns going all day
& far into the night, then very early
morning commencing again, the flare
of the fires from the city, we imagined
half Dublin was demolished, Sam
drove into most days but was never
allowed in certain parts of the city, 3 & did not see the ruins of Sackville St
till the week after the Sinn Feiners
surrendered, it made us feel very very
sad when we saw everything, thank
God they were squashed so quickly,
if they had kept on for another
week I dont think many of us would
be alive to day; the week after Mother
was very ill our Doctor said it was
the result of the rebellion as it was
a nervous attack, she is wonderful
how she manages to pull through &
pick up so quickly she is so cheery
when well, & always busy— Freddie Sueyd whom I told you about a
nephew, had to have an operation
for appendicitis, complications ensued 4 so he has been nearly 3 months in hospital
poor boy, he is reduced to skin & bone,
but is now on the way to recovery, we
expect him here soon, he is engaged
to a Romanian girl, whom they say
is very rich, Ernest met her at Clarcecion
Ollie has not come near as yet I hope
he is safe & well & that he will surprise
us one of these days, we feel very
proud indeed of our cousins, I always
told Earnest I felt 2 in. taller when
he was with me. I hope you & Eileen
are very well a change will have done
her good, this is your winter now is
it not? we have rain here every day
when it should be nice & warm. I could not manage the snaps for you 5 as the last I took someone must have
opened the kodak so they were all
spoiled, but shall send you some
later on when the sisters come home
for their hols., we have to be very quiet
now, everyone wears clothes years old, such
a lot of frumps one sees every where!!!
I wonder when it this war will be decided, human
life seems to be of no account in these
days, the losses in this naval engagement
& now por Kitchener gone is apalling. I think this is a very dismal letter to
send so far but one reads & talks war
all the time here — all send their dear
love. Yrs ever Maude.