Letter from James O'Shea to John Grenfell Maxwell, 9 May 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from James O'Shea to John Grenfell Maxwell, 9 May 1916

1 Abbey View Kilmallock May 9th, 1916 Sir I am directed by the
Bishop of Limerick to acknow
ledge the request on this receiv
ing of your letter of the 6th inst.
which has been forwarded to
him at the above address. The Bishop desires to
point out that the actions
which you suggest to him to
take towards Rev Father The
Walland Rev Father Michael
Hayes would be a very severe
punishment which the
Bishop has no right to
inflict on these priests 2 except on a definite
charge supported by evi-
dence. If then you are good
enough to specify the
grounds on which you con-
cider their presence
in the neighbourhood of
Dromcollogher and Newcastle
West is a 'dangerous menace
to the peace and safety of
the Realm' The Bishop will
investigate the matter and
inform you of his decision. But whatever may
be the rights of the Military
authorities acting under 3 martial law, a Bishop
in the exercise of his au-
thority has to follow the
rules of ecclesiastical
procedure. I have the honour to be
Sir
Your obedient servant James Canon O'Shea
Pro. Secretary To, To Right Honorable General, Sir J G Maxwell, General Commandant in-chief of the Forces in Ireland.

This letter was written by Fr James O’Shea (1873 – 1927), to General John Grenfell Maxwell (1859 – 1929). This letter concerns the conduct of Fr Michael Hayes (1873 – 1934), and Fr Thomas Wall (1877 – 1956). According to the letter Maxwell considers both Hayes and Wall a dangerous menace to the peace and safety of the realm. In the letter O'Shea reports that the bishop of Limerick, Edward Thomas O'Dwyer (1842-1917), has been made aware of the complaints but has no right to punish the priests in question except on definite charge supported with evidence. Maxwell had been appointed commander in chief of the British forces in Ireland after the outbreak of the Easter Rising. He arrived in Ireland on Friday 28 April, the fifth day of the insurrection. As acting military governor of Ireland, Maxwell dealt with the rebellion according to his understanding of martial law which had been earlier declared by the Lord Lieutenant.

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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__0639.html)