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20 June 1916 No 269. Irish Prisoner of War, Frongoch Dear Pat I trust you and
all
at home are quite well as I am
in the best of health as the weather
here is beautiful among the
mountains and the air very
bracing we sleep & eat in common
and are governed by our own officers
we are receiving additional
prisoners here regular and
are not allowed to receive
Irish papers there is very little
to read here but the day goes over
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pleasantly rambling about the
grounds. The Breens sent a parcel
to Wakefield fro me which I received
all right which you might thank
them for me as we are only allowed
to write once a week & one half
sheet of note paper. The food is
good & a better allowance than
Wakefield, we are allowed to
receive parcels from home
we have a dry canteen where
we can purchase food &
other articles for use, John
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Prisoners of War.
Letter from
Frongoch
Mr Patrick MacGrath 20 East Essex St Dublin Ireland
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John J MacGrath No 269, Irish Prisoner of War Frongoch Nth Wales
This letter is from John J. McGrath, an Irish internee at Frongoch Prison in Wales,
to his relative Pat McGrath. In the letter, John discusses conditions at the prison,
mentioning the beautiful weather and scenery, the organisation of the Irish internees
under their own appointed officers, and the difficulty of finding good reading material.
John refers to a parcel recently received from the Breen family, asking Pat to thank
them on his behalf. and mentions that he is only allowed to write letters once a week.
John compares Frongoch favourably to Wakefield Prison, where he was previously interned.Frongoch
was a makeshift prison in Wales which detained approximately 1800 Irish prisoners
following the 1916 Easter Rising.