1
St Endas College Oakley Road Oct 14 th 1916 To the Secretary of the Irish American Alliance Dear Sir I beg to be kindly
excused for not
been able to accept
your very kind
2
invitation to your
concert which I hope
will be a great success
I assure you I regret
very much not feeling
able just yet to
attend anything that
would in the least
remind me of my
dear boys. Not indeed but I
give them willingly
3
in the noble cause for which
they gave their dear lives for
and am proud of been the mother
of such noble sons One consolation I have is I know
both them and their brave
companions are happy and I hope
4
that what they have
died for may be cherished
amongst the friends they
have left behind and
that the same spirit
they had may be kept
up until ourdear
Country is released
from Tyrany and slavery Again thanking you
for invitation Yours Sincerely Margaret Pearse
This is a letter from Margaret Pearse (1857-1932) to the Secretary of the American
Alliance. In this letter, Margaret apologetically declines an invitation to a concert,
confessing that she finds it difficult to attend any event 'that would in the least
remind me of my own dear boys'. She writes of the 'noble cause' of Pearse and Willie,
and discusses the ways in which she can now find consolation.Margaret Pearse was the
mother of the Easter Rising leader Patrick (1879-1916) and Willie (1881-1916). Margaret
fully supported her sons in their revolutionary activities, and following their execution
in May 1916, she played an important role in perpetuating their memory and vision,
and securing funds for the republican cause. She received a state funeral upon her
death in 1932.