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Date 4/5/16 Place Richmond Barracks To My wife, at present at 57 Fitzwilliam
Terrace Dartry Road, Upper Rathmines The gold watch in my poss-
ession give to Mrs Burgess.
The other things are yours to
use as you think fit and
this is to authorise the mil-
itary authorities to hand
all my things over to you.
I have £2 in notes and about 12/=
or 15/= in silver. Also a beads. From Ãamonn Ceannt
This letter is from Éamonn Ceannt (1881-1916) to his wife Áine Ceannt (née Ní Bhraonáin)
(1880-1954). This letter was written four days before his death. He asks his wife
to give his gold watch to Mrs Burgess, wife of Cathal Brugha (Charles Burgess, 1874-1922)
who had fought under Ceannt and was severely wounded. The other items and money in
his possession, he writes, are Áine's to do as she sees fit.Éamonn Ceannt was one
of the leaders of the Easter Rising and a signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish
Republic. During the Rising he commanded the garrison in the South Dublin Union. Following
the surrender he was tried by court-martial and sentenced to death. He was executed
on 8 May 1916. Áine Ceannt (née Ní Bhraonáin) was born in 1880. She had an interest
in Irish language and was engaged in cultural revivalist activities. In 1905 she married
Eamonn Ceannt. In 1913 she attended the inaugural meeting of the Irish Volunteers
and joined the Cumann na mBan, when it was formed a year later. Following the death
of Eamonn Ceannt in the Rising, Áine assumed a public role as Vice-President of Cumann
na mBan. She died on 2nd February 1954.