Letter from John Dillon to Mabel FitzGerald, 24 May 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from John Dillon to Mabel FitzGerald, 24 May 1916

1 24 May 1916 My dear Madam I have received your
letter of the 23 May. Your description of the
treatment endured by the
prisoners in Richmond
Barracks is very horrible.
And your account is I 2
very much regret to say -
confirmed by many other
accounts which have reached
me. Very strong representations
have been made to the
Government by myself and
my colleagues in these
matters â€” And I understand that the 3
treatment at Richmond
and other Dublin
Barracks â€” has within
the last few days been
very greatly improved. Please find out
how this matter now
stands & I shall
attend immediately
to any points which are 4
still matters of complaint.
I shall keep in mind
your husband's case â€”
And later on I may
be able to do something to null mitigate the
harshness of his sentence. Yours Sincerely John Dillon

This letter is from Irish Parliamentary Party leader and MP John Dillon (1851-1927) to Mabel Fitzgerald (née Washington McConnell) (1884-1958), wife of politician and intellectual Desmond FitzGerald (1888-1947). Dillon had denounced the execution of the leaders in Westminster in a now famous speech on 11 May 1916 and in this letter he agrees that the treatments of prisoners in Richmond Barracks was bad but that after representations were made by him and others things had improved. He also mentions that in the future he may be able to do something to 'mitigate the harshness' of FitzGerald's sentence.Mabel was a former governess in London. She later vigorously canvassed her former acquaintances in London's liberal circles for support for Francis Sheehy Skeffington (1878 -1916) during his hunger strike in 1915. Both Mabel and Desmond would serve in the GPO garrison during Easter Week. Dillon would succeed John Redmond (1856-1918) as leader of the Home Rule party in 1918.

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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__1355.html)