Letter from Catherine Wheelwright to Fr Thomas Wheelwright, 23 June 1916
letters. I am so pleased you are
well and happy. I hope Our
dear Lord will always keep
you so. I know you will
if you try to do God's work as
faithful as you can and
always remember you are
a priest of God. We are well
also thank God. I have filled
the Blank Certificate today it 2 was too late to see a Notary Public
I will try tomorrow morning to find
one if possible. Now please if
you have Sinead's and Uncle
Patt's letters send them to me.
There can't be much in them
to upset me. I have realized
all the facts about Eddie
since I saw in the papers
about the Sinn Fein uprising
I knew he couldn't escape
the authorities over there when
he was a Professor of Gaelic
in Dublin University. Innocent
or guilty they treat every Catholic
alike 'Perfidious Albion' I have
being praying for him and I 3 hoped Almighty God in His mercy
would save him from an unexpected
or sudden death or from a prison
cell. However May His Holy Will
be done. I went to see Chief Quigley
yesterday. he sent me to a Mr McCarthy
who has charge here of the Sinn Fein
movement in U.S. I gave him some
old letters of Ed's also copy of Birth
Certificate and all particulars, he
told me a Mr Moore was coming here
in a few days and he would
shown them and consult with
him. Mr Moore is National Secretary
of the organisation. Mr McCarthy got
a letter from Post Master Buckley
saying Senator Wadsworth would 4 attend to the matter or had already
attended to it he had notified Ambassador
Page in London. I am not
so sure is this statement correct. I saw
Mr Whitney and he said he would
write to Congressman Danforth
today and he would tell us what
to do. I am sorry I didn't know about
it sooner for I can do more than
you are aware of. You ought to know
although I am frail now Almighty
God has given me nerves of
steel and in His Mercy given
me a peculiar mind, if I must
say so. All these things I believe
come from His Divine Wisdom to prepare
us for a brighter eternity. I will This is added upside down at bottom of page P.S send me Sinead's address 5 This is added vertically at top of page enclose all the letters documents
in this letter. Don't worry
for us. Everything
will come out all right with
God's help. Your loving mother.
This letter is from Catherine Wheelwright (née Coll) (1858-1932) to her son Fr Thomas Wheelwright (1890-1946). She writes from Rochdale, New York concerning the Easter Rising and Éamon's involvement. She tells of the various influential contacts she has made in America on his behalf. Catherine Wheelwright was the mother of Éamon de Valera (1882-1975), teacher, revolutionary and politician and Fr Wheelwright was her son and de Valera's half brother. Éamon de Valera had joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and was adjutant to Thomas MacDonagh (1878-1916), Dublin Brigade commandant. He went on to command forces at Bolands Mill during the Rising and was the most senior participant to escape execution. De Valera would go on to become one of the most influential figures in Ireland's 20th century.
How to cite
Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__1457.html)