Letter from Robert Lynch to Mabel FitzGerald, 28 May 1916.

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Robert Lynch to Mabel FitzGerald, 28 May 1916.

1 14 telegraph Hill, Hampstead, N.W. 28th May, 1916 My dear Mabel, I have been wanting to write to you for some
time best to say how sorry I was about the horrible
sentence on Fitz. You probably guess what I thought of
Pearse & the leaders, but the way Fitz & the O'Rahilly
went in after trying to stop the affair was the sort of
heroic thing to which we all have to take off our hats.
I'll certainly get the facts of Fitz's behaviour & of his
non-combatancy put before any people of influence I
can get at. He cautiouslyought to be treated as a
political prisoner at once, & an amnesty is certain,
I should say, within a very short time of a
Home Rule Parliament's coming into existence. I feel
exactly as you do about the executions. The English,
I think, were mad to permit them from their own
point-of-view. They seem to me to have given the
movement a national dignity it would not have
had if Asquith or Maxwell or Redmond or any-
body had been as wise as Botha. Poor John Mac
Dermott, I knew him best & liked him best of
them all, but I feel Connolly is the bitterest
loss. He & Skeffington. Pearse obviously died like
a hero, but I have always thought his 'blood- 2 shed' gospel of nationalism a wild delusion & a break
away from everything for which Davis stood. However, I
mustn't be controversial while you're in the midst of
this horror & trouble. I do hope it won't be long
till Fitz is safe at home again. I'm sending you one or two Statesmans& Nations.
I've been able to write very little about the in-
surrection myself. Shaw had a wonderful letter in the
Daily News, which I'll send you. I hope the babies
are well again. Perhaps, we'll see you in Dublin
in July. We'll get over if we possibly can, babies
& all. I'm so glad you liked Sylvia's novel. She's
got a book of verse & sketches coming out in the
Autumn. I'd write more, only I've about half-
a-dozen other letters to get off before supper. With all the good wishes & hopes in the world. Yours ever Robert Lynch Miss Dryhurst saw Griffith & Alderman Cole
in Wandsworth Prison this week. I've written to
Griffith to know if I might go & see him,
but perhaps he would rather not as I know he looks
on me as a renegade.

A Letter from Robert Lynch to Mabel FitzGerald (née Washington McConnell) (1884-1958), wife of politician and intellectual Desmond FitzGerald (1888-1947). The writer expresses sorrow at the 'horrible sentence' imposed on her husband. He admires the way that Desmond FitzGerald and The O'Rahilly, (1875-1916), 'went in' (to the GPO) having initially tried to stop the Rising. The writer promises to make representations on Mr FitzGerald's behalf and expresses that an amnesty will see him free when Home Rule is established. He writes that the English were unwise to carryout the executions as the only served to dignify the insurgents. He regrets the loss of his friend, John MacDermott (Seán MacDiarmada, 1883-1916, executed on 12 May 1916) but the bitterest losses were James Connolly (1868-1916, executed 12 May 1916), and Francis Sheehy Skeffington (1878-1916). The writer criticises Patrick Pearse (1879-1916, one of the Rising leaders, also executed on 3 May 1916) for his 'bloodshed gospel', which he describes as 'a wild delusion.'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 during his hunger strike in 1915. Both Mabel and Desmond would serve in the GPO garrison during Easter Week.

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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__1463.html)