Letter from Henry Lemass, solicitor, to John Dillon, 16 June 1916.

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Letter from Henry Lemass, solicitor, to John Dillon, 16 June 1916.

1 16th June 1916 John Dillon Esq., M.P. House of Commons London. Dear Sir, I enclose for your information some prints of a letter
which I have addressed to the Prime Minister on the on the subject of
the murder of Mr Sheehy Skeffington. I may mention that this
letter was drafted by Mr Healy. I forwarded copies to several
newspapers, none of whom have published same so far as I am aware.
The Independent wrote me that they had submitted it to the Military
Press Censor in Dublin and that he had prohibited its publication
till sanctioned by the Prime Minister. I presume this means that
the letter will not be published at all. On the instructions of Mrs Skeffington I retained Mr Healy
and Mr Philip White as Counsel for her on the forthcoming Inquiry.
I approached Mr Powell K.C. but he could not see his way to accept
a Brief in this case. Mrs Skeffington is anxious that Mr Healy
should lead for her and for this reason I did not approach Mr.
Denis Henry K.C. who was called to the Inner Bar some years
earlier than Mr. Healy. Mr Richard Sheehy and Mr White think that 2 if another Counsel is to be brought in Mr D. M. Wilson K. C. would
probably prove of the greatest assistance. Mrs Skeffington is
however reluctant to retain any other counsel at present as of
course the question of expense is a serious matter for her and we
do not know yet whether the Government will be willing to pay her
costs in connection with the Inquiry. I have suggested to Mr
Healy that he ought condemn endeavour to ascertain the views of the Government
on this aspect of the matter. Yours faithfully, Henry Lemass 3 From Skeffington CaseJune 1916 John Dillon Esq M.P, House of Commons 2 North Gt Georges St Westminster Dublin London S.W., 4 back of envelope - no text

A letter from Henry Lemass (1883-1946) to John Dillon (1851-1927). Lemass encloses a copy of a letter, drafted by Counsel, Mr. Healy, which he has sent to Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and to several newspapers. As far as he is aware, none of the papers has published it and he doesn't believe they will. Mr. Healy and Mr.Philip White have been retained as Counsel for Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffington. He writes of other possible Counsel but Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffington is reluctant to take on any more for financial reasons and because of the uncertainty regarding whether the Government will be paying her costs.John Dillon was an Irish Party MP in the House of Commons. In a speech in the House on 11 May 1916 he strongly condemned the British handling of the Rising which had been put down “with so much blood and so much savagery”, and called for an immediate end to executions. Mr. Dillon assisted Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington in her plea for a public inquiry and in various correspondence relating to her husband's murder and raids on her home.

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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__1503.html)