Dublin October 19th. 1916. Dear Madam, My mother, Mrs. Lewis of Ballinagar,
Loughrea, was asked last winter by
Mrs. Crawford of Clonmoylan to send
a monthly parcel to Private Monaghan,
Connaught Rangers who is a prisoner
of at Limburg. I believe Mrs. Crawford
had been asked to do so
by you as head of the Co. Galway
branch for helping Prisoners of War
so I hope that you will kindly
help me to clear up a difficulty
which has arisen in connection
with it. A few months ago, my mother
got a card from another prisoner
at Limburg (John Mallon of the
Royal Irish Regiment) asking for
parcels of food. Wishing to make
sure that this was a genuine
case, I wrote to the Irishwomens' 2 Association in London & got the enclosed
reply. I am puzzled to know whether
my mother & Mrs. Crawford are
some of the "godmothers" referred to
or whether they have been sending
quite unnecessary parcels of food
to Monaghan as the secretary
assumes. With many apologies for
troubling you.
Believe me, Yours truly, Kathleen Lewis.
This letter is presumed to be addressed to Augusta Caroline Dillon (née Crofton), Lady Clonbrock (1839-1928). Lady Clonbrock was a prominent member of the Irish Women's Association, formed in London in the Spring of 1915 to provide food and comforts for prisoners of war belonging to Irish regiments. The writer's mother was asked by another Galway woman, prompted, she thinks, by Lady Clonbrock, to send a monthly parcel to a named Connaught Ranger. More recently, Ms. Lewis' mother got a postcard from another POW in Limburg, Germany, who was attached to the Royal Irish Regiment, asking for food parcels. Ms. Lewis sought clarification from the IWA and she encloses the reply (not available). She wants to know if the term 'godmothers' applies to her mother and her mother's friend, or whether they have been sending unnecessary parcels. Note: Fortnightly parcels were sent to some 1600 P.O.W.s whose names had been supplied by the Regiments. For twelve shillings a month one could ensure the dispatch of two parcels to a specific 'godmothered' individual – and additional 300 benefited in this way. Each parcel, made up of two boxes, contained food, tobacco, and comforts.
How to cite
Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__1546.html)
- Mentioned in
-
- Letter from Alfred Gerald Crofton to Lady Clonbrock, 13 December 1915
- Letter from Alfred Gerald Crofton to Lady Clonbrock, 1 October 1916
- Letter from Private M. Cahill to Lady Clonbrock, 17 April 1916
- Letter from J. L. Hay to Lady Clonbrock, 7 January 1916
- Letter from Private Patrick Furey to Lady Clonbrock, 4 January 1916
- Letter from Jessie Crofton to Lady Clonbrock, 19 April 1916
- Letter from John J. Thompson to Augusta Caroline Dillon, Lady Clonbrock, 13 November 1915
- Letter from Josephine Murray to Lady Clonbrock, 22 May 1916
- Letter from Elizabeth Francis Neill to Lady Clonbrock, 21 February 1916
- Letter from Maude Chenevix Trench to Lady Clonbrock, 13 June 1916
- Postcard from Maude Chenevix Trench to Lady Clonbrock, 16 May 1916
- Letter from Lady Clonbrock to Eliza Chamier, 24 May 1916
- Letter from George Hugh Chetwood Townsend to Lady Clonbrock, 1 April 1916
- Letter from Edith Francis Maxwell to Lady Clonbrock, 22 June 1916
- Letter from Emma Armstrong to Lady Clonbrock, 2 August 1916
- Letter from Ursula Mahon to Lady Clonbrock, 18 July 1916
- Letter from Lady Mayo, Royal Dublin Fusiliers Kildare Committee, to Lady Clonbrock, 31 December 1915.
- Letter from Mrs. Arthur Goff to Lady Clonbrock, 12 August, 1916.
- Letter from Mrs. Arthur Goff to Lady Clonbrock, 12 August 1916.
- Letter from Mrs. Arthur Goff to Lady Clonbrock, 29 February 1916.
- Letter from Mrs. Arthur Goff to Lady Clonbrock, 25 February, 1916.
- Letter from Lady Mayo to Lady Clonbrock, 28 December, 1915.
- Letter from N. Maxwell, 23 July 1916.
- Letter from Emma Armstrong to Lady Clonbrock, 23 February, 1916.
- Letter from Kathleen Lewis, 19 October 1916.
- Letter from George C. Townshend to Lady Clonbrock, 18 October 1916.
- Letter from Emma Armstrong to Lady Clonbrock, 26 June 1916
- Letter from the Marquess of Sligo to Lady Clonbrock, 23 October, 1916.
- Letter from Florence to Lady Clonbrock, 28 November 1916.
- Place
- 88 Pembroke Road, Dublin, Ireland.
- Mentioned in
- Letter from Kathleen Lewis, 19 October 1916.