Letter from Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer to General John Grenfell Maxwell, 17 May 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Edward Thomas O'Dwyer

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This letter was written by Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer to Sir General John Grenfell Maxwell. This letter refers to Maxwell’s request that O’Dwyer remove two priests in his diocese so that they cannot interact with the general population. The priests concerned are Fr Thomas Wall (1877 – 1956), and Fr Michael Hayes (1873 – 1934). Maxwell reportedly called for the pair’s removal because they were providing moral support to the rebels of Easter Week 1916. According to the letter O’Dwyer, cannot see any justification for the priest’s removal. Defending the two men, O'Dwyer describes them as 'excellent priests who hold strong national views' before going on to describe Maxwell as a 'military dictator'. In a strong attack on Maxwell's handling of the rebellion, O'Dwyer states, in relation to the first exectuions, that the 'first information which we got of their fate was the announcement that they had been shot in cold blood'. In 1916 O'Dwyer (1842-1917) was serving as the Bishop of Limerick. He took up the position in 1888 and retained it until his death in 1917. Maxwell (1859 – 1929) was stationed in Ireland as he had been appointed commander in chief of the British forces in Ireland after the outbreak of the Easter Rising.

 Limerick Diocesan Archive LDA/BI/ET/239/1/4 https://letters1916.ie/item/2690 English Edward Thomas O'Dwyer 1916-05-17 Ashford, Charleville, County Cork, Ireland John Grenfell Maxwell Irish Command Headquarters, Parkgate, Dublin, Ireland Male 1917 Easter Rising Ireland 1916 Easter Rising Ireland 1916 Faith

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 Ashford, Charleville 17 May '16 Sir I beg to acknowledge the re- ceipt of your letter of 12th. which has been forwarded to me here. I have read very carefully your allegations against MrThomas, Wall, and Mr.. Michael Hayes, I do not see in them any justification for disciplining action in any part against them. They are both excellent priests, who hold rather but I do not know that they have violated any law, civil or ec- -clesiastical. In your letter of 6th inst. I'm appealed to me to keep free & the further area of town walk & Dublin hertlin of Ireland. Even to you in Dublin. If their first information which we get of their fate was the announcement they had been shot in cold blood. Personally I defend their actions with heroism and I believe that it has entrapped the conscience of the country. Then the deporting by hundreds and then murdered by their fellows, without trial of any kind seems to me an abuse of power, as fatuous as it is arbitrary, and altogether your regime has been one of the worst and blackened chapters in the keeping of the government of this country I have thehappily who Mrs w. SirGeneral Sir G.G. Maxwell Commander, Dublin if active in that parish it was not inside my province that circumstances the events of the past few locally would make it impossible for me to have any part in proceedings which as wantonly cruel and oppressive. In December the government said, when a number of British mercenaries invaded a friendly state and fought the republican lawful government If each case deserved the supreme punishment it was they. But officially and unofficially then if influence of the British Government was them, and it succeeded. You took care that plea of mercy interpose no unlikely often young like a surrendered. John Grenfell Maxwell Letter from General John Grenfell Maxwell to Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, 6 May 1916Letter from James O'Shea to John Grenfell Maxwell, 9 May 1916Letter from General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell to Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, 12 May 1916Letter from Lord French to Sir John Maxwell, 3 May 1916Letter from Lord Wimborne to Sir John Maxwell, 1 May 1916.Letter from Lord Wimborne to Sir John Maxwell, 1 May 1916Letter from Robert John Lynn to Sir John Maxwell, 2 May 1916Letter from Lord Wimborne to Sir John Maxwell, 3 May 1916Letter from Sir John Maxwell to Lord French, 4 May, 1916Letter from John Dillon to Sir John Maxwell, 8 May 1916.Letter from Sir John Maxwell to Herbert Henry Asquith, 12 May 1916.Letter from Lord French to Sir John Maxwell, 19 May 1916Letter from Sir John Maxwell to Lord French, 16 May 1916Letter from Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer to General John Grenfell Maxwell, 17 May 1916Letter from Lord French to Sir John Maxwell, 29 April 1916Letter from Lord French to Sir John Maxwell, 1 May 1916Letter from Lord Wimborne to Sir John Maxwell, 29 April 1916 Edward Thomas O'Dwyer Letter from Michael O'Riordan to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 12 May 1916Letter from Eoin McNeill to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 18 April 1916Letter from C. Moran to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 15 August 1916Letter from W. H. Grattan Flood to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 15 September 1916Letter from R. Barry O'Brien to Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, 12 February 1916Letter from General John Grenfell Maxwell to Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, 6 May 1916Letter from General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell to Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, 12 May 1916Letter from Arthur to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 14 January 1916Letter from Fr. C. F. Maher to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 16 April 1916Letter from Fr. Peter C. Yorke to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 26 June 1916Letter from Michael O'Riordan to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 27 May 1916Letter from Michael O'Riordan to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 10 June 1916Letter from Michael O'Riordan to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 23 October 1916Letter from M. M. Carroll to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 1 June 1916Letter from the Limerick City Regiment of the Irish Volunteers to Bishop E. T. O'Dwyer, 14 September 1916Letter from Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer to General John Grenfell Maxwell, 17 May 1916Letter from Patrick Carey to Edward O'Dwyer, D.D., 29 November 1915 Ashford, Charleville, County Cork, Ireland Letter from Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer to General John Grenfell Maxwell, 17 May 1916 Irish Command Headquarters, Parkgate, Dublin, Ireland Letter from Colonel F. M. Taylor to Alderman Thomas Kelly, 13 June 1916Letter from Captain T. C. R. Moore to Alderman Thomas Kelly, 15 July 1916Letter from General John Grenfell Maxwell to Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, 6 May 1916Letter from James O'Shea to John Grenfell Maxwell, 9 May 1916Letter from General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell to Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, 12 May 1916Letter from Bishop Edward Thomas O'Dwyer to General John Grenfell Maxwell, 17 May 1916