Letter from Patrick J. Little, 15 April 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Patrick J. Little, Editor

This work was originally published by Maynooth University in Ireland in 2017. In 2026 this data, stored in a relational database was extracted and converted into this TEI/XML document.

 Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities Vienna, AT 2026

This is an open access work licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Letter from Patrick J. Little, editor of the New Ireland newspaper, to an unknown recipient. Enclosed in the letter are three versions of a portion of a document from Dublin Castle telling of plans to arrest members of the Irish Volunteers and other related organisations. Little appeals to the recipient of the letter to use his influence to discourage such action in order to avoid bloodshed.

 University College Dublin Archives P104/1342/001 https://letters1916.ie/item/2997 English Patrick J. Little, Editor 1916-04-15 New Ireland Office, 13 Fleet Street, Dublin Male Politics Politics Industry and Public Administration

The data in these XML files was generated based on a data dump from the Magellan database (https://github.com/Maynooth-Center-for-Digital-Humanities/Magellan). Each database record has been converted to a JSON file (https://github.com/letters1916static/letters-data/tree/main/json). The element section of the JSON file contains the TEI-encoded contents of the letters. The TEI XML has been cleaned and made well-formed using a Python script (https://github.com/letters1916static/letters-data/tree/main/src).

 NEW IRELAND Office,13 Fleet Street,Dublin . April 15th. 1916. Sir, The gravity of the present situation in Irelandcompels me to invite your serious attention to theenclosed. It is a copy of portion of a document recent-ly addressed to and on the files in Dublin Castle. In view of the deliberate intention here revealedon the part of the Government to cause bloodshed inIreland by an attack on the Irish Volunteers. — a bodyformed openly in pre—war times — in a manner certainto provoke armed resistance. I appeal to you to useyour influence public and private, in whatever manneryou may consider would best benefit this country. Yours truly, Patrick J. Little The cipher from which this document is copieddoes not indicate punctuation or capitals. 'the following precautionary measures have beensanctioned by the irish office on the recommendation ofthe general officer commanding the forces in ireland allpreparations will be made to put these measures in forceimmediately on receipt. of an order issued from the chiefsecretarys office dublin castle & signed by the undersecretary & the general officer commanding the forcesin ireland first the following persons to be placed underarrest all members of the sinn fein national council thecentral executive irish sinn fein volunteers generalcouncil irish sinn fein volunteers county board irish sinnfein volunteers executive committee national volunteerscoisde gnota committee gaelic league see list a three &four & supplementary list a two.............. dublin metropolitan police and royal irishconstabulary forces in dublin city will be confined tobarracks under direction of competent military author—ity an order will be issued to inhabitants of city to rem—ain in their houses until such time as competent milit—ary authority may otherwise direct or permit picketschosen from units of territorial force will be placed atall points marked on maps three and four accompany—ing mounted patrols will continuously visit all points& report every hour the following premises will be oc—cupied by adequate forces and all necessary measuresused without need of reference to headquarters firstpremises known as liberty hall beresford place numbersix harcourt street sinn fein building number two dawson street headquarters volunteers number twelvedolier street nationality office number twenty five rutl—& square gaelic league office number forty one rutlandsquare foresters hall sinn fein volunteer premises in cityall national volunteer premises in city trade council prem—ises capel street surrey house leinster road rathminesthe following premises will be isolated & all commun—ication to or from prevented premises known as arch—bishops house drumcondra mansion house dawson streetnumber forty herbert park larkfield kimmage road wood—townpark ballyboden saint endas college hermitage rath -farnham & in addition premises in list five d see mapsthree & four Secret Orders issued to Military Officers. The cipher from which this document is copied does not indicatepunctuation or capitals. The following precautionary measures have been sanctionedby the Irish Office on the recommendation of the General OfficerCommanding the Forces in Ireland. All preparations will be madeto put these measures in force immediately on receipt of an Orderissued from the Chief Secretary's Office, Dublin Castle, & signed bythe Under Secretary & the General Officer Commanding the Forcesin Ireland. First, the following persons to be placed under arrest:—All members of the Sinn Fein National Council, the Central ExecutiveIrish Sinn Fein Volunteers, General Council Irish Sinn FeinVolunteers, County Board Irish Sinn Fein Volunteers, ExecutiveCommittee National Volunteers, Coisde Gnota Committee GaelicLeague. See list A 3 and 4 and supplementary list A2. . . .Dublin Metropolitan Police & Royal Irish Constabulary Forcesin Dublin City will be confined to barracks under the direction ofthe Competent Military Authority. An order will be issued toinhabitants of city to remain in their houses until such time as theCompetent Military Authority may otherwise direct or permitPickets chosen from units of Territorial Forces will be placed at allpoints marked on Maps 3 and 4. Accompanying mounted patrolswill continuously visit all points & report every hour. Thefollowing premises will be occupied by adequate forces, & allnecessary measures used without need of reference to Headquarters.First, premises known as Liberty Hall, Beresford Placee ; No. 6Harcourt Street, Sinn Fein building; No 2 Dawson Street; Head—quarters Volunteers; No. 12 D'Olier Street, Nationality office;No. 25 Rutland Square, Gaelic League Office; No. 41 RutlandSquare, Foresters' Hall; Sinn Fein Volunteer premises incity; all National Volunteer premises in the city; TradesCouncil presmies, Capel Street; Surrey House, Leinster Road,Rathmines. THE FOLLOWING PREMISES WILL BE ISOLATED,& ALL COMMUNICATION TO OR FROM PREVENTED:—PREMISES KNOWN AS ARCHBISHOP'S HOUSE, DRUM—CONDRA; MANSION HOUSE, DAWSON STREET; NO. 40Herbert Pasrk; Larkfield, Kimmage Road; Woodtown Park, Ballyboden;Saint Endas College, Hermitage, Rathfarnham; and in additionpremises in list 5 D, see Maps 3 and 4. The following Official Document which has reached us, incipher, needs no comment. the precautions taken in '99 weresimplicity itself compared to them. The following precautionary measures have been sanctionedby the Irish Office on the recommendation of the General Officercommanding the forces in Ireland. All preparations will be madeto put these measures in force immediately on receipt of an orderissued from the Chief Secretary's Office, Dublin Castle, andsigned by the Under—Secretary and the General Officer commandingthe forces in Ireland. First the following persons to be placedunder arrest — all members of the Sinn Fein National Council.the Central Executive Irish Sinn Fein Volunteers ; General CouncilIrish Sinn Fein Volunteers; County Boards Irish Sinn Fein Volunteers;Executive Committee National Volunteers; Coisde Gnotha CommitteeGaelic League - see list A three and 4, and Supplementary List A Two. Dublin Metropolitan Police and Royal Irish Constabularyforces in Dublin City will be confined to Barracks under directionof competent military authority, & order will be issued toinhabitant's of city to remain in their houses until such time ascompetent military authority may otherwise direct or permit.Pickets chosen from units of territorial force will be placed atall points marked on maps three and four accompanying. Mountedpatrols will continuously visit all points & report every hour.the following premises will be occupied be adequate forces & allnecessary measures used without need of reference to headquarters.First premises known as Liberty Hall, Beresford Place; Number sixHarcourt Street — Sinn Fein Building — Number two Dawson Street -Headquarters Volunteers — Number twelve d'Olier Street — NationalityOffice - Number twenty-five Rutland Square — Gaelic League Office— Number forty-one Rutland Square — Foresters' Hall — Sinn FeinVolunteer premises in city; all National Volunteer premises incity; Trade Councl premises Capel Street; Surrey House LeinsterRoad, Rathmines. The following premises will be isolated & allcommunications to or from prevented — premises known as Archbishop'sHouse, Drumcondra; Mansion House, Dawson Street; Number fortyHerbert Park; Larkfield, Kimmage Road; Woodtown Park, Ballyboden;St. Enda's College, Hermitage, Rathfarnham, and in additionpremises in list five D — see maps three and four. New Ireland Office, 13 Fleet Street, Dublin Letter from Patrick J. Little, 15 April 1916 Patrick J. Little, Editor Letter from Patrick J. Little, 15 April 1916