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May 24, 1916 Mount Mapas,
Killiney,
Co. Dublin Dear Mrs Sheehy Skeffington, I hope letters are not a mere
nuisance to you & that you
wont think of bothering to answer
this one. I do want to tell you
how much & deeply I've been
sympathising with you. Words
quite fail one, but you know
you have the sympathy of every
Irish heart in this awful time.
Not only sympathy for you
but rage fills all our hearts —
My husband writes — just got
(being much delayed) the paper
with the whole of Mrs Sheehy Skeffington's
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statement. I don't wonder Dillon
ran amok in the H. of C. with
that story in his mind — well
he says a great deal more I'd
better not write. I don't know if it can be any help
to you to know how much
every one is feeling for you &
your little boy. Yours very sincerely A.S.Hannay
Letter from Adelaide Hannay (c. 1865-1933) to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington (1877-1946)
offering her sympathies over the news of Francis' murder, which she has just received
the details of. She closes by offering her help to Hanna in any way should she need
it.
Adelaide 'Ada' Susan Hannay (née Wynne) was the wife of Canon James Owen Hannay (1865-1950),
a scholar and writer working under the pseudonym of George A. Birmingham.
Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, suffragette, nationalist, language teacher, was the founder
of the Irish Women’s Franchise League and a founding member of the Irish Women Workers’
Union. She was the widow of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington who was summarily executed
on 26 April 1916. She was active during the Rising, bringing food to the Volunteers
in the G.P.O. and the College of Surgeons. Four days passed before she found out what
had happened to her husband, Francis (1878-1916), and it wasn't until almost two weeks
later that the full details of his execution emerged.