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CHRISTIAN BROTHERS
MOUNT ST. JOSEPH
NEW ROSS 10th May 1916 Dear Mrs Skeffington It was only yesterday
I got definite news - sad
news - of the fate of
Mr Skeffington. A Wexford paper had
it last week that he was
shot or made prisoner. Beyond this I learned
nothing till yesterday
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I need not say you
have my deepest sympathy
in the unfortunate way he
has met death. There is a mystery about
how he met his death and
I fear the truth will
never come out. With all sympathy.
(Br) J.P. Sheehy
Letter from J. P. Sheehy to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington (1877-1946) regarding the murder
of Hanna's husband, Francis. Sheehy offers Hanna his sympathy and hopes that the the
full story regarding Francis' death will become public, though he fears it will not.
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.