1
12 Brighton Vale,
Monxstown, 13.5.16
My dear Hannah,
I want to tell you first, how
much I sympathise with you in your loss,
and also, how much I admire the manner
in which your poor husband met his end.
You know as well as I do that no words
of mine can convey to you the indignation
that is felt both here and in London, at
the way he was done to death; and that
that indignation is shared alike by friend
+ foe; by those of whom he may have fallen
a little foul of, as well as by those who
agreed with him. With sincerest sympathy,
always yours sincerely
E.J. Kelly
Letter from E.J. Kelly to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington (1877-1946) expressing sympathy
regarding the murder of Hanna's husband, Francis. Kelly writes that no words can convey
the indignation that is felt in London and Dublin in response to his death.
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.