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Seafield House,
Bangor,
C. Down. 23 Nov. 15 MyDear Mrs Skeffington. Many thanks for your
very kind letter. & your
practical interest
in this as it
concerns my husband. There
have been so many
rumours about it (&
are in connection
with such appts : ) that
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one hardly knows what
to believe. It is interesting
however to see the
cuttings you kindly enclosed.
I have found from last
year's experience that Tirrill
is awfully hard to get at,
or influence, & everyone seems
to agree that he is
the one who decides this
post. I can quite see
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it wd be wiser not to
intervene openly on
our behalf, but anything
you could do through
others to influence Hanney
to influence C Sirrell wd
be fine, & we should
be so grateful. I hope Mr Skeffington
will get home safe &
well & surely the
Cat will keep off
it's old game. Did
you not see Christabel
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in last week,
or Sir Edward Grey? It's
a wonder the gout doesn't
resent that sort of tack! I hope your little boy is
well again, also your
maid, & that you are very well yourself. Yours sincerely,
Eli M.Mc.Cracken
Letter from Elizabeth McCracken (1876-1944) to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington (1877-1946),
thanking Hanna for her previous letter and her interest. Elizabeth writes that she
hopes that Hanna will be able to influence Birrell, the chief secretary for Ireland.
She goes on to write about a variety of current events and closes by wishing Hanna
good health.
Elizabeth A.M. McCracken was an Ulster suffragist and member of the Women’s Suffrage
Society and the Women’s Social and Political Union. She is the author of The Feminine
in Fiction and wrote under the pen name L.A.M. Priestly McCracken.
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.