Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Joseph Skeffington, 27 February 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Francis Sheehy Skeffington

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Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Joseph Skeffington regarding various topics from the Irish Citizen to the Battle of Verdun. Francis mentions the censorship of his letters and his latest political interest, anti-Taxation meetings. Francis Sheehy Skeffington, journalist, was a prominent feminist, activist and co-founder of the Irish Women's Franchise league in 1908. In 1912, he and his wife, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington (1877-1946), founded the suffragist newspaper The Irish Citizen. A staunch pacifist and nationalist, Sheehy Skeffington opposed Irish involvement in the Great War. During the Easter Rising, he attempted to organise a civilian defence force to prevent looting and saved the life of a British officer under fire. Arrested on the evening of Tuesday 25 April 1916, Sheehy Skeffington and two other civilians were shot by firing squad on the morning of Wednesday 26 April. Joseph Bartholomew Skeffington (1850-1919) was a school inspector and father of Francis Sheehy Skeffington. Francis was privately educated by his father who believed that education, logic and discipline solved all problems.

National Library of Ireland Sheehy Skeffington Papers, Collection List No. 47; Ms 33,612/18-2 https://letters1916.ie/item/3961 English Francis Sheehy Skeffington 1916-02-27 11 Grosvenor Place, Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland Joseph Skeffington Male 1916 Personal Relations Politics Industry and Public Administration Personal Relations

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 11, Grosvenor Place,Rathmines. 27-II.-16. My Dear Father, Your Letter and enclosure reached me duly. I think thismedium is much safer and more satisfactory than any of those yousuggested, who might not be sufficiently sympathetic. Manythanks for the enclosure: I note what you say re rent. The snowy weather continues; I am sure you are feeling it evenworse in the north, where it is usually colder. Owen has got alittle cold, but otherwise we are well. I hope you are all well inBelfast. I imagine the IRISH CITIZEN will pull through all right; nowthat all papers are cut down, it s reduction will not seem to matterso much. Considering all the circumstances, it is astonishing thatit has managed to keep on so long as it has. If it can keep ontill the end of the war, it will speedily recover. Registering American letters would only call down on them theattention of the special censors! But there are other methods,—effective but slow— which I am using at present. Did you seeChesterton's article, in the Illustrated London News of Feb. 26th,about my Century article? This attack on verdun is an amazing thing, —attacking thestrongest point of the whole line instead of the weakest! Of coursethe calculation is that if this strong point is taken, the whole linewill crumple up. I fancy the fall of verdun, if it takes place,will strengthen the Allies' knowledge that they cannot beat Germanyon land. Politically the most interesting thing here is the Anti-Taxation Meeting arranged for next Tuesday. At present politics have goneback to the pre-Davitt days,— a Constitutional movement which issunk in Whiggery and useless, while all the real Nationalism of thecountry is diverted into the physical force movement. That is adangerous position; the Taxation question seems to offer the bestprospect of creating a new, militant, aggresive, movement not com—mitted to physical force. Francis Sheehy Skeffington Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Rosamond Jacob, 10 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Margaret McCoubrey, 10 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Con Lehane, 8 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Miss Lawless, 1 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Margaret McCoubrey, 14 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington, 5 February 1916Letter from May O'Callaghan to Francis Sheehy Skeffington, 18 November 1915Letter from Stanley Unwin to Francis Sheehy Skeffington, 22 November 1915Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Dr Gertrude Kelly, 8 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Laurence J. Ginnell, 27 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington, 1 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Earnest Aston, 1 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Laurence Ginnell, 24 January 1916 Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Lillian Metge, 1 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington, 14 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Mrs McGarry, 10 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Laurence Ginnell, 13 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Joseph Skeffington, 30 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to John Francis Byrne, 14 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Joseph Skeffington, 27 February 1916 11 Grosvenor Place, Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland Letter from Edith Mary Sanderson to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 11 February 1916Postcard from Percy J. Gillespie to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 5 February 1916Postcard from Gerard B. Crofts to Hannah Sheehy Skeffington, 15 February 1916Postcard from Charlotte Shaw to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 25 November 1915Letter to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 7 December 1915Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Rosamond Jacob, 10 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Margaret McCoubrey, 10 January 1916Postcard from Bulmer Hobson to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 9 February 1916.Postcard from Gerard B. Crofts to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 12 February 1916Postcard from Bulmer Hobson to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 15 February 1916Letter to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 31 March 1916Card to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 30 March 1916Letter from Séan P Campbell to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 10 November 1915Letter from Máire Ní Catháin to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 13 November 1915Letter from Mary Hayden to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, 16 November 1915Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Miss Lawless, 1 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Margaret McCoubrey, 14 January 1916Letter from F. Haughton to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington on 21 November 1915Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Laurence J. Ginnell, 27 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington, 1 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Earnest Aston, 1 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Lillian Metge, 1 February 1916Letter from Helen Morony to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington , 4 December 1915Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington, 14 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Mrs McGarry, 10 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Laurence Ginnell, 13 February 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Joseph Skeffington, 30 January 1916Letter from Francis Sheehy Skeffington to Joseph Skeffington, 27 February 1916