Letter from Susan Fitzgerald to Michael Gorman, 12 January 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Susan Fitzgerald to Michael Gorman, 12 January 1916

1 RAHEENAHONE HOUSE
STRADBALLY
QUEENS CO. January 12. My dear Mickie I was very glad
to hear from you and
I meant to reply on
yesterday. McAuley
came over and spent
the evening with us.
he was in great form 2 & seems to be having
a very good time. He
was to go to Grange Con
today & he told us that
Kearns was to come There
tomorrow. I'm sorry you
weren't here, as mother
was away for the day &
night & of course Molly
& I were here alone.
I only got a card from
Mac that morning, saying
he intended calling in
the afternoon. We had
Austin McKenna here this
afternoon. He has a very
nice new motor. He told
me he knew you, he also
knows Eva Kavanagh
I've got my dresses,
caps, aprons & mother
& Molly think I look
very young in the
uniform, but I rather like
that I hope I'll be
called to Hospital soon.
I may be included in
the February classes, if 3 not I'll go up to town for a
week-end or so. When are you
coming down to the Queen's Co again
will you come over? I love
to meet you at Maryboro
if the weather was anyway
decent I expect to go down
to Roscommon soon for a
short time. I can't write
with this pen, so I'll say
goodbye & don't be downhearted
over your mother. It is far
better for her to be gone &
to be relieved from such
suffering. With love
Ever Yrs/salute
Sue. 4 M. J. Gorman Esq.,
Albert College,
Glasnevin
Dublin

Michael Gorman was one a large Catholic family living at a farm in Ballinalug, County Laois (then Queen’s County). Susan Fitzgerald (d. 1980) was one a Church of Ireland family living in Raheenahone House near Stradbally, County Laois, also in the Slieve Bloom mountains. At the time the letter was written they were involved in a courtship but owing to the religious difference the love affair had to be kept secret. Eventually both were in Dublin: he in the Albert Agricultural College in Glasnevin (where he eventually became Professor of Agricultural Botany and Biochemistry and she as a volunteer nurse in the Royal Hospital in Baggot Street. They eventually went to London to marry. In the letter, Susan refers to time spent with a mutual friend and her new uniform for the Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D.), a voluntary organisation providing nursing to wounded British army soldiers, which she had just joined. She also mentions that she would like to meet in Maryborough (now Portlaoise) and tells Michael not to feel too down about the recent death of his mother after a long illness.

Susan Fitzgerald
Michael Gorman
1916-01-12
Personal Relations Country and City Life

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__5454.html)