Letter from Fr. Thomas (James) Crotty to Sir Roger Casement, 6 November 1915

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Fr. Thomas (James) Crotty to Sir Roger Casement, 6 November 1915

1 Limburg a/ Lahn 6.Nov.15 Monteith Dear Sir Roger Just in my way to camp I received your
kind letter. Had a visit Thursday last from
a friend who was but a short time ago with you.
He hasn't much hopes of succeeding here, although
he shall do what he can to convince them of
his views of things. Wrote last Wednesday to Mr. Meyer, and
asked to get the permission to visit all the
camps or some of them. No reply yet. If you
should meet him. please remind him of my
letter, lest he should forget to acknowledge it. The 14 men who came from Labau were sent
away again, I believe to Giersen. No more of the
early departures are come back as I expected.
Many of those who want to work in the farms
are now here, and soon I hope the rest shall
return. The "Continental Times" still comes, and from time
to time the American Journals which
come directly from you. Excuse haste With kind regards
Yours v. sincerely Fr T.Crotty O.B. R. in Berlin
8 Nov./15.

The letter is from the Dominican priest Fr. Thomas Crotty (d. 1930, born James but took the name Thomas after he joined the order) to Sir Roger Casement (1864-1916). The letter was written during Casement's eighteen month stay in Germany, where he was attempting to gain German support for an Irish rebellion against British rule. The letter refers to Casement's attempts to create an Irish Brigade of Irish-born British army soldiers who were then held as prisoners of war in German camps. It was the camp at Linberg, in the Lahn valley, that was designated for the project. Fr. Crotty was one of the priests who administered to the men in the camp at Limberg. The project was, however, largely unsuccessful and only fifty-six men signed up. Crotty mentions in the letter that Robert Monteith, the officer in charge of the Irish Brigade, 'hasn't much hope of succeeding' in Limberg but would do what he could to convince people of his views. Casement was later arrested in County Kerry having returned to Ireland in a submarine to try and prevent the Easter Rising from taking place as he felt German support was insufficient. He was hanged in London in August 1916.

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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__5496.html)