1 24 Kildare st. Dublin March 24th. 1922. Dear Mr Walsh, Enclosed you will find two newspaper cuttings of yesterday's date
which will give you the position of the men in whom you were interested.
We have, unfortunately, not been able to do very much, because the amount
we receive only just covers the cases we have on our books, and many of
the men sent on from the prisoners association are in desperate straits.
Many of them, as you will see from the cuttings, are there men who fought
through the war, others are ex-prisoners who have endured torture and
hardships in prison. Your remark that 'quite a lot of food can be
missed in twenty- four hours' remains and as the days go by the 'missing'
mounts up, as we know from those we come in contact with. It is
unnecessary for them to tell us that they are starving. Their appear=
=ance is enough. When the British government had these men in their jails, they
acted on the assumption that there was nothing like starvation to break
the morale of these men. They were unsuccessful because something
entered, which had not been taken into their reckoning and that was a
spiritual quality that upheld them. That was one thing. It is
quite another fort those men to return home and to find that the people
for whom so much had been endured, neglect them and leave them and their
dependants to starve. The Irish people are under the impression that
existing organisations are caring for these men, but it is stated that
no funds are available to deal with their cases. The Lord Mayor of Dublin is Cahirman of This Prisoners Association
ans is also trustee of The White Cross Funds and we are sure that if
anyone could get anything, he would, but as you will see so far, nothing
has been forthcoming. Our committee ceases at the end of this month: after which even the
little we have been able to do hitherto, will also cease. Could you do anthing for them? Either through the Prisoners Associa=
=ation or through Madame McBride and myself. As we told you when you
were here, we would prefer that you should deal direct either with The
Lord Mayor or The men's own organisation. We are pressing for the proper
care of the wounded and disabled, which will take up a good deal of our
time. The important thing is to give financial help as soon as
possible, or it will be a case of what is denied for food. will have to be
paid out for funeral expenses for a good many of these men.
Personally I strenuously object to funeral expenses except in cases where
every precaution has been taken against its necessity. 2 2. The work we have been engaged in for the past eleven months cures one
of extravagant sentiment: one gets doen to what is described in your
country as the 'brass tacks', and we can assure you that in the case of
these men that stage has been reached . With all good wishes M Figgis
Hon. Secy. Maude Gonne MacBride
Hon. Treasurer.
Dublin Relief Committee