Letter from James Joseph Walsh to John Quinn, 29 June 1923 Letters 1916-1923 James Joseph Walsh

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This letter was written by James Joseph Walsh (1865–1942) to John Quinn (1870-1924), discussing the controversial Casement journals. Walsh was an Irish-American physician and author living in New York. John Quinn was a lawyer in New York, the son of Irish immigrants who maintained close ties with Ireland during his life through his patronage of the arts. In this letter, Walsh writes to Quinn to tell him has seen sections of the controversial Casement journals. These were from the infamous 'Black Diaries', alleged to have been written by Sir Roger Casement and released during his trial for treason in 1916.

 New York Public Library Manuscripts and Archives Division James Quinn Memorial Collection, Box 7, f.4 https://letters1916.ie/item/6736 English James Joseph Walsh 1923-06-29 110 West, 74th Street, New York, US John Quinn Male 1942 Easter Rising Ireland 1916

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 Jas. J. Walsh M.D.110 West 74th StreetNew York June 29, 1923 My dear Mr. Quinn:- Not long after his death you and I saweach other one of the rare times that I am sorryto say we meet, for I wish it were oftener, I thinkat Madison Square Garden, in the midst of a talkby the late Burke Cocheran, God rest his soul, andthe conversation turned to Sir Roger Casement. I had not long before been shown somemanuscripts for my judgment on them as to public-ation. They were supposed to be diaries writtenby Sir Roger. I have been looking for some referenceto them in English print since and at last I havefound it. Basil Thomson in his volume My Experiencesat Scotland Yard, tells of finding the diaries inSir Roger's locked trucks taken from his Londonlodgings and he says of them: It is enough to sayof the diaries that they could not be printed inany age or in any language. I rather expect that sentencewill arouse attention and that we shall surelyhear more of the diaries before long. They areevidently supposed to be in the archive of ScotlandYard. A little later on page 102 he says: Ihave made special inquiry with a view to ascertaining how long Casement had been under the obsessionsdisclosed in his diary and I feel certain that theywere of comparatively recent growth, not much beforethe year 1910. This would seem to show that somemental disintegration had begun to set in, thoughit was not sufficient to impair his judgment ofright and wrong. That last clause is interestingas showing how confidently Scotland Yard can judgeof little questions of insanity that might stop anexpert. As you knew Sir Roger very well you willprobably be interested in teh ten pages with regardto him and the preceding ten pages on the Germansand the Irish which begin with John Devoy and JudgeCohalan and which are written so naively from theEnglish standpoint. I hope that you are very well and that all goes well with you and I hope to see you sometime beforevery long. Yours very sincerely Jas J Walsh James Joseph Walsh Letter from James Joseph Walsh to John Quinn, 29 June 1923 John Quinn Letter from John Quinn to George Gavan Duffy, 9 September 1916Letter from Oscar Underwood to John Quinn, 14 August 1916Letter from Richard W. Hale to John Quinn, 18 August 1916Letter from Michael Monahan to John Quinn, 21 August 1916Letter from Padraic Colum to John Quinn, August 1916Letter from Alice Stopford Green to John Quinn, 27 August 1916Letter from James Joseph Walsh to John Quinn, 29 June 1923 110 West, 74th Street, New York, US Letter from James Joseph Walsh to John Quinn, 29 June 1923