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Postcard from Thomas Murphy to his sister Anna Murphy<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"Postcard](\"https:\/\/letters1916.ie\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Postcard-from-Thomas-Murphy-to-his-sister-Anna-Murphy-11-February-1916.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/letters1916.ie\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/gormans.jpeg\")
Michael and Susan Gorman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMichael Gorman and Susan Fitzgerald came from very different backgrounds. He spent his early years with ten siblings, in a large thatched cottage on the family farm of Ballinalug on the northern slopes of the Slieve Bloom Mountains near Clara Hill. She grew up on the other side of the mountains, in a large house called Raheenahone, near Stradbally.<\/p>\n
What made their relationship so special was the fact that she was Church of Ireland Protestant and he was Catholic. As a consequence, neither family wanted the other, and Michael and Sue had to spend half a decade meeting in secret and exchanging letters in what was a love affair that would last all their lives.<\/p>\n
Click here to read more of Michael’s and Susan’s story<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
\n <\/p>\n
Letter from May Fay to James Finn,14 February 1916<\/strong><\/h3>\n![\"James](\"https:\/\/letters1916.ie\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/jamesfinn_mayfay.jpeg\")
James Finn and May Fay’s wedding photograph, image courtesy of Tessa Finn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis letter comes from a series written between James Finn and his fianc\u00e9e Mary (May) Fay. They became engaged in January 1916 and married in June. He lived in Dublin, she in Westmeath. At 39 years of age, he was 20 years her senior. He had become acquainted with her during his regular visits to his relative Mrs Mary Seery, her neighbour. Throughout the correspondence, their relationship develops from their first somewhat tentative letters.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tessa Finn<\/a> is one of the individual (as opposed to institutional) contributors to the Letters of 1916. She shared this collection of letters between her grandparents, which she describes as \u201ca document of their love and their time.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
As Tessa writes: \u201cThese letters between James Finn and May Fay, most of them written in 1916, are part of my family\u2019s inheritance, lovingly treasured by my grandmother, May. She had every reason to cling on to these reminders of the love of her life, my grandfather James Finn. They were married not quite six years when he died leaving her, twenty-five years old and seven months pregnant with their fourth child. They are a document of their love and their time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Tessa Finn, Letters \u2013 May & James: A Private love in a Revolutionary Year \u2013 1916<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
\nClick here to read<\/a>, or get involved<\/a> and transcribe more Love Letters.<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read some of the timeless love and friendship letters written in an era of uncertainty and change. Continue reading Love Letters 1916-1923<\/span>
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
Michael Gorman and Susan Fitzgerald came from very different backgrounds. He spent his early years with ten siblings, in a large thatched cottage on the family farm of Ballinalug on the northern slopes of the Slieve Bloom Mountains near Clara Hill. She grew up on the other side of the mountains, in a large house called Raheenahone, near Stradbally.<\/p>\n
What made their relationship so special was the fact that she was Church of Ireland Protestant and he was Catholic. As a consequence, neither family wanted the other, and Michael and Sue had to spend half a decade meeting in secret and exchanging letters in what was a love affair that would last all their lives.<\/p>\n
Click here to read more of Michael’s and Susan’s story<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
\n <\/p>\n
Letter from May Fay to James Finn,14 February 1916<\/strong><\/h3>\nJames Finn and May Fay’s wedding photograph, image courtesy of Tessa Finn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis letter comes from a series written between James Finn and his fianc\u00e9e Mary (May) Fay. They became engaged in January 1916 and married in June. He lived in Dublin, she in Westmeath. At 39 years of age, he was 20 years her senior. He had become acquainted with her during his regular visits to his relative Mrs Mary Seery, her neighbour. Throughout the correspondence, their relationship develops from their first somewhat tentative letters.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tessa Finn<\/a> is one of the individual (as opposed to institutional) contributors to the Letters of 1916. She shared this collection of letters between her grandparents, which she describes as \u201ca document of their love and their time.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
As Tessa writes: \u201cThese letters between James Finn and May Fay, most of them written in 1916, are part of my family\u2019s inheritance, lovingly treasured by my grandmother, May. She had every reason to cling on to these reminders of the love of her life, my grandfather James Finn. They were married not quite six years when he died leaving her, twenty-five years old and seven months pregnant with their fourth child. They are a document of their love and their time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Tessa Finn, Letters \u2013 May & James: A Private love in a Revolutionary Year \u2013 1916<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
\nClick here to read<\/a>, or get involved<\/a> and transcribe more Love Letters.<\/strong><\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read some of the timeless love and friendship letters written in an era of uncertainty and change. Continue reading Love Letters 1916-1923<\/span>
This letter comes from a series written between James Finn and his fianc\u00e9e Mary (May) Fay. They became engaged in January 1916 and married in June. He lived in Dublin, she in Westmeath. At 39 years of age, he was 20 years her senior. He had become acquainted with her during his regular visits to his relative Mrs Mary Seery, her neighbour. Throughout the correspondence, their relationship develops from their first somewhat tentative letters.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tessa Finn<\/a> is one of the individual (as opposed to institutional) contributors to the Letters of 1916. She shared this collection of letters between her grandparents, which she describes as \u201ca document of their love and their time.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As Tessa writes: \u201cThese letters between James Finn and May Fay, most of them written in 1916, are part of my family\u2019s inheritance, lovingly treasured by my grandmother, May. She had every reason to cling on to these reminders of the love of her life, my grandfather James Finn. They were married not quite six years when he died leaving her, twenty-five years old and seven months pregnant with their fourth child. They are a document of their love and their time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Tessa Finn, Letters \u2013 May & James: A Private love in a Revolutionary Year \u2013 1916<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read some of the timeless love and friendship letters written in an era of uncertainty and change. Continue reading Love Letters 1916-1923<\/span>
\nClick here to read<\/a>, or get involved<\/a> and transcribe more Love Letters.<\/strong><\/h3>\n