{"id":7940,"date":"2018-03-17T10:10:12","date_gmt":"2018-03-17T10:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/letters1916.ie\/learn\/?p=7940"},"modified":"2018-09-27T12:26:35","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T12:26:35","slug":"happy-st-patricks-day-letters-1916-1923","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/letters1916.ie\/learn\/happy-st-patricks-day-letters-1916-1923","title":{"rendered":"Happy St. Patrick’s Day | Letters 1916-1923"},"content":{"rendered":"

What were people saying when they put pen to paper to write letters on St Patrick’s day in 1916?<\/p>\n

Thanks to the Letters of 1916-1923 database, we can get a snapshot of the words written on this day a century ago.<\/p>\n

\"Letter<\/a>A quick look at the letters written on this day, shows us a letter written by Denis Hurley to his brother John<\/a>. Originally from Tawnies, near Clonakilty in Co. Cork, Denis emigrated to Carson City in Nevada in 1873. In the letter, Denis thanks John for “the bunch of shamrocks”. <\/em>Isn’t it amazing that the shamrock survived the journey!?<\/p>\n

Alexander McDowell from the Ministry of Munitions wrote to E. A. Aston<\/a>, inspector for the Local Government Board (LGB) in Dublin regarding female workers in the local linen industry. From his letter, we learn that only one Belfast firm at that time employed women on munitions work.<\/p>\n

In a third letter, Alexander G. Crawford writes to Matthew Nathan<\/a> discussing a local school principal from Coleraine. The principal in question has had a very positive effect in his forty five years of service, even going so far as to pay for the up keep of the school from his own purse.<\/p>\n

To read any of the letters, click on the images above or click here to browse the EXPLORE database<\/a> yourself.<\/p>\n

If you find any more St Patrick’s Day letters in the collection, let us know!<\/p>\n

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\"Thanks<\/a><\/p>\n

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Letters written by Patrick or Patricia in the Letters of 1916 collection<\/h3>\n

As it’s St Patrick’s Day, we had a look through the Letters of 1916 collection in search of letters written by people named Patrick or Patricia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Letter
Letter from Patricia Lynch to Hanna Sheehy Skeffington | \u00a9 NLI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We found only one Patricia in the whole collection:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patricia Lynch (1894-1972) was an Irish nationalist and supporter of the suffragette movement. While living in London she befriended Sylvia Pankhurst who reportedly sent her to Dublin in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising to gain an eyewitness account for the Worker’s Dreadnought. Her piece in the Worker’s Dreadnought was later reprinted as part of a pamphlet entitled Rebel Ireland published by the Workers’ Socialist Federation.<\/p>\n