EIRE

Fourteen items from the papers of Sir Noel Galway Holmes, all but the last relating to his three decades of service in the British Army, with reports and recommendations by superior officers from 1920 to 1939.

Two very interesting unpublished documents, the first giving an assessment of Churchill by a colleague who worked closely with him throughout the Second World War, and the second describing the important part that individual himself played in the logistical management of the war, from before Dunkirk to after D-Day. This material is from Sir Noel Galway Holmes’s private papers, another batch of which, comprising confidential reports on him, recommendations by superior officers, and particulars of his service, is offered separately.

See his entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography. On 7 x 4 cm piece of paper. In good condition, with slight discoloration. In O’Connell’s distinctive fine-nibbed hand reads: ‘Ever yours, / most sincerely / Daniel O’Connell’. The ‘C’ of ‘O’Connell’ extends downwards, and this flourish is very slightly cropped beneath the usual a loop.

Hood was married to the harpist Helen Patuffa Kennedy-Fraser (1889-1967), daughter of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (1857-1930), the celebrated collector and singer of Hebridean songs. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Manuscript Letter Signed by 'Ulster Scot.' 1p, 8vo. Begins: ?Dear Rev Sir / Glad to see you took up the cudgels on behalf of the Ulster Scot.The writer of the letter considers that the part played by this group in building industry &c. was surpassed by their efforts in cristainising [sic] and civilising the nations of the world.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. For the context see Irina and Dmitri Gouzevitch, ‘Travelling interchanges between the Russian Empire and Western Europe / The Travels of Engineers during the First Half of the Nineteenth Century’, in Simões, Carneiro and Diogo eds, ‘Travels of Learning / A Geography of Science in Europe’ (Boston, 2003). 1p, 8vo. Nineteen lines of closely-written text. On aged and worn paper. The item has been torn away from a mount, resulting in damage to the two outer corners, with the area immediately to the right of the signature ‘St Helens’ lacking.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 8vo. Sixteen lines of closely-written text. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with short closed tears along the five creases from the folding of the item into a packet. Docketed on the reverse of the leaf: ‘May 2d 1810 / Lord St Helens / Authy to charge Agency at the rate of 1 P Ct on Monies recovered on accot of Land Tax refunded to Foreign Ministers &cr.’ Signed St Helens.

Sligo was appointed Governor of Jamaica in 1834. His efforts on behalf of the recently-emancipated slaves (including the financing of two schools) caused him to become unpopular with the plantation owners, and he was effectively ousted in 1836. 2pp, 12mo. Twenty-one lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Small square of paper with engraving of the family crest laid down at the foot of the second page. Addressed to ‘My Dear Sir’ and signed ‘Sligo’. The Marquis’s handwriting is somewhat opaque.

See his entry and Taylor’s in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Sixteen lines of closely-written text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: ‘My dear Mr. Taylor / Would you allow me to introduce a friend of mine Mr. Knewstube to you.

The context of the letter is explained in Maxwell’s entry in the Oxford DNB: ‘In the autumn of 1902 Maxwell was chosen by the duke of Connaught, then acting commander-in-chief in Ireland, as his chief staff officer at Dublin. There he remained until May 1904, when Connaught became inspector-general of the forces, and Maxwell followed him to London.

An interesting letter regarding the man who was regarded as Ireland's national poet before the appearance of William Butler Yeats. See Croker’s entry, and that of Thomas Moore, in the Oxford DNB. The former contains a paragraph discussing the association between the two men, the conclusion of which explains the context of the present item: ‘At the end of his life Croker (by his own account) was working on a biography of Moore, whom he termed 'an actor—a hypocrite—a swindler—a sensualist and a habitual liar' (Irish Book Lover, 50).

See his entry, those of his sons Philip and Robert, and that of Taylor, in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on discoloured and lightly-worn paper. Addressed to ‘My Dear Mr Taylor’ and signed ‘Alfred P. Graves’. He begins by enquiring after the state of the recipient’s health, before giving details of when Parliament ‘will probably be up’: ‘Otherwise I have no political news to interest you.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On worn and aged paper, with L-shaped closed tear at left-hand edge. Folded for postage. Addressed to her at Bebington in the Wirral. Loose, smudged signature ‘St John Ervine’. He thanks her for her ‘letter and its enclosure, which I return. If I were to rebuke every cub reporter who wrote so stupidly as the young man to whom you refer, I should fill The Observer with my reproofs, apart altogether from the fact, that I should be giving the young man an exaggerated sense of his importance.

An unusually forthright communication for the period. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing, Fitzgerald was President of the Board of Control under Sir Robert Peel. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled. Signed ‘Vane Londonderry’. Begins: ‘My Dear Ftizgerald / I had not an opportunity to thank you as I would in the H of Lords for all your kind attention to my wishes.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Slip of paper, roughly 8 x 4.5 cm, cut from a letter. In fair condition, on lightly aged and discoloured paper, with several vertical postage folds. On one side good clear signature and valediction: ‘I remain, dear Sir / Faithfully Yours / William S OBrien’. On the other side, tantalizingly: ‘[...] part of England what [...] | [...] not her all to obtai[n] [...] | [...] sense of justice - [...]’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. Fourteen lines. The recipient is not named. Written in a large loose hand, rendering the following reading tentative. In fair condition, lighty aged and worn, with minor traces of grey paper mount on reverse. Reads: ‘Dear Sir.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, foolscap 8vo, on recto of first leaf of bifolium. Docketted in customary style, lengthwise on reverse of second leaf: ‘Earl of Longford / War Office 29 June 68 / Army Chaplain’s Bill’. Addressed to ‘John Graham Esq / &c &c / 3 Westminster Chambers’. Small tight signature 'Longford', good and uncrowded, on creased and worn paper. Folded into packet. The rest of the document is written hurriedly in the under-secretary’s hand.

Hood was married to the harpist Helen Patuffa Kennedy-Fraser (1889-1967), daughter of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (1857-1930), the celebrated collector and singer of Hebridean songs. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Manuscript Letter Signed by ‘Ulster Scot.’ 1p, 8vo. Begins: ‘Dear Rev Sir / Glad to see you took up the “cudgels” on behalf of the “Ulster Scot.”’ The writer of the letter considers that the part played by this group ‘in building industry &c.’ was surpassed by their efforts ‘in cristainising [sic] and civilising the nations of the world’.

3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Forty-eight lines of text. Addressed to 'Miss Burgess[,] Norwich' and with smudged signature 'Michael McCartan'.

Lord Longueville's once-celebrated judgement was that 'of all bad men he is the worst'. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the collection of Irish nationalist autographs of Miss Burgess of Norwich. On a neat piece of cream paper, 7 x 3 cm. In good condition, lightly aged. Nothing on the reverse. Reads: ?Faithfully yours / Arthur O?Connor.?

See her entry and her brother?s in the Oxford DNB. The item is from the collection of Irish nationalist autographs assembled by Miss Burgess of Norfolk in the 1890s, who has endorsed one leaf in her distinctive hand ? ?Post Mortem? / By Fanny Parnell?. Undated. 3pp, 4to. On two leaves of paper with Dollard watermark. Poem of twenty-eight lines, in seven stanzas, titled ?Post Mortem?. From a comparison with a letter in the National Library of Ireland certainly not in Fanny Parnell?s hand. A fair copy, with one mistake (corrected) confirming transcription: ?loveliness? for ?loneliness?.

Parnell had died around ten weeks before, on 6 October 1891. See Harrison's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'After the party broke in two in December 1890, Harrison campaigned with his chief in Ireland, constituting himself a bodyguard and aide-de-camp. After Parnell's death in October 1891 Harrison, young though he was, hastened to Brighton to put his services at the disposal of Parnell's widow. It was then that he heard from her a very different account of the circumstances surrounding her divorce from that given in court.

See his entry, and that of his elder brother, in the Oxford DNB. From the collection of Irish nationalist autographs of Miss Burgess of Norwich. On 16.5 x 7.5 cm piece of paper, cut down from a larger document. In fair condition, lightly aged and spotted. Folded three times. Written in a large bold hand: ? ?One in name, one in fame / Are the Sea-divided Gaels.? / A. M. Sullivan / St Patricks Day / 1884?. See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is from a collection of Irish nationalist autographs assembled by Miss Burgess of Norwich. 1p, 8vo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded for postage. Addressed 'To Miss Burgess' and signed 'Alfred Webb'. Date and location in another hand, the rest in Webb's autograph. Begins: 'Dear Madam, / Those autos. you have of our MP's are some of which I have most. Unfortunately others you want I have only of a private character, & I do not like cutting off the signatures.' He is sending those of J. E.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘H. P. Greene’. Truly atrocious handwriting. Apparently addressed to ‘Dear Miss Salt’, and beginning: ‘I’ll be proud.’ He gives a date which will ‘suit me best’, and asks to be informed ‘if there is anything special [?] like [?]’.

See his entry in the History of Parliament, and his and Lockhart’s entries in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, with thin strip of dried adhesive from mount along one edge, and tiny bit of loss at foot beneath the signature. Folded for postage.

See his entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography, and his father’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. 72 lines, closely written. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Sir Henry’ and signed ‘Joseph D’Arcy Sirr’. In response to an invitation to write, there are ‘two or three points’ on which Sirr would seek information. These relate to what appears to be a mistake by ‘Mr Davy’ on publishing a manuscript regarding ‘Lady C. Grey’ who is buried at Yoxford. He is also ‘enclosing [not present] a curious copy of a MS made for me, but wh.

The claim that Benjamin Jowett reported Senior as saying that ‘the famine of 1848 in Ireland would not kill more than a million people, and that would scarcely be enough to do much good’ appears to have been made up by Cecil Woodham-Smith. It is certainly not mentioned in Senior’s entry in the Oxford DNB, along with the entry for the recipient Lady (Maria) Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), who lived in Kent House in Knightsbridge with her second husband Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bart, her first husband having been the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842).

4pp., folio. Broadsheet bifolium. On aged high-acidity paper, folded once vertically, and once horizontally, and with wear along the fold lines and crease. Lynd's article is the main one on the front page, covering 80 and a half column inches across all seven columns. The article begins: 'Among the many conflicting views which the English have of the Irish character, two are, perhaps, more popular than the rest. One - the sturdy Saxon view - is that we are a gay and generous people, the drink-dispensers of the world, amiable buffoons, a race of eloquent and lying beggars.

4pp., folio. Broadsheet bifolium. On aged high-acidity paper, folded once vertically, and once horizontally, and with wear along the fold lines. Lynd's article is the main one on the front page, covering 74 column inches across five of the seven columns. The article begins: 'I do not know what exactly can have been in my mind when I gave Literature and Politics to the secretary of the Irish Literary Society of London as the subject of a paper I had promised to deliver.

8pp., folio. On aged and creased high-acidity paper, with closed tears and chipping. The two articles most likely to be the work of Lynd are 'The Viceregal Microbe' on pp.2-3, and 'The Future of the Language Movement' on p.2; both are anonymous.