The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
From France to Duagh: WWI letter resurfaces
A TYPED letter, understood to have been written by a Duagh priest who was stationed as a chaplain near the front lines of the First World War in France, has resurfaced in the past few weeks.
The letter was first discovered a number of years ago by Kilflynn man John O’Mahony and his brother when they purchased the building that is now O’Mahony’s butchers.
An amateur student of history, John decided to hold on to the letter for the last few years and was only reminded of the letter’s historical significance during the recent 100-year Armistice commemorations.
The letter, which is in a slightly tattered condition and is paper thin, is dated August 11, 1918, and is written by a Fr Jeremiah Galvan and directed to his father living in Duagh at the time.
In what is a fascinating firsthand insight into the conditions and day-to-day life at the time, Fr Galvan writes of the difficulty of receiving letters from home; giving communions and confessions to soldiers before they headed off to fight; how the American soldiers could not stand the smell of the dung heaps and so spent a lot of time indoors; and, of course, the weather.
In an interesting political note, Fr Galvan comments on how “England has certainly bungled things in Ireland while Irish brains and genius in America are doing so much to win this war,” while he laments the fact that it was now too late for Padraig Pearse to send a volunteer army over to help fight.
“It’s his own first-hand perspective of the war effort. It’s a very interesting story; I mean, how many surviving letters do you find from WWI? It’s rare enough. The fact that he had access to a typewriter, too, he was obviously at the higher end of his payroll,” John laughed, speaking to The Kerryman last week.
“It’s lovely. I think that it’s a bit touching that he’s writing home and asking his mother to have four pairs of woollen socks ready for him and that he’ll send on some pocket money as well.
“I take it out every few months and read it. I’ve no clue at all if he made it home from the War at all, and I hav- en’t taken it to any historian yet either. It would be interesting to find out whether he did in fact make it home or not. He was alive in August 1918, so you would hope that he did make it to the end,” he added.
John is appealing to any local historians out there that might know any more of Father Jeremiah Galvan; his time in the war; and his fate to contact fdennehy@kerryman.ie to piece together more of the story.