Item 2 - Framed Letter of Father Mathew

4 pp; 32 cm x 27.5 cm; Manuscript

Framed letter of Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC, Imperial Hotel, Dublin, to Richard Dowden referring to the harsh sentence handed down to a sailor at a court martial in Cove (Cobh) Harbour. Fr. Mathew wrote ‘Strict discipline it is true, must be enforced in Her Majesty’s Fleet, but from the Report of the Trial, it is evident that the miserable culprit, was a habitual drunkard, and consequently a lunatic, and should be treated as such …’.

The frame is very worn with partial flaking of the covering. The inner mat and board is darkened with foxing evident. Very careful manual handling is required.