New online archive of Irishmen’s experiences in WW1

An archive of First World War letters is now available at Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse Street.

The archive, is a collection of 453 letters from 56 servicemen who wrote to Dublin woman Monica Roberts in acknowledgement of practical gifts she sent to them during the First World War. It has been published in a fully searchable online database of text and images on www.dublinheritage.ie.

 

At the outbreak of the Great War, Monica Roberts of Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, along with her friends, established the ‘Band of Helpers for the Soliders’ to raise funds to send small gifts to the men of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Royal Flying Corps fighting at the Front. Monica Roberts included letters with her presents and usually the soldiers wrote to thank her – she replied and a correspondence was generated.

 

The letters are immensely valuable as they reveal the hardship of service in France and Belgium, the soldiers’ opinion of the German army and ‘Kaiser Bill’ and their longing for Dublin. Private Edward Mordaunt told Monica, ‘I landed in France 24 September 1914. I have suffered cruel since then, the worst of it was the winter out here, we were frozed and up to our chests in water.’ In May 1916 many of the soldiers commented unfavourably about the Easter Rising which had taken place in the previous month.  Private Joseph Clark remarked, ‘There is no one more sorry to hear of the Rising than the Irish troops out here, it worries them more than I can explain.’ The soldiers saw themselves as fighting for Irish freedom and were surprised to find that another group had the same idea.

Additional Information:

• ‘The Band of Helpers to the Soldiers’ raised funds through tea-parties and informal concerts. They then sent small gifts to the Front – Vaseline, boracic ointment and socks for sore feet; Oxo to warm up shivering soldiers; and practical items such as pencils, handkerchiefs and pocket knifes. However, the soldiers’ favourite gifts were tobacco, pipes and cigarettes.
• The original letters were donated to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive, held at Dublin City Library and Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street, D2.
• An exhibition titled ‘Letters from the Great War’ will run in the Dublin Room, Dublin City Library and Archive, 138-144 Pearse Street for the months of October and November and is accompanied by original documentation in the display cases from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive