“Letters – May & James: A Private love in a Revolutionary Year-1916” by Tessa Finn
Venue: Rosary Pastoral Centre
2.30pm on Saturday, 14 May, 2016
Local resident, Tessa Finn, will talk about and read from the extraordinary exchange of love letters between her grandparents which took place during the turbulent year of the Rising. These letter have now been reproduced in a book published by Tessa.
When May Finn died after 50 years of widowhood, her family found a hidden trove of more than 90 love letters carefully tied in ribbons. They had been written in 1916 as she and her fiancé approached their wedding day that June. Great historic changes were playing out in Ireland at the same time. Their world was being “changed utterly” but did they really understand it?
Through their eyes we can see another side of Ireland in 1916 and follow their daily concerns and tender love as it grows. These letters featured in RTÉ’s major 1916 commemorative documentary “’16 Letters” shown at Easter 2016.