TIPPERARY NUNS asked the British army to send a sniper to shoot jackdaws and crows which were “ruining” potatoes in the convent garden during the War of Independence.
The quintessential Irish solution to an Irish problem is revealed in a letter – sent more than 90 years ago during the final years of British rule in Ireland – which has turned up in an auction saleroom.
The Presentation Order of nuns in Fethard, Co Tipperary, had a convent garden to grow their own food. However the nuns were pestered by birds swooping on the crops and the reverend mother called on the might of the world’s most powerful imperial army to defeat the feathered attackers.
Sr Imelda was delegated to write to the “Officer in Command” at the local military barracks, home to soldiers of the Royal Field Artillery. She asked if he “could kindly send down one of your men to shoot some jackdaws and crows which are ruining our potatoes, peas and other vegetables in our garden”.
The nuns were forced to ask the British military to do the dirty deed because the Irish were not, officially, allowed to carry guns. The War of Independence was under way and Co Tipperary was a hotbed of rebels. Explaining the nuns’ predicament, Sr Imelda wrote: “We have asked several farmers around to shoot them [the birds] but all say they can’t use a gun even to protect their crops.”
The despondent nuns were also “very much inconvenienced” by the birds eating chickenfeed left out for their fowl. Sr Imelda concluded by asking the officer to let her know if he “could do anything in this matter”.
Sadly, it is not known if the officer responded to the request. Fethard military barracks was evacuated by the British after the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in December 1921, and subsequently taken over by Republican rebels and burnt down.
The nuns’ letter is to be auctioned by Mealy’s, a rare book and manuscript auctioneers, in Dublin on April 25th, and has a modest presale estimate of between €60 and €80.
