Madam, - As Halloween is almost upon us, it may interest readers to learn that a Northern protestant living in Belfast during the Irish War of Independence once thought it appropriate to burn an effigy of Eamon de Valera on a bonfire.
In late May 1921, general election celebrations at the home of Mr and Mrs E.A. Robinson, JP took a highly unusual form. According to a report published in the Freeman's Journalon June 1st of that year, Mr Robinson first congratulated "the Unionists of the district on the assistance they had given Sir James Craig during the election", after which his wife was "chaired" to an adjoining field where a bonfire was being prepared.
"A mock trial", the report continues, "was then staged, where Mr de Valera was indicted, found guilty, and condemned to death by burning. The Republican leader's effigy was then saturated with oil and placed on the burning wood. Finally, the 'Dead March' was played."
Ironically, Sir Edward Carson had spoken of his supposed enemy in surprisingly positive terms in February 1921 when he said to a British news reporter: "North and South to-day are further apart than they ever were, but Mr de Valera might bring them together".
- Yours, etc,
FRANK BOUCHIER-HAYES, Gortboy, Newcastle West, Co Limerick.