Sir, - Kevin Myers refers to James Larkin being "infamously jailed for a year for embezzlement" (An Irishman's Diary, October 30th).
This might be taken to imply that Larkin had embezzled funds for his personal use.In August 1909 Larkin and three members of the Cork branch of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union were accused of conspiracy to defraud. The case against them was that money had been collected from Cork dockers, who were members of the National Union of Dock Labourers, under false pretences, because there was not a properly constituted branch of that union in Cork, and that there had been misappropriation of these moneys at the time, because some of the £147 had been sent to Dublin carters in support of their strike in November 1908.When Larkin stood trial before the Co Dublin common jury (composed of farmers, businessmen and retired military men) in June 1910, the indictment covered 24 counts, including criminal conspiracy to false pretences and misappropriation. He was found guilty on four counts and sentenced to a year's hard labour.A memorial to the Lord Lieutenant seeking Larkin's release was signed by the Lords Mayor of Dublin and Cork, six MPs and the chairman of the Bench of Magistrates in Cork, together with other prominent citizens.Lord Aberdeen ordered Larkin's release after he had served three months of the sentence. The Freeman's Journal commented that the release, "causes no surprise because although technically he had broken the law he was guilty of no moral turpitude" and that the sentence was altogether disproportionate to the offence. - Yours, etc.,T. MORIARTY,Irish Labour History Museum,Beggars Bush,Dublin 4.