May and James's Love Letters during the Rising

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?

Listen to Tessa Finn, talk about and read from the extraordinary exchange of love letters between her grandparents which took place during the turbulent year of the Rising.  The letters provide an intimate glimpse into the lives of two people growing in love, not involved in the conflict but touched by it in many ways.

These letters have now been reproduced in a book published by Tessa, Letters - May & James: a private love in a revolutionary year-1916 which is available to borrow from Dublin City Public Libraries.

May and James's Love Letters during the Rising - Transcript

Recorded at Rathmines Library on 25 August 2016 as part of our Heritage Week 2016 Programme.