Tipperary's Lost Leader PIERCE McCAN [1882-1919] An interesting collection of autograph signed letters, 1915-19, from and concerning this major Republican figure from Co. Tipperary, who died in...

Tipperary's Lost Leader PIERCE McCAN [1882-1919] An interesting collection of autograph signed letters, 1915-19, from and concerning this major Republican figure from Co. Tipperary, who died in Gloucester Prison in England during the influenza epidemic of 1918-19, after a doctor had possibly dosed him too strongly with strychnine. The letters are mostly addressed to McCan's friend Joan Jennings (Siubhan Nic Seain), of Eccles St. in Dublin, who shared his religious devotion and his interests in Republican politics and the Irish language, and helped him with various projects. These letters, which have recently come to light, are evidently related to a similar collection sold at Adams/Mealys Independence sale 2008, lot 671. There are 17 letters in all, some with associated envelopes: nine ALS from Pierce McCan to Joan Jennings, three of them from detention (one a short note on a slip); six ALS from Jane McCan (Pierce's mother) to Joan mostly after Pierce's death; one from his brother Francis; and a TLS from George Roberts of Maunsel to Pierce McCan, October 1916, concerning a work in Irish by Padraic O Conaire which MacCan was seeking to have published; presumably Pierce sent this letter to Joan for her comments. There is also a telegram from Pierce to Joan, 1915, arranging as meeting, and three incomplete letters (lacking opening pages) from Pierce to Joan. Joan's letters to Pierce and his mother are not present. Pierce McCan's letters show his sunny disposition, his deep religious faith, his interest in the Irish language and the Gaeltacht, and in the prison letters, his frustration as his detention continued with no end in sight; in prison his principal consolation appears to be submission to the will of God. In his last letter, 3 November 1918, he mentions the influenza outbreak that killed him only a few weeks later. There is of course no political discussion in these prison letters. Four of Pierce's letters are in very competent Irish, one of them written from the Kerry Gaeltacht. Mrs. McCan's letters give the impression that she was herself a significant personality. In September 1918, after Pierce's second arrest, she writes, 'As for me I have no reason to love Sinn Fein. It has brought me only sorrow, anxiety and disappointment, & poor Pierce - he has lost position, means & liberty. You may see I am not a true patriot - as I don't think any country is worth all this suffering.' The later letters show that even her deep religious faith is not enough to soften her bitter grief at Pierce's early death. 'Pray for me when you pray for him', she asks Joan on 27 Sept. 1919. 'Eternity is very close now, and I have a long account to settle. I would not be sorry for life, but I fear death.' There are various references to Padraic O Conaire's book of stories for children, Tir na nIongantas, which Pierce wished to have published. He subscribed ?50 to that end, but the matter was left unsettled at his death and Mrs. McCan apparently relied on Joan Jennings to sort it out. Peirce McCan came of a well-to-do and respected farming family near Cashel, Co. Tipperary. He was head of the local Irish Volunteer unit, but MacNeill's countermanding order prevented him from joining the Rising. He was nevertheless arrested afterwards and detained for some time, and was again arrested in 1918. He died suddenly of influenza in Gloucester Prison early in 1919, possibly aggravated by incorrect treatment (see Mrs. McCan's letter dated 24 June 1919). His funeral was one of the largest ever seen in Tipperary. As a collection, w.a.f. (1)

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