Monday, 31st January, 1916
In town again to-day. Called at R.D.F. Bureau
for prisoners, to find out means of sending
parcels to prisoners of War. The Secretary
Miss Hamilton was very nice & gave me a
communication she had this morning from the
Committee in London. It says through the
Bureau de Bon Secour Berne but there is
some regulation about Red Cross Startups which
I do not understand. Bought a khaki shirt
& pair of socks to send you on chance — I do
hope they will reach you.
Had a tea lunch with Aunt Agnes in her rooms
in Grafton Street & had a long chat. She says that
Dicko is feeling the strain very much & now
the Colonel is on his way home he will be left with
almost all strangers.
Long letter from Tommy as his Senior Captain
has gone off to Persian Gulf he now has com—
hand of the Company & is 'busier' but has
better quarters.
On returning home went over to the Castle to say
goodbye to Bernard who is off to France to—night
Short visit from Uncle Charlie & Aunt Sissy.
Beatrice came home this morning from Elm Green
Violet had letter from Gerald Gartland he is quite fit.
(No Reference Available)
Royal Dublin Fusiliers
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers, an Irish infantry regiment in the British Army which fought at Gallipoli, Salonika and on the Western Front. Parts of the regiment also helped suppress the Easter Rising in Dublin. Mary Martin's son, Charles was an officer in the 6th Battalion of the regiment. Mrs Hamilton
Secretary of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Bureau for Prisoners. London
Capital of the United Kingdom and where the Martins had many friends. Bureau de Bon Secour Berne
Order of nursing nuns based in Berne, Switzerland also involved in providing aid to Allied prisoners of war. Comité International de la Croix Rouge (International Committee of the Red Cross)
The Red Cross based in Geneva in Switzerland which provided succour and supplies to prisoners of war in World War One. Agnes née Ross Todd Moore
Wife of Richard Martin (Uncle Dick) who was Mary Martin's brother-in-law. Grafton Street
Upmarket thoroughfare in central Dublin. Richard Martin
Known in the Martin family as Dicko, Richard Martin was the son of Uncle Dick and Aunt Agnes. Thomas Patrick Martin
Born on St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1891 and died in 1954, Thomas Shannon Patrick was Mary Martin's son and was known in the family as Tommy. He served in the 5th Battalion of the Connaught Rangers, a famous Irish regiment of the British Army but survived the war. Monkstown Castle
Family home of William and Frances (Fanny) O'Kelly, a Martin family friend. Bernard O'Kelly
Son of William and Frances O'Kelly and Martin family cousin. A farmer in 1911 according to the census. France
Mary Martin's son, Tommy fought and was wounded on French battlefields. Her daughter Marie nursed in France during the Battle of the Somme. Charles O. Martin
Born in 1871. Mary Martin's brother-in-law, known in the family as Uncle Charlie. He took Marie Martin, Mary's daughter, to the West Indies in 1911 after his wife died (in August 1911). Kathleen Martin
(1873-1926) Mary Martin's sister-in-law known as Sissy in the family. Beatrice Margaret Mary Martin
Born 25 April 1898, Beatrice Margaret Mary, also known as Bee by her family was Mary Mary Martin's daughter. She shared a birthday with her sister Marie. Elm Green
Area in Castleknock, County Dublin. Violet Mary Martin
Born on 29 August 1896, Violet Mary was Mary Martin's daughter. She worked as a nurse during the First World War and later became a Dominican nun. Gerald Gartlan
Captain and staff officer in the Royal Irish Rifles, wounded twice in action on the Western Front. Friend of both Thomas and Charles Martin and romantically attached to Marie, Mary Martin's daughter, until 1917. |