Sir, - Annie Murphy did an immense service to our society by revealing publicly that the father of her son was Bishop Eamon Casey, and that he neglected his responsibilities as a father. In telling her story her primary motivation was to do right by her son. When her book, Forbidden Fruit, was published, she braved a hostile media, showing in the process that she was a substantial person.
By contrast, the treatment she received at the hands of various Irish Times columnists has been patronising and unfair. Medhb Ruane's column of January 25th is only the most recent subtle hatchet job.
Medhb Ruane says that the tragic fury of Annie Murphy's life never quite matched the kind of tragic fury that patience and discipline could turn into great art. What pretentiousness! Is Ms Murphy to be judged against the standards of great artists? And what basis is there for assuming that her life is a tragedy?
Towards the end of her column, speaking about Ms Murphy and Phylis Hamilton as they appeared on the Later with Clare McKeown programme, Medhb Ruane says: "One wondered if the President should award them purple hearts for being front-line soldiers in the battle that made yesterday the past." The unwarranted cynicism of this remark speaks for itself but the statement is simply wrong.
The task of understanding how Catholicism shaped Irish culture has still not been faced up to. It cannot be so lightly dismissed. What progress has been made owes more to the basic integrity of Irish Americans such as Frank McCourt (author of Angela's Ashes), Annie Murphy and, most recently, the Quinn family (through the movie This Is My Father) than to our native intelligentsia. - Yours, etc., David Alvey,
Corrig Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin.