Sir, – Frank McNally's piece on Dan Browne, one of the "Men of the South" in Keating's painting, refers to Browne's grim demeanour ("Pen portrait – The 1922 diary of one of Seán Keating's 'Men of the South'", An Irishman's Diary, December 21st. This is ascribed wittily, if a little unfairly, by Keating to Browne's training to be a parish priest. It should be borne in mind that Browne, in his thirties, was a good 10 years older than most of his comrades. This alone would have given him a deeper awareness of what they had faced and were about to face in the struggles of the time.
Not surprisingly, his son remembers him suffering nightmares for years afterwards. A form of PTSD possibly? – Yours, etc,
LEO KEOHANE,
Shannon,
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Co Clare.