Sir, - You recently published a letter, of mysterious provenance, allegedly written by Roger Casement to the late Jack Kelly. Mr Kelly was on his way to Mallow when the supposed incident at Limerick Junction occurred. It may be of interest to your readers to learn of the experiences of a like-minded individual at Mallow station on the same day:
"I saw Casement at Mallow station on Easter Sunday, 1916. I was going to Cork in connection with the Irish Volunteers. I was very `keyed up' for I expected arrest at any moment. I had a .22 R run in my pocket - which I intended to use. When I entered the platform I looked right and left for any local RIC, but not one was in sight. But near the present bookstall I saw a tall man standing between four RIC men; two were sitting and two were standing, and all had carbines. The prisoner stood perfectly erect. He had on a Scotch fishing cap, but the flaps were not over his ears.
"I had heard of the arrest at Banna Strand in Kerry, and, at first, I thought the man was a German. One of the seated policemen said something to him, and as he replied he smiled. I thought from his expression that he wasn't a German but an Irishman. I hadn't the faintest idea he was Roger Casement - it was a quick piece of deduction. But I have always been a student of Sherlock Holmes.
"Circumstanced as I was I kept a respectful distance - about 10 or 12 yards. But I never took my eyes from the group. I got into the train for Cork and watched through the window. The Dublin train ran in, the seated RIC stood and motioned the prisoner towards the footbridge. I looked out of the window and saw them climb the footbridge. I have read nearly everything pertaining to Casement, all the letters that appeared in The Irish Times and other papers - about 50 in all. He was a noble soul and his investigation in the Congo showed that Belgian imperialism was just as bad as any other."
This letter was sent to the late Brigadier Maurice Denham Jephson, a distant relative of Casement's mother, and was signed "SENEX". When I used it (in the mid-1960's) it was at Mallow Castle but has since, I am informed, been deposited with other Jephson Papers, in the National Library of Ireland.
At much the same time I discovered that the letter-writer had written an almost identically worded letter to Alfred Noyes, over the signature "D. J. Hegarty". It was dated 28th May, 1957 and is to be found amongst the Alfred Noyes Papers on the Isle of Wight.
Is it too much to ask that your correspondent tell us where his Casement letter may be found? "Essex" is unhelpful. As its wording is now in the public domain, why not allow it to be authenticated to some degree - perhaps by supplying The Irish Times with a photo-copy? For my part, I find its phraseology rather dubious, but sight of the MS or a good copy might go some way towards convincing me. - Yours, etc.,
Roger Sawyer, Darts Lane, Bembridge, Isle of Wight.