Justice in Ireland

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia

Justice in Ireland is a letter written by Arthur Conan Doyle published in The Daily Chronicle on 9 may 1916.


Justice in Ireland

Sir, — Many will agree with you in your wise remarks as to the danger of creating political martyrs in Ireland. On the other hand you must admit that there have been many cold-blooded murders, and that unless these are sternly punished justice would become a farce. What about the poor old veterans who were shot down without warning before they had ever heard of a revolt? What of the unarmed officers shot in the streets of Dublin? What of the kindly policeman murdered outside the Castle Gate, or the convalescent soldiers killed while pleading for others, or the cabman shot in cold blood outside the Shelbourne Hotel? No pains can be too great to ensure the punishment of the men who did such deeds, but they should be tried not for rebellion, which might put a halo round their memories, but for most cowardly murder.

A. CONAN DOYLE
Windlesham, Crowborough, May 6, 1916.