IRELAND – COUNTESS MARKIEVICZ Autograph letter signed ('your affectionate unknown cousin Constance de Markievicz') to her Australian cousin, Eva Cumming, pleased 'to find that I have a cousin who is sympathetic & feels the same intense love for our country that I do', talking of the Gore-Booth family and a remarkable family resemblance ('Another curious coincidence is that my sisters name is Eva... There is a curious likeness to my sister in your Photo... but you appear to be dark whereas she is very fair & much thinner...'), describing how she has been 'on the run since last December... The English have lately organised a terrible force to try & exterminate us. We call them the 'Black & Tans'... They have just looted & burnt down Balbriggan, a small town near Dublin – murdering two men in a most brutal manner. They forced their way in to a Dublin hotel two nights ago, & murdered a visitor in his bed. He was Mr Lynch a member of the County Council at Kilmallock, a Sinn Feiner of course...', but finding hope in the people of Ireland ('quite undaunted & determined to win out...'), concluding 'I wish you all knew what we are going through & I know that every just man & woman through the world would instantaneously hold up the English & insist on our being left to carry on our Republic & rule our people as they deserve to be ruled in an orderly & just manner... trading with other nations, & living amicably with all men...', 4 numbered leaves, written on recto only, some wear with small pin holes at folds on page 4, 4to (260 x 195mm.), Liberty Hall, Dublin, [probably written 25/26 September 1920] Footnotes: 'THE SAME INTENSE LOVE FOR OUR COUNTRY': Constance Markievicz writes of her hopes for an independent Ireland to an Australian cousin with a shared sympathy for the Irish Republican cause. This long and heartfelt letter is written at what she calls a 'terrible time' for her and the Republicans, particularly due to the creation of the so-called 'Black and Tans' in 1920; as she explains 'They are ex officers & are dressed partially in khaki & partially in the Black of the Policeman' and were notorious for their brutality, sub-judice killings, arson and looting. Having been sentenced to death for her involvement in the Easter Rising of 1916 (she was second-in-command of a troop in the Irish Citizen Army), Markievicz was released in the general amnesty of June 1917, only being spared the firing squad by virtue of her sex. She spent the reminder of her life 'on the run' and in and out of prison. In fact she was in prison in 1918 when she became the first woman elected to the British parliament although, like all Sinn Fein MPs, she refused to take her seat. Our letter is undated, but Markievicz mentions she is writing two nights after the British attack on the town of Balbriggan on 23 September 1920 and the murder of John Lynch in the Royal Exchange Hotel the same night, Lynch supposedly being in Dublin to hand over £23,000 in subscriptions to Michael Collins. It can therefore be assumed that it was written around 25 or 26 September 1920. The heading indicates that it was written from Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising, a building of great significance to the Republicans and the meeting point for rebels before their march on the General Post Office in 1916 (Markievicz had also run a soup kitchen there with Maude Gonne during the 1913 lock out). It was badly damaged by naval shelling during the rising and several accounts suggest that Liberty Hall was completely demolished. However, the more recent view is that it was restored and reoccupied following the uprising, which would be confirmed by the fact that Markievicz appears to be sheltering there at this time. Markievicz's fame as Irish republican, suffragist and radical had clearly reached Australia and touched a chord with the large Irish community overseas. Both the events mentioned in the letter were widely reported in Australian newspapers in the last months of 1920 (see for example 'A Letter from the Old Land', Southern Cross, 3 December 1920). Despite the difficulties of her situation, Markievicz responds to her hitherto unknown relative's letter with great warmth and interest, particularly as the cousin appears to have expressed her support for the Irish republican movement. Eva Cumming's unsolicited letter and photograph has clearly piqued her curiosity to discover more about her Australian connections; 'I wish you could find out more about the first Gore Booth who went to Australia. Robert was a family name... have you any old papers? Certificates, letters or Pictures or books? It would be so interesting...' and remarks on the physical similarity between her correspondent and her sister and namesake Eva Gore-Booth, 'She has the same straight brows & rather high forehead... but you appear to be dark whereas she is very fair. & much thinner...'; the 'gazelle' of W.B. Yeats' poem 'The light of evening, Lissadell,/ Great windows open to the south,/ Two girls in silk kimonos both,/ Beautiful, one a gazelle' (In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Constance Markievicz, 1927). Eva Mary Cumming died in Sydney in 1985 and would have been nineteen years old at the time of this correspondence. The letter has remained with the family until now. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com