Sir, – Your review of Gemma Clark's new book Everyday Violence in the Irish Civil War about the wanton destruction of "big houses" by anti-treaty or sectarian criminal elements in 1921-22 ("The campaign of fire", September 6th) brought to mind an official notice at Woodstock House, Co Kilkenny.
Woodstock had been occupied by the Black and Tans during the War of Independence, and subsequently by Free State forces. However, it was unoccupied on the night of July 2nd, 1922, when it and its contents were destroyed.
Today in public ownership, Woodstock Gardens are a nice place to visit, even if resources do not permit their maintenance or restoration to the extent merited. The shell of the big house remains. An official noticeboard by the car-park sets out its history.
But this notice omits who torched it, and implies that the “Tans” were somehow to blame. Albeit chronologically correct, it states coyly that, “The main house was burnt in 1922 after the building had been occupied by ‘Black and Tan’ troops.” – Yours, etc,
COLUM KENNY,
Herbert Terrace,
Bray, Co Wicklow.