A chara, – Patrick Bury's opinion piece ("How the rebels could have won", March 17th) omits any reference to the most experienced military man on the rebels' side, Maj John MacBride.
When he advised Peadar Kearney and others to leave Jacob’s factory before the surrender, MacBride was critical of the military tactics saying,“Liberty is a priceless thing and any of you that sees a chance, take it. I’d do so myself, but my liberty days are over. Good luck boys. Many of you may live to fight some other day. Take my advice and never allow yourself to be cooped up inside the walls of a building again”.
MacBride had co-led the Irish Transvaal Brigade, which fought against the British for the first year of the second Boer War. He was too well-known to the British to be a member of the [rebel’s] military council.
– Yours, etc,
ANTHONY J JORDAN
Sandymount,
Dublin 4