Sir, – In her otherwise splendid article on the Irish National War Memorial Gardens ("Garden of tranquility" Magazine, August 16th), Fionnuala Fallon states that Charles Frederick Ball, assistant keeper of the Botanical Gardens, was "pushed" to enlist in the 7th Royal Dublin Fusiliers by a white feather that came from an anonymous source. This appears to contradict the fact that Charles had enlisted in September 1914 with the other volunteers from the Irish Rugby Football Union. As the war was only a month old, it seems unlikely that a white feather would influence a man with Charles's record and proven ability. He was already in training when the dean of St Patrick's Cathedral exhorted Irish women to "shun those who would not volunteer for service, to visit them with severest disapproval, and when they expect a smile, just look them straight in the face and turn away", as reported in your paper on November 20th, 1914. This may have led to a white feather campaign that sent other young men to their death.
May they all rest in peace. – Yours, etc,
SEAN CONNOLLY,
Brookwood Lawn,
Artane,
Dublin 5.