Sir, – Barbara Scully's charming memoir does not add up ("Inviting the British back to the GPO", News Review, May 17th). First, Gen Cuthbert Lucas was captured by the IRA in June 1920, not June 1922 as stated in her article. Second, she describes some rough handling by the Cork No 2 Brigade and then quotes Lucas's famous remark, after he was allowed to escape, about being treated as a gentleman by gentlemen. His whereabouts during the intervening period, when he was ferried across the Shannon, is not even mentioned. Without invoking the competitive mind of Munster hurling, Lucas was treated as a gentleman in Clare and not in Cork. He was handed over to Commandant Michael Brennan of the East Clare Brigade. Brennan arranged a channel of communication between Lucas and his wife, who was ill in Britain. Furthermore, Lucas was held as a guest of the nation in safe houses, including the Bunratty home of my cousin, Ernest Corbett, who played bridge with the general into the early hours while sharing a daily bottle of whiskey with him. This article illustrates the problem of using history to promote a political agenda. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN Ó CATHAOIR,
Ryecroft,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.