Sir, - Let us hope that the knowledge which John Cooney displayed in his article on John Charles McQuaid (April 4th) exceeds the knowledge which he displays by the remark: "in 1965 McQuaid had become internationally infamous as an ecclesiastical Canute." This seems to be a perpetuation of the erroneous idea that Canute attempted to stop the tide flowing.
I cannot speak for the late archbishop, but I do know that Canute did not try to stop the tide. He was demonstrating to the shower of sycophants around him that neither he, nor anyone else on earth, could stop the tides. As John Cooney mentions sycophancy a few times, I'm surprised that this little fact escaped him.
I wrote a similar letter about a year ago when another learned contributor of yours perpetrated a similar error. Poor King Canute. Why do so many get it wrong? - Yours, etc.,
Jim Dawson,
Greenpark Avenue, South Circular Road, Limerick.