Madam, - Your splendid supplement on the 1916 Rising included a striking, action-packed photograph captioned: "Fog of war: government troops and rebels shoot at each other on a narrow smoke-filled street as an overturned cart burns during the Easter Rising in 1916".
The picture attracted my attention for two reasons: I had never seen it before, and there was something suspiciously "stagey" about its composition. Then my Kilkennyman's eye caught a detail in the corner: a Kilkenny licence plate IP 7616 (or possibly 7816) tossed on to a burning barricade.
I rang Kilkenny County Council and was put through to Mr Michael Shorthall, a resident expert on vehicle licensing. I gave him the two possible versions of the number. He was back to me within half-an-hour. IP 7616 was a Massey-Ferguson tractor and IP 7818 was a Ford 10 car. Both vehicles were registered in 1952.
Looking closely at the picture, once can see a large crowd of onlookers loitering in the background. Dubliners casually observing history unfold, or curious onlookers watching the action after the cameras have begun to roll? If the latter, what's the movie? - Yours, etc,
PAT COOKE, Curator, Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin 8.
The photograph in question was supplied by Getty Images, one of the world's leading photographic agencies. In response to a query from The Irish Times on foot of Mr Cooke's letter, Getty contacted its New York office to check the origins of the picture. On the basis of that check, it said that, as far as it was aware, the picture was authentic.
However, Mr Shortall of Kilkenny County Council confirmed to The Irish Times that the registration number in the picture - IP 7816 - relates to a Ford 10 car registered in the county on May 8th, 1952. - Ed, IT