Madam, - During a recent visit to the refurbished Mount Jerome Cemetery in Harolds Cross, Dublin, I saw with sadness the Sir William Wilde vault with the several family members' names inscribed on it.
In addition to Sir William are the names of his wife, Jane Francesca Lady Wilde (Speranza of The Nation), William Wilde (barrister and journalist), Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (poet, wit and dramatist), Isola Wilde, Emily and John Flynn.
It was so sad to see the great Oscar's name on the gravestone, knowing that his body is in fact buried far away in a corner of a Paris cemetery and that so many of his fellow country men with similar human problems nowadays are alive and can finish their days buried in their family graves with dignity in their native land of Ireland.
Is it not time that we disinterred this harmless, wondrous figure from our literary past and brought him back to lie with his family in the grave with his name already inscribed thereon ready for his reception?
As a people we can perform such wonderful works. Let us now show what we can do for this deserving cause. - Yours, etc.,
JAMES MARTIN, Rathdown Avenue, Dublin 6.