The Irish Inheritance: A Jayne Sinclair Genealogical Mystery by M J Lee

Author:M J Lee [Lee, M J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-06-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

Dublin. November 18, 2015.

She switched the machine off. So Declan Fitzgerald and Michael Dowling were good friends. Were they the DF and the MD in the inscription?

Don't jump to conclusions, Jayne, examine the evidence. Remember what happened in the Yorkshire Ripper case. Six months of wasted activity, even interviewing Peter Sutcliffe and letting him go, all because the copper in charge was convinced the Ripper was a Geordie.

She corrected herself. The man in the inscription was probably Michael Dowling. Now she had to find evidence that linked Michael Dowling, a man in the Irish Volunteers, with a British soldier killed in Flanders in 1918. But what could it be? She didn't have an answer to that question yet and wondered if it would ever come to her.

Captain Ellis was hovering behind her. 'Did you find what you were looking for Mrs Sinclair?'

'I think so. Or at least part of the answer. Declan Fitzgerald mentions Michael Dowling in his witness statement. They were obviously close.'

'From what I know and have researched, they were comrades in arms. Went to UCD together and fought in the Rising together. Dowling was slightly wounded and they both ended up being interned in Frongoch.'

'What's Frongoch?'

The Captain laughed. 'A place in Wales. You could say it was the University of Irish Freedom.'

'I don't understand.'

'After the Rising, most of the participants were sent across to England and interned around the country. The more dangerous, or what the Brits believed were the more dangerous, were sent to an old German POW camp in North Wales at a place called Frongoch.'

'How can I find out more?'

'I don't know. We have a few bits and pieces here. But I guess any records that exist will be held in London at the National Archives.'

'Thank you for your help. Could I get a printout of these pages?'

'No problem. You know Declan Fitzgerald's daughter is still alive?'

Jayne sat up in her chair. 'How can I find her?'

'I remember her coming to the launch of the archives. She's an old lady but still active in the movement.'

'Active?'

Captain Ellis laughed again. 'Like her da, she's still fighting for a united Ireland. Even after the Accord, she was writing to the papers, denouncing the 'treachery'.'

'How could I get hold of her?'

'She's in the directory, I think. Lives out Ballsbridge way, never married as far as I know, except to the cause, of course. Hang on a minute, I'll find the address for you.'

He went back to his desk and pulled out a telephone directory. 'I still like these 'oul things. An archivist and his bits of paper.' He flicked through the thin pages, stopping at F and scanning his finger down the page. 'Here she is. Ellen Fitzgerald. There's the number. I'll print out the pages for you while you make the call.'

She dialled the number on the page. A home number. Maybe the woman was only the one that used landlines these days. She couldn't remember the last time she had used hers.

A querulous voice answered the phone.

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