Historic discovery:  100-year-old letter found behind war memorial in Limerick

A MOST intriguing discovery has been made in an historic building in the heart of Limerick.​

A letter dating back to January 14, 1921, was discovered by Craig Copley-Brown and Kieran Sparling, the trustees of the Limerick Protestant Young Men’s Association, or the LPYMA building in O’Connell Street.

The pair made the discovery when they were inspecting the Great War memorial on the top floor of the three-storey Georgian complex.

The order on the front is for the letter “to be opened by a responsible person”.

We’re intrigued and excited: we have just discovered this envelope behind an inscription plate on our Great War Memorial! “To be opened by some responsible person, when found.” 14th of January 1921. pic.twitter.com/LfuUmLvEv1

— LPYMA (@TheLPYMA) November 4, 2020

While it was initially planned to open it this Wednesday, November 11 – Armistice Day – it is felt it is more appropriate to open the letter on the exact date of the centenary, which is January 14 next.

The discovery has left Craig and Kieran both “intrigued and excited”.

Taking up the story as to how it was found, Kieran said: “Craig and I had been discussing with the other trustees about putting this memorial in a more prominent place in the hall. Just so people visiting the building can see it, enjoy it, and see the history which is there.”

“We always have to do our homework before we propose anything, so we decided to do a recce, look around it. Thankfully Craig had a pen-knife with a screw on it, so we were able to open the plaque up,” he said.

The reason the pair went for the plaque was it was the only place they could see a screw visible.

“Our guess was if we opened up that screw, perhaps a fixture to the wall was behind,” Kieran said.

Incredibly, when the memorial was moved upstairs in the late 1990s, the letter remained undisturbed behind the plaque. Mystery surrounds what’s inside the letter, but Kieran joked: “We’ve work to do here, so it’d be nice if there was €5,000 inside!”

Given the political times we are in, others had suggested that it could be a US mail-in election ballot!

Craig thinks the envelope is signed by an HJ Arnett, who was a sculptor based in Oxford.

However, he was mentioned in the Limerick Chronicle in the late 1890s, which suggests he was over here at some point.

The temptation is huge to open it, they admit.

“But the overarching thing is we just wanted to share the idea of this with people, to let them know we have found it. It’s hard to know what it is. It might not be anything that precious. But it’s nearly 100 years, and it feels like it’s worth waiting a little longer to do this in the right way,” Kieran concluded.

And it’s hoped the discovery will lead to renewed interest in the activities of the LPYMA in the city.