First World War soldier's warning of 'a deuce of a bust-up' discovered in Tipperary home

Denis Kenny, from Thurles, was astonished to read the letter which appears to reference plans for the Battle of Passchendaele

Denis Kenny reads his granduncle Jim Maher’s handwritten letters from the First World War, the ink now so faded it is barely legible. Discovered during a recent family home clear-out near Thurles, the letters have been carefully deciphered to preserve Maher’s final messages from the front. Picture: Chani Anderson

A chilling prediction about one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War, anticipating “a deuce of a bust-up in a short time”, has been discovered in a letter unearthed during a house clear-out in Tipperary.

Denis Kenny, from Thurles, was astonished to read the "bust-up" warning that features in one of two letters written by his late granduncle Jim Maher, and which appears to reference plans for the Battle of Passchendaele.