Lord Edward’s letter on French landing

Des O'Sullivan reports on the sale of an historic letter detailing plans for French participation in an Irish uprising.

A letter from Lord Edward FitzGerald to his sister Lucy dated December 31, 1796 — reporting that a naval fleet from the First French Republic had left the coast — comes up for sale at Bonhams sale of Fine Books and Manuscripts in London on March 27.

The fleet had left Brest that November with 15,000 soldiers, aiming to land at Bantry Bay and assist the planned rising of the United Irishmen under the command of FitzGerald.

Atrocious weather prevented a French landing and the fleet limped back to port in January.

The terms used in the letter are guarded as the family avoided overt political commentary for their own protection. It is estimated at €700-900.

A first edition of Edward Morgan’s journal of the movement of the French Fleet in Bantry Bay, which is inscribed to Lord Bantry, is estimated at €2,300-€3,500.