I have on various occasions been tempted to write a letter to the paper, the most recent, about the drinking habits of the French, to the Irish Times last year was not deemed worthy of publication.
However I have now been granted the next best thing, a letter about my piece about my ancestor William Martin Murphy was published in last Thursday’s Irish Times.

For those of you who may have missed it I quote it below in full and convey thanks to Mr. Kett for at last getting my name on to the letters page.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

A whited sepulchre

Madam,
In his portrayal of his great-great-granduncle,
William Martin Murphy (Magazine December 6th),
Martin Dwyer writes: “Being a devout Catholic,
he was instrumental in blackening Parnell’s name
when the affair with Kitty O’Shea was exposed. .
. There is no doubt that he exploited and underpaid
many of his workers.”
Could one paint a more revealing picture of a
whited sepulchre?

– Yours, etc,

DESMOND KETT,
Kilbarrack Gardens,
Dublin 5.