File 4 - Correspondence re the Chair of Irish at the Catholic University, Washington DC

Letters, memoranda, and printed matter re Fr. Richard Henebry’s appointment to the chair of Irish at the Catholic University in Washington DC. The file includes letters from Fr. Thomas Joseph Shahan, University Rector, re Henebry’s appointment. Shahan wrote ‘The students of your courses are likely, both for Gaelic and Sanskrit, to be persons of considerable culture, graduates of colleges, or people of leisure from the city, which has a population of about ¼ million, mostly government officials and their families’ (21 May 1895). A letter from Fr. Thomas James Conaty, Rector, refers to Henebry’s ill-health (27 Aug. 1900) while a later letter (5 July 1901) informs him that his contract would not be renewed. The file also includes a typescript copy of a statement from Henebry to the board of trustees of the Catholic University stating his educational attainments and stating his case for reappointment to the Chair of Irish. With three copies of a printed leaflet titled ‘Facts for Brother Hibernians / Save the Gaelic Chair and the Honor of Ireland’ (1902).