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Condolences and Funerals

Online gallery of documents relating to the repatriation of Roger Casement's remains to Ireland, March 1965

The gallery below consists of documents which have been selected from files in the National Archives of Ireland relating to the repatriation of Roger Casement's remains to Ireland and subsequent burial in Glasnevin in March 1965.

In order to view enlarged versions of each image together with its associated explanatory caption and reference number, please double-click on the image itself or on the caption beneath - the commentary also linked beneath can be double-clicked to learn more about the historical context of the document in question.

When the new window opens, click on the expand-window icon (the 'central square' in the illustration) to expand the window to full-size.

The files are also available for consultation in the Reading Room of the National Archives.

Draft latter from Taoiseach Eamon de Valera to Sir Winston Churchill regarding the law on repatriation	Extract from the Official Report of the Debates of the House of Commons	Extract from the Tablet and annotations dealing with the disputed issue of whether Casement had been buried in a coffin or not	Extract from Dáil Debates, giving a brief history of the lengthy efforts made by the Irish Government to have Casement's remains repatriated
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Letter from Harold MacMillan to Taoiseach Sean Lemass, refusing to repatriate Casement's remains	Letter from Frank Aiken, Minister for External Affairs, to Taoiseach Sean Lemass, reporting the 1959 purchase of a plot in Glasnevin cemetery for Casement's remains	Letter from Duncan Sandys, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, to the Taoiseach, referring to "very great difficulties over the return of the remains"	Letter from Harold Wilson to Taoiseach Sean Lemass, promising review of the repatriation issue
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Extract from the Irish Independent detailing a precedent, the case of Major John André, for repatriation of remains	Text of proposed letter from Taoiseach Sean Lemass to Harold Wilson, announcing the government's intention to re-inter Casement's remains in Glasnevin cemetery	Letter from Prime Minister Wilson to Taoiseach Sean Lemass, agreeing to the return of Casement's remains	Department of the Taoiseach letter to the Office of Public Works on protocol for the Casement funeral
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