Letter from Seán Nunan to Frederick H. Boland (Dublin)

In one of the clippings from the Irish Press, the 19th I think, which came to hand yesterday by air mail, there is an interview with Mrs. Kathleen (Boland) O'Donovan¹ concerning the Russian jewels² and, as you will see, her statement differs from my memory of the matter as cabled to you the other day.

The report states that the late Harry Boland³ returned to Ireland on St. Stephen's Day, 1921. This is wrong, as we came back together and on Stephen's Day we were in New York at a farewell dinner given by a group of friends at the McAlpin Hotel, at which a presentation of a silver loving cup was made to Harry and a silver cigar box to me. Mine is inscribed with the date - 26th December 1921 - and I think Harry's cup was, also.

We left New York on the 27th of December, and arrived in Dublin about the 5th or 6th of January, 1922. That, however, is a minor matter. What disturbs me is that my memory of what happened to the jewels, after we got to Dublin, differs so much from Kathleen's, as I distinctly remember going with Harry into Mick Collins'⁴ office at Earlsfort Terrace (the Dáil was debating the Treaty at the time of our arrival) and seeing Harry hand the packet to Mick. What happened to the packet after that, I cannot say. It may have been that Mick gave them back to Harry for some reason and that he then brought them to his house.

The description of the pieces given by Kathleen - particularly the cluster - fits in perfectly with my memory of them.

I mention this matter, not to contradict Kathleen, but to try to get the whole picture straight.

[handwritten postscript by Nunan]
Kathleen (Boland) O'Donovan confirmed to me on the 26/4/50 that my memory of this transaction was correct so far as the handing over to Collins of the jewels was concerned. She added that later that night, Harry and Mick had a disagreement and that Mick gave the jewels and the receipt which he had previously given to Harry - back to him.