Letter from Seán MacBride to Archbishop John D'Alton (Armagh)

My dear Lord Archbishop,
I am very indebted to Your Grace for Your Grace's kind letter and enclosed cheque for £100.0.0. I handed the cheque to the Nuncio yesterday and asked him to transmit it; I have also notified by cable our Ambassador to the Holy See of Your Grace's generous gift.

I had long talks with our Ambassador recently and know how pleased he will be to learn of Your Grace's gift and to the publicity Your Grace gave to Professor Gedda's appeal. He feels that with some financial assistance Professor Gedda's organisation will be able to effectively combat much of the Communist propaganda.

I respectfully agree with Your Grace that it is a pity that this appeal was not launched several months ago. Perhaps the danger of the situation was not fully appreciated until the last few weeks. I have been in close touch with His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, who has been able, through his close contacts here in Dublin to raise speedily a substantial sum which will be of valuable help. I realised when I took the liberty of writing to Your Grace that owing to the shortness of time the effort to raise immediate aid would have to be practically limited to Dublin.

I am extremely indebted to Your Grace for having responded so generously to this appeal and for the assistance which Your Grace has given to me in this matter.

I have been extremely busy since I took over my new office and have been working very hard. I must say that I feel very lonely for my law work, which I liked. I should be very indebted to Your Grace if Your Grace would say a prayer asking God to give me the wisdom necessary to carry out my new duties well and faithfully.

I trust that if at any time any matter arises upon which Your Grace feels disposed to give me advice, formally or informally, that Your Grace will not hesitate to do so. I shall always welcome advice and will be entirely at Your Grace's disposal.