Extract from a letter from Josephine McNeill to Seán Nunan (Dublin)¹
(18/9)

I have the honour to report that I visited the Taoiseach at the Eye Clinic in Utrecht on Saturday, 20th September. I visited Mr. de Valera between three and four in the afternoon. At that time he was in bed. He had been up for two hours in the morning and was expecting to be up again for an hour or so after I left.

The Taoiseach has come through his ordeal – for the two operations were a severe ordeal – very well. Despite the great skill of Dr. Weve² which reduced the actual pain suffered during the operations (performed with local anaesthetic) to a minimum, nevertheless, the operations which were delicate and necessarily protracted constituted a severe psychological strain. The Taoiseach’s most admirable courage brought him through splendidly and his great patience and fortitude in these present trying days of convalescence are of immense value in helping him to recover from his ordeal.

The bandages are now off the Taoiseach’s eyes. He is wearing large black glasses. These glasses are opaque except for one pin-point of light in the centre of the left eye-glass (left eye is the one affected by the recent operation). This pin-point of light is not for seeing but rather for focussing the affected eye correctly. At the present time therefore it is not possible to say whether the Taoiseach can see more or less than before.

The Taoiseach complains that he is not sleeping very well – but his general condition on the whole continues to be good. On the recommendation of Doctor Weve, Mr. de Valera is to go to a hotel in the country not far from Utrecht someday in the middle of this week for a short convalescence before returning to Ireland.

[matter omitted]

The Taoiseach occupies himself most of the day with affairs of state of his own Department and with political matters. His mind is extremely active and his mental energy remarkable. On Saturday, when I went to see him I gave him a verbal report on the recent developments at Luxembourg and Strasbourg towards European unification which are causing a great stir on the Continent and he was very glad to hear about them.