Prior-Wandesforde Gift of Great War Letters.

Mr and Mrs. Peter Prior-Wandesforde have made an outright gift to Kilkenny Archives Ltd  of the letters of Lt. Christopher Prior-Wandesforde (1897-1917) which were written from the trenches of France and Flanders to his family at Castlecomer House. Also included in this very valuable gift are the letters of Christopher’s father, Captain Richard Prior-Wandesforde who served until illness forced his retirement after the death of his eldest son.

Captain Richard Prior-Wandesforde and his son Lt. Christopher Prior-Wandesforde.

Captain Richard Prior-Wandesforde (known as ‘Wandy’) because of his age could have escaped front-line duty but he choose not to do so.  After the war the letters of their lost son were carefully kept and some of them were annotated by the grieving parents. The last letter written by Lt. Christopher to his mother, arrived in Castlecomer a few days after his death: to-day the envelope bears the inscription ‘my beloved first-born’s last letter home’. Many an Irish home had similar experiences during the 1914-1918 period.

Captain Richard Prior-Wandesford and his wife, Florence, on their wedding day.

Lt. Christopher Prior-Wandesforde and his younger brother Lt. Ferdinand Prior-Wandesforde, from Kilkenny Families in the Great War, by Brannigan & Kirwan, 2012, pp. 330-1.

Christmas Card, 1915.

Christmas Card, 1915.