LETITIA and Naomi Overend were two Dublin sisters who steered clear of controversy - they were 36 and 16 respectively in 1916 - but who nevertheless devoted themselves to humanitarian work over this period. Letitia gave much of her time and indeed her life to the St John's Ambulance Brigade and both of them went daily to the Irish War Hospital Depot in Merrion Square during the first World War where they parcelled up bandages, cigarettes and socks for the troops. During the Rising, they looked after the wounded on both sides.
Their parents, Lily and Trevor, a well known Dublin solicitor, indulged their daughters' passion for cars, presenting Letitia with a 1927 Rolls Royce tourer and Naomi with a 1936 Austin Tickford. Ardent motorists, both were well known around the Dublin suburb of Dundrum and they bequeathed their home there to a charitable trust. It is now developing an educational and recreational programme to serve the community and reflect the sisters desire that the 50 acres which make up the Airfield Estate be maintained. To date, it has survived urban development though it is surrounded by a housing estate.
Recently appointed executive officer Maggie Giraud, who comes to Airfield from the Dartington Hall Trust in Devon, has plenty of ideas but is also seeking suggestions from interested groups. "The Overend sisters were great friends of the Yeats sisters who had their Cuala Press just down the road, so one idea we're looking at is the setting up of a small, local press. There's also the possibility of turning the library into a performance space - it opens straight onto the walled garden. What we want to do, above all, is keep the activities locally based. We don't want imported potters or glass blowers. It's all got to be relevant to here."
The grounds and Victorian greenhouse will also be developed - the staff includes a plants man - for the sisters wanted especially that this should be done. In their time, they had a Jersey herd which they were proud of and the Trust is looking at the possibility of restarting this. The greenhouse, with its fern grotto and melon house, is being restored and the planting schemes, already in place, should have Airfield looking splendid by next season. During their lifetime, Letitia and Naomi encouraged local children to come onto the estate so that they could get a feel for life on a farm, and this tradition has been maintained with local schools.
All in all, Airfield looks set to implement a programme that will be a resource for the neighbourhood while at the same time being a tribute to the generosity of the two sisters, neither of whom married. Letitia died in 1977 and Naomi in 1993.
