Madam, - Charles Lysaght (August 22nd) expresses his father's view that Cathal Brugha's life could have been saved, had he received first aid at the scene. In my opinion that is not correct. It was my own father, Arthur M. Clohissey, as a member of St John's Ambulance Brigade, who intervened while on a call to a fire at nearby stables.
He and his colleagues approached the wounded Cathal Brugha within seconds of the shooting and administered first aid to the best of their ability. As he recalled, the wound was so severe that making the dying man comfortable and organising evacuation was their priority.
He went to the hospital later to retrieve his coat, which had covered Cathal Brugha, and was informed of Brugha's death. The St John's Ambulance Brigade were magnificent during that horrible Civil War. - Yours, etc,
BRIAN C. CLOHISSEY,
Woodquay,
Tuam,
Galway.