Sir, – In his interesting account of the Irish lineage of the poet Robert Graves, your correspondent Dr John Doherty suggests that “perhaps his heritage helped him survive the physical and psychological challenges he encountered during his 90 years”.
While Graves may have appreciated his distinguished Irish antecedents, he appears to have had little appreciation for the land from whence they came as, referring to his Irish-born father in Goodbye to All That, he states that "he broke the geographical connection with Ireland, for which I cannot be too grateful to him".
– Yours, etc,
BRIDÍN GILROY
Harold’s Cross,
Dublin 6W.
