Letter from Thomas MacGreevy to Ernie O'Malley. 17 February 1947.
24 Fitzwilliam Place,
Dublin.
17th February 1947
Dear Earnán:
J.B.Y. asked me to let you know that Mrs. Jack is seriously ill. She is at PortobelloPortobello Nursing Home was located at the Portobello Bridge on the canal at Camden Street. Both Jack B Yeats and MacGreevy were also to die there. It is now a second level college. note since Friday morning but seeing no visitors. Cottie Yeats, Jack B Yeats's wife, was affectionately known as "Mrs Jack" by friends. She married Yeats in 1894, and they were constant companions throughout their long, caring, and affectionate marriage. Yeats was devastated upon her death in late April. Her last illness began when she awoke one morning in mid-February unable to speak. She was immediately transferred to Portobello Nursing Home. MacGreevy was entrusted with the task of notifying Yeats's closest friends of Cottie Yeats's condition. note Jack seems overwhelmed but the people at the nursing home are encouraging and I daresay he'll be more himself in a few days again. He doesn't say anything about seeing people but wants the understanding friends to know how things are.
Good luck with the broadcast.O'Malley's talk on Oriental Music: From Japan to Tunis, was broadcast on Raido Eireann on 18 February 1947.note
Tom Mc.