has something to say in
praise of the Catholicity and valour of the Irish Guards. "We have to
have Mass in a field," he writes in one letter, "the Irish Guards are
nearly all Catholics, and we are at present the strongest battalion in
the Guards' Brigade. The men then sing hymns at Mass, and it is fine
to hear nearly a thousand men singing out in the open at the top of
their voices. You have no idea what a splendid battalion the Irish
Guards are! You have Sergeant Mike O'Leary, V.C., with you. I often
have a chat with him when he comes to see me. But do you know that
there are plenty of men in the Irish Guards who have done as bravely
as O'Leary, and there's never a word about it." In another letter,
written a few weeks before his death, he says:--"It would have done
your heart good to hear them last night in the little village church
where we are just for the moment, singing the 'O Salutaris,' 'Tantum
Ergo,' 'Look Down, O Mother Mary,' and at the end the 'Hail Glorious
St. Patrick.' A Grenadier officer who happened to be present, having
ridden over from where the Grenadiers are, said it was worth coming
ten miles to hear. I feared for the roof of the church, especially
when they came to the last verse of the hymn to St. Patrick."

Throughout the morning of the day he received his mortal wound, Father
Gwynn had had a most arduous and anxious time in the trenches. It was
during the fighting round Hill 70, after the Battle of Loos. An Irish
Guardsman writes:--

"I saw him just before he died. Shrapnel and bullets were being
showered upon us in all directions. Hundreds of our lads
dropped. Father Gwynn was undismayed. He seemed to be all over
the place trying to give the Last Sacrament to the dying. Once I
thought he was buried alive, for a shell exploded within a few
yards of where he was, and the next moment I saw nothing but a
great heap of earth. The plight of the wounded concealed beneath
was harrowing. Out of the ground came cries of 'Father, Father,
Father,' from those who were in their death agonies. Then as if
by a miracle Father Gwynn was seen to fight his way through the
earth. He must have been severely injured, but he went on
blessing the wounded and hearing their confessions. The last I
saw of him was kneeling by the side of a German soldier. It was
a scene to make you cry."

Shortly after this scene Father Gwynn was at luncheon with four other
offi