By Sean Moriarty

A 140-year-old writing slope - once owned by a local nurse who was a World War One hero - has been rediscovered and is set to be restored to its former glory.

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The Killarney-made handcrafted piece of Killarney Arbutus furniture was gifted to Sr Louisa ‘Lula’ Greany from Muckross by the Herbert Family in 1879.

She was Thomas Greany's first child, the local land agent for the Herbert’s, owners of Muckross House at the time. It is believed the writing slope was a present to the family on the occasion of their first born.

Louisa trained as a nurse in Dublin and moved to London in 1914.

As a Red Cross volunteer she was stationed in both Le Touquet and Dinard in France during World War One.

After the war she worked in Alexandria (now Cairo) and Jerusalem and was made an Associate of the Royal Red Cross for exceptional services as a military nurse.

Local Killarney Arbutus Furniture expert James Flynn has been tasked with the restoration. The Ross Road man’s work recently featured on RTÉ's 'Nationwide'.

“After the ‘Nationwide’ programme a couple in Dublin contacted me. I met them at the Great Southern Hotel and agreed to restore it. I am retired now. This was made specially for Louisa, it is a very important piece,” James told the Killarney Advertiser.

“There is a lot of work in it. I need to use donor pieces to get the patterns right.”

The writing slope is about the size of a modern-day laptop. It features several compartments for storing ink, pens and letters.

Details on the slope include a hand engraving of Muckross Abbey, a shamrock carving that James has never seen on previous furniture he has restored, and pencilled handwriting of Louisa’s name.

James has already sourced period-style ink bottles in Britain and will hand carve an exact replica of the shamrock. Brass hinges will have to be specially ordered to complete the restoration.