How Black Widow Catherine Nevin vowed never to discuss murder of husband Tom Nevin in letter

The contents of the letter, published for the first time today, also saw the killer praise former MEP Clare Daly for providing her with clothes and toiletries after she was diagnosed with a stage 4 inoperable brain tumour in December 2016.

The letter, addressed to the former Director General of the Irish Prison Service Michael Donnellan, is one of the few documents from Nevin’s correspondence to have become public following her death.

The most notorious of all of Ireland’s female killers, Nevin died in February 2018.

The letter was typed and signed by the then 65-year-old as she was undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy in a bid to slow the progress of the fatal tumour.

She wrote: “Dear Mr Donnellan. In the first instance, I would like to thank you most sincerely for facilitating the signing of my release papers by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Ms Frances Fitzgerald TD.

“Please be assured that I will live up to the trust placed in me by the signing of these papers.

“As part of this, I can assure you that I will never give an interview to any media outlet, for four reasons: respect for my late husband’s family; respect for my own family; respect for the prison service; respect for myself.”

Nevin continued that she wanted to express her deep gratitude to a number of prison officers in the Dochas Centre for the care and support she received after she had first taken ill.

The Sunday World is not revealing the identities of these officers.

The letter reads: “I would particularly like to commend the diligence of Ms D, the officer who found me on the night of 20 September last, when I was taken ill.

“The high standards upheld by all these officers remind me of a book by Henri Nouwen, the renowned spiritual writer, called Out of Solitude, and in particular of a quotation from this book to the effect that cure without care is no cure at all.

“It may not have been realised at the beginning how serious my illness (a grade 4 inoperable root brain tumour) is.

“This may be the explanation for the fact that I was not provided with appropriate clothing and toiletries in the first few weeks after I became ill and had to rely on the former chaplain, Sr Gráinne Haslam, Ms Clare Daly TD and Dr Patricia O’Byrne to buy what I needed.”

Nevin also commended several staff members for the care she received in the Dochas and from the probation service.

“There are some other people I would like to commend also,” she said.

“Firstly, I will mention my probation officer, Ms E.G, who calls in to me regularly and provides me with the information and reassurance that I need.

“I had always found Ms E.G. to be very caring, and this intensified at the point of my illness, when I most needed her, and it still continues.

“In addition, I know from discussion every week in our book club that [named officers] are held in the highest esteem by all who avail of their tuition.

“They are universally respected because they show respect for all with whom they come into contact.

“This respect contrasts with much of the experience of the women they teach, who often come from marginalised and disadvantaged backgrounds.

“Although, over the years, not all of my experiences of the prison service have been positive, I am very happy to say that the humane and understanding way I am being treated at the moment demonstrates man’s humanity to man.

“Yours sincerely. Catherine Patricia Nevin.”

One other piece of correspondence written by Nevin, while she was battling the brain tumour, was published by the Sunday World following her death in early February 2018.

In that letter, she wrote: “I’ve lost much of my lovely hair (though not my eyelashes or eyebrows) – again I can cope with that.

“What matters is that the awful tumour I have is being treated.”

“However, it is not enough to rely on the experts, even though this is very important. You have to do the work yourself as well,” she wrote.

“This applies to life as a patient, as is the case with me at present, but also to life in general. Life is a challenge, I am meeting it. I feel that I am worth fighting for, and I am fighting. For me the tumour is just another blip that has to be dealt with.

“We have to remember that in reality, money and position and power doesn’t count.

“The outlook for me is not good, but I will embrace the challenge ….

“Remember life can take away only our liberty. It cannot take away our freedom,” she wrote.

Nevin was serving a life sentence for organising the murder of her husband, Tom, at their Co. Wicklow pub. Mr Nevin was shot dead in Jack White’s Inn, near Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow, in 1996.

In 2000, she was convicted on three charges of soliciting others to murder him, following one of the most high-profile trials in the history of the State.

Prior to her death, the 67-year-old was granted full-time compassionate leave due to her requirement for end-of-life care that could not be provided in prison.

She was cremated in a small private ceremony in west Dublin.

She continued to protest her innocence until her death and never revealed the identity of the hitman she hired to carry out husband Tom Nevin’s brutal murder.