Page last updated: 06 February 2024
This article is in two sections: May-December 1918 appears below. For January-April 1918 section: click here.
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1
By early May, tension in Ireland had reached a critical stage. Some in the British administration actually welcomed the increasing tension in that it could be used as a pretext to place the country under martial law so rigorous that armed resistance would be impossible, so allowing the imposition of conscription and the removal of Sinn Fein leaders.
As member of the Sinn Fein Executive, in a letter smuggled from prison and printed in An tOglach the Irish Volunteer journal, Ernest Blythe wrote ‘A Conscription campaign will be an unprovoked onslaught by an army upon the civilian population…anyone, civilian or soldier, who assists directly or by connivance in this crime against us, merits no more consideration that wild beasts, and should be killed without mercy or hesitation as opportunity offers.’
Conor O’Clery ‘Ireland in Quotes’ The O’Brien Press Dublin 1999 p.45
Limerick: Over 12,000 attended a May Day rally and march against conscription which sent ‘fraternal greetings to their Russian Comrades.
By early May, tension in Ireland had reached a critical stage. Some in the British administration actually welcomed the increasing tension in that it could be used as a pretext to place the country under martial law so rigorous that armed resistance would be impossible, so allowing the imposition of conscription and the removal of Sinn Fein leaders.
As member of the Sinn Fein Executive, in a letter smuggled from prison and printed in An tOglach the Irish Volunteer journal, Ernest Blythe wrote ‘A Conscription campaign will be an unprovoked onslaught by an army upon the civilian population…anyone, civilian or soldier, who assists directly or by connivance in this crime against us, merits no more consideration that wild beasts, and should be killed without mercy or hesitation as opportunity offers.’
Conor O’Clery ‘Ireland in Quotes’ The O’Brien Press Dublin 1999 p.45
Limerick: Over 12,000 attended a May Day rally and march against conscription which sent ‘fraternal greetings to their Russian Comrades.
2
Dublin: The Irish Attorney General, Mr Arthur Samuels wrote to Lloyd George saying: ‘the country was ‘on verge of civil war’ and civil war of a religious nature, civil war stirred up by priests, who, ever since the hierarchy’s manifesto, had been openly preaching rebellion and justifying the assassination of soldiers or police if they tried to enforce conscription. It was useless, continued Mr Samuels, to try these ‘treason mongers’ if the Sinn Fein leaders were allowed to go scot free - indeed the Government were saying that the Government was afraid of them. It was equally futile to proceed with Home Rule, since the Irish Party had now been ‘captured’ by Sinn Fein and would simply flout the Government. There was moreover the existence of a ‘German intrigue’...the people in Ireland were hoarding silver - it was almost impossible to get change anywhere - because they were told that English paper money would be worthless when the Germans won.
He enclosed a secret report from Major Price, head of the Special Intelligence Branch at Army Headquarters in Dublin. His report concerned the Corporal Robert J Dowling incident, which aside from, he had nothing to offer except some vague but ‘reliable reports’ of
* Expected arms landings in Mayo and Galway; information given by a defecting Irish Volunteer.
* A ‘respectable Limerick farmer’ who said he had received some imported German arms.
* The Cotter Brothers ( ‘one being a brother in law of De Valera ‘) who had been found in a sailing boat at 3.50am near Kingstown Pier. A German submarine had been seen near the Kish lighthouse the previous evening, and calculations of wind and tide made it possible that the Cotters had arranged a rendezvous.’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p286
Dublin: The Irish Attorney General, Mr Arthur Samuels wrote to Lloyd George saying: ‘the country was ‘on verge of civil war’ and civil war of a religious nature, civil war stirred up by priests, who, ever since the hierarchy’s manifesto, had been openly preaching rebellion and justifying the assassination of soldiers or police if they tried to enforce conscription. It was useless, continued Mr Samuels, to try these ‘treason mongers’ if the Sinn Fein leaders were allowed to go scot free - indeed the Government were saying that the Government was afraid of them. It was equally futile to proceed with Home Rule, since the Irish Party had now been ‘captured’ by Sinn Fein and would simply flout the Government. There was moreover the existence of a ‘German intrigue’...the people in Ireland were hoarding silver - it was almost impossible to get change anywhere - because they were told that English paper money would be worthless when the Germans won.
He enclosed a secret report from Major Price, head of the Special Intelligence Branch at Army Headquarters in Dublin. His report concerned the Corporal Robert J Dowling incident, which aside from, he had nothing to offer except some vague but ‘reliable reports’ of
* Expected arms landings in Mayo and Galway; information given by a defecting Irish Volunteer.
* A ‘respectable Limerick farmer’ who said he had received some imported German arms.
* The Cotter Brothers ( ‘one being a brother in law of De Valera ‘) who had been found in a sailing boat at 3.50am near Kingstown Pier. A German submarine had been seen near the Kish lighthouse the previous evening, and calculations of wind and tide made it possible that the Cotters had arranged a rendezvous.’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p286
3
While still jailed in Dundalk, Sean Treacy wrote to a Tipperary colleague, Kevin Crowe: ‘Deport all in favour of the enemy out of the district. Deal sternly with those who try to resist. Maintain the strictist discipline. There must be no running to kiss mothers goodbye…get the men to go to confession and communion and remember Sarsfield, the men of ’48, ’67 and the men of 1916’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p116
William Orpen's exhibition "War" opens in London; the paintings are donated to the British government. He was knighted in June
While still jailed in Dundalk, Sean Treacy wrote to a Tipperary colleague, Kevin Crowe: ‘Deport all in favour of the enemy out of the district. Deal sternly with those who try to resist. Maintain the strictist discipline. There must be no running to kiss mothers goodbye…get the men to go to confession and communion and remember Sarsfield, the men of ’48, ’67 and the men of 1916’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p116
William Orpen's exhibition "War" opens in London; the paintings are donated to the British government. He was knighted in June
4
Madison Square Garden, New York: The Irish Progressive League scheduled a meeting for Madison Square Garden, then located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue, for May 4, 1918. The purpose was to protest against proposed British conscription in Ireland. News of the meeting and it's purpose raised the ire of a number of groups who quickly moved to have the meeting cancelled.
Mrs. William Jay of 850 Park Avenue, acting for the Ultimate Committee for the Severance of All Social and Professional Relations with Enemy Sympathizers, protested for the cancellation of this meeting to the New York Life Insurance Society, the owners of the Garden. Dr. William T. Hornaday, a trustee of the American Defense Society (see clipping below), made another objection to the New York Port Enemy Alien Bureau.
These attempts to halt the meeting failed. As could have been expected, the meeting when it began was decidedly anti-British in tone. The Irish were protesting that the English were now allied to the United States in the Great War. America in helping England against the Germans was unwittingly assisting in the further oppression of Ireland.
Madison Square Garden, New York: The Irish Progressive League scheduled a meeting for Madison Square Garden, then located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue, for May 4, 1918. The purpose was to protest against proposed British conscription in Ireland. News of the meeting and it's purpose raised the ire of a number of groups who quickly moved to have the meeting cancelled.
Mrs. William Jay of 850 Park Avenue, acting for the Ultimate Committee for the Severance of All Social and Professional Relations with Enemy Sympathizers, protested for the cancellation of this meeting to the New York Life Insurance Society, the owners of the Garden. Dr. William T. Hornaday, a trustee of the American Defense Society (see clipping below), made another objection to the New York Port Enemy Alien Bureau.
These attempts to halt the meeting failed. As could have been expected, the meeting when it began was decidedly anti-British in tone. The Irish were protesting that the English were now allied to the United States in the Great War. America in helping England against the Germans was unwittingly assisting in the further oppression of Ireland.
William Temple Hornaday, Sc.D. (December 1, 1854 – March 6, 1937) was an American zoologist, conservationist, taxidermist, and author. He served as the first director of the New York Zoological Park, known today as the Bronx Zoo, and was a pioneer in the early wildlife conservation movement in the United States.
Dr. Hornaday's tenure as director of the New York zoo was controversial in 1906, when Ota Benga, a pygmy native of the Congo, was placed on display in the monkey house. Although, according to the New York Times, "few expressed audible objection to the sight of a human being in a cage with monkeys as companions", black clergymen in the city took great offense. "Our race, we think, is depressed enough, without exhibiting one of us with the apes," said the Reverend James H. Gordon, superintendent of the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum in Brooklyn. "We think we are worthy of being considered human beings, with souls." New York Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. refused to meet with the clergymen. As the controversy continued, Hornaday remained unapologetic, insisting that his only intention was to put on an "ethnological exhibit". In another letter he said that he and Madison Grant, the secretary of the New York Zoological Society, who ten years later would publish the racist tract "The Passing of the Great Race", considered it "imperative that the society should not even seem to be dictated to" by the black clergymen. Sadly, Benga committed suicide in 1916 when his return trip to the Congo was delayed by World War I. The American Defense Society was a nationalist American political group founded in 1915 advocating American intervention against Germany during World War I and opposition to the Bolsheviks when they came to power in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It called for strong action against German Americans and against all 'so called hyphenated Americans' which included the Irish of course. |
Madison Square Garden, which seated 8,000, was half filled for the gathering. The listed speakers were a distinguished group: Peter Elias Magennis (presiding), Liam Mellows, Jenny Weinberger, John Devoy, Peter Golden, Joseph D. Cannion, Mrs. Hanna SheehySkeffington, Mrs Agnes Neuman, Nora Connolly, James Maurer of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Joseph P. Cannon.
In his speech, Magennis cited the presence of Irish at Lexington, Bunker Hill and Saratoga and resolutions were quickly passed denouncing British conscription in Ireland as genocide, calling for Irish self-determination and calling on President Wilson and Congress to ‘use their influence to have this action ( i.e. conscription ) by the British Parliament reversed.’ (New York Times. May 5, 1918.)
One account describes how, in an effort to drown out Magennis, a band outside the Garden began to play as he started his speech. He passed the platform to Liam Mellows, who also criticised Mrs. Jay in his speech and urged Irish residents to resist conscription. Devoy used the occasion to restate the Irish contribution to America's wars and to state his unswerving loyalty to the United States. But, he complained, Irish America's love for it's adopted home-land was unrequited. 'The record of the Irish Race entitles it to proper recognition from everybody in America...it is entitles at least to fair play.."
Irish Rebel: John Devoy & America’s Fight for Ireland’s Freedom. Terry Golway
Two days later, copies of the speeches were handed over to the Department of Justice to see if there were any violations of the laws of the United States. (Department of Justice official Bettman decided that the 78 page extensive report contained nothing that was critical of US policy and refused to prosecute). Groups that had tried unsuccessfully to prevent the rally, protested the speech of Magennis to John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. The letter expressed the hope that the cardinal would not allow any of his priests to make any further seditious or unpatriotic comments. The Archbishop duly did so to a hostile response from much of Irish America. Branches of the Friends of Irish Freedom passed resolutions condemning Farley's actions, press publicity increased and various American groups weighed in largely supportive of Magennis.
Below: The Menace Newspaper with it's assesment of the current Irish situation, May 4, 1918:
In his speech, Magennis cited the presence of Irish at Lexington, Bunker Hill and Saratoga and resolutions were quickly passed denouncing British conscription in Ireland as genocide, calling for Irish self-determination and calling on President Wilson and Congress to ‘use their influence to have this action ( i.e. conscription ) by the British Parliament reversed.’ (New York Times. May 5, 1918.)
One account describes how, in an effort to drown out Magennis, a band outside the Garden began to play as he started his speech. He passed the platform to Liam Mellows, who also criticised Mrs. Jay in his speech and urged Irish residents to resist conscription. Devoy used the occasion to restate the Irish contribution to America's wars and to state his unswerving loyalty to the United States. But, he complained, Irish America's love for it's adopted home-land was unrequited. 'The record of the Irish Race entitles it to proper recognition from everybody in America...it is entitles at least to fair play.."
Irish Rebel: John Devoy & America’s Fight for Ireland’s Freedom. Terry Golway
Two days later, copies of the speeches were handed over to the Department of Justice to see if there were any violations of the laws of the United States. (Department of Justice official Bettman decided that the 78 page extensive report contained nothing that was critical of US policy and refused to prosecute). Groups that had tried unsuccessfully to prevent the rally, protested the speech of Magennis to John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. The letter expressed the hope that the cardinal would not allow any of his priests to make any further seditious or unpatriotic comments. The Archbishop duly did so to a hostile response from much of Irish America. Branches of the Friends of Irish Freedom passed resolutions condemning Farley's actions, press publicity increased and various American groups weighed in largely supportive of Magennis.
Below: The Menace Newspaper with it's assesment of the current Irish situation, May 4, 1918:
5
London: The position of Lord-Lieutenant and General Governor of Ireland was offered to Field Marshall, Lord French, who accepted. In his letter of acceptance he stated he quite understood that the Government’s intention was not to proceed with Home Rule or conscription until its authority has been re-established and for this reason it was proposed to set up a quasi-military Government in Ireland with a soldier as Lord Lieutenant.
British policy in a number of colonies saw the further instalation of military men as Govenor-General. Malta received General Plumer. Egypt – General Allenby.
With Lord French came the fifty-six year old barrister Edward Shortt, K.C. as Chief Secretary. General Bryan Mahon was succeeded as Military Commander by General Shaw.
‘(Shortt) would come to Ireland bearing a Liberal olive branch, while his military Viceroy brandished a thunderbolt’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p285
However, high level intrigue was recorded by Sir Henry Wilson in his diary how at this time, he met with the Prime Minister and Lord French at dinner. They were all agreed that conscription must be enforced and were also agreed that bloodshed in Ireland would result.
Ballaghadereen, Co. Roscommon: 15,000 people attend an anti-conscription meeting in County Roscommon. John Dillon, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party and Éamon de Valera of Sinn Féin share the platform in a united cause.
The proceedings began when, Reverend J. Gallagher, presiding, read a letter of support from Dr Morrisroe, Bishop of Achonry, in which he stated that their opposition to conscription was based upon the principles that Allied statesmen had drawn a sword to defend. ‘English ministers’, he said, ‘held up their hands in holy horror at the idea of coercing a fourth of our population into compliance with measures that are admitted to be for the general weal of the entire country, but conscience gave no scruple when it comes to forcing upon the three-fourths of the community a penal enactment that from every point of view, agricultural, industrial, and religious is destined to bring ruin and disaster.’
Before moving onto the main speakers, Rev. Gallagher remarked to cheers that such a meeting – and such a show of unity - could not have been imagined just a few weeks before.
John Dillon similarly referenced the united front on display. He said that if the spirit manifested at the meeting was replicated across the country, then victory was certain. He cautioned against complacency, warning that the danger had not yet set in. He urged people to concentrate on securing an adequate fund and to set up an organising committee in every parish to secure the support and confidence of all sections of society. ‘If the unity of the nation was broken, the government and military authorities would be encouraged to pursue their wicked and insane policy.’
When his turn came to speak, Éamon de Valera opened his address in Irish. Then, turning to English, he spoke of nationalist unity and stated that it was ‘not the craven fear of death that kept them from the world war. It was common sense that kept them, and if the government dared to try their conscription act on this country it would be proved that there were still men in Ireland’. In preparing themselves for responding to conscription, de Valera laid a stress on the need for local cooperation.
When the Sinn Féin leader finished his speech, Fr Flanagan of Crossna commented that what was represented on stage was ‘Ireland a Nation’ and it served as a symbol both of hope and confidence ‘to see united in conference men like John Dillon and William O’Brien, with [and here he pointed at de Valera] that brand that was snatched from the burning of Easter week and saved by Almighty God to be the hero leader of the young blood of Ireland’.
5
London: The position of Lord-Lieutenant and General Governor of Ireland was offered to Field Marshall, Lord French, who accepted. In his letter of acceptance he stated he quite understood that the Government’s intention was not to proceed with Home Rule or conscription until its authority has been re-established and for this reason it was proposed to set up a quasi-military Government in Ireland with a soldier as Lord Lieutenant.
British policy in a number of colonies saw the further instalation of military men as Govenor-General. Malta received General Plumer. Egypt – General Allenby.
With Lord French came the fifty-six year old barrister Edward Shortt, K.C. as Chief Secretary. General Bryan Mahon was succeeded as Military Commander by General Shaw.
‘(Shortt) would come to Ireland bearing a Liberal olive branch, while his military Viceroy brandished a thunderbolt’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p285
However, high level intrigue was recorded by Sir Henry Wilson in his diary how at this time, he met with the Prime Minister and Lord French at dinner. They were all agreed that conscription must be enforced and were also agreed that bloodshed in Ireland would result.
Ballaghadereen, Co. Roscommon: 15,000 people attend an anti-conscription meeting in County Roscommon. John Dillon, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party and Éamon de Valera of Sinn Féin share the platform in a united cause.
The proceedings began when, Reverend J. Gallagher, presiding, read a letter of support from Dr Morrisroe, Bishop of Achonry, in which he stated that their opposition to conscription was based upon the principles that Allied statesmen had drawn a sword to defend. ‘English ministers’, he said, ‘held up their hands in holy horror at the idea of coercing a fourth of our population into compliance with measures that are admitted to be for the general weal of the entire country, but conscience gave no scruple when it comes to forcing upon the three-fourths of the community a penal enactment that from every point of view, agricultural, industrial, and religious is destined to bring ruin and disaster.’
Before moving onto the main speakers, Rev. Gallagher remarked to cheers that such a meeting – and such a show of unity - could not have been imagined just a few weeks before.
John Dillon similarly referenced the united front on display. He said that if the spirit manifested at the meeting was replicated across the country, then victory was certain. He cautioned against complacency, warning that the danger had not yet set in. He urged people to concentrate on securing an adequate fund and to set up an organising committee in every parish to secure the support and confidence of all sections of society. ‘If the unity of the nation was broken, the government and military authorities would be encouraged to pursue their wicked and insane policy.’
When his turn came to speak, Éamon de Valera opened his address in Irish. Then, turning to English, he spoke of nationalist unity and stated that it was ‘not the craven fear of death that kept them from the world war. It was common sense that kept them, and if the government dared to try their conscription act on this country it would be proved that there were still men in Ireland’. In preparing themselves for responding to conscription, de Valera laid a stress on the need for local cooperation.
When the Sinn Féin leader finished his speech, Fr Flanagan of Crossna commented that what was represented on stage was ‘Ireland a Nation’ and it served as a symbol both of hope and confidence ‘to see united in conference men like John Dillon and William O’Brien, with [and here he pointed at de Valera] that brand that was snatched from the burning of Easter week and saved by Almighty God to be the hero leader of the young blood of Ireland’.
Above: Anti Conscription rally in Ballaghderreen, Co. Roscommon. Sinn Fein leader Eamon de Valera (left) and Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Dillon (right) speaking to the crowds. (Images: RTÉ Archives)
Government statement issued to the Press Bureau on the ‘German Plot’ referred to events dating from November 1914, some of which had taken place during the period when many of the persons now arrested were in jail or in Frongoch internment camp.
The Friends of Irish Freedom organisation continued to develop in a haphazard manner - below is a Sunday newspaper advert for a meeting that night in the Lyceum Theatre, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Friends of Irish Freedom organisation continued to develop in a haphazard manner - below is a Sunday newspaper advert for a meeting that night in the Lyceum Theatre, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
6
Dublin:
Dublin, 6 May 1918 - In a major overhaul in the government of Ireland, the appointment of a new Chief Secretary and a new Lord Lieutenant were announced.
Edward Shortt, a 56 year-old Liberal MP for Newcastle-on-Tyne, accepted an offer to take up the Chief Secretaryship, replacing Henry Edward Duke, who took the reins in the summer of 1916, in the aftermath of the Easter Rising that year.
The Manchester Guardian reported that Duke’s resignation and departure had most likely resulted from disappointment at the failure of the Convention and at the decision of the government to extend conscription to Ireland. He favoured the policy of conciliation, which the paper describes as having been ‘blown to the winds’. Mr Duke has now been appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal. His replacement, Mr Shortt, had been a staunch supporter of Home Rule and enjoyed Irish and Labour support at the 1910 election – he was even said to possess some Irish ancestry.
Joining Shortt in Dublin, was Field Marshal Viscount French who has been appointed Lord Lieutenant, and needed no introduction in Ireland. The 66-year-old Kent-born French had been a professional soldier all his adult life. He served in India and in the Boer War and was Inspector General of the British forces at the time of the so-called ‘Curragh Mutiny’ in 1914 when a number of officers stationed in the Curragh made it known that they would that they would not enforce a Home Rule Bill on Ulster if commanded. Lord French was subsequently appointed chief of the Imperial General Staff and then commander of the British Expeditionary Force after the outbreak of the current international war. He resigned this post in late 1915 and since then had commanded the home forces.
The unionist Belfast Newsletter, describing the tenure of the outgoing Lord Lieutenant Lord Wimborne as unsuccessful, stated that Viscount French would be welcomed if he ‘comes to Ireland determined to administer the law firmly and impartially’.
In contrast, the Cork Examiner has expressed caution at the appointment of a professional soldier to the highest position in the Irish administration, a role typically occupied by a civilian. The paper editorialised that it has given a ‘militarist touch to British rule in Ireland that suggests, if it does not precisely emulate, the methods of Prussia which the British Press likes to describe as Junkerdom’.
The Freeman's Journal described the appointment of French and Shortt as the beginning of 'a Military Dictatorship'. This was based on French's prior appointment as Commander-in-Chief of Home Defences, and before that, his position as head of British forces in France until 1916. However, Shortt and French could not have been more different to Duke and Wimborne. While Duke believed that enforcement of conscription would cause widespread bloodshed, Lord French had no such qualms. It would appear therefore that the task of enforcing conscription needed a firm hand, with the Royal Air Force being used as enforcement 'by 'play[ing]' about with either bombs or machine guns'.
Dublin:
Dublin, 6 May 1918 - In a major overhaul in the government of Ireland, the appointment of a new Chief Secretary and a new Lord Lieutenant were announced.
Edward Shortt, a 56 year-old Liberal MP for Newcastle-on-Tyne, accepted an offer to take up the Chief Secretaryship, replacing Henry Edward Duke, who took the reins in the summer of 1916, in the aftermath of the Easter Rising that year.
The Manchester Guardian reported that Duke’s resignation and departure had most likely resulted from disappointment at the failure of the Convention and at the decision of the government to extend conscription to Ireland. He favoured the policy of conciliation, which the paper describes as having been ‘blown to the winds’. Mr Duke has now been appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal. His replacement, Mr Shortt, had been a staunch supporter of Home Rule and enjoyed Irish and Labour support at the 1910 election – he was even said to possess some Irish ancestry.
Joining Shortt in Dublin, was Field Marshal Viscount French who has been appointed Lord Lieutenant, and needed no introduction in Ireland. The 66-year-old Kent-born French had been a professional soldier all his adult life. He served in India and in the Boer War and was Inspector General of the British forces at the time of the so-called ‘Curragh Mutiny’ in 1914 when a number of officers stationed in the Curragh made it known that they would that they would not enforce a Home Rule Bill on Ulster if commanded. Lord French was subsequently appointed chief of the Imperial General Staff and then commander of the British Expeditionary Force after the outbreak of the current international war. He resigned this post in late 1915 and since then had commanded the home forces.
The unionist Belfast Newsletter, describing the tenure of the outgoing Lord Lieutenant Lord Wimborne as unsuccessful, stated that Viscount French would be welcomed if he ‘comes to Ireland determined to administer the law firmly and impartially’.
In contrast, the Cork Examiner has expressed caution at the appointment of a professional soldier to the highest position in the Irish administration, a role typically occupied by a civilian. The paper editorialised that it has given a ‘militarist touch to British rule in Ireland that suggests, if it does not precisely emulate, the methods of Prussia which the British Press likes to describe as Junkerdom’.
The Freeman's Journal described the appointment of French and Shortt as the beginning of 'a Military Dictatorship'. This was based on French's prior appointment as Commander-in-Chief of Home Defences, and before that, his position as head of British forces in France until 1916. However, Shortt and French could not have been more different to Duke and Wimborne. While Duke believed that enforcement of conscription would cause widespread bloodshed, Lord French had no such qualms. It would appear therefore that the task of enforcing conscription needed a firm hand, with the Royal Air Force being used as enforcement 'by 'play[ing]' about with either bombs or machine guns'.
7
The SS New York arrives in New York with Lynch aboard.
Immediately on arrival, he cabled his brother Denis at Jones Rd Distillery from the Quarantine station on Ellis Island, New York at 4.40pm:
‘Safe. Well. Fondest love. Lynch’
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 4/44
Below: Lynch as recorded on the passenger manifest of the SS New York sailing from Liverpool on 26 April, 1918.
SS New York began life on March 15, 1888 as "The City of New York", entering service on the Southhampton-New York run. Designed for 540 first, 200 second and 1,000 steerage passengers. Her quarters were fitted with running hot and cold water, electric ventilation, and electric lighting. Her first class public rooms, such as library and smoking room, were fitted with walnut panels and her dining salon came with a massive dome that provided a natural light to the passengers.
At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, "The City of New York" was chartered as an auxiliary cruiser with a civilian crew, commissioning on 26 April 1898 at New York and renamed Harvard. She now cruised West Indian waters in search of the Spanish fleet, found & reported on several Spanish battleships and returned to New York. The Harvard returned to the Caribbean with troops (including the 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry with Chaplain Rev. Patrick Bowen Murphy and supplies, arriving at Altares, Cuba, about 1 July before sailing on to rescue over 600 Spanish officers and men following US Naval engagements off Santiago.
On 4 July 1898, the 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry were guarding the prisoners of war inside Harvard. A guard ordered a prisoner, who was attempting to cross the line, to return. The prisoner did not understand English and the guard fired a shot causing other prisoners to stand up. Fearing the prisoners were about to attack, the guards opened fire, killing six prisoners and wounding thirteen more. The Harvard returned to Cuba to transport troops back to the United States before returning to trans-Atlantic services as the "SS New York" in 1899.
On 10 April 1912, the New York was berthed in Southampton as the Titanic was leaving port to begin her maiden voyage to New York City. The swell from the departing liner almost caused a collision with the Titanic. By 1913, the New York was re-configured as a second and third-class only liner on the Liverpool to New York run. Lynch's deportation to New York was one of the last civilian sailings in 1918 as within weeks, she was commissioned as a troop transport by the US Navy and renamed the USS Plattsburg.
After the war, the New York resumed her passenger service in 1920 and remained with the American Line for nine months until she was sold to the Polish Navigation Company. After just one voyage, her new owner went bankrupt and New York was seized by the creditors who sold her to the Irish American Line in 1922. She was then sold on to the United Transatlantic Line and on again to the American Black Sea Line. Her last Atlantic crossing was on 10 June 1922 from New York to Naples and Constantinople. Later that year, she was sold for scrap.
At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, "The City of New York" was chartered as an auxiliary cruiser with a civilian crew, commissioning on 26 April 1898 at New York and renamed Harvard. She now cruised West Indian waters in search of the Spanish fleet, found & reported on several Spanish battleships and returned to New York. The Harvard returned to the Caribbean with troops (including the 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry with Chaplain Rev. Patrick Bowen Murphy and supplies, arriving at Altares, Cuba, about 1 July before sailing on to rescue over 600 Spanish officers and men following US Naval engagements off Santiago.
On 4 July 1898, the 9th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry were guarding the prisoners of war inside Harvard. A guard ordered a prisoner, who was attempting to cross the line, to return. The prisoner did not understand English and the guard fired a shot causing other prisoners to stand up. Fearing the prisoners were about to attack, the guards opened fire, killing six prisoners and wounding thirteen more. The Harvard returned to Cuba to transport troops back to the United States before returning to trans-Atlantic services as the "SS New York" in 1899.
On 10 April 1912, the New York was berthed in Southampton as the Titanic was leaving port to begin her maiden voyage to New York City. The swell from the departing liner almost caused a collision with the Titanic. By 1913, the New York was re-configured as a second and third-class only liner on the Liverpool to New York run. Lynch's deportation to New York was one of the last civilian sailings in 1918 as within weeks, she was commissioned as a troop transport by the US Navy and renamed the USS Plattsburg.
After the war, the New York resumed her passenger service in 1920 and remained with the American Line for nine months until she was sold to the Polish Navigation Company. After just one voyage, her new owner went bankrupt and New York was seized by the creditors who sold her to the Irish American Line in 1922. She was then sold on to the United Transatlantic Line and on again to the American Black Sea Line. Her last Atlantic crossing was on 10 June 1922 from New York to Naples and Constantinople. Later that year, she was sold for scrap.
"When Diarmuid Lynch disembarked at Ellis Island...he was a man of notoriety; an American citizen who played a key role in the 1916 insurrection against the British government, America's ally in the Great War. He had survived the death penalty and had served time in eight British prisons...he left Ireland in a blaze of popular support and publicity.
The America he was returning to was a country markedly more hostile towards immigrant groups, such as the Irish Americans, than it had previously been, because of it's alignment with Great Britain in the the Great War.
Lynch's return was feted by sections of the Irish-American community, and he was taken instantly to the heart of the Friends of Irish Freedom organisation."
Eileen McGough. "Diarmuid Lynch, a forgotten Irish patriot" Mercier Press, 2013. p102
Article on the Friends of Irish Freedom history and archive documents - click here.
Diarmuid Lynch cabled his brother Denis (opposite) Manager of the Jones Rd Distillery at 7.32am from New York, anxious that there had been no response to his earlier cable on arrival:
"Arrived Tuesday. Hope you received cable. Answer. Love. Diarmuid Lynch."
The America he was returning to was a country markedly more hostile towards immigrant groups, such as the Irish Americans, than it had previously been, because of it's alignment with Great Britain in the the Great War.
Lynch's return was feted by sections of the Irish-American community, and he was taken instantly to the heart of the Friends of Irish Freedom organisation."
Eileen McGough. "Diarmuid Lynch, a forgotten Irish patriot" Mercier Press, 2013. p102
Article on the Friends of Irish Freedom history and archive documents - click here.
Diarmuid Lynch cabled his brother Denis (opposite) Manager of the Jones Rd Distillery at 7.32am from New York, anxious that there had been no response to his earlier cable on arrival:
"Arrived Tuesday. Hope you received cable. Answer. Love. Diarmuid Lynch."
On the reverse copy of this cable received from Lynch, his wife Kit wrote the draft and final text of her reply to her new husband at the address of 722 Coster Street, New York:
Cable received today. No previous cable. Alls well. Love Kit Lynch.
Diarmuid recalled on arrival in New York as the newly deported 1916 Veteran, former British felon, Director of Communications in the Irish Volunteers HQ, Director of Food Supplies and Treasurer of the IRB Supreme Council:
‘I deemed it my duty to aid in every possible way, and to the best of my judgement, the (Irish) military forces in Ireland. That duty I endeavoured to fulfill.’
Application for Military Service Pension Certificate ( Diarmuid Lynch) - Department of Defence Files. Lynch Archives. March 9, 1938.
He recalled years later the extraordinary steps taken by the US Government to keep this particular Irish deportee under observation:
‘During the war, certain friends of the Irish cause were spied upon to an extent inconcievable even to men prominent in the IRB in Ireland.
I can best ilustrate a single phase of this by relating some personal experiences.
Warned of conditions on arrival, I observed the following: for months, I was day by day shadowed by at least two secret service men ( who were occasionally relieved by relays ) all the way from my residence to my office or to any address at which I had an appointment, and back again to my home – a matter of 12 miles, more or less, in each direction. If and when I made evening calls, the same procedure held. On occasion they were not content with this, but actually trailed me to the door of the particular office or apartment visited, and then awaited my re-appearance.
The spirit which begot such tactics typified the attitude of the whole body politic. That this spirit lingered with much force after the war ended was a factor but faintly understood in Ireland where only the determined voice of her then comparatively few American friends penetrated.’
Application for Military Service Pension Certificate ( Diarmuid Lynch) - Department of Defence Files. Lynch Archives. March 9, 1938.
New York life - 1918
8
Letter from Diarmuid's wife Kit to her sister-in-law Mary in the family home, Granig.
8/5/18
My dear Mary.
Did you get my hurried note of Friday?
We saw Michael that evening & found him very so much brighter & looking better, in fact his old self again. From now on Denis will be able to see him often. There is a possibility of his getting bail almost immediately, if this will be allowed, he may be out within the next week, the same applies to the three other Cork men who were arrested with him.
You have already heard of Diarmuid’s safe arrival in New York on last Tuesday. His cables were a great relief, thank God. I'm looking forward to a letter from him about the end of the coming week, after receiving which I will apply for my passport. If all goes well, D.V.,I hope to sail 2-3 weeks from now.
My registration as an alien will not be completed til tomorrow Monday) owing to the delay in securing my marriage certificate, consequently I did not have an opportunity of going home since. Hope Mrs Ahern is keeping in good form & not worrying too much about the boys. Denis had a letter from Tim by last nights post. We were delighted to know than Cnoc is looking tip-top at present. Hope to have a line from [ Word illegible ] very soon.
Kindest regards to you & Dan.
Kit.
P.S.We believe that Michael is allright as regards food.
Dennis writing to D.Lynch and W.Ahern to approach the D.J * in Kinsale re: Michael’s Bail.
Love Kit’
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 4/43
* DJ - District Justice
Belfast: Sir Edward Carson issued a series of public warnings concerning the gravity of the current political situation in Ireland.
In previous weeks, in an effort to counteract any government initiative to introduce Home Rule for Ireland in return for an acceptance of conscription, Carson set out the unionist opposition to any measure of self-government that threatened Ulster.
In a letter to the press, published on 24 April, Carson outlined the sequence of events relating to the Home Rule crisis since 1914. He recalled how, when Home Rule was placed on the statute books following the outbreak of the European war, an amending bill, securing exclusion for the Ulster counties, was promised. Then Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith declared to parliament that the coercion of Ulster was ‘an absolutely unthinkable thing’ which he and his colleagues ‘would never countenance or consent to’.
According to Carson, nothing has happened since Home Rule was put on the statute book to lessen Ulster resistance. In another letter to the Belfast Newsletter on May 7th, he reiterated both the strength of loyal Ulster’s position and his confidence that cabinet members Andrew Bonar Law and Walter Long would stick by their ‘specific pledges...so frequently made’ to protect Ulster from Dublin rule.
Carson’s public pronouncements had been directed towards unionist MPs and ministers, but equally towards southern unionist opinion.
Carson also wrote wrote to J.E. Walshe, the Honorary Secretary of the Unionist Committee in Dublin, in which he emphasised the ‘insanity’ of re-opening the Home Rule question given the current state of the country. Carson described as ‘statesmanship manufactured out of panic’ the very idea of handing the government of Ireland to Sinn Féin, the Irish Party and the Catholic hierarchy at a moment of grave international crisis for European civilisation.
Commenting on these developments, the Freeman’s Journal stated that Carson’s true colours had been revealed and that the ‘guiding purpose of all his operations for the past six years has been to prevent any rapprochement between the British and Irish peoples on the basis of Irish freedom’.
9
The British military Commander-in-Chief in Ireland resigns.
Lord Robert Cecil, one of the foremost believers in the rule of force in Ireland, wrote of the future of nations when the war would be over: ‘We must look for any future settlements to be a settlement not of courts nad cabinets but of nations and populations, Governments must be carried on by the consent of the governed. No greatness, no culture, no national existence can be built upon the operarion and subjugation of nations rightly stuggling to be free’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
However, such thoughts did not stray to that of Ireland.
The British Cabinet disagreed on the relative merits and demerits of conscription in Ireland. The new British administration of Ireland was due to take over shortly and Walter Long (1854-1924 – Former Chief Secretary 1905 and current Colonial Secretary) insisted that it would have to restore order and stamp out intrigue and to give the Government a chance of securing new recruits to the armed services. This the Cabinet agreed, the new administration should ‘restore respect for the Government, enforce the law and, above all, put down with a stern hand the Irish-German conspiracy which appears to be widespread in Ireland…’
Thomas Jones. Whitehall Diary. Vol III – Ireland 1918-1925. Oxford University Press 1971. P9
The Irish Committee also concluded that the early introduction of Home Rule for Ireland was an impossibility until such stage as respect for Government was restored and the law enforced.
Belgium: Second Ostend Raid, a second unsuccessful attempt by the British Royal Navy to seal off the German U-boat base.
Below: Theatrical Cards published in the Daily Telegraph on this date. 'Disengaged' and 'At Liberty' are the occasional results of any working stage performer today and a century ago. These notices appeared weekly for jobbing actors and singers in an entertainment age when the stage remained King.
10
The Irish Attorney General, Mr Samuels next submitted a report to the War Cabinet....
‘it said that the R.I.C could no longer be trusted to carry out arrests or priests or to enforce conscription : County Inspector Power of Kilkenny and Inspector-General Byrne had both assured him that the result would be disastrous and might break up the force altogether. If, on the other hand, priests were arrested by the military, no jury would dare convict them. Ireland was in a ‘dangerous and seditious condition’ and the Sinn Fein organisation should be proclaimed under the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) act of 1887. Only this would teach the peasantry that the Government meant to govern. This and one thing more: the Sinn Fein leaders should at once be deported and interned ‘for there was abundant evidence of hostile association with the Germans’ and they were daily ‘organising effectively and concocting rebellion...’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p286-287
An American observer in London, W.H.Buckler, wrote to Colonel House of the situation in Ireland:
‘I have just had a talk with G.H.Fitzmaurice of the Foreign Office, whose opinion is interesting...his extreme pessimism is based on his conviction that the authorities controlling the military and police in Ireland... have made up their minds to push matters to the limit. Their view...is that the bluff of the Irish must be called, and that if it be necessary to shoot a few hundred people, the result will be worth it.
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Independence 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. 1957. p.247
The US Ambassador Page in London received documents from Admiral Hall relating to a Sinn Fein organised ‘German Plot’ for a second uprising in Ireland during 1918. These were translations of decoded German messages on Clan na Gael contacts with the German Embassy in 1916. The British Government had hoped, following the State Department’s publishing of documents seized in the German New York Consulate, that the same would be done and so prevent any charges of bias being levelled against the Government. These documents went by diplomatic pouch to Washington where on the 18th May, they were passed to the Secretary of State.
Reports from the Western Front say that Amiens has been completely destroyed and thousands died in a German mustard gas attack.
Siegfried Sassoon, the war poet was the first to publish his disillusionment with the way the generals ran the war, at the expense of the soldier:
‘Good morning, good morning, the General said,
When we met him last week on our way to the line,
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of them dead
And we’re cursing his staff for incompetent swine.’
On his memorial tablet was written ‘I died in hell ( they called it Passchendaele ).’
The Irish Attorney General, Mr Samuels next submitted a report to the War Cabinet....
‘it said that the R.I.C could no longer be trusted to carry out arrests or priests or to enforce conscription : County Inspector Power of Kilkenny and Inspector-General Byrne had both assured him that the result would be disastrous and might break up the force altogether. If, on the other hand, priests were arrested by the military, no jury would dare convict them. Ireland was in a ‘dangerous and seditious condition’ and the Sinn Fein organisation should be proclaimed under the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) act of 1887. Only this would teach the peasantry that the Government meant to govern. This and one thing more: the Sinn Fein leaders should at once be deported and interned ‘for there was abundant evidence of hostile association with the Germans’ and they were daily ‘organising effectively and concocting rebellion...’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p286-287
An American observer in London, W.H.Buckler, wrote to Colonel House of the situation in Ireland:
‘I have just had a talk with G.H.Fitzmaurice of the Foreign Office, whose opinion is interesting...his extreme pessimism is based on his conviction that the authorities controlling the military and police in Ireland... have made up their minds to push matters to the limit. Their view...is that the bluff of the Irish must be called, and that if it be necessary to shoot a few hundred people, the result will be worth it.
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Independence 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. 1957. p.247
The US Ambassador Page in London received documents from Admiral Hall relating to a Sinn Fein organised ‘German Plot’ for a second uprising in Ireland during 1918. These were translations of decoded German messages on Clan na Gael contacts with the German Embassy in 1916. The British Government had hoped, following the State Department’s publishing of documents seized in the German New York Consulate, that the same would be done and so prevent any charges of bias being levelled against the Government. These documents went by diplomatic pouch to Washington where on the 18th May, they were passed to the Secretary of State.
Reports from the Western Front say that Amiens has been completely destroyed and thousands died in a German mustard gas attack.
Siegfried Sassoon, the war poet was the first to publish his disillusionment with the way the generals ran the war, at the expense of the soldier:
‘Good morning, good morning, the General said,
When we met him last week on our way to the line,
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of them dead
And we’re cursing his staff for incompetent swine.’
On his memorial tablet was written ‘I died in hell ( they called it Passchendaele ).’
11
Lord French appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland with the simple agenda of enforcing conscriprion in Ireland: ‘Sir Henry Wilson describes a dinner he had at this time with Lloyd George and Lord French. They believed that such an agenda would inevtiably result in bloodshed and so need a certain amount of tact for British opinion to swallow. ‘Lloyd George impressed on Johny (French) the necessity of putting the onus for first shooting on the rebels’
Conor Kostick ‘Revolution in Ireland - popular militancy 1917-1923’ Pluto Press, London 1996 p39
Lord French appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland with the simple agenda of enforcing conscriprion in Ireland: ‘Sir Henry Wilson describes a dinner he had at this time with Lloyd George and Lord French. They believed that such an agenda would inevtiably result in bloodshed and so need a certain amount of tact for British opinion to swallow. ‘Lloyd George impressed on Johny (French) the necessity of putting the onus for first shooting on the rebels’
Conor Kostick ‘Revolution in Ireland - popular militancy 1917-1923’ Pluto Press, London 1996 p39
|
12
The SS Inniscarra was sunk by a U-Boat close to Ballycotton, Co. Cork in the early hours of May 12. Thirty seven men died. mostly Cork natives and just five survived. Captain Kelly (Ballyhooley Road), Chief Officer Swan (5 Beechwood Place, Douglas Road), Steward Keane, Seaman Bird and Seaman Warren, (Kinsale). In his account to the Press Association, Captain Kelly stated that this was his second similar experience since the war began. He detailed that the SS Inniscarra commenced going down bow first about three minutes after being struck. He jumped from the bridge down on to the fore deck just as the ship was making her last plunge. He succeeded in getting upon a barrel raft but was washed off. In trying to keep the raft clear of the bridge, he got his left leg badly bruised and mangled. He was then picked up by a lifeboat containing the few survivors. Steward F Swan, who was badly injured, was a member of the Mercantile Marine Service Association. He held the Royal Humane Society's bronze medal and parchment for life-saving in the River Lee and had further distinguished himself on the night of 13 May 1913, when he made a gallant rescue of a passenger who had fallen overboard from the steamer Innisfallen in Fishguard Harbour. |
Those lost on the Inniscarra were:
Maurice Geary, Fireman (42), leaving behind his wife Margaret and seven children, and resided in Ballinure, Blackrock.
Patrick Cox, Fireman (47), was the husband of Ellen Cox (nee Murphy), of Ballinure Quarries, Blackrock, Cork.
Robert Hayes, Greaser (53), was the husband of Margaret Hayes (nee Regan), of Convent Road, Blackrock.
William Neil, First Engineer (60), was the husband of Mrs Neill, of Marion Ville, Blackrock.
Michael Forde, Quartermaster (66) was the husband of Norah Forde, of 91, Friar Street, Cork.
John O’Connell Fireman (27) was the husband of Norah O'Connell (nee Jones), of 1, Desmond Square.
Mathew O’Sullivan, Able Seaman (53), was the husband of Mary O'Sullivan (nee Creedon), of 29, High Street, Cork.
Arthur Attridge, Carpenter (72), was husband of Bessie Attridge (nee Riordan), of 3, St James Place.
Mr Buckley, Trimmer (27), was son of Hannah Buckley (nee McCarthy), of 5, Hegarty’s Square, Blarney Street.
John Harrington, Firerman (48) was husband of Mary Harrington, of 4, Cassidy's Avenue, Barrackton, Cork.
John Mullane, Cook (37) was the husband of Mary Agnes Mullane (nee White), of 23, Kelleher's Buildings.
John O’Brien, Trimmer (27), was the husband of Mary O'Brien (nee Murphy) of Mayfield.
Denis O’Mahony, Fireman (29), was the son of James and Sarah O'Mahony, of 10, Alfred Street.
Denis O’Shea, Fireman (30), was the son of Edward and Eliza O'Shea, of 76, Great William O'Brien Street, Blackpool.
William Ryan, Donkeyman (38), was the son of Margaret and Hugh Ryan, of 7, Mahoney's Avenue, Lower Road.
George Clarke, Able Seaman (61) was the son of the late George and Catherine Clarke (no location noted).
Daniel Driscoll, Able Seaman (39), was husband of Nora Driscoll (nee Hayes), of Scilly, Kinsale.
Michael Murphy, Able Seaman (34), was husband of Catherine Murphy (nee Coughlan), of 2, Cork Hill, Kinsale.
James Harris (36) was the son of James and Alfina Dunne Harris, of Curraghboy, Youghal.
Laurence O’Connell, Fireman (36), was the son of John and Ann O'Connell, of Glencarney, Rockchapel.
William Evans, Second Mate (54), was the husband of Alice Kate Evans (nee Patrick), of Tan-y-Bryn, New Quay, Cardiganshire.
Michael O’Hare, Greaser (41) was the husband of Margaret O'Hare (nee Masterson), of 48, Cecil Street, Newry, Co. Down.
Joseph George Page, Leading Seaman (no age given), was the son of Charles and Catherine Page, of 2A, Chaucer Street, Kingsley Park, Northampton.
Robert James Peters, seaman (no age given) was born at Neyland, Pembrokeshire.
George Tucker, Able Seaman (20), was the son of Charles and Martha Tucker, of Rock House, Llanrhidian, Reynoldstone, Glamorgan.
(Thanks to Kieran McCarthy and The Cork Independent Newspaper)
13
Diarmuid's old New York friend Richard 'Dick' Dalton cabled Denis from New York:
‘Jerry staying with me. Received your cable Saturday. Await particualrs of wifes plans.’
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 4/45
Diarmuid received the last ‘Round Robin’ letter from various friends in the US written while he was in prison and held for his arrival in the United States.
‘Your note of March 11 was received after some delay and we and all your friends were delighted to know that you are in good shape. Glad to learn that Joe is well; and that the Ceoltori music made such a hit at the last concert.
I think of you , dream of you and pray for you often. Dear God heals, & I believe he will answer soon. May his blessing be on all of you & reward you. We are all very hopeful here. Some soon. I’m a much better cook now than was three years ago. Caithlin.
It is a great boon to get another chance to greet you and to know that you are bearing up so well under the confinement. News of you gives to all your old friends unsurpassed pleasure. They are al looking forward to the day when they can meet you at the gangplank. Kavanagh.
It gives me sincere pleasure that the opportunity is presented to greet you in which Mollie joins me, we both have missed you and hope to see you soon again wither here or in Ireland. We intend to make a trip home after the war. Pleased you are bearing up so well. Daniel F Meehan.
Glad to hear you are bearing up with unbroken spirit your heavy burden. With heartfelt good wishs for a brilliant future for yourself and Kathleen. We salute you. Liam & Brigid Murphy.
I must shake your hand even at the distance. My sincere wishes for the future. Michael MacNelis.
I cannot tell you how delighted I was to receive the note which Denis sent me. It was like a line from beyond the grave. Glad to hear you are keeping up bravely still. It is just exactly what I would expect. Best regards to you. The sound of a ceoltori latest music is still ringing in my ears, who would have even through he would become such a famous musician. We never know what is in store for us. Mother was pleased to hear from you and joins with me and many other friends in sending our best regards & dearest sihes. Sorca.
It gave me great pleasure indeed to read the few lines you sent and am very glad indeed that you are in good health. Keep it so because good health means a lot to everyone. Am pleased to say I am OK and just celebrated anniversary of my birthday. Kind regards from Mrs and myself. Sincerely D.G.B
Delighted to hear you are enjoying good health. May God grant you shall continue so. Please convey my bst and heartfelt wishes to Joe. [ McGuinness ]. Great! Have just learned with delight, you may soon be released. I conclude hoping the news may be immediately confirmed. A.J.O’B
Since most of the foregoing messages were written, we have heard with great joy of your liberation. It is very welcome news and we sincerley hope you are still in good health. Didn’t I tell you my prayers would be answered. Thank God. Our only regraet is that we were not there to welcome you. But please God we shall all meet again. I hope you are feeling well. Caithlin.
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 4/54
14
Diarmuid cabled Kit in Ireland referencing Michael 'Mick' Collins and Dublin's Lord Mayor, Laurence 'Larry' O'Neill.
Cable when shall I expect you. Tell Mick that friends here consider it not advisable to have Larry come pending further advices. Lynch.
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 4/46
Laurence O’Neill (1864-1943) was Lord Mayor of Dublin during key years in modern Irish history, 1917–1924. During these troubled years he held the confidence of his fellow councillors and was hailed in ballad as the greatest lord mayor since Daniel O’Connell. He combined charm with oratorical gifts, political skill, mediation in industrial disputes, and a strong social conscience. In 1916 he was wrongfully imprisoned, an experience which gave him empathy with political prisoners and enabled him to be a successful negotiator between them and the authorities, especially in cases of hunger strike. As Lord Mayor he convened and chaired the Mansion House Conference against conscription, helping to unite all shades of nationalist opinion against this proposal. A constitutional nationalist himself, he was friendly with de Valera and Michael Collins, the Dáil met in the Mansion House, and republican leaders secretly found shelter there during the Troubles. At the same time, Lord Mayor O’Neill cultivated the leading authorities so as to promote openness to negotiation, employment and civic peace.
The same day, Diarmuid's brother Denis wrote to their Aunt, Julia Ahern. However, now that Diarmuid was safe in the United States, their attention was turning to their youngest sibling, Michael Lynch, imprisoned since the Kinsale land dispute and at that time in Mountjoy Jail.
14th May 1918
My Dear Auntie.
Your two letters received, also the telegram on Sat.
Don’t mind rumours. If any critical stage arose of course we would lose no time in letting you know. You may rest assured that neither time or expense stand in our way to do all we can for Michael. We have left no stone unturned ever since he came here and T.G. not without some good.
Sir John Irwin – one of the visiting Justices is most attentive to any requests we make and indeed has done all that lies in his power.
Fr Fidelies took you a full report of how Mick was. He saw him the day before he left for Cork. After that however, they got awfully bad food and they all felt the worse for it. Indeed I might say there is little change since but however they all feel better. I could not possibly go to see him today but Alice & Kattie went up. They found him looking very much better and in very good form.
When the food got so awfully bad we got the Lord Mayor and others at work, and various other details which I cannot put in a letter, but rest assured that at present at all events, he is as well as could be expected. Of course don’t expect to see him in good form when he comes out but T.G. he is alive at all and was feeling well.
As for the letter I got from Austin Stack for him, things might indeed be far different.
Now the next thing, don’t be surprised but he may be home very soon, perhaps even this week and the others have applied for bail ( acting on advice of course. ) and if granted, he may be home before the end of the week. We are working up that end of the business for him now and are only waiting to be called any day to sign all the necessary papers.
The D.J. in Kinsale would help their request very much he thinks and I wrote both Tom Murphy, Willie Ahern & [ Word illegible ] Lynch to have a word with the D.J. tomorrow. I am writing myself to Ford, Petty Sessions Clerk, Kinsale for particulars re: their trial. Say a prayer that it will pan out alright. We got all his washing [ Word illegible ] and send him in clean clothes. That in itself is some comfort to him to even feel that his clothers come fresh from home.
Kattie has just been registered [ Word illegible ]. We had awful trouble over it and for a time it looked as if pressure would have to be brought to bear to get her marriage papers, but T.G. that is alright. So far, so good. She expects to be going before two weeks and at present doesn’t know if she can go south. We gave her your letter with instructions. She would try to go south if she could manage it.
Joined by Alice & Kattie in every best love.
Your always fond nephew,
Denis.
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 4/46a
Above: Blessed are the Peacemakers (1917) by George Bellows.
Below: Postcards reflecting popular opinion on 'Conchies' |
Conscientious Objectors This brief snippet from the Daily Telegraph of May 14th, highlights the issue of conscientious objectors and largely how they were viewed by the general public during the First World War. Many had been held in Knutsford Jail (where incidentally many Irish Nationalists had been held following the 1916 Rising) but as an 'open prison'.
This issue of an individual's right not to fight in military forces was recognised early in 18th century Britain following difficulties with attempting to force Quakers into service. The resulting Militia Ballot Act of 1757 grudgingly allowed Quakers to be excluded from service in the Militia. Objection to military service then ceased to be a major issue, since Britain's armed forces were generally all-volunteer. However, press gangs were used to beef up army and navy rolls on occasions from the 16th to the early 19th centuries. Pressed men did have the right of appeal, in the case of sailors, to the Admiralty but after some months at sea before seeing any British port or possession, it was mostly a pointless exercise. A more general right to refuse military service was not introduced until the First World War. Britain introduced conscription with the Military Service Act of January 1916, which came into full effect on 2 March 1916. The Act allowed for objectors to be absolutely exempted, to perform alternative civilian service, or to serve as a non-combatant in the army's Non-Combatant Corps, according to the extent to which they could convince a Military Service Tribunal of the quality of their objection. Around 16,000 men were recorded as conscientious objectors, with Quakers, traditionally pacifist, forming a large proportion: 4,500 objectors were exempted on condition of doing civilian 'work of national importance', such as farming, forestry or social service; and 7,000 were conscripted into the specially-created Non-Combatant Corps. However, 6,000 were refused any exemption and forced into main army regiments; if they then refused to obey orders, they were court-martialled and sent to prison. Thus, the well-known pacifist and religious writer Stephen Henry Hobhouse was called up in 1916: he and many other Quaker activists took the unconditionalist stand, refusing both military and alternative service, and on enforced enlistment were court-martialled and imprisoned for disobedience. Conscientious objectors formed only a tiny proportion of Military Service Tribunals' cases over the whole conscription period, estimated at around 2%. Tribunals were notoriously harsh towards conscientious objectors, reflecting widespread public opinion that they were lazy, degenerate, ungrateful 'shirkers' seeking to benefit from the sacrifices of others. Thirty-five objectors, including the Richmond Sixteen, were taken to France and formally sentenced to death by court-martial but immediately reprieved, with commutation to ten-years' penal servitude. Conditions were extremely hard for conscientious objector prisoners, many of whom were not used to manual work, lack of regular exercise, and the often cold, damp conditions; ten died in prison, and around seventy more died elsewhere as a result of their treatment. Although a few objectors were accepted for non-combatant service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, acting as nursing/paramedic assistants, the majority of non-combatants served in the Non-Combatant Corps on non-lethal stores, road and railway building and general labouring in the UK and France. Conscientious objectors who were deemed not to have made any useful contribution to the state were formally disfranchised (through a clause inserted in the Representation of the People Act 1918 at the insistence of back-bench MPs) for the five years 1 September 1921 - 31 August 1926, but as it was a last-minute amendment there was no administrative machinery to enforce such disfranchisement, which was admitted to be a "dead letter". |
Ernst Ingmar Bergman born 14 July 1918, Sweden (d.30 July 2007) was a Swedish director, writer, and producer who worked in film, television, theatre and radio. Considered to be among the most accomplished and influential filmmakers of all time.
15
In an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, which Sinn Féin later reissued as a pamphlet, Eamon de Valera claimed that the Irish sought “to be free… not to have a master.” At the same time, though, he claimed that once the “enforced partnership” with England was ended, a new friendship of equals, of “independent neighbours” could emerge, “each respecting the rights and interests of the other” The assumption was that the country's socio-economic structure would remain unchanged, just that the Irish would have the responsbility of managing their own nation.
The United States Post Office Department begins the world's third regular airmail service, between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.. 24 cents per ounce of mail.
In an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, which Sinn Féin later reissued as a pamphlet, Eamon de Valera claimed that the Irish sought “to be free… not to have a master.” At the same time, though, he claimed that once the “enforced partnership” with England was ended, a new friendship of equals, of “independent neighbours” could emerge, “each respecting the rights and interests of the other” The assumption was that the country's socio-economic structure would remain unchanged, just that the Irish would have the responsbility of managing their own nation.
The United States Post Office Department begins the world's third regular airmail service, between New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.. 24 cents per ounce of mail.
16
Letter from Kit to Mary:
16
Letter from Kit to Mary:
Distillery House
Jones Road Distillery
Dublin
My dear Mary.
Very many thanks for your letter which reached me in due time also for your kind invitation to Granig which I would dearly love to accept but unfortunately the remaining time at my disposal before I sail will not permit me to do so.
I was hoping to have at least another two weeks before going but word came last evening that the Lord Mayor [Laurence O'Neill] who is friendly with Diarmuid, is leaving Dublin for New York this day week and as I want to avail of the opportunity of having his company on the voyage, I have to start earlier now than I meant to.
I also was kept back very much in making my preparations & seeing my friends at home on account of the delay about my registration. In fact since D went away 'till yesterday, the police would not permit me to leave Dublin, so you see I won't have an hour to spare between this & this day week.
So I will ask you to say goodbye for me to Dan, Mrs Ahern, Dr & Mrs O’Brien and all the other friends which I had the pleasure of meeting at Christmas last & explain that it's not possible for me to pay them even a flying visit much as I should like to. Diarmuid too will be sorry I had to leave without again visiting Cork.
Alice, Denis & myself saw Michael on Monday and found him in great form T.G.. he was expecting a reply from the Lord Lieutenant re their application for bail. I did not hear since if he got it.
I was over in Church street last week & saw Fr Paul & Fr Albert. They are splendid men & enquiring particularly for you and Mrs Ahern & promised to pray for my safe voyage & for Diarmuid.
Another cable arrived from Diarmuid yesterday to know when I was starting, he is evidently looking forward to my going, so I don't want to delay.
Any chance of your being in town before I go?
If not, I wish you & Dan a fond goodbye which I hope will only be for a short time Please God when Diarmuid and I will be home again to dear old Ireland under much happier circumstances.
With best love now.
Affectionately,
Kitt.’
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 4/48
‘Lloyd George told Lord Miller and Sir Henry Wilson in secret that he had been informed that an insurrection might take place within a fortnight in Ireland, that it would be a guerrilla affair, away from the towns and that the Sinn Feiners had plenty of rifles for such a purpose.’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p287
Western Front: the German Offensive had halted and the general consensus was that the German Army would try again.
‘If an Irish rebellion were time to break out when the weary British armies were once again battling for their lives, it would have to be suppressed by the harshest methods, methods of sheer terrorism." As Conor Cruise O’Brien has suggested, the Irish troops on the Western Front were not in sympathy with anti-conscription or rebellion; but terrorism applied to their towns and villages could not have been kept very long from them, and might well have produced desertions and mutinies. In those war torn armies, where morale was low and ‘uniform more conspicuous than nationality’, and Irish mutiny could have spread to the British, and from the British to the French...and something which Governments feared even more than defeat, a revolution on Bolshevik lines, might have fastened its grip on Europe’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p288
Ray Stannard Baker, who was a close associate of President Wilson, wrote to the Counsellor of the Department of State, Frank L. Polk: ‘I have just spent 10 days in Ireland...the leaders agree that the situation could hardly be more serious...the Government has received a pressing appeal from British Labour to ‘avert the appalling disaster which now threatens our country and our national good name.’ The Daily news and other Liberal newspapers have expressed strong opposition to the Government and the Manchester Guardian warns against ‘the murder of a nation’. Nevertheless, the Government is supported by a large party of determined but unimaginative British public opinion convinced that Ireland must be compelled to do its duty in all justice’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Independence 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. 1957. p.248-249
Washington: The Espionage Act of 1917 was replaced by the Sedition Act of 1918, actually a set of amendments to the Espionage Act, which prohibited many forms of speech, including "any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States ... or the flag of the United States, or the uniform of the Army or Navy"
The German Plot
The "German Plot" was a conspiracy alleged in May 1918 by the Dublin Castle administration in Ireland to exist between the Sinn Féin movement and the German Empire to start an armed insurrection in Ireland during World War I. The alleged conspiracy, which would have diverted the British war effort, was used to justify the internment of Sinn Féin leaders, who were actively opposing attempts to introduce conscription in Ireland.
The "plot" originated on 12 April when the British arrested Joseph Dowling after he was put ashore in County Clare by a German U-boat. Dowling had been a member of the Irish Brigade, one of several schemes by Roger Casement to get German assistance for the 1916 Easter Rising. Dowling now claimed that the Germans were planning a military expedition to Ireland. British Intelligence members William Reginald Hall and Basil Thomson believed him and convinced the authorities to intern all Sinn Féin leaders. 150 were arrested on the night of 16–17 May and taken to prisons in England. The introduction of internment and conscription reflected a decision of the British cabinet to take a harder line on the Irish Question following the failure of the Irish Convention.
Paul McMahon characterises the "Plot" as "a striking illustration of the apparent manipulation of intelligence in order to prod the Irish authorities into more forceful action". Republicans were tipped off by contacts within the administration on the impending arrests, allowing some to escape capture while others chose to be taken in order to secure a propaganda victory. The internment was counterproductive for the British, imprisoning the more accommodating Sinn Féin leadership while failing to capture members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood more committed to physical force republicanism. This allowed Michael Collins to consolidate his control of the organisation and put it on a more focused military footing.
Even at the time, the proposition that the Sinn Féin leadership were directly planning with the German authorities to open another military front in Ireland was largely seen as spurious. Irish nationalists generally viewed the "German Plot" not as an intelligence failure but as a black propaganda project to discredit the Sinn Féin movement, particularly to an uninformed public in the United States. It is still a matter of study and conjecture what impact it had on US foreign policy regarding the 1919 bid for international recognition of the Irish Republic.
The ‘German Plot’ originated from Dublin Castle that evidence had been found ‘that certain subjects…domiciled in Ireland’ had entered into ‘treasonable communications with the German enemy’. While no direct evidence was forthcoming and its apparent purpose was to discredit the anti-conscription campaign leaders & the Sinn Fein movement.
Earlier on 16 May, Walter Long Britain's Colonial Secretary sent Lord Reading, the British Ambassador in Washington, a telegram declaring the British government's position on the deportations. The contents of the telegram were so sensitive that the evidence was to be sent directly to the State Department by the American Ambassador. This was not the end. Long also told Reading that, 'for 'secret service reasons', President Wilson should be asked to approve the telegram's publication in the United States or England, 'in such a way that they would appear to have been discovered in the U.S.A.'. This, it was believed, would allow the American President to bail the British government out of the conscription crisis. President Wilson refused. The reason was based on the lack of evidence of the plot; indeed, the documents were pre-April 1917 when America declared war on Germany.
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Dublin: Michael Collins, through Detective Kavanagh of the DMP was made aware of Dublin Castle’s intention to round up all the Irish Republican leaders and warned de Valera and others of the danger when the executives of Sinn Fein and the Irish Volunteers met during the morning. The Sinn Fein meeting was held in the Jones Rd Distillery, managed by Diarmuid Lynch’s brother, Dennis.
Kathleen Clarke recalls the meeting ‘at that meeting, Mick Collins told me I was on the list for arrest and advised me to go on the run, but I doubted I was, and would find it difficult to go on the run with three young children…I was followed home from that meeting by two G-Men…’
Kathleen Clarke. ‘Revolutionary Woman’. O’Brien Press 1991. P150
De Valera was arrested as he left his train at Greystones as sweeping arrests were carried out all over Ireland, that continued through to the following day. 73 prisoners were collected, held on a British cruiser in Dun Laoghaire harbour and deported to England. The prisoners including Arthur Griffith, Count Plunkett. William Cosgrave, Countess Markievicz, Maud Gonne McBride and Mrs Thomas Clark. Michael Collins succeeded in evading arrest, but all the senior officers of the Volunteers and Sinn Fein organisers were arrested and imprisoned in England.
Amongst de Valera’s papers discovered when he was arrested revealed how thoroughly the future of an Irish Republic was being prepared. ‘The most important document seized was a very elaborate and pedantic memorandum in his own handwriting on the future organisation of n Irish army under an independent Republic. Divided into 8 sections, it began with a general survey of the necessity to provide against ‘three distinct contingencies; raids; purely naval attack; and combined naval and military attack i.e. regular invasion’. Among the special considerations was the reflection that ‘there need be no cavalry; in Ireland this arm has little scope; it is expensive and troublesome to train effectively; the question of horse supply and training would present endless difficulties. ‘Flying artillery’ and especially ‘coast artillery’ were recommended instead; and a cyclists corps instead of cavalry’…the general character of the scheme contemplated ‘standing forces of a special kind and national Militia army linked with the standing forces. The militia army was to be modelled on the militia armies of Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland; and the scheme was to provide ‘for 12 years service in the first line, 8 years in the second line and 10 years in the third line – or from the 20th to the 50th year’. Several of these papers were published in a white paper ‘Documents relative to the Sinn Fein movement (CD.1108) in 1921.
Internment Order for Constance Markievicz. (18 May 1918)
Mimeograph with manuscript entries, marked Copy" in manuscript and issued to her London solicitor, JH MacDonnell. The order specifies Frongoch as the place of detention - the same prison camp used to incarcerate many of the 1916 Rising volunteers.
In a letter to the press, dated 17 May, Lady Augusta Gregory, William Butler Yeats, James Stephens, George Russell (Æ), Douglas Hyde (‘An Craoibhín’) stated: ‘We, the undersigned writers, feel compelled to appeal and protest against the enforcement of conscription in our country, believing, as we do, that such action will destroy all hope of peace in Ireland and goodwill towards England in our lifetime.’
Lady Augusta Gregory, Douglas Hyde, George Russell, James Stephens & W.B.Yeats.
Legislation passed during World War I to criminalize criticism of the government and other forms of dissent gave Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer the powers he needed after the war had ended to order raids on the homes and offices of people suspected of having "communist loyalties" and "conspiring to organize labor." In this political cartoon from 1918, Uncle Sam hauls off a handful of miscreants labeled "traitor," "spy," "Sinn Fein", and "German money," while he holds a leash on the International Workers of the World (I.W.W), presented as a mad dog.
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The arrests continued as more prisoners were detained without charge and imprisoned without trial in England.
Lord French released the Government’s proclamation:
‘ Whereas it has come to our knowledge that certain subjects of His Majesty the King, domiciled in Ireland, have conspired to enter into, and have entered into, treasonable communication with the German enemy...drastic measures must be taken to put down this German plot… ( and commanded ) ...all loyal subjects of his Majesty to aid in crushing the said conspiracy....steps to be taken to facilitate and encourage voluntary enlistment in Ireland in His Majesties forces in the hope that, without resort to compulsion, the contribution of Ireland to these forces may be brought up to its proper strength’
Commenting on the alleged plot, Liam de Roiste wrote that arrests were for reasons that 'others might ''unknowingly'' become corrupted', a point that had been made by the Chief Secretary. Lord French had also proposed the recruitment of 50,000 men, which he expected to have enlisted by October 1
From throughout the country came demands for the Government to produce evidence of a ‘German Plot’, of any recent communication between Germany and any of the persons under arrest. No evidence or trials were forthcoming.
Government statement issued to the Press Bureau on the ‘German Plot’ referred to events dating from November 1914, some of which had taken place during the period when many of the persons now arrested were in jail or in Frongoch internment camp.
Leland Harrison, Counsellor of the State Department, sent to Secretary Lansing the Sinn Fein documents passed to the London Ambassador by Admiral Hall:
‘Attached are the 32 documents which the British Government request you give out to the press immediately...if you are not prepared to do this, then they desire to publish them themselves...it is presumed that the British Government desire to publish these documents in view of the natural inference to be drawn from the information contained...that the Irish have continued their communications with Germany and have probably completed a plan for a second uprising, particularly in case the British should enforce conscription in Ireland...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P266. US National Archives.
Irish America in 1918
The US government held some valid fears that the war in Europe could provoke conflict among the different national groupings in the United States, ‘Americanisation drives’ were directed at those foreign-born Americans who displayed any overt identification with their country of origin. Such people were branded in the press as ‘hyphen Americans’. Once the United States entered the war in April 1917, suspicion of un-Americanism and ‘hyphenism’ intensified.
Such Irish-American reticence can also be explained by reference to traditional Irish-American support for the United States in time of war. On the eve of American entry into the war, the Clan issued a circular that read: ‘We will remain loyal and will yield to none in the devotion to the flag, whether the United States goes to war or remains at peace’. The mainly Irish-American 69th regiment under ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan was one of the first American units to go to the European front, and indeed featured in FOIF publicity material for an ‘Irish Victory Fund’ after the war.
Britain was now America’s ally, and attacks on British policy in Ireland could be viewed as disloyalty to the United States. As a result of this oppressive wartime atmosphere, Irish American organisations such as the Friends of Irish Freedom and it's activities were drastically scaled back and many branches simply ceased to function for the duration of the war.
By the end of 1917 membership in the FOIF had fallen to just over a thousand members.
A minority within the Friends, such as Joe McGarrity, the Clan leader in Philadelphia, disagreed with this lack of wartime activity and pushed for more action. Judge Cohalan, the acknowledged Irish American leader under pressure from these dissident elements, reluctantly agreed to hold a Second Race Convention in May 1918.
The seeds of future dissension amongst Irish American ranks were being sown.
Second Irish Race Convention 1918 -18/19 May
The Second Irish Race Convention, organised by the Friends of Irish Freedom, met in the Central Opera House, New York.
This gathering of Irish Americans from throughout the US was a small fraction of the support given to the Irish struggle for freedom in the period 1913-1921. Attending were representatives from the Friends of Irish Freedom, Clan na Gael, Gaelic League, Irish Progressive League, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Ladies Auxilliary of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Irish Country Organisations, St Patrick’s Alliance, Irish-American Literary Societies, Irish National Foresters & Labour Unions.
According to press reports, some 2,500 delegates attended the 2 day session. Among the speakers were Jim Larkin, Liam Mellows, Hannah Sheehy Skeffington & Fr. Peter Magennis. Apparently the US Secret Service were keen to infiltrate the meeting but according to reports, were kept out.
The convention had the difficult task of steering between its support for militant groups such as Sinn Féin, which was opposed to British rule in Ireland, and proclaiming the loyalty of Irish-Americans to the USA. America had enacted conscription in 1917, but the Irish Conscription Crisis of 1918 had recently arisen, unifying most nationalist parties in Ireland.
In America the Hindu German Conspiracy Trial had just ended, revealing the link between Clan na Gael and the defendants. Public relations and selecting the convention chairman were therefore unusually important. This also caused an immediate division between John Devoy, who proposed the moderate Father Hurton, being mindful of the "hostile press", and Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and Jim Larkin who proposed the more combative John Forrest Kelly.
‘..Because of the intensity of the struggle at home, very little was known, or is yet known, of the splendid work done in the United States in these years, or the effects on the outcome of the national effort for freedom...’
Florence O'Donoghue editor of ‘The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising’ by Diarmuid Lynch. Mercier Press. 1957. p187.
One of the first resolutions at the Convention was presented by Judge Goff and called for a petition address to the President and Congress urging the US Government to exert every legitimate and friendly influence in fa vour of self-determination for the people of Ireland: ‘the application to Ireland now of President Wilson’s noble declaration of the right of every people to self-rule and self-determination’. President Wilson was requested to ‘exert every legitimate and friendly influence in favour of self-determination for the people of Ireland’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P271.
At the Convention, it was proposed that the plea to President Wilson for the application of the principle of Self-determination to Ireland be presented to him in person by a committee headed by Judge Goff, but later agreed that the Rev. McGennis and Fr. Hurton would take the plea.
While the Convention was strongly promoted within Irish American circles, the reality was that the Friends of Irish Freedom were experiencing difficulties: ‘ it's membership was at a very low ebb and the existing branches were for the most part, loosely constructed’
Application for Military Service Pension Certificate ( Diarmuid Lynch) - Department of Defence Files. Lynch Archives. Sept.28 1935
Mellows delivered a powerful plea for Ireland in the course of which he denounced the “German plot” round up of Irish Republican leaders. He said:
"There are times ahead for Ireland which are going to try the people of Ireland as they have never been tried before, and are we going to sit here and keep our mouths shut? We all feel these things too deeply now any longer to conceal the truth. A wrong is going to be perpetrated on Ireland the like of which even the British government never conceived before. They have stated that they discovered a German plot, in order that they might thus alienate the sympathy of the people of America from Ireland. They could then turn around and do as they liked in Ireland, while the world looked on and laughed. This wrong that is going to be done in Ireland is a terrible thing. Conscription at the hands of the British government is a crime, not alone against the Irish people, but against the whole civilised world. And I say that America, by its silence on the question of Ireland’s independence, has been and is still, until it speaks out acquiescing in England’s domination. If there is bloodshed in Ireland, if our men and boys and women and girls are slaughtered, the fight will not alone be that of the men, but the women will take part in it also. This time the fight will be for the preservation of the very life of the Irish nation. If there be bloodshed in Ireland, the blame will not rest alone on the British government; it will rest on America, unless America speaks out on behalf of Ireland..."
Above: May 1918: Sackville Street - under reconstruction following the 1916 Rising.
Below: May 2017: O'Connell Street - Luas line construction underway.
Below: May 2017: O'Connell Street - Luas line construction underway.
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New York: The Irish Race Convention outlined a basis for the Federation of all American men and women of Irish blood into ‘one vast organisation to secure for the land of their Fathers the God given boon of liberty which has made this Republic what it is today – the mightiest of Nations.’
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 4/56
Lynch was invited to speak at the convention, but before the address, he was proposed as National Secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom by Richard Dalton and seconded by Gertrude Kelly. The selection was almost uncontested and the organisations Board was finalised:
National President: Rev Peter E. Magennis. New York
National Tresurer: Michael B McGreal. Connecticut.
National Secretary: Diarmuid Lynch. New York
Chairman – National Executive: Robert E Ford. New York
Vice Chariman – National Executive: John Carroll, New York
National Vice-Presidents: Dr Thomas Addis-Emmet, New York
Hon.John W Goff. New York
Mrs Mary F McWhorter, Chicago
Hon O’Neill Ryan, St Louis
Hon John J Curley, Boston
Rev Peter C Yorke, San Francisco
Rev Henry A Brann, New York
Rev Gerald P Coghlan, Philadelphia
John J Spain, New Haven
When Lynch was introduced to the capacity crowd by the Chairman, Rev. T.J.Hurton, according to a report published in a May issue of the Gaelic American 'The whole convention stood up and cheered him to the echo, remaining standing for several minutes'. In a long speech peppered with prolonged applause from the audience, Lynch threw down the gauntlet to those who impeded the realisation of Irish independence:
New York: The Irish Race Convention outlined a basis for the Federation of all American men and women of Irish blood into ‘one vast organisation to secure for the land of their Fathers the God given boon of liberty which has made this Republic what it is today – the mightiest of Nations.’
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 4/56
Lynch was invited to speak at the convention, but before the address, he was proposed as National Secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom by Richard Dalton and seconded by Gertrude Kelly. The selection was almost uncontested and the organisations Board was finalised:
National President: Rev Peter E. Magennis. New York
National Tresurer: Michael B McGreal. Connecticut.
National Secretary: Diarmuid Lynch. New York
Chairman – National Executive: Robert E Ford. New York
Vice Chariman – National Executive: John Carroll, New York
National Vice-Presidents: Dr Thomas Addis-Emmet, New York
Hon.John W Goff. New York
Mrs Mary F McWhorter, Chicago
Hon O’Neill Ryan, St Louis
Hon John J Curley, Boston
Rev Peter C Yorke, San Francisco
Rev Henry A Brann, New York
Rev Gerald P Coghlan, Philadelphia
John J Spain, New Haven
When Lynch was introduced to the capacity crowd by the Chairman, Rev. T.J.Hurton, according to a report published in a May issue of the Gaelic American 'The whole convention stood up and cheered him to the echo, remaining standing for several minutes'. In a long speech peppered with prolonged applause from the audience, Lynch threw down the gauntlet to those who impeded the realisation of Irish independence:
..in accepting your invitation to address this convention, I feel that no higher honour could be conferred upon me.
Those of our race who remain in the cradleland of the Gael, are striving manfully that our just claim shall not be overlooked and we are appealing to the nations of the world to recognise and support that claim. It is fitting that those of the Irish race in this country should insistently support the demand of the Irish people at home for absolute independence and enlighten as far as possible the much misinformed American public.
As a result of Easter week, the bonds which were slowly but surely strangling the national ideas of Ireland were shattered as if by a miracle. A resurgent Ireland arose. Today she is an Ireland with a masterful grasp of her own national rights and an unswerving determination to achieve them, an Ireland cognisant of her place as a nation among the nations, seeking favours from no nation, but justice and fair dealing from all.
The menace of conscription which now looms over Ireland has had its good effects. It united the Irish people to an extent unknown in the past history of Ireland. It showed the world what self-determination and the rights of small nations means as applied to Ireland today.
For a considerable period prior to the introduction of conscription in Parliament, I was a prisoner in Dundalk Jail, but we were fully posted. We learned of the influx of British troops, including native Indian Ghurka regiments; of the introduction of tanks and artillery; of machine guns and enormous numbers of armoured motor cars. What does all this portend?
Just this. If conscription is proceeded with in Ireland, the greatest injustice in history will be committed, the wholesale massacre of a brave but comparatively defenceless people. That the young men of Ireland will sell their lives dearly is beyond question.
The Irish Volunteers are many times stronger and better disciplined than they ever were. Some companies are all armed, but the majority from a modern military standpoint, are but poorly equipped. They fully realise that the face possible extermination. Nevertheless, their courage, ability and determination are recognised by those who decried them in the past. They did not sign the recent covenant claiming that their covenant was signed when they joined the ranks, and that it was sealed with the blood of Ireland’s bravest and best in Easter week.
When I left Ireland, young and old had equipped themselves with every available kind of weapon, not disdaining the ten foot pikes where rifles and shotguns were not available.
Since my return, I have been told that there are many in America who would judge it as treason to America to state these facts.
Shades of Washington and Jefferson, of Jack Barry and Sheridan, whose ideas of liberty and justice were not limited by racial boundaries. I hold that Americans will not uphold in Ireland what they denounced in Belgium and Rumania.
The food situation in Ireland last winter was very serious. Sinn Fein grappled with the problem. Imports of food had decreased enormously. A food census was taken. Its office was to bring home to every farmer in the country, the advisability of retaining a much larger quantity of oats and potatoes than he otherwise would.
At the time of my arrest, a Central Food executive was being established in Dublin. Toward the end of 1917, the attitude of the British Food Controller as to the bacon question met with serious attention. It was practically impossible to secure bacon during January and February in Dublin. Factories engaged in the preparation of bacon for the market gave notice of dismissal to 50% of their employees. Yet, during the same period, tens of thousands of pigs were being sent out of Ireland weekly.
These conditions resulted in the commandeering of pigs on their way from the Dublin markets to the boat for Holyhead. The owners of the pigs got the market prices, and the people of Dublin got the pork. The immediate result was a reduction of 50% of the sales of pigs for export. An official order was issued prohibiting the export of pigs.
The ( British ) Department of Agriculture sent agents throughout the country to buy oats, declaring they were to be used for seed. The oats were then rushed to the ports where special arrangements had been made to convey them to England. The task of saving the food situation in Ireland was not an easy matter for Sinn Fein. Still, it succeeded.
The attitude of Ireland toward the great war is easily understood, that is by those who want to understand. Speaking for Ireland, Sinn Fein says that in the first place, if this war is for the freedom of small nations, those who have it in their power should begin to right things by giving Ireland the liberty it seeks. Sinn Fein says Ireland has as good a right to independence as Belgium, Holland and Switzerland, and that at this moment Ireland recognises only one enemy.
Ireland will never be at peace with England while she holds her in subjection by brutal force. Having achieved her status as an independent nation, her sovereign parliament will then be free to decide whether Ireland will enter the war or remain at peace with the world as several of the smaller nations of the world have done.
The report of the Lloyd George Convention proves to the hilt, the correctness of the Sinn Fein attitude towards it. The Prime Minister who introduced the conscription bill, did not even deign to read the report of his convention, said report being in his possession at the time. It now looks as if a Home Rule Bill of a kind may be passed in the hope of preventing the position of Ireland from being presented at the Peace Conference.
The Ireland of today is not the Ireland of 1914. It knows exactly what it wants and will be satisfied with nothing less. The time for instalments of freedom, or for the partition of Ireland in any form has gone by. Bribery and promises of good things to come will not purchase Ireland's liberty and the question of Ireland will still stand in the way of world peace until the world settles it on a broad international basis.
I have just read the astounding news that De Valera, Griffith and other prominent members of the Sinn Fein organisation have been arrested. I know enough about the Irish question to state that this action of the British government is absolutely without just cause and I characterise it as engineered with the ingenuity of hell.
I am now satisfied that the news of the capture of a man landed from a German submarine a week ago was a deliberate lie.
The object of the arrest is twofold.
First to embitter the American people against Sinn Fein and Ireland and to prejudice them against those who are coming here to speak against conscription in Ireland.
Secondly to remove the only leaders who have the entire confidence of the Irish people in their fight against conscription.
Come what will, I am certain that even the powers of hell will not prevail against the Irish people in their struggle against tyranny.
The tyrant may wipe out tens of thousands of the young men of Ireland but he cannot kill the soul of the Irish nation nor crush her indomitable spirit.”
Quoted in the Irish Press, Philadelphia. May 25th, 1918. Lynch Family Archives.
The Irish Standard in Minnesota reported part of Lynch's speech in it's June 15, 1918 edition:
Florence O'Donoghue writing years after the convention, commented that as National Secretary: Diarmuid Lynch:
“... took up at once, with characteristic energy and efficiency, the heavy task of rebuilding it and making it an effective force in what was now recognised to be a vital sphere....In the years that followed, he continued to serve the cause of the Irish Republic in this capacity by his devoted and untiring labours in association with the leaders of the Irish Race in America.”
Florence O'Donoghue editor of ‘The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising’ by Diarmuid Lynch. Mercier Press. 1957. P187 & 192.
‘..When Diarmuid Lynch... arrived in America in May 1918, he issued an explicit denial of ‘any plot’ to begin another insurrection in Ireland. He had been a member of the Supreme Council of the I.R.B. prior to the Easter Rebellion of 1916, and subsequently he became a member of the Executive of that Council and a member of the Executive Committee of Sinn Fein. If there had been any plot in America or in Ireland with reference to an insurrection, he would have known the whole story...he made his statement...during the course of an address to the Second Irish Race Convention, May 18-19, 1918.... the New York press was careful to avoid any mention of this address..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p252
An address by Judge Goff to President Wilson which was considered to be mild and conciliatory.." to take such measures as are best calculated to bring about the independence of Ireland"
Judge Cohalan closed the convention with a speech that ".. reiterated the ‘Americanism’ of the Irish in America, emphasising repeatedly that Irish immigrants had always loyally supported the USA, had fought in the American War of Independence against Britain and had become steadfast citizens in their adherence to American ideals. He used the occasion to highlight the effective use the British government made of propaganda against the nationalist movement in Ireland and against Irish Americans, pointing out the necessity of counterbalancing that damaging propaganda by acquainting the American people with the facts concerning British misrule in Ireland: ‘If you leave to the enemies of Ireland the supplying of the information by which American public opinion is to be convinced, you will have nobody but yourselves to blame, if upon the misinformation which may be furnished, the case goes against you in that matter.’
Eileen McGough, 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. P99
Sinn Féin representatives in the United States complained bitterly about the reluctance of the Friends to speak out on Ireland’s behalf. Liam Mellows told shocked delegates: ‘The state of affairs at home is so desperate that you people in this country are acting like a lot of curs if you do not speak now’. Meanwhile, Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington in a letter to Peter Golden in early 1918 also noted the reluctance of Irish-Americans to become involved in any activities that might be construed as unpatriotic: ‘The Irish (mainly comfortable, elderly gentlemen) come and talk about old times and the days of the Kerry dances and so forth, but the moment I talk about 1918 and what could be done now they close up!’
As Judge Cohalan was giving his closing speech to the Race Convention, US Secretary of State Lansing wrote to President Wilson with concerns on the Sinn Fein documents he had received:
‘the enclosed papers are translations of decoded German messages relating to the Sinn Feiners’ intercourse with the German Government through Sinn Fein agents in this country prior and subsequent to the rebellious outbreak at Dublin at Eastertime in 1916....we have been importuned by the British Government...to make them public ... so that they can employ them as evidence against the conspirators now operating in Ireland, some of who have already been arrested...by employing copies obtained from this Government, the British Government would not be subject to embarrassing questions as to the authenticity of the documents and the nature of the German code. Our certification would be sufficient...my impression is...that it would be impolitic, at the present time for us to assume the responsibility for the publication of these papers. The Irish situation is very delicate and anything which we might do to aid either side in the controversy would, I fear, involve us in all sorts of difficulties with the Irish in this country...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P266-267. US National Archives.
‘the enclosed papers are translations of decoded German messages relating to the Sinn Feiners’ intercourse with the German Government through Sinn Fein agents in this country prior and subsequent to the rebellious outbreak at Dublin at Eastertime in 1916....we have been importuned by the British Government...to make them public ... so that they can employ them as evidence against the conspirators now operating in Ireland, some of who have already been arrested...by employing copies obtained from this Government, the British Government would not be subject to embarrassing questions as to the authenticity of the documents and the nature of the German code. Our certification would be sufficient...my impression is...that it would be impolitic, at the present time for us to assume the responsibility for the publication of these papers. The Irish situation is very delicate and anything which we might do to aid either side in the controversy would, I fear, involve us in all sorts of difficulties with the Irish in this country...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P266-267. US National Archives.
Lynch was not one for self-promotion and in a rare glimpse, it can be seen just what he considered what was achieved from modest beginnings in 1918:
‘my entire time and energy were devoted to it's re-organisation and expansion on well-disciplined lines for propaganda purposes. And it is geneally admitted that the powerfull and efficient association which I thus materially helped to develop, furnished the preliminary basis for the effective work subsequently accomplished in America on behlaf of the Irish Republican cause’
Application for Military Service Pension Certificate ( Diarmuid Lynch) - Department of Defence Files. Lynch Archives. Sept.28 1935
Diarmuid recalled some twenty years after the event, of the immediate tasks facing him as Secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom:
‘On taking up the secretaryship of the Friends of Irish Freedom in May 1918, the immediate necessity was to combat the intense and widespread spirit of anti-Irishism which British propaganda and war hysteria had fostered in America. The most urgent task wa to rebuild that organisation in the face of fierce antagonism – to afford at the outset, moral support to the Republican forces in Ireland, and later ( if and when the ‘sinews of war’ became available ) to furnish material aid. But, even by the end of 1918, the total membrship of the Friends of Irish Freedom in the United States and Canada numberedonly 2,000, and it has less than one thousand dollars in it’s treasury!’
Application for Military Service Pension Certificate ( Diarmuid Lynch) - Department of Defence Files. Lynch Archives. March 9, 1938.
The Sun. New York. May 20, 1918
London: Germany launches the largest heavier-than-air raid against the United Kingdom of the war, with 38 Gotha and three Riesenfkugzeug bombers participating. Bombs fall on London for the last time in World War I killing 49 people, injuring 177, and inflicting £117,317 in damage. British fighters and antiaircraft guns shoot down six Gothas, and after a protracted engagement a Bristol F.2B Fighter of the Royal Air Force's No. 141 Squadron forces a seventh Gotha to land substantially intact in England. The Germans launch no further heavier-than-air bomber attacks against the United Kingdom during World War I; in the 27 heavier-than-air raids of the war, German bombers dropped 111,935 kg of bombs, killing 835 people, injuring 1,972, and inflicting £1,418,272 of damage in exchange for the loss of 62 bombers either shot down over England or destroyed in crashes while attempting to return to base.
20
Kathleen Clarke was jailed in Holloway Prison along with Countess Markievicz and Maud Gonne MacBride, allowed one hour per day for exercise.
Chief Secretary Shortt wrote to Lloyd George:
"We cannot and do not pretend that we can prove that each individual taken has been in active personal communication with German agents, but we know that someone has, and each of the interned persons has said or done something which gives ground that he or she is in it."
Press coverage of the Irish Race Convention in New York was light, both the Sun and Evening Post carrying brief references to the ‘Sinn Fein Convention’.
British press reaction to the arrests of the Sinn Fein leaders was predictable, depending on the readership:
‘Dublin opened its newspapers yesterday with a gasp of astonishment. It was not astonished, indeed, to learn that the Irish Government had discovered a German plot, but...at the boldness and firmness with which the Government acted on its discovery...not one in a hundred thousand of the Irish people knew anything about it until breakfast time...loyal and law abiding men put down their newspapers with a sigh of profound relief’
The Times.
‘..In Ireland, no less than in England, accused prisoners are entitled to be considered innocent until their guilt is proved’
London Daily News
In the White House, President Wilson agreed with Secretary of State Lansing’s assessment of the Sinn Fein documents supplied by the British Government: ‘I do not think that the British Government ought to use us to facilitate their fight for conscription in Ireland. I believe that the difficulties that would be created for them as well as for us by the publication in this country...would be greater than any of the alleged advantages ..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.267 quoting US National Archives.
Below: The Daily Telegraph of Monday, 20 May 1918 devoted much space to details of the 'German Plot', from a strongly worded editorial to detailed descriptions of the prisoners.
Kathleen Clarke was jailed in Holloway Prison along with Countess Markievicz and Maud Gonne MacBride, allowed one hour per day for exercise.
Chief Secretary Shortt wrote to Lloyd George:
"We cannot and do not pretend that we can prove that each individual taken has been in active personal communication with German agents, but we know that someone has, and each of the interned persons has said or done something which gives ground that he or she is in it."
Press coverage of the Irish Race Convention in New York was light, both the Sun and Evening Post carrying brief references to the ‘Sinn Fein Convention’.
British press reaction to the arrests of the Sinn Fein leaders was predictable, depending on the readership:
‘Dublin opened its newspapers yesterday with a gasp of astonishment. It was not astonished, indeed, to learn that the Irish Government had discovered a German plot, but...at the boldness and firmness with which the Government acted on its discovery...not one in a hundred thousand of the Irish people knew anything about it until breakfast time...loyal and law abiding men put down their newspapers with a sigh of profound relief’
The Times.
‘..In Ireland, no less than in England, accused prisoners are entitled to be considered innocent until their guilt is proved’
London Daily News
In the White House, President Wilson agreed with Secretary of State Lansing’s assessment of the Sinn Fein documents supplied by the British Government: ‘I do not think that the British Government ought to use us to facilitate their fight for conscription in Ireland. I believe that the difficulties that would be created for them as well as for us by the publication in this country...would be greater than any of the alleged advantages ..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.267 quoting US National Archives.
Below: The Daily Telegraph of Monday, 20 May 1918 devoted much space to details of the 'German Plot', from a strongly worded editorial to detailed descriptions of the prisoners.
21
The London Times reported that the main topic of conversation in Ireland was ‘the nature of the Government’s proofs of the existence of the German plot’.
The London Daily News wrote: ‘it is clear that if the Government failed to convict a single one of the arrested persons of direct association with treasonable conspiracy, the accusation will be said to have failed miserably’
Joe McGarrity entered the race for the Republican nomination for Congressman-at large at the Primary Election (where nominations are secured) with four to be nominated from each party, of which Joe McLaughlin was one. Michael Donohoe believed that McGarrity’s ‘purpose in throwing his hat in the ring was to defeat Joe McLaughlin who was then serving his first term…both Joe’s were defeated…’
Michael O’Donohoe to Diarmuid Lynch Friends of Irish Freedom manuscript notes. Lynch Family Archives Folder 8 – 00009
Cavan: The mass arrest and deportation of Sinn Féin leaders had a significant impact on the race to fill the vacant Westminster parliamentary seat for East Cavan. One of the candidates for the position, Arthur Griffith – a founder of Sinn Féin and editor of Nationality – was among the 73 men and women picked up by the police and military authorities and the wave of public support for those arrested was certain to see him to victory.
A recent Sinn Féin demonstration at Cootehill attracted a crowd of 15,000 people from almost every parish in Co. Cavan, as well as surrounding districts. The meeting had been planned in advance as an election rally in support of Griffith and was to be addressed by Sinn Féin President, Éamon de Valera, who was also arrested earlier in the week. The East Cavan by-election appeared set to end the nationalist unity that had been evident throughout the recent conscription crisis. The decision of Sinn Féin to press Griffith’s candidacy was denounced by the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) MP John O’Connor as ‘nothing short of an outrage at a time when absolute unity was imperative’.
Striking a similar note was the IPP-supporting Freeman’s Journal which described the prospect of a contest in the constituency as an ‘unmitigated disaster’. ‘One wonders if Mr de Valera ... would feel either happy or confident at the head of an army one-half of which in the lull that precedes the final battle was busily employed in turning its rifles on the other half.’
Ottomans invade Armenia.
22
London: Shortt and Walter Long brought their evidence of the German plot to the cabinet. Again, not everyone was convinced. Realising this, Admiral Hall, the Director of Admiralty Intelligence, was brought into the meeting to explain the evidence to those who did not accept it. Nevertheless, the scepticism remained until the cabinet finally agreed that, although the arrests were justified, they should be presented to the public in a very careful manner.
The Westminster Gazette felt that evidence of the ‘German Plot’ should be made public:
‘it is impossible to find any man of any party who is not gravely disturbed by the Irish proceedings of the Government...the arrests should have been accompanied by at least a prima-facie statement of the evidence against them...we hope that the Government will stand firm against the suggestion of come Unionist papers that it is not necessary to produce any evidence’
As soon as the British government's charges of treason were presented, the American press largely voiced strong hostility against Sinn Fein and it was generally assumed that the arrested leaders in Ireland were guilty of some serious criminal activity. One such example comes from The Chicago Tribune:
‘..that Germany, by making use of radical Irishmen in the United States, has been formenting a plot to overthrow the British Empire... Our quarrel with Sinn Fein is that it's votaries are doing everything in their power to bring about a collapse...they cannot look to America for sympathy and assistance and needlessly sacrifice American lives’
London: Shortt and Walter Long brought their evidence of the German plot to the cabinet. Again, not everyone was convinced. Realising this, Admiral Hall, the Director of Admiralty Intelligence, was brought into the meeting to explain the evidence to those who did not accept it. Nevertheless, the scepticism remained until the cabinet finally agreed that, although the arrests were justified, they should be presented to the public in a very careful manner.
The Westminster Gazette felt that evidence of the ‘German Plot’ should be made public:
‘it is impossible to find any man of any party who is not gravely disturbed by the Irish proceedings of the Government...the arrests should have been accompanied by at least a prima-facie statement of the evidence against them...we hope that the Government will stand firm against the suggestion of come Unionist papers that it is not necessary to produce any evidence’
As soon as the British government's charges of treason were presented, the American press largely voiced strong hostility against Sinn Fein and it was generally assumed that the arrested leaders in Ireland were guilty of some serious criminal activity. One such example comes from The Chicago Tribune:
‘..that Germany, by making use of radical Irishmen in the United States, has been formenting a plot to overthrow the British Empire... Our quarrel with Sinn Fein is that it's votaries are doing everything in their power to bring about a collapse...they cannot look to America for sympathy and assistance and needlessly sacrifice American lives’
23
The Atlanta Constitution newspaper wrote that an Irish rebellion would mean
‘..there will be lost in Ireland now, and perhaps forever, all the sympathy and all the support which has been so real in the last half century. As far as America is concerned, future sympathy for Ireland must be predicated on Irish participation in the great war and participation on the Allied side. Not in many years can Irishmen hope for American support’
The Detroit Free Press was more forthcoming in its denunciation of Sinn Fein and also showing what was to become a major American fear for the next 70 years:
‘Sinn Fein would have turned the world over to Berlin if it could. It has succeeded in destroying its own influence with the great mass of the Irish people, who, as the words uttered by Mr Dillon indicate, have welcomed the true significance of these Celtic Bolsheviki’
Meanwhile in Ireland, the U.S. Consul at Queenstown, C.M.Hathaway in a letter to Ambassador Page in London, discussed at length the reaction in Ireland with reference to the charges that had been made against Sinn Fein:
"The Government's charge of a German plot and it's arrests of the Sinn Fein leaders in that connection is presumably a conspiracy to villify Ireland and discredit the Irish cause abroad so as to relieve the British government of the handicap of foreign sympathy (and particularly American sympathy) with Ireland's lack of freedom of self-determination. If anybody is guilty, as of course it is not impossible that a few may be, that man is in the wrong. This is however, so unlikely and it is so probable that this is merely a piece of Government chicanery, that Irish sympathy remains too largely with the arrested men to warrant the Irish Party's taking a decided stand against any who may be found guilty.."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p263
Joseph Tumulty, private secretary to President Wilson in a private memorandum, characterised the speeches made at the Second Irish Race Convention as 'most seditious'.
In New York, Lynch cabled his wife Kit in Dublin:
The Atlanta Constitution newspaper wrote that an Irish rebellion would mean
‘..there will be lost in Ireland now, and perhaps forever, all the sympathy and all the support which has been so real in the last half century. As far as America is concerned, future sympathy for Ireland must be predicated on Irish participation in the great war and participation on the Allied side. Not in many years can Irishmen hope for American support’
The Detroit Free Press was more forthcoming in its denunciation of Sinn Fein and also showing what was to become a major American fear for the next 70 years:
‘Sinn Fein would have turned the world over to Berlin if it could. It has succeeded in destroying its own influence with the great mass of the Irish people, who, as the words uttered by Mr Dillon indicate, have welcomed the true significance of these Celtic Bolsheviki’
Meanwhile in Ireland, the U.S. Consul at Queenstown, C.M.Hathaway in a letter to Ambassador Page in London, discussed at length the reaction in Ireland with reference to the charges that had been made against Sinn Fein:
"The Government's charge of a German plot and it's arrests of the Sinn Fein leaders in that connection is presumably a conspiracy to villify Ireland and discredit the Irish cause abroad so as to relieve the British government of the handicap of foreign sympathy (and particularly American sympathy) with Ireland's lack of freedom of self-determination. If anybody is guilty, as of course it is not impossible that a few may be, that man is in the wrong. This is however, so unlikely and it is so probable that this is merely a piece of Government chicanery, that Irish sympathy remains too largely with the arrested men to warrant the Irish Party's taking a decided stand against any who may be found guilty.."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p263
Joseph Tumulty, private secretary to President Wilson in a private memorandum, characterised the speeches made at the Second Irish Race Convention as 'most seditious'.
In New York, Lynch cabled his wife Kit in Dublin:
‘Cable seventeenth received. Come when ready. Soonest. Happiest. Bring only personal belonging. God bring you safe. Fondest love. Lynch’
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 4/47
24
The London Daily Telegraph was emphatic about the guilt of the Irish leaders, they were guilty of treason as their arrests were made under the Defence of the Realm Act, they could be tried by court-martial and punished. The Telegraph was at pains to point out that ‘justification exists for the arrests...in the shape of astounding evidence’
The London Daily News however disagreed with other Press opinion, writing:
‘it is now close on a week since the Government affected its coup in Ireland...meanwhile the arrested persons have not been told what is the charge against them or what opportunity they will have of meeting it, or whether there is, in fact any charge at all...( the Irish Administration ) may have abundant justification, but their delay in producing the necessary proof is unfortunate in the extreme’
Cork: The Cork Examiner editorial asked if the government had evidence of a plot, and why was there such 'hesitancy' in releasing the evidence? Another concern forwarded by the editorial included the number of those alleged to have been part of the plot; it just was not possible for all those who had been arrested to be part of the plot, considering that the number arrested stood at 150.
The St Louis, Missouri Globe Democrat expressed some ‘deep sympathy’ for Ireland, it was unable to look
‘..with complacency upon an organisation that seeks to take advantage of the world’s peril to attain ends that are essentially selfish, however laudable they may be in principle’
Washington: A delegation from the Irish Race Convention called to the White House and requested an audience with the President to present a memorial calling for self-determination for Ireland. They were given the brushoff by his private secretary, Tumulty, who commented: "a committee headed by Rev, T. J. Hurton called at the Executive Office...they represent the Sinn Fein element that had a convention in New York recently and wish to present a memorial on the matter. It seems to be that it would not be wise for you to receive them or even to receive the memorial.'
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p273
Kit writing from the Jones Road Distillery to her sister-in-law, Mary Lynch:
The London Daily Telegraph was emphatic about the guilt of the Irish leaders, they were guilty of treason as their arrests were made under the Defence of the Realm Act, they could be tried by court-martial and punished. The Telegraph was at pains to point out that ‘justification exists for the arrests...in the shape of astounding evidence’
The London Daily News however disagreed with other Press opinion, writing:
‘it is now close on a week since the Government affected its coup in Ireland...meanwhile the arrested persons have not been told what is the charge against them or what opportunity they will have of meeting it, or whether there is, in fact any charge at all...( the Irish Administration ) may have abundant justification, but their delay in producing the necessary proof is unfortunate in the extreme’
Cork: The Cork Examiner editorial asked if the government had evidence of a plot, and why was there such 'hesitancy' in releasing the evidence? Another concern forwarded by the editorial included the number of those alleged to have been part of the plot; it just was not possible for all those who had been arrested to be part of the plot, considering that the number arrested stood at 150.
The St Louis, Missouri Globe Democrat expressed some ‘deep sympathy’ for Ireland, it was unable to look
‘..with complacency upon an organisation that seeks to take advantage of the world’s peril to attain ends that are essentially selfish, however laudable they may be in principle’
Washington: A delegation from the Irish Race Convention called to the White House and requested an audience with the President to present a memorial calling for self-determination for Ireland. They were given the brushoff by his private secretary, Tumulty, who commented: "a committee headed by Rev, T. J. Hurton called at the Executive Office...they represent the Sinn Fein element that had a convention in New York recently and wish to present a memorial on the matter. It seems to be that it would not be wise for you to receive them or even to receive the memorial.'
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p273
Kit writing from the Jones Road Distillery to her sister-in-law, Mary Lynch:
Distillery House
Jones Road Distillery
Dublin
24th May ‘18
My Dear Mary.
Many thanks for your welcome letter which arrived on Thursday eve. I;m sure you will be surprised to know I’m still in the’Old Country’.
My passport arrived a day too late to sail this week, consequently I must wait for next weeks boat & I won't know definitely for a day or two the actual date of my departure.
Is it not dreadful about the arrests? I did thank God fervently when I read of them, that Diarmuid is now out of their grip and a free man. So everything turns out for the best after all.
Michael was in great form when Alice & I visited him yesterday. In fact he looked better than ever we have seen him since his illness, notwithstanding that the answers for his petition to bail was not satisfactory, but perhaps if they did give him bail now, they would deport him with the other men for an indefinite period.
Alice & I were down in Maynooth today. The nuns in each convent were very delighted to see us and to hear all about the ‘Jail Marriage’. We went down particulalry to enquire for Ma Soeur who is dangerously ill since last Tuesday, poor creature. The community have very little hopes for her recovery. Sr Columba is in her usual good form & promised all kinds of prayers for D & myself.
We are hoping that Mrs Ahern will pay a visit to Dublin before I set sail if the journey will not be too tiring on her.
Hoping you, Dan & Tim are in the best of form. with fondest love & wishes,
Yours affectionate
Kattie’
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 4/51
Denis in a letter to Mary Lynch (only part of which survives)
45 Maylor Street, Cork was the business address and offices of Jeremiah Ahern, the husband of the Lynch's maternal aunt, Julia.
“…and she won't have any trouble in getting it now as she will be registered as an alien. The registration is not quite complete yet, but will be fully finished tomorrow. Where ever she goes[ Word illegible ] she must report, up to this she could not leave Dublin.
[ Word illegible ] reports you heard...all sorts of reports went out about Diarmuid was sent and none of them were right all the time we said what we knew but of course could not be absolutely sure of it till he was landed.
We had another cable today to know when was Kattie going out.
Best love to yourself and all.
Denis.
PS There is not truth whatsoever in the report that Michael Hyde’s relations were sent for. His sister came up yesterday to see Liam and do anything she could for him but she was not sent for. She also came to see about the bail for him. He was surely feeling the result of the bad food but he even was not sent to hospital.
Another report which is also untrue that Kattie has her passport. She had not even applied for it yet but will in a few days. Denis.
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 4/50
Reported from New York that due to war time manpower shortages, hotels may be ‘forced’ to employ black waiters.
The Government produced evidence of the German Plot which was extensively reported in the newspapers the following day and was generally widely supported without question.
The Government produced evidence of the German Plot which was extensively reported in the newspapers the following day and was generally widely supported without question.
25
The ‘German Plot’ evidence was in two parts. The first was a review of the relationship between the German Government and Irish revolutionaries leading up to the Easter Rising. The second was a review of plans made to land arms from submarines, an insurrection when a German offensive reached a peak on the Western Front, proof in documents found on De Valera etc. However no documents were published to support the charges, nor were any of the prisoners tried before a court or court-martial.
The Times supported the Government in an editorial:
‘plain people here and in Ireland...will have no doubt that the statement issued by the Government today justifies beyond reasonable grounds...the arrest of the Sinn Fein leaders...granted that it is not evidence of the guilty complicity in a German plot of any individual...we do not suppose that any patriotic person, here or in Ireland, will be disposed to question these grounds for reticence’
The London Daily News however smelled a rat..
‘it is not merely irrelevant, but profoundly misleading, to recapitulate evidence of German intrigue in connection with the rebellion of April 1916, as proof of Irish complicity in an alleged German plot in May 1918..’
Dublin: Perspectives on the so-called plot vary widely according to political allegiance. For the Irish Independent, what has been disclosed by way of evidence, is ‘more fittingly described as a British plot to discredit Ireland in the eyes of the world, especially of America’.
The Freeman's Journal took up the issue when it suggested that, those arrested had all been in jail during the period of the plot. Moreover, some also supported Kitchener and Carson in the defence of Ireland in the opening months of the war.
The Belfast Newsletter, perhaps predictably, has been convinced by the case against the plotters, saying that it proves that there have been regular communications between the Sinn Féin leaders and the German authorities and that it has continued up to the point of their arrest. Furthermore the paper is critical of the leniency that has allowed the Sinn Féin leaders to travel the country making ‘rebel speeches’ and asks that no mercy be shown to them now that they are in custody.
‘Internment is no punishment for traitors caught in the act. They must be tried, and if they are convicted they must pay the penalty. If not, the government will be guilty of complicity with them’.
James Joyce's Exiles: a play in three acts is published in London.
25
The ‘German Plot’ evidence was in two parts. The first was a review of the relationship between the German Government and Irish revolutionaries leading up to the Easter Rising. The second was a review of plans made to land arms from submarines, an insurrection when a German offensive reached a peak on the Western Front, proof in documents found on De Valera etc. However no documents were published to support the charges, nor were any of the prisoners tried before a court or court-martial.
The Times supported the Government in an editorial:
‘plain people here and in Ireland...will have no doubt that the statement issued by the Government today justifies beyond reasonable grounds...the arrest of the Sinn Fein leaders...granted that it is not evidence of the guilty complicity in a German plot of any individual...we do not suppose that any patriotic person, here or in Ireland, will be disposed to question these grounds for reticence’
The London Daily News however smelled a rat..
‘it is not merely irrelevant, but profoundly misleading, to recapitulate evidence of German intrigue in connection with the rebellion of April 1916, as proof of Irish complicity in an alleged German plot in May 1918..’
Dublin: Perspectives on the so-called plot vary widely according to political allegiance. For the Irish Independent, what has been disclosed by way of evidence, is ‘more fittingly described as a British plot to discredit Ireland in the eyes of the world, especially of America’.
The Freeman's Journal took up the issue when it suggested that, those arrested had all been in jail during the period of the plot. Moreover, some also supported Kitchener and Carson in the defence of Ireland in the opening months of the war.
The Belfast Newsletter, perhaps predictably, has been convinced by the case against the plotters, saying that it proves that there have been regular communications between the Sinn Féin leaders and the German authorities and that it has continued up to the point of their arrest. Furthermore the paper is critical of the leniency that has allowed the Sinn Féin leaders to travel the country making ‘rebel speeches’ and asks that no mercy be shown to them now that they are in custody.
‘Internment is no punishment for traitors caught in the act. They must be tried, and if they are convicted they must pay the penalty. If not, the government will be guilty of complicity with them’.
James Joyce's Exiles: a play in three acts is published in London.
26
The Rochester, New York ‘Democrat and Chronicle’ questioned the apparent doubt that some had of the evidence presented against the Sinn Fein leaders:
‘broad intimations of members of the Sinn Fein, or at least of their sympathisers, that the British Government fabricated the evidence of treason on which some of its leaders have been arrested, leave a bad taste in the mouth’
The US Government became involved in the entire ’Plot’ controversy when this official statement was made and reported in the New York Times: ‘more evidence than that disclosed in the British Press Bureau’s charges of the close connection between the Irish Sinn Fein and German influence is in the hands of the British and American Governments according to an official statement made here today’
This 'official statement' made in Washington to the effect that the American government had important evidence against the Sinn Fein leaders stirred Irish Nationalist leaders such as T.P.O'Connor and Richard Hazelton to action. They prepared a memorandum which they requested Senator Phelan to pass to Secretary Lansing that if the American government had such evidence, the time had arrived when this should be made public.
"The situation is urgent need of being cleared up. If valuable time is allowed to pass, the effect of the damaging disclosures, if the materials for such are in the hands of the authorities, will be considerably lessened. If the American authorities have really important evidence in their possession, its immediate production would do more than anything else to influence public opinion in Ireland, for the charge of a 'frame up' which is believed in Ireland against the British authorities, would not be entertained against the American authorities..."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p264
The Rochester, New York ‘Democrat and Chronicle’ questioned the apparent doubt that some had of the evidence presented against the Sinn Fein leaders:
‘broad intimations of members of the Sinn Fein, or at least of their sympathisers, that the British Government fabricated the evidence of treason on which some of its leaders have been arrested, leave a bad taste in the mouth’
The US Government became involved in the entire ’Plot’ controversy when this official statement was made and reported in the New York Times: ‘more evidence than that disclosed in the British Press Bureau’s charges of the close connection between the Irish Sinn Fein and German influence is in the hands of the British and American Governments according to an official statement made here today’
This 'official statement' made in Washington to the effect that the American government had important evidence against the Sinn Fein leaders stirred Irish Nationalist leaders such as T.P.O'Connor and Richard Hazelton to action. They prepared a memorandum which they requested Senator Phelan to pass to Secretary Lansing that if the American government had such evidence, the time had arrived when this should be made public.
"The situation is urgent need of being cleared up. If valuable time is allowed to pass, the effect of the damaging disclosures, if the materials for such are in the hands of the authorities, will be considerably lessened. If the American authorities have really important evidence in their possession, its immediate production would do more than anything else to influence public opinion in Ireland, for the charge of a 'frame up' which is believed in Ireland against the British authorities, would not be entertained against the American authorities..."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p264
27
Lord Wimborne declared: ‘that he considered the German Plot and the recent activity connected with it as coming more from the zeal of the new broom than from any fundamental changes in the conditions in Ireland’
Dorothy Macardle. ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press, Dublin. 1951. p.245
Kathleen Lynch sailed from Dublin for Liverpool to join a transatlantic liner bound for the United States.
The Cork Examiner reported on June 3rd: ‘Mrs Lynch, the bride of Mr Diarmuid Lynch Sinn Fein Food Controller ( recently deported to America ) left Dublin to join her husband, having secured a passport through the American Embassy. She was seen off by a large number of friends.’
Cork Examiner – June 3rd 1918. Cork Library.
On the German Plot, The Philadelphia Public Ledger newspaper weighed in, forthright in its opinion that
‘it is obvious that at such a time as this, the arrests would not have been made without ample evidence, and there are a good many reasons for withholding it at present’
The Irish Parliamentary Party US representative, T.P.O’Connor began to lobby pro-Irish senators such as Phelan to request that the US Government made such evidence public.
Western Front: German offensive 'Blucher' (also known as Third Battle of the Aisne) commences.
Lord Wimborne declared: ‘that he considered the German Plot and the recent activity connected with it as coming more from the zeal of the new broom than from any fundamental changes in the conditions in Ireland’
Dorothy Macardle. ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press, Dublin. 1951. p.245
Kathleen Lynch sailed from Dublin for Liverpool to join a transatlantic liner bound for the United States.
The Cork Examiner reported on June 3rd: ‘Mrs Lynch, the bride of Mr Diarmuid Lynch Sinn Fein Food Controller ( recently deported to America ) left Dublin to join her husband, having secured a passport through the American Embassy. She was seen off by a large number of friends.’
Cork Examiner – June 3rd 1918. Cork Library.
On the German Plot, The Philadelphia Public Ledger newspaper weighed in, forthright in its opinion that
‘it is obvious that at such a time as this, the arrests would not have been made without ample evidence, and there are a good many reasons for withholding it at present’
The Irish Parliamentary Party US representative, T.P.O’Connor began to lobby pro-Irish senators such as Phelan to request that the US Government made such evidence public.
Western Front: German offensive 'Blucher' (also known as Third Battle of the Aisne) commences.
28
In the US, newspaper opinion continued with an anti-Sinn Fein line, in this case the New York Times:
‘Few Americans of whatever descent...are not weary of and disgusted with Sinn Fein folly or madness’
The American Embassy in London reported back to the State Department in Washington that the British ‘Government in its treatment of Sinn Fein leaders has not yet shown its hand clearly. Very little real evidence , if any, has been published and public opinion is becoming rather restive both here and in Ireland . There is a general feeling that although the Government intentions are right, the evidence is not yet of such a character to justify its action if carefully investigated...the press challenges the Government to prove the guilt of any of the suspects and they recall past examples of double dealing on the part of the British in an effort to show that the whole affair has been based on the weakest sort of evidence in order to injure the cause of Ireland and interfere with the opposition to conscription’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p263-264
In Ireland, a secret order was circularised to the police, advising that vigorous measures were to be taken the deal with ‘the present activities of disloyally affected persons’. The police were instructed to eradicate night drilling, to co-operate closely with troops, to source advance information, to close halls used for drilling or for film screenings likely ‘to cause disaffection’, to search for seditious literature and seize printing machines.
Meanwhile, jailed together were Kathlee Clarke, Countess Markievicz and Maud Gonne McBride. Clarke’s autobiography does throw some light on the personalities:
‘In the early days of our imprisonment, when we were out for exercise, Madame Markievicz and Madame MacBride walked up and down the exercise yard togther, discussing their mutual friends and aquaintances, and disputing as to which of them had the highest social status. Madame Marckievicz claimed she was far above Madame MacBride; she belonged to the inner circle of the Vice-Regeal Lodge set, while Madame MacBride was only on the fringe of it…I was outside their social circle and had nothing in common with them socially. Madame Marckievicz took pains to make me aware of the social gulf between us. When Madame Markievicz did talk to me in those early days, I sensed a certain amount of patronage in her tone and manner…’Why on earth did they arrest such a quiet, insignificant person as you are?…both ladies would come into my cell and unload their grievances on me seperately. They were not in such good terms with each other as at first…when one came in, the other went out…’
Kathleen Clarke. ‘Revolutionary Woman’. O’Brien Press 1991. P161
The 1918 flu pandemic (January 1918 – December 1920) was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus. It infected 500 million people around the world and resulted in the deaths of 50 to 100 million (three to five percent of the world's population), making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history.
To maintain morale, wartime censors minimized early reports of illness and mortality in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. Newspapers were free to report the epidemic's effects in neutral Spain (such as the grave illness of King Alfonso XIII). This created a false impression of Spain as especially hard hit, thereby giving rise to the pandemic's nickname, "Spanish Flu". Below is one of the first press reports on the Flu as published by the Daily Telegraph on this date: |
29
German troops take Soissons and threaten Rheims on the advance to the Marne but are stopped by US Divisions.
German troops take Soissons and threaten Rheims on the advance to the Marne but are stopped by US Divisions.
30
Lord Milner, the Secretary for War informed the War Cabinet that Clemenceau, the French leader, had suggested that Irish labourers might volunteer to bring in the expected bumper harvest. For the next three months, this idea was contemplated by the cabinet. A French priest Pere Flynn was sent to London and another French delegation had been sent to Ireland, yet this plan had come to nothing and later become confused with a second French plan to recruit Irish volunteers to work as labourers with the French army. By now, some Irishmen had made inquires at the French Embassy in London about joining the French army
Moscow: martial law declared.
Lord Milner, the Secretary for War informed the War Cabinet that Clemenceau, the French leader, had suggested that Irish labourers might volunteer to bring in the expected bumper harvest. For the next three months, this idea was contemplated by the cabinet. A French priest Pere Flynn was sent to London and another French delegation had been sent to Ireland, yet this plan had come to nothing and later become confused with a second French plan to recruit Irish volunteers to work as labourers with the French army. By now, some Irishmen had made inquires at the French Embassy in London about joining the French army
Moscow: martial law declared.
Political cartoons, newly printed in vivid color during the war era, were widespread and quickly consumed by popular culture across national borders and language barriers. As with today, caricatures allowed artists and audiences to laugh, reflect and inform opinions of current events.
Dutch artist Louis Raemaekers, described as the “supreme cartoonist of the war,” used his pencils as a weapon to create powerful impressions characterizing and criticizing the nature and legacy of war.
Born in the Netherlands in 1869, Raemaekers’ first wartime political cartoon was published in the Amsterdam newspaper De Telegraaf on Aug. 1, 1914, following the German declarations of war. As is true with today’s political cartoonists, Raemaekers combined religious sensibility and symbolism to develop both comical and stirring commentary on the brutality of war and its destructive legacy. Caricatures of leaders, particularly Kaiser Wilhelm, personified the reprehensible practices of war conducted by Germans while portraying empathy that defied national borders.
While working for De Telegraaf, his work was confiscated on several occasions by the Dutch government and he was criticized by many for endangering the Dutch neutrality, a rumor even started circulating that the German government had offered a reward of 12,000 guilders for Raemaekers, dead or alive.
Between 1914 and 1918, Raemaekers’ works were printed in newspapers worldwide, reproduced on millions of postcards, published in dozens of books, and exhibited in hundreds of cities around the globe. Raemaekers received unprecedented attention on both sides of the Atlantic, was awarded the French Legion of Honor, and received credit for influencing the U.S. decision to enter the war.
Louis Raemaekers died in the Netherlands on July 26, 1956.
Dutch artist Louis Raemaekers, described as the “supreme cartoonist of the war,” used his pencils as a weapon to create powerful impressions characterizing and criticizing the nature and legacy of war.
Born in the Netherlands in 1869, Raemaekers’ first wartime political cartoon was published in the Amsterdam newspaper De Telegraaf on Aug. 1, 1914, following the German declarations of war. As is true with today’s political cartoonists, Raemaekers combined religious sensibility and symbolism to develop both comical and stirring commentary on the brutality of war and its destructive legacy. Caricatures of leaders, particularly Kaiser Wilhelm, personified the reprehensible practices of war conducted by Germans while portraying empathy that defied national borders.
While working for De Telegraaf, his work was confiscated on several occasions by the Dutch government and he was criticized by many for endangering the Dutch neutrality, a rumor even started circulating that the German government had offered a reward of 12,000 guilders for Raemaekers, dead or alive.
Between 1914 and 1918, Raemaekers’ works were printed in newspapers worldwide, reproduced on millions of postcards, published in dozens of books, and exhibited in hundreds of cities around the globe. Raemaekers received unprecedented attention on both sides of the Atlantic, was awarded the French Legion of Honor, and received credit for influencing the U.S. decision to enter the war.
Louis Raemaekers died in the Netherlands on July 26, 1956.
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1
Liverpool: Kathleen Lynch finally sails aboard the SS Orduna. Docked in New York, June 11.
Western Front: The Battle of Belleau Wood begins.
Dublin: A nationwide anti-conscription demonstration by women was agreed and scheduled for 9 June, the Feast of the St Columcille. The date was set at a meeting of a Women’s Day Committee held at Dublin’s Mansion House which was presided over by Alice Stopford Green.
The committee hoped that the women of Ireland would demonstrate their appreciation of the gravity of the occasion by turning out in every parish and by signing a pledge in opposition to conscription. Following the signing of the pledge, the women were recommended to form a procession to a church or place of pilgrimage, or a local memorial of national history. They were also asked to take part in a floral demonstration, with every woman bringing a flower and every organisation carrying a wreath or cross or another symbol to decorate the place of signing or prayer.
To encourage their involvement, a circular, supplied by Agnes O’Farrelly, was issued to ‘To the Women of Ireland’ urging that they unite in ‘celebrating one solemn day of devotion and intercession when the whole will and wish of Irish womanhood may be set towards the restoration of freedom and justice in our country. With this intention a group of Irish women brought before the Mansion House Conference the suggestion of a Woman’s Day.’ The suggestion was unanimously supported by the Conference and was subsequently accepted by a representative meeting of women’s societies.
The general committee organising the ‘Lá na mBan’ comprised Cumann na mBan, Irish Women’s Franchise League, the Drapers’ Assistants, Shirtmakers’, Tailoresses’, the Irish Women Workers’ Union, International League, Catholic Voters, Brushmakers, Geanna Fiadhaine – and the following individuals Rachel Dix, Mabel McConnell Fitzgerald, Louie Bennett, Helen Laird, Nancy O’Rahilly, and Una Gordon.
Liverpool: Kathleen Lynch finally sails aboard the SS Orduna. Docked in New York, June 11.
Western Front: The Battle of Belleau Wood begins.
Dublin: A nationwide anti-conscription demonstration by women was agreed and scheduled for 9 June, the Feast of the St Columcille. The date was set at a meeting of a Women’s Day Committee held at Dublin’s Mansion House which was presided over by Alice Stopford Green.
The committee hoped that the women of Ireland would demonstrate their appreciation of the gravity of the occasion by turning out in every parish and by signing a pledge in opposition to conscription. Following the signing of the pledge, the women were recommended to form a procession to a church or place of pilgrimage, or a local memorial of national history. They were also asked to take part in a floral demonstration, with every woman bringing a flower and every organisation carrying a wreath or cross or another symbol to decorate the place of signing or prayer.
To encourage their involvement, a circular, supplied by Agnes O’Farrelly, was issued to ‘To the Women of Ireland’ urging that they unite in ‘celebrating one solemn day of devotion and intercession when the whole will and wish of Irish womanhood may be set towards the restoration of freedom and justice in our country. With this intention a group of Irish women brought before the Mansion House Conference the suggestion of a Woman’s Day.’ The suggestion was unanimously supported by the Conference and was subsequently accepted by a representative meeting of women’s societies.
The general committee organising the ‘Lá na mBan’ comprised Cumann na mBan, Irish Women’s Franchise League, the Drapers’ Assistants, Shirtmakers’, Tailoresses’, the Irish Women Workers’ Union, International League, Catholic Voters, Brushmakers, Geanna Fiadhaine – and the following individuals Rachel Dix, Mabel McConnell Fitzgerald, Louie Bennett, Helen Laird, Nancy O’Rahilly, and Una Gordon.
3
Dublin: In a further signal of the abandonment of the policy of conscription in Ireland, the Lord Lieutenant issued a proclamation aimed at encouraging voluntary recruitment across the country. The government wants 50,000 additional Irishmen to enlist by 1 October and as an incentive there is a promise of land in the future.
‘We recognise that men who come forward and fight for their motherland are entitled to share in all that their motherland can offer’, the proclamation stated, adding: ‘Steps are therefore being taken to ensure, as far as possible, that land shall be available for men who have fought for their country, and the necessary legislative measure is now under consideration.’
The proclamation appeals first and foremost to those ‘who can best be spared’ – younger men between the ages of 18 and 27. However, this is in no way intended to preclude older men from coming forward who may be specially fitted to military service.
The Belfast Newsletter was quick to condemn what it called the government’s ‘new Irish policy’, which, it believed, becomes ‘more reprehensible’ the more it is examined. The Newsletter believed that when the government announced its plan to introduce conscription it was ready, albeit belatedly, to ‘act with courage and justice’, ‘but either it never intended to enforce conscription or it surrendered as soon as the Roman Catholic bishops declared their hostility.’ Alongside government weakness, the Newsletter railed against the inadequacy of what is now being proposed – an additional 50,000 recruits would still not bring Ireland up to the standard set by ‘any other part of the Empire’ and even then, the appeal to voluntary recruitment comes with a ‘bribe’. The latest appeal, the paper contends, is not made to loyalty or patriotism but to ‘land hunger’.
Meanwhile in London, amongst the more vociferous campaigners for Irish conscription was Sir Henry Wilson ‘both as a war measure and a peace measure’ He demanded that 50,000 were initially needed to replenish Irish divisions in the field and after this was completed, to raise 2,000 to 3,000 per month to maintain these divisions i.e. to replace those killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
United States: Nine ships are sunk by German U-Boats off America's Atlantic coastline.
Dublin: In a further signal of the abandonment of the policy of conscription in Ireland, the Lord Lieutenant issued a proclamation aimed at encouraging voluntary recruitment across the country. The government wants 50,000 additional Irishmen to enlist by 1 October and as an incentive there is a promise of land in the future.
‘We recognise that men who come forward and fight for their motherland are entitled to share in all that their motherland can offer’, the proclamation stated, adding: ‘Steps are therefore being taken to ensure, as far as possible, that land shall be available for men who have fought for their country, and the necessary legislative measure is now under consideration.’
The proclamation appeals first and foremost to those ‘who can best be spared’ – younger men between the ages of 18 and 27. However, this is in no way intended to preclude older men from coming forward who may be specially fitted to military service.
The Belfast Newsletter was quick to condemn what it called the government’s ‘new Irish policy’, which, it believed, becomes ‘more reprehensible’ the more it is examined. The Newsletter believed that when the government announced its plan to introduce conscription it was ready, albeit belatedly, to ‘act with courage and justice’, ‘but either it never intended to enforce conscription or it surrendered as soon as the Roman Catholic bishops declared their hostility.’ Alongside government weakness, the Newsletter railed against the inadequacy of what is now being proposed – an additional 50,000 recruits would still not bring Ireland up to the standard set by ‘any other part of the Empire’ and even then, the appeal to voluntary recruitment comes with a ‘bribe’. The latest appeal, the paper contends, is not made to loyalty or patriotism but to ‘land hunger’.
Meanwhile in London, amongst the more vociferous campaigners for Irish conscription was Sir Henry Wilson ‘both as a war measure and a peace measure’ He demanded that 50,000 were initially needed to replenish Irish divisions in the field and after this was completed, to raise 2,000 to 3,000 per month to maintain these divisions i.e. to replace those killed, wounded or taken prisoner.
United States: Nine ships are sunk by German U-Boats off America's Atlantic coastline.
Charles Basil Slater Spackman, a twenty-three year old Flight Lieutenant from Norfolk in No.150 Squadron was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
(June 2018 - an article is being written on the connection with Basil - a link will be placed here and in the 'Articles' page.)
(June 2018 - an article is being written on the connection with Basil - a link will be placed here and in the 'Articles' page.)
4
British Cabinet meetings of the Irish Committee record growing dissension within the group. Walter Long announced his resignation from the group as it was ‘ploughing the sands’. Shortt ‘reported a great deal of passive resistance in Ireland’ and Lloyd George stated that ‘Nobody believes we ought to introduce a Home Rule Bill now. We must go on drafting and say we have not finished’ Addisson commented that ‘to ignore the Bill on the statute books and to shelve the Convention Report would so weaken the Government that it could not survive’ and the Government should appoint a ‘parliamentary body to examine a federal soloution applicable to the end of war conditions’. Chamberlain thought otherwise saying it was ‘rotten to proceed on basis of 1914 Act plus Convention. The latter was a compromise which failed and which had left thorny questions undecided.’ Fisher went on to remind the committee of the effect on American public opinion. Shortt sumarised the current situation in Ireland, quoting the Irish MP Devlin , that ‘nothing short of Dominion Home Rule was now acceptable, and he could say nothing else in a country full of republicans. It would be dangerous if recruiting went on alongside a feeling that Home Rule was being buried. Both must be kept to the front. Six months hence Ireland might accept conscription in return for Home Rule’
Thomas Jones. Whitehall Diary. Vol III – Ireland 1918-1925. Oxford University Press 1971. P9-10
Below: A letter from Mrs Lawless of Saucerstown House, Swords, Co. Dublin to the Chief Secretary enquiring as to the wherabouts of her deported husband, Frank Lawless. Three weeks after his and other arrests, no information had been made available as to their locations or well being. Note the comment in the margins "Reply approved that he is in Usk Prison. 5/6"
British Cabinet meetings of the Irish Committee record growing dissension within the group. Walter Long announced his resignation from the group as it was ‘ploughing the sands’. Shortt ‘reported a great deal of passive resistance in Ireland’ and Lloyd George stated that ‘Nobody believes we ought to introduce a Home Rule Bill now. We must go on drafting and say we have not finished’ Addisson commented that ‘to ignore the Bill on the statute books and to shelve the Convention Report would so weaken the Government that it could not survive’ and the Government should appoint a ‘parliamentary body to examine a federal soloution applicable to the end of war conditions’. Chamberlain thought otherwise saying it was ‘rotten to proceed on basis of 1914 Act plus Convention. The latter was a compromise which failed and which had left thorny questions undecided.’ Fisher went on to remind the committee of the effect on American public opinion. Shortt sumarised the current situation in Ireland, quoting the Irish MP Devlin , that ‘nothing short of Dominion Home Rule was now acceptable, and he could say nothing else in a country full of republicans. It would be dangerous if recruiting went on alongside a feeling that Home Rule was being buried. Both must be kept to the front. Six months hence Ireland might accept conscription in return for Home Rule’
Thomas Jones. Whitehall Diary. Vol III – Ireland 1918-1925. Oxford University Press 1971. P9-10
Below: A letter from Mrs Lawless of Saucerstown House, Swords, Co. Dublin to the Chief Secretary enquiring as to the wherabouts of her deported husband, Frank Lawless. Three weeks after his and other arrests, no information had been made available as to their locations or well being. Note the comment in the margins "Reply approved that he is in Usk Prison. 5/6"
5
German forces were now within 50 miles of Paris – close enough for the largest cannon to lob shells into the city. The French Government began to make plans to evacuate as they had done in the first months of the war, 3 ½ years earlier.
While the German advance since March had pushed the Allied forces close to defeat, there were heavy lossses in men and materials.
5
German forces were now within 50 miles of Paris – close enough for the largest cannon to lob shells into the city. The French Government began to make plans to evacuate as they had done in the first months of the war, 3 ½ years earlier.
While the German advance since March had pushed the Allied forces close to defeat, there were heavy lossses in men and materials.
6
Walter Long reported to the Irish Commission of the British Cabinet that any Irish Bill would be strongly opposed by Ulster and that Middleton ( who recently founded the Irish Unionist Party in Dublin ) had not a single follower. Meanwhile the Nationalists were split into three or four parties. The only chance was to produce a Bill applicable to the entire Kingdom of which Ireland could take it’s share.
Western Front: Third Battle of the Aisne ends with the German advance halted after initial gains.
7
Wexford: - The first anniversary of the death of Irish soldier and politician Major Willie Redmond, who was killed in action in Flanders, was publicly marked in Co. Wexford. Masses for the repose of his soul – and for all Wexford men killed in the present war – were celebrated in the Assumption, Immaculate Conception, and Franciscan Churches, and a public rosary was recited at the family mausoleum in St John’s Churchyard in the evening. The Redmond family vault was decorated by the women of the Major Redmond Memorial Committee. The committee also published and distributed a special memorial edition of Major Redmond’s last speech in the House of Commons, which, according to Lord Charles Beresford, ‘ought to be framed and placed in every school in Ireland’. The Freeman’s Journal, reflecting on that speech, on the tragic death of Major Redmond and on what it has referred to as the ‘intrigues and jobbery of the past 12 months by the representatives of British power in Ireland’, has said that the ‘memory of William Redmond will live to confound those who defeated his hopes’.
Wexford: - The first anniversary of the death of Irish soldier and politician Major Willie Redmond, who was killed in action in Flanders, was publicly marked in Co. Wexford. Masses for the repose of his soul – and for all Wexford men killed in the present war – were celebrated in the Assumption, Immaculate Conception, and Franciscan Churches, and a public rosary was recited at the family mausoleum in St John’s Churchyard in the evening. The Redmond family vault was decorated by the women of the Major Redmond Memorial Committee. The committee also published and distributed a special memorial edition of Major Redmond’s last speech in the House of Commons, which, according to Lord Charles Beresford, ‘ought to be framed and placed in every school in Ireland’. The Freeman’s Journal, reflecting on that speech, on the tragic death of Major Redmond and on what it has referred to as the ‘intrigues and jobbery of the past 12 months by the representatives of British power in Ireland’, has said that the ‘memory of William Redmond will live to confound those who defeated his hopes’.
8
V603 Aquilae, the brightest nova observed since Kepler's of 1604, is discovered.
The Irish Standard reported on 'The Great Sinn Fein Conspiracy".
V603 Aquilae, the brightest nova observed since Kepler's of 1604, is discovered.
The Irish Standard reported on 'The Great Sinn Fein Conspiracy".
Ernie O’Malley recalled arriving in an Offaly town to organise a Volunteer Brigade: ‘In daytime I could now enter a town to practise quick mobilisation, shop boys, carpenters, shop owners, clerks, fell quickly into line. They practised bayonet fighting with brush handles up and down streets; they sat on pathways or in halls to listen to my talks from the destruction of railway plant to street fighting…jewellers and locksmiths made revolver springs…telegraphic clerks held classes with buzzers and tappers..Cumman na mBan sewed signalling flags and haversacks..shops were raided for cartridges and detonators, quarries for explosives..’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p301
Western Front: Fourth phase of the Spring Offensive, Operation Gneisenau (also known as Battle of Matz). Despite substantial territorial gains, the Germans do not achieve their strategic goals
The Gaelic American described the New York State Gaelic League Annual Convention and Lynch's address:
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p301
Western Front: Fourth phase of the Spring Offensive, Operation Gneisenau (also known as Battle of Matz). Despite substantial territorial gains, the Germans do not achieve their strategic goals
The Gaelic American described the New York State Gaelic League Annual Convention and Lynch's address:
Print media in the United States in this era was certainly a large (and for the majority of newspaper publishers) quite a lucrative business. Aside from the major publishers and capital city dailies, ethnic and religious groups such as German-American & Irish American interests had been publishing for years. The Irish Standard newspaper had the highest penetration throughout the United States and reported on major events of irish-American interest such as above.
There was also a more fundamentalist press, published weekly. One such newspaper found during archive trawls was aptly named 'The Menace'. Published in Aurora, Missouri, it claimed the title as 'America's Greatest Educational Journal in Furtherance of Fundamental Democracy' - but was far better known in Irish American circles for it's virulently anti-Catholic and anti-Irish stance.
The Menace was founded in 1911 by Wilbur Franklin Phelps and within the first three years there were a million subscribers. It's strongly anti-Catholic stance fed upon the Ku Klux Klan hysteria of the 1910s–1920s and the long held belief that Rome lurked behind all Roman Catholics but particularly Roman Catholic politicians. Along with the paper, the company also published anti-Catholic books and arranged engagements for anti-Catholic speakers, the more reactionary and outrageous, the better.
The Menace was published in Aurora from 1911 to 1920 when the publishing plant mysteriously burned down, arson was naturally suspected but never proven. Publishing was moved to Branson, Missouri and the newspaper's name was changed to The New Menace. It was published there from 1920 to 1922. It then moved back to Aurora from 1922 to 1931. It was succeeded by The Monitor which was also published in Aurora from 1931-1942. It ceased publication in December 1942.
Here's the Menace's take on Sinn Fein from it's edition of June 8, 1918. With the benefit of historical hindsight, there was certainly some accuracy in their assertions but we can only imagine how such comments would have been received at the time. (Lynch is mentioned in the fourth column.)
The Menace was published in Aurora from 1911 to 1920 when the publishing plant mysteriously burned down, arson was naturally suspected but never proven. Publishing was moved to Branson, Missouri and the newspaper's name was changed to The New Menace. It was published there from 1920 to 1922. It then moved back to Aurora from 1922 to 1931. It was succeeded by The Monitor which was also published in Aurora from 1931-1942. It ceased publication in December 1942.
Here's the Menace's take on Sinn Fein from it's edition of June 8, 1918. With the benefit of historical hindsight, there was certainly some accuracy in their assertions but we can only imagine how such comments would have been received at the time. (Lynch is mentioned in the fourth column.)
'The Menace' in page 4 of the June 8, 1918 edition warned against the Good Shepherd institutions:
Ireland's relationship with institutions such as The Good Shepherd Convents also known as The Magdalen Asylums continues to be examined today, a century after 'The Menace' wrote of 'No such dismal institutions of horrible slavery...'.
Investigations at the beginning of the 2000s into historical child abuse by religious organisations revealed large-scale, horrific and systematic abuse which occurred in institutions, the vast number of which were run by the Catholic Church. The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (commonly known as the Ryan Commission) unveiled a vast degree of institutional abuse going back decades. The Commission focused mainly on allegations that emerged from 60 Reformatory and Industrial Schools run by Catholic orders and funded by the Department of Education.
It has been estimated that around 30,000 women were admitted during the 150-year history of the Magdalen institutions in Ireland. Most were incarcerated against their will at the request of family members or priests for reasons such as prostitution, being an unmarried mother, being developmentally challenged or suffering from child-abuse in the home. Even young girls who were considered potentially promiscuous or flirtatious were sometimes sent to the Magdalen Asylum. This continued with the foundation of the Irish State with the last Magdalen asylum only closing in 1996.
Labour in the Magdalene Laundries was forced and wholly unpaid, conditions harsh and the incarcerated women completely deprived of their liberty, suffering both physical and emotional abuse. The Irish State gave the nuns who ran the Laundries direct capitation (per-head) grants and valuable contracts for commercial work and it also failed to enforce health and safety legislation or ensure girls of school-going age were educated in the Laundries.
“The State regarded the Magdalene Laundries as an opportunity to deal with various social problems – illegitimacy, poverty, disability, so-called licentous behaviour, domestic and sexual abuse, youth crime and infanticide,” (from the Justice for Magdalenes group submission to the Government’s Inter-Departmental Committee set up to probe exactly what happened between the 1920s and 1990s.)
Perhaps 'The Menace' was a little ahead of it's time?
Investigations at the beginning of the 2000s into historical child abuse by religious organisations revealed large-scale, horrific and systematic abuse which occurred in institutions, the vast number of which were run by the Catholic Church. The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (commonly known as the Ryan Commission) unveiled a vast degree of institutional abuse going back decades. The Commission focused mainly on allegations that emerged from 60 Reformatory and Industrial Schools run by Catholic orders and funded by the Department of Education.
It has been estimated that around 30,000 women were admitted during the 150-year history of the Magdalen institutions in Ireland. Most were incarcerated against their will at the request of family members or priests for reasons such as prostitution, being an unmarried mother, being developmentally challenged or suffering from child-abuse in the home. Even young girls who were considered potentially promiscuous or flirtatious were sometimes sent to the Magdalen Asylum. This continued with the foundation of the Irish State with the last Magdalen asylum only closing in 1996.
Labour in the Magdalene Laundries was forced and wholly unpaid, conditions harsh and the incarcerated women completely deprived of their liberty, suffering both physical and emotional abuse. The Irish State gave the nuns who ran the Laundries direct capitation (per-head) grants and valuable contracts for commercial work and it also failed to enforce health and safety legislation or ensure girls of school-going age were educated in the Laundries.
“The State regarded the Magdalene Laundries as an opportunity to deal with various social problems – illegitimacy, poverty, disability, so-called licentous behaviour, domestic and sexual abuse, youth crime and infanticide,” (from the Justice for Magdalenes group submission to the Government’s Inter-Departmental Committee set up to probe exactly what happened between the 1920s and 1990s.)
Perhaps 'The Menace' was a little ahead of it's time?
9
A National Women’s Day was held in Ireland with women throughout the country signing a pledge that they would not take jobs vacated by men being conscripted. Social barriers were being lowered in common resistance to conscription. Heavy rainfall failed to dampen the enthusiasm of thousands of women who turned out in protest against conscription across the country. In Dublin city and suburbs alone, an estimated 40,000 women participated in signing a pledge not to fill the workplaces of men let go from their employment for refusing compulsory military service. The vestibule of City Hall was the main signing centre for the city itself and here almost 15,000 signatures were collected, the first three hours being devoted to the members of various women’s societies.
There were 700 members of Cumann na mBan and 1,400 Irish tailoresses, but the largest number from any single group to sign the pledge came from the Irish Women Workers Union (IWWU), who marched from Denmark House to City Hall headed by Louie Bennett. In all, about 2,400 members of the IWWU signed, including a large number of Protestant labour women. These Protestant anti-conscription women met at Christchurch Cathedral at 10am to start the day with silent prayer and had written to the Dean to request that the cathedral be opened early to facilitate them. No reply was received. On arrival they found the cathedral locked and they were required to conduct their prayer service outside in the pouring rain. Between 60 and 70 women were locked out, among them well known public figures like Alice Stopford Green, Alice Milligan, Nelly O’Brien, Susan Mitchell and Sarah Cecelia Harrison.
The impressive scenes in Dublin were replicated in towns and villages throughout Ireland. In Limerick, where the protests were predominantly religious in nature, a shrine was erected in St John’s Square. The Dominican Fathers permitted the removal of their Virgin and Child statue from St Saviour’s Church to be temporarily placed at the shrine. In Tipperary, there was also a religious dimension with up to 3,000 women and young girls, accompanied by the local clergy and Kickham band marching from St Michael's Church through the town to the grotto of Our Lady of Mercy in the Convent of Mercy grounds. And in Waterford, 1,500 women were reported to have marched through the city’s principal thoroughfares behind a banner inscribed with the message ‘The women of Waterford will not have conscription’. In Arklow, Co. Wicklow, 1,200 women paraded. A similar number assembled on the Callan Road in Kilkenny. 600 paraded in Ballinasloe, Co. Mayo where 800 signed the pledge. 700 women paraded in Athlone behind a ‘God Save Ireland from Conscription’ banner.There was a strong turnout in Strabane, Co. Tyrone where 2,000 women carrying flowers paraded to the local church, where they decorated the statue of the Blessed Virgin in the church grounds. A similar number protested in Cootehill, Co. Cavan. Reporting on this ‘splendidly organised’ nationwide day of protest the Irish Independent is convinced that it ‘cannot fail to have due effect’.
London: The War Cabinet announced that it had no objections to Irishmen volunteering for the French army, although there was to be no active French recruitment in Britain.
below left: women signing the pledge not to take conscripted men's jobs (Image: Freeman's Journal, 10 June 1918). Right: women marching against conscription (Image: Cork Examiner, 12 June 1918).
An article on the 1918 Women's Day by Dr. Mary McAuliffe is available from Century Ireland here.
A National Women’s Day was held in Ireland with women throughout the country signing a pledge that they would not take jobs vacated by men being conscripted. Social barriers were being lowered in common resistance to conscription. Heavy rainfall failed to dampen the enthusiasm of thousands of women who turned out in protest against conscription across the country. In Dublin city and suburbs alone, an estimated 40,000 women participated in signing a pledge not to fill the workplaces of men let go from their employment for refusing compulsory military service. The vestibule of City Hall was the main signing centre for the city itself and here almost 15,000 signatures were collected, the first three hours being devoted to the members of various women’s societies.
There were 700 members of Cumann na mBan and 1,400 Irish tailoresses, but the largest number from any single group to sign the pledge came from the Irish Women Workers Union (IWWU), who marched from Denmark House to City Hall headed by Louie Bennett. In all, about 2,400 members of the IWWU signed, including a large number of Protestant labour women. These Protestant anti-conscription women met at Christchurch Cathedral at 10am to start the day with silent prayer and had written to the Dean to request that the cathedral be opened early to facilitate them. No reply was received. On arrival they found the cathedral locked and they were required to conduct their prayer service outside in the pouring rain. Between 60 and 70 women were locked out, among them well known public figures like Alice Stopford Green, Alice Milligan, Nelly O’Brien, Susan Mitchell and Sarah Cecelia Harrison.
The impressive scenes in Dublin were replicated in towns and villages throughout Ireland. In Limerick, where the protests were predominantly religious in nature, a shrine was erected in St John’s Square. The Dominican Fathers permitted the removal of their Virgin and Child statue from St Saviour’s Church to be temporarily placed at the shrine. In Tipperary, there was also a religious dimension with up to 3,000 women and young girls, accompanied by the local clergy and Kickham band marching from St Michael's Church through the town to the grotto of Our Lady of Mercy in the Convent of Mercy grounds. And in Waterford, 1,500 women were reported to have marched through the city’s principal thoroughfares behind a banner inscribed with the message ‘The women of Waterford will not have conscription’. In Arklow, Co. Wicklow, 1,200 women paraded. A similar number assembled on the Callan Road in Kilkenny. 600 paraded in Ballinasloe, Co. Mayo where 800 signed the pledge. 700 women paraded in Athlone behind a ‘God Save Ireland from Conscription’ banner.There was a strong turnout in Strabane, Co. Tyrone where 2,000 women carrying flowers paraded to the local church, where they decorated the statue of the Blessed Virgin in the church grounds. A similar number protested in Cootehill, Co. Cavan. Reporting on this ‘splendidly organised’ nationwide day of protest the Irish Independent is convinced that it ‘cannot fail to have due effect’.
London: The War Cabinet announced that it had no objections to Irishmen volunteering for the French army, although there was to be no active French recruitment in Britain.
below left: women signing the pledge not to take conscripted men's jobs (Image: Freeman's Journal, 10 June 1918). Right: women marching against conscription (Image: Cork Examiner, 12 June 1918).
An article on the 1918 Women's Day by Dr. Mary McAuliffe is available from Century Ireland here.
N.Y.Gaelic League Holds it’s Convention - has passed through successful year - Diarmuid Lynch tells how Irish language movement is progressing in Ireland.
“The annual convention of the Gaelic League of the state of New York was held on Sunday, June 9 and was attended by delegates from the Harlem Gaelic Society, St. Enda’s Branch etc...Mr Diarmuid Lynch, former President of the Executive, who has recently arrived from Ireland, entered the hall shortly after the convention opened and received an ovation from all present.
At the request of the chairman, he gave a most interesting account of the work carried on by the Gaelic League in Ireland, particularly during the last two years. Extensive plans had been made he said, to have the Irish language movement established on a sound basis in every county in Ireland. Organisers and teachers were working hard. The Irish language was coming into more general use in Ireland, and the Gaelic League influence was in evidence among all sections of the people, but particularly so among the young generation now growing up, the boys and girls upon whom Ireland now places her hopes for freedom.
Mr Lynch expressed his pleasure at seeing so many of his former colleagues still active in the movement, he also complimented the Executive on the practical assistance given to the Gaelic League of Ireland and urged that it continue the good work, which was now more necessary than ever before...votes of thanks were passed to the teachers who have voluntarily given their services...and to Diarmuid Lynch for having so ably represented the Executive in Ireland for several years...”
Gaelic American. 22.6.1918. National Library of Ireland. MS 31/403 Diarmuid Lynch papers in the Florence O'Donoghue papers.
10
Dublin: The Press Association reported with authority that the proposal to link land allocation to enlistment is not an attempt to bribe potential recruits. Rather, it would place ex-soldiers and ex-sailors on a level with other tenants as eligible under the existing Land Acts, a series of measures introduced since the late 1800s to redistribute land from landlord to tenant. This new focus would also serve to reinvigorate this transfer, which had slowed in recent years. Picking up on the proposal, one British newspaper, The Morning Post, advocated that if land were to be given to Irish soldiers it should be taken from the Sinn Féiners as penalty for treason. The Post’s suggestion has drawn a furious response, not least from the Irish Independent which interpreted as involving a new ‘plantation’ of Ireland. ‘The Morning Post proposes a revival of the one of the worst features of the penal laws, but it would be no more successful now than it was in the 18th century’.
Dublin: The Press Association reported with authority that the proposal to link land allocation to enlistment is not an attempt to bribe potential recruits. Rather, it would place ex-soldiers and ex-sailors on a level with other tenants as eligible under the existing Land Acts, a series of measures introduced since the late 1800s to redistribute land from landlord to tenant. This new focus would also serve to reinvigorate this transfer, which had slowed in recent years. Picking up on the proposal, one British newspaper, The Morning Post, advocated that if land were to be given to Irish soldiers it should be taken from the Sinn Féiners as penalty for treason. The Post’s suggestion has drawn a furious response, not least from the Irish Independent which interpreted as involving a new ‘plantation’ of Ireland. ‘The Morning Post proposes a revival of the one of the worst features of the penal laws, but it would be no more successful now than it was in the 18th century’.
11
New York: Kathleen 'Kit' Lynch arrived in New York aboard the SS Orduna sailing from Liverpool.
New York: Kathleen 'Kit' Lynch arrived in New York aboard the SS Orduna sailing from Liverpool.
The Orduña (15,499 grt, 569 ft. long) had a long and chequered career, beginning with her launching in 1913 from Haarland & Wolf in Belfast. She sailed on her maiden voyage in 1914 from Liverpool to Valparaiso for the Pacific Steam Navigation Co. Orduna was requisitioned as an auxiliary cruiser and troop transport in the First World War running from Halifax, Canada to Liverpool before returning to passenger services in mid 1918. Later serving Hamburg-New York and the Pacific coast of South America. In May 1939, several ships, including the Orduna brought Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany (including recently annexed Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia) to Havana, Cuba. The attempts by the refugees to reach safety is told here. Between 1941-1950, she ran as a troop transport before being broken up in 1951.
Dublin's Lord Mayor, Laurence O'Neill, in a letter to the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson called for support against conscription: "In the fourth year of a war ostensibly begun for the defence of small nations, a law conscribing the manhood of Ireland has been passed, in defiance of the wishes of our people .... To warrant the coercive statute, no recourse was had to the electorate of Britain, much less to that in Ireland. Yet the measure was forced through within a week, despite the votes of Irish representatives and under a system of closure never applied to the debates, which established conscription for Great Britain on a milder basis..."
Parliament, London: Lord Willoughby De Broke in the House of Lords described Ireland as an island where 'every form of sport, from horse racing to cock fighting flourishes unrestricted, where the meat card is unknown, and where, for Sinn-Feiners at any rate, petrol flows as freely as whiskey; in short, the only place fit remaining for a gentleman to live in.'
Lord Crawford thought the picture somewhat overdrawn. In his opinion, "Ireland was subject to exactly the same regulations (whether she observes them or not) as Great Britain, save as regards food, and to impose a rationing system upon her would not be worth the trouble". Lord Selborne harrumphed and attributed the Government's leniency to the 'insane view of creating an athmosphere in which something incomprehensible was to occur' which was believed to be a phrase that may stand for a good deal of British policy towards Ireland since the Act of Union according to some Peers.
Punch Magazine considered the situation (see cartoon below) reporting 'that the able bodied denizens of this fortunate isle should require some more tangible inducement to leave it than the mere honour of fighting for freedom. The Irish Attorney General partly filled in the outlines of Lord French's promise of land to Irish recruits but failed to satisfy the curiosity of a host of questioners..."
Lord Crawford thought the picture somewhat overdrawn. In his opinion, "Ireland was subject to exactly the same regulations (whether she observes them or not) as Great Britain, save as regards food, and to impose a rationing system upon her would not be worth the trouble". Lord Selborne harrumphed and attributed the Government's leniency to the 'insane view of creating an athmosphere in which something incomprehensible was to occur' which was believed to be a phrase that may stand for a good deal of British policy towards Ireland since the Act of Union according to some Peers.
Punch Magazine considered the situation (see cartoon below) reporting 'that the able bodied denizens of this fortunate isle should require some more tangible inducement to leave it than the mere honour of fighting for freedom. The Irish Attorney General partly filled in the outlines of Lord French's promise of land to Irish recruits but failed to satisfy the curiosity of a host of questioners..."
The island where 'every form of sport, from horse racing to cock fighting flourishes unrestricted, where the meat card is unknown, and where, for Sinn-Feiners at any rate, petrol flows as freely as whiskey; in short, the only place fit remaining for a gentleman to live in.' Lord Willoughby De Broke. Punch Magazine. June 15, 1918
12
Russia: Grand Duke Michael of Russia is murdered, becoming the first of the Romanovs to be killed by the Bolsheviks
Washington: Shane Leslie, attached to the British Embassy in Washington had been 'constantly calling upon the President (Wilson) to command Irish sentiment in the world'. He went so far as to say in a letter to Joseph P. Tumulty that Irishmen would place themselves 'unconditionally at the service of the President...he has the first right to the service of the Irish race all over the world'.
Irwin B. Laughlin, Counsellor in the US Embassy London in a letter to Secretary of State Lansing said that the British government had dropped 'all discussion' of the alleged German Plot. "The general impression seems to be that the Irish policy followed by the Government has been a fiasco. The British government's failure in handling the present situation is probably surpassed by the quandary the Irish Parliamentary Party find themselves in, as they have now completely placed themselves into the hands of the Sinn Fein by deserting their posts at Westminster..."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p267-268
Sir John Randolph Leslie, 3rd Baronet (1885 – 1971), commonly known as Sir Shane Leslie, was an Irish-born diplomat and writer. Born in Co. Monaghan, he was a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill. During the war he was in a British Ambulance Corps, until invalided out; he was then sent to Washington, D.C. to help the British Ambassador, Sir Cecil Spring Rice, soften Irish-American hostility towards England and obtain American intervention in the war in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and the execution of its leaders. But he also looked to Ireland for inspiration when writing and edited a literary magazine that contained much Irish verse. He became a supporter of the ideals of Irish nationalism, although not physical force republicanism.
Joseph Tumulty (1879-1954) opposite - was private secretary (1911-21) to President Wilson.
Russia: Grand Duke Michael of Russia is murdered, becoming the first of the Romanovs to be killed by the Bolsheviks
Washington: Shane Leslie, attached to the British Embassy in Washington had been 'constantly calling upon the President (Wilson) to command Irish sentiment in the world'. He went so far as to say in a letter to Joseph P. Tumulty that Irishmen would place themselves 'unconditionally at the service of the President...he has the first right to the service of the Irish race all over the world'.
Irwin B. Laughlin, Counsellor in the US Embassy London in a letter to Secretary of State Lansing said that the British government had dropped 'all discussion' of the alleged German Plot. "The general impression seems to be that the Irish policy followed by the Government has been a fiasco. The British government's failure in handling the present situation is probably surpassed by the quandary the Irish Parliamentary Party find themselves in, as they have now completely placed themselves into the hands of the Sinn Fein by deserting their posts at Westminster..."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p267-268
Sir John Randolph Leslie, 3rd Baronet (1885 – 1971), commonly known as Sir Shane Leslie, was an Irish-born diplomat and writer. Born in Co. Monaghan, he was a first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill. During the war he was in a British Ambulance Corps, until invalided out; he was then sent to Washington, D.C. to help the British Ambassador, Sir Cecil Spring Rice, soften Irish-American hostility towards England and obtain American intervention in the war in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and the execution of its leaders. But he also looked to Ireland for inspiration when writing and edited a literary magazine that contained much Irish verse. He became a supporter of the ideals of Irish nationalism, although not physical force republicanism.
Joseph Tumulty (1879-1954) opposite - was private secretary (1911-21) to President Wilson.
13
Dublin: A fund was launched at the Royal Dublin Society to benefit Irish nurses for their ‘loyal response’ in their country’s hour of need during the war. The principal speaker at the meeting was Sir Arthur Stanley MP, Chairman of the Joint War Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John. In outlining the need for the fund, he praised the splendid heroism, bravery and dedication of the Irish nurses working at the front. The organisers stated that they are not simply looking for large cheques to be written; rather, they wished for a contribution from all business firms and all classes throughout the country. In this way, they believe the target of £10,000 can be reached very quickly. Speaking in support of the fund, the Irish Times argued that as a rule, ‘our Irish nurses are underpaid and their period of earning begins late and ends early due to the duration of the training required and the heavy physical toll the profession takes...The object of the tribute is therefore to make provision for the declining years of our Irish certificated nurses, to increase the comforts of their working careers, and to assist them in times of sickness and unemployment’
14
Two R.I.C constables were fired at & one wounded in Tralee.
Arthur Griffith representing Sinn Fein and John O'Hanlon representing The Irish Party were nominated to stand in the East Cavan By-Election.
Two R.I.C constables were fired at & one wounded in Tralee.
Arthur Griffith representing Sinn Fein and John O'Hanlon representing The Irish Party were nominated to stand in the East Cavan By-Election.
15
13 counties were proclaimed ‘Special Military areas’:
‘The cities of Cork and Limerick, and counties of Cork, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Kerry, Offaly, Longford, Mayo, Leix, Sligo, Tyrone, Tipperary and Westmeath were made ‘proclaimed districts’. Persons charged in these districts could be removed for trial to a venue more convenient for the purposes of the Government and tried by a special jury’
Dorothy Macardle. ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press, Dublin. 1951. p.256
Germany pushed Austria-Hungary into one last offensive against the Italian lines and within a week, major gains were made.
Dublin: The Representation of the People Act, which received Royal Assent in February 1918, was set to massively increase the number of electors in Ireland. According to the last register compiled in 1914 the total number of people eligible to vote in parliamentary elections in Ireland was 698,098. However, the new lists showed that the three boroughs of Dublin, Belfast and Waterford, together with the counties of Antrim, Tyrone, Mayo and a portion of Dublin County, already have 592,395 names. As a further illustration of how great the impact of the franchise extension will be on individual constituencies, Mayo provides an excellent example: under the old register the county had 30,691 electors, the new list appears to put this figure at 83,000.
The city of Dublin has been reorganised to allow for a larger number of parliamentary constituencies. Whereas the city had been divided into four divisions under the old franchise when its electorate stood at 32,571, it is now divided into seven divisions with an electorate of 114,333. The city of Belfast has been similarly revamped, the number of parliamentary constituencies increasing from four to nine with a total electorate of 160,453. Women, who will able to vote for the first time, account for 40% of that number, the breakdown by gender in the city being – 96,171 men and 64,282 women.
New York: Posing as the president of the ‘New Irish Republic’, Jim Larkin, the former Irish labour leader, was arrested in the United States on the charge of circulating seditious literature. Arrested alongside him was Cornelius Lehane, who was reportedly appointed Ambassador to the United States by Larkin. The men were detained, neither being able to make bail which had been fixed at £5,000. Larkin recently expressed himself ‘bitterly disappointed’ with America. His disillusionment is undoubtedly related to the some of the critical commentary in the US papers about the anti-conscription stance of the major Irish nationalist and labour parties. The New York Times, for instance, asked whether Ireland had forgotten the ‘foul wrongs done by Germany to civilisation, the wrongs of Belgium, Serbia, Armenia, the German parodies of sacred catholic ceremonies, the slaying of priests’ and more. The newspaper added: ‘To their kinsmen here, to their old friends in America, the abstention of so many Irishmen of Ireland from the war, their dallying with Germany, is unintelligible, monstrous.’
The city of Dublin has been reorganised to allow for a larger number of parliamentary constituencies. Whereas the city had been divided into four divisions under the old franchise when its electorate stood at 32,571, it is now divided into seven divisions with an electorate of 114,333. The city of Belfast has been similarly revamped, the number of parliamentary constituencies increasing from four to nine with a total electorate of 160,453. Women, who will able to vote for the first time, account for 40% of that number, the breakdown by gender in the city being – 96,171 men and 64,282 women.
New York: Posing as the president of the ‘New Irish Republic’, Jim Larkin, the former Irish labour leader, was arrested in the United States on the charge of circulating seditious literature. Arrested alongside him was Cornelius Lehane, who was reportedly appointed Ambassador to the United States by Larkin. The men were detained, neither being able to make bail which had been fixed at £5,000. Larkin recently expressed himself ‘bitterly disappointed’ with America. His disillusionment is undoubtedly related to the some of the critical commentary in the US papers about the anti-conscription stance of the major Irish nationalist and labour parties. The New York Times, for instance, asked whether Ireland had forgotten the ‘foul wrongs done by Germany to civilisation, the wrongs of Belgium, Serbia, Armenia, the German parodies of sacred catholic ceremonies, the slaying of priests’ and more. The newspaper added: ‘To their kinsmen here, to their old friends in America, the abstention of so many Irishmen of Ireland from the war, their dallying with Germany, is unintelligible, monstrous.’
18
London: The financial costs associated with the present war continued to escalate to alarming levels. Andrew Bonar Law, Chancellor of the Exchequer, asked for a vote of credit of £500 million which will bring the total cost to Britain of the war to £7.8 billion and a further vote of credit was expected to be required by the end the August. Despite this unfathomably huge expense, the Chancellor struck a upbeat tone, calming concerns about the recent offensives by enemy troops. With regard to Austrian attacks in Northern Italy, Bonar Law echoed the confidence of the Italian High Command while acknowledging that the danger had not yet passed. Recent reports have placed the Austrians within eight miles of Treviso, a key railway junction just 15 miles north of Venice. Turning to the western front, he told the House of Commons that the Germans had three strategic priorities – to take Paris, to capture the Channel ports and to divide the allied armies – and they had not yet achieved any of them.
Western Front: the long awaited Allied counterattack begins.
Washington: Rev McGennis and Fr Hurton delivered the Irish Race Convention petition addressed to the President and Congress urging the US Government to exert every legitimate and friendly influence in fa vour of self-determination for the people of Ireland to Government officials.
London: The financial costs associated with the present war continued to escalate to alarming levels. Andrew Bonar Law, Chancellor of the Exchequer, asked for a vote of credit of £500 million which will bring the total cost to Britain of the war to £7.8 billion and a further vote of credit was expected to be required by the end the August. Despite this unfathomably huge expense, the Chancellor struck a upbeat tone, calming concerns about the recent offensives by enemy troops. With regard to Austrian attacks in Northern Italy, Bonar Law echoed the confidence of the Italian High Command while acknowledging that the danger had not yet passed. Recent reports have placed the Austrians within eight miles of Treviso, a key railway junction just 15 miles north of Venice. Turning to the western front, he told the House of Commons that the Germans had three strategic priorities – to take Paris, to capture the Channel ports and to divide the allied armies – and they had not yet achieved any of them.
Western Front: the long awaited Allied counterattack begins.
Washington: Rev McGennis and Fr Hurton delivered the Irish Race Convention petition addressed to the President and Congress urging the US Government to exert every legitimate and friendly influence in fa vour of self-determination for the people of Ireland to Government officials.
19
Government introduces general rationing of foodstuffs and military powers prohibited the holdings of meetings and processions in Dublin.
The French cabinet sent Colonel Roure to London to find out why Britain did not use the considerable reserves of men in Ireland, considering the fact that a major German offensive was underway, and the need for more men was understandable.
Government introduces general rationing of foodstuffs and military powers prohibited the holdings of meetings and processions in Dublin.
The French cabinet sent Colonel Roure to London to find out why Britain did not use the considerable reserves of men in Ireland, considering the fact that a major German offensive was underway, and the need for more men was understandable.
20
The failure of the German offensives after American intervention and success of the Allied counteroffensives led to a significant improvement in the British situation on the Western Front, permitting the cabinet by 20 June to postpone the implementation of its dual policy of Home Rule and conscription for All-Ireland. The war, its duration, the suspension of the Home Rule Act, particularly the conscription crisis drastically increased support for Sinn Féin, the numbers of people joining its branches rising immeasurably. For Unionists the war confirmed all their pre-war suspicions that Irish Nationalists could no longer be trusted, contrasting the Easter Rising with their blood sacrifice during the Battle of the Somme, the conscription crisis providing a watershed for Ulster Unionists to withdraw securely into their northern citadel.
The failure of the German offensives after American intervention and success of the Allied counteroffensives led to a significant improvement in the British situation on the Western Front, permitting the cabinet by 20 June to postpone the implementation of its dual policy of Home Rule and conscription for All-Ireland. The war, its duration, the suspension of the Home Rule Act, particularly the conscription crisis drastically increased support for Sinn Féin, the numbers of people joining its branches rising immeasurably. For Unionists the war confirmed all their pre-war suspicions that Irish Nationalists could no longer be trusted, contrasting the Easter Rising with their blood sacrifice during the Battle of the Somme, the conscription crisis providing a watershed for Ulster Unionists to withdraw securely into their northern citadel.
21
The East Cavan by-election took place. Arthur Griffith representing Sinn Fein and jailed in Britain, polled 3,785 against O’Hanlon of the Irish Parliamentary Party’s 2,581 and was elected as an MP in Westminster. The by-election turnout of 72% was particularly impressive given the heavy rain that fell during the opening hours of polling.
The Freeman’s Journal, a champion of the Irish Parliamentary Party, placed the blame for the defeat of their preferred candidate on the shoulders of both Lord French’s administration in Dublin and Lloyd George’s government in London. A mere six week before, they claim that nationalists were confident of seeing off the Sinn Féin challenge until their opponents were rescued by the ‘story of the fake plot prepared for the anti-Irish propaganda in America’ by the ‘Ascendancy administration’.
The campaign in East Cavan highlighted the divisions within Irish nationalism at a time when the anti-conscription movement had been emphasising its unity. The police kept a close eye on proceedings and in some places monitored the movement of motor cars, noting the vehicles’ numbers and checking drivers’ licences. In one instance, in Bailieboro, a car was stopped in the early morning bearing the inscription on its number plate ‘I.R. 1916’. When quizzed, the occupants produced a permit signed ‘M. O’Flanagan, C.C.’ (Michael O’Flanagan was the parish priest in Crossna, Co. Roscommon and a senior figure in the Sinn Féin party.)
News of Mr Griffith’s victory reached Cork by yesterday evening where a crowd had gathered outside the Post Office and newspaper offices. In the town of Newmarket in the north of the county, a large crowd, accompanied by the local brass, fife and drum band paraded through the streets with a lighted barrel of tar. Minor scuffles erupted and rifle shots were fired when the local police, with batons drawn and supported by military, held up the procession. No one was seriously injured but several children were hurt during the unrest.
Vienna: Strikes and riots became almost a daily occurence in the Austrian capital of Vienna since bread rations were reduced to only three ounces per person per day. The Burgomaster of Vienna informed the Austrian premier that, in view of the ration reduction, he can no longer guarantee order in the city. Cavalry regiments had been rushed to the Austrian capital to help restore calm. 150,000 workers were reported to have downed tools in munitions factories, and police sources in the city reported that tramways have been held up, windows in factories broken, shops and bakers’ carts looted.
The East Cavan by-election took place. Arthur Griffith representing Sinn Fein and jailed in Britain, polled 3,785 against O’Hanlon of the Irish Parliamentary Party’s 2,581 and was elected as an MP in Westminster. The by-election turnout of 72% was particularly impressive given the heavy rain that fell during the opening hours of polling.
The Freeman’s Journal, a champion of the Irish Parliamentary Party, placed the blame for the defeat of their preferred candidate on the shoulders of both Lord French’s administration in Dublin and Lloyd George’s government in London. A mere six week before, they claim that nationalists were confident of seeing off the Sinn Féin challenge until their opponents were rescued by the ‘story of the fake plot prepared for the anti-Irish propaganda in America’ by the ‘Ascendancy administration’.
The campaign in East Cavan highlighted the divisions within Irish nationalism at a time when the anti-conscription movement had been emphasising its unity. The police kept a close eye on proceedings and in some places monitored the movement of motor cars, noting the vehicles’ numbers and checking drivers’ licences. In one instance, in Bailieboro, a car was stopped in the early morning bearing the inscription on its number plate ‘I.R. 1916’. When quizzed, the occupants produced a permit signed ‘M. O’Flanagan, C.C.’ (Michael O’Flanagan was the parish priest in Crossna, Co. Roscommon and a senior figure in the Sinn Féin party.)
News of Mr Griffith’s victory reached Cork by yesterday evening where a crowd had gathered outside the Post Office and newspaper offices. In the town of Newmarket in the north of the county, a large crowd, accompanied by the local brass, fife and drum band paraded through the streets with a lighted barrel of tar. Minor scuffles erupted and rifle shots were fired when the local police, with batons drawn and supported by military, held up the procession. No one was seriously injured but several children were hurt during the unrest.
Vienna: Strikes and riots became almost a daily occurence in the Austrian capital of Vienna since bread rations were reduced to only three ounces per person per day. The Burgomaster of Vienna informed the Austrian premier that, in view of the ration reduction, he can no longer guarantee order in the city. Cavalry regiments had been rushed to the Austrian capital to help restore calm. 150,000 workers were reported to have downed tools in munitions factories, and police sources in the city reported that tramways have been held up, windows in factories broken, shops and bakers’ carts looted.
22
A feature article on Diarmuid and his Jail Marriage to Kit were featured in the Gaelic American 22 June 1918.
Diarmuid Lynch’s Wedding a Real Romance
National Secretary of the Friends of Freedom, deported from Ireland a short time ago, has been joined by Mrs Lynch, whom he married despite the vigilance of his jailers in Dundalk Prison - How the former Sinn Fein Food Director outwitted the Prison Authorities who refused him permission to wed while enjoying their enforced hospitality - De Valera compliments him on setting a new style in Weddings ‘by travelling with his bride to the Bridewell’
Diarmuid Lynch, National Secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom and former Sinn Fein Food Director in Ireland, always affable, is smiling a sunnier smile than usual these times. Mrs Lynch, to whom he was married under romantic circumstances in His Britannic Majesty’s prison in Dundalk, County Louth, where he was serving a sentence for trying to keep the food needed to feed the Irish people in Ireland, has landed safely in this country. The ship on which she arrived last week, was attacked by a submarine off the Irish coast, but escaped and made the remainder of the trip without meeting with anything more than the usual war-time adventures.
Mr Lynch, who is an American citizen, went to Ireland several years ago and became the Munster Representative of one of the big American Insurance Companies. He took an active interest in Irish National Affairs, and in 1914, he met in Dublin, for the first time the lady who was to be his future bride, a charming and clever young Kildare woman, Miss Kathleen Quinn, daughter of the late Mr & Mrs John Quinn of Newbridge.
A great many stirring events have occurred in Ireland since that day when Diarmuid Lynch met his future wife in the Irish capital, and Diarmuid took an active part in many of them. He was a prominent figure in the Irish Volunteer movement, never lost his great interest in the revival of the Irish language and when the uprising occurred in Dublin in Easter Week 1916, he was in the General Post Office doing a man’s part for the little nation of his birth in her struggle to become the mistress of her own destiny. After the revolution, Diarmuid was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to ten years in prison. At the time of the general amnesty, he was released unconditionally with the other Irish prisoners.
Some months ago, the Irish leaders realised that the steady exportation of food from Ireland was a menace to the Irish nation, which, if allowed to continued unchecked, could only result in a repetition of the horrors of the awful famine of 1847. Confronted by such an alarming possibility, they decided to take hold of the food situation themselves, and Diarmuid Lynch was appointed Food Director.
His task was to direct the movement to keep the food needed by the Irish people in Ireland and to increase the area under cultivation. A food survey was instituted in the parishes throughout Ireland and means were adopted to regulate the exportation of articles of food. The British Government, careless about what might happen in Ireland so long as England was fed, intervened and the Irish Food Director was arrested and sentenced to a prison term of two months.
During all these stirring events, Diarmuid did not forget Miss Quinn. That meeting with her in Dublin began a friendship which quickly developed into the warmest affection, and, pressing his suit after the Irish fashion, the Sinn Feiner was soon rewarded by winning the heart of the pretty Kildare girl. So it came to pass when the Food Director went to enjoy the hospitality of His Majesty’s prison in Dundalk, Co Louth, he was engaged to be married. The outraged majesty of British law, however, should be satisfied, and this made the postponement of the marriage ceremony necessary, but it was settled that the wedding would take place as soon as the prisoner was released. [for details of the wedding, see April 24 and 25th, 1918. Ed]
...after some weeks of waiting by the plucky bride, and she, braving the dangers incidental to present-day ocean travel, came to New York to join her husband. When the suggestion was made to Diarmuid and his winsome bride a few days ago, that they ought to frame and hang over their mantelpiece the Sinn Fein motto ‘Ourselves Alone’ as it seemed particularly applicable to their present condition and state of mind, they said nothing but smiled a perfectly contented and happy smile.
The Gaelic American tenders felicitations to Mr & Mrs Lynch, and its wish is that the union which began under such romantic circumstances may be crowned with every happiness and blessing which mortals can desire or expect’
Lynch Family Archives.
In the same issue of the Gaelic American appears the following connection with the Fenian past and the Captain of the Catalpa that rescued Fenian prisoners in Western Australia, 1875:
‘ The Mitchell Club in New Bedford, Massachusetts - June 14th, received the following note from Miss Sophie T. Anthony, daughter of Captain Anthony of the Catalpa:
‘Gentlemen. Five years ago last month I lost my dear father. Every Memorial Day since his death, you have remembered him and honoured us. You have proved what my father always knew, the Irish never forget. We thank you from our hearts. Most sincerely, Sophie T Anthony.’
The Mitchell Club according to custom, has placed a wreath of flowers and an Irish tricolour on the grave of the gallant skipper of the Catalpa on Memorial Day”
Below: the notoriously anti-Irish and anti-Roman Catholic weekly newspaper 'The Menace' published in Aurora, Illinois takes a swipe at the American clergy connected with the Friends of Irish Freedom and further on in the Saturday night edition, highlights Laurence De Lacey activities since arrival in the US.
A feature article on Diarmuid and his Jail Marriage to Kit were featured in the Gaelic American 22 June 1918.
Diarmuid Lynch’s Wedding a Real Romance
National Secretary of the Friends of Freedom, deported from Ireland a short time ago, has been joined by Mrs Lynch, whom he married despite the vigilance of his jailers in Dundalk Prison - How the former Sinn Fein Food Director outwitted the Prison Authorities who refused him permission to wed while enjoying their enforced hospitality - De Valera compliments him on setting a new style in Weddings ‘by travelling with his bride to the Bridewell’
Diarmuid Lynch, National Secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom and former Sinn Fein Food Director in Ireland, always affable, is smiling a sunnier smile than usual these times. Mrs Lynch, to whom he was married under romantic circumstances in His Britannic Majesty’s prison in Dundalk, County Louth, where he was serving a sentence for trying to keep the food needed to feed the Irish people in Ireland, has landed safely in this country. The ship on which she arrived last week, was attacked by a submarine off the Irish coast, but escaped and made the remainder of the trip without meeting with anything more than the usual war-time adventures.
Mr Lynch, who is an American citizen, went to Ireland several years ago and became the Munster Representative of one of the big American Insurance Companies. He took an active interest in Irish National Affairs, and in 1914, he met in Dublin, for the first time the lady who was to be his future bride, a charming and clever young Kildare woman, Miss Kathleen Quinn, daughter of the late Mr & Mrs John Quinn of Newbridge.
A great many stirring events have occurred in Ireland since that day when Diarmuid Lynch met his future wife in the Irish capital, and Diarmuid took an active part in many of them. He was a prominent figure in the Irish Volunteer movement, never lost his great interest in the revival of the Irish language and when the uprising occurred in Dublin in Easter Week 1916, he was in the General Post Office doing a man’s part for the little nation of his birth in her struggle to become the mistress of her own destiny. After the revolution, Diarmuid was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to ten years in prison. At the time of the general amnesty, he was released unconditionally with the other Irish prisoners.
Some months ago, the Irish leaders realised that the steady exportation of food from Ireland was a menace to the Irish nation, which, if allowed to continued unchecked, could only result in a repetition of the horrors of the awful famine of 1847. Confronted by such an alarming possibility, they decided to take hold of the food situation themselves, and Diarmuid Lynch was appointed Food Director.
His task was to direct the movement to keep the food needed by the Irish people in Ireland and to increase the area under cultivation. A food survey was instituted in the parishes throughout Ireland and means were adopted to regulate the exportation of articles of food. The British Government, careless about what might happen in Ireland so long as England was fed, intervened and the Irish Food Director was arrested and sentenced to a prison term of two months.
During all these stirring events, Diarmuid did not forget Miss Quinn. That meeting with her in Dublin began a friendship which quickly developed into the warmest affection, and, pressing his suit after the Irish fashion, the Sinn Feiner was soon rewarded by winning the heart of the pretty Kildare girl. So it came to pass when the Food Director went to enjoy the hospitality of His Majesty’s prison in Dundalk, Co Louth, he was engaged to be married. The outraged majesty of British law, however, should be satisfied, and this made the postponement of the marriage ceremony necessary, but it was settled that the wedding would take place as soon as the prisoner was released. [for details of the wedding, see April 24 and 25th, 1918. Ed]
...after some weeks of waiting by the plucky bride, and she, braving the dangers incidental to present-day ocean travel, came to New York to join her husband. When the suggestion was made to Diarmuid and his winsome bride a few days ago, that they ought to frame and hang over their mantelpiece the Sinn Fein motto ‘Ourselves Alone’ as it seemed particularly applicable to their present condition and state of mind, they said nothing but smiled a perfectly contented and happy smile.
The Gaelic American tenders felicitations to Mr & Mrs Lynch, and its wish is that the union which began under such romantic circumstances may be crowned with every happiness and blessing which mortals can desire or expect’
Lynch Family Archives.
In the same issue of the Gaelic American appears the following connection with the Fenian past and the Captain of the Catalpa that rescued Fenian prisoners in Western Australia, 1875:
‘ The Mitchell Club in New Bedford, Massachusetts - June 14th, received the following note from Miss Sophie T. Anthony, daughter of Captain Anthony of the Catalpa:
‘Gentlemen. Five years ago last month I lost my dear father. Every Memorial Day since his death, you have remembered him and honoured us. You have proved what my father always knew, the Irish never forget. We thank you from our hearts. Most sincerely, Sophie T Anthony.’
The Mitchell Club according to custom, has placed a wreath of flowers and an Irish tricolour on the grave of the gallant skipper of the Catalpa on Memorial Day”
Below: the notoriously anti-Irish and anti-Roman Catholic weekly newspaper 'The Menace' published in Aurora, Illinois takes a swipe at the American clergy connected with the Friends of Irish Freedom and further on in the Saturday night edition, highlights Laurence De Lacey activities since arrival in the US.
24
Twilight Sleep – The Brutal Way Some Women Gave Birth In 1918
Adverts such as these opposite for 'Twilight Sleep' private maternity nursing home began to appear in the Daily Telegraph early in 1918 and some brief research discovered a medical practice that has not been used for generations...and with good reason.
For centuries, women have quite naturally sought relief from the pain of childbirth but until the 1850's, little was available until the discovery of Ether and it's subsequent use by Queen Victoria during childbirth. Most women had little choice but to give birth at home and without any pain relief.
Just before the war, a medical clinic in Germany began using a radically new and different type of anaesthesia during child birth - the euphemism Dammerschlaf or 'Twilight Sleep' was applied to a drug that not only provided pain relief but also erased the memory of the birth altogether. American medical opinion of the time was that it was exceedingly dangerous and the severe side effects of the drugs used were cited as reasons why it should not be used during childbirth. Regardless of these warnings, wealthy women travelled to the German clinic attracted by the idea of ‘painless birth.’ Over time, the doctors who used it experimented and refined their methods. By 1914, the word had got out and two American journalists went to Germany to report for a popular women’s magazine. The article described the luxury provided at the clinic, the compassionate doctors and, most importantly, how women slept through the birth. It was presented as a miracle discovery. This discovery coincided with the Suffragette movement and it set in motion a call to action for the early feminists in America.
The National Twilight Sleep Association was formed, and began a concerted campaign, demanding that doctors in the US adopt the practice of Twilight Sleep during birth. The fact the drug had been rejected by American doctors for well over a decade was unimportant. Women were urged to rise up against the oppression of the male doctors who were withholding access to this miracle drug and a completely pain free birth. Society women and some prominent doctors took up the cause, and before long the pressure of demand began to have its way. Huge public pressure, and the potential loss of clients caused many doctors to offer Twilight Sleep. Hospitals quickly put together special maternity units, catering for women who wanted the drug including the nursing home advertising in the Daily Telegraph.
So what was in this miraculous drug? Two drugs were combined to produce the "Twilight Sleep": morphine and scopolamine.
Morphine, derived from opium acts on the central nervous system giving pain relief. Scopolamine on the other hand is a compound derived from the nightshade plant. It causes patients to fall into a semi-conscious state and experience amnesia. By using the right combination of these two drugs, women would fall asleep, and wake up unable to remember anything about the birth. For them it had been ‘pain free’ because they had no memory of the birth. However, not remembering the pain of labour doesn’t necessarily mean there was no pain at the time.
One of the side effects of Scopolamine is the loss of inhibitions, combined with no conscious awareness of surroundings or events. Combined with the small amount of morphine in the dose, it exacerbated any latent psychoses. Many women would thrash around, bang their heads on walls, claw at themselves or staff, shout and scream constantly. They would either be restrained on their beds, by their wrists and ankles, or put into straight jackets. Often blinded by towels wrapped around their heads to prevent injury, they would be put into ‘labour cribs’ – cot-like beds that prevented them from falling to the floor. They would remain on the beds, bound and screaming, often lying in their own vomit and waste, for as long as it took for labour to end.
Babies were also significantly affected by the use of Twilight Sleep. The drugs would cross the placenta and depress their central nervous system. They would be born drugged, and unable to breathe normally. The commonly used image of babies being held upside down and slapped on the bottom comes from this time – when doctors would attempt to revive comatose newborn babies.
The women who experienced Twilight Sleep in America & Britain (it's unknown at this stage if it was practised in Ireland) probably didn’t have the same experience as the wealthy women who were treated in Germany. The German clinic had many successes – mainly due to the refined treatment program in place. The pregnant woman could stay at the clinic for a month before she was due, so the staff could work out the right dose of scopolamine for her particular physiology. When labour began, her doctor would stay with her, and monitor her from the first dose of Twilight Sleep, doing memory tests every 30 minutes, and adjusting the dosage, depending on her awareness of her surroundings. She would have coverings over the bed, and wear dark glasses and even earplugs, to avoid over-stimulation. Afterwards, the new mother would wake up with no memory of the birth, and would remain in her private room for up to a month with her child.
This refined treatment protocol was rarely seen in any of the American hospitals. Doctors from the US would visit the German clinic, observe several births, then return to their practices at home. They were then regarded as ‘Twilight Sleep trained’, despite there being a recommended 3 year course to learn the technique properly. The sheer number of women demanding Twilight Sleep in America also caused many doctors to cut corners when implementing it, and sank the arguments of those who were against the practice. Doctors began to give the same set doses of Twilight Sleep to all women, rather than the personalised dosage given in the German clinic. Hospital nurses, who weren’t trained in the use of Twilight Sleep, observed the labouring women, and the doctor came in only when birth was imminent. Unsurprisingly, husbands were banned from the labour ward. Only medical staff witnessed the traumatic effects of the drug.
In 1915, a year after the craze for Twilight Sleep began, Francis Carmody, one of the most prominent supporters of the drug, died giving birth to her third baby while under the drug’s influence. Her doctor and her husband denied the drug caused her death, but the demand for the miracle ‘painless birth’ dwindled. Even so, Twilight Sleep continued to be used on women well into the middle of the century, until women began to recall their experiences. Nurses and others who had witnessed the traumatic ‘painless births’ also spoke out, and an exposé was published in the popular US magazine, Ladies Home Journal in 1958. These shocking tales of delirium and women harming themselves, caused the practice to fall out of favour.
By the early 1970s, it was no longer routine for women to be anaesthetised to the point of unconsciousness, while their babies were forcibly removed from their bodies by forceps. The natural birth movement was beginning, but the culture of birth had already been altered. Largely due to the advent of Twilight Sleep, birth was no longer the domain of midwives & women at home, but had come under the control of hospitals and doctors.
Today, scopolamine is also known as Hyoscine, a medication used to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting.
Adverts such as these opposite for 'Twilight Sleep' private maternity nursing home began to appear in the Daily Telegraph early in 1918 and some brief research discovered a medical practice that has not been used for generations...and with good reason.
For centuries, women have quite naturally sought relief from the pain of childbirth but until the 1850's, little was available until the discovery of Ether and it's subsequent use by Queen Victoria during childbirth. Most women had little choice but to give birth at home and without any pain relief.
Just before the war, a medical clinic in Germany began using a radically new and different type of anaesthesia during child birth - the euphemism Dammerschlaf or 'Twilight Sleep' was applied to a drug that not only provided pain relief but also erased the memory of the birth altogether. American medical opinion of the time was that it was exceedingly dangerous and the severe side effects of the drugs used were cited as reasons why it should not be used during childbirth. Regardless of these warnings, wealthy women travelled to the German clinic attracted by the idea of ‘painless birth.’ Over time, the doctors who used it experimented and refined their methods. By 1914, the word had got out and two American journalists went to Germany to report for a popular women’s magazine. The article described the luxury provided at the clinic, the compassionate doctors and, most importantly, how women slept through the birth. It was presented as a miracle discovery. This discovery coincided with the Suffragette movement and it set in motion a call to action for the early feminists in America.
The National Twilight Sleep Association was formed, and began a concerted campaign, demanding that doctors in the US adopt the practice of Twilight Sleep during birth. The fact the drug had been rejected by American doctors for well over a decade was unimportant. Women were urged to rise up against the oppression of the male doctors who were withholding access to this miracle drug and a completely pain free birth. Society women and some prominent doctors took up the cause, and before long the pressure of demand began to have its way. Huge public pressure, and the potential loss of clients caused many doctors to offer Twilight Sleep. Hospitals quickly put together special maternity units, catering for women who wanted the drug including the nursing home advertising in the Daily Telegraph.
So what was in this miraculous drug? Two drugs were combined to produce the "Twilight Sleep": morphine and scopolamine.
Morphine, derived from opium acts on the central nervous system giving pain relief. Scopolamine on the other hand is a compound derived from the nightshade plant. It causes patients to fall into a semi-conscious state and experience amnesia. By using the right combination of these two drugs, women would fall asleep, and wake up unable to remember anything about the birth. For them it had been ‘pain free’ because they had no memory of the birth. However, not remembering the pain of labour doesn’t necessarily mean there was no pain at the time.
One of the side effects of Scopolamine is the loss of inhibitions, combined with no conscious awareness of surroundings or events. Combined with the small amount of morphine in the dose, it exacerbated any latent psychoses. Many women would thrash around, bang their heads on walls, claw at themselves or staff, shout and scream constantly. They would either be restrained on their beds, by their wrists and ankles, or put into straight jackets. Often blinded by towels wrapped around their heads to prevent injury, they would be put into ‘labour cribs’ – cot-like beds that prevented them from falling to the floor. They would remain on the beds, bound and screaming, often lying in their own vomit and waste, for as long as it took for labour to end.
Babies were also significantly affected by the use of Twilight Sleep. The drugs would cross the placenta and depress their central nervous system. They would be born drugged, and unable to breathe normally. The commonly used image of babies being held upside down and slapped on the bottom comes from this time – when doctors would attempt to revive comatose newborn babies.
The women who experienced Twilight Sleep in America & Britain (it's unknown at this stage if it was practised in Ireland) probably didn’t have the same experience as the wealthy women who were treated in Germany. The German clinic had many successes – mainly due to the refined treatment program in place. The pregnant woman could stay at the clinic for a month before she was due, so the staff could work out the right dose of scopolamine for her particular physiology. When labour began, her doctor would stay with her, and monitor her from the first dose of Twilight Sleep, doing memory tests every 30 minutes, and adjusting the dosage, depending on her awareness of her surroundings. She would have coverings over the bed, and wear dark glasses and even earplugs, to avoid over-stimulation. Afterwards, the new mother would wake up with no memory of the birth, and would remain in her private room for up to a month with her child.
This refined treatment protocol was rarely seen in any of the American hospitals. Doctors from the US would visit the German clinic, observe several births, then return to their practices at home. They were then regarded as ‘Twilight Sleep trained’, despite there being a recommended 3 year course to learn the technique properly. The sheer number of women demanding Twilight Sleep in America also caused many doctors to cut corners when implementing it, and sank the arguments of those who were against the practice. Doctors began to give the same set doses of Twilight Sleep to all women, rather than the personalised dosage given in the German clinic. Hospital nurses, who weren’t trained in the use of Twilight Sleep, observed the labouring women, and the doctor came in only when birth was imminent. Unsurprisingly, husbands were banned from the labour ward. Only medical staff witnessed the traumatic effects of the drug.
In 1915, a year after the craze for Twilight Sleep began, Francis Carmody, one of the most prominent supporters of the drug, died giving birth to her third baby while under the drug’s influence. Her doctor and her husband denied the drug caused her death, but the demand for the miracle ‘painless birth’ dwindled. Even so, Twilight Sleep continued to be used on women well into the middle of the century, until women began to recall their experiences. Nurses and others who had witnessed the traumatic ‘painless births’ also spoke out, and an exposé was published in the popular US magazine, Ladies Home Journal in 1958. These shocking tales of delirium and women harming themselves, caused the practice to fall out of favour.
By the early 1970s, it was no longer routine for women to be anaesthetised to the point of unconsciousness, while their babies were forcibly removed from their bodies by forceps. The natural birth movement was beginning, but the culture of birth had already been altered. Largely due to the advent of Twilight Sleep, birth was no longer the domain of midwives & women at home, but had come under the control of hospitals and doctors.
Today, scopolamine is also known as Hyoscine, a medication used to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting.
25
As new Chief Secretary for Ireland, Edward Short stated ‘Ireland – I mean the great, true heart of the Irish people – is not responsible for what the Germans do and is not responsible for what the two or three hundred extremists in Ireland do. Ireland, I believe, is sound at the core today’
Conor O’Clery ‘Ireland in Quotes’ The O’Brien Press Dublin 1999 p.45
Italian Front: Counter attacks by the Italians blunted the Austrian-Hungarian offensive but the counter-offensive demanded by General Foch did not take place.
As new Chief Secretary for Ireland, Edward Short stated ‘Ireland – I mean the great, true heart of the Irish people – is not responsible for what the Germans do and is not responsible for what the two or three hundred extremists in Ireland do. Ireland, I believe, is sound at the core today’
Conor O’Clery ‘Ireland in Quotes’ The O’Brien Press Dublin 1999 p.45
Italian Front: Counter attacks by the Italians blunted the Austrian-Hungarian offensive but the counter-offensive demanded by General Foch did not take place.
Below is the full transcript of the parliamentary debate on Ireland as reported from the House of Commons by The Daily Telegraph.
It makes for fascinating reading due to the breadth of discussion, ranging from the German Plot and subsequent internees, 1916, the issue of conscription and recruitment and of course Home Rule. The speakers included The Chief Secretary, Mr. Shortt who gave his speech very much along party lines and Sir Edward Carson expounded his opinion on the Roman Catholic Clergy and prospects of Home Rule. The debate was of sufficient importance to be reported at length in the June 26, 1918 edition of the Telegraph and helps put some perspective on the Parliamentary opinion of Irish events of the time. The lone voice on the empty Irish Party benches was the Nationalist Independent for Monaghan, John McKean who after raising some pertinent but clearly awkward questions was eventually silenced. There's a well written little synopsis piece on the debates uploaded to the 26 June entry for any reader preferring brevity over detail. Parliamentary reports reproduced here with thanks to the Daily Telegraph Newspaper archives.
It makes for fascinating reading due to the breadth of discussion, ranging from the German Plot and subsequent internees, 1916, the issue of conscription and recruitment and of course Home Rule. The speakers included The Chief Secretary, Mr. Shortt who gave his speech very much along party lines and Sir Edward Carson expounded his opinion on the Roman Catholic Clergy and prospects of Home Rule. The debate was of sufficient importance to be reported at length in the June 26, 1918 edition of the Telegraph and helps put some perspective on the Parliamentary opinion of Irish events of the time. The lone voice on the empty Irish Party benches was the Nationalist Independent for Monaghan, John McKean who after raising some pertinent but clearly awkward questions was eventually silenced. There's a well written little synopsis piece on the debates uploaded to the 26 June entry for any reader preferring brevity over detail. Parliamentary reports reproduced here with thanks to the Daily Telegraph Newspaper archives.
26
"Paris once again came under fire from the gun called ‘Big Bertha’, [below] a huge unwieldy howitzer that has claimed the lives of some 800 Parisians. The weapon is a 420mm firing from 65 miles away. Its targeting systems are crude and its shells weighing 1764 pounds are falling indiscriminately around the city. The gun, named after the wife of it’s manufacturer, Gustav Krupp is moved around at night on railway trucks. This gun is believed to be the fourth, the previous two were destroyed by aircraft fire and the third blew up on it’s second day of use."
In Russia, civil war was threatening. In the Ukraine, a White volunteer army linked up with Cossack troops battling against the Reds and an independent Czech Legion of 45,000 was advancing westwards in Siberia. In Murmansk, 130 Royal Marines occupied the port to prevent it from falling into German hands. To attract recruits, Trotsky increased the monthly pay to 150 roubles ( £2 ).
Battle of Belleau Woods ends in Allied victory.
26
"Paris once again came under fire from the gun called ‘Big Bertha’, [below] a huge unwieldy howitzer that has claimed the lives of some 800 Parisians. The weapon is a 420mm firing from 65 miles away. Its targeting systems are crude and its shells weighing 1764 pounds are falling indiscriminately around the city. The gun, named after the wife of it’s manufacturer, Gustav Krupp is moved around at night on railway trucks. This gun is believed to be the fourth, the previous two were destroyed by aircraft fire and the third blew up on it’s second day of use."
In Russia, civil war was threatening. In the Ukraine, a White volunteer army linked up with Cossack troops battling against the Reds and an independent Czech Legion of 45,000 was advancing westwards in Siberia. In Murmansk, 130 Royal Marines occupied the port to prevent it from falling into German hands. To attract recruits, Trotsky increased the monthly pay to 150 roubles ( £2 ).
Battle of Belleau Woods ends in Allied victory.
This report on the rumoured murder of the former Tsar Nicholas II was published in The Daily Telegraph and many other newspapers on June 26, 1918, Accurate insofar as to the reasons which forced the murder of the Tsar and his family but premature as the event did not take place until July 16/17, 1918.
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27
A letter from Mary Lynch to her brother Michael in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin:
27
A letter from Mary Lynch to her brother Michael in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin:
Granig Hse.
27 June ’18.
My Dear Michael.
Your letter of the 18th received on the 22nd.
I hope you still continue to improve, only 3 weeks more you will be out, on the 18th July.
Cheer up and then you will have [ Word illegible ] smoke [ Word illegible ] .
Everything is getting on fine in Cnoc T. God. The first cow calved on Monday a black calf. The garden is filled with fruit, you should see the gooseberry bushes.
( remainder of 2 page letter for transcription )
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 4/52
This 1917 breach of promise and resulting court case had not dented Teddie’s taste for RAF fighter pilots. By the time of the trial, two famous RAF Aces (James McCudden & his friend Mike Mannock) were competing with each other for her affections. (McCudden won the prize by adorning his aircraft with her name and taking her up on unofficial joy rides in his fighter). Possibly in connection with the court case, Mannock wrote in McCudden’s flying log book around this time ‘Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned’. Sadly, the relationship did not last long as McCudden was killed in a flying accident within weeks followed closely by Mannock who was killed in action in late July 1918.
The concept of a ‘Breach of Promise’ is an unusual historical, social and legal issue. From at least the Middle Ages until the early 20th century, a man's promise of engagement to marry a woman was considered, in many jurisdictions, a legally binding contract. If the man were to subsequently change his mind, he would be in "breach" of this promise and subject to litigation for damages. Interestingly, the converse of this was seldom true; the concept that "it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind" had at least some basis in law (though a woman might pay a high social price for exercising this privilege) and unless an actual dowry of money or property had changed hands or the woman could be shown to have become engaged to a man only to be able to use his money, a man was only rarely able to recover in a "breach of promise" suit against a woman, were he even allowed to file one. The financial remedy awarded by a court was appropriately known as ‘Heart Balm’. (Ms O’Neill’s award of £750 in 1918 would have been the equivalent of c.£45,000 a century later – it certainly would have gone quite some way to balming her heart.) The reasoning for litigation was essentially twofold and in accordance with the social mores of the time: a woman’s financial condition was completely dependent on marriage so that the breach of promise would be not only an emotional blow, but also have a lasting socio-economic impact. Crucially, women were expected to be chaste until marriage. Society wanted some means to prevent men from seducing women with promises of marriage, ‘having their wicked way’ and then leaving them. Breach-of-promise actions were part of the standard stock-in-trade of comic writers of the 19th century (such as Charles Dickens in his Pickwick Papers, or Gilbert and Sullivan in Trial by Jury), but most middle and upper-class families were reluctant to use them except in rather extreme circumstances (such as when a daughter became pregnant by a man who then refused to marry her), since they led to wide publicity being given to a scrutiny of intimate personal concerns, something which was strongly repugnant to the family feeling of the period (especially where young women were concerned). Changing social values over the last century have led to a decline in this type of lawsuit. Most jurisdictions have abolished them completely, however, a number of US states still allow for such suits, including North & South Carolina, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, South Dakota, Georgia, and Utah. The last prominent case in Britain was in 1969, when Eva Haraldsted sued footballer George Best for Breach of Promise. Best paid £500 in an out of court settlement following which Breach of Promise was removed from the statute books. Best bragged for years afterwards that he was the last man in Britain to be so sued. In 2012, the South Carolina Court of Appeals upheld a breach of promise to marry claim in which a woman argued that she was entitled to monetary compensation for her prenuptial expenditures, mental anguish, and injury to health due to the breakup.
These recent cases demonstrate that while breach of promise to marry claims are certainly not as widespread as they were in the 1800s, they still exist as a surprisingly feasible, if anachronistic option in some US states. Mark Twain put it succinctly many years before Prohibition became law in the United States: "Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits".
For more than a century, Americans argued fiercely over what to do about the age old social problem of alcohol consumption and drunkenness. That battle would eventually lead to an amendment to the Constitution of the United States - the Prohibition of Alcohol. This amendment would turn millions of law abiding Americans into law breakers, gangsters wealthy and the general population healthier. This social experiment lasted from 1920 until repealed in 1933. More information here. |
In the House of Lords, Lord Meath speaking said ‘There must be some kind of self-Government in Ireland, because it is not only an Irish question, or and English question, but an imperial one. The whole of our self-governing colonies have to consider this question of self-Government for Ireland. Not only that, but America has to consider it. I am an imperialist, and I am an irishman; but I am an irishman first and an imperialist afterwards. I say consult the Empire; consult our great colonies; consult America; listen to the voices from beyond the Atlantic, and then abide by the decision of the entire Empire and America combined.’
Quoted from Hansard in the Irish National Bureau Newsletter – No. 27, January 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives.
Lord Ashbourne speaking on Irish self-Government: ‘We must face this question in a positive way. The fact that we are a nation in Ireland, the fact the Sinn Fein is there, the fact that we have a language; and the fact that the Irish movement is going on, guarantee that whatsoever happens we shall be there to create a situation….if you do not settle the 'Irish Question' you will unsettle the English constitution. All I want to do is warn you or any who thinks that Ireland can be dealt with by systematic repression, even if you call it resolute Government, without any attempt at remedial legislation, that you are creating a terrible situation for this country and the British Empire. This country will be paralysed and the Empire will be dismembered before Ireland submits to a permanent state of oppression.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 34, February 20, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
By late June 1918 it had become apparent to most observers in Britain and Ireland that following American entry into the war the tide of war had changed in favour of the Allied armies in Europe, and by 20 June the Government had dropped its conscription and home rule plans, given the lack of agreement of the Irish Convention. However the legacy of the crisis remained.
Belfast: "Conscription has been postponed, not abandoned." That was the message from the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount French, who was speaking on the occasion of his first official visit to Belfast. Viscount French stated that if the number of men required were not forthcoming by voluntary means, then conscription will be enforced at all costs.
Viscount French was visiting Belfast to open a Red Cross fête at the Botanic Gardens, after which he journeyed to Belfast City Hall where at a luncheon presided over by the Lord Mayor, a toast was raised to the Lord Lieutenant and to the prosperity of Ireland.
Responding to the Lord Mayor’s words of welcome, Viscount French expressed his delight that his first public utterance in his new office was being made in a city that had contributed so much towards the development of Irish trade and industry. It was then that Viscount French set the record straight about conscription. To loud applause, he declared: ‘You may take it direct from me that... there was no thought of abandoning the possibility of conscription in Ireland: nor was any such idea intended to be conveyed...Do not let there be any misunderstanding about this...The number referred to in the proclamation are those to be found by voluntary effort, and the 50,000 men and the moderate subsequent monthly requirements can easily be obtained, and will be obtained if the recruiting campaign is not wrecked by hostile action or by sullen apathy.’
Completely ineffectual as a means to bolster battalions in France, the events surrounding the Conscription Crisis were disastrous for the Dublin Castle authorities, and for the more moderate nationalist parties in Ireland. The delay in finding a resolution to the home rule issue, partly caused by the war, and exaggerated by the Conscription Crisis in Ireland, all increased support for Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin's association (in the public perception at least) with the 1916 Easter Rising and the anti-conscription movement, directly and indirectly led on to their landslide victory over (and effective elimination of) the Irish Parliamentary Party, the formation of the first Dáil Éireann and in turn to the outbreak of the Anglo-Irish War in 1919.
The Conscription crisis was also a watershed in Ulster Unionism's relations with Nationalist Ireland, as expressed by Unionist leader James Craig: "for Ulster Unionists the conscription crisis was the final confirmation that the aspirations of Nationalists and Unionists were unrecompatible. "
New York: Under Lynch’s secretaryship, the FOIF moved headquarters from 1482 Broadway, New York to larger and more central premises which he secured at the Sun Building, 280 Broadway.
(1482 Broadway, The Sun Building and 'The Sun Clock' - 'we shine for all')
The Sun Building, 280 Broadway. An historic building located between Chambers and Reade Streets in the Civic Center district of Manhattan, New York City, was the first commercial building in the Italianate style in New York City. It was designed by John B. Snook of Joseph Trench & Company, with later additions by other architects. It was built for the A. T. Stewart Company, which opened New York's first department store in it. It later housed the New York Sun newspaper and is now the central offices for the New York City Department of Buildings. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and was designated a New York City landmark in 1986.
The Sun Building, 280 Broadway. An historic building located between Chambers and Reade Streets in the Civic Center district of Manhattan, New York City, was the first commercial building in the Italianate style in New York City. It was designed by John B. Snook of Joseph Trench & Company, with later additions by other architects. It was built for the A. T. Stewart Company, which opened New York's first department store in it. It later housed the New York Sun newspaper and is now the central offices for the New York City Department of Buildings. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and was designated a New York City landmark in 1986.
HMHS Llandovery Castle sinking
A Canadian hospital ship, the "Llandovery Castle", was torpedoed 116 miles west of Fastnet Rock on the night of 27 June.
This vessel was part of the Canadian Government hospital service and while it was carrying no patients at the time it was struck, there were 94 medical personnel who along with the crew made up the 258 persons on board. Only 24 survived.
HMHS Llandovery Castle was torpedoed by the German submarine SM U-86. Firing at a hospital ship was against international law and standing orders of the Imperial German Navy and the captain of U-86, Helmut Brümmer-Patzig, sought to destroy the evidence of torpedoing the ship. When the crew, including nurses, took to the lifeboats, U-86 surfaced, ran down all but one of the lifeboats and machine-gunned many of the survivors.
The Belfast Newsletter reminded its readers that this atrocity was only the latest of a catalogue of similar crimes committed by Germany. It urges that there can be ‘no peace on terms with such an enemy. If the future of the world is to be safe, peace can only come by submission for punishment of this criminal nation at the bar of the world’s justice.’
This vessel was part of the Canadian Government hospital service and while it was carrying no patients at the time it was struck, there were 94 medical personnel who along with the crew made up the 258 persons on board. Only 24 survived.
HMHS Llandovery Castle was torpedoed by the German submarine SM U-86. Firing at a hospital ship was against international law and standing orders of the Imperial German Navy and the captain of U-86, Helmut Brümmer-Patzig, sought to destroy the evidence of torpedoing the ship. When the crew, including nurses, took to the lifeboats, U-86 surfaced, ran down all but one of the lifeboats and machine-gunned many of the survivors.
The Belfast Newsletter reminded its readers that this atrocity was only the latest of a catalogue of similar crimes committed by Germany. It urges that there can be ‘no peace on terms with such an enemy. If the future of the world is to be safe, peace can only come by submission for punishment of this criminal nation at the bar of the world’s justice.’
28
Dublin: One of the country’s best known surgeons, John Stephen McArdle, appeared before the Southern Police Court in Dublin charged with illegally using petrol to attend a cockfight on 28 May. Also summoned was was his chauffeur, Simon Redmond.
Owing to the shortage of fuel caused by the war, the use of motor vehicles for pleasure purposes had been banned. Therefore, the main issue under investigation was whether or not the men attended the cockfight, and if they did, did they travel there by motor car. Sergeant Daron testified that he stopped Redmond on the morning of the alleged offence. Redmond said that it was McArdle’s car and that he (Redmond) had driven it to the cockfight. McArdle denied being at the event at all, but another witness placed him there, albeit for a short time. The court found the pair guilty. McArdle, who was unable to attend the court owing to professional obligations, was fined £3. His chauffeur was fined £2.
Dublin: One of the country’s best known surgeons, John Stephen McArdle, appeared before the Southern Police Court in Dublin charged with illegally using petrol to attend a cockfight on 28 May. Also summoned was was his chauffeur, Simon Redmond.
Owing to the shortage of fuel caused by the war, the use of motor vehicles for pleasure purposes had been banned. Therefore, the main issue under investigation was whether or not the men attended the cockfight, and if they did, did they travel there by motor car. Sergeant Daron testified that he stopped Redmond on the morning of the alleged offence. Redmond said that it was McArdle’s car and that he (Redmond) had driven it to the cockfight. McArdle denied being at the event at all, but another witness placed him there, albeit for a short time. The court found the pair guilty. McArdle, who was unable to attend the court owing to professional obligations, was fined £3. His chauffeur was fined £2.
Shellshock & Nerve Strain
The sustained psychological and physical stress of soldering in the trenches led to a new kind of war damage known as 'Shell Shock'.
The First World War devastated the lives of a generation. Of the 6 million men mobilised, over 700,000 were killed (11.5%). But the trauma of war didn't end when the guns stopped firing. Thousands of soldiers from all sides returned from the battlefields and trenches of the First World War suffering from the sheer horror of the conflict.
The term 'shell shock' was first coined in 1915 by a Medical Officer, Charles Myers. It was also known as "war neurosis", "combat stress", “nerve strain” and perhaps more familiar today as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
At first shell shock was thought to be caused by soldiers being exposed to exploding shells and the continuous barrage of shellfire on the front line. Shell shock victims often couldn't eat or sleep, whilst others continued to suffer physical symptoms as blindness, deafness, hysteria, disorientation and paralysis. Officers suffered some of the worst symptoms because they were called upon to repress their emotions to set an example for their men. War neurosis was four times higher among officers than among the regular soldiers and overall accounted for one in every seven soldiers discharged from the army.
The war poet Siegfried Sassoon, himself a victim, describes the psychological pain of shell shock in his poem Survivors. He writes of soldiers with "dreams that drip with murder" and their "stammering, disconnected talk".
By 1916, over 40% of the casualties in fighting zones were victims of the condition. Others were un-diagnosed and charged with desertion, cowardice or insubordination and many executed. Execution of serving soldiers in the British Army was not commonplace. While there were 240,000 Courts Martial and 3,080 death sentences handed down during the war, the sentence was carried out in only 346 cases. Of these, 266 British soldiers were executed for "Desertion", 18 for "Cowardice", 7 for "Quitting a post without authority", 5 for "Disobedience to a lawful command" and 2 for "Casting away arms" (In November 2006 the British government gave all those executed a posthumous conditional pardon)
Shell shock victims found themselves at the mercy of the armed forces' medical officers. Gradually treatments for the condition began but were generally harsh including: solitary confinement, electric shock treatment, shaming and physical re-education. Towards the end of the war, the condition was recognised somewhat and treatments began but there was a shortage of hospital beds due to the sheer volume of those suffering. Many county lunatic asylums, private mental institutions and disused spas were taken over and designated as hospitals for mental diseases and war neurosis. By 1918 there were over 20 such hospitals in the U.K and some private establishments such as that at Oakhill Lodge in this advert. Shorter tours of duty at the front line and more attention to the health and welfare of troops were the practical, preventative actions taken to help prevent war neurosis.
However by the end of the war, some 20,000 British and Irish men were still suffering from shell shock.
Further reading? "From shell shock and war neurosis to post traumatic stress disorder: a history of psychotraumatology" here.
The sustained psychological and physical stress of soldering in the trenches led to a new kind of war damage known as 'Shell Shock'.
The First World War devastated the lives of a generation. Of the 6 million men mobilised, over 700,000 were killed (11.5%). But the trauma of war didn't end when the guns stopped firing. Thousands of soldiers from all sides returned from the battlefields and trenches of the First World War suffering from the sheer horror of the conflict.
The term 'shell shock' was first coined in 1915 by a Medical Officer, Charles Myers. It was also known as "war neurosis", "combat stress", “nerve strain” and perhaps more familiar today as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
At first shell shock was thought to be caused by soldiers being exposed to exploding shells and the continuous barrage of shellfire on the front line. Shell shock victims often couldn't eat or sleep, whilst others continued to suffer physical symptoms as blindness, deafness, hysteria, disorientation and paralysis. Officers suffered some of the worst symptoms because they were called upon to repress their emotions to set an example for their men. War neurosis was four times higher among officers than among the regular soldiers and overall accounted for one in every seven soldiers discharged from the army.
The war poet Siegfried Sassoon, himself a victim, describes the psychological pain of shell shock in his poem Survivors. He writes of soldiers with "dreams that drip with murder" and their "stammering, disconnected talk".
By 1916, over 40% of the casualties in fighting zones were victims of the condition. Others were un-diagnosed and charged with desertion, cowardice or insubordination and many executed. Execution of serving soldiers in the British Army was not commonplace. While there were 240,000 Courts Martial and 3,080 death sentences handed down during the war, the sentence was carried out in only 346 cases. Of these, 266 British soldiers were executed for "Desertion", 18 for "Cowardice", 7 for "Quitting a post without authority", 5 for "Disobedience to a lawful command" and 2 for "Casting away arms" (In November 2006 the British government gave all those executed a posthumous conditional pardon)
Shell shock victims found themselves at the mercy of the armed forces' medical officers. Gradually treatments for the condition began but were generally harsh including: solitary confinement, electric shock treatment, shaming and physical re-education. Towards the end of the war, the condition was recognised somewhat and treatments began but there was a shortage of hospital beds due to the sheer volume of those suffering. Many county lunatic asylums, private mental institutions and disused spas were taken over and designated as hospitals for mental diseases and war neurosis. By 1918 there were over 20 such hospitals in the U.K and some private establishments such as that at Oakhill Lodge in this advert. Shorter tours of duty at the front line and more attention to the health and welfare of troops were the practical, preventative actions taken to help prevent war neurosis.
However by the end of the war, some 20,000 British and Irish men were still suffering from shell shock.
Further reading? "From shell shock and war neurosis to post traumatic stress disorder: a history of psychotraumatology" here.
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A century ago an influenza pandemic ravaged a world already reeling from four years of Great War, killing tens of millions in every corner of the globe. Our island was not immune: even conservative estimates come to over 20,000 deaths in Ireland, with perhaps 800,000 or more infected.
The 1918 flu in Ireland was overshadowed by the drama of world war and revolution. The pandemic was clouded in a silence of fear among its survivors what historian Ida Milne calls “a curious lacuna in Irish history”. The flu’s human also turned up the heat on the “simmering pot” of Irish society.
The disease’s origins likely lay in the blood-soaked war zone of western Europe. The first reports of its arrival in Ireland were in early June, with the Belfast Newsletter reporting “an epidemic in Belfast – no cause for alarm”. But within a few weeks the “mysterious scourge” was spreading. It seemed to defy medical knowledge and treatment, with much more severe symptoms than typical influenza, and people soon began to die. The Irish Independent reported “cortege after cortege” streaming through central Dublin, as the roads to Glasnevin became “a practically unbroken succession of funeral processions”.
What alarmed people most was how the flu killed not just the vulnerable young and old, but those in their physical prime: the highest death toll was among adults aged 25-34. Leinster towns were particularly badly hit in the autumn’s second wave. “Scarcely a family in the city has escaped”, reported the Kilkenny People, while Naas was “crippled” by the level of infection. Local authorities began to disinfect public buildings, and towns like Enniscorthy were filled with “the reek of eucalyptus”, a measure Dr DW MacNamara of the Mater hospital deemed as effective as “a beetle trying to stop a steamroller”. The official response seemed totally inadequate: even the pro-establishment Kildare Observer condemned “the Government’s attitude of almost supineness”.
The uncontrollable pandemic spread a “fear which gripped people like a vice”. As dubious advertisements targeted a frightened public, MacNamara dismissed most of the cures on offer as “therapeutic balony”. Indeed he judged whiskey or brandy “in heroic doses” to be the most worthwhile treatment, as at least “its customers had a merry spin to Paradise”.
Dublin Lord Mayor Laurence O’Neill negotiated the release of Dr Kathleen Lynn from prison to help battle the outbreak, but she too was pessimistic: “the flu rages”, she noted with frustration in her diary during the third wave in spring of 1919; “I can do little.”
Sir Charles Cameron, head of public health for Dublin Corporation for over half a century – a role in which he had significantly improved the lives of the city’s poor – provided “sensible, calming advice” while working tirelessly to combat the outbreak. Nurses worked day and night, while many doctors tried everything to understand the disease: nurse Dorothy Stopford Price dragged corpses up from the Royal College of Surgeons’ mortuary late at night for Prof William Boxwell to do “surreptitious postmortems”. Lynn and others experimented with various vaccines, but with little success.
Vaccines held promise because it was among crowds that the virus spread, and Ireland was a nation that gathered: demonstrations, election rallies, Armistice celebrations church and religious attendances and sporting events all fanned the flames of the flu. Those who came into contact with large numbers of people in their work, from postmen to priests, were most at risk. In hospitals and asylums, staff and residents alike had little defence. Many schools eventually had to be closed: “day by day, our ranks grow thinner” mourned the school journal after two students died at Clongowes College.
Ireland’s most high-profile prisoners were at risk too. Arthur Griffith led protests at Gloucester jail to demand palliative whiskey for his ailing comrades; the prisoners were delighted to liberate a bottle previously confiscated from Seán McEntee. The famously fit Griffith got sick himself, and against all advice fought the flu “on his feet” (perhaps contributing to his early death in 1922). Without a prison doctor when the flu hit Usk jail, Irish prisoners there had to nurse each other, but Richard Coleman – a veteran of Easter 1916 and the 1917 hunger strike that killed Thomas Ashe – died in December 1918. Sinn Féin wasted no time in politicising his “murder”, adding Coleman to a list of national martyrs from Boru to Connolly on a front-page advertisement in the Irish Independent.
The flu “affected everything”, including politics. Through the government’s failures, “the authority of the administration was undermined”, while Britain’s need to recruit or conscript “human fodder for the hungry belly of war” was an inescapable backdrop: after all, “the factory of fever”, an angry Lynn told a Sinn Féin ardfheis, had been “in Flanders”. The flu “seemed to fester every sore in Irish society”.
Even after the outbreak waned, its scars lingered. “I don’t think we were the same again for a long time,” survivor Tommy Christian recalled. “It made a bigger impression on me than any other incident since,” recalled Trinity College historian RB McDowell, who nearly died in 1919. Kathleen McMenamin from Donegal explained the silence that followed the disease: “people did not want to talk about it because it was so awful, and they dreaded the thought it might come back again”.
Despite such fears – and periodic scares – a flu pandemic on such scale has not reoccurred, a result of the changes that 1918-1919 provoked in global healthcare. The Irish part of the disease’s global history has long been overlooked, as have the experiences of the families and communities it afflicted. By telling their stories, Milne’s thorough book makes an important contribution to our social and medical history.
Thanks to Dr Christopher Kissane of the Royal Historical Society in London, and author of Food, Religion and Communities in Early Modern Europe (Bloomsbury, 2018)
The 1918 flu in Ireland was overshadowed by the drama of world war and revolution. The pandemic was clouded in a silence of fear among its survivors what historian Ida Milne calls “a curious lacuna in Irish history”. The flu’s human also turned up the heat on the “simmering pot” of Irish society.
The disease’s origins likely lay in the blood-soaked war zone of western Europe. The first reports of its arrival in Ireland were in early June, with the Belfast Newsletter reporting “an epidemic in Belfast – no cause for alarm”. But within a few weeks the “mysterious scourge” was spreading. It seemed to defy medical knowledge and treatment, with much more severe symptoms than typical influenza, and people soon began to die. The Irish Independent reported “cortege after cortege” streaming through central Dublin, as the roads to Glasnevin became “a practically unbroken succession of funeral processions”.
What alarmed people most was how the flu killed not just the vulnerable young and old, but those in their physical prime: the highest death toll was among adults aged 25-34. Leinster towns were particularly badly hit in the autumn’s second wave. “Scarcely a family in the city has escaped”, reported the Kilkenny People, while Naas was “crippled” by the level of infection. Local authorities began to disinfect public buildings, and towns like Enniscorthy were filled with “the reek of eucalyptus”, a measure Dr DW MacNamara of the Mater hospital deemed as effective as “a beetle trying to stop a steamroller”. The official response seemed totally inadequate: even the pro-establishment Kildare Observer condemned “the Government’s attitude of almost supineness”.
The uncontrollable pandemic spread a “fear which gripped people like a vice”. As dubious advertisements targeted a frightened public, MacNamara dismissed most of the cures on offer as “therapeutic balony”. Indeed he judged whiskey or brandy “in heroic doses” to be the most worthwhile treatment, as at least “its customers had a merry spin to Paradise”.
Dublin Lord Mayor Laurence O’Neill negotiated the release of Dr Kathleen Lynn from prison to help battle the outbreak, but she too was pessimistic: “the flu rages”, she noted with frustration in her diary during the third wave in spring of 1919; “I can do little.”
Sir Charles Cameron, head of public health for Dublin Corporation for over half a century – a role in which he had significantly improved the lives of the city’s poor – provided “sensible, calming advice” while working tirelessly to combat the outbreak. Nurses worked day and night, while many doctors tried everything to understand the disease: nurse Dorothy Stopford Price dragged corpses up from the Royal College of Surgeons’ mortuary late at night for Prof William Boxwell to do “surreptitious postmortems”. Lynn and others experimented with various vaccines, but with little success.
Vaccines held promise because it was among crowds that the virus spread, and Ireland was a nation that gathered: demonstrations, election rallies, Armistice celebrations church and religious attendances and sporting events all fanned the flames of the flu. Those who came into contact with large numbers of people in their work, from postmen to priests, were most at risk. In hospitals and asylums, staff and residents alike had little defence. Many schools eventually had to be closed: “day by day, our ranks grow thinner” mourned the school journal after two students died at Clongowes College.
Ireland’s most high-profile prisoners were at risk too. Arthur Griffith led protests at Gloucester jail to demand palliative whiskey for his ailing comrades; the prisoners were delighted to liberate a bottle previously confiscated from Seán McEntee. The famously fit Griffith got sick himself, and against all advice fought the flu “on his feet” (perhaps contributing to his early death in 1922). Without a prison doctor when the flu hit Usk jail, Irish prisoners there had to nurse each other, but Richard Coleman – a veteran of Easter 1916 and the 1917 hunger strike that killed Thomas Ashe – died in December 1918. Sinn Féin wasted no time in politicising his “murder”, adding Coleman to a list of national martyrs from Boru to Connolly on a front-page advertisement in the Irish Independent.
The flu “affected everything”, including politics. Through the government’s failures, “the authority of the administration was undermined”, while Britain’s need to recruit or conscript “human fodder for the hungry belly of war” was an inescapable backdrop: after all, “the factory of fever”, an angry Lynn told a Sinn Féin ardfheis, had been “in Flanders”. The flu “seemed to fester every sore in Irish society”.
Even after the outbreak waned, its scars lingered. “I don’t think we were the same again for a long time,” survivor Tommy Christian recalled. “It made a bigger impression on me than any other incident since,” recalled Trinity College historian RB McDowell, who nearly died in 1919. Kathleen McMenamin from Donegal explained the silence that followed the disease: “people did not want to talk about it because it was so awful, and they dreaded the thought it might come back again”.
Despite such fears – and periodic scares – a flu pandemic on such scale has not reoccurred, a result of the changes that 1918-1919 provoked in global healthcare. The Irish part of the disease’s global history has long been overlooked, as have the experiences of the families and communities it afflicted. By telling their stories, Milne’s thorough book makes an important contribution to our social and medical history.
Thanks to Dr Christopher Kissane of the Royal Historical Society in London, and author of Food, Religion and Communities in Early Modern Europe (Bloomsbury, 2018)
Spanish Influenza photographs slideshow
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1
Public health officials along the eastern seaboard United States issue a bulletin warning about the so-called Spanish influenza.
The influenza epidemic first reported in Spain earlier this year arrived in Ireland as the first cases were noticed in Belfast. Within days, one of the principal shipyards had 4,000 workers laid up, while 80 tramway workers are off duty. Arrangements were also being made to close many of the city’s schools for the summer holidays earlier than planned. Around 120 schools had already been closed. The epidemic had not been confined to the north-east, however and had quickly spread to the midlands, to the south and to the west of the country. Athlone, Ballinasloe and Tipperary Town are among the areas that have been impacted. In Tipperary Town alone, several hundred cases have been identified. In Dublin, two deaths from influenza have been recorded, and many schools are set to be closed on the advice of Sir Charles Cameron, head of Dublin Corporation’s public health department. The Dublin Metropolitan Police have already reported that 28 members of the B Division at the College Station are sick.
Britain: An explosion of 8 tons of TNT at the National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell (Nottinghamshire) kills 134 and injures 200; only 32 bodies can be positively identified.
New York: Charles Strite announces the invention of a new 'pop-up' machine for toasting bread.
Washington: Wilson replied to a request from Senator Phelan that he make a brief statement on 'Ireland's right to autonomous government (without necessarily defining the kind) and the prompt granting of it. "I realise of course, the critical importance of the whole Irish question, but I do not think that it would be wise for me in any public utterance to attempt to outline a policy for the British government with regard to Ireland. It is a matter...of the utmost delicacy, and I must frankly say that I would not know how to handle it without risking very uncomfortable confusions of counsel'
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p268
Belfast: Commemorating the second anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, Rev. Dean Grierson preached to a large congregation, the service opening with the playing of the Chopin’s stately ‘Funeral march’. Similarly, at the city YMCA, there was a large turnout with four Orange Lodge districts represented, three of them marching from Clifton Street and the last from Ballynafeigh Hall. They were gathered, Rev. William Maguire informed them, so that they ‘might do honour to the noble dead’.
Perhaps the most striking commemoration, however, was the presentation to the Lord Mayor and Corporation of Belfast of a painting by James Prinsep Beadle which captures the Ulstermen’s advance at Thiepval. Mr Beadle’s representation of the scene was lauded for its ‘truth and fidelity’, for being ‘devoid of sensationalism’ and for capturing the ‘reality, as well as the atmosphere of the historic battle’.
Public health officials along the eastern seaboard United States issue a bulletin warning about the so-called Spanish influenza.
The influenza epidemic first reported in Spain earlier this year arrived in Ireland as the first cases were noticed in Belfast. Within days, one of the principal shipyards had 4,000 workers laid up, while 80 tramway workers are off duty. Arrangements were also being made to close many of the city’s schools for the summer holidays earlier than planned. Around 120 schools had already been closed. The epidemic had not been confined to the north-east, however and had quickly spread to the midlands, to the south and to the west of the country. Athlone, Ballinasloe and Tipperary Town are among the areas that have been impacted. In Tipperary Town alone, several hundred cases have been identified. In Dublin, two deaths from influenza have been recorded, and many schools are set to be closed on the advice of Sir Charles Cameron, head of Dublin Corporation’s public health department. The Dublin Metropolitan Police have already reported that 28 members of the B Division at the College Station are sick.
Britain: An explosion of 8 tons of TNT at the National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell (Nottinghamshire) kills 134 and injures 200; only 32 bodies can be positively identified.
New York: Charles Strite announces the invention of a new 'pop-up' machine for toasting bread.
Washington: Wilson replied to a request from Senator Phelan that he make a brief statement on 'Ireland's right to autonomous government (without necessarily defining the kind) and the prompt granting of it. "I realise of course, the critical importance of the whole Irish question, but I do not think that it would be wise for me in any public utterance to attempt to outline a policy for the British government with regard to Ireland. It is a matter...of the utmost delicacy, and I must frankly say that I would not know how to handle it without risking very uncomfortable confusions of counsel'
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. p268
Belfast: Commemorating the second anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, Rev. Dean Grierson preached to a large congregation, the service opening with the playing of the Chopin’s stately ‘Funeral march’. Similarly, at the city YMCA, there was a large turnout with four Orange Lodge districts represented, three of them marching from Clifton Street and the last from Ballynafeigh Hall. They were gathered, Rev. William Maguire informed them, so that they ‘might do honour to the noble dead’.
Perhaps the most striking commemoration, however, was the presentation to the Lord Mayor and Corporation of Belfast of a painting by James Prinsep Beadle which captures the Ulstermen’s advance at Thiepval. Mr Beadle’s representation of the scene was lauded for its ‘truth and fidelity’, for being ‘devoid of sensationalism’ and for capturing the ‘reality, as well as the atmosphere of the historic battle’.
2
Mary Lynch received a letter from T.J.Gill, C/O Imperial Merchant Service, The Guild Arcade, Lord Street, Liverpool on Cunard Steam Ship Company letterhead:
‘RMS (name not listed)
2nd July 1918
Dear Miss Lynch.
I promised Mrs Lynch I would drop you aline on my arrival home.
I landed her safe and sound in New York after a fine passage across. She was a very good sailor indeed, only one day she felt off colour and missed only one meal so that is not bad for a novice. She had a letter of introduction to me from an old friend of mine, Dr Dolan and being a Dublin man myself, she had an old Irish welcome.
I met Mr Lynch in New York. Needless to say he was quite pleased she arrived safely. I am 1st Officer of the vessel she travelled out in so I made her as comfortable as I could.
I shall probably see her on my return voyage in three weeks from now. So if you care to drop me a line, I shall be very pleased to show it to her.
With kindest regards,
Yours sincerely.
T.J.Gill.
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 4/53
4
Sinn Féin, the Irish Volunteers, Cumann na mBan and the Gaelic League were proclaimed as illegal organisations by the Lord Lieutenant, Viscount French.
The proclamation stated that the proscribed organisations are dangerous and a ‘grave menace’ designed to ‘terrorise the peaceful and law-abiding subjects of His Majesty in Ireland’. It goes on to state that these associations ‘encourage and aid persons to commit crimes and promote and incite to acts of violence and intimidation and interfere with the administration of the law and disturb the maintenance of law and order’.
The Irish Times, not a supporter of any of the banned organisations, welcomed the development as a sign that the government has decided that sedition will ‘no longer be preached and practised with impunity in Ireland’. The paper also reported that this new policy ‘furnishes final proof of the gravity of the Irish problem’.
In the immediate aftermath of the proclamation, business continued as usual at the Sinn Féin headquarters at 6 Harcourt Street and at the Gaelic League’s head offices at 25 Parnell Square. Both organisations claimed that they had not received any direct communication, let alone any visits, from the police or military.
Proffessor Eoin Mac Neill, President of the Gaelic League, struck a defiant note speaking to the Evening Telegraph, declaring that the organisation would ‘not allow itself to be driven underground’ and would continue to ‘have the support of the nation and of Irishmen abroad’. Prof. MacNeill pointed out that the Gaelic League was approaching its 25th anniversary, on 23 July, and that throughout its lifetime it had always been ‘non-political – that is to say has never interfered in the controversy with regard to the form of the Irish Government, and left all its members absolutely free to hold whatever political opinions they pleased. Of course it a new situation now. The Government itself has taken the initiative in making the neutrality of the Gaelic League impossible.’
There were indications that in banning the Gaelic League the authorities spurred interest in the language movement as several booksellers were ‘inundated with orders’ for booklets and manuals of instruction and conversations in the Irish language. The casual use of Irish on streets was also reported to have increased.
Cumann na mBan expressed surprise at the actions of the government and took it as a sign that ‘conscription is now a certainty’ – all of the organisation’s recent public work had been geared towards the campaign to oppose conscription.
The Lord Lieutenant’s made his proclamation under the Criminal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act of 1887 which gave the authorities the power to outlaw any organisation it believes to be involved in criminal activities
‘Sinn Fein, the Irish Volunteers, Cumman na mBan and the Gaelic League were all proclaimed to be dangerous associations, their meetings declared illegal and persons attending or calling a meeting of any of these organisations was liable to prosecution.
The same day, President Wilson speaking at Washington’s tomb, reiterated his doctrine of justice and liberty...
‘...these great objects can be put in a single sentence: what we seek is the reign of law, based upon the consent of the governed and sustained by the organised opinion of mankind...’’
Dorothy Macardle. ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press, Dublin. 1951. p.256
Wilson’s Statement.
Wilson did stress the importance of self-determination for previously subject peoples in a speech at Mount Vernon:
‘These are the ends for which the associated peoples of the world are fighting and which must be conceded them before there can be peace...the destruction of arbitary power anywhere that can...disturb the peace of the world... The settlement of every question, whether of territory, of soverignity, of economic arrangement or of political relationship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned, and not upon the basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation or people which may desire a different settlement for the sake of it's own exterior influence or mastery....’
Siberia: Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War: The Siberian Intervention is launched by the Allies to extract the Czechoslovak Legion from the Russian Civil War.
Western Front: Battle of Hamel.
Belfast: At the Lord Mayor's suggestion, American flags were displayed by businesses and private residences in Belfast. They were also flown on many of the principal thoroughfares in the city. According to the Belfast Telegraph, residents welcomed the opportunity to demonstrate their ‘appreciation of the chivalrous manner in which the great Republic of the West has associated herself with Britain and her Allies in the great fight for freedom and righteousness’.
Dublin & Washington: Irish nationalists likewise used the occasion of Fourth of July to identify themselves with American values and principles. An address, issued by the Mansion House Conference, was delivered to President Wilson in Washington. The statement, dated 11 June, sets out the case for Irish independence, explains the Irish argument against conscription, and condemns the ‘present outbreak of malignity’ against Ireland on the part of the British authorities.
‘During the American Revolution the champions of your liberties appealed to the Irish Parliament against British aggression and asked for a sympathetic judgement on their action. Today it is our turn to appeal to the people of America...’ ‘Well assured are we that you, Mr President, whose exhortations have inspired the Small Nations of the world with fortitude to defend to the last their liberties against oppressors, will not be found among those who condemn Ireland for a determination that is irrevocable, to continue steadfastly in the course mapped out for her, no matter what the odds, by an unexampled unity of National judgement and National Right.’
The statement, described as a ‘historic document’ by the Irish Independent, was originally supposed to have been submitted in person to the President by Laurence O’Neill, the Lord Mayor of Dublin. However, this plan was scuppered by the British Foreign Office, which allowed O’Neill a passport but imposed the ‘intolerable stipulation’ that his files should first be submitted to the Lord Lieutenant, Sir John French, for censorship, so that President Wilson might only be able to peruse the government's version of the conference's opinions.
The same day, President Wilson speaking at Washington’s tomb, reiterated his doctrine of justice and liberty...
‘...these great objects can be put in a single sentence: what we seek is the reign of law, based upon the consent of the governed and sustained by the organised opinion of mankind...’’
Dorothy Macardle. ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press, Dublin. 1951. p.256
Wilson’s Statement.
Wilson did stress the importance of self-determination for previously subject peoples in a speech at Mount Vernon:
‘These are the ends for which the associated peoples of the world are fighting and which must be conceded them before there can be peace...the destruction of arbitary power anywhere that can...disturb the peace of the world... The settlement of every question, whether of territory, of soverignity, of economic arrangement or of political relationship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned, and not upon the basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation or people which may desire a different settlement for the sake of it's own exterior influence or mastery....’
Siberia: Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War: The Siberian Intervention is launched by the Allies to extract the Czechoslovak Legion from the Russian Civil War.
Western Front: Battle of Hamel.
Belfast: At the Lord Mayor's suggestion, American flags were displayed by businesses and private residences in Belfast. They were also flown on many of the principal thoroughfares in the city. According to the Belfast Telegraph, residents welcomed the opportunity to demonstrate their ‘appreciation of the chivalrous manner in which the great Republic of the West has associated herself with Britain and her Allies in the great fight for freedom and righteousness’.
Dublin & Washington: Irish nationalists likewise used the occasion of Fourth of July to identify themselves with American values and principles. An address, issued by the Mansion House Conference, was delivered to President Wilson in Washington. The statement, dated 11 June, sets out the case for Irish independence, explains the Irish argument against conscription, and condemns the ‘present outbreak of malignity’ against Ireland on the part of the British authorities.
‘During the American Revolution the champions of your liberties appealed to the Irish Parliament against British aggression and asked for a sympathetic judgement on their action. Today it is our turn to appeal to the people of America...’ ‘Well assured are we that you, Mr President, whose exhortations have inspired the Small Nations of the world with fortitude to defend to the last their liberties against oppressors, will not be found among those who condemn Ireland for a determination that is irrevocable, to continue steadfastly in the course mapped out for her, no matter what the odds, by an unexampled unity of National judgement and National Right.’
The statement, described as a ‘historic document’ by the Irish Independent, was originally supposed to have been submitted in person to the President by Laurence O’Neill, the Lord Mayor of Dublin. However, this plan was scuppered by the British Foreign Office, which allowed O’Neill a passport but imposed the ‘intolerable stipulation’ that his files should first be submitted to the Lord Lieutenant, Sir John French, for censorship, so that President Wilson might only be able to peruse the government's version of the conference's opinions.
5
Lloyd George addressing the American troops said ‘ President Wilson yesterday made it clear what we are fighting for’
The Military Commander in Ireland, Sir F Shaw, issued an order prohibiting ‘the holding of or taking part in any meetings, assemblies or processions in public places within the whole of Ireland.’ The police for the rest of the month and following months were active in preventing and breaking up meetings, football matches, fetes, concerts etc.
An American opinion of Sir F. Shaw was described by James Whelpey, a US Military Intelligence officer:
‘General Shaw is the head of the Irish Royal Command. He is a purely military type and represents the extreme militarist point of view in the handling of Irish affairs. It is understood that from him came the suggestion that if conscription was enforced in Ireland, the people should be rounded up as they came out of the churches from mass and forced into military service’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.285
Lloyd George addressing the American troops said ‘ President Wilson yesterday made it clear what we are fighting for’
The Military Commander in Ireland, Sir F Shaw, issued an order prohibiting ‘the holding of or taking part in any meetings, assemblies or processions in public places within the whole of Ireland.’ The police for the rest of the month and following months were active in preventing and breaking up meetings, football matches, fetes, concerts etc.
An American opinion of Sir F. Shaw was described by James Whelpey, a US Military Intelligence officer:
‘General Shaw is the head of the Irish Royal Command. He is a purely military type and represents the extreme militarist point of view in the handling of Irish affairs. It is understood that from him came the suggestion that if conscription was enforced in Ireland, the people should be rounded up as they came out of the churches from mass and forced into military service’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.285
6
Paris: Spanish Influenza hit France, decimating cities, villages and towns throughout the country.
Moscow: German ambassador Count Willhelm Von Mirbach-Harff is assasinated by socialist revolutionaries opposed to the communists and the Brest-Litvosk peace treaty.
Carlow: ‘We are all Irishmen, and will all be made to suffer the consequences of a national failure in duty.’
That was the view of Carlow businessman E. Shackleton who wrote a letter to the editor of the Irish Independent in an effort to urge greater Irish recruitment to the British war effort. According to Shackleton, the American and British press are increasingly taking note of the current Irish position in relation to the war and it is this that has given him cause for alarm. ‘No nation’, he writes, ‘can prosper if surrounded by wealthy nations which believe they have reason to condemn her’. Shackleton acknowledges the ‘sickening muddle’ that was made of Irish recruiting efforts heretofore but fears that few outside the country are likely to take much account of Irish grievances. ‘Will men who have themselves fought and bled, or lost their dear ones fighting, cherish very pleasant memories of Ireland if the war ends with Ireland saved from conscription, but sullenly refusing to help the Allies voluntarily?’
Ireland was offered a way out of the conscription dilemma by concentrating on voluntary recruiting and Shackleton believes that it is in everyone’s interest that the young men of Ireland enlist. If they don’t, he asks how will the country be ‘branded’ and what welcome will there be for Irish emigrants in America. Shackleton states that he was writing as a ‘plain business man’ and was concerned only with the ‘material prosperity’ of his country.
Paris: Spanish Influenza hit France, decimating cities, villages and towns throughout the country.
Moscow: German ambassador Count Willhelm Von Mirbach-Harff is assasinated by socialist revolutionaries opposed to the communists and the Brest-Litvosk peace treaty.
Carlow: ‘We are all Irishmen, and will all be made to suffer the consequences of a national failure in duty.’
That was the view of Carlow businessman E. Shackleton who wrote a letter to the editor of the Irish Independent in an effort to urge greater Irish recruitment to the British war effort. According to Shackleton, the American and British press are increasingly taking note of the current Irish position in relation to the war and it is this that has given him cause for alarm. ‘No nation’, he writes, ‘can prosper if surrounded by wealthy nations which believe they have reason to condemn her’. Shackleton acknowledges the ‘sickening muddle’ that was made of Irish recruiting efforts heretofore but fears that few outside the country are likely to take much account of Irish grievances. ‘Will men who have themselves fought and bled, or lost their dear ones fighting, cherish very pleasant memories of Ireland if the war ends with Ireland saved from conscription, but sullenly refusing to help the Allies voluntarily?’
Ireland was offered a way out of the conscription dilemma by concentrating on voluntary recruiting and Shackleton believes that it is in everyone’s interest that the young men of Ireland enlist. If they don’t, he asks how will the country be ‘branded’ and what welcome will there be for Irish emigrants in America. Shackleton states that he was writing as a ‘plain business man’ and was concerned only with the ‘material prosperity’ of his country.
7
The first ambush of RIC personnel since the Rising took place at Bealaglenna, between Ballingeary and Ballyvourney in West Cork. A party of Volunteers halted two armed RIC constables in a horse drawn sidecar around 8pm and when the constables refused to hand over arms, one was shot and wounded. The 7 Irish Volunteers left with arms, ammunition and equipment. Meanwhile MacCurtain as Cork Commander continued visting, reviewing and training units throughout the county.
The first ambush of RIC personnel since the Rising took place at Bealaglenna, between Ballingeary and Ballyvourney in West Cork. A party of Volunteers halted two armed RIC constables in a horse drawn sidecar around 8pm and when the constables refused to hand over arms, one was shot and wounded. The 7 Irish Volunteers left with arms, ammunition and equipment. Meanwhile MacCurtain as Cork Commander continued visting, reviewing and training units throughout the county.
9
Dublin: The Military Commander in Chief issued an order under the Defence of the Realm Act banning all meetings and processions in public throughout Ireland. Concerts, hurling and football matches, feis ceoil and litterary compettions, religious gatherings etc were now banned.
Tennessee: Great Train Wreck of 1918: in Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express, killing 101.
Belfast: Newspaper reports commented that the annual celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne was the biggest in Ulster since the outbreak of the war. Demonstrations were held throughout the province and nearly all Ulster Unionist MPs participated, including Sir Edward Carson, who attended a demonstration at Finaghy, Belfast. The occasion of the Twelfth was used to reinforce the message that unionist opposition to Home Rule has been undimmed by the passage of time or by the shift in national priorities.
Resolutions passed by demonstrators reaffirmed their imperial loyalty, their adherence to the principles of the Orange Order, and their conviction that a ‘Parliamentary Union’ was necessary for the ‘preservation of the liberties of Ireland and for the security of the British Empire’. According to one of the resolutions, the events of recent months had shown nationalists to have been in ‘treasonable communication with the enemy’, and that clerical and lay leaders were openly engaged in preventing Irishmen from taking their fair share of the dangers in the present war. Much of the public comment in advance of this year’s Twelfth celebration concerned General Shaw’s order requiring seven days’ notice for permission to hold meetings and processions, although it was assumed that the Irish authorities would sanction the events. While there was no disorder during the Twelfth demonstrations there had been much adverse comment by nationalists, who contrasted the government's treatment of unionist organisations to its treatment of their nationalist counterparts.
As the Cork Examiner has put it, ‘respect for British rule in this country will scarcely be intensified as a result of the authorities' action in permitting such Orange displays, while the singing of Irish songs is prohibited at Feiseanna and athletic sports meetings are prevented by official intervention’. This was in reference to the clampdown on public assemblies without permit which had given rise to a spate of incidents, including at GAA fixtures. Although the GAA was not among the recent list of organisations proclaimed by the authorities, it has not been left unscathed by the recent hardening of official policy. In West Cork, a camogie match between Dunmanway and Bantry, was prevented from finishing when the police asked for the game to be stopped and gave the teams and spectators 10 minutes to disperse. The police and military present, who were booed and jeered, returned to barracks after clearing people from the field. The crowd re-gathered however, and a police baton charge ensued. A number of people sustained injuries, some from being trampled on by the stampeding crowds.
Meanwhile in London, the court-martial of Private Joseph Dowling 'The Man in the Tower' began. The Daily Telegraph reported at length and makes for interesting reading.
Dublin: The Military Commander in Chief issued an order under the Defence of the Realm Act banning all meetings and processions in public throughout Ireland. Concerts, hurling and football matches, feis ceoil and litterary compettions, religious gatherings etc were now banned.
Tennessee: Great Train Wreck of 1918: in Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express, killing 101.
Belfast: Newspaper reports commented that the annual celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne was the biggest in Ulster since the outbreak of the war. Demonstrations were held throughout the province and nearly all Ulster Unionist MPs participated, including Sir Edward Carson, who attended a demonstration at Finaghy, Belfast. The occasion of the Twelfth was used to reinforce the message that unionist opposition to Home Rule has been undimmed by the passage of time or by the shift in national priorities.
Resolutions passed by demonstrators reaffirmed their imperial loyalty, their adherence to the principles of the Orange Order, and their conviction that a ‘Parliamentary Union’ was necessary for the ‘preservation of the liberties of Ireland and for the security of the British Empire’. According to one of the resolutions, the events of recent months had shown nationalists to have been in ‘treasonable communication with the enemy’, and that clerical and lay leaders were openly engaged in preventing Irishmen from taking their fair share of the dangers in the present war. Much of the public comment in advance of this year’s Twelfth celebration concerned General Shaw’s order requiring seven days’ notice for permission to hold meetings and processions, although it was assumed that the Irish authorities would sanction the events. While there was no disorder during the Twelfth demonstrations there had been much adverse comment by nationalists, who contrasted the government's treatment of unionist organisations to its treatment of their nationalist counterparts.
As the Cork Examiner has put it, ‘respect for British rule in this country will scarcely be intensified as a result of the authorities' action in permitting such Orange displays, while the singing of Irish songs is prohibited at Feiseanna and athletic sports meetings are prevented by official intervention’. This was in reference to the clampdown on public assemblies without permit which had given rise to a spate of incidents, including at GAA fixtures. Although the GAA was not among the recent list of organisations proclaimed by the authorities, it has not been left unscathed by the recent hardening of official policy. In West Cork, a camogie match between Dunmanway and Bantry, was prevented from finishing when the police asked for the game to be stopped and gave the teams and spectators 10 minutes to disperse. The police and military present, who were booed and jeered, returned to barracks after clearing people from the field. The crowd re-gathered however, and a police baton charge ensued. A number of people sustained injuries, some from being trampled on by the stampeding crowds.
Meanwhile in London, the court-martial of Private Joseph Dowling 'The Man in the Tower' began. The Daily Telegraph reported at length and makes for interesting reading.
10
The unusual request from the Daily Telegraph (10.07.18) above was enough to investigate the reasons for the appeal. World War I was the first war to involve chemical warfare, and approximately 90,000 soldiers on both sides were killed by toxic gas alone. Chlorine gas was a hellishly toxic chemical weapon. Once in the body, the yellow-green gas tortured and killed at the same time, causing asphyxiation, convulsions, panic, and a slow death. When the wind was just right, the Germans would release the gas and it would creep slowly over battlefields, finding its way into trench crevices and soldiers' lungs. It was something to be feared, but as American chemist James Bert Garner discovered in 1915, it could be subdued with activated charcoal, made from natural fibres such as those found in peach pits.
Here's how the gas masks worked: "...The perfected gas masks used by both sides contained a chamber filled with a specially prepared charcoal. Peach puts were collected by the millions in all the belligerent countries to make this charcoal, and other vegetable substances of similar density were also used. Anti-gas chemicals were mixed with the charcoal. The wearer of the mask breathed entirely thorough the mouth, gripping a rubber mouthpiece while his nose was pinched shut by a clamp attached to the mask..." In training, soldiers were required to hold their breath for six seconds while the mask was being adjusted. It was explained to them that four breaths of the deadly chlorine gas was sufficient to kill; the first breath produced a spasm of the glottis; the second brought mental confusion and delirium; the third produced unconsciousness; and the fourth, death. The chemical warfare spurred a nation-wide call in all the beligerent nations for peach pits and walnut shells, as the New York Times reported that same September. "A campaign will be launched here this week, and by holding contests in the schools, the Red Cross expects that every peach pit found by the children will be thrown at the Kaiser.... In each state, several centers will be established for the reception of parcel post packages of seeds from Red Cross agents in smaller towns or from farmers and other persons who are unable to forward the seeds to their own chapters." There's also a dark side to the story of chlorine gas and its inventor, Fritz Haber, a German Jew who had earlier won a Nobel prize for synthesizing ammonia. After the war, Haber was also inadvertently involved in the creation of Zyklon-B -- the poison used in Nazi gas chambers. (He invented it to be used as pesticide, and by the time the Nazis came along, he had left Germany for England.) His science created life, as ammonia became the basis for a boom in agricultural production, but his death gases in both world wars also killed millions in a genocidal process. |
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Western Front: Ludendorff launches what was to be the final German offensive of the war the Second Battle of the Marne. German troops were now at the Marne where there had been heavy losses 4 years earlier. Allied troops were supported by 270,000 fresh American troops with another 54,000 further north. Within days it would falter.
German troops launched a new offensive in France across a front spanning 50 miles; Berlin sources claiming that French positions had been penetrated to the south-west and east of Rheims. The scope of the attack was certainly impressive and could only have been achieved by a great concentration of guns and trench mortars, with the assistance of tanks. There was speculation that the purpose of the attack is to use up French reserves and draw them down from the north in advance of an attack on the Amiens front or possibly further north.
The fresh attack was indicative of the ascendancy of General von Ludendorff – the ‘man who really runs Germany’ according to the socialist newspaper Vorwarts. He represents a German approach that seeks ‘peace by victory’ rather than ‘peace by negotiation’. Divisions over German strategy had surfaced earlier, most notably with the resignation of Foreign Minister, Richard von Kühlmann, just weeks after he stated in the Reichstag that Germany could not expect to win the war by military means alone; diplomatic negotiation would also be required. This speech aroused considerable anger among pan-Germans and militarists
Britain: ration books introduced for butter, margarine, lard, meat, and sugar.
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Russia - Ekaterinburg: The Tsar and family were executed by the Bolsheviks. Read more here.
Western Front: Ludendorff launches what was to be the final German offensive of the war the Second Battle of the Marne. German troops were now at the Marne where there had been heavy losses 4 years earlier. Allied troops were supported by 270,000 fresh American troops with another 54,000 further north. Within days it would falter.
German troops launched a new offensive in France across a front spanning 50 miles; Berlin sources claiming that French positions had been penetrated to the south-west and east of Rheims. The scope of the attack was certainly impressive and could only have been achieved by a great concentration of guns and trench mortars, with the assistance of tanks. There was speculation that the purpose of the attack is to use up French reserves and draw them down from the north in advance of an attack on the Amiens front or possibly further north.
The fresh attack was indicative of the ascendancy of General von Ludendorff – the ‘man who really runs Germany’ according to the socialist newspaper Vorwarts. He represents a German approach that seeks ‘peace by victory’ rather than ‘peace by negotiation’. Divisions over German strategy had surfaced earlier, most notably with the resignation of Foreign Minister, Richard von Kühlmann, just weeks after he stated in the Reichstag that Germany could not expect to win the war by military means alone; diplomatic negotiation would also be required. This speech aroused considerable anger among pan-Germans and militarists
Britain: ration books introduced for butter, margarine, lard, meat, and sugar.
16
Russia - Ekaterinburg: The Tsar and family were executed by the Bolsheviks. Read more here.
Florrie O’Donoghue who recalled the strenght of the Cork Irish Volunteer organisation just before the Risng as : ‘there were only 46 companies, with none exceeding 120 men.’ and at the end of 1916, commented that those that remained were :’a handful of the population…poor, untrained, almost unarmed, a lot of frothy patriotic sentiment…apparently futile and without a policy..’
This had changed dramatically by July 1918 to consist of twenty battalions of around eight companies each and a total strenght of 8,000 men.
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p104
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RMS Carpathia is torpedoed and sunk off the east coast of Ireland by Imperial German Navy U-boat SM U-55; 218 of the 223 on board are rescued.
RMS Carpathia is torpedoed and sunk off the east coast of Ireland by Imperial German Navy U-boat SM U-55; 218 of the 223 on board are rescued.
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Michael Lynch released from prison for his part in the ‘Hosford Affair’.
Statement of Mr. William Whelan, 3 Grosvenor Villa, Putland Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow. Deposition 369 Bureau of Military History: http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0369.pdf#page=9
Michael Lynch released from prison for his part in the ‘Hosford Affair’.
Statement of Mr. William Whelan, 3 Grosvenor Villa, Putland Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow. Deposition 369 Bureau of Military History: http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0369.pdf#page=9
"After my return home I became more intimate with Michael Collins through Harry Boland and he detailed me for the job of taking a man out of Mountjoy. I believe his name was Mick Lynch. He was a Cork man, wearing a beard. At that time Mick Collins was staying in the Distillerÿ at Jones' Road.
I never met this Lynch man before but those who were with me knew him. He was due for release and Collins was afraid he would be arrested when he got outside the gate. One of the men with me was lame. The British did not re-arrest Lynch and we escorted him down to the Distillery where we all had breakfast with Collins..."
France: General Foch, esimating that the German offensive had lost it’s impetus, ordered a counter-offensive, pushing German forces back across the Marne.
Washington: The ‘Mother’s Mission’ (representing women whose sons were serving in the American forces overseas ) led by Mrs McWhorter, presented to Tumulty an appeal on behalf of Ireland, failing to get an interview with the President.
Washington: The ‘Mother’s Mission’ (representing women whose sons were serving in the American forces overseas ) led by Mrs McWhorter, presented to Tumulty an appeal on behalf of Ireland, failing to get an interview with the President.
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London: Stuart Hay, a British Captain working under the British press baron Lord Northcliffe and attached to the Ministry of Information in the 'Enemy Propaganda' section, received an order from William Sunderland, to establish a plan that would persuade Irish Nationalists to join the French army initially as labourers in specialised battalions. (Sunderland was one of Lloyd George's secretaries entrusted with sensitive operations.) This was to prove to be a more subtle effort (and assessed by later historians as having more potential for success than mass imprisonment)
London: Stuart Hay, a British Captain working under the British press baron Lord Northcliffe and attached to the Ministry of Information in the 'Enemy Propaganda' section, received an order from William Sunderland, to establish a plan that would persuade Irish Nationalists to join the French army initially as labourers in specialised battalions. (Sunderland was one of Lloyd George's secretaries entrusted with sensitive operations.) This was to prove to be a more subtle effort (and assessed by later historians as having more potential for success than mass imprisonment)
American Women did not yet have franchise in 1918. Universal franchise was eventually passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, when the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote.
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The Hay Plan: Sunderland met Hay to formulate their strategy. The plan simply called for a letter (drafted by Hay, and approved by Edward Shortt, Chief Secretary for Ireland) to be sent by the French Primate to the Irish bishops, requesting that they soften their opposition to conscription to aid the war effort in France.
Hay's strategy included another motive in that it wanted to remove Sinn Féin from the political landscape, considering Sinn Féin's 'radical and revolutionary' nature. This it was hoped would separate the church and Sinn Féin or as Hay stated:
" If the church were definitely or even in a large measure converted and the support it has given to disloyal elements be not taken away but thrown on to the other side in the controversy [the conscription crisis], much would be done for the future of the peace in Ireland."
Cork: The Bishop of Cork, Daniel Cohalan, delivered a scathing attack on the idea of "mixed marriage".
(This term in use in Ireland formally until 1970 (and certainly for years afterwards) was the marriage between Roman Catholic and non Roman Catholic . Up to then, under the terms of the Catholic Church's 1907 Ne Temere decree, both partners to a mixed marriage had to sign a "guarantee" that they would bring up all their children in the Catholic Church.)
In a sermon read out at churches and published extensively in the local press throughout his diocese, the bishop’s address was intended as a ‘warning to Catholic parents’, and to their sons and daughters to never consent to a celebration of marriage other than when it accords with Catholic rules. The bishop explained that he had been moved to deliver his denunciation of the ‘very grave offence’ of mixed marriage after learning of a specific case of an Irish Catholic man marrying a Protestant woman in a Protestant church in Dublin.
Bishop Cohalan insisted that Catholics were not permitted to participate in the religious acts of a ‘false church’. He set out the differences between Catholic and Protestant attitudes to marriage. The latter, he states, ‘do not believe marriage to be a sacrament. They concede to the State full authority over marriage. It is for the State, they say, to determine the form in which marriage must be contracted; the state may change the form of marriage from time to time; the State may prescribe one form of marriage for one country and another for another… The Protestant churches accept this situation, and recognise as valid every marriage contracted according to the conditions prescribed by the civil power. It is a question of principles, and we must be true to the principles of the Catholic church.’ Returning to the case that gave rise to his warning, the bishop publicly exhorted the man in question to make ‘atonement for his offence, to rectify his marriage before the church to put himself into a position of participating again in the sacramental life of the church.’
Dublin. The Central Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) held a special meeting at its offices at 68 Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin. The meeting, at which there was a full attendance and at which President James Nowlan presided, was summoned to consider how to proceed with the organisation of matches in light of the existing conditions in the country. Since the introduction of the prohibition on public meetings without permits at the beginning of July, there had been numerous reports of interference with GAA fixtures throughout Ireland.
The Central Council unanimously decided that under no circumstances will any permit be applied for. Furthermore, it was decided that an instruction be sent to provincial councils, county committees, leagues and clubs that this decision was to be strictly adhered to and that any individual or club infringing the order will become automatically and indefinitely suspended. The order was to also apply to sports promoting bodies and to all registered athletes and cyclists.
Finally, it was decided to organise a ‘Gaelic Sunday’ throughout Ireland, the particulars of which were to be announced in due course. Also discussed at the meeting were letters, received by the Central Council, from individuals previously identified with soccer and rugby expressing their outrage at the ‘banning’ of national pastimes and asking for readmission to the GAA, to which they have promised their wholehearted support in future. In all cases, it was agreed to accede to these requests.
The Hay Plan: Sunderland met Hay to formulate their strategy. The plan simply called for a letter (drafted by Hay, and approved by Edward Shortt, Chief Secretary for Ireland) to be sent by the French Primate to the Irish bishops, requesting that they soften their opposition to conscription to aid the war effort in France.
Hay's strategy included another motive in that it wanted to remove Sinn Féin from the political landscape, considering Sinn Féin's 'radical and revolutionary' nature. This it was hoped would separate the church and Sinn Féin or as Hay stated:
" If the church were definitely or even in a large measure converted and the support it has given to disloyal elements be not taken away but thrown on to the other side in the controversy [the conscription crisis], much would be done for the future of the peace in Ireland."
Cork: The Bishop of Cork, Daniel Cohalan, delivered a scathing attack on the idea of "mixed marriage".
(This term in use in Ireland formally until 1970 (and certainly for years afterwards) was the marriage between Roman Catholic and non Roman Catholic . Up to then, under the terms of the Catholic Church's 1907 Ne Temere decree, both partners to a mixed marriage had to sign a "guarantee" that they would bring up all their children in the Catholic Church.)
In a sermon read out at churches and published extensively in the local press throughout his diocese, the bishop’s address was intended as a ‘warning to Catholic parents’, and to their sons and daughters to never consent to a celebration of marriage other than when it accords with Catholic rules. The bishop explained that he had been moved to deliver his denunciation of the ‘very grave offence’ of mixed marriage after learning of a specific case of an Irish Catholic man marrying a Protestant woman in a Protestant church in Dublin.
Bishop Cohalan insisted that Catholics were not permitted to participate in the religious acts of a ‘false church’. He set out the differences between Catholic and Protestant attitudes to marriage. The latter, he states, ‘do not believe marriage to be a sacrament. They concede to the State full authority over marriage. It is for the State, they say, to determine the form in which marriage must be contracted; the state may change the form of marriage from time to time; the State may prescribe one form of marriage for one country and another for another… The Protestant churches accept this situation, and recognise as valid every marriage contracted according to the conditions prescribed by the civil power. It is a question of principles, and we must be true to the principles of the Catholic church.’ Returning to the case that gave rise to his warning, the bishop publicly exhorted the man in question to make ‘atonement for his offence, to rectify his marriage before the church to put himself into a position of participating again in the sacramental life of the church.’
Dublin. The Central Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) held a special meeting at its offices at 68 Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin. The meeting, at which there was a full attendance and at which President James Nowlan presided, was summoned to consider how to proceed with the organisation of matches in light of the existing conditions in the country. Since the introduction of the prohibition on public meetings without permits at the beginning of July, there had been numerous reports of interference with GAA fixtures throughout Ireland.
The Central Council unanimously decided that under no circumstances will any permit be applied for. Furthermore, it was decided that an instruction be sent to provincial councils, county committees, leagues and clubs that this decision was to be strictly adhered to and that any individual or club infringing the order will become automatically and indefinitely suspended. The order was to also apply to sports promoting bodies and to all registered athletes and cyclists.
Finally, it was decided to organise a ‘Gaelic Sunday’ throughout Ireland, the particulars of which were to be announced in due course. Also discussed at the meeting were letters, received by the Central Council, from individuals previously identified with soccer and rugby expressing their outrage at the ‘banning’ of national pastimes and asking for readmission to the GAA, to which they have promised their wholehearted support in future. In all cases, it was agreed to accede to these requests.
23
The Hay Plan: Hay next met Chief Secretary Shortt who accepted the plan, but what is striking is Shortt's subsequent change of mind. Prior to the dual policy of conscription with Home Rule in early 1918, Shortt opposed any form of Irish conscription. Shortt, as well as Lloyd George and Lord French, also believed the plan was workable. As such, all that was required was the submission of the plan to the war office, using Sir Frederick Shaw as an intermediary. Over the next few days, Hay met Shaw, General Macready and Samuel Watt to develop the plan. Shaw, a Unionist who fought in France until 1916 had often worked with Lord French. Watt came from Ulster and was a member of the Belfast Unionist club. It was hardly surprising therefore that when he was appointed to the Irish Local Government Board, Nationalists were outraged, calling him 'too orange'.
The Hay Plan: Hay next met Chief Secretary Shortt who accepted the plan, but what is striking is Shortt's subsequent change of mind. Prior to the dual policy of conscription with Home Rule in early 1918, Shortt opposed any form of Irish conscription. Shortt, as well as Lloyd George and Lord French, also believed the plan was workable. As such, all that was required was the submission of the plan to the war office, using Sir Frederick Shaw as an intermediary. Over the next few days, Hay met Shaw, General Macready and Samuel Watt to develop the plan. Shaw, a Unionist who fought in France until 1916 had often worked with Lord French. Watt came from Ulster and was a member of the Belfast Unionist club. It was hardly surprising therefore that when he was appointed to the Irish Local Government Board, Nationalists were outraged, calling him 'too orange'.
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Glasgow: Nora Connolly, daughter of the executed Easter Rising leader, James Connolly, was denied re-entry into Ireland. Connolly arrived in Britain following an extended visit to friends in the United States and on arriving at a British port she was presented with an order prohibiting her return to Ireland.
Glasgow: Nora Connolly, daughter of the executed Easter Rising leader, James Connolly, was denied re-entry into Ireland. Connolly arrived in Britain following an extended visit to friends in the United States and on arriving at a British port she was presented with an order prohibiting her return to Ireland.
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Dublin: The number of deaths in Dublin the previous week owing to influenza was considerably lower than that of the previous week, giving rise to a hopeful speculation that the worst of the recent epidemic may had passed. Of all Irish cities, Dublin appears to have suffered most. In a single week earlier in July, the Registrar General recorded 92 death caused by influenza in the capital (up from 35 the week before), while 32 deaths were recorded in Belfast, 10 in Cork and 32 in Derry during the same seven day period. Among the Dublin deceased was the well-known young actor, Leo O’Dwyer, who died at his parents’ home on Cowper Road, Upper Rathmines in Dublin. O’Dwyer, educated at Belvedere College, was popular figure in Dublin theatrical circles and was scheduled to perform at the Abbey Theatre.
Dr Russell of the Dublin Public Health Department suggested that the epidemic may be abating in the city, but its impact remained visible everywhere. Many businesses remain depleted by staff absences due to the flu, including the GPO telegraph and sorting departments where all annual leave has been suspended.
The Hay Plan: Hay had by this time drafted a letter which Monsignor Amette, the French Primate was asked to send to the Irish bishops. Again, Lloyd George, French and Shortt accepted the draft.
Westminster: For the first time in over three months, the Irish Nationalists took their seats in Westminster after walking out at the time of the Conscription debates. Punch Magazine in particular took a swipe at the Irish MPs:
Dublin: The number of deaths in Dublin the previous week owing to influenza was considerably lower than that of the previous week, giving rise to a hopeful speculation that the worst of the recent epidemic may had passed. Of all Irish cities, Dublin appears to have suffered most. In a single week earlier in July, the Registrar General recorded 92 death caused by influenza in the capital (up from 35 the week before), while 32 deaths were recorded in Belfast, 10 in Cork and 32 in Derry during the same seven day period. Among the Dublin deceased was the well-known young actor, Leo O’Dwyer, who died at his parents’ home on Cowper Road, Upper Rathmines in Dublin. O’Dwyer, educated at Belvedere College, was popular figure in Dublin theatrical circles and was scheduled to perform at the Abbey Theatre.
Dr Russell of the Dublin Public Health Department suggested that the epidemic may be abating in the city, but its impact remained visible everywhere. Many businesses remain depleted by staff absences due to the flu, including the GPO telegraph and sorting departments where all annual leave has been suspended.
The Hay Plan: Hay had by this time drafted a letter which Monsignor Amette, the French Primate was asked to send to the Irish bishops. Again, Lloyd George, French and Shortt accepted the draft.
Westminster: For the first time in over three months, the Irish Nationalists took their seats in Westminster after walking out at the time of the Conscription debates. Punch Magazine in particular took a swipe at the Irish MPs:
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Angry scenes in the House of Commons when Mr Shortt, the Home Secretary told 'Mr Dillon's followers 'a few plain truths about themselves. In vain, Mr. Devlin endeavoured by rasping interupptions to put him off his stroke. Smiling and impacable Mr Shortt rubbed in his points - that they had made no effort to turn the Home Rule Act into a practicable measure; that, instead of denouncing Sinn Fein , they had followed its lead; that they had attacked the Irish Executive when they should have supported it, and by their refusal to help recruiting had forfeited the sympathy of the British working classes. Many other speeches were made. Sir George Reid purred statesmanship, Sir Mark Sykes scintillated, Mr Asquith temporised and Mr Herbert Samuels prattled of the Peace Conference. Half a dozen nationalists said ditto to their leader in various degrees of stridency; but when it came to the vote, the Nationalists were soundly defeated' Punch Magazine, published 31 July, 1918 |
John Dillon's major speech on the political situation in Ireland in the House of Commons had the motion calling on the British Government to reconcile its administration of Ireland with the principles set down by the American President, Woodrow Wilson during a speech he gave at the graveside of George Washington. President Wilson stated that U.S. objectives in the current war amounted to establishing a political system where the ‘reign of law’ was based ‘upon the consent of the governed and sustained by the organised opinion of mankind’.
Mr Dillon delivered an impassioned speech in which he detailed the efforts to save the constitutional movement in Ireland and to bring Ireland into the war. These efforts were thwarted by the British government’s decision to introduce a system of universal coercion. These coercive measures have included, Mr Dillon stated, the decision to apply conscription to Ireland against advice; and the arrest of the leadership of Sinn Féin on the basis of an alleged German Plot for which the government had ‘not published a scrap or iota of evidence’. Mr Dillon speculated that this policy was governed not by military necessity but by a deliberate attempt to ‘torpedo the policy of Home Rule’ and thereby escape their pledges. Towards the end of his speech, Dillon returned to ideals underpinning the allied war effort and even went so far as to suggest that President Wilson might be called on to act as an arbitrator on the issue.
The Belfast Telegraph took issue with this suggestion. ‘Ireland is not a nation’, its editorial claimed, ‘and it is treasonable for any Irishman to invite the intervention of a foreign ruler, even a most friendly one.’ The paper also lauded Edward Shortt’s response to Mr Dillon as the best speech heard in the House of Commons from a Chief Secretary in a dozen years.
In that speech, Mr Shortt described the state of Ireland when he took up office earlier this year as being worse than in the Spring of 1916. It was full of sedition and illegal drilling with Sinn Féin operating its own military system. Mr Shortt claimed that as a result of the government’s actions, the condition of Ireland had been greatly improved.
The motion was the most significant Irish Party intervention since it made its low-key return to Westminster the previous week after a period of abstention that began in April 1918 following the announcement of plans to introduce conscription in Ireland.
Hardly surprising that Dillon's motion was defeated by 245 votes to 106.
Mr Dillon delivered an impassioned speech in which he detailed the efforts to save the constitutional movement in Ireland and to bring Ireland into the war. These efforts were thwarted by the British government’s decision to introduce a system of universal coercion. These coercive measures have included, Mr Dillon stated, the decision to apply conscription to Ireland against advice; and the arrest of the leadership of Sinn Féin on the basis of an alleged German Plot for which the government had ‘not published a scrap or iota of evidence’. Mr Dillon speculated that this policy was governed not by military necessity but by a deliberate attempt to ‘torpedo the policy of Home Rule’ and thereby escape their pledges. Towards the end of his speech, Dillon returned to ideals underpinning the allied war effort and even went so far as to suggest that President Wilson might be called on to act as an arbitrator on the issue.
The Belfast Telegraph took issue with this suggestion. ‘Ireland is not a nation’, its editorial claimed, ‘and it is treasonable for any Irishman to invite the intervention of a foreign ruler, even a most friendly one.’ The paper also lauded Edward Shortt’s response to Mr Dillon as the best speech heard in the House of Commons from a Chief Secretary in a dozen years.
In that speech, Mr Shortt described the state of Ireland when he took up office earlier this year as being worse than in the Spring of 1916. It was full of sedition and illegal drilling with Sinn Féin operating its own military system. Mr Shortt claimed that as a result of the government’s actions, the condition of Ireland had been greatly improved.
The motion was the most significant Irish Party intervention since it made its low-key return to Westminster the previous week after a period of abstention that began in April 1918 following the announcement of plans to introduce conscription in Ireland.
Hardly surprising that Dillon's motion was defeated by 245 votes to 106.
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Western Front: Heavy fighting on the Western Front began to turn the tide in favour of the Allies.
The Hay Plan: The Hay Plan now ran into the first of many impediments. On hearing of the strategy from Clemenceau, the British ambassador to France, Lord Derby, who had a distinct concern for protocol, angrily complained that the government had gone behind his back in allowing the French to recruit in Ireland.
Dublin: Conradh na Gaeilge, the Gaelic League, celebrated its Silver Jubilee.
The League was established in 1893 at a meeting held at 9 Lower O’Connell Street at which Dr Douglas Hyde presided. Subsequent meetings were held in the rooms of the National Literary Society and while at first, the proceedings of the Gaelic League were held partly through the medium of the Irish language, Irish soon came to be exclusively used.
In 1898, the first weekly newspaper in Irish, Fáinne an Lae was published as a private enterprise and it was soon adopted by the Gaelic League, who established its own official paper, An Claidheamh Soluis the following year. This newspaper in 1918 was edited by Piaras Béaslaí, although previous editors include Patrick Pearse, executed for his leadership role in the Easter Rising of 1916. Douglas Hyde, remained president from the establishment of the organisation until his resignation in 1915, when he was replaced by Eoin MacNeill. The first Vice-President of the Gaelic League was the late Fr Eugene O’Growney, whose book, Simple Lessons in Irish, served as a standard work of instruction.
In 1918 the Gaelic League employed seven senior organisers, 22 assistant organisers and several hundred travelling teachers and the organisation had, according to Sean T. O’Kelly, its current secretary, absolutely changed the attitude of Irish people to their own language.
The League was established in 1893 at a meeting held at 9 Lower O’Connell Street at which Dr Douglas Hyde presided. Subsequent meetings were held in the rooms of the National Literary Society and while at first, the proceedings of the Gaelic League were held partly through the medium of the Irish language, Irish soon came to be exclusively used.
In 1898, the first weekly newspaper in Irish, Fáinne an Lae was published as a private enterprise and it was soon adopted by the Gaelic League, who established its own official paper, An Claidheamh Soluis the following year. This newspaper in 1918 was edited by Piaras Béaslaí, although previous editors include Patrick Pearse, executed for his leadership role in the Easter Rising of 1916. Douglas Hyde, remained president from the establishment of the organisation until his resignation in 1915, when he was replaced by Eoin MacNeill. The first Vice-President of the Gaelic League was the late Fr Eugene O’Growney, whose book, Simple Lessons in Irish, served as a standard work of instruction.
In 1918 the Gaelic League employed seven senior organisers, 22 assistant organisers and several hundred travelling teachers and the organisation had, according to Sean T. O’Kelly, its current secretary, absolutely changed the attitude of Irish people to their own language.
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In Ireland, the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, John Dillon described the country as ‘lying under the unfettered tyranny of a military Government.’ Passive resistance was growing throughout the country.
Dr William Maloney in his press release, July 192I states that in August 1918, Judge Cohalan was not only pro-German but also ignorant as to Irish politics:
‘Till amost the last days of the war, Judge Cohalan firmly believed that Germany would triumph. I often endeavoured to prove to him that he was wrong but he as often invented new arguments to sustain his belief, and consequently, took no steps to identify the Irish issue with America’s war aims… (&) his strange blindness to the nature of the Irish movement in Ireland. He did not seem to realise the Sinn Fein was national and not factional; that the anti-Dillon campaign was merely incidental; and that the issue was squarely joined not between two Irish factions but between the Irish nation and the British nation. The significance of Sinn Fein successes against England seemed not to penetrate his conciousness. He remained a factionist The fate of his faction in Ireland would be decided, as the fate of former factions had been decided, by the work of himself and his colleagues in America. And when his faith in the German victory finally perished, and with it his work here, he and Devoy deemed their cause lost.’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
A deadly second wave of the Spanish flu starts in France, Sierra Leone, and the United States.
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British Government requests another loan of £700 million from Parliament.
British anti-Bolshevik forces occupy Archangel, Russia.
In the US, over one million women are reported to be working in factories.
The Irish Volunteers magazine announced on this date that ‘The Irish Volunteers are the Army of the Irish Republic’ and so was born the IRA.
The Friends of Irish Freedom headquarters under Lynch now began to assemble a detailed database of all 275,000 regular and associate members and membership was also being increased. During 1918, more than 70% of the total 106 branches of the Friends were located in California, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey. New York City accounted for over 50% of it’s total membership base.
However in his work on the Friends of Irish Freedom history, Diarmuid commented that at the time there may have been
‘ over twenty million of the race in the greater Ireland beyond the seas...the overwhelming majority of whom had never evinced even a passing interest in any movement which aimed at securing Irish national independence’
Diarmuid Lynch papers. National Library of Ireland Accession #2267. MS:32-597. p28.
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The Hay Plan: After further behind-the-scene talks, a letter was finally sent to the Irish Cardinal Logue. The Archbishop of Paris worded the letter and signed the request on this date. In spite of this, Lord Derby wrote, 'To employ the Roman Catholic Hierarchy to get Irishmen to show their loyalty to England by fighting under a French flag seems to me to be the height of folly and one which will be bitterly resented by a great number of people in England'.
Archangel: A British led force of 1,500 men landed in the northern Russian port to set up a base for operations against Germany and forming another front against Communist forces
The Hay Plan: After further behind-the-scene talks, a letter was finally sent to the Irish Cardinal Logue. The Archbishop of Paris worded the letter and signed the request on this date. In spite of this, Lord Derby wrote, 'To employ the Roman Catholic Hierarchy to get Irishmen to show their loyalty to England by fighting under a French flag seems to me to be the height of folly and one which will be bitterly resented by a great number of people in England'.
Archangel: A British led force of 1,500 men landed in the northern Russian port to set up a base for operations against Germany and forming another front against Communist forces
Sir Thomas Francis Molony, 1st Baronet, PC (Ire), QC (1865–1949) was the last Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was also the only Judge to hold the position of Lord Chief Justice of Southern Ireland.
Molony qualified as a barrister in 1887 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1899. He served as Solicitor-General for Ireland (1912-1913) when he was appointed Attorney General for Ireland. Within months was made a judge of the High Court for Ireland and from 1915 sat as a judge of the Court of Appeal for Ireland. He was also appointed to several governmental inquiries, notably one on British Army shootings during the 1916 Rising, including that of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington. In terms of his own politics, Molony was described as “a Home Ruler of the old stamp" and opposed to the partition of Ireland. In 1918, he was appointed the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. In 1920 the British Government began drafting Home Rule legislation which ultimately led later that year to the Government of Ireland Act. The draft legislation proposed that the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland would become the Lord Chief Justice of Southern Ireland. Molony “expressed disquiet at the apparent proposal to lessen the dignity and prerogatives of his own office" and lobbied extensively for the retention of the title of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, at the very least for as long as he still held that post personally. On 6 December 1922 (the day the Irish Free State came into being), the position of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was formally abolished. The leadership of the judiciary in the emerging Irish Free State now fell to Molony. That same year, the Irish civil war had begun and it was not an easy time to be a judge with violence raging and a new Irish government coming into power whose members had previously been revolutionaries. Molony made an effective and dignified attempt to proceed with business as usual and uphold the laws of the new administration, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. He adopted a tough stance. The penalty of capital punishment was regularly handed down by his judiciary during the Irish Civil War. Even after the war, Molony handed down more death sentences than would have been usual in peacetime – four such sentences were handed down in the four weeks towards the end of 1923, two on the same day, 12 December. In May 1924, together with most other members of the Irish judiciary associated with the ancien régime, Molony retired as the Irish government established its own court system under The Courts of Justice Act 1924. Molony retired to England but was made Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin in 1931. Molony died in 1949. |
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1,500 hurling matches were played throughout Ireland in contravention of the July 9 order under by the Commander in Chief banning all public gatherings and meetings.
Around 54,000 Gaels participated in the games, which were organised by each of the County Boards and, on the instruction of GAA’s Central Council, were scheduled to commence at the same time: 3pm. In Dublin there were approximately 30 fixtures organised in 22 different venues for which no permit was sought. Games were played at the Phoenix park, as well as at Ringsend, and at various venues along the coast stretching from Baldoyle to Sandymount to Bray. In Cork, 40 fixtures were organised, though heavy rain meant that many of them were abandoned. At Duke’s Grove, Armagh, about 1,000 spectators turned out to witness a previously banned match between Emmetts Club and Hopes in the Mid-Armagh League, which ended in a draw. Cashel Brass Band was on hand to accompany the crowd from the city to the ground and back again.
Large crowds attended many of the fixtures and there were no reports of police interference.
In early July, the government placed restrictions on meetings and public gatherings without a permit. However, in late July, in a statement to the House of Commons in Westminster, the Chief Secretary Edward Shortt stated that it had not been intended ‘to interfere with ordinary meetings, games and sports’ and that such interference as had occurred had been unfortunate cases where police had misunderstood instructions. According to Mr Shortt, the prohibition was intended to apply only to meetings of a political character, however the circular appears in some cases not to have reached the police.
1,500 hurling matches were played throughout Ireland in contravention of the July 9 order under by the Commander in Chief banning all public gatherings and meetings.
Around 54,000 Gaels participated in the games, which were organised by each of the County Boards and, on the instruction of GAA’s Central Council, were scheduled to commence at the same time: 3pm. In Dublin there were approximately 30 fixtures organised in 22 different venues for which no permit was sought. Games were played at the Phoenix park, as well as at Ringsend, and at various venues along the coast stretching from Baldoyle to Sandymount to Bray. In Cork, 40 fixtures were organised, though heavy rain meant that many of them were abandoned. At Duke’s Grove, Armagh, about 1,000 spectators turned out to witness a previously banned match between Emmetts Club and Hopes in the Mid-Armagh League, which ended in a draw. Cashel Brass Band was on hand to accompany the crowd from the city to the ground and back again.
Large crowds attended many of the fixtures and there were no reports of police interference.
In early July, the government placed restrictions on meetings and public gatherings without a permit. However, in late July, in a statement to the House of Commons in Westminster, the Chief Secretary Edward Shortt stated that it had not been intended ‘to interfere with ordinary meetings, games and sports’ and that such interference as had occurred had been unfortunate cases where police had misunderstood instructions. According to Mr Shortt, the prohibition was intended to apply only to meetings of a political character, however the circular appears in some cases not to have reached the police.
Channel Tunnel to Ireland. The concept of a linking tunnel or bridge between the islands of Ireland and Britain have been considered for some two centuries.
A 1799 description (below) of a failed proposal for a bridge from Howth to Holyhead is a mocking metaphor for the failure of the Union Bill 1799, which succeeded next year as the Act of Union 1800.
Between 1886 and 1900, proposals for a link from Scotland to Ireland were "seriously explored by engineers, industrialists, and Unionist politicians". In 1885, Irish Builder and Engineer said a tunnel under the Irish Sea had been discussed "for some time back". In 1890, engineer Luke Livingston Macassey outlined a Stranraer–Belfast link by tunnel, submerged "tubular bridge", or solid causeway.
In 1897 a British firm applied for £15,000 towards the cost of carrying out borings and soundings in the North Channel to see if a tunnel between Ireland and Scotland was viable. The link was touted to be of immense commercial benefit, significant strategically and would have meant faster transatlantic travel from Britain, via Galway and other Irish ports. Newspapers claimed some politicians saw this as a potential solution to the “Irish Question”, suggesting a physical connection between the two islands would bring them closer in ways that legislation had failed. Although not exclusively touted as a unionist project, many of its strongest promoters had Unionist sympathies.
When nothing came of the Irish tunnel scheme, it was reduced to the status of a joke, symbolic of the ridiculous lengths that some politicians would go to keep Ireland part of the United Kingdom. One journalist found it so laughable that he suggested one better: “Perhaps the next thing will be a proposal to establish a service of flying machines with the same object.”
In 1915, a tunnel was proposed by Gershom Stewart as a defence against a German U-boat blockade of Ireland but dismissed by H. H. Asquith as "hardly practicable in the present circumstances". In 1918, Stewart proposed that German prisoners of war might dig the tunnel; Bonar Law said the Select Committee on Transport could consider the proposal but shelved the matter.
The Senate of Northern Ireland debated a North Channel Tunnel in May 1954 and the idea surfaced again in Parliament in 1956.
The idea next re-surfaced in 1988 when John P. Wilson, the Irish Minister for Tourism and Transport said his department had estimated an Irish Sea tunnel would cost twice as much as the English Channel Tunnel and generate one fifth of the revenue, thus being economically unviable.
In 1997–8, the Department of Public Enterprise refused to fund a feasibility study requested by Symonds engineering to build an immersed tube tunnel. Symonds revived the plan in 2000, with an £8m feasibility study and a £14b construction cost estimate.
The proposal of building a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland became active again in 2018 and was supported by members of a number of UK political parties. In January 2018 leading figures in the Democratic Unionist Party revived calls for a bridge or tunnel between Larne in County Antrim and Dumfries and Galloway, the estimated £20 billion cost of the 25-mile project would make it among the biggest infrastructure projects in UK history. The idea was further endorsed in July 2018 as a potential solution to boost the economies of Scotland and Northern Ireland after Brexit.
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Ireland: The second anniversary of the execution of Roger Casement proved to be a quiet affair. In Kerry, police and military authorities made efforts to avoid the scenes in 1917 by stationing troops at Casement’s Fort in Ardfert to deter crowds from assembling there.
In various districts of Dublin, the Press Association reported that small buttonhole flags were being sold bearing the inscription ‘Remember Casement’ on one side and on the other ‘Died for Ireland, August 3rd, 1916’.
A new poem, written by ‘Benmore’, aka John Clarke, was published by the Strabane Chronicle in honour of the Irish nationalist and humanitarian. Entitled ‘Roger Casement. Died 3rd August, 1916’:
‘There’s a lonely grave in a prison yard
Towards which fond memories turn:
A martyr’s mound with never a stone,
And none to kneel or mourn.
There the night winds sigh for the hero dead,
And gently sough and croon
A nightly dirge for a noble one,
Who died in manhood’s noon.
Buried alone, far from Antrim’s Glens,
That his soul oft feasted on;
Stricken to earth from the scaffold’s place,
Awaiting the looked-for dawn.
No children play near that hallowed mound,
No flowers from Ireland strewn.
No monument speaks of worth or fame,
On the marble his name unhewn.
Some pilgrim there, when the twilight shades,
Hangs round that lonely tomb,
Will breathe a prayer for the sleeper there,
‘Mid the solitude and gloom.
In a wayside shrine, in some Irish glen,
A watcher will kneel in the night,
While another will steal to the altar place
To enkindle a blessed light.
And others, too, who cherish his name,
Will throng round the altar rail.
Sending prayers to God for a prince of their race
Who sleeps in an English jail.’
Ireland: The second anniversary of the execution of Roger Casement proved to be a quiet affair. In Kerry, police and military authorities made efforts to avoid the scenes in 1917 by stationing troops at Casement’s Fort in Ardfert to deter crowds from assembling there.
In various districts of Dublin, the Press Association reported that small buttonhole flags were being sold bearing the inscription ‘Remember Casement’ on one side and on the other ‘Died for Ireland, August 3rd, 1916’.
A new poem, written by ‘Benmore’, aka John Clarke, was published by the Strabane Chronicle in honour of the Irish nationalist and humanitarian. Entitled ‘Roger Casement. Died 3rd August, 1916’:
‘There’s a lonely grave in a prison yard
Towards which fond memories turn:
A martyr’s mound with never a stone,
And none to kneel or mourn.
There the night winds sigh for the hero dead,
And gently sough and croon
A nightly dirge for a noble one,
Who died in manhood’s noon.
Buried alone, far from Antrim’s Glens,
That his soul oft feasted on;
Stricken to earth from the scaffold’s place,
Awaiting the looked-for dawn.
No children play near that hallowed mound,
No flowers from Ireland strewn.
No monument speaks of worth or fame,
On the marble his name unhewn.
Some pilgrim there, when the twilight shades,
Hangs round that lonely tomb,
Will breathe a prayer for the sleeper there,
‘Mid the solitude and gloom.
In a wayside shrine, in some Irish glen,
A watcher will kneel in the night,
While another will steal to the altar place
To enkindle a blessed light.
And others, too, who cherish his name,
Will throng round the altar rail.
Sending prayers to God for a prince of their race
Who sleeps in an English jail.’
France: Church sermons were delivered, memorials held and statements from heads of states made to mark the ending of the fourth year of the war. For the allies, the anniversary was occasioned by much solemnity and growing optimism that the year ahead might bring ultimate victory and peace.
Sir Douglas Haig, speaking to a reporter from the Press Association, paid tribute to the fighting qualities of the British troops and acknowledged that ‘the steady stream of U.S. troops’ had ‘restored the balance’ on the western front. Haig, who commanded the Anglo-French troops on the western front, added that the allies ‘could now look forward with added confidence to the future’. Such confidence would have been unthinkable just a few short weeks ago as the allies struggled to contain the German offensive on the western front.
Since March of 1918, a war of movement – of rapid developments and quick changes – replaced the trench warfare that had characterised the fighting since the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914. The Germans led this war of movement with their Spring offensive, but according to The Irish Times, after the ‘despair’ of recent months, ‘a light is breaking upon the darkness’.
Although recent reports indicated that French troops and allied units were making considerable headway to the north of the Marne, German sources were striking a defiant note, claiming to have repulsed many of the allied attacks and to have enjoyed success of their own in Champagne. Meanwhile, the Kaiser delivered a proclamation from Berlin to members of the German forces, commending them on their efforts and achievements over the course of the last four years.
In the first year, the Kaiser stated, they had carried the war into the enemy’s country and preserved their own homeland from the ‘horrors and devastations of war’; in the second and third years they had broken the strength of the enemy in the east; in the fourth year, the fruits of their efforts had delivered peace in the east and, in recent months, their offence in the west had ‘heavily hit’ their enemy in what, the Kaiser claimed, was among the ‘highest deeds of fame of German history’.
Sir Douglas Haig, speaking to a reporter from the Press Association, paid tribute to the fighting qualities of the British troops and acknowledged that ‘the steady stream of U.S. troops’ had ‘restored the balance’ on the western front. Haig, who commanded the Anglo-French troops on the western front, added that the allies ‘could now look forward with added confidence to the future’. Such confidence would have been unthinkable just a few short weeks ago as the allies struggled to contain the German offensive on the western front.
Since March of 1918, a war of movement – of rapid developments and quick changes – replaced the trench warfare that had characterised the fighting since the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914. The Germans led this war of movement with their Spring offensive, but according to The Irish Times, after the ‘despair’ of recent months, ‘a light is breaking upon the darkness’.
Although recent reports indicated that French troops and allied units were making considerable headway to the north of the Marne, German sources were striking a defiant note, claiming to have repulsed many of the allied attacks and to have enjoyed success of their own in Champagne. Meanwhile, the Kaiser delivered a proclamation from Berlin to members of the German forces, commending them on their efforts and achievements over the course of the last four years.
In the first year, the Kaiser stated, they had carried the war into the enemy’s country and preserved their own homeland from the ‘horrors and devastations of war’; in the second and third years they had broken the strength of the enemy in the east; in the fourth year, the fruits of their efforts had delivered peace in the east and, in recent months, their offence in the west had ‘heavily hit’ their enemy in what, the Kaiser claimed, was among the ‘highest deeds of fame of German history’.
7
T.P. O’Connor, Irish Parliamentary Party MP, returned from his mission to America.
At a dinner hosted by his party colleagues at the House of Commons to welcome him home, party leader John Dillon declared that if O’Connor, had not been in America when the conscription crisis erupted in April and the German plot invented in May, then America would have been swept up in an atmosphere of hostility towards Ireland. Mr Dillon told the gathering that the O’Connor’s visit to America was intended to present an Irish case to counteract what he said was ‘poisonous propaganda’ against the support the Irish Party had given to the Allied cause. He went so far as to assert that O’Connor and Richard Hazelton, who assisted him on the mission, had done a greater service to the Allied cause than all the official British propaganda that had been pursued at the cost of millions of pounds. O’Connor was fundraising in San Francisco when news broke of the conscription crisis at home, forcing him to leave California for Washington. There was, he said, a strong tide of American opinion held that Ireland should just enter the war in a generous spirit before getting freedom for herself. But, he warned, ‘you can be generous with the generous, you can be loyal with the loyal, but you cannot be generous with the mean, and you cannot be loyal with those who are not loyal’.
T.P. O’Connor, Irish Parliamentary Party MP, returned from his mission to America.
At a dinner hosted by his party colleagues at the House of Commons to welcome him home, party leader John Dillon declared that if O’Connor, had not been in America when the conscription crisis erupted in April and the German plot invented in May, then America would have been swept up in an atmosphere of hostility towards Ireland. Mr Dillon told the gathering that the O’Connor’s visit to America was intended to present an Irish case to counteract what he said was ‘poisonous propaganda’ against the support the Irish Party had given to the Allied cause. He went so far as to assert that O’Connor and Richard Hazelton, who assisted him on the mission, had done a greater service to the Allied cause than all the official British propaganda that had been pursued at the cost of millions of pounds. O’Connor was fundraising in San Francisco when news broke of the conscription crisis at home, forcing him to leave California for Washington. There was, he said, a strong tide of American opinion held that Ireland should just enter the war in a generous spirit before getting freedom for herself. But, he warned, ‘you can be generous with the generous, you can be loyal with the loyal, but you cannot be generous with the mean, and you cannot be loyal with those who are not loyal’.
8
Western Front: Battle of Amiens: Canadian and Australian troops begin a string of almost continuous victories, the 'Hundred Days Offensive', with an 8-mile push through the German front lines, taking 12,000 prisoners. German General Erich Ludendorff later calls this the "black day of the German Army".
Western Front: Battle of Amiens: Canadian and Australian troops begin a string of almost continuous victories, the 'Hundred Days Offensive', with an 8-mile push through the German front lines, taking 12,000 prisoners. German General Erich Ludendorff later calls this the "black day of the German Army".
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The Hay Plan: Chief Secretary Shortt finally advised Hay that he would have to deliver the letter to Cardinal Logue himself. This was arranged for Saturday, 11 May. However, the Plan began to unravel for a number of very diverse reasons. The first was purely bureaucratic. Hay's Department of Information received an order from the military, ordering Hay to attend a medical examination as he had been deemed unfit for military service. Hay's superior, S.A. Guest, answered that he would only do so if he received a personal order from Lloyd George. Hay travelled to Ireland to meet with Logue.
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The Hay Plan: Chief Secretary Shortt finally advised Hay that he would have to deliver the letter to Cardinal Logue himself. This was arranged for Saturday, 11 May. However, the Plan began to unravel for a number of very diverse reasons. The first was purely bureaucratic. Hay's Department of Information received an order from the military, ordering Hay to attend a medical examination as he had been deemed unfit for military service. Hay's superior, S.A. Guest, answered that he would only do so if he received a personal order from Lloyd George. Hay travelled to Ireland to meet with Logue.
10
Killarney: The Gaelic League held its Ard Fheis during the Oireachtas festival in the town of Killarney, Co. Kerry.
The event was poorly attended due, the organisers insisted, to a widespread fear that the recent police crackdown on public meetings would mean that it would not be possible to hold the Oireachtas this year.
Prof. Eoin MacNeill, the President of the League, presided over the opening at the Presentation Brothers’ school in Killarney, where one of the first motions discussed concerned the extension of the term of the office of President from two to four years. MacNeill, who spoke in opposition to the motion, stated that he could settle the issue by refusing to allow his name to go forward for re-election.
However, Sean T. O’Kelly said that while he favoured a one-year term limit, in the present circumstances he feared that people would say that something was wrong with the Gaelic League if MacNeill was not re-elected. By way of compromise, he suggested the limit be changed to three years. This proposal was accepted. MacNeill stated that he yielded to the request to continue his term for another another year but not a moment longer.
The Ard Fheis attracted considerable press interest in view of the efforts of the authorities to hamper the organisation, but the evidence provided from the around the country indicated that these efforts have served only to galvanise the Gaelic League.
Killarney: The Gaelic League held its Ard Fheis during the Oireachtas festival in the town of Killarney, Co. Kerry.
The event was poorly attended due, the organisers insisted, to a widespread fear that the recent police crackdown on public meetings would mean that it would not be possible to hold the Oireachtas this year.
Prof. Eoin MacNeill, the President of the League, presided over the opening at the Presentation Brothers’ school in Killarney, where one of the first motions discussed concerned the extension of the term of the office of President from two to four years. MacNeill, who spoke in opposition to the motion, stated that he could settle the issue by refusing to allow his name to go forward for re-election.
However, Sean T. O’Kelly said that while he favoured a one-year term limit, in the present circumstances he feared that people would say that something was wrong with the Gaelic League if MacNeill was not re-elected. By way of compromise, he suggested the limit be changed to three years. This proposal was accepted. MacNeill stated that he yielded to the request to continue his term for another another year but not a moment longer.
The Ard Fheis attracted considerable press interest in view of the efforts of the authorities to hamper the organisation, but the evidence provided from the around the country indicated that these efforts have served only to galvanise the Gaelic League.
11
Diarmuid Lynch wrote to his sister Mary:
Diarmuid Lynch wrote to his sister Mary:
‘New York.
Aug 11.18
My dear Moll.
It seems useless for me to wait for an opportunity to wrote you a long letter as I intended, so I will just send along a wee note.
Kit wrote you a lengthy epistle – with a few lines added by myself – a long time ago. Not having had any word from you, we have come to the conclusion that it did not reach you. This means that a number of similar letters did not reach either!
We are still staying with Dick & Marie – it had been too hot to do anything in the way of looking for a ‘flat’ & then we are so much at home here that it's hard to think of moving. D&M would not hear of it – just yet anyway, but in the course of another month we must get a hustle on as the weather will be more bearable.
Last week we had one of the hottest days in the record of the New York weather bureau. That’s going ‘some’! Thank God we came thru allright.
What with my work as Secretary, Friends of Irish Freedom & my duties in Dick’s Fuel Corporation, I’ve been kept ‘on the go’ I can tell you.
I trust Mick has been home some weeks & by this has fully recuperated. We will be on the lookout for news from him any day now.
Hope yourself, Tim & Dan & all the folks are in the best of form.
Kit and myself are very happy, but only wish we could have a honeymoon in Ireland among all the old friends.
I promised Fr Murphy we would pay him a visit long ago & but have not had the opportunity so far. I am hoping to be able to get away for a couple of weeks in September. Notwithstanding all the hard times over there, the prospect is most encouraging. I trust the boys are keeping in good health. As for their spirits – ‘my soul, I never doubted them!’
Remember me to all the friends & neighbours.
Fond love to yourself and the boys.
Diarmuid .
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 4/55
The Hay Plan: Cardinal Logue and Hay met in the cardinal's country cottage at Carlingford. Hay explained the principal reasons why the French required Irish help. Logue advised Hay of his support for the French cause but although his first intention was to publish Cardinal Amette's letter 'in a circular letter both to the press and the Irish Bishops', Logue thought better of it over lunch, realising that Britain was using the French bishops to get Irish conscription by another method.
Logue advised Hay that he was prepared to wait until the French Government received official permission from London, to allow Irish volunteer labourers travel to France without hindrance. Later that evening, Logue gave Hay a note for Cardinal Amette.
This note evoked traditional Franco-Irish friendship and support, and guaranteed Ireland's wish that France would emerge triumphant from the war. Logue had his own agenda. This was to get Ireland to a place at the peace conference and is best understood in Logue's own words, as attributed by Hay:
"[Logue] expressed the view that this scheme was the salvation of Ireland, as it brought that country into line with the Allies and would get rid of the disloyal element. He pointed out that it solved ultimately the home rule problem, which could now be settled at the peace conference with the help of France and America."
Both Cardinal Logue and Hay agreed to meet again on August 17. However, this was to be their last meeting.
Logue advised Hay that he was prepared to wait until the French Government received official permission from London, to allow Irish volunteer labourers travel to France without hindrance. Later that evening, Logue gave Hay a note for Cardinal Amette.
This note evoked traditional Franco-Irish friendship and support, and guaranteed Ireland's wish that France would emerge triumphant from the war. Logue had his own agenda. This was to get Ireland to a place at the peace conference and is best understood in Logue's own words, as attributed by Hay:
"[Logue] expressed the view that this scheme was the salvation of Ireland, as it brought that country into line with the Allies and would get rid of the disloyal element. He pointed out that it solved ultimately the home rule problem, which could now be settled at the peace conference with the help of France and America."
Both Cardinal Logue and Hay agreed to meet again on August 17. However, this was to be their last meeting.
13
The Hay Plan: In 10 Downing Street, Hay met with J.T. Davis, Lloyd George's private secretary, and Sunderland, who stated that he was not at all happy with the way the plan had been executed. Along with Sunderland, others that were disillusioned included Lord Derby, and General Sir Henry Wilson. Hay wrote in his report:
"Lord Derby was angry that the matter had not been passed through him, and 'that he objected to me personally'; that General Sir Henry Wilson C.I.G.S., was much annoyed and had threatened to have me arrested while carrying out the mission 'and was out for my blood'. That the policy was anti-Ulster and that I was a disgrace and must return to Paris with my letter, but that I must get it over by other means."
The Hay Plan: In 10 Downing Street, Hay met with J.T. Davis, Lloyd George's private secretary, and Sunderland, who stated that he was not at all happy with the way the plan had been executed. Along with Sunderland, others that were disillusioned included Lord Derby, and General Sir Henry Wilson. Hay wrote in his report:
"Lord Derby was angry that the matter had not been passed through him, and 'that he objected to me personally'; that General Sir Henry Wilson C.I.G.S., was much annoyed and had threatened to have me arrested while carrying out the mission 'and was out for my blood'. That the policy was anti-Ulster and that I was a disgrace and must return to Paris with my letter, but that I must get it over by other means."
14
London: Hanna Sheehy Skeffington was recovering, at the Gower Hotel in London, from the effects of her recent hunger strike and release from prison.
In a letter to her sister, Mary Kettle, Mrs Sheehy Skeffington stated that while she was still weak, this hunger strike was not as traumatic as those that she had undertaken on behalf of the women’s suffrage movement.
Sheehy Skeffington went on hunger strike the previous week after being arrested on Dublin’s Westmoreland Street. She was taken to the Bridewell and, later, to Holloway Jail in England. No charge was levelled against her and no reason was given for her imprisonment. In the course of her incarceration, concerns were voiced for her health. As acknowledged by the Irish Independent, Mrs Sheehy Skeffington is known to be ‘a woman of most determined will’, but she was also known to be ‘afflicted by a weak heart’. This led to questions being asked of the British government as to whether they wanted to be held responsible for ‘another Ashe tragedy’, a reference to Thomas Ashe, who died after being force-fed while on hunger strike in September 1917.
As well as being a committed political activist, Mrs Sheehy Skeffington was the widow of Francis Sheehy Skeffington who was murdered in the midst of the unrest of Easter week 1916. Mrs Sheehy Skeffington’s sister, Mary, whose home was searched in the aftermath of Hanna’s arrest, has also experienced loss in recent years. Her husband, Tom Kettle, was killed in action on the western front in September, 1916
Dublin: A major new housing initiative, estimated to cost £8,640,000 and deliver at least 16,500 additional dwellings for workers, was to be implemented in the city of Dublin. The plan, which was devised by P.C. Cowan, Chief Engineering Inspector with the Local Government Board and submitted to the Chief Secretary, Edward Shortt, dates from January 1918 and sets out the following as necessities:
• 14,000 new self-contained houses of sufficient size to enable a separation of sexes, with scullery and WC accommodation for the sole use of each family
• The improvement and remodelling of 3,803 first and second class tenement houses to provide for suitable accommodation, in tenements of one to four rooms, for 13,000 families, with a remaining 5,991 families being catered for in new houses.
In all, Mr Cowan stated that there was a need to provide comfortable sanitary houses for 27,000 families; this figure was accepted by a Departmental Committee almost four years before. Since then, 936 tenement houses, in which 3,989 families were housed, had been closed by the Corporation. In the same four year period, only 327 new houses had been built.
Selfridge denies Dublin rumours
In other Dublin property news, Gordon Selfridge, owner of the Selfridge department store on London’s Oxford Street denied rumours that he had acquired premises in Dublin with a view to opening up a business in the city. ‘There is no truth in the statement’, he told a reporter when interviewed at his Oxford Street office.
London: Hanna Sheehy Skeffington was recovering, at the Gower Hotel in London, from the effects of her recent hunger strike and release from prison.
In a letter to her sister, Mary Kettle, Mrs Sheehy Skeffington stated that while she was still weak, this hunger strike was not as traumatic as those that she had undertaken on behalf of the women’s suffrage movement.
Sheehy Skeffington went on hunger strike the previous week after being arrested on Dublin’s Westmoreland Street. She was taken to the Bridewell and, later, to Holloway Jail in England. No charge was levelled against her and no reason was given for her imprisonment. In the course of her incarceration, concerns were voiced for her health. As acknowledged by the Irish Independent, Mrs Sheehy Skeffington is known to be ‘a woman of most determined will’, but she was also known to be ‘afflicted by a weak heart’. This led to questions being asked of the British government as to whether they wanted to be held responsible for ‘another Ashe tragedy’, a reference to Thomas Ashe, who died after being force-fed while on hunger strike in September 1917.
As well as being a committed political activist, Mrs Sheehy Skeffington was the widow of Francis Sheehy Skeffington who was murdered in the midst of the unrest of Easter week 1916. Mrs Sheehy Skeffington’s sister, Mary, whose home was searched in the aftermath of Hanna’s arrest, has also experienced loss in recent years. Her husband, Tom Kettle, was killed in action on the western front in September, 1916
Dublin: A major new housing initiative, estimated to cost £8,640,000 and deliver at least 16,500 additional dwellings for workers, was to be implemented in the city of Dublin. The plan, which was devised by P.C. Cowan, Chief Engineering Inspector with the Local Government Board and submitted to the Chief Secretary, Edward Shortt, dates from January 1918 and sets out the following as necessities:
• 14,000 new self-contained houses of sufficient size to enable a separation of sexes, with scullery and WC accommodation for the sole use of each family
• The improvement and remodelling of 3,803 first and second class tenement houses to provide for suitable accommodation, in tenements of one to four rooms, for 13,000 families, with a remaining 5,991 families being catered for in new houses.
In all, Mr Cowan stated that there was a need to provide comfortable sanitary houses for 27,000 families; this figure was accepted by a Departmental Committee almost four years before. Since then, 936 tenement houses, in which 3,989 families were housed, had been closed by the Corporation. In the same four year period, only 327 new houses had been built.
Selfridge denies Dublin rumours
In other Dublin property news, Gordon Selfridge, owner of the Selfridge department store on London’s Oxford Street denied rumours that he had acquired premises in Dublin with a view to opening up a business in the city. ‘There is no truth in the statement’, he told a reporter when interviewed at his Oxford Street office.
15
Hundreds of public meetings were held throughout Ireland in defiance of the Government ban, a manifesto issued by the Standing Committee of Sinn Fein was read with many of the speakers being arrested and imprisoned in follow up raids.
The First issue of ‘An t’Oglach’ ( the Soldier ) conceived by Collins and edited by Piaras Beaslai appeared. Printed and published as an ‘underground’ military journal, proudly calling itself the ‘only uncensored paper in Ireland’, it had contributions from directors of different areas of the new army and was distributed throughout the country. The mix was a curious one of military procedures and tips, progress reports from various parts of the country and news of British policy, all combined with the Sinn Fein ideology preaching the politics of the Irish Nation as distinct from that of an individual leader or political party.
Lynch formally started work as National Secretary for the Friends of Irish Freedom, a post he was to hold for 14 years until his return to Ireland in 1932. Elected to membership of the National Council and National Executive of the Friends of Irish Freedom on December 10.
The US severs diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia.
The Hay Plan: Hay had been sidestepped with an official request to attend for a medical examination which he was advised to attend. As a result, his visit to Logue was cancelled. Watt informed Hay that Logue's letter was now in Clemenceau's hands and the British government was also studying the plan. Much of this surprised Hay who believed that everything had been arranged before he left for Paris and Ireland on 30 July.
Hay also told Sutherland that Logue might fear a 'plot against him'. Consequently, he proposed sending a letter to Logue to reassure him, with Sunderland stating that the letter required approval by Samuel Watt. Watt accepted Hay's suggestion but stressed that the letter should be sent from Paris so that Cardinal Logue would believe that he had indeed been in talks with the French government. Hay, while claiming to be at the Conseil Superieur de Guerre, the supreme war council at Versailles, wrote two letters to Logue who received at least one, which reassured the cardinal that 'the matter….is being discussed in detail by the competent authorities which argue that there is every chance of success'.
Hundreds of public meetings were held throughout Ireland in defiance of the Government ban, a manifesto issued by the Standing Committee of Sinn Fein was read with many of the speakers being arrested and imprisoned in follow up raids.
The First issue of ‘An t’Oglach’ ( the Soldier ) conceived by Collins and edited by Piaras Beaslai appeared. Printed and published as an ‘underground’ military journal, proudly calling itself the ‘only uncensored paper in Ireland’, it had contributions from directors of different areas of the new army and was distributed throughout the country. The mix was a curious one of military procedures and tips, progress reports from various parts of the country and news of British policy, all combined with the Sinn Fein ideology preaching the politics of the Irish Nation as distinct from that of an individual leader or political party.
Lynch formally started work as National Secretary for the Friends of Irish Freedom, a post he was to hold for 14 years until his return to Ireland in 1932. Elected to membership of the National Council and National Executive of the Friends of Irish Freedom on December 10.
The US severs diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia.
The Hay Plan: Hay had been sidestepped with an official request to attend for a medical examination which he was advised to attend. As a result, his visit to Logue was cancelled. Watt informed Hay that Logue's letter was now in Clemenceau's hands and the British government was also studying the plan. Much of this surprised Hay who believed that everything had been arranged before he left for Paris and Ireland on 30 July.
Hay also told Sutherland that Logue might fear a 'plot against him'. Consequently, he proposed sending a letter to Logue to reassure him, with Sunderland stating that the letter required approval by Samuel Watt. Watt accepted Hay's suggestion but stressed that the letter should be sent from Paris so that Cardinal Logue would believe that he had indeed been in talks with the French government. Hay, while claiming to be at the Conseil Superieur de Guerre, the supreme war council at Versailles, wrote two letters to Logue who received at least one, which reassured the cardinal that 'the matter….is being discussed in detail by the competent authorities which argue that there is every chance of success'.
16
The Hay Plan: Logue's letter had now been sent to the French leader George Clemenceau. Hay had guaranteed Logue that within the week, he would have the assurances that the Cardinal wanted from both the French and British governments. However, the meeting in Downing Street had overtaken any plans that Captain Hay had in using the Irish Bishops and their French counterparts. The 'Hay plan' was effectively over due to 'political considerations and political rivalries'. Lord Derby was attached to the Foreign Office, which Lloyd George mistrusted. Hay himself believed that the government were afraid 'of their own action because of the Ulster opposition, and I gathered at the time that I was sacrificed'.
The Hay Plan limped on until September 5.
16
The Hay Plan: Logue's letter had now been sent to the French leader George Clemenceau. Hay had guaranteed Logue that within the week, he would have the assurances that the Cardinal wanted from both the French and British governments. However, the meeting in Downing Street had overtaken any plans that Captain Hay had in using the Irish Bishops and their French counterparts. The 'Hay plan' was effectively over due to 'political considerations and political rivalries'. Lord Derby was attached to the Foreign Office, which Lloyd George mistrusted. Hay himself believed that the government were afraid 'of their own action because of the Ulster opposition, and I gathered at the time that I was sacrificed'.
The Hay Plan limped on until September 5.
17
Published on this date was Criminal and Civil Statistics of Ireland for 1916 which highlighted the civilian casualties during the Easter Rising. The number of persons killed during the rebellion consisted of 116 military, 16 police, and 318 civilians, and the numbers wounded were 368 military, 29 police, and 2,217 civilians. These numbers of civilians include rebels, however they still point to a high number of innocent casualties, accidentally shot either by the military or by rebels.
Commenting on the statistics, the Irish Independent noted that in some cases it was the ‘insatiable curiosity’ of the bystanders that put them in harm’s way. ‘They wandered into the firing zone, and some of them, unfortunately, paid the penalty of their temerity.’
Published on this date was Criminal and Civil Statistics of Ireland for 1916 which highlighted the civilian casualties during the Easter Rising. The number of persons killed during the rebellion consisted of 116 military, 16 police, and 318 civilians, and the numbers wounded were 368 military, 29 police, and 2,217 civilians. These numbers of civilians include rebels, however they still point to a high number of innocent casualties, accidentally shot either by the military or by rebels.
Commenting on the statistics, the Irish Independent noted that in some cases it was the ‘insatiable curiosity’ of the bystanders that put them in harm’s way. ‘They wandered into the firing zone, and some of them, unfortunately, paid the penalty of their temerity.’
There were well over a hundred and fifty men waiting for opening time, singing Mademoiselle from Armentiéres and other lusty songs. Right on the dot of 6 PM a red lamp over the doorway of the brothel was switched on. A roar went up from the troops, accompanied by a forward lunge towards the entrance… (Coppard 1969: 56).
The British popular memory of the First World War has traditionally made little room for sex. The lingerie prints by Raphael Kirchner that decorated dugouts, the endemic prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the armed forces, the ‘Khaki Fever’ that that swept young women into the arms of any soldier in uniform, have largely been suppressed in popular mythologies that dwell upon the futile sacrifices made by innocent youth. Many young men did meet their deaths as virgins, but most were far from naïve. As in the case of the then seventeen-year-old George Coppard, quoted above, the war opened the eyes of many more.
During the First World War, VD caused 416,891 hospital admissions among British and Dominion troops. Excluding re-admissions for relapses, roughly 5 % of all the men who enlisted in Britain’s armies during the war became infected. In 1918, there were 60,099 hospital admissions for VD in France and Flanders alone. By contrast, only 74,711 cases of ‘Trench Foot’ were treated by hospitals in France and Flanders during the whole of the war – and this total also includes those suffering from Frost Bite. Although Trench Foot has come to symbolise the squalor of the conflict in the popular imagination, a man was more than five times as likely to end up in hospital suffering from Syphilis or Gonorrhoea.
While almost never fatal, venereal cases required on average a month of intensive hospital treatment. The greatest number of venereal patients in hospital at any one time in 1918 was estimated to be 11,000 – enough men to supply the effectives of a division. VD caused a huge and preventable drain on the army’s resources, but all too often, military counter-measures were poorly conceived or hampered by moral objections from home.
In British military law, only the concealment of VD, not the contraction of a disease itself, was punishable as a crime (Manual of Military Law 1907: 278, 285). Nevertheless, soldiers who were hospitalised with VD found themselves penalised by an antiquated system of ‘hospital stoppages’. In the days before a National Health Service, any man admitted to hospital for reasons not connected with his military service was liable to have money stopped from his pay to help cover the cost of his treatment. Although ‘hospital stoppages’ were finally abolished in October 1917, a levy was retained in cases where a man was deemed to have been admitted ‘through his own fault’, VD patients and alcoholics being the principle targets. ‘Hospital stoppages’ became, in effect, a fine.
This system had numerous disadvantages, not least of which was the injustice of levying stoppages according to the length of time spent in hospital. Different diseases took longer to treat than others, hardly the fault of the patient. Stoppages were of questionable use as a deterrent, as men could to hope to avoid Army sanctions by seeking treatment secretly from sympathetic doctors, and from a clinical point of view they could be positively harmful if they encouraged men to take quack remedies or to conceal the disease. The latter was especially problematic as the longer such diseases went untreated, the longer the patient eventually had to spend in hospital. Hospitals and treatment might themselves form part of the problem. Treatment was invasive and painful, and VD hospitals, set up in 1915 to concentrate expertise and keep VD patients away from their ‘honourably’ wounded comrades, often had a poor reputation for quality of care.
This system had numerous disadvantages, not least of which was the injustice of levying stoppages according to the length of time spent in hospital. Different diseases took longer to treat than others, hardly the fault of the patient. Stoppages were of questionable use as a deterrent, as men could to hope to avoid Army sanctions by seeking treatment secretly from sympathetic doctors, and from a clinical point of view they could be positively harmful if they encouraged men to take quack remedies or to conceal the disease. The latter was especially problematic as the longer such diseases went untreated, the longer the patient eventually had to spend in hospital. Hospitals and treatment might themselves form part of the problem. Treatment was invasive and painful, and VD hospitals, set up in 1915 to concentrate expertise and keep VD patients away from their ‘honourably’ wounded comrades, often had a poor reputation for quality of care.
Besides targeting pay, the authorities originally counselled self-control and Christian chastity, hoping that by providing men with recreational facilities they could be kept occupied with clean and wholesome activities. There were never enough such amenities, however, and by 1916 it was clear that existing policy was not working. Attention therefore shifted to providing sexual health education and ‘early treatment’ centres for disinfection following intercourse. Until the end of the war, however, moral pressure from home prevented the British authorities from taking the most basic counter-measure, that of issuing prophylactics to their troops: the army feared a public-relations disaster if they were seen ‘to afford opportunities for unrestrained vice’
Illustrative of this dilemma is the treatment received by a remarkable New Zealand woman, Ettie Rout. Rout became aware of the problems posed by VD while serving as a nurse in Egypt, but in contrast to many feminists of her time, grew convinced that VD should be treated as a medical issue, not a moral one. In 1917 she designed and began selling prophylactic kits to the troops on her own initiative. A letter to the New Zealand Times advocating condoms and clean brothels caused such outrage that for the rest of the war her name was forbidden to appear in print on pain of a £100 fine, and a deputation of society women called for her activities to be immediately suppressed. Her letter nevertheless persuaded the New Zealand authorities to sanction the free issue of her kits to the troops abroad, but this was carefully kept secret from the populous at home. Despite being decorated by the French for her war work, which included the establishment of a hygienic brothel for New Zealand troops in Paris in 1918, her activities were deliberately concealed in her own country – as late as 1936, her obituaries avoided any mention of her wartime service.
Illustrative of this dilemma is the treatment received by a remarkable New Zealand woman, Ettie Rout. Rout became aware of the problems posed by VD while serving as a nurse in Egypt, but in contrast to many feminists of her time, grew convinced that VD should be treated as a medical issue, not a moral one. In 1917 she designed and began selling prophylactic kits to the troops on her own initiative. A letter to the New Zealand Times advocating condoms and clean brothels caused such outrage that for the rest of the war her name was forbidden to appear in print on pain of a £100 fine, and a deputation of society women called for her activities to be immediately suppressed. Her letter nevertheless persuaded the New Zealand authorities to sanction the free issue of her kits to the troops abroad, but this was carefully kept secret from the populous at home. Despite being decorated by the French for her war work, which included the establishment of a hygienic brothel for New Zealand troops in Paris in 1918, her activities were deliberately concealed in her own country – as late as 1936, her obituaries avoided any mention of her wartime service.
Brothels caused great embarrassment to the military authorities. In the nineteenth century, the French had instituted a system of maisons tolerées, brothels whose prostitutes were registered and frequently checked by doctors for signs of disease. Although fading away before the war, the system was revived behind the front to ensure some basic standard of hygiene for the troops: control of the sex trade was seen by the French as preferable to prohibition, in the face of which ‘amateur’ (i.e. unregistered) prostitutes were sure to find business and spread disease in secret. The potential supply of the latter was greatly increased during the war by the large numbers of women unable to provide for themselves, many of them refugees.
French maisons tolerées were accepted by the British military authorities for much of the war. Besides the threat posed by diseased and ‘amateur’ prostitutes, there was also the fear that without such outlets, French civilians might be molested or even raped. The storm of public opinion at home finally broke in 1918, however, with a campaign lead by prominent feminist groups. Parliament decided to place maisons tolerées out of bounds to British troops, not without protestations from the military authorities and the French.
The risk of VD was not confined to troops serving abroad: roughly half of all cases were originally contracted in the U.K. itself, by troops on leave or still in training. The British authorities were exceedingly slow to act, prompting outraged complaints from Dominion governments whose troops were suffering disproportionately: far from the constraints of home, unable to return there on leave, and, most importantly, better paid than their British counterparts, they found prostitutes a more appealing and far more affordable solace. In 1915, the Canadian contingent had an infection rate running above 22 % of their effective strength.
Before the war, prostitutes had been allowed to solicit openly in Britain, but only in 1916 was it made a crime, under the Defence of the Realm Act, for them to approach men in uniform. In 1918, the government attempted further regulation, forbidding women with VD from having sexual intercourse with any soldier and giving the police powers to medically examine suspected prostitutes. Such invasive and one-sided legislation, aimed at women and only protecting men, provoked fierce protests from suffragette and moral campaigners , but the legislation stood until the end of the war.
Below: cuttings from the Daily Telegraph - August 15-23, 1918 illustrate the degree to which authorities and media went to publicise prosecutions under the Defence of the Realm Act Order 'communicating disease to a member of his Majesty's forces':
French maisons tolerées were accepted by the British military authorities for much of the war. Besides the threat posed by diseased and ‘amateur’ prostitutes, there was also the fear that without such outlets, French civilians might be molested or even raped. The storm of public opinion at home finally broke in 1918, however, with a campaign lead by prominent feminist groups. Parliament decided to place maisons tolerées out of bounds to British troops, not without protestations from the military authorities and the French.
The risk of VD was not confined to troops serving abroad: roughly half of all cases were originally contracted in the U.K. itself, by troops on leave or still in training. The British authorities were exceedingly slow to act, prompting outraged complaints from Dominion governments whose troops were suffering disproportionately: far from the constraints of home, unable to return there on leave, and, most importantly, better paid than their British counterparts, they found prostitutes a more appealing and far more affordable solace. In 1915, the Canadian contingent had an infection rate running above 22 % of their effective strength.
Before the war, prostitutes had been allowed to solicit openly in Britain, but only in 1916 was it made a crime, under the Defence of the Realm Act, for them to approach men in uniform. In 1918, the government attempted further regulation, forbidding women with VD from having sexual intercourse with any soldier and giving the police powers to medically examine suspected prostitutes. Such invasive and one-sided legislation, aimed at women and only protecting men, provoked fierce protests from suffragette and moral campaigners , but the legislation stood until the end of the war.
Below: cuttings from the Daily Telegraph - August 15-23, 1918 illustrate the degree to which authorities and media went to publicise prosecutions under the Defence of the Realm Act Order 'communicating disease to a member of his Majesty's forces':
From 1914 to the Armistice, the British official response to VD lurched between a crude pragmatism and impossible idealism. A consistent policy was never fully evolved: at the beginning of the war, the official line was to preach continence but tolerate brothels under medical supervision; by the end of the war, men were being given lectures on sexual health and had anonymous access to disinfectants, but inspected brothels were placed out of bounds. Women as potential sources of disease were to be controlled, but little corresponding emphasis was placed on male culpability. Counter-productive financial punishments were persevered with throughout the conflict, but condoms never issued.
Despite the ever increasing energy devoted to combating VD at home and abroad, the total number of VD hospital admissions for British and Dominion troops actually rose between 1917 and 1918, from 2.56 to 3.24 % of men serving in France, and 3.19 to 3.34 % of men serving in Britain. In one of the war’s little ironies, the British soldier’s scale of pay probably kept him safer than all his government’s initiatives: while the cheapest prostitutes in France might charge 2-3 Francs a session, a private in an infantry battalion received on average only 10 Francs a week. To pay for the necessaries of his existence, egg and chips, ‘ving blong’, beer, and ’baccy, the British soldier had no option but to remain relatively chaste. The increased rates of infection seen in 1918 may not be entirely unrelated to the fact that pay increased slightly in late 1917.
Poverty, not prophylaxis or pharmacology, was probably the British soldier’s best defence: his Australian and Canadian counterparts were paid five times as much, and suffered the unintended consequences of their countries’ generosity.
Thanks to: http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/body-and-mind/the-british-army%E2%80%99s-fight-against-venereal-disease-in-the-%E2%80%98heroic-age-of-prostitution%E2%80%99/
Despite the ever increasing energy devoted to combating VD at home and abroad, the total number of VD hospital admissions for British and Dominion troops actually rose between 1917 and 1918, from 2.56 to 3.24 % of men serving in France, and 3.19 to 3.34 % of men serving in Britain. In one of the war’s little ironies, the British soldier’s scale of pay probably kept him safer than all his government’s initiatives: while the cheapest prostitutes in France might charge 2-3 Francs a session, a private in an infantry battalion received on average only 10 Francs a week. To pay for the necessaries of his existence, egg and chips, ‘ving blong’, beer, and ’baccy, the British soldier had no option but to remain relatively chaste. The increased rates of infection seen in 1918 may not be entirely unrelated to the fact that pay increased slightly in late 1917.
Poverty, not prophylaxis or pharmacology, was probably the British soldier’s best defence: his Australian and Canadian counterparts were paid five times as much, and suffered the unintended consequences of their countries’ generosity.
Thanks to: http://ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk/body-and-mind/the-british-army%E2%80%99s-fight-against-venereal-disease-in-the-%E2%80%98heroic-age-of-prostitution%E2%80%99/
19
18,000 building workers went on strike in Dublin. Workers in a munitions factory withdrew their labour in agreement and were arrested under the defence regulations.
18,000 building workers went on strike in Dublin. Workers in a munitions factory withdrew their labour in agreement and were arrested under the defence regulations.
20
Diarmuid Lynch as National Secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom began the reorganisation of the group with the mailing of a circular containing a letter from the National President, Fr Peter Magennis OCC along with a copy of the revised Constitution & By-Laws, with a membership fee request of $1 and stating:
Diarmuid Lynch as National Secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom began the reorganisation of the group with the mailing of a circular containing a letter from the National President, Fr Peter Magennis OCC along with a copy of the revised Constitution & By-Laws, with a membership fee request of $1 and stating:
The National Council and National Exectuive aim at promptly building up the Organisation on a definite basis and to enable us to carry out our program, funds are wanted urgently.
While we at Headquarters are doing our part to combine all lovers of Irish Freedom into one compact body, our success depends mainly upon individual workers, who will explain the objects of our organisation and bring new members into the ranks.
How many new members can YOU secure – not next year but during the next few weeks?
If you belong to any other Society whose member sympathise with the objects of the Friends of Irish Freedom, you are urged to attend it's next meeting and secure the addiliation of such Society as an Associate Branch.
In memory of my dear dead comrades of Easter Week, 1916 – Clarke, McDermott, Pearse, Connolly, Plunkett, Kent, McDonagh and Ashe – I add a personal plea that all lovers of freedom, and those of the Irish Race especially, will act promptly towards the accomplishment of the ideal for which they fought and died.
The critical moment, when our influence can be used to secure justice and liberty for Ireland, may come unexpectedly and find us but imperfectly organised.
Unpreparedness and procrastination lost Ireland many a golden opportunity.
Let us profit by the experience of history and get together and act together NOW.
Diarmuid Lynch
National Secretary.
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 4/56
Rev Peter Magennis, the Friends of Irish Freedom National President commented:
‘We of the Irish Race must be up and doing, for history bears witness that liberty is not the inheritance of sluggards or cowards.
Knowing that our efforts are in strict accordance with the principles of American democracy, we should explain to our neighbours and friends the aims and objects of the men and women of Irish extraction in America who are working for Irish independence.
We must not allow the minds of those around us to be contaminated by the powerful, subsidized, hostile agencies which inceasingly conduct a campaign of misrepresentation and defamation of everything truly Irish… we should make our influence felt in local papers, so as to keep the public mind rightly informed in regard to past and present events.
The American business man is so devoted to his daily labours that he has little time to study deeply the political problems of the day, and for his information a series of phamphlets should be prepared and leaflets distributed indiscriminately…’Union is strength’ and with a united people of Irish extraction in this country of our birth or adoption, we can materially aid in establishing a new Republic on the direct trade route to Europe – an Irish Republic, the independence of which shall be guaranteed by America as well as Europe – an independent state that will prove a bulwark to American ideals and American prosperity in the future.
Forward then, at the call of the agonised motherland of our race for the American and universal principle so well enunciated by President Wilson in his great Mount Vernon address, July 4, 1918:
‘The settlement of every question, whether of territory, of sovereignty, of economic arrangement or of political relationship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned, and not upon the basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation or people which may desire a different settlement for the sake of it's own interest, influence and matters.’
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 4/52
In New York, barbers raise the price of a haircut to 50c and shave to 25c.
Dublin: Hanna Sheehy Skeffington returned to Ireland.
Having recently endured incarceration in Holloway Jail where she had gone on hunger strike, Mrs Sheehy Skeffington was initially denied a permit to allow her passage back to Ireland. Friends applied pressure to Viscount French, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and as a result, her permit to return was finally granted by the Home Office.
Sheehy Skeffington expressed concern about the Irish women, among them Kathleen Clarke, Maud Gonne MacBride, Constance Markievicz, still held in Holloway Prison, against whom no charges have been levelled and no trial has been held. Both Kathleen Clarke and Gonne MacBride were said to be in delicate health with the former under medical care.
‘Mrs Clarke has been attended by a doctor, sometimes twice a day, since her imprisonment. Madame Gonne MacBride has lost a stone in weight, and Countess Markievicz had only just recovered from an attack of German measles at the time she was arrested.’
below: Hannah Sheehy Skeffington (right) and supporters.
21
Belfast: Engineers began to push for shorter working hours, dropping down from the 66 hour week to lower than the pre-war level of 54.
Western Front: The Second Battle of the Somme begins.
Belfast: Engineers began to push for shorter working hours, dropping down from the 66 hour week to lower than the pre-war level of 54.
Western Front: The Second Battle of the Somme begins.
22
Sinn Féin delegates from more than 65 constituencies attended the annual meeting of the Ard Comhairle at the Mansion House in Dublin, to discuss the details of Sinn Féin’s approach to the upcoming general election.
It was decided that the party would contest all seats to give every voter the opportunity of casting a vote for independence. It was further resolved that candidates be selected before 15 September and clubs would be required to raise a definite proportion of the sum needed for contesting the election by the end of September.
The meeting, presided over by Fr Michael O’Flanagan – suspended from saying mass by the Bishop of Elphin – also heard that the danger of conscription had not yet passed. A motion, proposed by Prof. Eoin MacNeill, was adopted urging members to ‘maintain and perfect their preparations to resist conscription by every effective means’. MacNeill added that the current policy of coercion and military measures that are in evidence every day, and in full view of the people, indicate that the militarists are ‘merely awaiting their own time to enforce conscription’.
Also looking towards a general election was the Ulster unionist leader, Sir Edward Carson who commented that ‘For my part I think an election is inevitable’. Carson urged that the coalition government to contest the expected election asking for a mandate to continue the war to a victorious conclusion. The government also should undertake not to break the party truce by introducing legislation of a party character – in effect, carrying out the principles set down by Herbert Asquith when he formed the coalition government in 1915.
Sinn Féin cartoon from 'The Republic', 24 January 1907 Photo: DigitalLibrary@Villanova University- Thanks to Century Ireland
Sinn Féin delegates from more than 65 constituencies attended the annual meeting of the Ard Comhairle at the Mansion House in Dublin, to discuss the details of Sinn Féin’s approach to the upcoming general election.
It was decided that the party would contest all seats to give every voter the opportunity of casting a vote for independence. It was further resolved that candidates be selected before 15 September and clubs would be required to raise a definite proportion of the sum needed for contesting the election by the end of September.
The meeting, presided over by Fr Michael O’Flanagan – suspended from saying mass by the Bishop of Elphin – also heard that the danger of conscription had not yet passed. A motion, proposed by Prof. Eoin MacNeill, was adopted urging members to ‘maintain and perfect their preparations to resist conscription by every effective means’. MacNeill added that the current policy of coercion and military measures that are in evidence every day, and in full view of the people, indicate that the militarists are ‘merely awaiting their own time to enforce conscription’.
Also looking towards a general election was the Ulster unionist leader, Sir Edward Carson who commented that ‘For my part I think an election is inevitable’. Carson urged that the coalition government to contest the expected election asking for a mandate to continue the war to a victorious conclusion. The government also should undertake not to break the party truce by introducing legislation of a party character – in effect, carrying out the principles set down by Herbert Asquith when he formed the coalition government in 1915.
Sinn Féin cartoon from 'The Republic', 24 January 1907 Photo: DigitalLibrary@Villanova University- Thanks to Century Ireland
23
Below: Think of the war poets and you tend to think of Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and to a lesser extent the likes of Robert Graves and Rupert Brooke. With the exception of Brooke who died before the full horrors of the war became apparent, they are best known for their works which provide a critique of the war and the horrors and slaughter experienced by those fighting. It does come as a bit of a surprise to find in the book reviews of such a pro-establishment newspaper as the Telegraph, a review of a poetry collection which includes verses which take more of a critical angle, and even more so that the review doesn’t attack the writer, in this case Alec Waugh, elder brother of Evelyn, for the tone he has taken, but is quite neutral about it all. As for the snippet after, the editor must have missed this as the term 'Romantic Career' hardly describes Staff Sergeant Payre's war experiences.
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25
Serious rioting in Berlin.
In Hungary, the Government expelled all Jews and confiscates assets.
In Ireland, an American scholar, Dr Charles McCarthy was concluding an extended visit when he wrote a suggestion to the US Director of Military Intelligence, General M. Churchill that the British Government could be induced to ‘grant the American army the right to recruit in Ireland. I am quite sure the Sinn Fein element would approve. I found no pro-German spirit in Ireland, and I am quite sure we could get 100,000 soldiers from Ireland in this manner..’ This surprising suggestion was considered appropriate enough for General Churchill to send to the State Department where Secretary of State Lansing, sent a memo to President Wilson on September 13th.
Serious rioting in Berlin.
In Hungary, the Government expelled all Jews and confiscates assets.
In Ireland, an American scholar, Dr Charles McCarthy was concluding an extended visit when he wrote a suggestion to the US Director of Military Intelligence, General M. Churchill that the British Government could be induced to ‘grant the American army the right to recruit in Ireland. I am quite sure the Sinn Fein element would approve. I found no pro-German spirit in Ireland, and I am quite sure we could get 100,000 soldiers from Ireland in this manner..’ This surprising suggestion was considered appropriate enough for General Churchill to send to the State Department where Secretary of State Lansing, sent a memo to President Wilson on September 13th.
26
Dublin: All unionised hotel and restaurant staff went on strike, followed by aerodrome workers in Baldonnel airfield, carters at Boland’s Mills and within days by printers and even undertakers.
In New York, Liam Mellows 'noted Lynch's changes over the three months from June ... writing to Peter Golden...he observed 'Diarmuid Lynch is making a big effort to pull the FOIF together and appears to be doing well'
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. P103
27
Boston: Sailors stationed on board the Receiving Ship at Commonwealth Pier in Boston begin reporting to sick-bay with the usual symptoms of the grippe or flu. By August 30, over 60 sailors were sick. Soon, Commonwealth Pier was overwhelmed and 50 cases had to be transferred to Chelsea Naval Hospital. Flu sufferers commonly described feeling like they "had been beaten all over with a club." Many were dead within a day.
Boston: Sailors stationed on board the Receiving Ship at Commonwealth Pier in Boston begin reporting to sick-bay with the usual symptoms of the grippe or flu. By August 30, over 60 sailors were sick. Soon, Commonwealth Pier was overwhelmed and 50 cases had to be transferred to Chelsea Naval Hospital. Flu sufferers commonly described feeling like they "had been beaten all over with a club." Many were dead within a day.
New York: Relatives and dependants of the American citizens who perished when the Lusitania ocean liner sank in 1915 had their action against the Cunard Shipping Company dismissed. More than 1,000 people died when the Lusitania, one of the largest passenger ships in the world, was struck by a German torpedo on 7 May 1915. The judge in the Federal Admiralty Court of New York found that no blame could be attached to either the master or the owners of the liner, who had taken all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the vessel prior to travel and had done everything possible to save the lives of the passengers once it had been torpedoed. The court, echoing the finding of Lord Mersey and his Board of Trade Inquiry into the tragedy, found that the Lusitania was not, and never had been, armed and he dismissed the German claim that it had been carrying munitions of war.
Labour unrest spread throughout the country across many industries. In Dublin alone, the number of people on strike included 17,000 in the Dublin building trade, 6,000 aerodrome workers and 500 members of the Coachmakers’ Society. Other industries were also drawn into disputes including the city's hotels and restaurants. In Cork, where a dockers’ strike was ongoing, the Shipping Controller announced that two vessels had already been removed from duty, with two more scheduled to stop if the dispute was not sorted immediately.
28
The above advert appeared in the national press on August 28, 1918. Placed by The National Party, a short-lived British political party created in August 1917 as a right-wing split from the Conservative Party. The party was formed at the height of the First World War, by the Liberal Unionist peer Lord Ampthill, Sir Richard Cooper and Sir Henry Page Croft. Its members took a particularly xenophobic line on the war, lobbied to raise the conscription age to fifty, conscription to Ireland, the closing of German banks and businesses in the UK, the internment of enemy aliens, a guaranteed price for home-grown cereals, protectionism for British industry and counter air-raids against German towns.
The party membership was heavily drawn from the aristocracy, senior businessmen, and the professional officer class, with very little working-class representation. Considering that the British population was drained after four years of war, weary of restrictions and shortages and bitter at the carnage of it’s young men on the battlefield, there was little prompting needed from propagandists to direct anger and frustration against the easily accesible ‘enemy in our midst’. By the Armistice, some 24,500 ‘enemy aliens’ were imprisoned (not including Prisoners of War) – the majority on the Isle of Man. Most of the party's members rejoined the Conservatives before the 1918 general election. The National Party disbanded in 1921. Opposite: 'Japan's Policy' of 'spreading among her neighbours the sentiments of love and sympathy which permeated Japan's true policy as a power in the Far East, and he hoped that Japan's neighbours would come to enjoy the same blessings as the people of Japan" was somewhat at odds with it's policy in Siberia (aiming to take control of the Trans Siberian Rail links to further control Manchuria) and it's gradual policy of the far right and nationalism during the 1920s certainly made for a radically different foreign policy within a decade. |
29
Alice and her sister-in-law Mary’s relationship according to family sources, was always a little tense. This relationship continued to deteriorate somewhat in the years from 1915 to 1918, and perhaps the reason is found in this letter:
‘Distillery House
Jones Road Distillery
Dublin.
29th August 1918
Dear Mary.
I heard during our visit South that your grievance against me was – that I ‘branded you a murderer’.
That is absolutely untrue, and I am writing this for the object of telling you that at no time either by thought, word or deed did I ever in my own mind hold you accountable for what happened to me at Granig on Wednesday, July 7th 1915.
That may have happened even if there had been no worrying or upsetting circumstances as it happened again the following year without any cause.
Probably the events of the preceeding days unnerved me and made a miscarriage (abortion) likely, but even so I in no way ever blamed you. You did not know of the condition I was in and moreover I had no intention of telling you or anyone else at the time.
I took the loss of my coming baby as God’s will, and in all the sorrow and dissapointment I was resigned to his will.
I intended telling you what happened when you returned from Cork that Wednesday evening, but first there was the trouble in the hall (immeditaley on your return), in the hearing of the servants because Denis had signed the insurance book, which action he did in good faith in consideration for you. Then immediately followed the row because Denis and the boys thought it was wise not to tell you that Diarmuid was summonsed by the police for not registering. Then followed the Rosary, & when my decade came, being too weak and ill to say it myself, I asked Denis to say it for me; and you ordered him to stop & let the servant say it. Under these circumstances it was impossible for me to tell you what happened to me that morning at 9.30.
Then I begged Denis to take me away. We returned again the following weekend (when I should have been in bed and being attended by a Doctor. It was just force of will power kept me from collapsing completely, on account of not being properly attended to and nurtured that I had to have an operation later) and I wanted to tell you even then, but as you did not recognise Denis at all I could not.
Just once more I wish to repeat that in no way did I or do I hold you accountable, but because of the unpleasant circumstances which occurred when you returned from Cork that evening, I did not tell you what happened.
In justice to me and Denis, I ask you to be so good as to show this letter to anyone who told what your grievance against me is, and also please show it to whoever may be advising you in your actions towards us.
The object of this letter is once and for all to absolutely deny the above charge, which has quite recently come to my knowledge. Whether you wish to acknowledge Denis and I is a matter for yourself.
Sincerely,
Alice Lynch.
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 5/1
30
London: 20,000 London policemen strike for increased pay and union recognition.
London: 20,000 London policemen strike for increased pay and union recognition.
In the early part of the 20th century, the anti-tobacco movement was aimed primarily at women and children. Smoking was considered a dirty habit and smoking by women was seriously frowned upon by society. As the century progressed so did women’s desire for equality. The suffrage movement gave many women a sense of entitlement and freedom and the tobacco industry took advantage of the marketing opportunity. Tobacco companies began marketing cigarettes to appeal to women during the burgeoning women’s movement of the 1920s.
With the modernization of cigarette production compounded with the increased life expectancies during the 1920s, adverse health effects began to become more prevalent. The first statistical evidence of a tobacco & lung cancer link was from Germany in 1929. In the UK and the USA, an increase in lung cancer rates, formerly "among the rarest forms of disease", was noted by the 1930s, but its cause remained unknown and even the credibility of this increase was sometimes disputed as late as 1950. A true breakthrough came in 1948, when the British epidemiologist Richard Doll published the first major studies that demonstrated that smoking could cause serious health damage. While some physicians in the United States once pitched cigarettes as health-improving products, some commentators now argue that it is unethical for physicians, as role models, to smoke at all. In 1950, Doll published research in the British Medical Journal that showed a close link between smoking and lung cancer. Four years later, in 1954 the British Doctors Study, a study of some 40,000 doctors over 20 years, confirmed the suggestion, based on which the government issued advice that smoking and lung cancer rates were related. In 1964 the United States Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health suggested a link between smoking and cancer. This eventually led to bans on certain advertising, and requirements for warning labels on tobacco products. Further reports confirmed this link in the 1980s and concluded in 1986 that passive smoking was also harmful. As scientific evidence mounted in the 1980s, tobacco companies claimed contributory negligence as the adverse health effects were previously unknown or lacked substantial credibility. Health authorities sided with these claims up until 1998, from which they reversed their position. From 1965 to 2006, rates of smoking in the United States have declined from 42% to 20.8% with similar rates in Europe. Today Russia leads as the top consumer of tobacco followed by Indonesia, Laos, Ukraine, Belarus, Greece, Jordan, and China In the 21st century, smoking has largely become stigmatized throughout Western societies, but it is still a frequent practice among individuals with lower socioeconomic status. |
1
96 of the Sinn Fein leaders imprisoned in May were sentenced to terms of imprisonment by court-martial and civil courts.
3
Washington: The United States formally recognises the nation of Czechoslovakia.
Washington: The United States formally recognises the nation of Czechoslovakia.
5
The Hay Plan:
Hay had received no communication from Cardinal Logue and so made a suggestion to Chief Secretary Shortt informing him that he would write to Logue explaining that the policy, which he had agreed to in August, was no longer in operation.
The reason was not with the execution of the plan, but how the war was going. The German offensive that had begun in March, had been halted in July and were now in retreat. Ultimately, political concerns by some in the UK parliament that reciprocal French support of Irish interests would not be to Britain's advantage after the war resulted in the plan being quietly dropped.
Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Department of Health alerts area newspapers that a Flu epidemic is underway. Dr. John S. Hitchcock of the state health department warned that "unless precautions are taken the disease in all probability will spread to the civilian population of the city."
London: Russian ambassador Maxim Litvinov is arrested and held in Brixton prison.
The Hay Plan:
Hay had received no communication from Cardinal Logue and so made a suggestion to Chief Secretary Shortt informing him that he would write to Logue explaining that the policy, which he had agreed to in August, was no longer in operation.
The reason was not with the execution of the plan, but how the war was going. The German offensive that had begun in March, had been halted in July and were now in retreat. Ultimately, political concerns by some in the UK parliament that reciprocal French support of Irish interests would not be to Britain's advantage after the war resulted in the plan being quietly dropped.
Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Department of Health alerts area newspapers that a Flu epidemic is underway. Dr. John S. Hitchcock of the state health department warned that "unless precautions are taken the disease in all probability will spread to the civilian population of the city."
London: Russian ambassador Maxim Litvinov is arrested and held in Brixton prison.
6
11
US: The Boston Red Sox defeat the Chicago Cubs for the 1918 World Series championship, their last World Series win until 2004.
12
Charles M Hathaway, US Consul Cork, in one of his regular submissions to Ambassador Page in London, said:
‘..the native Irish race, comprising three quarters of this island, are held against their will in subjection to an alien race. While this condition continues, no settlement appears to be possible... England must grant full Home Rule or govern by force with no pretence to other right than that of conqueror...with regard to the German plot charge by the Government...has not changed except that the Irish attitude of scoffing incredulity has merely strengthened with the passage of three months without the production of anything they regard as proof...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.269. quoting US National Archives.
Charles Montgomery Hathaway, Jr., was born in Deposit, New York, on March 31, 1874, and received his B.A. (1899), M.A. (1901) and Ph.D. (1902) degrees from Yale. Hathaway was a Ben Jonson scholar and author of a critical edition of Jonson's The Alchemist, Yale Studies in English, vol. 17 (New York: H. Holt, 1903). He taught English at Adelphi College (1902-1903) and Columbia University (1903-1905), and was an Instructor in English and law at the U.S. Naval Academy (1905-1911), before his first diplomatic appointment as Consul in the Dominican Republic in 1911. His Irish experience began with an assignment as Consul in Cork on May 22, 1917, and except for brief terms in Budapest and Bombay, between 1919 and 1921, he remained in Ireland, principally at Dublin, until 1927. He was transferred to Munich on July 27, 1927, where he served as Consul until his retirement in 1939. On his return to the United States, Hathaway lived in Santa Barbara, California until his death in 1954.
Western Front: American offensive at St Mihiel. British victory in Battle of Havrincourt.
13
US - 14 million men register for conscription.
In the midst of the patriotic rush to register for conscription, the US Secretary of State, Lansing was greatly impressed by Dr McCarthy’s suggestion to recruit Irishmen to the US army in Ireland. He sent a memo to President Wilson with comments that McCarthy’s suggestions were ‘certainly valuable with reference to the Irish Question’.
Lt. Col. Philip Doane, head of the Health and Sanitation Section of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, speaking in Washington, D.C., fuels the rumour and speculation by blaming the Germans for the deadly influenza that was striking Americans. Said Doane: "It would be quite easy for one of these German agents to turn loose Spanish influenza germs in a theatre or some other place where large numbers of persons are assembled. The Germans have started epidemics in Europe, and there is no reason why they should be particularly gentle with America."
13
US - 14 million men register for conscription.
In the midst of the patriotic rush to register for conscription, the US Secretary of State, Lansing was greatly impressed by Dr McCarthy’s suggestion to recruit Irishmen to the US army in Ireland. He sent a memo to President Wilson with comments that McCarthy’s suggestions were ‘certainly valuable with reference to the Irish Question’.
Lt. Col. Philip Doane, head of the Health and Sanitation Section of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, speaking in Washington, D.C., fuels the rumour and speculation by blaming the Germans for the deadly influenza that was striking Americans. Said Doane: "It would be quite easy for one of these German agents to turn loose Spanish influenza germs in a theatre or some other place where large numbers of persons are assembled. The Germans have started epidemics in Europe, and there is no reason why they should be particularly gentle with America."
14
In this date’s issue of ‘An t’Oglach’ the underground journal of the Irish Volunteers and IRA, a commentary on conscription caused consternation amongst the British Authorities in Dublin Castle:
‘...The Government of a foreign nation, occupying our country bu force of arms , not content with it's usual plundering and oppressions, now proposes to inflict upon the manhood of Ireland a fate worse than death. It claims power, not only over our lives, but over our souls; it dare threaten us not merrly with death ( for which we have shown how little we care ) but for the most degraded of deaths: to die fighting as slaves for our enemies in a fight that is not ours.’
Duff. ‘Six days to shake an Empire’ Dent, London. 1966. p249
An additional charge was brought against any person found with a copy of ‘An t’Oglach’, that of Court martial and lengthy imprisonment.
14
In this date’s issue of ‘An t’Oglach’ the underground journal of the Irish Volunteers and IRA, a commentary on conscription caused consternation amongst the British Authorities in Dublin Castle:
‘...The Government of a foreign nation, occupying our country bu force of arms , not content with it's usual plundering and oppressions, now proposes to inflict upon the manhood of Ireland a fate worse than death. It claims power, not only over our lives, but over our souls; it dare threaten us not merrly with death ( for which we have shown how little we care ) but for the most degraded of deaths: to die fighting as slaves for our enemies in a fight that is not ours.’
Duff. ‘Six days to shake an Empire’ Dent, London. 1966. p249
An additional charge was brought against any person found with a copy of ‘An t’Oglach’, that of Court martial and lengthy imprisonment.
15
London: The British and US governments reject an Austrian peace proposal.
London: The British and US governments reject an Austrian peace proposal.
Apart from Casement, the most publicised member of the Irish Brigade at the time was Joseph Dowling, whose landing in Clare in April 1918 had spurred the arrest of Sinn Féin leaders under the “German plot.” At his Courts Martial, Dowling refused to make any statement at his trial and was convicted of treason in September 1918; his death sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. Dowling’s imprisonment garnered little attention throughout the Irish War of Independence. Though Michael Collins communicated his support for Dowling, W.T. Cosgrave, Kevin O’Higgins, and others failed to see imprisonment stemming from membership in the Irish Brigade as possessing any great political capital. Dowling made little protest regarding his confinement. His sole petition was to be detained in Ireland, so that friends and family, whom he had not seen since the outbreak of war in 1914, could visit him. His request was never granted. Dowling briefly returned to Dublin after his release in 1924, after which he quietly lived the remainder of his life in London. He was repatriated to Ireland following his death in 1932 and given a funeral with full republican honours.
More information here.
More information here.
17
President Wilson disagreed strongly with the State Department’s assessment of recruiting soldiers for the US army in Ireland and the proposal was axed.
The Labour Party in Ireland produced it’s election manifesto, adopting a position of cautious support for both self-determination and absentionsim from Westminster. However this proved too nationalistic for loyalist dominated labour organisations in Ulster and they announced they would not field candidates in the next general election. Despite this, Labour advised that candidates would stand in various constituencies. The main fear amongst nationalist voters was that Labour would now be in direct competion with Sinn Fein, the vote would be effectively split and so allow the old Irish Parliamentary Party to rally.
Belfast: Chaim Herzog (1918-97), sixth President of Israel (1983–93) born.
President Wilson disagreed strongly with the State Department’s assessment of recruiting soldiers for the US army in Ireland and the proposal was axed.
The Labour Party in Ireland produced it’s election manifesto, adopting a position of cautious support for both self-determination and absentionsim from Westminster. However this proved too nationalistic for loyalist dominated labour organisations in Ulster and they announced they would not field candidates in the next general election. Despite this, Labour advised that candidates would stand in various constituencies. The main fear amongst nationalist voters was that Labour would now be in direct competion with Sinn Fein, the vote would be effectively split and so allow the old Irish Parliamentary Party to rally.
Belfast: Chaim Herzog (1918-97), sixth President of Israel (1983–93) born.
18
Western Front: Battle of the Hindenburg Line, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive. The Allies break through the German lines.
Western Front: Battle of the Hindenburg Line, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive. The Allies break through the German lines.
20
3 ½ months previously, Lord French had asked for 50,000 Irish recruits for the Imperial forces by October 1st 1918 and 20,000 per month from October onwards with the emphasis that conscription would be enforced if he did not receive the recruits voluntarily. 3 ½ months of intensive recruiting had only brought in 6,256 men or 12.5% of the total. On this date the time limit was extended to October 15th but it was clear to most that voluntary recruitment had failed.
The newspaper of the Irish Volunteers An tOglach reiterated that it was ‘the unanimous decision of the Executive of the Irish Volunteers to resist conscription to the death with all the military force and warlike resources at our command…in an emergency, every true Volunteer should know how to act for himself; it is his duty to resist to the death, to use every weapon in his power,be it knife, pitchfork, rifle or bomb; to make his death or capture dearly purchased by the lives of his enemies…in the last resort, the future of Ireland depends on the Volunteers….our numbers and armament are doubtless inferior to those of the enemy, but men fighting in their own land against an unparalleled outrage and aggression may be trusted to give a good account of themselves. Men hardened to desperation by a sense of monstrous wrong can prove most formidable to the best equipped army.’
Florence O’Donoghue. ‘Thomas MacCurtain – Soldier & Patriot’ Anvil Books, Tralee, Co. Kerry. 1971 p.143
3 ½ months previously, Lord French had asked for 50,000 Irish recruits for the Imperial forces by October 1st 1918 and 20,000 per month from October onwards with the emphasis that conscription would be enforced if he did not receive the recruits voluntarily. 3 ½ months of intensive recruiting had only brought in 6,256 men or 12.5% of the total. On this date the time limit was extended to October 15th but it was clear to most that voluntary recruitment had failed.
The newspaper of the Irish Volunteers An tOglach reiterated that it was ‘the unanimous decision of the Executive of the Irish Volunteers to resist conscription to the death with all the military force and warlike resources at our command…in an emergency, every true Volunteer should know how to act for himself; it is his duty to resist to the death, to use every weapon in his power,be it knife, pitchfork, rifle or bomb; to make his death or capture dearly purchased by the lives of his enemies…in the last resort, the future of Ireland depends on the Volunteers….our numbers and armament are doubtless inferior to those of the enemy, but men fighting in their own land against an unparalleled outrage and aggression may be trusted to give a good account of themselves. Men hardened to desperation by a sense of monstrous wrong can prove most formidable to the best equipped army.’
Florence O’Donoghue. ‘Thomas MacCurtain – Soldier & Patriot’ Anvil Books, Tralee, Co. Kerry. 1971 p.143
24
Dublin: Shops, factories and places of public entertainment WERE set to go dark as a result of a new Lighting Order issued by the Coal Controller. The impact of the changes was expected to be drastic. Saturday would be the only day of the week on which the current full-day access will be available. On other days of the week, lighting would be greatly restricted: all shops, wholesale and retail, unconnected with or incidental to the working of industries, will have their access to lighting ended at 5 pm. Public houses, tobacconists and picture houses will close from 3.30 to 6 pm but will reopen at 6 pm until 9.30 pm. In hotels, clubs and restaurants, no hot meals will be served after 7pm. Drug shops for prescription purchases were not be affected by the order.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, who has received a copy of the order, intended to visit the Coal Controller to acquire further information before making a statement on the matter. In Dublin, meanwhile, a conference of electricity consumers was held at the Mansion House under the auspices of the Dublin Industrial Development Agency. The meeting heard calls for special exemptions to be made for certain businesses. For instance it was suggested that wholesale and retail shops should be given a permit to use lights to a late hour at the end of December for the purposes of stocktaking.
The lighting restrictions set to be imposed on Ireland were a consequence of wider issues related to coal production and the ongoing war. The Cork Examiner pointed the finger of blame at the British war cabinet, who, with the agreement of the Board of Trade, withdrew 100,000 miners for military service. The result, the paper argues, is a coal shortage of 36 million tonnes, which has necessitated the rigid enforcement of fuel and light economy. The Irish Independent has highlighted the excessive amount of coal consumed at the collieries, especially in Scotland where it amounted to almost 10% of the coal extracted, as against the north of England were the collieries consumed 5% of the extracted amount.
Royal Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Richard Bell Davies makes the first true aircraft carrier landing in history, landing a Sopwith 1½ Strutter on the bare steel flight deck of HMS Argus in the Firth of Forth.
Dublin: Shops, factories and places of public entertainment WERE set to go dark as a result of a new Lighting Order issued by the Coal Controller. The impact of the changes was expected to be drastic. Saturday would be the only day of the week on which the current full-day access will be available. On other days of the week, lighting would be greatly restricted: all shops, wholesale and retail, unconnected with or incidental to the working of industries, will have their access to lighting ended at 5 pm. Public houses, tobacconists and picture houses will close from 3.30 to 6 pm but will reopen at 6 pm until 9.30 pm. In hotels, clubs and restaurants, no hot meals will be served after 7pm. Drug shops for prescription purchases were not be affected by the order.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, who has received a copy of the order, intended to visit the Coal Controller to acquire further information before making a statement on the matter. In Dublin, meanwhile, a conference of electricity consumers was held at the Mansion House under the auspices of the Dublin Industrial Development Agency. The meeting heard calls for special exemptions to be made for certain businesses. For instance it was suggested that wholesale and retail shops should be given a permit to use lights to a late hour at the end of December for the purposes of stocktaking.
The lighting restrictions set to be imposed on Ireland were a consequence of wider issues related to coal production and the ongoing war. The Cork Examiner pointed the finger of blame at the British war cabinet, who, with the agreement of the Board of Trade, withdrew 100,000 miners for military service. The result, the paper argues, is a coal shortage of 36 million tonnes, which has necessitated the rigid enforcement of fuel and light economy. The Irish Independent has highlighted the excessive amount of coal consumed at the collieries, especially in Scotland where it amounted to almost 10% of the coal extracted, as against the north of England were the collieries consumed 5% of the extracted amount.
Royal Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Richard Bell Davies makes the first true aircraft carrier landing in history, landing a Sopwith 1½ Strutter on the bare steel flight deck of HMS Argus in the Firth of Forth.
26
Allied offensive at Meuse-Argonne.
Allied offensive at Meuse-Argonne.
27
‘Shall peoples be ruled and dominated, even in their own internal affairs, by arbitary and irresponsible force, or by their own will and choice?’ President Wilson.
Dublin - Cumman na mBan called for Irish republican prisoners in English jails to be released immediately. At a public meeting in Dublin’s Mansion House, a resolution was adopted which sought to draw the attention of all nations claiming to support self-determination to the ‘treatment of nearly 100 of our leaders, who, for demanding freedom for their native country, were deported over four months ago, and are still detained without trial in English jails’.
The meeting was presided over by Áine Ceannt and letters of support were read out from the Bishop of Killaloe Michael Fogarty; Tim Healy, MP; and Rev. Michael Ó hAodha, Newcastle West. The motion was proposed by Countess Plunkett and supported by William O’Brien, Mary McSwiney from Cork, Cathal O’Shannon, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, Prof. Eoin MacNeill, George Gavan Duffy and Dr Vincent Joseph White of Waterford, who earlier this year unsuccessfully contested for the East Waterford parliamentary seat vacated on the death of John Redmond.
‘Shall peoples be ruled and dominated, even in their own internal affairs, by arbitary and irresponsible force, or by their own will and choice?’ President Wilson.
Dublin - Cumman na mBan called for Irish republican prisoners in English jails to be released immediately. At a public meeting in Dublin’s Mansion House, a resolution was adopted which sought to draw the attention of all nations claiming to support self-determination to the ‘treatment of nearly 100 of our leaders, who, for demanding freedom for their native country, were deported over four months ago, and are still detained without trial in English jails’.
The meeting was presided over by Áine Ceannt and letters of support were read out from the Bishop of Killaloe Michael Fogarty; Tim Healy, MP; and Rev. Michael Ó hAodha, Newcastle West. The motion was proposed by Countess Plunkett and supported by William O’Brien, Mary McSwiney from Cork, Cathal O’Shannon, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, Prof. Eoin MacNeill, George Gavan Duffy and Dr Vincent Joseph White of Waterford, who earlier this year unsuccessfully contested for the East Waterford parliamentary seat vacated on the death of John Redmond.
28
Dublin - The Irish Labour Party looked set to follow Sinn Féin’s example in contesting the next general election on an abstentionist platform. This was announced in the course of a lengthy manifesto to the ‘workers of Ireland’, published by the Irish Trades Union Congress.
The manifesto, signed by Thomas Cassidy (Chairman), Thomas Johnson, (Treasurer), and William O’Brien (Secretary) pointed out that while an election might ostensibly be about who will make up the next parliament in Westminster, the ‘real issue’ in Ireland will be for electors to choose which of several national ideas they subscribe to.
The party’s decision not to take their seats was a result of the government’s policy of coercion in Ireland in the months following the conscription crisis. Labour’s abstention, however, could be temporary. Its manifesto states while their representative shall refuse to attend the House of Commons if elected, that policy could be altered if circumstances change. They were fortified, they insisted, by the proven ‘futility of attendance at the British parliament during the war, the disregard that parliament has shown to its own acts and pledges, the importance of strengthening the cause of Irish labour in demanding separate legislation as a distinct national unit...’
The Labour manifesto further stated that Ireland must seek economic power in order to obtain political power: ‘We adopt the principles of the Russian Revolution, supported as they are by the pronouncements of President Wilson and the Premiers and politicians of all the warring and neutral powers, viz: the right of all to self-determination.’
Ireland’s right was the same as that of Belgium, Serbia, Poland, Finland or Estonia, the manifesto stressed, while urging that the democracies of the world ‘make good their professions by their actions, and set free the Irish nation from its involuntary bondage’.
Dublin - The Irish Labour Party looked set to follow Sinn Féin’s example in contesting the next general election on an abstentionist platform. This was announced in the course of a lengthy manifesto to the ‘workers of Ireland’, published by the Irish Trades Union Congress.
The manifesto, signed by Thomas Cassidy (Chairman), Thomas Johnson, (Treasurer), and William O’Brien (Secretary) pointed out that while an election might ostensibly be about who will make up the next parliament in Westminster, the ‘real issue’ in Ireland will be for electors to choose which of several national ideas they subscribe to.
The party’s decision not to take their seats was a result of the government’s policy of coercion in Ireland in the months following the conscription crisis. Labour’s abstention, however, could be temporary. Its manifesto states while their representative shall refuse to attend the House of Commons if elected, that policy could be altered if circumstances change. They were fortified, they insisted, by the proven ‘futility of attendance at the British parliament during the war, the disregard that parliament has shown to its own acts and pledges, the importance of strengthening the cause of Irish labour in demanding separate legislation as a distinct national unit...’
The Labour manifesto further stated that Ireland must seek economic power in order to obtain political power: ‘We adopt the principles of the Russian Revolution, supported as they are by the pronouncements of President Wilson and the Premiers and politicians of all the warring and neutral powers, viz: the right of all to self-determination.’
Ireland’s right was the same as that of Belgium, Serbia, Poland, Finland or Estonia, the manifesto stressed, while urging that the democracies of the world ‘make good their professions by their actions, and set free the Irish nation from its involuntary bondage’.
The United States Fourth Liberty Loan floated on this date offering $6.9 billion in bonds at 4.25 percent with a twenty year maturation date of October 1938.
A Liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time. According to the Massachusetts Historical Society, "Because the first World War cost the federal government more than $30 billion (by way of comparison, total federal expenditures in 1913 were only $970 million), these programs became vital as a way to raise funds" Through the selling of "Liberty bonds," the government raised around $17 billion for the war effort. Considering that there were approximately 100 million Americans during that time, each American, on average, raised $170 on Liberty bonds during five loans. The first three Liberty bonds, and the Victory Loan, were retired during the course of the 1920s. However, because the terms of the bonds allowed them to be traded for the later bonds which had superior terms, most of the debt from the first, second, and third Liberty bonds was rolled into the fourth issue. As a result, the large majority of Liberty bond debt was still outstanding into the 1930s However, when the US Treasury called the fourth bond on April 15, 1934, it defaulted on this term by refusing to redeem the bond in gold, and neither did it account for the devaluation of the dollar from $20.67 per troy ounce of gold (the 1918 standard of value) to $35 per ounce. The 21 million bond holders lost approximately 41% of the bond's principal. |
29
Another call was issued to President Wilson to recognise Ireland from the National Conference of Clan na Gael in New York.
In an indication of just how perilous the Friends of Irish Freedom finances were, Lynch reported to the committee that there was "a paltry $410 available for the work of the FOIF"
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. P107
(equivalent of $7,225 in 2017 values)
Douglas Gageby, journalist and newspaper editor born. (died 2004).
Western Front: Allied forces break through the Hindenburg Line.
Salonica, Greece: Bulgaria Surrenders. The Armistice of Salonica (also known as the Armistice of Thessalonica) was signed on 29 September 1918 between Bulgaria and the Allied Powers in Thessaloniki. The convention followed after a request by the Bulgarian government on 24 September asking for a ceasefire. The armistice effectively ended Bulgaria's participation in World War I on the side of the Central Powers and came into effect on the Bulgarian front at noon on 30 September. The armistice regulated the demobilization and disarmament of the Bulgarian armed forces.
Belgium: the German Supreme Army Command informed Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Imperial Chancellor, Count Georg von Hertling at Imperial Army Headquarters in Spa of occupied Belgium, that the military situation facing Germany was hopeless. Quartermaster General Erich Ludendorff, probably fearing a breakthrough, claimed that he could not guarantee that the front would hold for another two hours and demanded a request be given to the Entente for an immediate ceasefire. In addition, he recommended the acceptance of the main demands of US president Woodrow Wilson (the Fourteen Points) including putting the Imperial Government on a democratic footing, hoping for more favourable peace terms. This enabled him to save the face of the Imperial German Army and put the responsibility for the capitulation and its consequences squarely into the hands of the democratic parties and the parliament.
30
Dublin - Hundreds of people visited the grave of Thomas Ashe in Glasnevin Cemetery on the first anniversary of his burial.
Ashe died in 1917 after being force-fed while on hunger strike in prison. The occasion was marked with the celebration of a Requiem Mass in the Church of St Mary of the Angels, Church Street, followed by a pilgrimage to the grave of the deceased patriot. The attendance included members of Mr Ashe’s close family: his father, Gregory Ashe; his sisters, Nora and Hannah Ashe; and his aunt who travelled from Dingle. Fr Michael O’Flanagan, Acting President of Sinn Féin was present, as were other members of the organisation.
Following the church service, the pilgrimage to the Glasnevin involved about 500 boy and girl scouts, and over 300 members of Cumann na mBan, the latter joining the procession at Broadstone. Many carried wreaths and placed them at Ashe’s graveside, where the gathered crowd recited rosaries in Irish. As they returned to the city, the processionists were closely observed by a large body of police.
Dublin - An tOglach reported that secret instructions had been sent to the RIC to prepare and hold themselves ready to co-operate with the military on large scale manoeuvers in Ireland on a future date.
France - Allied forces swept along the Western Front from the Scheldt in the north to Sedan in the south. German forces retreated all along the front, preparing for a last stand on the German borders. Elsewhere, all Germany’s allies were collapsing.
The world-wide pandemic of Spanish Flu reached Britain and Ireland. Around the world, the strain of flu caused millions of deaths. Attempts to produce a vaccine failed and experts forecast more would die of the flu than were killed in the war. The US Bureau of Health said that more servicemen died of flu than were killed in battle.
New York - With Congressional elections imminent, the FOIF mounted a pressure campaign on the electoral candidates in the form of a questionnaire which was designed to clarify for voters the positions those candidates were adopting on the question of Irish self-determination. The questionnaire demanded explicit support for the objectives of the FOIF in relation to Ireland and requested that Ireland’s case be presented at the forthcoming Peace Conference in Paris.
Below: Image from a John McCormack concert programme for a benefit in support of the Sailors' Comfort and Cheer League in September 1918 (Image: Irish Music Center, John J. Burns Library, Boston College)
Dublin - Hundreds of people visited the grave of Thomas Ashe in Glasnevin Cemetery on the first anniversary of his burial.
Ashe died in 1917 after being force-fed while on hunger strike in prison. The occasion was marked with the celebration of a Requiem Mass in the Church of St Mary of the Angels, Church Street, followed by a pilgrimage to the grave of the deceased patriot. The attendance included members of Mr Ashe’s close family: his father, Gregory Ashe; his sisters, Nora and Hannah Ashe; and his aunt who travelled from Dingle. Fr Michael O’Flanagan, Acting President of Sinn Féin was present, as were other members of the organisation.
Following the church service, the pilgrimage to the Glasnevin involved about 500 boy and girl scouts, and over 300 members of Cumann na mBan, the latter joining the procession at Broadstone. Many carried wreaths and placed them at Ashe’s graveside, where the gathered crowd recited rosaries in Irish. As they returned to the city, the processionists were closely observed by a large body of police.
Dublin - An tOglach reported that secret instructions had been sent to the RIC to prepare and hold themselves ready to co-operate with the military on large scale manoeuvers in Ireland on a future date.
France - Allied forces swept along the Western Front from the Scheldt in the north to Sedan in the south. German forces retreated all along the front, preparing for a last stand on the German borders. Elsewhere, all Germany’s allies were collapsing.
The world-wide pandemic of Spanish Flu reached Britain and Ireland. Around the world, the strain of flu caused millions of deaths. Attempts to produce a vaccine failed and experts forecast more would die of the flu than were killed in the war. The US Bureau of Health said that more servicemen died of flu than were killed in battle.
New York - With Congressional elections imminent, the FOIF mounted a pressure campaign on the electoral candidates in the form of a questionnaire which was designed to clarify for voters the positions those candidates were adopting on the question of Irish self-determination. The questionnaire demanded explicit support for the objectives of the FOIF in relation to Ireland and requested that Ireland’s case be presented at the forthcoming Peace Conference in Paris.
Below: Image from a John McCormack concert programme for a benefit in support of the Sailors' Comfort and Cheer League in September 1918 (Image: Irish Music Center, John J. Burns Library, Boston College)
In 1918, a German chemist Fritz Haber was controversially awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work in developing a method of synthesizing ammonia from nitrogen in the air—the process that enabled the production of fertilizer in quantities that revolutionized agriculture worldwide.
But there was a far darker side to this Nobel Laureate - he has become known as the 'father of chemical warfare', developing and implementing gas warfare in 1915, continuing research on weapons of mass destruction in the early 1920's and later an inadvertent contributor to the Holocaust through his development of a pesticide.
Fritz Haber was born in Breslau, Prussia (now Wroclaw, Poland), in 1868, and educated at the St. Elizabeth Classical School, where he took an early interest in chemistry. After studying at the University of Berlin, he transferred to the University of Heidelberg in 1886 and studied under the famed German chemist Robert Bunsen. Haber was ultimately appointed professor of physical chemistry and electrochemistry at the Karlshruhe Institute of Technology.
In 1901, Haber married the brilliant chemist Clara Immerwahr, the first woman to receive a doctorate from Breslau University. Years before, she had rejected a marriage proposal from him to focus on her studies and career. Like Haber, she had converted from Judaism to Christianity, and the couple settled in Karlsruhe. But it wasn’t long before Clara Haber’s research took a back seat to the demands of being a homemaker and motherhood in 1902.
To keep her mind stimulated, Clara began collaborating with her husband on a textbook on the thermodynamics of gas, and tried to continue her own research, writing and speaking. As her husband’s reputation grew and spread, she was incensed to learn that her audiences had assumed that he had written her lectures.
Haber at the time was working on solving a crisis that had come to the fore for Germany in the late 1890s. The country had the land to feed 30 million people but without a way to fertilise crops, another 20 million citizens would face starvation. The solution to the problem was frustratingly simple. It had been discovered in the 1840s, when Justus Von Liebig identified nitrogen as essential in the creation of plant cell walls. The amount of crops that can grow is directly tied to how much nitrogen that can be provided. There was no problem in finding that element - it makes up nearly 80% of the atmosphere. Beyond our atmosphere, it’s the fifth most abundant element in the universe. But there was no way to extract it from the athmosphere.
Nations were forced to scrounge where ever they could for the main sources of nitrogen: seaweed, manure, and guano. These were such prized commodities that fortunes were made shipping bird and bat guano to Europe. In 1864, Spain and a Chilean-Peruvian alliance went to war over control of caves filled with guano, and in 1879 Chile and Peru went to war over the rights to these same precious piles of guano. Chile’s victory in the war grew their national treasury by 900%.
By 1901, Haber had figured out how to break nitrogen’s bonds. After forcing air into a huge iron tank under extreme heat and pressure, he added hydrogen. This prised the nitrogen atoms apart as they each bonded with three hydrogen atoms, forming ammonia. Out of the tank dripped liquid fertilizer. Nitrogen had been pulled from the air and now could be put into the ground to help grow food. In 1909, he unveiled his discovery to the world. According to Vaclav Smil, a global agricultural historian at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, the Haber–Bosch process of synthesizing and manufacturing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen (and later industrialized by Carl Bosch, Haber’s brother-in-law) was likely the most important technological innovation of the 20th century. It sustains the food base for the equivalent of half the world’s population today.
While Harber became famous, his relationship with Clara frayed and began to disintegrate. With the outbreak of war in 1914, Harber volunteered his services with a process to enhance explosives which it is believed, managed to prolong the war by three years.
Faced with deadlock and growing losses on the Western Front, a search for a more efficient means of ending the war resulted in the Army requesting his help. As Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry, Haber placed his laboratory at the service of the German government and began experiments using chlorine gasses as a weapon. Haber also had a difficult time finding any German army commanders who would agree even to a test in the field. One general called the use of poison gas “unchivalrous”; another declared that poisoning the enemy “just as one poisons rats” was “repulsive.” But if it meant victory, that general was willing to “do what must be done.” Haber, according to biographer Margit Szollosi-Janze, “said if you want to win the war, then please, wage chemical warfare with conviction.”
Clara Haber, however, condemned her husband’s weapons work as a “perversion of the ideals of science” and “a sign of barbarity, corrupting the very discipline which ought to bring new insights into life.” Publicly, she pleaded with him to end his experiments in chemical warfare. Privately, Haber said her statements amounted to treason. Their marriage suffered further as Haber travelled frequently and philandered.
Haber at the time was working on solving a crisis that had come to the fore for Germany in the late 1890s. The country had the land to feed 30 million people but without a way to fertilise crops, another 20 million citizens would face starvation. The solution to the problem was frustratingly simple. It had been discovered in the 1840s, when Justus Von Liebig identified nitrogen as essential in the creation of plant cell walls. The amount of crops that can grow is directly tied to how much nitrogen that can be provided. There was no problem in finding that element - it makes up nearly 80% of the atmosphere. Beyond our atmosphere, it’s the fifth most abundant element in the universe. But there was no way to extract it from the athmosphere.
Nations were forced to scrounge where ever they could for the main sources of nitrogen: seaweed, manure, and guano. These were such prized commodities that fortunes were made shipping bird and bat guano to Europe. In 1864, Spain and a Chilean-Peruvian alliance went to war over control of caves filled with guano, and in 1879 Chile and Peru went to war over the rights to these same precious piles of guano. Chile’s victory in the war grew their national treasury by 900%.
By 1901, Haber had figured out how to break nitrogen’s bonds. After forcing air into a huge iron tank under extreme heat and pressure, he added hydrogen. This prised the nitrogen atoms apart as they each bonded with three hydrogen atoms, forming ammonia. Out of the tank dripped liquid fertilizer. Nitrogen had been pulled from the air and now could be put into the ground to help grow food. In 1909, he unveiled his discovery to the world. According to Vaclav Smil, a global agricultural historian at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, the Haber–Bosch process of synthesizing and manufacturing ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen (and later industrialized by Carl Bosch, Haber’s brother-in-law) was likely the most important technological innovation of the 20th century. It sustains the food base for the equivalent of half the world’s population today.
While Harber became famous, his relationship with Clara frayed and began to disintegrate. With the outbreak of war in 1914, Harber volunteered his services with a process to enhance explosives which it is believed, managed to prolong the war by three years.
Faced with deadlock and growing losses on the Western Front, a search for a more efficient means of ending the war resulted in the Army requesting his help. As Director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry, Haber placed his laboratory at the service of the German government and began experiments using chlorine gasses as a weapon. Haber also had a difficult time finding any German army commanders who would agree even to a test in the field. One general called the use of poison gas “unchivalrous”; another declared that poisoning the enemy “just as one poisons rats” was “repulsive.” But if it meant victory, that general was willing to “do what must be done.” Haber, according to biographer Margit Szollosi-Janze, “said if you want to win the war, then please, wage chemical warfare with conviction.”
Clara Haber, however, condemned her husband’s weapons work as a “perversion of the ideals of science” and “a sign of barbarity, corrupting the very discipline which ought to bring new insights into life.” Publicly, she pleaded with him to end his experiments in chemical warfare. Privately, Haber said her statements amounted to treason. Their marriage suffered further as Haber travelled frequently and philandered.
By April 1915, he was on the front lines in Ypres, in uniform, smoking cigars and calculating the timing of what he hoped would be a lethal gas attack. Thousands of steel cylinders containing chlorine gas had been transported to German positions. There would be no launching or dropping of the gas on Allied troops; instead, Haber calculated, the best delivery system was the prevailing winds in Belgium. After weeks of waiting for ideal winds—strong enough to carry the gas away from the German troops, but not so strong they would dissipate the gas weapons before they could take effect against the enemy—the Germans released more than 168 tons of chlorine gas from nearly 6,000 canisters at sunrise on April 22.
A sickly cloud, one witness told the New York Times, “like a yellow low wall,” began to drift toward the French trenches.
A sickly cloud, one witness told the New York Times, “like a yellow low wall,” began to drift toward the French trenches.
top: gas released over the Western Front. middle: Harber (2nd left) supervising gas shell placement - April 1915. above left: Raemaekers drawing of the gas attack on Canadian troops, April 1915. above right: counter measures were quickly introduced - a warning poster for the troops.
The cloud settled over some 10,000 troops. More than half were believed to have died by asphyxiation within minutes.
Lance Sergeant Elmer Cotton, a Canadian soldier who was gassed at Ypres and survived, described the attack as “an equivalent death to drowning only on dry land. The effects are there—a splitting headache and terrific thirst (to drink water is instant death), a knife edge of pain in the lungs and the coughing up of a greenish froth off the stomach and the lungs, ending finally in insensibility and death. It is a fiendish death to die..."
Haber’s gas weapons were so effective that German troops were actually rattled by the Allies’ rapid retreat. They advanced slowly, believing that they were walking into a trap, and missed an opportunity for a breakthrough. Two days later, however, they attacked Canadian positions with another chlorine attack and followed it up with heavy bombardment. That assault led to nearly 7,000 Canadian casualties, including 1,000 fatalities. The Second Battle of Ypres saw casualties of nearly 70,000 Allied troops, but only half as many Germans, owing largely to what is considered the first large-scale use of chemical weapons. Fritz Haber was soon after given the rank of captain and on May 2, 1915, he returned to his home in Berlin to attend a party in his honour. The next day, he was to travel to the Eastern Front to initiate another gas attack, this time against the Russians.
Hours after the party for her husband, Clara Immerwahr walked into the garden and with Haber’s Army pistol, committed suicide it is said, in dismay at her husband's actions. The unpredictability of the wind’s effect on chlorine gas released from cylinders prompted the Germans to eventually develop gas-filled shells that could fired over distances. Soon, the British and French were also using chemical warfare on the western front. Unrestricted chemical warfare brought another level of human misery to the trenches.
By war's end, over 100,000 people had died in gas attacks on both sides, with another one million seriously injured.
With the end of the war, undeterred, Harber continued top secret research on chemical weapons and insecticides which led to the founding in 1919 of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung mbH (Degesch), a state-controlled consortium formed to investigate the commerical use of hydrogen cyanide.
(Hydrogen cyanide, discovered in the late 18th century, had been used since the 1880s in the fumigation of citrus trees in California. Its use spread to other countries for the fumigation of silos, goods wagons, ships, and mills. Harber's research team now added a cautionary eye irritant to a less volatile cyanide compound which reacted with water in the presence of heat to become a highly unstable but easily used hydrogen cyanide. The new product was duly marketed as a pesticide and given the brand name Zyklon (cyclone). As a similar formula had been used as a weapon by the Germans during the war, Zyklon was soon banned. However within a few years, Degesch GmBH and their brands (including Zyklon) were sold to Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt (German Gold and Silver Refinery; Degussa) in 1922.
Harber's product was now further refined by the new owners Walter Heerdt, Bruno Tesch and others. Their 'new' product was marketed as a stable pesticide and named 'Zyklon B' to distinguish it from the earlier, banned, less stable version. The product was used widely in Europe and the US in the 1920s and 30's as an insecticide. However, in early 1942, Zyklon B emerged as the preferred killing tool of Nazi Germany for use in extermination camps during the Holocaust. The chemical was used to kill roughly one million people in gas chambers installed in extermination camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek, and elsewhere. Following the war and the Nuremberg Trials, Tesch and another director of the manufacturing company were found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed in 1946.)
The cloud settled over some 10,000 troops. More than half were believed to have died by asphyxiation within minutes.
Lance Sergeant Elmer Cotton, a Canadian soldier who was gassed at Ypres and survived, described the attack as “an equivalent death to drowning only on dry land. The effects are there—a splitting headache and terrific thirst (to drink water is instant death), a knife edge of pain in the lungs and the coughing up of a greenish froth off the stomach and the lungs, ending finally in insensibility and death. It is a fiendish death to die..."
Haber’s gas weapons were so effective that German troops were actually rattled by the Allies’ rapid retreat. They advanced slowly, believing that they were walking into a trap, and missed an opportunity for a breakthrough. Two days later, however, they attacked Canadian positions with another chlorine attack and followed it up with heavy bombardment. That assault led to nearly 7,000 Canadian casualties, including 1,000 fatalities. The Second Battle of Ypres saw casualties of nearly 70,000 Allied troops, but only half as many Germans, owing largely to what is considered the first large-scale use of chemical weapons. Fritz Haber was soon after given the rank of captain and on May 2, 1915, he returned to his home in Berlin to attend a party in his honour. The next day, he was to travel to the Eastern Front to initiate another gas attack, this time against the Russians.
Hours after the party for her husband, Clara Immerwahr walked into the garden and with Haber’s Army pistol, committed suicide it is said, in dismay at her husband's actions. The unpredictability of the wind’s effect on chlorine gas released from cylinders prompted the Germans to eventually develop gas-filled shells that could fired over distances. Soon, the British and French were also using chemical warfare on the western front. Unrestricted chemical warfare brought another level of human misery to the trenches.
By war's end, over 100,000 people had died in gas attacks on both sides, with another one million seriously injured.
With the end of the war, undeterred, Harber continued top secret research on chemical weapons and insecticides which led to the founding in 1919 of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung mbH (Degesch), a state-controlled consortium formed to investigate the commerical use of hydrogen cyanide.
(Hydrogen cyanide, discovered in the late 18th century, had been used since the 1880s in the fumigation of citrus trees in California. Its use spread to other countries for the fumigation of silos, goods wagons, ships, and mills. Harber's research team now added a cautionary eye irritant to a less volatile cyanide compound which reacted with water in the presence of heat to become a highly unstable but easily used hydrogen cyanide. The new product was duly marketed as a pesticide and given the brand name Zyklon (cyclone). As a similar formula had been used as a weapon by the Germans during the war, Zyklon was soon banned. However within a few years, Degesch GmBH and their brands (including Zyklon) were sold to Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt (German Gold and Silver Refinery; Degussa) in 1922.
Harber's product was now further refined by the new owners Walter Heerdt, Bruno Tesch and others. Their 'new' product was marketed as a stable pesticide and named 'Zyklon B' to distinguish it from the earlier, banned, less stable version. The product was used widely in Europe and the US in the 1920s and 30's as an insecticide. However, in early 1942, Zyklon B emerged as the preferred killing tool of Nazi Germany for use in extermination camps during the Holocaust. The chemical was used to kill roughly one million people in gas chambers installed in extermination camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek, and elsewhere. Following the war and the Nuremberg Trials, Tesch and another director of the manufacturing company were found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed in 1946.)
In the 1920s, Haber searched exhaustively for a method to extract gold from sea water, and published a number of scientific papers on the subject. After years of research, he concluded that the concentration of gold dissolved in sea water was much lower than that reported by earlier researchers and that gold extraction from sea water was uneconomic
As for Harber, life became far worse for him and much of Germany when Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in 1933. Nazis attacked both him and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for harbouring Jewish scientists. Haber resigned and fled Germany for England where he took a brief professorship at Cambridge. There he was shunned by most as he was regarded as a war criminal and pariah. Harber left shortly afterwards and wandered through Europe aimlessly, his health worsening. On his way to Switzerland to recuperate in a sanitarium, Fritz Haber died alone in a hotel in 1934, aged 65.
To this day, historians are torn on how to consider Fritz Haber. Billions of people would not exist without him. And yet without him, World War I would have ended years earlier, millions would have been spared a gruesome death and millions more a shattered life. Harber's development of a weapon of mass destruction has seen use in regional conflicts throughout the last one hundred years.
His former friend Albert Einstein later wrote: “Haber’s life was the tragedy of the German Jew — the tragedy of unrequited love."
As for Harber, life became far worse for him and much of Germany when Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in 1933. Nazis attacked both him and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for harbouring Jewish scientists. Haber resigned and fled Germany for England where he took a brief professorship at Cambridge. There he was shunned by most as he was regarded as a war criminal and pariah. Harber left shortly afterwards and wandered through Europe aimlessly, his health worsening. On his way to Switzerland to recuperate in a sanitarium, Fritz Haber died alone in a hotel in 1934, aged 65.
To this day, historians are torn on how to consider Fritz Haber. Billions of people would not exist without him. And yet without him, World War I would have ended years earlier, millions would have been spared a gruesome death and millions more a shattered life. Harber's development of a weapon of mass destruction has seen use in regional conflicts throughout the last one hundred years.
His former friend Albert Einstein later wrote: “Haber’s life was the tragedy of the German Jew — the tragedy of unrequited love."
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1
In Ireland, the electoral register was revised. Voting was now on an almost universal franchise basis, Males over 21, Females over 30. This meant a substantial increase in the number of voters in Ireland. In 1910, the electorate numbered 701,745. In 1918: 1,936,673. It also meant access for th first time by Sinn Fein.
Maud Gonne MacBride was released from Holloway Prison. ‘With Madame MacBride’s release, my troubles began with Madame Markievicz. She had the belief that she could, as she put it herself, ‘kick anyone to heel’. She tried it on with me. She wanted to impress the prison officials, and show them how she could dominate me…I had no desire to quarrel with her but I certainly would not allow her to ‘kick me to heel’…we spent many hours reading. Madame Markievicz loved poetry, especially Browning. … she ordered a lot of books on economics, labour, socialism and other other topics. She never had the patience to read through a book, she would skim through it, trying in her quick way to get a sense of it…she spent a lot of money on those books, and she told me she intended to give them to [the] Labour [Party] as the nucleus of a Connolly Library when she was released…’
Kathleen Clarke. ‘Revolutionary Woman’. O’Brien Press 1991. P161-162-163
Maud Gonne MacBride was released from Holloway Prison. ‘With Madame MacBride’s release, my troubles began with Madame Markievicz. She had the belief that she could, as she put it herself, ‘kick anyone to heel’. She tried it on with me. She wanted to impress the prison officials, and show them how she could dominate me…I had no desire to quarrel with her but I certainly would not allow her to ‘kick me to heel’…we spent many hours reading. Madame Markievicz loved poetry, especially Browning. … she ordered a lot of books on economics, labour, socialism and other other topics. She never had the patience to read through a book, she would skim through it, trying in her quick way to get a sense of it…she spent a lot of money on those books, and she told me she intended to give them to [the] Labour [Party] as the nucleus of a Connolly Library when she was released…’
Kathleen Clarke. ‘Revolutionary Woman’. O’Brien Press 1991. P161-162-163
When it comes to fashion and clothing, there is no topic more divisive than fur. A century ago, it was commonplace to see such advertising as these examples in the press but not so today. Since the David Bailey anti-fur ads in the 1980s, a greater awareness of animal rights, the public perception of fur and few designers & retailers willing to be associated with such products, the fur trade has slumped…or so it was thought.
However, fashion has no morality and little integrity – it’s a business and with demand from emerging economies such as China and surprisingly enough, western ‘Millenials’, the fur trade is booming again a century after these adverts. It seems that some consumers still want fur, so furriers have continued to farm, produce, process, stock, and retail it but without mainstream advertising and preferring low profile sales outlets. Sales in 2017 topped US$30 billion and most sales are now through specialist houses and interestingly enough, online – but while highly visible consumption items such as coats are considerably down in the West, sales of coats are high in the growing economies of China and Russia. The fur sales in the West are what’s truly surprising. Millenials are snapping up real fur accessories such as bags and smaller fur items – provided that the products are less ostentatious and even surrepetitious. Fake fur is not as artificial as you might think… recently the British Independent exposed that much of the fake fur products contain real fur. The fur trade is one of a number of issues within the fashion industry a century after these ads. The world’s fashion sweat shops of 1918 are still operating using child and slave labour in low rent, low paid, low standard and unregulated factories throughout the developing world. Animals are still being raised and killed for their fur and as long as we are willing to buy the essentials and the non-essential fashionable items produced in these locations, so will these continue. While fur farms are banned in the UK and most of Europe, there are four operating in Ireland currently (2018) and unknown numbers in other nations. The French journalist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr was certainly correct in his observation of 170 years ago: "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" the more it changes, the more it's the same. Incidentally, the October 1918 sales held by Funsten Brothers were of some 2.8 million animal skins including 2,775 Leopards, 80 Mountain Lions and oddly, 13,000 House Cats. |
2
Boston. The city registers 202 deaths from influenza. Within hours, the city canceled its Liberty Bond parades and sporting events. Churches were closed and the stock market was put on half-days
Cork: Cork Corporation changed the name of Great Georges Street to Washington Street.
Ireland: Since 1916, Irish agriculture was experiencing a sustained boom. With a largely industrialised economy and in a sustained war, agriculture was a minor but essential part of the overall British economy which meant that it was a major importer of food. The war brought heightened British government regulation such as compulsory tillage orders and guaranteed prices. Those prices rose sharply from 1914, with cattle and butter up 50% between 1914 and 1916 and at least 25% again through to 1918. Barley and wheat prices doubled, export of livestock and horses increased and the livelihood of the average Irish farmer certainly improved. Increasing urbanisation also stimulated a more market-led approach. Between 1845 and 1914 the proportion of the population living in towns of 1,500 or more doubled. Production and prices became embedded with supply and demand, and Irish agriculture also competed on international markets with countries such as the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands. Ireland remained Britain's larder and the island's status was certainly part of mainstream British opinion. Take for example this cartoon from Punch Magazine in the edition dated October 2, 1918:
Boston. The city registers 202 deaths from influenza. Within hours, the city canceled its Liberty Bond parades and sporting events. Churches were closed and the stock market was put on half-days
Cork: Cork Corporation changed the name of Great Georges Street to Washington Street.
Ireland: Since 1916, Irish agriculture was experiencing a sustained boom. With a largely industrialised economy and in a sustained war, agriculture was a minor but essential part of the overall British economy which meant that it was a major importer of food. The war brought heightened British government regulation such as compulsory tillage orders and guaranteed prices. Those prices rose sharply from 1914, with cattle and butter up 50% between 1914 and 1916 and at least 25% again through to 1918. Barley and wheat prices doubled, export of livestock and horses increased and the livelihood of the average Irish farmer certainly improved. Increasing urbanisation also stimulated a more market-led approach. Between 1845 and 1914 the proportion of the population living in towns of 1,500 or more doubled. Production and prices became embedded with supply and demand, and Irish agriculture also competed on international markets with countries such as the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands. Ireland remained Britain's larder and the island's status was certainly part of mainstream British opinion. Take for example this cartoon from Punch Magazine in the edition dated October 2, 1918:
Irish national school teachers took the day off work to sign a pledge to stand loyally together in the public measures they will undertake in the coming weeks in an effort to win redress for what they claim is the extreme injustice they continue to suffer.
‘Teachers’ Day’ came in the wake of a series of similar one-day large-scale protests in the country: a General Strike against conscription, Women’s Day and Gaelic Sunday.
The pledge, believed to have been signed by 98% of all Irish national school teachers, committed the signatories to ‘withdraw from our schools by November 4 should the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the INTO decide that such a course is necessary in order to enforce our demand for a war bonus in full Civil Service terms, and we further pledge ourselves to remain out until such time as we are instructed by our CEC to resume duty.’
In Dublin, where the pledge signing took place at Banba Hall on Parnell Square, a group of picketing teachers cycled around the city and suburbs, visiting every national school, before returning to Banba Hall to deliver updates. These reports from the pickets stated that less than half of Protestant schools in the area were open as usual, but in some cases, as a result of peaceful pressure, pupils were sent home to allow teachers to participate in the protest.
In taking their stand and closing the schools, the teachers of Ireland enjoyed a high level of public and press support. The Irish Times acknowledged the legitimacy of their grievance against the state and while a strike would be regrettable and unfortunate, the newspaper argued that the ‘demand for an adequate war bonus for all teachers is just, and ought to have been granted before the teachers felt themselves compelled to threaten a strike’.
‘Teachers’ Day’ came in the wake of a series of similar one-day large-scale protests in the country: a General Strike against conscription, Women’s Day and Gaelic Sunday.
The pledge, believed to have been signed by 98% of all Irish national school teachers, committed the signatories to ‘withdraw from our schools by November 4 should the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the INTO decide that such a course is necessary in order to enforce our demand for a war bonus in full Civil Service terms, and we further pledge ourselves to remain out until such time as we are instructed by our CEC to resume duty.’
In Dublin, where the pledge signing took place at Banba Hall on Parnell Square, a group of picketing teachers cycled around the city and suburbs, visiting every national school, before returning to Banba Hall to deliver updates. These reports from the pickets stated that less than half of Protestant schools in the area were open as usual, but in some cases, as a result of peaceful pressure, pupils were sent home to allow teachers to participate in the protest.
In taking their stand and closing the schools, the teachers of Ireland enjoyed a high level of public and press support. The Irish Times acknowledged the legitimacy of their grievance against the state and while a strike would be regrettable and unfortunate, the newspaper argued that the ‘demand for an adequate war bonus for all teachers is just, and ought to have been granted before the teachers felt themselves compelled to threaten a strike’.
3
Berlin - With the allied forces rapidly advancing, there were signs of disarray in the German government. A telegram from Berlin, communicated through Reuter’s Amsterdam Correspondent, states that all of the secretaries of the German state have relinquished their portfolios, including Admiral Von Hintze, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Count Von Hertling, the Imperial Chancellor.
Just a few weeks before Von Hertling delivered a speech in the Reichstag in which he recognised the ‘century-old sorrows and justified grievances of Ireland’, which, he claimed, were nowhere receiving a hearing, ‘not even in America’, which was sympathetic to the cause of Irish nationalism due to the many Irish emigrants who have settled there.
Meanwhile in Bulgaria recently invaded by British and Greek troops, applied for an armistice. Telegraphing the French Government, the Commander-in-Chief of the allied armies in Macedonia, General D’Esperey, conveyed an unwillingness to contemplate an armistice at this point, fearing it might be a ruse to allow the Bulgarians time to regroup: ‘I am unable to grant either an armistice or suspension of hostilities which might interfere with the operations now in progress.’
This military view had been endorsed by political leaders. The Allies considering the Bulgarian request but there was to be no cessation of hostilities until such time as Bulgaria completely sets herself against the central powers and either demobilised her army or turned it against her former allies.
Berlin - With the allied forces rapidly advancing, there were signs of disarray in the German government. A telegram from Berlin, communicated through Reuter’s Amsterdam Correspondent, states that all of the secretaries of the German state have relinquished their portfolios, including Admiral Von Hintze, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Count Von Hertling, the Imperial Chancellor.
Just a few weeks before Von Hertling delivered a speech in the Reichstag in which he recognised the ‘century-old sorrows and justified grievances of Ireland’, which, he claimed, were nowhere receiving a hearing, ‘not even in America’, which was sympathetic to the cause of Irish nationalism due to the many Irish emigrants who have settled there.
Meanwhile in Bulgaria recently invaded by British and Greek troops, applied for an armistice. Telegraphing the French Government, the Commander-in-Chief of the allied armies in Macedonia, General D’Esperey, conveyed an unwillingness to contemplate an armistice at this point, fearing it might be a ruse to allow the Bulgarians time to regroup: ‘I am unable to grant either an armistice or suspension of hostilities which might interfere with the operations now in progress.’
This military view had been endorsed by political leaders. The Allies considering the Bulgarian request but there was to be no cessation of hostilities until such time as Bulgaria completely sets herself against the central powers and either demobilised her army or turned it against her former allies.
Cork - A proposed price hike for milk in Cork was refused by the local Food Control Committee.
Previously, the Cork Dairy Farmers Association increased the price of milk for the month of October to 2s for vendors and 2s 4d for householders receiving deliveries. However, the Cork Food Control Sub-Committee refused to sanction these prices and fixed the prices at 1s 8d per gallon wholesale and 2s per gallon retail. In taking this firm action, the sub-committee had effectively faced down the local dairy farmers who had threatened to cut off the milk supply for Cork if the new prices were not approved.
Developments in Cork also served to focus attention on Dublin’s milk trade where the Irish Food Control Committee sanctioned a very high price for milk for the winter months, as set by the Dublin Cowkeepers’ Association. However, the committee has also described the Dublin milk supply system as perhaps the ‘most uneconomic system possible’ owing to the tendency of different dairymen to deliver at the same hour to the same street each day.
Given how organised and effective the Dublin Cowkeepers’ and Dairymen’s Association has been in fixing the price of milk, the question now is whether they can deploy some of their organising talent towards making the distribution system more effective
Previously, the Cork Dairy Farmers Association increased the price of milk for the month of October to 2s for vendors and 2s 4d for householders receiving deliveries. However, the Cork Food Control Sub-Committee refused to sanction these prices and fixed the prices at 1s 8d per gallon wholesale and 2s per gallon retail. In taking this firm action, the sub-committee had effectively faced down the local dairy farmers who had threatened to cut off the milk supply for Cork if the new prices were not approved.
Developments in Cork also served to focus attention on Dublin’s milk trade where the Irish Food Control Committee sanctioned a very high price for milk for the winter months, as set by the Dublin Cowkeepers’ Association. However, the committee has also described the Dublin milk supply system as perhaps the ‘most uneconomic system possible’ owing to the tendency of different dairymen to deliver at the same hour to the same street each day.
Given how organised and effective the Dublin Cowkeepers’ and Dairymen’s Association has been in fixing the price of milk, the question now is whether they can deploy some of their organising talent towards making the distribution system more effective
New York
Diarmuid Lynch writing to his sister Mary.
Diarmuid Lynch writing to his sister Mary.
‘2366 Grand Concourse
New York
Oct.3.18
My dear Moll.
Here we are in ‘our own’ apartment. We had ‘some’ job in getting it and a great time buying furniture etc. Now that we are ‘settled down’ we’re quite comfortable & happy. Kit has a great eye for what is appropriate & we’re just a wee bit proud of the outfit. It's nothing wonderful of course, but considering our resources we did very well. The main thing wanting to the rounding out of our happiness just now is that we cannot have a visit from yourself & the rest of the folks – old & young.
The place is near the outskirts of the city – about 8 miles from my office. It takes me about an hour to get there, but this makes little difference as I do not have to get in early. On the other hand, I’m ‘on the job’ both late & early – much after the old fashion. The worst of this is that Kit is a great deal on her own. However I usually manage to get home to dinner & it's just great. K surpasses all her own expectations as a cook. Wish you could ‘drop in’ to dinner some evening, but there - !
Now whats the matter that you don’t write? We have had only one letter from you since our arrival – & none from any of the boys. We get scrpas of news every week about affairs in the ‘Old Country’ & are quite satisfied. Of course we regret some things but even these have their compensations.
About 5 weeks ago a young lady came to my office & introduced herself as Irene Lynch* - a daughter of Jerry’s, Toronto. Quite a fine girl & very nice. Herself and a friend had lunch with Kit & myself. In the course of conversation we learned that her mother’s name was Kate Quinn. Quite a coincidence, isn't it? Had a note from her since she returned to Toronto & an invitation to pay them a visit. There is just a chance that we may be able to avail of it later on.
Just read a report in the Gaelic American that the the harvest in Ireland is a record one. That’s good. I hope Granig, Cnoc etc were A1.
Before long we hope to have a long letter from you giving us news about all the friends. I have a ‘crow to pluck’ with some of them, but that job can wait.
Give our kindest regards to all the neighbours.
Kit & myself send best love to yourself & the boys.
Diarmuid.
PS Is out of the question for me to write often or write to many. I rarely have time to attend to all matters of business that claim prompt attention. However I’ll do the best I can. D
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 5/2
Irene Lynch mentioned in Diarmuid's letter was his second cousin.
Born: March 7, 1893 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Irene Catherine was one of five daughters of Jeremiah "Jerry" Lynch and Catharine Quinn.
Jerry's father was Timothy 'Thade' Lynch a brother to Jeremiah Lynch who fathered Timothy Lynch, Diarmuid's father and from whom the Lynch (Granig) line descends. Thade emigrated from Tracton to Canada c.1876/81. Irene married William James Ryan and was the mother of Loretto Mary McNab. Irene died November 6, 1980 aged 87 and place of burial is Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Her sisters were Margaret Agnes Lynch (1891-1891); Elizabeth Terian Lynch (1894-1895) Loretto Mary Lynch (1900-1937) and Pauline Veronica Lynch (1910-2002).
Thanks to Scott Manning for the Jerry Lynch family lineage.
Reference: https://www.geni.com/people/Jeremiah-Jerry-LYNCH/6000000020338238215
Born: March 7, 1893 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Irene Catherine was one of five daughters of Jeremiah "Jerry" Lynch and Catharine Quinn.
Jerry's father was Timothy 'Thade' Lynch a brother to Jeremiah Lynch who fathered Timothy Lynch, Diarmuid's father and from whom the Lynch (Granig) line descends. Thade emigrated from Tracton to Canada c.1876/81. Irene married William James Ryan and was the mother of Loretto Mary McNab. Irene died November 6, 1980 aged 87 and place of burial is Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Her sisters were Margaret Agnes Lynch (1891-1891); Elizabeth Terian Lynch (1894-1895) Loretto Mary Lynch (1900-1937) and Pauline Veronica Lynch (1910-2002).
Thanks to Scott Manning for the Jerry Lynch family lineage.
Reference: https://www.geni.com/people/Jeremiah-Jerry-LYNCH/6000000020338238215
5
Vienna: Austria appeals to President Wilson for peace.
Berlin: the German government sent a message to President Wilson to negotiate terms on the basis of a recent speech of his and the earlier declared "Fourteen Points". In the subsequent two exchanges, Wilson's allusions "failed to convey the idea that the Kaiser's abdication was an essential condition for peace. The leading statesmen of the Reich were not yet ready to contemplate such a monstrous possibility." As a precondition for negotiations, Wilson demanded the retreat of Germany from all occupied territories, the cessation of submarine activities and the Kaiser's abdication.
Vienna: Austria appeals to President Wilson for peace.
Berlin: the German government sent a message to President Wilson to negotiate terms on the basis of a recent speech of his and the earlier declared "Fourteen Points". In the subsequent two exchanges, Wilson's allusions "failed to convey the idea that the Kaiser's abdication was an essential condition for peace. The leading statesmen of the Reich were not yet ready to contemplate such a monstrous possibility." As a precondition for negotiations, Wilson demanded the retreat of Germany from all occupied territories, the cessation of submarine activities and the Kaiser's abdication.
6
Washington - Spanish Flu Epidemic: Congress approves a special $1 million fund to enable the U.S. Public Health Service to recruit physicians and nurses to deal with the growing epidemic. US Surgeon General Rupert Blue set out to hire over 1000 doctors and 700 nurses with the new funds. The war effort, however, made Blue's task difficult. With many medical professionals already engaged in lending care to fighting soldiers, Blue was forced to look for some recruits in places like old-age homes and rehabilitation centers.
851 New Yorkers die of influenza in a single day. In Philadelphia, the city's death rate for one single week is 700 times higher than normal. The crime rate in Chicago drops by 43 percent. Authorities attributed the drop to the toll that influenza was taking on the city's potential lawbreakers.
430 die when two troopships collide off the Scottish coast.
below: humour in adversity. The New York Evening News featured a topical cartoon which captures the mood of the time.
Washington - Spanish Flu Epidemic: Congress approves a special $1 million fund to enable the U.S. Public Health Service to recruit physicians and nurses to deal with the growing epidemic. US Surgeon General Rupert Blue set out to hire over 1000 doctors and 700 nurses with the new funds. The war effort, however, made Blue's task difficult. With many medical professionals already engaged in lending care to fighting soldiers, Blue was forced to look for some recruits in places like old-age homes and rehabilitation centers.
851 New Yorkers die of influenza in a single day. In Philadelphia, the city's death rate for one single week is 700 times higher than normal. The crime rate in Chicago drops by 43 percent. Authorities attributed the drop to the toll that influenza was taking on the city's potential lawbreakers.
430 die when two troopships collide off the Scottish coast.
below: humour in adversity. The New York Evening News featured a topical cartoon which captures the mood of the time.
7
Dublin - A ’mammoth’ auction in support of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Prisoners of War fund was held in the Mansion House. In attendance was the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and Viscount Powerscourt. George Graves, a well-known comedian, acted as auctioneer and many of the items reached good prices. It was expected that the auction would raise up to £13,000.
Sales of wine alone raised £2,500. A bulldog, re-sold five times, realised just over £12, while Lady de Freyne, departed with a teddy bear which left her £6 10s lighter. Other items sold included chairs, antique chests, Waterford glass bowls, a pair of bronze Marly horses, rings and necklaces. The auction was to have been held in Merrion Square, but had to be both delayed and moved to a different venue owing to an unexpected cyclone on the eve of the original planned event.
Dublin - A ’mammoth’ auction in support of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Prisoners of War fund was held in the Mansion House. In attendance was the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and Viscount Powerscourt. George Graves, a well-known comedian, acted as auctioneer and many of the items reached good prices. It was expected that the auction would raise up to £13,000.
Sales of wine alone raised £2,500. A bulldog, re-sold five times, realised just over £12, while Lady de Freyne, departed with a teddy bear which left her £6 10s lighter. Other items sold included chairs, antique chests, Waterford glass bowls, a pair of bronze Marly horses, rings and necklaces. The auction was to have been held in Merrion Square, but had to be both delayed and moved to a different venue owing to an unexpected cyclone on the eve of the original planned event.
New York: The Friends of Irish Freedom Executive, it's governing body, details the meetings held during 1918 and chairs during each meeting.
Warsaw: Polish Regency Council (Poland) declares Polish independence from the German Empire and demands that Germany cedes the Polish provinces of Poznan, Upper Silesia and Polish Pommerania.
Ireland - From north to south, the island of Ireland took a heavy battering from storms and flooding.
The damage to crops and livestock was extensive. In Skibbereen, livestock were killed by lightning and widespread damage was reported to hay and straw throughout the district. In Co. Tipperary, which has been buffeted for days by violent storms, trees were blown down and the River Suir burst its banks at many points along its course.
In the north, there was flooding along the Rivers Bann and Blackwater, as well as along the shores of Lough Neagh. In aftermath of the serious weather event, the Belfast Newsletter argued that the basin of Lough Neagh ought to be drained arguing that this would make a considerable area of currently useless land suitable for cropping. It further stressed that this issue was ‘of great economic importance’.
8
Western Front: Second Battle of Cambrai: British and Canadian troops take Cambrai from the Germans.
In the Forest of Argonne in France, U.S. Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132.
Washington: President Wilson says there will be no peace while the Central Powers occupy Allied territory.
The Spanish Flu increases dramatically in New York.
Ireland - From north to south, the island of Ireland took a heavy battering from storms and flooding.
The damage to crops and livestock was extensive. In Skibbereen, livestock were killed by lightning and widespread damage was reported to hay and straw throughout the district. In Co. Tipperary, which has been buffeted for days by violent storms, trees were blown down and the River Suir burst its banks at many points along its course.
In the north, there was flooding along the Rivers Bann and Blackwater, as well as along the shores of Lough Neagh. In aftermath of the serious weather event, the Belfast Newsletter argued that the basin of Lough Neagh ought to be drained arguing that this would make a considerable area of currently useless land suitable for cropping. It further stressed that this issue was ‘of great economic importance’.
8
Western Front: Second Battle of Cambrai: British and Canadian troops take Cambrai from the Germans.
In the Forest of Argonne in France, U.S. Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132.
Washington: President Wilson says there will be no peace while the Central Powers occupy Allied territory.
The Spanish Flu increases dramatically in New York.
Brian Palm's painting in the An Post Centenary commemorative stamp 2018
below: click on the illustration to access The Leinster 2018 Centenary site.
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October 10 - Dublin - The RMS Leinster
RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) Leinster was a vessel operated by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, served as the Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire)-Holyhead mailboat until she was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine UB-123 on 10 October 1918, while bound for Holyhead. She went down just outside Dublin Bay at a point 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) east of the Kish light. Over 500 people perished in the sinking – the greatest single loss of life in the Irish Sea. The official death toll was 501, out of a total of 771 (77 crew and 694 passengers), which translates to roughly 65% of the souls on board. However, research by Roy Stokes, author of Death in the Irish Sea: The Sinking of RMS Leinster and fellow writer Philip Lecane, author of Torpedoed! The RMS Leinster Disaster, suggests the actual total was higher at 564. The Royal Mail contract was a lucrative one, but heavy penalty clauses meant the company was fined for every minute a ship (and thus the mail) was late. This meant that despite weather conditions – and the submarine peril during the first World War – the ships always sailed. Two ships were normally on the route, with a third at Holyhead, ready to sail if called upon in the event one of the others had problems. The final ship would be undergoing the regular overhaul necessary to maintain the ships at the level of efficiency required to meet the terms of the mail contract In 1895, the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company ordered four steamers for Royal Mail service, named for four provinces of Ireland: RMS Leinster, RMS Connaught, RMS Munster, and RMS Ulster. The Leinster was a 3,069-ton packet steamship with a service speed of 23 knots (43 km/h). The vessel, which was built at Laird's in Birkenhead, England, was driven by two independent four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines. These vessels were the fastest of their type in the world at the time. They made the Irish Sea crossing in two hours and 45 minutes. The ships’ crews were mainly drawn from Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead and each ship had an onboard post office, staffed by members of Dublin Post Office. On March 3rd, 1917, the RMSConnaught – which had been commandeered by the Admiralty – was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel with the loss of three crewmen. Meanwhile, the other three “Provinces” continued to operate on the Irish Sea. Blockaded by the Royal Navy from the start of the war, Germany was striking back with the U-boats. This weapon came close to winning the war for Germany, until the Allies (America joined the war in 1917) found an effective counter-measure by sailing trans-Atlantic shipping in convoys, escorted by destroyers. With the convoys proving difficult to attack, the Germans switched their attacks to the waters around Britain and Ireland and in the Irish Sea, where shipping was rarely escorted. In late 1917 and during 1918, the “Provinces” had a number of narrow escapes when attacked by U-boats until the morning of October 10, 1918. The ship's log for that date states that she carried 77 crew and 694 passengers on her final voyage under the command of Captain William Birch. The ship had previously been attacked in the Irish Sea but the torpedoes missed their target. Those on board included more than one hundred British civilians, 22 postal sorters (working in the mail room) and almost 500 military personnel from the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. Also aboard were nurses from Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Just before 10 a.m. as the Leinster was sailing east of the Kish Bank in a heavy swell, passengers saw a torpedo approach from the port side and pass in front of the bow. A second torpedo followed shortly afterwards, and it struck the ship forward on the port side in the vicinity of the mail room. Captain Birch ordered the ship to make a U-turn in an attempt to return to Kingstown as the ship began to settle slowly by the bow; however, the ship sank rapidly after a third torpedo struck the Leinster, causing a huge explosion. Despite the heavy seas, the crew managed to launch several lifeboats and some passengers clung to life-rafts. The survivors were rescued by HMS Lively, HMS Mallard and HMS Seal. Among the civilian passengers lost in the sinking were socially prominent people such as Lady Phyllis Hamilton, daughter of the Duke of Abercorn, Robert Jocelyn Alexander, son of Irish composer Cecil Frances Alexander, Thomas Foley and his wife Charlotte Foley (née Barrett) who was the brother-in-law of the world-famous Irish tenor John McCormack, Lieut. Col. Charles Harold Blackbourne, veteran of the Boer War, Alfred White Curzon King, 15-year-old nephew to Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, and Maud Elizabeth Ward, personal secretary to Douglas Proby. The first member of the Women's Royal Naval Service to die on active duty, Josephine Carr, was among those killed, as were two prominent trade unionists, James McCarron and Patrick Lynch. Among the less well known were 15-year-old Gerald Palmer, a boy with a physical disability, from "The Cripples Home" in Bray, Co. Wicklow, and Catherine Gould and five of her six children. A Limerick paper described them as "humble decent people". Captain Birch was also among those lost in the sinking. Wounded in the initial attack, he was drowned when his lifeboat became swamped in heavy seas and capsized while trying to transfer survivors to HMS Lively. Some 150 of the military personnel who died are buried in Grangegorman Military Cemetery. Survivors were brought to Kingstown harbour. Among the survivors were Michael Joyce, member of parliament for Limerick, and Captain Hutchinson Ingham Cone, former commander of the USS Dale (DD-4). One of the rescue ships was the armed yacht and former fishery protection vessel HMY Helga. Stationed in Kingstown harbour at the time of the sinking, she had shelled Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin two years earlier. She was later bought and renamed the Muirchú by the Irish Free State government as one of its first fishery protection vessels. In the aftermath of the sinking, bodies were washed ashore and buried in Wales, the Isle of Man and Scotland. In 1991, a team of divers recovered the ship’s starboard anchor and it sits on Dún Laoghaire’s seafront, a memorial to the sinking As for the U-123, it was probably lost in a minefield in the North Sea on its way back to Germany, on or about 19 October 1918. The bodies of her commander Oberleutnant Robert Ramm and his crew of two officers and thirty-three men were never recovered |
Below - a 2003 documentary from the Irish language television station TG4 on the sinking of The Leinster. If you're not an Irish speaker, there's subtitles. :-)
Also, a rare envelope postmarked Dublin on 9 October addressed to an Army doctor in Egypt, which was recovered from mailbags found washed up after the sinking of the RMS Leinster. Over 500 people, including 20 postal workers who sorted the mail below decks, perished. This rare envelope is stamped "SALVED FROM / S.S. LEINSTER" and was eventually delivered to the Irish doctor serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Egypt.
Also, a rare envelope postmarked Dublin on 9 October addressed to an Army doctor in Egypt, which was recovered from mailbags found washed up after the sinking of the RMS Leinster. Over 500 people, including 20 postal workers who sorted the mail below decks, perished. This rare envelope is stamped "SALVED FROM / S.S. LEINSTER" and was eventually delivered to the Irish doctor serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Egypt.
12
United States: Cloquet Fire: The city of Cloquet, Minnesota, and nearby areas are destroyed in a fire, killing 453.
13
US Government issues strict new regulations on saving food.
United States: Cloquet Fire: The city of Cloquet, Minnesota, and nearby areas are destroyed in a fire, killing 453.
13
US Government issues strict new regulations on saving food.
Dundalk: The SS Dundalk, owned by the Dundalk and Newry Steampacket Company, was sunk on 14 October in yet another German submarine attack in Irish waters. The vessel left Dundalk for Liverpool two days earlier, carrying a cargo of livestock. Fears for its safety were raised when it failed to arrive home at the expected time, the public concerns heightened by the recent tragedy that befell the RMS Leinster, also in Irish waters.
20 of the crew of 32 have died, including Captain O’Neill, who resided with his wife and four children on Patrick Street, Dundalk.
On the day following the attack, five members of the crew of the SS Dundalk landed at the port of Douglas on the Isle of Man, having been picked up in a lifeboat some hours earlier. The men, found suffering from injuries and exposure, were in a half-clothed condition having spent 17 hours in heavy seas. They managed to fashion a sail out of an oar and a blanket, which allowed them to run before the wind until they were rescued. These survivors said that their ship was struck by torpedo at 11.20 pm and sank in just four minutes. One of the men, Patrick Moonan previously endured the experience of being taken prisoner of war for two months aboard the German commerce raider, Moewe.
At a specially convened meeting of the directors of the Dundalk and Newry Steampacket Company it was decided to subscribe 500 guineas towards the relief and education of the children of the victims. It is understood that that dependents of members of the crew are also partly covered by insurance. The SS Dundalk was built in 1893 at a cost of £40,000 and has been well known on both sides of the Irish Sea.
below: SS Dundalk c.1917
20 of the crew of 32 have died, including Captain O’Neill, who resided with his wife and four children on Patrick Street, Dundalk.
On the day following the attack, five members of the crew of the SS Dundalk landed at the port of Douglas on the Isle of Man, having been picked up in a lifeboat some hours earlier. The men, found suffering from injuries and exposure, were in a half-clothed condition having spent 17 hours in heavy seas. They managed to fashion a sail out of an oar and a blanket, which allowed them to run before the wind until they were rescued. These survivors said that their ship was struck by torpedo at 11.20 pm and sank in just four minutes. One of the men, Patrick Moonan previously endured the experience of being taken prisoner of war for two months aboard the German commerce raider, Moewe.
At a specially convened meeting of the directors of the Dundalk and Newry Steampacket Company it was decided to subscribe 500 guineas towards the relief and education of the children of the victims. It is understood that that dependents of members of the crew are also partly covered by insurance. The SS Dundalk was built in 1893 at a cost of £40,000 and has been well known on both sides of the Irish Sea.
below: SS Dundalk c.1917
14
Western Front: Battle of Courtrai & Battle of Mont-D'Origny, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
Among the German wounded in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on October 14, 1918, was an Austrian Corporal.
Corporal Adolf Hitler, temporarily blinded by a British gas shell was evacuated from the trenches to a German military hospital at Pasewalk, in Pomerania.
The young Hitler in 1913 was drafted for Austrian military service but turned down due to lack of fitness. Living in Munich at the start of the First World War in the summer of 1914, he asked for and received special permission to enlist as a German soldier.
As a member of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, Hitler traveled to France in October 1914. He saw heavy action during the First Battle of Ypres, earning the Iron Cross that December for dragging a wounded comrade to safety. Over the course of the next two years, Hitler took part in some of the fiercest struggles of the war, including the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of the Somme. On October 7, 1916, near Bapaume, France, Hitler was wounded in the leg by a shell blast. Sent to convalesce near Berlin, he returned to his old unit by February 1917.
According to a comrade, Hans Mend, Hitler was given to discourse on the dismal state of morale and dedication to the cause on the home front in Germany: “He sat in the corner of our mess holding his head between his hands in deep contemplation. Suddenly he would leap up, and running about excitedly, say that in spite of our big guns victory would be denied us, for the invisible foes of the German people were a greater danger than the biggest cannon of the enemy.”
Hitler earned more citations for bravery in the next year, including an Iron Cross 1st Class for “personal bravery and general merit” in August 1918 for single-handedly capturing a group of French soldiers hiding in a shell hole during the final German offensive on the Western Front.
The injury in October, however, put an end to Hitler’s service in World War I. He learned of the German surrender while recovering at Pasewalk. Infuriated and frustrated by the news--”I staggered and stumbled back to my ward and buried my aching head between the blankets and pillow”—Hitler felt he and his fellow soldiers had been betrayed by the German people and more particularly, certain sections of German society.
In 1941, Hitler as Fuhrer would reveal the degree to which his leadership of Germany and its terrible legacy had been shaped by the First World War, writing that “I brought back home with me my experiences at the front; out of them I built my National Socialist community.”
(We can never know how different the world's history may have been had Hitler been felled by Allied bullets or shellfire that early morning a hundred years — whether the Weimar Republic could have survived the postwar political and economic turmoil, whether Hindenburg could have successfully navigated his country back into monarchy, or whether Europe would have been spared a sequel to the Great War along with the death, destruction and genocide of 1933-1945. Ed)
Western Front: Battle of Courtrai & Battle of Mont-D'Origny, a phase of the Hundred Days Offensive
Among the German wounded in the Ypres Salient in Belgium on October 14, 1918, was an Austrian Corporal.
Corporal Adolf Hitler, temporarily blinded by a British gas shell was evacuated from the trenches to a German military hospital at Pasewalk, in Pomerania.
The young Hitler in 1913 was drafted for Austrian military service but turned down due to lack of fitness. Living in Munich at the start of the First World War in the summer of 1914, he asked for and received special permission to enlist as a German soldier.
As a member of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment, Hitler traveled to France in October 1914. He saw heavy action during the First Battle of Ypres, earning the Iron Cross that December for dragging a wounded comrade to safety. Over the course of the next two years, Hitler took part in some of the fiercest struggles of the war, including the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of the Somme. On October 7, 1916, near Bapaume, France, Hitler was wounded in the leg by a shell blast. Sent to convalesce near Berlin, he returned to his old unit by February 1917.
According to a comrade, Hans Mend, Hitler was given to discourse on the dismal state of morale and dedication to the cause on the home front in Germany: “He sat in the corner of our mess holding his head between his hands in deep contemplation. Suddenly he would leap up, and running about excitedly, say that in spite of our big guns victory would be denied us, for the invisible foes of the German people were a greater danger than the biggest cannon of the enemy.”
Hitler earned more citations for bravery in the next year, including an Iron Cross 1st Class for “personal bravery and general merit” in August 1918 for single-handedly capturing a group of French soldiers hiding in a shell hole during the final German offensive on the Western Front.
The injury in October, however, put an end to Hitler’s service in World War I. He learned of the German surrender while recovering at Pasewalk. Infuriated and frustrated by the news--”I staggered and stumbled back to my ward and buried my aching head between the blankets and pillow”—Hitler felt he and his fellow soldiers had been betrayed by the German people and more particularly, certain sections of German society.
In 1941, Hitler as Fuhrer would reveal the degree to which his leadership of Germany and its terrible legacy had been shaped by the First World War, writing that “I brought back home with me my experiences at the front; out of them I built my National Socialist community.”
(We can never know how different the world's history may have been had Hitler been felled by Allied bullets or shellfire that early morning a hundred years — whether the Weimar Republic could have survived the postwar political and economic turmoil, whether Hindenburg could have successfully navigated his country back into monarchy, or whether Europe would have been spared a sequel to the Great War along with the death, destruction and genocide of 1933-1945. Ed)
"Zilebeke Church, October 1918"
William Orpen
Mud!
Everywhere —
Nothing but mud.
The very air seems thick with it,
The few tufts of grass are all smeared with it —
Mud!
The Church a heap of it ;
One look, and weep for it.
That's what they've made of it —
Mud!
Slimy and wet,
Churned and upset.
Here Bones that once mattered
With crosses lie scattered.
Broken and battered,
Covered in mud.
Here, where the Church's bell
Tolled when our heroes fell
In that mad start of hell —
Mud!
That's all that's left of it— mud! "
William Orpen
Mud!
Everywhere —
Nothing but mud.
The very air seems thick with it,
The few tufts of grass are all smeared with it —
Mud!
The Church a heap of it ;
One look, and weep for it.
That's what they've made of it —
Mud!
Slimy and wet,
Churned and upset.
Here Bones that once mattered
With crosses lie scattered.
Broken and battered,
Covered in mud.
Here, where the Church's bell
Tolled when our heroes fell
In that mad start of hell —
Mud!
That's all that's left of it— mud! "
The official war artist, Major Sir William Orpen*, portrayed the awful conditions that men experienced at 'The Front', in his poem The Church, Zillebeke, October 1918. The mud landscape that became synonymous with the Battle of Passchendaele was unimaginable to the ordinary civilian back home and Orpen's poem attempts to describe it:
(left, Self-Portrait in Battledress in an area under bombardment,© IWM ART 5255a)
*Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (b. 27 November 1878 – d. 29 September 1931) was born at Stillorgan, County Dublin. During the First World War, he was the most prolific of the official war artists on the Western Front. He produced drawings and paintings of ordinary soldiers, the dead, and German prisoners of war, as well as portraits of generals and politicians. He donated 138 of his works to the British government and these are now held or displayed in the Imperial War Museum, London.
16
Vienna: Emperor Charles 1 of Austria-Hungary, facing virtually an internal revolution and defeat in the war, proposed a quadruple monarchy made up of Germans, Poles, Czechs and South Slavs and leaving Hungary to make it’s own arrangements. But it was too late – the independence movements were in control as the Austrian-Hungarian armies were collapsing at the front.
Rumours of a German surrender were rife. The New York Evening World of this dates wonders:
Vienna: Emperor Charles 1 of Austria-Hungary, facing virtually an internal revolution and defeat in the war, proposed a quadruple monarchy made up of Germans, Poles, Czechs and South Slavs and leaving Hungary to make it’s own arrangements. But it was too late – the independence movements were in control as the Austrian-Hungarian armies were collapsing at the front.
Rumours of a German surrender were rife. The New York Evening World of this dates wonders:
17
Hungary declares independence from Austria.
Hungary declares independence from Austria.
19
Dublin: As expectations grew that a general election would be held in late November or early December, the competing forces within Irish nationalism began setting out their electoral stalls. The Standing Committee of Sinn Féin issued a general election manifesto in which they declared the primary aims of the party in the forthcoming election to be
• To establish an Irish republic;
• To withdraw Irish representation from the British parliament, thereby denying the right and opposing the will of the British government to legislate for Ireland;
• To establish a constituent assembly comprising persons chosen by the Irish constituencies;
• To appeal to the Peace Conference for the establishment of Ireland as an independent nation.
The announcement of the Sinn Féin manifesto followed a plea by the Irish Party for unity among nationalists while simultaneously insisting that they would play no part in deceiving the people by holding up the ‘impossible’ ideal of an Irish republic. The Irish Party recently held a joint conference of its members and that of the National Directory of the United Irish league in Dublin at which John Dillon MP presided.
The irish Party stated that the coming election would be the ‘most critical and fateful in its effect on the future of Ireland that has taken place since the Act of Union’. The Irish electorate will be presented with a choice between a party that has been responsible for all the political victories Ireland has won since the Land League was founded in 1879 and a party espousing a wholly different policy with no record of political success to its name. The choice, the Irish Party concluded, is therefore between continuity and change, between a party with a proven track record and one which, ‘whatever the literary or other gifts of its leadership’, has no achievements to its name
Dublin: As expectations grew that a general election would be held in late November or early December, the competing forces within Irish nationalism began setting out their electoral stalls. The Standing Committee of Sinn Féin issued a general election manifesto in which they declared the primary aims of the party in the forthcoming election to be
• To establish an Irish republic;
• To withdraw Irish representation from the British parliament, thereby denying the right and opposing the will of the British government to legislate for Ireland;
• To establish a constituent assembly comprising persons chosen by the Irish constituencies;
• To appeal to the Peace Conference for the establishment of Ireland as an independent nation.
The announcement of the Sinn Féin manifesto followed a plea by the Irish Party for unity among nationalists while simultaneously insisting that they would play no part in deceiving the people by holding up the ‘impossible’ ideal of an Irish republic. The Irish Party recently held a joint conference of its members and that of the National Directory of the United Irish league in Dublin at which John Dillon MP presided.
The irish Party stated that the coming election would be the ‘most critical and fateful in its effect on the future of Ireland that has taken place since the Act of Union’. The Irish electorate will be presented with a choice between a party that has been responsible for all the political victories Ireland has won since the Land League was founded in 1879 and a party espousing a wholly different policy with no record of political success to its name. The choice, the Irish Party concluded, is therefore between continuity and change, between a party with a proven track record and one which, ‘whatever the literary or other gifts of its leadership’, has no achievements to its name
20
The Rev Frederick Keating, Catholic Bishop of Northampton, paid a suprise visit to the US and lectured on what was termed, ‘the real truth about Home Rule in Ireland’
‘the Home Rule question is not the fault of England, but of Ireland. If Ireland can only agree on an acceptable form of Government, England will not only willingly, but gladly grant it. The trouble is that what suits one faction will not suit the other, and each wishes to impose its ideas upon the others. The result is the turmoil which has been brought about and which has been the cause of much distress..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.275. quoting The New York World.
Tansill argues that Keating was part of a British effort to convince the American Roman Catholic clergy that the government had friendly feelings for Ireland and it is the stuborness and intractable nature of the Irish populace that made it difficult for Lloyd George to show his 'beneficent disposition'.
Germany suspends submarine warfare.
The Rev Frederick Keating, Catholic Bishop of Northampton, paid a suprise visit to the US and lectured on what was termed, ‘the real truth about Home Rule in Ireland’
‘the Home Rule question is not the fault of England, but of Ireland. If Ireland can only agree on an acceptable form of Government, England will not only willingly, but gladly grant it. The trouble is that what suits one faction will not suit the other, and each wishes to impose its ideas upon the others. The result is the turmoil which has been brought about and which has been the cause of much distress..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.275. quoting The New York World.
Tansill argues that Keating was part of a British effort to convince the American Roman Catholic clergy that the government had friendly feelings for Ireland and it is the stuborness and intractable nature of the Irish populace that made it difficult for Lloyd George to show his 'beneficent disposition'.
Germany suspends submarine warfare.
22
Bishop Cohalan of Cork delivered an important and far reaching sermon from the pulpit, placing the issue of self-determination before the people in his diocese, by posing a rhetorical question ‘what is the cause of British mis-government in Ireland?’ His answers were: ‘ the causes are in part racial and in a large part, religious...let me draw your attention to some of the characteristics of British rule in Ireland:
1. Any Irish industry which threatens to compete with English industries is crushed..
2. The development of Ireland is restricted or prevented lest a rich prosperous Ireland look for independence.
3. England plays on the divisions in Ireland according to her purpose and to suit her purpose.
4. Exceptional coercive law, one might say, has been the rule since Union.
I hope we will win liberty for Ireland without sacrificing any more lives...looking into the future I say that if the question of Ireland is not settled in a generous way, settled in a way that will meet the sentiments of the younger people, it will not be a lasting settlement...there are three or four solutions of the Irish question before the world. One of these is that Ireland should be set up as a sovereign independent nation...call it a Republic or a Kingdom as you will’
The Cork Examiner. October 23, 1918.
Dublin; The Lord Lieutenant, Viscount French, according to the Belfast Correspondent of the Evening News stated that he had no intention of resigning. This report waS in response to rumours which arose from an article in the Irish Times
‘The Viceroy is a soldier and a man of his word. It is well known that he made the enforcement of conscription - if the voluntary appeal should fail - a condition of his retention of office. The voluntary appeal has failed and there is no sign that conscription will be enforced. In these circumstances we must fear that Lord French may offer - if he has not already - his resignation to the government.’
The Lord Lieutenant announced a drive for 50,000 recruits by 1 October in June 1918, but by September 1918 only 5,050 men had been recruited.
New York: The celebrated Irish tenor, John McCormack, wrote to the Freeman’s Journal newspaper from New York City to extend his sympathies to the friends and relatives of the victims of the RMS Leinster catastrophe and offered his services to help ‘assuage the sorrows’ of the bereaved. McCormack, along with his wife, had been deeply impacted by the disaster, which he characterised as the ‘most cold blooded murder’. It convinced him, and ‘all true Irishmen, that this is a holy war to save the world from slavery’. ‘All America is aflame with indignation’, his telegram stated, ‘and nothing but the utter annihilation of German autocracy and militarism will cause her [America’s] heroic sons to stay their triumphant march to Berlin.’
Bishop Cohalan of Cork delivered an important and far reaching sermon from the pulpit, placing the issue of self-determination before the people in his diocese, by posing a rhetorical question ‘what is the cause of British mis-government in Ireland?’ His answers were: ‘ the causes are in part racial and in a large part, religious...let me draw your attention to some of the characteristics of British rule in Ireland:
1. Any Irish industry which threatens to compete with English industries is crushed..
2. The development of Ireland is restricted or prevented lest a rich prosperous Ireland look for independence.
3. England plays on the divisions in Ireland according to her purpose and to suit her purpose.
4. Exceptional coercive law, one might say, has been the rule since Union.
I hope we will win liberty for Ireland without sacrificing any more lives...looking into the future I say that if the question of Ireland is not settled in a generous way, settled in a way that will meet the sentiments of the younger people, it will not be a lasting settlement...there are three or four solutions of the Irish question before the world. One of these is that Ireland should be set up as a sovereign independent nation...call it a Republic or a Kingdom as you will’
The Cork Examiner. October 23, 1918.
Dublin; The Lord Lieutenant, Viscount French, according to the Belfast Correspondent of the Evening News stated that he had no intention of resigning. This report waS in response to rumours which arose from an article in the Irish Times
‘The Viceroy is a soldier and a man of his word. It is well known that he made the enforcement of conscription - if the voluntary appeal should fail - a condition of his retention of office. The voluntary appeal has failed and there is no sign that conscription will be enforced. In these circumstances we must fear that Lord French may offer - if he has not already - his resignation to the government.’
The Lord Lieutenant announced a drive for 50,000 recruits by 1 October in June 1918, but by September 1918 only 5,050 men had been recruited.
New York: The celebrated Irish tenor, John McCormack, wrote to the Freeman’s Journal newspaper from New York City to extend his sympathies to the friends and relatives of the victims of the RMS Leinster catastrophe and offered his services to help ‘assuage the sorrows’ of the bereaved. McCormack, along with his wife, had been deeply impacted by the disaster, which he characterised as the ‘most cold blooded murder’. It convinced him, and ‘all true Irishmen, that this is a holy war to save the world from slavery’. ‘All America is aflame with indignation’, his telegram stated, ‘and nothing but the utter annihilation of German autocracy and militarism will cause her [America’s] heroic sons to stay their triumphant march to Berlin.’
Mr Speaker: 'Members desiring to take their seats will please come to the table.'
Punch Magazine, 30 October 1918
Punch Magazine, 30 October 1918
23
London: House of Commons vote by 274 to 25 to allow women to become MP’s.
The prospect of women MPs in Westminster was the logical extension of the recent franchise reforms, but it was only confirmed by a vote in the House of Commons. Former Home Secretary, Herbert Samuel, said that it followed that if sex were not to be a bar against citizenship, it should not be a bar to participation in parliamentary life. Among the small number of opponents of the resolution was Sir F. Banbury, who said it was premature and that it ought to be seen what effect giving the vote to women has first. The change in the law was not expected to bring much change to the complexion of the House of Commons, however.
The Daily Telegraph has published a list of possible women candidates that does not extend to a dozen, while in jurisdictions around the world where women are eligible for entry to parliament, there has been no significant female number elected.
In the United States, where women have been for some time eligible for Congress, only one has been elected. And in Australia, where women are eligible for election to both houses of parliament, none had so far, been returned.
Many schools throughout Ireland closed as a result of the Spanish Flu epidemic.
Thomas Jones commenting on developments in Ireland wrote in his diary: ‘we must accept the fact of Irish Nationalist. It is regretable, it is unhistorical; in view of Ulster’s feeling it is even absurd. But it is a fact; the majority of Irishmen do think Ireland a nation and we must do the best we can in the circumstances. Nationalism connotes independence…but could Ireland – minus the six counties – be independent? Do the Irish themselves wish it? This seems doubtful. Would anythign short of independence do? Dominion Home Rule seems to me from the British point of view worse that independence. It leaves Ireland stil a burden, still a vexation, probably still discontented and disloyal, and therefore as dangerous as though independent…’
Thomas Jones. Whitehall Diary. Vol III – Ireland 1918-1925. Oxford University Press 1971. P11
Dublin: The jury at the inquest of one of the Leinster victims at the Kingstown Coroner’s Court appeared to place responsibility on the Admiralty for not providing an escort for the mail boats, particularly as the Chairman of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company had requested such support as far back as three years previously. The refusal of the Admiralty to grant such an escort had been described by the Irish Independent as a ‘foolhardy policy’ that now resulted in the loss of close on 500 lives. But the real blame for the Leinster disaster, according to Irish press opinion, rests with Germany.
The Irish Independent accused the Germans of committing one of the ‘foulest crimes against humanity: ‘The Lusitania was the first of her hideous landmarks in this war; the Leinster, we hope and pray, will be among the last. Both crimes were committed in Irish waters; from both of the stricken vessels the murdered bodies of men, women, and children were landed on Irish soil.’
German authorities issued a statement regretting the loss of innocent life, but stressing the difficulty of distinguishing between ships used for war and for civilian purposes.
For the staunchly unionist Belfast Newsletter, the disaster afforded an opportunity to tarnish the Sinn Féin reputation; an editorial in the days after the tragedy wondered if the Sinn Féiners will share the view of ‘their German friends’ that it was an ‘ordinary act of war’ and whether they will continue to look to them for deliverance from British rule.
Washington: Wilson commenting on German requests for an armistice: "If the Government of the United States must deal with the military masters and the monarchical autocrats of Germany now, or if it is likely to have to deal with them later in regard to the international obligations of the German Empire, it must demand not peace negotiations but surrender."
London: House of Commons vote by 274 to 25 to allow women to become MP’s.
The prospect of women MPs in Westminster was the logical extension of the recent franchise reforms, but it was only confirmed by a vote in the House of Commons. Former Home Secretary, Herbert Samuel, said that it followed that if sex were not to be a bar against citizenship, it should not be a bar to participation in parliamentary life. Among the small number of opponents of the resolution was Sir F. Banbury, who said it was premature and that it ought to be seen what effect giving the vote to women has first. The change in the law was not expected to bring much change to the complexion of the House of Commons, however.
The Daily Telegraph has published a list of possible women candidates that does not extend to a dozen, while in jurisdictions around the world where women are eligible for entry to parliament, there has been no significant female number elected.
In the United States, where women have been for some time eligible for Congress, only one has been elected. And in Australia, where women are eligible for election to both houses of parliament, none had so far, been returned.
Many schools throughout Ireland closed as a result of the Spanish Flu epidemic.
Thomas Jones commenting on developments in Ireland wrote in his diary: ‘we must accept the fact of Irish Nationalist. It is regretable, it is unhistorical; in view of Ulster’s feeling it is even absurd. But it is a fact; the majority of Irishmen do think Ireland a nation and we must do the best we can in the circumstances. Nationalism connotes independence…but could Ireland – minus the six counties – be independent? Do the Irish themselves wish it? This seems doubtful. Would anythign short of independence do? Dominion Home Rule seems to me from the British point of view worse that independence. It leaves Ireland stil a burden, still a vexation, probably still discontented and disloyal, and therefore as dangerous as though independent…’
Thomas Jones. Whitehall Diary. Vol III – Ireland 1918-1925. Oxford University Press 1971. P11
Dublin: The jury at the inquest of one of the Leinster victims at the Kingstown Coroner’s Court appeared to place responsibility on the Admiralty for not providing an escort for the mail boats, particularly as the Chairman of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company had requested such support as far back as three years previously. The refusal of the Admiralty to grant such an escort had been described by the Irish Independent as a ‘foolhardy policy’ that now resulted in the loss of close on 500 lives. But the real blame for the Leinster disaster, according to Irish press opinion, rests with Germany.
The Irish Independent accused the Germans of committing one of the ‘foulest crimes against humanity: ‘The Lusitania was the first of her hideous landmarks in this war; the Leinster, we hope and pray, will be among the last. Both crimes were committed in Irish waters; from both of the stricken vessels the murdered bodies of men, women, and children were landed on Irish soil.’
German authorities issued a statement regretting the loss of innocent life, but stressing the difficulty of distinguishing between ships used for war and for civilian purposes.
For the staunchly unionist Belfast Newsletter, the disaster afforded an opportunity to tarnish the Sinn Féin reputation; an editorial in the days after the tragedy wondered if the Sinn Féiners will share the view of ‘their German friends’ that it was an ‘ordinary act of war’ and whether they will continue to look to them for deliverance from British rule.
Washington: Wilson commenting on German requests for an armistice: "If the Government of the United States must deal with the military masters and the monarchical autocrats of Germany now, or if it is likely to have to deal with them later in regard to the international obligations of the German Empire, it must demand not peace negotiations but surrender."
24
Italy begins the Battle of Vittorio-Veneto which was to force Austria-Hungary out of the war.
25
Bishop Keating of Northampton continued his American speaking tour addressing the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. There he remarked that "for the moment, indeed, the horizon is overclouded by maddening political intrigues which have put Ireland in a false position before the world...but this I can say, that the British public in general, and British Catholics in particular, are determined that the findings of the Irish Convention shall not remain a dead letter, and we shall give our support en-masse to the government when it incorporates those findings in a new and final Home Rule measure..."
Accompanying Keating were Shane Leslie and Monsignor Barnes, Chaplain at Oxford University who added 'Irish extremists have done much to throw back our hopes. The Sinn Fein party...have alienated English sympathies more than ever..for an Ireland alone, unprotected, outside the British Empire, I can see no future...'
Leslie, in an early version of political spin added 'Bishop Keating...would not have taken the opportunity tocome to this country unless he believed that he was in agreement with the majority of the Bishops in America upon the Irish question..'
Italy begins the Battle of Vittorio-Veneto which was to force Austria-Hungary out of the war.
25
Bishop Keating of Northampton continued his American speaking tour addressing the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. There he remarked that "for the moment, indeed, the horizon is overclouded by maddening political intrigues which have put Ireland in a false position before the world...but this I can say, that the British public in general, and British Catholics in particular, are determined that the findings of the Irish Convention shall not remain a dead letter, and we shall give our support en-masse to the government when it incorporates those findings in a new and final Home Rule measure..."
Accompanying Keating were Shane Leslie and Monsignor Barnes, Chaplain at Oxford University who added 'Irish extremists have done much to throw back our hopes. The Sinn Fein party...have alienated English sympathies more than ever..for an Ireland alone, unprotected, outside the British Empire, I can see no future...'
Leslie, in an early version of political spin added 'Bishop Keating...would not have taken the opportunity tocome to this country unless he believed that he was in agreement with the majority of the Bishops in America upon the Irish question..'
26
Germany: General Ludendorff declared the conditions of the Allies requiring a complete German surrender as unacceptable. He now demanded to resume the war which he himself had declared lost only one month earlier. The Imperial Government dismissed Ludendorff and replaced him with William Groener.
Dublin: The first use of the term ‘Soviet’ (revolutionary council of workers) in Ireland when a co-operative of locked out tailor’s pressers began in York Street, Dublin.
London: 2,225 deaths from influenza reported in the city for one week.
Alaska: The SS Princess Sophia sinks on Vanderbilt Reef near Juneau, Alaska; 353 people die in the greatest maritime disaster in the Pacific Northwest.
Washington: The war was now approaching its endgame. However, it remained unclear how hostilities would be concluded and on what terms. The US President, Woodrow Wilson, indicated that the only way in which the Allies might consider an armistice was if Germany were left in a position that made a renewal of hostilities impossible. He also indicated that if the Allies were to enter into negotiations, they must deal with the democratically elected representatives of the German people. If forced to deal with military authorities then America must insist on complete surrender.
These intimations from the White House followed the receipt of a diplomatic note in which Germany indicated that it accepted the terms of the peace laid down by President Wilson in his address to Congress on 8 January, 1918.
In a reply issued by Mr Lansing for the American Government, and conveyed through the Swiss Charges D’Affaires in Washington, the Americans, while acknowledging that the Germans had made some democratic constitutional changes, remain sceptical: ‘It does not appear that the principle of a Government responsible to the German people has yet been fully worked out, or that guarantees either exist or are in contemplation that the alterations of principle and of practice now partially agreed upon will be permanent.’
While the political machinations were ongoing, the military campaign continued to the Allies advantage.
Germany: General Ludendorff declared the conditions of the Allies requiring a complete German surrender as unacceptable. He now demanded to resume the war which he himself had declared lost only one month earlier. The Imperial Government dismissed Ludendorff and replaced him with William Groener.
Dublin: The first use of the term ‘Soviet’ (revolutionary council of workers) in Ireland when a co-operative of locked out tailor’s pressers began in York Street, Dublin.
London: 2,225 deaths from influenza reported in the city for one week.
Alaska: The SS Princess Sophia sinks on Vanderbilt Reef near Juneau, Alaska; 353 people die in the greatest maritime disaster in the Pacific Northwest.
Washington: The war was now approaching its endgame. However, it remained unclear how hostilities would be concluded and on what terms. The US President, Woodrow Wilson, indicated that the only way in which the Allies might consider an armistice was if Germany were left in a position that made a renewal of hostilities impossible. He also indicated that if the Allies were to enter into negotiations, they must deal with the democratically elected representatives of the German people. If forced to deal with military authorities then America must insist on complete surrender.
These intimations from the White House followed the receipt of a diplomatic note in which Germany indicated that it accepted the terms of the peace laid down by President Wilson in his address to Congress on 8 January, 1918.
In a reply issued by Mr Lansing for the American Government, and conveyed through the Swiss Charges D’Affaires in Washington, the Americans, while acknowledging that the Germans had made some democratic constitutional changes, remain sceptical: ‘It does not appear that the principle of a Government responsible to the German people has yet been fully worked out, or that guarantees either exist or are in contemplation that the alterations of principle and of practice now partially agreed upon will be permanent.’
While the political machinations were ongoing, the military campaign continued to the Allies advantage.
27
Bishop Keating visited Cardinal O'Connell in Boston. There the Cardinal referred to the statements made by Keating and Barnes concerning Home Rule for Ireland and added 'We accept both these statements made by..eminently representative Englishmen, occupying at least for the moment some official position, as being the real voice of the real people of England'. The Cardinal added that he looked forward to the fulfilment of the Irish settlement mentioned by them as 'one superb act of splendid, generous and just recognition of the right' of the Irish people to some form of self-determination.
Hardly surprisingly, this set off alarm bells amongst the leadership of Clann na Gael and the Friends of Irish Freedom.
Bishop Keating visited Cardinal O'Connell in Boston. There the Cardinal referred to the statements made by Keating and Barnes concerning Home Rule for Ireland and added 'We accept both these statements made by..eminently representative Englishmen, occupying at least for the moment some official position, as being the real voice of the real people of England'. The Cardinal added that he looked forward to the fulfilment of the Irish settlement mentioned by them as 'one superb act of splendid, generous and just recognition of the right' of the Irish people to some form of self-determination.
Hardly surprisingly, this set off alarm bells amongst the leadership of Clann na Gael and the Friends of Irish Freedom.
28
Dublin: "Irishmen are no geniuses" according to George Bernard Shaw. Delivering a lecture on ‘Literature in Ireland’ at the Little Theatre on Dublin’s O’Connell Street, the writer and polemicist George Bernard Shaw (opposite) observed how the limits of Irishmen had been revealed by the recent deliberations of the Irish Convention, the assembly which had been set by the British government to consider the constitutional and other questions arising from the future self-government of Ireland.
To applause in the theatre, Mr Shaw declared that the Convention had cured him of any belief that Irishmen had a certain political or religious genius. The majority of the Convention’s membership had allowed the two minorities to ‘pack up and go away with the spoils which the majority had won’.
Ireland was nevertheless an extraordinary place, Mr Shaw admitted, and he observed how much of its modern literature was the product of a kind of cross-fertilisation. Much of the poetry connected to the Rising, he continued, was not particularly Irish and neither was a lot of Gaelic League and Sinn Féin literature.
‘Irishmen alleged they were much superior to any other men on the face of the earth’, Shaw claimed, ‘and that they had all the qualities which made other men famous and endeared them to mankind. That was nonsense. In many ways the Irish were a futile people and their misfortunes were in a large part, the fault of their own character.’
Perhaps, he added, if they travelled to other countries they would find that there was ‘not such good reason to be so proud and boastful about Ireland, and that other people had grievances, too, but had the sense to conceal them’.
Germany: Kiel mutiny by German sailors.
Washington: October 1918 turns out to be the deadliest month in America's history as 195,000 Americans die from influenza
Prague: Czechoslovakia declares its independence from Austria-Hungary.
Dublin: "Irishmen are no geniuses" according to George Bernard Shaw. Delivering a lecture on ‘Literature in Ireland’ at the Little Theatre on Dublin’s O’Connell Street, the writer and polemicist George Bernard Shaw (opposite) observed how the limits of Irishmen had been revealed by the recent deliberations of the Irish Convention, the assembly which had been set by the British government to consider the constitutional and other questions arising from the future self-government of Ireland.
To applause in the theatre, Mr Shaw declared that the Convention had cured him of any belief that Irishmen had a certain political or religious genius. The majority of the Convention’s membership had allowed the two minorities to ‘pack up and go away with the spoils which the majority had won’.
Ireland was nevertheless an extraordinary place, Mr Shaw admitted, and he observed how much of its modern literature was the product of a kind of cross-fertilisation. Much of the poetry connected to the Rising, he continued, was not particularly Irish and neither was a lot of Gaelic League and Sinn Féin literature.
‘Irishmen alleged they were much superior to any other men on the face of the earth’, Shaw claimed, ‘and that they had all the qualities which made other men famous and endeared them to mankind. That was nonsense. In many ways the Irish were a futile people and their misfortunes were in a large part, the fault of their own character.’
Perhaps, he added, if they travelled to other countries they would find that there was ‘not such good reason to be so proud and boastful about Ireland, and that other people had grievances, too, but had the sense to conceal them’.
Germany: Kiel mutiny by German sailors.
Washington: October 1918 turns out to be the deadliest month in America's history as 195,000 Americans die from influenza
Prague: Czechoslovakia declares its independence from Austria-Hungary.
29
The Danish airline Det Danske Luftfartselskab, (Danish Air Lines) – the oldest airline that still exists – is founded. It will begin flight operations in August 1920.
30
Turkey surrenders. Germany appeals for an armistice as German forces retreat throughout France and Belgium.
The Danish airline Det Danske Luftfartselskab, (Danish Air Lines) – the oldest airline that still exists – is founded. It will begin flight operations in August 1920.
30
Turkey surrenders. Germany appeals for an armistice as German forces retreat throughout France and Belgium.
31
Dublin: Dr Kathleen Lynn was arrested at her home at 9 Belgrave Road, Rathmines. Dr Lynn, who has been ‘on the run’ since the general round-up of Sinn Féin leaders in May, was arrested under the Defence of the Realm Act. Two plain clothes and one uniformed policeman were involved in her arrest and she was taken to Arbour Hill Barracks. She was subsequently released, but only after an intervention on her behalf was made by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, who urged that she be in a position to provide her medical services in dealing with the ongoing influenza epidemic in the city and county |
The Evening Star, Washington. October 31, 1918
Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix ( 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the First World War and Weimar Republic. Along with George Grosz, he is widely considered one of the most important artists of the Neue Sachlichkeit. More details here.
1
Western Front: Americans breakthrough German defences at Meuse.
Spain: First Spanish Flu cases in Spain, where reports on the disease are published freely due to the lack of wartime censorship.
London: Maud Gonne McBride is released from Holloway Women's Prison.
Dublin: Labour, while earlier pledging to stand candidates in all constituencies, had come under increasing pressure from both it’s own membership and that of Sinn Fein, not to split the nationalist vote and so allow the Irish Parliamentary Party to make a late showing in the polls. In addition, loyalist Labour supporters in Ulster disagreed strongly with the pro-nationalist stance coming from Dublin. Sinn Fein, while in agreement that Labour should stand unopposed in four of the Dublin constituencies, nevertheless pressed for a pledge from the Labour candidates to support an independent Republic and abstain from Westminster. The entire matter was brought to a head when a special Labour conference was held with a decision on a complete withdrawal from the election to allow Labour voters to vote for alternative candidates and so ensure national unity. The conference supported the decision by 96 to 23.
There was some strong criticism of Labour as a result with many arguing the labour movement was throwing away any future role in an Irish Government and all because of conflicting demands from nationalist and loyalist Labour supporters.
Ulster Labour had taken direct action and set up the Ulster Unionist Labour Association with Sir Edward Carson as it’s first president.
Timothy Healy retires. The Irish Parliamentary party was preparing for the anticipated electoral contest by selecting its candidates to fight the various constituencies. Timothy Healy was not be among them. One of the party’s longest serving members, Healy had decided to retire. His career included 38 years as an MP and an often tempestuous relationship with his party. In a letter to William O’Brien, Healy wrote that he leaves with no regret and not from either ‘weariness’ or ‘sloth’ or ‘doubt’.
‘I simply want to give new methods a chance, where others have fallen short. I recant nothing; I renounce nothing; I regret nothing; and I have nothing but gratitude for those who undertake, in the new generation, to win for the country all that we have been unable to accomplish in the old.’
New York: Malbone Street Wreck: The worst rapid transit accident in world history occurs under the intersection of Malbone Street and Flatbush Avenue, in Brooklyn, New York City, with at least 93 dead.
Bank Notes circulating in Ireland, 1918.
Most people living in Britain at this time rarely used banknotes. This was partly due to a lack of availability of notes and the preferred widespread use of coinage, gold sovereigns and low denomination silver coinage such as the 2/6 and 1/ coins (the equivalent value today for a shilling is around £2.35/€2.70).
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the British Governments first financial priority was to withdraw gold from the circulating economy so that it could be put towards reserves for the national war effort. The habitual hoarding of gold and silver coin was habitual and widespread, impeding normal small payments. To ensure that people still had cash in their tills and pockets, the government opted to introduce paper money instead.
In Scotland & Ireland, banknotes were already widely used and accepted, but to make bank notes commonplace in Britain and in order to replace gold coins effectively, a large supply of notes had to be made available for values of £1 and 10 shillings. The Bank of England could not prepare and print the required number of notes quickly enough, so the government took the unprecedented step of issuing notes itself. These were formally named Treasury notes or, unofficially, 'Bradburys', after the signature they bore of Sir John Bradbury, permanent secretary to the Treasury. These notes would be legal tender, meaning that they had to be accepted when offered in payment of a debt; the creditor couldn’t hold out for gold.
Designs were drawn up over the weekend of 1-2 August 1914. They were delivered to the printer on Tuesday 4 August, the day Britain entered the war. The engraved vignette was borrowed from an existing one at the Royal Mint, and the notes were printed on postage stamp paper – the only ready supply available at the time. After two days of round-the-clock printing, £2.5m of new £1 notes were distributed to banks on Thursday 6 August 1914, ready for when they reopened on Friday. The newly printed £1 notes helped through the immediate crisis, and the 10/ notes – useful for smaller transactions – were ready a week later.
The legal tender notes issued by the British Treasury were Ten Shilling, £1 & £5 notes (however the £5 notes were rarely seen when you consider that a 10/ & £1 notes were the equivalent value of £23.50 & £47.00 in 2018.)
Bank Notes circulating in Ireland, 1918.
Most people living in Britain at this time rarely used banknotes. This was partly due to a lack of availability of notes and the preferred widespread use of coinage, gold sovereigns and low denomination silver coinage such as the 2/6 and 1/ coins (the equivalent value today for a shilling is around £2.35/€2.70).
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the British Governments first financial priority was to withdraw gold from the circulating economy so that it could be put towards reserves for the national war effort. The habitual hoarding of gold and silver coin was habitual and widespread, impeding normal small payments. To ensure that people still had cash in their tills and pockets, the government opted to introduce paper money instead.
In Scotland & Ireland, banknotes were already widely used and accepted, but to make bank notes commonplace in Britain and in order to replace gold coins effectively, a large supply of notes had to be made available for values of £1 and 10 shillings. The Bank of England could not prepare and print the required number of notes quickly enough, so the government took the unprecedented step of issuing notes itself. These were formally named Treasury notes or, unofficially, 'Bradburys', after the signature they bore of Sir John Bradbury, permanent secretary to the Treasury. These notes would be legal tender, meaning that they had to be accepted when offered in payment of a debt; the creditor couldn’t hold out for gold.
Designs were drawn up over the weekend of 1-2 August 1914. They were delivered to the printer on Tuesday 4 August, the day Britain entered the war. The engraved vignette was borrowed from an existing one at the Royal Mint, and the notes were printed on postage stamp paper – the only ready supply available at the time. After two days of round-the-clock printing, £2.5m of new £1 notes were distributed to banks on Thursday 6 August 1914, ready for when they reopened on Friday. The newly printed £1 notes helped through the immediate crisis, and the 10/ notes – useful for smaller transactions – were ready a week later.
The legal tender notes issued by the British Treasury were Ten Shilling, £1 & £5 notes (however the £5 notes were rarely seen when you consider that a 10/ & £1 notes were the equivalent value of £23.50 & £47.00 in 2018.)
Scotland & Ireland's experience of banknotes was very different from that in the rest of the then United Kingdom. Commercial banks in both areas (in Ireland, the Bank of Ireland, Belfast Bank, National Bank, Provincial Bank, Northern Bank and Ulster Bank) had been issuing banknotes for almost a century while English and Welsh banks did not. However after the start of the war and issue of the Treasury notes, both Irish and Scottish banknotes while legal currency in these areas, were not legal tender. This was a technicality that wouldn’t normally matter, but in a crisis such as war, there was a key distinction; legal tender is the only type of payment a creditor is obliged to accept for a debt. If Irish & Scottish notes weren’t legal tender, then customers could legally refuse them in payment from the banks, insisting instead on the equivalent in gold. In order to prevent this, the government quickly extended legal tender status to both the Irish & Scottish banknotes, with the caveat that at their respective head offices, banks were still obliged to pay in gold or Treasury banknotes.
Issued on this date was a new series of bank notes by the National Bank in Ireland - The National Bank £1 appears below.
(The National Bank was formed in 1834 in London by Daniel O’Connell and the Nationalist Party as The National Bank of Ireland. The first Branch opened in Carrick on Suir in January 1835 and the first Governor was Daniel O’Connell, a fact which earned the Bank the nickname of The Liberator’s Bank. The bank aimed itself at farmers and at country business outside Dublin. It expanded its branch network rapidly, but refrained from moving into Ulster to any significant degree as the province was then well covered by banks. In 1856 the Bank’s name was changed to The National Bank Ltd., as it commenced business in London. The National Bank issued its first notes in 1835. It issued Consolidated Banknotes in 1929, as well as its own Northern Ireland issue. In 1966 the Irish Business of the Bank was taken over by a new company called The National Bank of Ireland Ltd., which was set up as a subsidiary of The Bank of Ireland Group. The National Bank was subsequently taken over by the Bank of Ireland.)
Below: bank notes c. 1918 as issued by Bank Of Ireland (£1), Belfast Bank (£20), Northern Bank, (£1) and the Provincial Bank (£3).
More details of Irish banknotes available at the historical Irish bank note website Irish Paper Money here.
More details of Irish banknotes available at the historical Irish bank note website Irish Paper Money here.
2
Lloyd George claimed the right to solve the Irish Question by partition, effectively giving a mandate for control of the 6 northern counties to the Unionists. This early policy statement on the forthcoming election was contained in a letter to Bonar Law, November 2, 1918. (Daily Telegraph news clipping below)
Dublin: The Irish Party now issued an appeal to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to support the case for Irish self-determination. The meeting unanimously agreed that, given the present attitude of the British government towards Home Rule, an appeal to President Wilson to secure for Ireland the right of self-determination, as advocated by him for all small nations, was appropriate. It was also decided to appeal to the ‘Irish Race in America’ to urge them to exert their influence with the U.S. Government in support of Ireland’s case.
The Irish Party’s appeal contains a number of passages from President Wilson’s various speeches over the course of the Great War. Included was the following excerpt in which President Wilson stated: ‘Shall the military power of any nation, or group of nations, be suffered to determine the fortunes of peoples over whom they have no right to rule except the right of force?’ The Irish Party appeal, signed by all its MPs, concluded by emphasising the historic ties between the two countries. ‘We appeal to you, sir, because in every hour of our history our race has stood by the flag of your nation, and your nation has never refused us its aid, its sympathy, and its accord with our national aspirations.’
Washington: A press dispatch from Washington announced that Senator Phelan had presented to President Wilson a petition from the priests of the Catholic archdiocese of San Francisco requesting support of Ireland’s plea for self-determination. When McGarrity read of this in Philadelphia, he went to speak with Judge Cohalan in New York. The judge was aware that both Phelan and Wilson would settle for some form of Home Rule for Ireland, whereas the Friends of Irish Freedom and Clan na Gael wanted Ireland to be an independent Republic. The fact that prior to this statement, the clergy had been distinctly neutral on the matter of self-determination made both of them suspicious that some of the clergy may take political advice from Senator Phelan. Judge Cohalan wished to secure the support of the American clergy for Ireland's complete break from Britain and not to accept a half measure of Home Rule.
3
Austria-Hungary collapsed as Italian, British and French troops attacked from Italy & signed an armistice with the Allies.
Warsaw: Poland declares its independence from Russia.
German Revolution: Sailors in the German fleet at Kiel mutiny and throughout northern Germany soldiers and workers begin to establish revolutionary councils on the Russian soviet model.
Moscow: The Robespierre Monument, designed by Beatrice Yuryevna Sandomierz, is unveiled. One of the first monuments erected in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (later part of the Soviet Union) – just ahead of the first anniversary of the October Revolution, which had brought the Bolsheviks to power. It depicted Maximilien de Robespierre, a prominent figure of the French Revolution. commissioned by Lenin, Created in the context of the ongoing Russian Civil War and with the country in a state of war communism, there were few materials available to make the statue. Lacking bronze or marble, the monument was instead constructed using concrete, with hollow pipes running through it. This design proved frail, lasting only a few days. On the morning of 7 November only a pile of rubble remained. Over the following days different newspapers supplied varying versions as to why it collapsed, with Znamya Trudovoi Kommuny and others saying it was the work of "criminal" (counter-revolutionary) hands, and Izvestia stating the statue's demise was caused by improper construction.
4
Cork: A Cork Volunteer, Denis McNeilus was arrested following a raid on his lodgings in Leitrim Street during which he held the RIC off with a revolver, seriously injuring a Head Constable. Taken to Cork Jail he was held there until November 11th when the Cork Irish Volunteers mounted a rescue.
German Revolution: Wholesale mutiny in the German Navy spread to other sections of the German armed forces.
Lack of Communication starts division between Irish Americans
The divisive and fractious differences amongst Irish-America in 1919-1920 are believed to have originated on this date following what could only be described as a trivial incident.
On November 4th, it was decided by the National Executive of The Friends of Irish Freedom to hold a special meeting on December 10th for the purpose of promoting a programme calling for Irish Self-determination.
As it so happened, Joe McGarrity had also arranged for a mass meeting in Philadelphia on the same date, with Judge Goff serving as chairman.
Judge Cohalan hearing that Cardinal O’Connell of Boston was willing to speak at the New York meeting, extended an official invitation on behalf of the Friends of Irish Freedom. But before the Cardinal could speak in another diocese, an official clerical invitation from the New York diocese had to be made. Judge Cohalan requested an invitation be extended, but this was refused by the Vicar General of New York, Monsignor Mooney. The reasons became apparent years later, when it was revealed that the head of the New York archdiocese, Cardinal Hayes, was very much opposed to Cardinal O’Connell as the latter had expressed strong wishes that he wanted to be appointed to the New York area. Therefore, Monsignor Mooney with no wish to ruffle any clerical feathers, declined the request to offer an invitation to Cardinal O'Connell.
Not to be outmanoeuvred by clerical dislikes, Judge Cohalan called in the assistance of Judge Goff and Judge Gavegan, and met to persuade Monsignor Mooney to send an invitation to the Cardinal. The Judges, no doubt aware of the possibility of some major clerical explosion on the part of Cardinal Hayes, also met with him and received both his approval and an invitation.
Cardinal O’Connell, once he received both his lay and clerical invitations to speak in New York, accepted.
As John Devoy summarised succinctly in a letter to Judge Cohalan after the event:
‘I have always known that personal feeling and jealousy count for even more among big churchmen than among laymen...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.278
When Judge Goff heard that the Cardinal and the State Governor were to speak to the Friends of Irish Freedom meeting in New York, he cancelled his chairmanship engagement at the Joe MacGarrity meeting in Philadelphia and opted to remain in New York, where due to his seniority in the Irish movement there, he was automatically drafted as chairman of the meeting.
As a result, McGarrity blamed Cohalan for Judge Goff’s desertion of the Philadelphia meeting.
Cork: A Cork Volunteer, Denis McNeilus was arrested following a raid on his lodgings in Leitrim Street during which he held the RIC off with a revolver, seriously injuring a Head Constable. Taken to Cork Jail he was held there until November 11th when the Cork Irish Volunteers mounted a rescue.
German Revolution: Wholesale mutiny in the German Navy spread to other sections of the German armed forces.
Lack of Communication starts division between Irish Americans
The divisive and fractious differences amongst Irish-America in 1919-1920 are believed to have originated on this date following what could only be described as a trivial incident.
On November 4th, it was decided by the National Executive of The Friends of Irish Freedom to hold a special meeting on December 10th for the purpose of promoting a programme calling for Irish Self-determination.
As it so happened, Joe McGarrity had also arranged for a mass meeting in Philadelphia on the same date, with Judge Goff serving as chairman.
Judge Cohalan hearing that Cardinal O’Connell of Boston was willing to speak at the New York meeting, extended an official invitation on behalf of the Friends of Irish Freedom. But before the Cardinal could speak in another diocese, an official clerical invitation from the New York diocese had to be made. Judge Cohalan requested an invitation be extended, but this was refused by the Vicar General of New York, Monsignor Mooney. The reasons became apparent years later, when it was revealed that the head of the New York archdiocese, Cardinal Hayes, was very much opposed to Cardinal O’Connell as the latter had expressed strong wishes that he wanted to be appointed to the New York area. Therefore, Monsignor Mooney with no wish to ruffle any clerical feathers, declined the request to offer an invitation to Cardinal O'Connell.
Not to be outmanoeuvred by clerical dislikes, Judge Cohalan called in the assistance of Judge Goff and Judge Gavegan, and met to persuade Monsignor Mooney to send an invitation to the Cardinal. The Judges, no doubt aware of the possibility of some major clerical explosion on the part of Cardinal Hayes, also met with him and received both his approval and an invitation.
Cardinal O’Connell, once he received both his lay and clerical invitations to speak in New York, accepted.
As John Devoy summarised succinctly in a letter to Judge Cohalan after the event:
‘I have always known that personal feeling and jealousy count for even more among big churchmen than among laymen...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.278
When Judge Goff heard that the Cardinal and the State Governor were to speak to the Friends of Irish Freedom meeting in New York, he cancelled his chairmanship engagement at the Joe MacGarrity meeting in Philadelphia and opted to remain in New York, where due to his seniority in the Irish movement there, he was automatically drafted as chairman of the meeting.
As a result, McGarrity blamed Cohalan for Judge Goff’s desertion of the Philadelphia meeting.
5
London: the Allies agreed to take up negotiations for a truce, now also demanding reparation payments.
Dublin: Despite the imprisonment of many of its leaders, there was a large attendance at Sinn Féin’s annual convention at the Mansion House in Dublin. Party president, Éamon de Valera, currently being held in an English jail, was re-elected alongside his fellow officers.
The event was overseen by the acting-president, Fr Michael O’Flanagan, who read out messages of support from two bishops – the Most Rev. Dr Hallinan and the Most Rev. Dr Fogarty. Both prelates wished the party every success, the former remarking upon the futility of parliamentary action and urging the withdrawal of Irish MPs from Westminster. Harry Boland, who read the reports of the officers and directors, noted that since the arrest of the party’s leaders, the focus of Sinn Fein’s work has been confined to organisation, election propaganda and food conservation, and claimed that conscription had so far been defeated by Sinn Féin. The report from the Elections Director stated that in a general election, which is expected soon, Sinn Féin could win 80 seats.
Among the resolutions adopted was one put forward by Piaras Béaslaí which demanded, in view of the U.S. proposals for peace, ‘absolute Irish independence, the evacuation of Ireland by British military forces and the release of all Irish political prisoners’. The resolution is to be sent to the U.S. Ambassador in London for transmission to President Wilson.
The Ard-Fheis also heard Austin Stack, imprisoned in Belfast Jail. A letter from Mr Stack was read in which he referred to the ongoing influenza epidemic and how 112 men were now under doctor’s care, some in a serious condition. Stack highlighted also the want of proper medical attention – ‘There is no such thing as a nurse in this establishment’, he wrote.
House of Commons:
Meanwhile in the House of Commons, a motion placed before the parliament by John Dillon, Irish Party leader, which urged the British government to settle the Irish question in accordance with President Wilson’s formula for self-determination for nations, was rejected by 196 votes to 113. Below is the Daily Telegraph reporting of proceedings in Parliament.
Reacting to the result of the vote, the Cork Examiner has called it a repudiation by the government of its obligations to Ireland, and of its pledges to the Irish people. In the course of the debate, T.P. O’Connor described the motion as an ‘acid test’ for members on behalf of small nationalities.
Irish Nationalist MP T.P.O'Connor proposed that Britain should not be permitted to enter the Peace Conference until Home Rule was granted to Ireland. Dillon commented on Carson's silence by declaring that he was now 'King Carson and lord and master of Ireland'. Carson responded quickly across the house with 'May I say that this is the tenth year of my reign?' - the exchange proved to be a useful reminder that the Liberals as well as the Tories had failed to find a workable and acceptable solution to Ulster. O'Connor's proposal while supported by 115 MPs was defeated by a margin of 81.
Naturally, Punch magazine took full opportunity to lampoon both Carson and T.P.
London: the Allies agreed to take up negotiations for a truce, now also demanding reparation payments.
Dublin: Despite the imprisonment of many of its leaders, there was a large attendance at Sinn Féin’s annual convention at the Mansion House in Dublin. Party president, Éamon de Valera, currently being held in an English jail, was re-elected alongside his fellow officers.
The event was overseen by the acting-president, Fr Michael O’Flanagan, who read out messages of support from two bishops – the Most Rev. Dr Hallinan and the Most Rev. Dr Fogarty. Both prelates wished the party every success, the former remarking upon the futility of parliamentary action and urging the withdrawal of Irish MPs from Westminster. Harry Boland, who read the reports of the officers and directors, noted that since the arrest of the party’s leaders, the focus of Sinn Fein’s work has been confined to organisation, election propaganda and food conservation, and claimed that conscription had so far been defeated by Sinn Féin. The report from the Elections Director stated that in a general election, which is expected soon, Sinn Féin could win 80 seats.
Among the resolutions adopted was one put forward by Piaras Béaslaí which demanded, in view of the U.S. proposals for peace, ‘absolute Irish independence, the evacuation of Ireland by British military forces and the release of all Irish political prisoners’. The resolution is to be sent to the U.S. Ambassador in London for transmission to President Wilson.
The Ard-Fheis also heard Austin Stack, imprisoned in Belfast Jail. A letter from Mr Stack was read in which he referred to the ongoing influenza epidemic and how 112 men were now under doctor’s care, some in a serious condition. Stack highlighted also the want of proper medical attention – ‘There is no such thing as a nurse in this establishment’, he wrote.
House of Commons:
Meanwhile in the House of Commons, a motion placed before the parliament by John Dillon, Irish Party leader, which urged the British government to settle the Irish question in accordance with President Wilson’s formula for self-determination for nations, was rejected by 196 votes to 113. Below is the Daily Telegraph reporting of proceedings in Parliament.
Reacting to the result of the vote, the Cork Examiner has called it a repudiation by the government of its obligations to Ireland, and of its pledges to the Irish people. In the course of the debate, T.P. O’Connor described the motion as an ‘acid test’ for members on behalf of small nationalities.
Irish Nationalist MP T.P.O'Connor proposed that Britain should not be permitted to enter the Peace Conference until Home Rule was granted to Ireland. Dillon commented on Carson's silence by declaring that he was now 'King Carson and lord and master of Ireland'. Carson responded quickly across the house with 'May I say that this is the tenth year of my reign?' - the exchange proved to be a useful reminder that the Liberals as well as the Tories had failed to find a workable and acceptable solution to Ulster. O'Connor's proposal while supported by 115 MPs was defeated by a margin of 81.
Naturally, Punch magazine took full opportunity to lampoon both Carson and T.P.
Jackie the South African Chacma Baboon Another chance encounter with a piece of lost history was this clipping from the Daily Telegraph of November 9, 1918. Detailing some of the attractions of the forthcoming annual Lord Mayor's parade in the City of London, included this excerpt of some captured 77mm German guns and 'Jackie, the baboon (twice wounded in action': Amidst the war reporting and strident editorials on Ireland (opposite), the story of a twice wounded baboon was worth researching a little further.
The most unlikely military recruit during the war was a South African Chacma baboon named Jackie, who served in the 3rd South African Infantry Regiment. Jackie started out as a pet to a South African farmer, Albert Marr. Marr found the orphaned young baboon on his farm near Pretoria and decided to adopt and train him as a member of the family. Jackie became quite accustomed to life in the Marr household until 1915 when Albert was conscripted to South African forces preparing to fight in France. Unwilling to leave his pet behind, he asked his superiors if Jackie, too, could join the army. Much to everyone’s surprise, they said yes. Assigned to the 3rd South African Infantry Regiment with his master, Jackie became the infantry mascot and was treated just like all of the other soldiers. He was given a uniform, complete with buttons and regimental badges, a cap, a pay book, and his own set of rations. He was quickly trained to act like all of the other soldiers. When he saw a superior officer pass by he would stand and salute them correctly. He would also light cigarettes for his fellow officers and stand sentry, a job he excelled at due to his heightened sense of smell and hearing. During service in France, both Marr and Jackie was seriously wounded by a German shell. Both were removed via stretcher to a field dressing station and the more seriously injured Jackie was taken to a field hospital where the mascot's leg was amputated. Remarkably, Jackie recovered and was afterwards awarded a medal for valour, as well as promotion from private to corporal. Albert however, remained a Private.
Both Marr and Jackie next went to Britain where they appeared in various Red Cross fundraising drives through the country including the Lord Mayor's Show in 1918. With war's end, Jackie returned to South Africa with Marr and both were honourably discharged and pensioned at the Maitland Dispersal Camp in Cape Town. Returning to the family farm, Jackie lived on in retirement until his death in 1921. Albert lived to the age of 84, passing away in 1973. To this day, Jackie the baboon is the only baboon to have achieved the rank of Private & later Corporal in the South African Infantry, as well as the only baboon to fight in World War I. |
6
Western Front: German forces withdraws troops across the Meuse.
Dublin: "Churches, theatres, and cinemas may all be forced to close in an effort to stop the spread of influenza in Dublin" according to the Superintendent Medical Officer for Health in the city, Sir Charles Cameron. Many schools had already been closed.
The number of deaths from influenza in Dublin during the first week of November was 210, up from 123 the week before. Deaths from pneumonia rose from 55 to 72 in the same two-week period. The current Dublin death-rate of 72.3 per 1,000 is the highest in Cameron's memory.
Drogheda was reported to be even worse than Dublin, as is the seaside town of Bray. The epidemic in Limerick showed no sign of abating, the situation not helped by the fact that two medical practitioners confined to their homes. Furthermore, in one hospital, most of the nurses are incapacitated by the disease. In Waterford, one of the latest victims was the former mayor of the city, Dr J.J. O’Sullivan. In Derry there was an epidemic among factory workers. Bank staff had been similarly affected. More than 100 prisoners in Belfast Jail were reported to have been impacted, a development that raised questions about how the authorities dealt with the first sufferers. Reports indicate that the affected men had not been provided with sufficient covering at night, are left to lie on plank beds and are provided with a diet of bread and margarine. The Irish Independent has urged that prisoners suffering from the disease be treated with humanity, echoing a call from the Lord Mayor of Dublin that they be considered as ‘Christians instead of wild beasts’.
7
Socialists declare a Republic in Bavaria.
The Anglo-French Declaration is signed between France and the United Kingdom, agreeing to implement a "complete and final liberation" of countries that had been part of the Ottoman Empire.
Liam de Roiste in his diaries recorded the Sinn Fein candidate to run in Cork South East general election:
Socialists declare a Republic in Bavaria.
The Anglo-French Declaration is signed between France and the United Kingdom, agreeing to implement a "complete and final liberation" of countries that had been part of the Ottoman Empire.
Liam de Roiste in his diaries recorded the Sinn Fein candidate to run in Cork South East general election:
Diarmuid Lynch has been selected in S.E. Cork to fill T.M.Healy’s place.
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 3
8
Berlin: The German army withdraws its support of the Kaiser.
The Armistice was the result of a hurried and desperate process. The German delegation headed by Matthias Erzberger crossed the front line in five cars and was escorted for ten hours across the devastated war zone of Northern France, arriving on the morning of 8 November. They were then entrained and taken to the secret destination, aboard Ferdinand Foch's private train parked in a railway siding in the forest of Compiègne.
Foch appeared only twice in the three days of negotiations: on the first day, to ask the German delegation what they wanted, and on the last day, to see to the signatures. The Germans were handed the list of Allied demands and given 72 hours to agree. The German delegation discussed the Allied terms not with Foch, but with other French and Allied officers. The Armistice amounted to complete German demilitarization with few promises made by the Allies in return. The naval blockade of Germany was not completely lifted until complete peace terms could be agreed upon.
There was no question of negotiation. The Germans were able to correct a few impossible demands (for example, the decommissioning of more submarines than their fleet possessed), extended the schedule for the withdrawal and registered their formal protest at the harshness of Allied terms. But they were in no position to refuse to sign.
Berlin: The German army withdraws its support of the Kaiser.
The Armistice was the result of a hurried and desperate process. The German delegation headed by Matthias Erzberger crossed the front line in five cars and was escorted for ten hours across the devastated war zone of Northern France, arriving on the morning of 8 November. They were then entrained and taken to the secret destination, aboard Ferdinand Foch's private train parked in a railway siding in the forest of Compiègne.
Foch appeared only twice in the three days of negotiations: on the first day, to ask the German delegation what they wanted, and on the last day, to see to the signatures. The Germans were handed the list of Allied demands and given 72 hours to agree. The German delegation discussed the Allied terms not with Foch, but with other French and Allied officers. The Armistice amounted to complete German demilitarization with few promises made by the Allies in return. The naval blockade of Germany was not completely lifted until complete peace terms could be agreed upon.
There was no question of negotiation. The Germans were able to correct a few impossible demands (for example, the decommissioning of more submarines than their fleet possessed), extended the schedule for the withdrawal and registered their formal protest at the harshness of Allied terms. But they were in no position to refuse to sign.
9
Berlin: Proclamation of German Republic by Philipp Scheidemann in Berlin on the Reichstag balcony
Mediteranean: British battleship HMS Britannia is sunk by a German submarine off Trafalgar with the loss of around fifty lives, the last major naval engagement of WWI.
Berlin: Proclamation of German Republic by Philipp Scheidemann in Berlin on the Reichstag balcony
Mediteranean: British battleship HMS Britannia is sunk by a German submarine off Trafalgar with the loss of around fifty lives, the last major naval engagement of WWI.
Dublin. The imminent end of the war was not expected to bring any immediate relief to the poorest of the country’s poor. The world is so short of food and other essentials, the Freeman’s Journal newspaper pointed out, that the current hardship being endured is set to continue. The newspaper editorial on the plight of the poor coincided with the ‘Day of the Dublin Poor’ when the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) made its public appeal for funds to help alleviate the sufferings caused by acute want in the city. There was fear, too, that those sufferings may actually increase in the coming months as troops demobilise, workers return, unemployment increases, and winter arrives. The resources of the SVP had already been stretched as a consequence of the influenza epidemic.
The Freeman’s Journal urged that alongside the ‘fireworks and joviality’ that the end of the war will bring, ‘the good men and good women will try to complete the peace by bringing comfort to those whom the war has stricken and who are in hunger and suffering’.
The Freeman’s Journal urged that alongside the ‘fireworks and joviality’ that the end of the war will bring, ‘the good men and good women will try to complete the peace by bringing comfort to those whom the war has stricken and who are in hunger and suffering’.
10
Germany: Kaiser Wilhelm II, abdicated and fled Germany together with his wife and household staff. Their possessions arrived later in a train of 50 carriages. PM Maximilian resigned and Friedrich Ebert became Chancellor of what was now a German Republic.
(Wilhelm first settled in Amerongen, where on 28 November he issued a belated statement of abdication from both the Prussian and imperial thrones, thus formally ending the Hohenzollerns' 400-year rule over Prussia. Accepting the reality that he had lost both of his crowns for good, he gave up his rights to "the throne of Prussia and to the German Imperial throne connected therewith." He also released his soldiers and officials in both Prussia and the empire from their oath of loyalty to him. He purchased a country house in the municipality of Doorn, known as Huis Doorn and moved in on 15 May 1920. This was to be his home for the remainder of his life. The Weimar Republic allowed Wilhelm to remove twenty-three railway wagons of furniture and a further twenty-seven containing packages of all sorts, one bearing a car and another a boa - all from the New Palace at Potsdam.)
Compeigne: The German Armistice negotiating team were shown newspapers from Paris to inform them that the Kaiser had abdicated. That same day, Erzberger was instructed to sign by Chancellor Ebert. The cabinet had earlier received a message from Hindenburg, requesting that the armistice be signed even if the Allied conditions could not be improved on.
Austria-Hungary: Kaiser Charles I abdicates.
New York: Dr William J Maloney heard of the announcement that Cardinal O Connell was to speak at the Friends of Irish Freedom meeting on December 10th and rushed to Judge Cohalan’s home where John Devoy, Richard Dalton and Diarmuid Lynch were discussing the Madison Square Garden meeting and other matters.
There, Dr, Maloney argued the case against the Cardinal speaking at the meeting, arguing ‘with great vehemence and pleaded against the coming of the Cardinal to speak. It would be a political blunder of far reaching consequences. It would make Clan na Gael the tail of the kite of the Catholic Church. It would give undue prominence to the Catholic Church in the Irish movement, and the effect on the American people would be disastrous... Maloney’s endeavour to suppress the clarion call of His Eminence of Boston failed as flatly as did the mission of Bishop Keating and Shane Leslie* in the broader phase..’
Diarmuid Lynch ‘"The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising" Mercier Press. 1957. P204.
* Shane Leslie: a first cousin of Winston Churchill, biographer of Dean Swift (who during his research found some of the Dean’s long lost library). Leslie spoke widely through the United States in the period 1918-1923 in a pro-British capacity.
Dr Maloney’s views were not those as expressed by Clan na Gael and Friends of Irish Freedom and this was made clear to him.
Shortly after this, he met with the ‘greatly irritated McGarrity’ and he ‘carefully nursed the embers of discontent until McGarrity in a mood of deep resentment, blamed Judge Cohalan for the change in Justice Goff’s plans. Cohalan had nothing to do with this change, but McGarrity refused to listen to reason and thereafter regarded the Judge with suspicion and hostility..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.279
Charles Tansill in his book makes clear that Dr William J Maloney was :
‘an adroit schemer with a smooth tongue and a fluent pen. He aspired to a leading role in the part that America would play in he struggle for Self-determination for Ireland....in 1917 and 1918, Maloney pretended to be a warm admirer of Judge Cohalan...later he believed it was to his interest to break with the Judge, and his criticisms were petty and unfounded. In July 1921...he claimed to have written the press statement which defended Judge Cohalan against the false accusations of Secretary of State, Lansing. This statement was signed by the Judge, and the Cohalan manuscripts give evidence to show that Maloney had nothing to do with its preparation. Maloney was an intimate friend of Dr Patrick McCartan and had a great deal to do with slanting the narrative. ‘With De Valera in America’ against Judge Cohalan. McCartan was an inept imitation of Maloney, with little of his talent for intrigue and none of his ability to talk and write with a semblance of sincerity...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.278-279.
John Devoy and Judge Cohalan were convinced however, that the self-determination policy as laid down by President Wilson would be the most effective policy to pursue at that particular time. It was being re-iterated by the leaders of the Republic, and it was widely believed that if the policy of self-determination was applied to Ireland, there would be an overwhelming vote in favour of sovereign independence for an Irish Republic.
The future battle lines were now being drawn as Joe McGarrity and Dr’s McCartan and Maloney feared that too much insistence on self-determination would be a desertion of the Republican policy and they wished to re-word the Resolutions passed so that these would demand recognition of the Irish Republic by the United States Government and the other nations assembled at the Peace Conference.
Many years later these appear as little more than semantics, but this difference of opinion in a powerful lobby group that was Irish America, was to have widespread repercussions.
Germany: Kaiser Wilhelm II, abdicated and fled Germany together with his wife and household staff. Their possessions arrived later in a train of 50 carriages. PM Maximilian resigned and Friedrich Ebert became Chancellor of what was now a German Republic.
(Wilhelm first settled in Amerongen, where on 28 November he issued a belated statement of abdication from both the Prussian and imperial thrones, thus formally ending the Hohenzollerns' 400-year rule over Prussia. Accepting the reality that he had lost both of his crowns for good, he gave up his rights to "the throne of Prussia and to the German Imperial throne connected therewith." He also released his soldiers and officials in both Prussia and the empire from their oath of loyalty to him. He purchased a country house in the municipality of Doorn, known as Huis Doorn and moved in on 15 May 1920. This was to be his home for the remainder of his life. The Weimar Republic allowed Wilhelm to remove twenty-three railway wagons of furniture and a further twenty-seven containing packages of all sorts, one bearing a car and another a boa - all from the New Palace at Potsdam.)
Compeigne: The German Armistice negotiating team were shown newspapers from Paris to inform them that the Kaiser had abdicated. That same day, Erzberger was instructed to sign by Chancellor Ebert. The cabinet had earlier received a message from Hindenburg, requesting that the armistice be signed even if the Allied conditions could not be improved on.
Austria-Hungary: Kaiser Charles I abdicates.
New York: Dr William J Maloney heard of the announcement that Cardinal O Connell was to speak at the Friends of Irish Freedom meeting on December 10th and rushed to Judge Cohalan’s home where John Devoy, Richard Dalton and Diarmuid Lynch were discussing the Madison Square Garden meeting and other matters.
There, Dr, Maloney argued the case against the Cardinal speaking at the meeting, arguing ‘with great vehemence and pleaded against the coming of the Cardinal to speak. It would be a political blunder of far reaching consequences. It would make Clan na Gael the tail of the kite of the Catholic Church. It would give undue prominence to the Catholic Church in the Irish movement, and the effect on the American people would be disastrous... Maloney’s endeavour to suppress the clarion call of His Eminence of Boston failed as flatly as did the mission of Bishop Keating and Shane Leslie* in the broader phase..’
Diarmuid Lynch ‘"The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising" Mercier Press. 1957. P204.
* Shane Leslie: a first cousin of Winston Churchill, biographer of Dean Swift (who during his research found some of the Dean’s long lost library). Leslie spoke widely through the United States in the period 1918-1923 in a pro-British capacity.
Dr Maloney’s views were not those as expressed by Clan na Gael and Friends of Irish Freedom and this was made clear to him.
Shortly after this, he met with the ‘greatly irritated McGarrity’ and he ‘carefully nursed the embers of discontent until McGarrity in a mood of deep resentment, blamed Judge Cohalan for the change in Justice Goff’s plans. Cohalan had nothing to do with this change, but McGarrity refused to listen to reason and thereafter regarded the Judge with suspicion and hostility..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.279
Charles Tansill in his book makes clear that Dr William J Maloney was :
‘an adroit schemer with a smooth tongue and a fluent pen. He aspired to a leading role in the part that America would play in he struggle for Self-determination for Ireland....in 1917 and 1918, Maloney pretended to be a warm admirer of Judge Cohalan...later he believed it was to his interest to break with the Judge, and his criticisms were petty and unfounded. In July 1921...he claimed to have written the press statement which defended Judge Cohalan against the false accusations of Secretary of State, Lansing. This statement was signed by the Judge, and the Cohalan manuscripts give evidence to show that Maloney had nothing to do with its preparation. Maloney was an intimate friend of Dr Patrick McCartan and had a great deal to do with slanting the narrative. ‘With De Valera in America’ against Judge Cohalan. McCartan was an inept imitation of Maloney, with little of his talent for intrigue and none of his ability to talk and write with a semblance of sincerity...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.278-279.
John Devoy and Judge Cohalan were convinced however, that the self-determination policy as laid down by President Wilson would be the most effective policy to pursue at that particular time. It was being re-iterated by the leaders of the Republic, and it was widely believed that if the policy of self-determination was applied to Ireland, there would be an overwhelming vote in favour of sovereign independence for an Irish Republic.
The future battle lines were now being drawn as Joe McGarrity and Dr’s McCartan and Maloney feared that too much insistence on self-determination would be a desertion of the Republican policy and they wished to re-word the Resolutions passed so that these would demand recognition of the Irish Republic by the United States Government and the other nations assembled at the Peace Conference.
Many years later these appear as little more than semantics, but this difference of opinion in a powerful lobby group that was Irish America, was to have widespread repercussions.
November 11, 1918. Armistice
The results of the Armistice would filter down throughout the rest of the twentieth century, often with disastrous and terrible consequences.
Compiegne: The Armistice was agreed at 5:00 a.m. on 11 November, to come into effect at 11:00 a.m. Paris time (noon German time), for which reason the occasion is sometimes referred to as "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month". Signatures were made between 5:12 a.m. and 5:20 a.m., Paris time.
For the Allies, the personnel involved were all military. The two signatories were: Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch, the Allied supreme commander and First Sea Lord Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss, the British representative. Other members of the delegation included: General Maxime Weygand, Foch's chief of staff (later French commander-in-chief in 1940), Rear-Admiral George Hope, Deputy First Sea Lord and Captain Jack Marriott, British naval officer, Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord.
For Germany, the four signatories were: Matthias Erzberger, a civilian politician. Count Alfred von Oberndorff from the Foreign Ministry, Major General Detlof von Winterfeldt, Imperial Army and Captain Ernst Vanselow, Imperial Navy.
Above: depiction of the six signatories of the Armistice. From left to right : German Admiral Ernst Vanselow, German Count Alfred von Oberndorff of the Foreign Ministry, German General Detlof von Winterfeldt (with helmet), British naval officer Captain Jack Marriott, and standing in front of the table, Matthias Erzberger, head of the German delegation. Behind the table are two British naval officers, Rear-Admiral George Hope, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss and the French representatives, Marshal Ferdinand Foch (standing), and General Maxime Weygand.
Below: The Armistice Agreement and the replica carriage in which it was signed.
Below: The Armistice Agreement and the replica carriage in which it was signed.
The armistice was signed in a carriage of Foch's private train, CIWL #2419 (Compiègne Wagon). It was later put back into regular service with the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, but after a short period it was withdrawn to be attached to the French presidential train.
From April 1921 to April 1927, it was on exhibition in the Cour des Invalides in Paris. In November 1927, it was ceremonially returned to the forest in the exact spot where the Armistice was signed. Marshal Foch, General Weygand and many others were present as it was placed in a specially constructed building: the Clairière de l’Armistice. There it remained, a monument to the defeat of the Kaiser's Germany, until 22 June 1940, when swastika-bedecked German staff cars bearing Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop and others swept into the Clairière and, in that same carriage, demanded and received the surrender armistice from France. During the Occupation of France, the Clairière de l’Armistice was destroyed and the carriage taken to Berlin, where it was exhibited in the Lustgarten. After the Allied advance into Germany in early 1945, the carriage was removed by the Germans for safe keeping to the town of Ohrdruf, but as an American armoured column entered the town, the detachment of the SS guarding it set it ablaze, and it was destroyed. Some pieces were however preserved by private persons; they are also exhibited at Compiègne. After the war, the Compiègne site was restored, but not until Armistice Day 1950 was a replacement carriage, correct in every detail, re-dedicated: an identical Compagnie des Wagon-Lits carriage, no. 2439, built in 1913 in the same batch as the original and present in 1918, was renumbered no. 2419D. Two relics of the original signing are exposed at the Musée de l'Armée in Paris: The pen used to sign the Armistice, saved by a French officer before the German advance forced his unit to leave the Clairière zone, and an ashtray which a person present at the signing in 1918 had pocketed as a souvenir. |
The British public were notified of the armistice by a subjoined official communiqué issued from the Press Bureau at 10:20 am, when British Prime Minister David Lloyd George announced: "The armistice was signed at five o'clock this morning, and hostilities are to cease on all fronts at 11 a.m. to-day." An official communique was published by the United States at 2:30 pm: "In accordance with the terms of the Armistice, hostilities on the fronts of the American armies were suspended at eleven o'clock this morning."
News of the armistice being signed was officially announced towards 9 am in Paris. One hour later, Foch, accompanied by a British admiral, presented himself at the Ministry of War, where he was immediately received by Georges Clemenceau, the Prime Minister of France. At 10:50 am, Foch issued this general order: "Hostilities will cease on the whole front as from November 11 at 11 o'clock French time The Allied troops will not, until further order, go beyond the line reached on that date and at that hour."
Five minutes later, Clemenceau, Foch and the British admiral went to the Élysée Palace. At the first shot fired from the Eiffel Tower, the Ministry of War and the Élysée Palace displayed flags, while bells around Paris rang. Five hundred students gathered in front of the Ministry and called upon Clemenceau, who appeared on the balcony. Clemenceau exclaimed "Vive la France!"—the crowd echoed him. At 11:00 am, the first peace-gunshot was fired from Fort Mont-Valérien, which told the population of Paris that the armistice was concluded, but the population were already aware of it from official circles and newspapers.
Although the information about the imminent ceasefire had spread among the forces at the front in the hours before, fighting in many sections of the front continued right until the appointed hour.
Many artillery units continued to fire on German targets to avoid having to haul away their spare ammunition. The Allies also wished to ensure that, should fighting restart, they would be in the most favourable position. Consequently, there were 10,944 casualties of which 2,738 men died on the last day of the war.
An example of the determination of the Allies to maintain pressure until the last minute, but also to adhere strictly to the Armistice terms, was Battery 4 of the US Navy's long-range 14-inch railway guns firing its last shot at 10:57:30 am from the Verdun area, timed to land far behind the German front line just before the scheduled Armistice.
Augustin Trébuchon was the last Frenchman to die when he was shot on his way to tell fellow soldiers, who were attempting an assault across the Meuse river, that hot soup would be served after the ceasefire. He was killed at 10:50 am.
The last soldier from the UK to die, George Edwin Ellison of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers, was killed earlier that morning at around 9:30 am while scouting on the outskirts of Mons, Belgium.
Ellison was born in York, and served as a regular solider in the British Army until 1912. After he left he worked in coal mines outside of Leeds. With the outbreak of the war he rejoined the army, and was posted to the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. Ellison fought the first Battle of Mons in 1914, and was active in uniform throughout the war. After four years of fighting across the western front, Ellison and the 5th Royal Lancers found themselves back in Mons as the armistice approached. Patrolling in woods on the outskirts of Mons at around 9.30 am, Ellison was shot by a German sniper. In a strange symmetry that illustrates the sheer futility of the fighting between 1914 and 1918, and the meagre gains in territory that either side made, Ellison died not far from where the first casualty of the war, John Parr, was killed in August 1914. Both men are buried near to each other at the St Symphorien Military Cemetery, just outside Mons. Given the changing politics within Ireland and the transformation in Anglo-Irish relations following the War of Independence, Ellison’s 5th Royal Irish Lancers were disbanded, along with all other Irish regiments of the British Army in 1921.
It is estimated that 29 Irishmen died on 11 November 1918. These men died of illness or wounds inflicted in the weeks before; none of them were killed in action on Armistice Day itself. The last Irishman to die in World War One lived through Armistice Day. Private Thomas Farrell from Lucan and was also enlisted, like Ellison, with the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. Farrell was injured in fighting around Mons on 10 November 1918. Despite being treated, and clinging to life throughout Armistice Day, Farrell died on 12 November 1918.
The final Canadian, and Commonwealth, soldier to die, Private George Lawrence Price, was shot and killed by a sniper while part of a force advancing into the town of Ville-sur-Haine just two minutes before the armistice to the north of Mons at 10:58 am, to be recognised as one of the last killed with a monument to his name.
And finally, American Henry Gunther is generally recognised as the last soldier killed in action in World War I. He was killed 60 seconds before the armistice came into force while charging astonished German troops who were aware the Armistice was nearly upon them. He had been despondent over his recent reduction in rank and was apparently trying to redeem his reputation.
At 11 am there was some spontaneous fraternization between the two sides. But in general, reactions were muted. A British corporal reported: "...the Germans came from their trenches, bowed to us and then went away. That was it. There was nothing with which we could celebrate, except cookies."
On the Allied side, euphoria and exultation were rare. There was some cheering and applause, but the dominant feeling was silence and emptiness after 52 exhausting months of war.
Below: November 1, 2018: London's Imperial War Museum released a film recording the last minutes of the war when the guns finally fell silent. This is a surviving recording made on the morning of the Armistice of a primitive but effective military technique known as 'sound ranging'. This was a recent innovation which embedded small technical groups with Allied artillery on the front lines. These groups used early seismographic equipment to detect and then triangulate enemy artillery locations, so that enemy gun emplacements could then be accurately engaged and destroyed.
The sound production company Coda to Coda was commissioned by the IWM to use this archive film strip of the guns shelling at 10:58 A.M. on November 11, 1918, then going silent when the clock strikes 11, the symbolic moment when the war would end.
This film strip has six lines, one for each microphone in use. Coda to Coda researched the types of weapons being used by each side at the end of the war, then used the film to determine the size, frequency and distance of blasts. Looking at landscape images of the front, they also figured out how intense the reverberations from the blasts would be. Using that information, they recreated the sound of the last minutes of battle.
“This document from IWM's collections gives us a great insight into how intense and chaotic the barrage of gunfire must have been for those fighting on the western front,” Coda to Coda director and principal composer Will Worsley says in a statement. “We hope that our audio interpretation of sound ranging techniques... enables visitors to project themselves into that moment in history and gain an understanding of what the end of the First World War may have sounded like.”
While not unconditional surrender, the terms were tough: Germany was to hand over 5,000 heavy guns, 30,000 machine guns, 2,000 warplanes, all the U-Boats, the Navy will be interned in British waters, 5,000 locomotives, 150,000 wagons, 5,000 trucks, Allied troops to occupy the Rhineland with their upkeep paid for by Germany and the Allied blockade of Germany was to remain in force.
The legacy of the war was 17 million people killed ( 49,000 Irishmen had fallen during the 4 years of war. ), 21 million wounded. Of the dead, 10 million were killed in action and 7 million as the result of hunger and disease or wounds. Huge economic damage had been inflicted throughout Europe and starvation was rife.
In the course of 51 months that the war had lasted, German casualties amounted to 1.8 million dead and 4.25 million wounded.
Britain had moblised 9 million men and casualty lists amounted to 900,000 dead and 2 million wounded.
In Austria, Emperor Charles 1 abandoned all political authority. While he oficially didn’t abdicate, it amounted to the same thing. It was the end of the Hapsburgs, 625 years after the first Hapsburg Emperor. Joining the Hapsburgs were the Hohenzollerns of Germany and the Romanovs of Russia.
The Belfast Telegraph ‘For those lonely ones, the gladness of this hour is chastened by the thought of the vacant chair’
Meanwhile in Cork, taking advantage of the Armistice celebrations, Irish Volunteer McNeilus was rescued by a party of Volunteers while in Cork Jail.
Anthem for Doomed Youth
Wilfrid Owen
12
London: Parliament votes another war loan of £700 million. Total British war debts now £7,100 million.
Dublin: John Dillon becomes leader of the Irish Party.
Victory and peace
Irish Times - Tuesday, November 12 1918
GERMANS SIGN ARMISTICE.
"CEASE FIRE" ON THE WESTERN FRONT.
PERMIER ANNOUNCES TERMS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
"THE LAST OF ALL WARS?"
EVACUATION OF ALL OCCUPIED TERRITORIES.
THE END OF THE GERMAN FLEET.
SURRENDER OF U-BOATS AND BATTLESHIP.
The armistice terms dictated by Marshal Foch on behalf of the Allies and the United States were signed yesterday morning by the German plenipotentiaries at five o'clock, and by eleven o'clock, six hours later, fighting had ceased along the entire front.
The momentous announcement was made in the House of Commons yesterday by the Prime Minister, after which, at his suggestion, the members of the House, headed by the Speaker, proceeded to St. Margaret's Church, where a Thanksgiving Service was held. The terms of the armistice, which we print in full below, are drastic and complete. They provide for the immediate evacuation of Belgium, Alsace-Lorraine, and Luxembourg: evacuation of the Rhineland: railways of Alsace-Lorraine to be handed over. All Allied and Amerrican prisoners are to be repatriated without reciprocity.
The clauses relating to the Eastern front of Germany provide, amongst other things, for the abandonment of the Brest-Litovsk and Rumania and Russia. The naval clauses demand the surrender of all submarines and the disarmament of six battle cruisers, ten battleships, six light cruisers, and fifty destroyers, as well as other vessels. The terms also include the surrender of 5,000 guns - 2,500 heavy and 2,500 field - and 30,000 machine guns.
Austria: Austria proclaimed a republic.
Dublin: Some disorder on Dublin's streets as a dozen soldiers waving miniature Union Jacks, celebrating the victory of Allies in the Great War, marched northward across the city from the direction of St Stephen’s Green. The soldiers and their supporters marched along Grafton Street, across College Green, Westmoreland Street, onto O’Connell Street before turning down Middle Abbey Street. It was here the group was met by a hostile crowd carrying Sinn Féin flags. A brief conflict ensued which resulted in the soldiers and their friends dispersing. A series a similar encounters occurred across the city throughout the day.
There were numerous reports of groups of women carrying Union Jacks being confronted by republican crowds singing Sinn Féin songs. Their flags were taken from them, torn into pieces and burned. Shortly after these incidents, larger crowds chanting ‘Up de Valera’ gathered on O’Connell Street. Sometime after 11pm, the police, led by Superintendent Campbell and Inspector Purcell, baton charged the crowd from the direction of O’Connell Bridge. The crowd scattered onto Abbey Street and adjoining streets, and retaliated by throwing stones.
13
Dublin: More unruly scenes were repeated when soldiers and their civilian supporters again paraded through the main streets of Dublin, this time armed with sticks. The Mansion House, home of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, was attacked by soldiers who threw stones at the building, breaking windows before rushing the front door and damaging the woodwork and brass letterbox. Almost simultaneously, another group attacked the Harcourt Street headquarters of Sinn Féin, where they were met with sticks and bare knuckles. Order was only restored when military arrived on the scene with rifles. Harry Boland, one of those who defended the Sinn Féin building, stated that ‘though their premises had been wrecked they had not wrecked Sinn Féin’. Later that evening, soldiers and civilians also attacked Liberty Hall, again breaking glass and causing damage to the building. The crowd were carrying sticks and flags, and singing ‘Rule Britannia’.
Dublin: More unruly scenes were repeated when soldiers and their civilian supporters again paraded through the main streets of Dublin, this time armed with sticks. The Mansion House, home of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, was attacked by soldiers who threw stones at the building, breaking windows before rushing the front door and damaging the woodwork and brass letterbox. Almost simultaneously, another group attacked the Harcourt Street headquarters of Sinn Féin, where they were met with sticks and bare knuckles. Order was only restored when military arrived on the scene with rifles. Harry Boland, one of those who defended the Sinn Féin building, stated that ‘though their premises had been wrecked they had not wrecked Sinn Féin’. Later that evening, soldiers and civilians also attacked Liberty Hall, again breaking glass and causing damage to the building. The crowd were carrying sticks and flags, and singing ‘Rule Britannia’.
14
London: Lloyd George announced in Parliament, which had been sitting since 1910 and had been extended by emergency wartime action, that the Parliament would dissolve on 25 November, with elections on 14 December.
The election was not to be chiefly fought over what peace to make with Germany, although those issues played a role. More important was the voters' evaluation of Lloyd George in terms of what he had accomplished so far and what he promised for the future. His supporters emphasised that he had won the Great War. Against his strong record in social legislation, he called for making "a country fit for heroes to live in
Baden: The provisional government of Baden proclaims the Freie Volksrepublik Baden ("Free Peoples' Republic of Baden").
Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.
Poland: Józef Pilsudski is appointed head of state of Poland.
London: Labour Party leaves the wartime coalition government.
Germany: U-boats interned.
East Africa: 3 days after the armistice, fighting ends in the East African theater when General von Lettow-Vorbeck agrees a cease-fire on hearing of Germany's surrender.
Kathleen Lynch writing to Mary from New York:
London: Lloyd George announced in Parliament, which had been sitting since 1910 and had been extended by emergency wartime action, that the Parliament would dissolve on 25 November, with elections on 14 December.
The election was not to be chiefly fought over what peace to make with Germany, although those issues played a role. More important was the voters' evaluation of Lloyd George in terms of what he had accomplished so far and what he promised for the future. His supporters emphasised that he had won the Great War. Against his strong record in social legislation, he called for making "a country fit for heroes to live in
Baden: The provisional government of Baden proclaims the Freie Volksrepublik Baden ("Free Peoples' Republic of Baden").
Czechoslovakia becomes a republic.
Poland: Józef Pilsudski is appointed head of state of Poland.
London: Labour Party leaves the wartime coalition government.
Germany: U-boats interned.
East Africa: 3 days after the armistice, fighting ends in the East African theater when General von Lettow-Vorbeck agrees a cease-fire on hearing of Germany's surrender.
Kathleen Lynch writing to Mary from New York:
2366 Grand Concourse
New York City
New York
14th Nov ‘18
My Dear Mary.
Ever so many thanks for your letter dated 21st October which reached us safely yesterday.
We were feeling quite uneasy lately as up to yesterday only one letter from you reached us since our arrival here & such alarming reports have been reaching us recently about the spread of influenza at home, we were fearing that perhaps you or one of the boys might have been ill, but thank God that was not the case. We have had a terrible time of it here up to about 2 weeks ago, the people were dying by the thousand in this city & in fact all over the country.
Well Mary, as Diarmuid told you, we are settled up very comfortably & happy in our own little home which consists of a flat in one of the big apartment houses on the Grand Concourse which is one of the nicest & healthiest suburbs of the city. I spend part of my time here alone during the day while D is at his office but there are always lots of things to keep me busy & I don’t feel the hours passing till it's time for him to arrive home.
He was not feeling up to the mark during last month, so we went for a short holiday down to Lakenwood [ New Jersey ] which we thoroughly enjoyed & which did both us a lot of good. D is feeling much better since, but has to keep to a certain diet which the doctors ordered for him, his only food is cereals & vegetables. Anything else interferes with his digestion. Just as usual, he is overworking himself & won't take advice from anybody.
Now that peace has come, I sincerly hope that letters from home will come more punctually & not be held up as yours evidently have been. I got two letters from Sheila O’B since I came. One written in July which I answered & the other written in August from ‘Cliff Cottage’ which I also answered & addressed it to Rathfarnham.
I hope Michael will be careful of his health now that the severe weather is here. It will take him a long time before grows as strong as he was before his last stay in Dublin. I’m glad Tim is staying with him for the present.
Very glad to know Mrs Ahern & all the Cork friends are keeping well. Write to us as often as you can even through you can't send us all the news you would like to, & let us know how you are getting along.
With best love to you & Dan & to Tim & Michael when you see them.
Yours affectionately,
Kit.
Diarmuid added to the letter:
Nov 15.
My dear Moll.
Very glad to know that you wrote – even if the letters did not arrive. We thought you had forgotten us entirely.
Before this reaches you, S.E. Cork will have given the verdict. Personally I care not what it may be, but for the sake of Roisin* I care a lot & notwithstanding all the adverse circumstances, I hope and pray for success. These are anxious times & God alone knows what may happen before the world settles down again.
I had hoped to write Mick & T & D, but with all the work I now have on hands, it is very doubtful if I’ll have a minute to myself. I only wish I were in better shape, am prohibited meat, milk, eggs, sugar, cakes, biscuits, fruit, tea, cocoa, coffee etc etc. ‘what do you know about that?’ (as they say here) However I break out occasionally & defy all the doctors orders.
I trust the flu will not [ Word illegible ] extend down your way & that all will be in good shape to ‘eat, drink and be merry’ at Xmas.
Fondest love, Diarmuid.
PS Please send Aunt Brigid’s address. You know I brought none. I meant several times to ask you for this.
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 5/3
* Rosin refers to Rosin Dubh, a term of affection for Ireland.
16
William O’Brien, the Irish Parliamentary Party MP for Cork in a letter to the press, forecast the end of the Irish Parliamentary Party; ‘It is because a degenerate parliamentarianism spent all it's precious years of power in misrepresenting and thwarting the principles now clung to in desperation that opportunities such as never occurred before, and are not likely soon to occur again, were madly sacrified…’
Conor O’Clery ‘Ireland in Quotes’ The O’Brien Press Dublin 1999 p.45
Hungary: The Hungarian Democratic Republic is declared, marking Hungary's independence from Austria.
Belfast: Home Rule for Ireland is not on the horizon and the British government has no intention of coercing Ulster into a new constitutional arrangement, Sir Edward Carson told a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council. The tone of Carson’s speech indicated a desire on his part for Ulster to be treated, by the British government, as a completely separate political entity than the rest of Ireland. A Belfast Newsletter editorial says that this signals a new policy on the part of Carson, one which it believes his supporters will heartily endorse:
‘There is a new spirit abroad which demands that a higher standard of living shall be maintained, and that parliament shall devote far more time than hitherto to legislation framed to promote the welfare of those who are commonly called the working classes. When the millions of soldiers who have fought and won the great battle for right and liberty are demobilised they will expect to be able to live in better conditions than those which existed before the war, and the government and the nation are looking forward to a period of great and beneficent activity in the new parliament. It would be intolerable if Ulster were excluded from the advantages of the measures of reconstruction, and it is to prevent this that its leader recommends to it a new and positive policy’.
Ulster was no longer prepared to be ‘hampered’ by a reluctant nationalist party in Westminster. Referring to the common practice of Ireland being excluded from legislation due to nationalist opposition, the Newsletter argued that this is a ‘bad system, and it must come to an end. If the Nationalists will not allow progressive legislation...they must not be permitted to exclude Ulster from it.’
In the course of his Belfast address to the Ulster Unionist Council, Sir Edward Carson mocked and rejected the nationalist demand for self-determination. ‘Self determination of whom and what? Self determination by the south and west of Ireland of the destinies of Ulster? Never!’, he declared to the cheers to his enthusiastic followers.
Edward Carson only returned to Ireland the day prior to delivering his address. He arrived into Larne Harbour where he was met by cheering crowds and travelled onwards by train, where he was prevailed upon to make an impromptu speech in which he declared his happiness to be back in Ulster, and at such a happy time, when peace was secured. On arrival at York Road Terminus in Belfast, which was bedecked with bunting and flags, there were further demonstrations of public support, the station and surrounding roads being filled by workers, holidaying in honour of the armistice, notable among them the shipyard workers. Carson subsequently travelled in a horse-led procession which stopped on Royal Avenue where he thanked the people of Ulster for not forgetting him and, to cheers, he declared his delight to be among them to celebrate the ‘splendid victory of the British Empire and of Ulster. Our hearts are very full today, and we ought to be very grateful for the victory that we have won. We will go on. Up Ulster! No Home Rule.’
Prof. Alvin Jackson describes the way in which Sir Edward Carson's attitude to partition changed between 1910 and 1918. (Thanks to Century Ireland)
16
William O’Brien, the Irish Parliamentary Party MP for Cork in a letter to the press, forecast the end of the Irish Parliamentary Party; ‘It is because a degenerate parliamentarianism spent all it's precious years of power in misrepresenting and thwarting the principles now clung to in desperation that opportunities such as never occurred before, and are not likely soon to occur again, were madly sacrified…’
Conor O’Clery ‘Ireland in Quotes’ The O’Brien Press Dublin 1999 p.45
Hungary: The Hungarian Democratic Republic is declared, marking Hungary's independence from Austria.
Belfast: Home Rule for Ireland is not on the horizon and the British government has no intention of coercing Ulster into a new constitutional arrangement, Sir Edward Carson told a meeting of the Ulster Unionist Council. The tone of Carson’s speech indicated a desire on his part for Ulster to be treated, by the British government, as a completely separate political entity than the rest of Ireland. A Belfast Newsletter editorial says that this signals a new policy on the part of Carson, one which it believes his supporters will heartily endorse:
‘There is a new spirit abroad which demands that a higher standard of living shall be maintained, and that parliament shall devote far more time than hitherto to legislation framed to promote the welfare of those who are commonly called the working classes. When the millions of soldiers who have fought and won the great battle for right and liberty are demobilised they will expect to be able to live in better conditions than those which existed before the war, and the government and the nation are looking forward to a period of great and beneficent activity in the new parliament. It would be intolerable if Ulster were excluded from the advantages of the measures of reconstruction, and it is to prevent this that its leader recommends to it a new and positive policy’.
Ulster was no longer prepared to be ‘hampered’ by a reluctant nationalist party in Westminster. Referring to the common practice of Ireland being excluded from legislation due to nationalist opposition, the Newsletter argued that this is a ‘bad system, and it must come to an end. If the Nationalists will not allow progressive legislation...they must not be permitted to exclude Ulster from it.’
In the course of his Belfast address to the Ulster Unionist Council, Sir Edward Carson mocked and rejected the nationalist demand for self-determination. ‘Self determination of whom and what? Self determination by the south and west of Ireland of the destinies of Ulster? Never!’, he declared to the cheers to his enthusiastic followers.
Edward Carson only returned to Ireland the day prior to delivering his address. He arrived into Larne Harbour where he was met by cheering crowds and travelled onwards by train, where he was prevailed upon to make an impromptu speech in which he declared his happiness to be back in Ulster, and at such a happy time, when peace was secured. On arrival at York Road Terminus in Belfast, which was bedecked with bunting and flags, there were further demonstrations of public support, the station and surrounding roads being filled by workers, holidaying in honour of the armistice, notable among them the shipyard workers. Carson subsequently travelled in a horse-led procession which stopped on Royal Avenue where he thanked the people of Ulster for not forgetting him and, to cheers, he declared his delight to be among them to celebrate the ‘splendid victory of the British Empire and of Ulster. Our hearts are very full today, and we ought to be very grateful for the victory that we have won. We will go on. Up Ulster! No Home Rule.’
Prof. Alvin Jackson describes the way in which Sir Edward Carson's attitude to partition changed between 1910 and 1918. (Thanks to Century Ireland)
17
Spanish Flu continued to sweep through the United States. Meanwhile in Ireland as the threat from the influenza epidemic abated in Dublin, it continued to exact a heavy toll on the rest of the country. In the first week of November alone, a dozen deaths were recorded in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. In Macroom, Co. Cork, 10 deaths were recorded in a week from a single street and the number of funerals in Cork City was reported to be double its standard rate.
In Clare, the death occurred of the first female clerk of the Ennis Union, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, daughter of former GAA President and Chairman of the Ennis Guardians, Edward Bennett. Ms Fitzgerald died less than a week after falling ill. Mrs Coyle, the wife of a small farmer in Belmullet, died after nursing nine children successfully through the illness, while the local RIC Sergeant T. Kelly, has died just days after his young daughter succumbed to the flu.
And to the east of the country, the fact that several Wexford hurlers have succumbed to the illness has forced the cancellation of the All-Ireland hurling final. Amidst all this misery, the story from Dublin afforded hope that the influenza scourge would pass. In early November, the city’s chief medical officer, Sir Charles Cameron, declared:
‘The epidemic is now running its course. It has reached its highest point and is coming down. The decline will be very gradual. There may be more deaths one day than the day before. But in Dublin there are very few fresh cases within the past few days. There is still decided need for caution. We are not out of danger.’
At the point at which Dr Cameron made this statement, 401 deaths in the Dublin city area were attributable to the influenza epidemic.
Latvia: Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
Siberia: Alexander Kolchak seizes control of the Provisional All-Russian Government (the anti-communist government in Siberia) in a coup. (Kolchak was a polar explorer and commander in the Imperial Russian Navy, who fought in the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War. The anti-communist government in Siberia—later the Provisional All-Russian Government leader was recognised as the "Supreme Ruler and Commander-in-Chief of All Russian Land and Sea Forces" by the other leaders of the White movement from 1918 to 1920. For a year and a half, Kolchak was Russia's internationally recognized head of state. However, his effort to unite the anti-Bolshevik elements mostly failed; Kolchak refused to consider autonomy for ethnic minorities and refused to cooperate with non-Bolshevik leftists, and also heavily relied on outside aid. As his White forces fell apart, he was betrayed and captured by independent units who handed him over to local Bolsheviks, who executed him)
Spanish Flu continued to sweep through the United States. Meanwhile in Ireland as the threat from the influenza epidemic abated in Dublin, it continued to exact a heavy toll on the rest of the country. In the first week of November alone, a dozen deaths were recorded in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. In Macroom, Co. Cork, 10 deaths were recorded in a week from a single street and the number of funerals in Cork City was reported to be double its standard rate.
In Clare, the death occurred of the first female clerk of the Ennis Union, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, daughter of former GAA President and Chairman of the Ennis Guardians, Edward Bennett. Ms Fitzgerald died less than a week after falling ill. Mrs Coyle, the wife of a small farmer in Belmullet, died after nursing nine children successfully through the illness, while the local RIC Sergeant T. Kelly, has died just days after his young daughter succumbed to the flu.
And to the east of the country, the fact that several Wexford hurlers have succumbed to the illness has forced the cancellation of the All-Ireland hurling final. Amidst all this misery, the story from Dublin afforded hope that the influenza scourge would pass. In early November, the city’s chief medical officer, Sir Charles Cameron, declared:
‘The epidemic is now running its course. It has reached its highest point and is coming down. The decline will be very gradual. There may be more deaths one day than the day before. But in Dublin there are very few fresh cases within the past few days. There is still decided need for caution. We are not out of danger.’
At the point at which Dr Cameron made this statement, 401 deaths in the Dublin city area were attributable to the influenza epidemic.
Latvia: Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
Siberia: Alexander Kolchak seizes control of the Provisional All-Russian Government (the anti-communist government in Siberia) in a coup. (Kolchak was a polar explorer and commander in the Imperial Russian Navy, who fought in the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War. The anti-communist government in Siberia—later the Provisional All-Russian Government leader was recognised as the "Supreme Ruler and Commander-in-Chief of All Russian Land and Sea Forces" by the other leaders of the White movement from 1918 to 1920. For a year and a half, Kolchak was Russia's internationally recognized head of state. However, his effort to unite the anti-Bolshevik elements mostly failed; Kolchak refused to consider autonomy for ethnic minorities and refused to cooperate with non-Bolshevik leftists, and also heavily relied on outside aid. As his White forces fell apart, he was betrayed and captured by independent units who handed him over to local Bolsheviks, who executed him)
19
British Government sources say the UK suffered over 3 Million war casualties, including 1 million dead.
Brendan Corish, Labour Party leader, TD, Cabinet Minister and Tánaiste born. (died 1990).
Speaking in New York, Richard Dalton called for a renewal of action on the various resolutions relating to Ireland that had been pigeonholed by Congress since 1917.
British Government sources say the UK suffered over 3 Million war casualties, including 1 million dead.
Brendan Corish, Labour Party leader, TD, Cabinet Minister and Tánaiste born. (died 1990).
Speaking in New York, Richard Dalton called for a renewal of action on the various resolutions relating to Ireland that had been pigeonholed by Congress since 1917.
20
Congressman Thomas Gallagher of Illinois advised the Friends of Irish Freedom that the US Committee on Foreign Affairs had fixed December 12th & 13th as the dates for a public hearing on the resolutions presented since 1917 calling for recognition of the Government of Ireland. Gallagher also confirmed that the Friends of Irish Freedom would be allowed make a case.
Diarmuid Lynch immediately sent out a circular to all Friends of Irish Freedom branches throughout the country to send representatives to the hearing in Washington. Of the numerous resolutions presented, it was generally agreed to concentrate on securing the adoption of one introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Gallagher:
‘Requesting the Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Peace Conference to present to the said Conference, the right of Ireland to freedom, independence and self-determination’.
The week 8-15th December was designated by the FOIF as ‘Self Determination Week’ in support of the Washington Hearings and Lynch "organised twenty-eight public meetings to take place simultaneously in cities around America to copperfasten the public perception that Ireland’s call for independence was widely supported and legitimately within the ambit of President Wilson’s stated aim of fighting for ‘the rights and liberties of small nations’."
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. P105
U-boats start to rendezvous off Harwich to begin the surrender of the High Seas Fleet to the Royal Navy; in the following week the German warships are escorted to internment in Scapa Flow.
London: The Khaki Election and The Coupon Election'.
Westminster: after months of speculation, a date was finally set for a general election. The voters of Britain and Ireland would go to the polls on 14 December, although it was not expected that the counting of votes would begin until after Christmas. The announcement of the election was made in the House of Commons by Andrew Bonar Law:
‘The Prime Minister proposes to recommend his Majesty to issue on 25th November a proclamation summoning a new Parliament. When this is done the nominations day will be December 4th, and the polling day December 14th’.
The announcement has brought to an end the coalition unity that has prevailed in British politics for much of the war. The Labour Party signaled that the triggering of the election terminated ‘the conditions on which they entered the coalition’ and they would now fight the election as an independent party. Under the Reform Act of earlier in the year, the number of constituencies up for grabs had been increased from 670 to 707, with Ireland, Scotland and Wales allocated two additional seats each. However, the redrawing of the electoral map in Ireland meant that the representation from the three southern provinces would be reduced by four members, while representation from Ulster was increased by the same amount.
In the next parliament, Ulster would return 37 members (as opposed to 33 previously) and the rest of Ireland return 64. It was believed the changes (an increase in seat in the Down constituencies from four to five and a reduction in Tyrone from four to three) would greatly benefit the Unionist Party. Hardly surprisingly but this drew accusations of gerrymandering from some nationalist quarters.
The Irish Labour Party opted to step aside for this election and a number of Irish Party MPs, including Capt. Stephen Gwynn, announced they would not re-contest. More retirements were expected in the coming weeks.
Sinn Féin, meanwhile, had committed to contesting all Irish constituencies and promised to leave their seats vacated if they win. Already 82 Sinn Féin candidates had been selected, including the party’s imprisoned president, Éamon de Valera, who was chosen to oppose the Irish Party leader John Dillon in East Mayo.
According to the Cork Examiner, the election will ‘test the common sense and the patriotism of the people’ of Ireland, the newspaper taking a cue from Cardinal Logue who has warned against the adoption of ‘ill-considered and Utopian’ methods, the effect of which would be, the cardinal asserts, ‘Future disaster, defeat and collapse’.
When the campaign began, it was often ambiguous which candidates supported and opposed the coalition. Given the widely presumed ignorance of the new electorate (the majority of whom had never before voted) the call to create a system for clearly demarcating coalition supporters grew irresistible. As Lord George Riddell (1865-1934) wrote: “you will have to badge the Lloyd George candidates or people will not know for whom to vote”.
This led to the creation of the notorious “coupon”, which was, in effect, a seal of approval signed by Lloyd George (for the Coalition Liberals) and Conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law. It ran: “We have much pleasure in recognising you as the Coalition candidate for. ...We have every hope that the electors will return you as their representative in Parliament to support the Government in the great task which lies before it.”
Receiving the coupon was interpreted by the electorate as a sign of patriotism that helped candidates gain election, while those who did not receive it had a more difficult time as they were then sometimes seen as anti-war or pacifist. The name ‘coupon’ was coined by Liberal leader H H Asquith, disparagingly using the jargon of rationing with which people were familiar in the context of wartime shortages.
London - Now that the war was finally over, attention turned to counting its cost; in both human and financial terms the figures were considerable.
An official statement on British casualties, puts the number of those killed and wounded at more than three million. Of that number, it is calculated that 658,704 servicemen were killed - including 37,876 officers - and 2,032,122 wounded. A further 359,145 were said to be missing or prisoners.
The theatre of war that exacted the greatest human price was France, which accounted for the deaths of 32,769 British officers and 525,843 of those from other ranks.
Also substantial was the financial cost of the war, and, according to the Irish Independent, Ireland had borne a disproportionate tax burden during the course of the conflagration. Ireland’s contribution to the Imperial exchequer had risen from £11,134,500 in 1913-14 to £26,865,000 in 1917-1918. The revenue per head of population had risen from £2 10s 10d in 1913-14 to £6 2s 8d last year.
The burden of taxation needed now to be lifted on Ireland, the paper argued: ‘Home Rule or no Home Rule Ireland is entitled to special treatment, and should be taxed only in proportion to her capacity. If this principle is to be disregarded in the future, as it has been hitherto, it will be impossible to carry out a reconstruction policy in this country, and in the exacting time ahead, we may find ourselves reduced to an impoverished condition.’
Dublin: Sinn Fein had finalised the party Manifesto for the General Election and copies had been printed and stored in various locations around the country before release on November 22. Police raided the Sinn Fein offices in Harcourt Street on this date and removed all copies of the General Election Manifesto. A copy had been submitted as required by regulations to Dublin Castle prior to release to newspapers. (see November 22 entry)
Congressman Thomas Gallagher of Illinois advised the Friends of Irish Freedom that the US Committee on Foreign Affairs had fixed December 12th & 13th as the dates for a public hearing on the resolutions presented since 1917 calling for recognition of the Government of Ireland. Gallagher also confirmed that the Friends of Irish Freedom would be allowed make a case.
Diarmuid Lynch immediately sent out a circular to all Friends of Irish Freedom branches throughout the country to send representatives to the hearing in Washington. Of the numerous resolutions presented, it was generally agreed to concentrate on securing the adoption of one introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Gallagher:
‘Requesting the Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Peace Conference to present to the said Conference, the right of Ireland to freedom, independence and self-determination’.
The week 8-15th December was designated by the FOIF as ‘Self Determination Week’ in support of the Washington Hearings and Lynch "organised twenty-eight public meetings to take place simultaneously in cities around America to copperfasten the public perception that Ireland’s call for independence was widely supported and legitimately within the ambit of President Wilson’s stated aim of fighting for ‘the rights and liberties of small nations’."
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. P105
U-boats start to rendezvous off Harwich to begin the surrender of the High Seas Fleet to the Royal Navy; in the following week the German warships are escorted to internment in Scapa Flow.
London: The Khaki Election and The Coupon Election'.
Westminster: after months of speculation, a date was finally set for a general election. The voters of Britain and Ireland would go to the polls on 14 December, although it was not expected that the counting of votes would begin until after Christmas. The announcement of the election was made in the House of Commons by Andrew Bonar Law:
‘The Prime Minister proposes to recommend his Majesty to issue on 25th November a proclamation summoning a new Parliament. When this is done the nominations day will be December 4th, and the polling day December 14th’.
The announcement has brought to an end the coalition unity that has prevailed in British politics for much of the war. The Labour Party signaled that the triggering of the election terminated ‘the conditions on which they entered the coalition’ and they would now fight the election as an independent party. Under the Reform Act of earlier in the year, the number of constituencies up for grabs had been increased from 670 to 707, with Ireland, Scotland and Wales allocated two additional seats each. However, the redrawing of the electoral map in Ireland meant that the representation from the three southern provinces would be reduced by four members, while representation from Ulster was increased by the same amount.
In the next parliament, Ulster would return 37 members (as opposed to 33 previously) and the rest of Ireland return 64. It was believed the changes (an increase in seat in the Down constituencies from four to five and a reduction in Tyrone from four to three) would greatly benefit the Unionist Party. Hardly surprisingly but this drew accusations of gerrymandering from some nationalist quarters.
The Irish Labour Party opted to step aside for this election and a number of Irish Party MPs, including Capt. Stephen Gwynn, announced they would not re-contest. More retirements were expected in the coming weeks.
Sinn Féin, meanwhile, had committed to contesting all Irish constituencies and promised to leave their seats vacated if they win. Already 82 Sinn Féin candidates had been selected, including the party’s imprisoned president, Éamon de Valera, who was chosen to oppose the Irish Party leader John Dillon in East Mayo.
According to the Cork Examiner, the election will ‘test the common sense and the patriotism of the people’ of Ireland, the newspaper taking a cue from Cardinal Logue who has warned against the adoption of ‘ill-considered and Utopian’ methods, the effect of which would be, the cardinal asserts, ‘Future disaster, defeat and collapse’.
When the campaign began, it was often ambiguous which candidates supported and opposed the coalition. Given the widely presumed ignorance of the new electorate (the majority of whom had never before voted) the call to create a system for clearly demarcating coalition supporters grew irresistible. As Lord George Riddell (1865-1934) wrote: “you will have to badge the Lloyd George candidates or people will not know for whom to vote”.
This led to the creation of the notorious “coupon”, which was, in effect, a seal of approval signed by Lloyd George (for the Coalition Liberals) and Conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law. It ran: “We have much pleasure in recognising you as the Coalition candidate for. ...We have every hope that the electors will return you as their representative in Parliament to support the Government in the great task which lies before it.”
Receiving the coupon was interpreted by the electorate as a sign of patriotism that helped candidates gain election, while those who did not receive it had a more difficult time as they were then sometimes seen as anti-war or pacifist. The name ‘coupon’ was coined by Liberal leader H H Asquith, disparagingly using the jargon of rationing with which people were familiar in the context of wartime shortages.
London - Now that the war was finally over, attention turned to counting its cost; in both human and financial terms the figures were considerable.
An official statement on British casualties, puts the number of those killed and wounded at more than three million. Of that number, it is calculated that 658,704 servicemen were killed - including 37,876 officers - and 2,032,122 wounded. A further 359,145 were said to be missing or prisoners.
The theatre of war that exacted the greatest human price was France, which accounted for the deaths of 32,769 British officers and 525,843 of those from other ranks.
Also substantial was the financial cost of the war, and, according to the Irish Independent, Ireland had borne a disproportionate tax burden during the course of the conflagration. Ireland’s contribution to the Imperial exchequer had risen from £11,134,500 in 1913-14 to £26,865,000 in 1917-1918. The revenue per head of population had risen from £2 10s 10d in 1913-14 to £6 2s 8d last year.
The burden of taxation needed now to be lifted on Ireland, the paper argued: ‘Home Rule or no Home Rule Ireland is entitled to special treatment, and should be taxed only in proportion to her capacity. If this principle is to be disregarded in the future, as it has been hitherto, it will be impossible to carry out a reconstruction policy in this country, and in the exacting time ahead, we may find ourselves reduced to an impoverished condition.’
Dublin: Sinn Fein had finalised the party Manifesto for the General Election and copies had been printed and stored in various locations around the country before release on November 22. Police raided the Sinn Fein offices in Harcourt Street on this date and removed all copies of the General Election Manifesto. A copy had been submitted as required by regulations to Dublin Castle prior to release to newspapers. (see November 22 entry)
21
Scotland: The German Navy surrendered by sailing to the Firth of Forth and dropping anchor. 39 U-Boats sailed into Harwich.
'Scores of German vessels, battleships, cruisers and destroyers are now lying at anchor in the Firth of Forth under the watchful eye of the navy.'
Westminster: Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act enabled women to sit in the House of Commons for the first time.
Galicia: Start of 3-day Lwów pogrom: Polish troops, volunteers and freed criminals massacre at least 320 Ukrainian Christians and Jews in Lwów in Galicia.
Below: 'Den gefallenen' (The fallen ones) - an illustration from Austrian periodical 'Die Muskete', published on 21 Nov 1918. Photo: Austrian National Library
'Den gefallenen' (The fallen ones) - an illustration from Austrian periodical 'Die Muskete', published on 21 Nov 1918Photo: Austrian National Library
22
Jailed in Lincoln Prison, Eamon de Valera noticed that the Chaplain carried a key, presumably for general access within the prison. He managed to make an impression in wax of the key leaving the next problem of how to get this information to friends in Ireland. ‘Sean Milroy (1877-1946)…had already shown his ability as an artist…de Valera got Milroy to draw a Christmas card showing a tipsy Sean McGarry, another Sinn Fein prisoner with a huge key trying to get it into a small keyhole. Underneath was written ‘Xmas 1917 can't get in’ In a lower inset was drawn a picture of McGarry in a prison cell, looking at a large keyhole in his cell door. It was captioned ‘Xmas 1918 can't get out’. Inside John O’Mahony, another prisoner, wrote a short note…
My dear Tommie
The best wishes I can send are those Dev wrote in my autograph book.
(Field will translate)
(Field was Michael Collin’s pseudonym). Then followed in de Valera handwriting, an explanation in Irish that the key in the picture was an exact drawing of the prison key and that the keyhole showed a cross section of it. It would open the inner doors and the back gate on the north side of the prison. He asked that a key, made to these dimensions, and some files be sent in a cake and that arrangements be made to meet him outside the prison. The date could be fixed well in advance by sending a letter to Sean McGarry saying ‘Billie got up the –th of last month, is now quite well.’ The date would be understood as the date in January when the escape would be attempted. The card was duly delivered to Sean McGarry’s wife. She, however…thought it all a joke’. (and failed to pass it on).
Earl of Longford & T.P.O’Neill. ‘Eamon de Valera’ Gill & MacMillan. Dublin 1970. P82
Female Police Officers are appointed for the first time in Britain.
The Irish Question was clearly defined in the lead up to a general election. The Times advised: ‘There are two paths which are closed – the one leading to a complete severance of Ireland from the British Empire, and the other to the forcible submission of the six counties of Ulster to a Home Rule Parliament against their will.’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p303
The Germans evacuate Luxembourg.
British military government of Palestine begins.
Jailed in Lincoln Prison, Eamon de Valera noticed that the Chaplain carried a key, presumably for general access within the prison. He managed to make an impression in wax of the key leaving the next problem of how to get this information to friends in Ireland. ‘Sean Milroy (1877-1946)…had already shown his ability as an artist…de Valera got Milroy to draw a Christmas card showing a tipsy Sean McGarry, another Sinn Fein prisoner with a huge key trying to get it into a small keyhole. Underneath was written ‘Xmas 1917 can't get in’ In a lower inset was drawn a picture of McGarry in a prison cell, looking at a large keyhole in his cell door. It was captioned ‘Xmas 1918 can't get out’. Inside John O’Mahony, another prisoner, wrote a short note…
My dear Tommie
The best wishes I can send are those Dev wrote in my autograph book.
(Field will translate)
(Field was Michael Collin’s pseudonym). Then followed in de Valera handwriting, an explanation in Irish that the key in the picture was an exact drawing of the prison key and that the keyhole showed a cross section of it. It would open the inner doors and the back gate on the north side of the prison. He asked that a key, made to these dimensions, and some files be sent in a cake and that arrangements be made to meet him outside the prison. The date could be fixed well in advance by sending a letter to Sean McGarry saying ‘Billie got up the –th of last month, is now quite well.’ The date would be understood as the date in January when the escape would be attempted. The card was duly delivered to Sean McGarry’s wife. She, however…thought it all a joke’. (and failed to pass it on).
Earl of Longford & T.P.O’Neill. ‘Eamon de Valera’ Gill & MacMillan. Dublin 1970. P82
Female Police Officers are appointed for the first time in Britain.
The Irish Question was clearly defined in the lead up to a general election. The Times advised: ‘There are two paths which are closed – the one leading to a complete severance of Ireland from the British Empire, and the other to the forcible submission of the six counties of Ulster to a Home Rule Parliament against their will.’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p303
The Germans evacuate Luxembourg.
British military government of Palestine begins.
Dublin:
The Sinn Fein Manifesto, which was submitted to Dublin Castle for press publication was released, heavily censored by the Irish Administration censor. (Full text of the original is below with the censored sections in red).
The censored version appeared in the various newspapers throughout the island but bypassing Dublin Castle, thee uncensored version was widely circulated. This censorship was part of an overall repression used during the election. Hundreds of republicans were in jails – including 47 of Sinn Féin’s 103 candidates. Raids and arrests were frequent, as were bans on public meetings and among those arrested during the campaign was Sinn Féin Director of Elections Robert Brennan.
GENERAL ELECTION --- MANIFESTO TO THE IRISH PEOPLE
THE coming General Election is fraught with vital possibilities for the future of our nation. Ireland is faced with the question whether this generation wills it that she is to march out into the full sunlight of freedom, or is to remain in the shadow of a base imperialism that has brought and ever will bring in its train naught but evil for our race.
Sinn Féin gives Ireland the opportunity of vindicating her honour and pursuing with renewed confidence the path of national salvation by rallying to the flag of the Irish Republic.
Sinn Féin aims at securing the establishment of that Republic.
1. By withdrawing the Irish Representation from the British Parliament and by denying the right and opposing the will of the British Government or any other foreign Government to legislate for Ireland.
2. By making use of any and every means available to render impotent the power of England to hold Ireland in subjection by military force or otherwise.
3. By the establishment of a constituent assembly comprising persons chosen by Irish constituencies as the supreme national authority to speak and act in the name of the Irish people, and to develop Ireland's social, political and industrial life, for the welfare of the whole people of Ireland.
4. By appealing to the Peace Conference for the establishment of Ireland as an Independent Nation. At that conference the future of the Nations of the world will be settled on the principle of government by consent of the governed. Ireland's claim to the application of that principle in her favour is not based on any accidental situation arising from the war. It is older than many if not all of the present belligerents. It is based on our unbroken tradition of nationhood, on a unity in a national name which has never been challenged, on our possession of a distinctive national culture and social order, on the moral courage and dignity of our people in the face of alien aggression, on the fact that in nearly every generation, and five times within the past 120 years our people have challenged in arms the right of England to rule this country. On these incontrovertible facts is based the claim that our people have beyond question established the right to be accorded all the power of a free nation.
Sinn Féin stands less for a political party than for the Nation; it represents the old tradition of nationhood handed on from dead generations; it stands by the Proclamation of the Provisional Government of Easter, 1916, reasserting the inalienable right of the Irish Nation to sovereign independence, reaffirming the determination of the Irish people to achieve it, and guaranteeing within the independent Nation equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens.
Believing that the time has arrived when Ireland's voice for the principle of untrammelled National self-determination should be heard above every interest of party or class, Sinn Féin will oppose at the Polls every individual candidate who does not accept this principle.
The policy of our opponents stands condemned on any test, whether of principle or expediency. The right of a nation to sovereign independence rests upon immutable natural law and cannot be made the subject of a compromise. Any attempt to barter away the sacred and inviolate rights of nationhood begins in dishonour and is bound to end in disaster. The enforced exodus of millions of our people, the decay of our industrial life, the ever-increasing financial plunder of our country, the whittling down of the demand for the 'Repeal of the Union,' voiced by the first Irish Leader to plead in the Hall of the Conqueror to that of Home Rule on the Statute Book, and finally the contemplated mutilation of our country by partition, are some of the ghastly results of a policy that leads to national ruin.
Those who have endeavoured to harness the people of Ireland to England's war-chariot, ignoring the fact that only a freely-elected Government in a free Ireland has power to decide for Ireland the question of peace and war, have forfeited the right to speak for the Irish people. The green flag turned red in the hands of the Leaders, but that shame is not to be laid at the doors of the Irish people unless they continue a policy of sending their representatives to an alien and hostile assembly, whose powerful influence has been sufficient to destroy the integrity and sap the independence of their representatives. Ireland must repudiate the men who, in a supreme crisis for the nation, attempted to sell her birthright for the vague promises of English Ministers, and who showed their incompetence by failing to have even these promises fulfilled.
The present Irish members of the English Parliament constitute an obstacle to be removed from the path that leads to the Peace Conference. By declaring their will to accept the status of a province instead of boldly taking their stand upon the right of the nation they supply England with the only subterfuge at her disposal for obscuring the issue in the eyes of the world. By their persistent endeavours to induce the young manhood of Ireland to don the uniform of our seven-century old oppressor, and place their lives at the disposal of the military machine that holds our Nation in bondage, they endeavour to barter away and even to use against itself the one great asset still left to our Nation after the havoc of the centuries.
Sinn Féin goes to the polls handicapped by all the arts and contrivances that a powerful and unscrupulous enemy can use against us. Conscious of the power of Sinn Féin to secure the freedom of Ireland the British Government would destroy it. Sinn Féin, however, goes to the polls confident that the people of this ancient nation will be true to the old cause and will vote for the men who stand by the principles of Tone, Emmet, Mitchel, Pearse and Connolly, the men who disdain to whine to the enemy for favours, the men who hold that Ireland must be as free as England or Holland, Switzerland or France, and whose demand is that the only status befitting this ancient realm is the status of a free nation.
ISSUED BY THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF SINN FÉIN'
Details of text and censorship: https://celt.ucc.ie//published/E900010/index.html
25
British Parliament dissolved and the campaign for a general election began. Sinn Fein prepared to contest every constituency in Ireland with the Nationalist Party fighting for it’s existence. Sinn Fein however was:
‘working under great disabilities; more than a hundred of its responsible leaders...were in jail; a great part of the country was under military rule; Sinn Fein itself and every other national organisation was banned; all Republican papers had been suppressed and every newspaper in the country was under censorship; the whole election machinery and the Post Office were under British control; experienced Republican speakers and organisers of nearly every town and village in Ireland were in prison and their places had to be filled by novices..’
Macardle ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press Ltd, Dublin. 1951. p262
The Sinn Fein manifesto for the December 14th elections was published and clearly stated the party’s aims by declaring that the party was giving Ireland: ‘..the opportunity of vindicating her honour...by withdrawing the Irish representation from the British Parliament, by denying the right and opposing the will of the British Government or any other foreign Government to legislate for Ireland .... by making use of any and every means available to render impotent the power of England to hold Ireland in subjection by military force or otherwise’
In addition Sinn Fein said it would set up a constituent assembly and send an appeal to the post-war peace conference ‘for the establishment of Ireland as an independent nation’. Sinn Fein pledged to stand candiates in 101 of the 103 Parliamentary seats. Most were still jailed following the ‘German Plot’ arrests. For the first time, women over 30 with a porperty qualification were now eligible to vote and Cumman na mBan called on constituencies to field women candidates to stand for Sinn Fein. In Ireland, only 2 women agreed to stand, both for Sinn Fein. Constance Markievictz for St Patrick’s Division, Dublin although jailed in Holloway and James Connoly’s former secretary, Winifrid Carney, standing for the Victoria division in Belfast. Hannah Sheehy Skeffington was offered a Dublin seat but refused.
Meanwhile the Irish Parliamentary Party, effectively moribund and deserted by it’s supporters, realised that with potentially strong showing for Sinn Fein, the withdrawal of Labour candidates and the emergence of the Ulster Unionist Labour Association candidates, the party faced certain defeat in the polls, it was preferable to surrender 25 of the consituentcies to the Sinn Fein candidates.
Sinn Fein advertising posters above. Below are Irish Parliamentary Party election adverts appearing in the Freeman's Journal 26/27 November, 1918
26
Montenegro joined with Serbia with King Nicholas ousted.
London: As Parliament dissolved to reconvene in January 1919, many of those who served in the outgoing House of Commons would not be returning in the new year including a high number of Irish Parliamentary Party members. A large number of resignations and retirements meant that many of its outgoing MPs would not be defending their seats with none standing in the Cork county electoral area of seven seats. Despite the obvious implications of such losses, John Dillon, leader of the Irish Party, insisted that they would not capitulate but ‘fight Sinn Féin with all the resources at their disposal’. Mr Dillon was fighting for a seat with Sinn Féin leader, Éamon de Valera in East Mayo.
A meeting addressed by Dillon in the town hall in Swinford was constantly interrupted by Sinn Féin supporters. Shouts of ‘Who pushed up recruiting?’ and ‘He should be in jail’ punctuated his address. The town itself was full as it was market day and Sinn Féin flags on display everywhere. There were riotous scenes in Wexford, where Fr Michael O’Flanagan, accompanied by Volunteers with sticks, attended a meeting in support of the local Sinn Féin candidate. A fracas ensued when the meeting hall was subject to an attack by Irish Party supporters. About 50 policemen intervened with a baton charge, and a number of people - among them a one-armed ex-soldier named Tobin who had given evidence at the trial of Roger Casement - were treated for serious injuries at the county infirmary.
Below: The Irish Parliamentary Party at the House of Commons, July 1914. The party was to be decimated at the polls in December 1918.
Photo taken by Michael J. Flavin Photo: National Library of Ireland, NPA INP
Montenegro joined with Serbia with King Nicholas ousted.
London: As Parliament dissolved to reconvene in January 1919, many of those who served in the outgoing House of Commons would not be returning in the new year including a high number of Irish Parliamentary Party members. A large number of resignations and retirements meant that many of its outgoing MPs would not be defending their seats with none standing in the Cork county electoral area of seven seats. Despite the obvious implications of such losses, John Dillon, leader of the Irish Party, insisted that they would not capitulate but ‘fight Sinn Féin with all the resources at their disposal’. Mr Dillon was fighting for a seat with Sinn Féin leader, Éamon de Valera in East Mayo.
A meeting addressed by Dillon in the town hall in Swinford was constantly interrupted by Sinn Féin supporters. Shouts of ‘Who pushed up recruiting?’ and ‘He should be in jail’ punctuated his address. The town itself was full as it was market day and Sinn Féin flags on display everywhere. There were riotous scenes in Wexford, where Fr Michael O’Flanagan, accompanied by Volunteers with sticks, attended a meeting in support of the local Sinn Féin candidate. A fracas ensued when the meeting hall was subject to an attack by Irish Party supporters. About 50 policemen intervened with a baton charge, and a number of people - among them a one-armed ex-soldier named Tobin who had given evidence at the trial of Roger Casement - were treated for serious injuries at the county infirmary.
Below: The Irish Parliamentary Party at the House of Commons, July 1914. The party was to be decimated at the polls in December 1918.
Photo taken by Michael J. Flavin Photo: National Library of Ireland, NPA INP
27
In Germany, more than 1.5 Million Allied war prisoners are released.
German forces leave Belgium.
Ernie O’Malley recalled the excitement that was gripping the country as it faced into an election, though banned, Sinn Fein was very much alive: ‘There was no dearth of workers, canvassers, bill posters, motor drivers, boys with whitewash to decorate bridge parapets and dead walls..Republican flags hing from old castles, until the peelers, in despair, tired of taking them down. Succesive directors of elections were arrested but others took their places. Through all their work was eagerness, talk and gaeity’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p304
In Germany, more than 1.5 Million Allied war prisoners are released.
German forces leave Belgium.
Ernie O’Malley recalled the excitement that was gripping the country as it faced into an election, though banned, Sinn Fein was very much alive: ‘There was no dearth of workers, canvassers, bill posters, motor drivers, boys with whitewash to decorate bridge parapets and dead walls..Republican flags hing from old castles, until the peelers, in despair, tired of taking them down. Succesive directors of elections were arrested but others took their places. Through all their work was eagerness, talk and gaeity’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p304
29
Dublin
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Sir John French, (above) appointed seven men to act as an advisory council. The seven, nearly all men of title, were: the Earl of Dunraven, the Marquess of Londonderry, the Earl of Granard, the Rt. Hon. Walter Kavanagh, Sir Thomas Stafford, Sir Stanley Harrington, and Frank Brooke. Lord French hoped that the seven would assist in working with leading individuals on matters of social and economic welfare. There was some confusion as to whether the new advisory council was also to serve as the Reconstruction Committee for Ireland. The appointment of the council was a matter of some controversy in Dublin trade and commercial circles with the Freeman’s Journal, describing how the advisory council was initated as ‘monstrous and grotesque’.
Meanwhile, a major scheme to benefit unemployed persons in Great Britain and Ireland saw a massive uptake in Dublin. The scheme was designed to benefit discharged soldiers and sailors and members of the women’s corps who were being demobilised from military service following the conclusion of the Great War. The benefit was open to all British subjects who were employed contributors under the National Health Insurance Act and available to such persons who are unemployed after attending their local labour exchange on three consecutive days. Over 6 days, 5,500 people registered for the out of work wage scheme at the Rotunda buildings in Dublin. Of this number approximately 20% were women, 9% were soldiers, 8% were boys and 4% were girls.
An official of the labour exchange in the Rotunda explained to reporters that their work was only beginning; munition workers, 70,000 of whom had been sent overseas, have not yet started to return from England, and the work of dealing with large numbers of discharged soldiers has also not really begun. There were 19 principal exchanges throughout the country and a number of sub-exchanges in large centres like Belfast. In addition, 130 local agents had been appointed in connection with the administration in the smaller towns in Ireland. The scheme was expected to cost the British exchequer £30m and intended to apply only to the transition period between the conclusion of the war and the resumption of normal employment
Belfast
Sir Edward Carson was nominated to run in the constituency of Duncairn in Belfast in the December General Election, opting not to defend his Dublin University seat held for the previous 25 years. In an open letter to the Provost of Trinity College, Carson expressed regret at stepping away from Dublin University. He explained that his decision was rooted in the divisions that have opened up between unionists in the north of Ireland and unionists in the south as to how the threat of Home Rule should be dealt with - in particular the prospect of partition. Carson felt that the university ‘should be represented by a member who is not so closely connected with the Ulster position’.
Opening his election campaign in Belfast, Carson addressed the need for the forthcoming Peace Conference to re-establish international law and bring to judgment those guilty of murder, of territorial transgressions and of the mistreatment of British prisoners. Carson argued that British interests will best be served in the post-war negotiations if it had a strong, united government and for that reason he strongly supports the continuation of the coalition government. Turning to Irish issues, he reiterated his opposition to Home Rule and rejected the claim of former Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, that the Irish now had a statutory right that needed to be turned into a working reality… But which of the parties in Ireland was now asking for the Home Rule Act to be brought into force, he wondered. The Sinn Féiners were trying to destroy the authors of the Home Rule Act, the Irish Party were attempting to ‘curry favour’ with Sinn Féin and Ulster was never more determined to oppose the measure. And, he stressed: ‘If Ulster had a right to be determined on that subject before the war, they had a double right now.’
Observing developments in recent days, the Irish Times has commented on the gathering momentum towards the partition of the island. The measure seems to have the backing of most major British parties, as well as support from America. For southern unionists, however, the prospects of partition is not only frightening, but is an ‘unnatural offence against their country’.
Dublin
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Sir John French, (above) appointed seven men to act as an advisory council. The seven, nearly all men of title, were: the Earl of Dunraven, the Marquess of Londonderry, the Earl of Granard, the Rt. Hon. Walter Kavanagh, Sir Thomas Stafford, Sir Stanley Harrington, and Frank Brooke. Lord French hoped that the seven would assist in working with leading individuals on matters of social and economic welfare. There was some confusion as to whether the new advisory council was also to serve as the Reconstruction Committee for Ireland. The appointment of the council was a matter of some controversy in Dublin trade and commercial circles with the Freeman’s Journal, describing how the advisory council was initated as ‘monstrous and grotesque’.
Meanwhile, a major scheme to benefit unemployed persons in Great Britain and Ireland saw a massive uptake in Dublin. The scheme was designed to benefit discharged soldiers and sailors and members of the women’s corps who were being demobilised from military service following the conclusion of the Great War. The benefit was open to all British subjects who were employed contributors under the National Health Insurance Act and available to such persons who are unemployed after attending their local labour exchange on three consecutive days. Over 6 days, 5,500 people registered for the out of work wage scheme at the Rotunda buildings in Dublin. Of this number approximately 20% were women, 9% were soldiers, 8% were boys and 4% were girls.
An official of the labour exchange in the Rotunda explained to reporters that their work was only beginning; munition workers, 70,000 of whom had been sent overseas, have not yet started to return from England, and the work of dealing with large numbers of discharged soldiers has also not really begun. There were 19 principal exchanges throughout the country and a number of sub-exchanges in large centres like Belfast. In addition, 130 local agents had been appointed in connection with the administration in the smaller towns in Ireland. The scheme was expected to cost the British exchequer £30m and intended to apply only to the transition period between the conclusion of the war and the resumption of normal employment
Belfast
Sir Edward Carson was nominated to run in the constituency of Duncairn in Belfast in the December General Election, opting not to defend his Dublin University seat held for the previous 25 years. In an open letter to the Provost of Trinity College, Carson expressed regret at stepping away from Dublin University. He explained that his decision was rooted in the divisions that have opened up between unionists in the north of Ireland and unionists in the south as to how the threat of Home Rule should be dealt with - in particular the prospect of partition. Carson felt that the university ‘should be represented by a member who is not so closely connected with the Ulster position’.
Opening his election campaign in Belfast, Carson addressed the need for the forthcoming Peace Conference to re-establish international law and bring to judgment those guilty of murder, of territorial transgressions and of the mistreatment of British prisoners. Carson argued that British interests will best be served in the post-war negotiations if it had a strong, united government and for that reason he strongly supports the continuation of the coalition government. Turning to Irish issues, he reiterated his opposition to Home Rule and rejected the claim of former Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, that the Irish now had a statutory right that needed to be turned into a working reality… But which of the parties in Ireland was now asking for the Home Rule Act to be brought into force, he wondered. The Sinn Féiners were trying to destroy the authors of the Home Rule Act, the Irish Party were attempting to ‘curry favour’ with Sinn Féin and Ulster was never more determined to oppose the measure. And, he stressed: ‘If Ulster had a right to be determined on that subject before the war, they had a double right now.’
Observing developments in recent days, the Irish Times has commented on the gathering momentum towards the partition of the island. The measure seems to have the backing of most major British parties, as well as support from America. For southern unionists, however, the prospects of partition is not only frightening, but is an ‘unnatural offence against their country’.
30
The above advert appeared in the Daily Telegraph, November 30, 1918 and highlights perceived tensions among some sections of British society towards the state's diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
All diplomatic relations were broken off between the Pope and England centuries before in 1534, after the Act of Supremacy of that year declared that King Henry VIII was "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England". This break continued throughout the remaining existence of the Kingdom of England and its successor the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800). However, after the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland an "unofficial official" was kept in Rome from the mid-nineteenth century, holding the title of representative to the Papal States. With the rise of Italian nationalism, the Papal States were conquered by the House of Savoy and a unified Kingdom of Italy was declared in 1861. In 1874, due to the Roman Question, the Conservative government withdrew this representative, reasoning that it was not cost-effective to maintain a representative to a "non-existent state". Missions between 1874 and 1914 were designated "special and temporary". In 1914 the United Kingdom formally re-established diplomatic relations with the Holy See. A minister was sent to the papal court during the First World War to court the favour of the Pope towards the Triple Entente. This mission was maintained after the war for the perceived value of its prestige (a "quiet place for a not very distinguished diplomat") and the conflicts in Ireland, Malta, Quebec, and Australia, which had Roman Catholic dimensions. It has been claimed that the Representative Minister was always of the Church of England, and that Francis Campbell, appointed ambassador in 2005, was "the first Catholic to hold the position of emissary of the Court of St James to the Holy See since the Reformation"; in fact, however, the first two 20th-century envoys, Sir Henry Howard and Count de Salis, were both Catholics and in keeping with the tradition 'not very distinguished diplomats' |
It was called the ‘Great War’ with more countries involved, and more people killed, maimed, injured and missing in any conflict up to 1918. Estimated casualties throughout Europe and the Middle East: ten million dead. The war was to drastically re-draw European boundaries, decimate both royal and comoner alike and shape the world we live in today.
The war poet, Siegfried Sasson was one of the countless thousands of former soldiers who found adjustment to civilian life difficult and leaving the war behind, impossible. “The man who endured the war at its worst was everlastingly differentiated from everyone, except his fellow soldiers.”
Many soldiers returning from the front were both physcially disabled and mentally disturbed. Sassoon wrote of them:
Does it matter loosing your legs?
for people will always be kind.
And you need not show that you mind,
When others come in after hunting to gobble their muffin and eggs.
Does it matter, loosing your sight?There’s such splendid work for the blind.
For people will always be kind
as you sit on the terrace remembering
and turning your face to the light.
Do they matter, those dreams from the pits
You can drink and forget and be glad
And people wont say that you’re mad
For they’ll know that you fought for your country
And no one will worry a bit.
The disabled men, injured and disfigured, were a continual reminder to show what suffering in the trenches had meant. They were a reminder of what they had gone through in the gas attack, in the bombardment, in being buried for hours under the earth and being at the brink of psychological collapse, and many of the population did not wish to face these war cripples, they did not want to be reminded continiously of what war was really like.
The most tragic of all were what the French called ‘The men with broken faces’. When medical science failed to help these mutilated men, artisans took over. The skills of the sculptor were called upon in special clinics. Using pre-war photos of the patients, sculptors fashioned thin masks to help cover the wounds. ‘Instead of being a gargoyle, afraid to show himself on the streets, he can show himself anywhere and be unafraid. Self respect returns, depression departs’
There was to be little of that new world that was fought for on their return to civilian life. What remained was brutality and poverty as the peacetime economies faltered and failed. A common sight in many cities was a decorated soldier, selling matches on a street corner. Chaos and anarchy was to spread through many cities in the defeated Germany . The artist Georges Grosse described the anarchy in Berlin:‘ Inhabitants half crazed with fear could not stand the confienment of their own four walls, so they went up on the roof to shoot pigeons and people. The whole city was dark, cold and full of rumours. The streets became ravines of manslaughter and cocaine traffic. All moral codes were abandoned. A wave of vice, pornograhy and prostitution enveloped the whole country. ‘
Sassoon lived until 1967, never forgetting the war and hoping humanity would also remember:
Have you forgotten yet?
For the worlds events have rumbled on since those gag days
Like traffic checked at the crossing of city ways.
But the past is just the same
And war’s a bloody game
Have you forgotten yet?
Look down and swear by the slain of the war
That you’ll never forget
Do you remember the dark months
You held the sector at Mammetz?
The nights you watched and wired and dugAnd piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats?
And the stench of corpses rotting in front of the frontline trench?
And dawn coming, dirty white and chilled with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask
Is it all going to happen again?
Do you remember that hour of din before the attack?
And the anger, the vlind compassion that seized and shook you
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men
Do you remember the stretcher cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads
Those ashen grey masks of the lads who were keen
And kind and gay
Have you forgotten yet?
Look up and swear by the green of the spring
That you’ll never forget.
Iceland became independent of Denmark.
The Boston Pilot newspaper, chief organ of the Catholic Church in Massachusetts wrote ‘The war has been won for demoracy. The world awaits the practical application to small nations of the principles for which it has been wages. Its vision is especially focussed on Ireland. Ireland’s sorrows and demans must reach the conference room. Ireland is the great test, without it victory will prove to be shadow and not substance.’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p166
The war poet, Siegfried Sasson was one of the countless thousands of former soldiers who found adjustment to civilian life difficult and leaving the war behind, impossible. “The man who endured the war at its worst was everlastingly differentiated from everyone, except his fellow soldiers.”
Many soldiers returning from the front were both physcially disabled and mentally disturbed. Sassoon wrote of them:
Does it matter loosing your legs?
for people will always be kind.
And you need not show that you mind,
When others come in after hunting to gobble their muffin and eggs.
Does it matter, loosing your sight?There’s such splendid work for the blind.
For people will always be kind
as you sit on the terrace remembering
and turning your face to the light.
Do they matter, those dreams from the pits
You can drink and forget and be glad
And people wont say that you’re mad
For they’ll know that you fought for your country
And no one will worry a bit.
The disabled men, injured and disfigured, were a continual reminder to show what suffering in the trenches had meant. They were a reminder of what they had gone through in the gas attack, in the bombardment, in being buried for hours under the earth and being at the brink of psychological collapse, and many of the population did not wish to face these war cripples, they did not want to be reminded continiously of what war was really like.
The most tragic of all were what the French called ‘The men with broken faces’. When medical science failed to help these mutilated men, artisans took over. The skills of the sculptor were called upon in special clinics. Using pre-war photos of the patients, sculptors fashioned thin masks to help cover the wounds. ‘Instead of being a gargoyle, afraid to show himself on the streets, he can show himself anywhere and be unafraid. Self respect returns, depression departs’
There was to be little of that new world that was fought for on their return to civilian life. What remained was brutality and poverty as the peacetime economies faltered and failed. A common sight in many cities was a decorated soldier, selling matches on a street corner. Chaos and anarchy was to spread through many cities in the defeated Germany . The artist Georges Grosse described the anarchy in Berlin:‘ Inhabitants half crazed with fear could not stand the confienment of their own four walls, so they went up on the roof to shoot pigeons and people. The whole city was dark, cold and full of rumours. The streets became ravines of manslaughter and cocaine traffic. All moral codes were abandoned. A wave of vice, pornograhy and prostitution enveloped the whole country. ‘
Sassoon lived until 1967, never forgetting the war and hoping humanity would also remember:
Have you forgotten yet?
For the worlds events have rumbled on since those gag days
Like traffic checked at the crossing of city ways.
But the past is just the same
And war’s a bloody game
Have you forgotten yet?
Look down and swear by the slain of the war
That you’ll never forget
Do you remember the dark months
You held the sector at Mammetz?
The nights you watched and wired and dugAnd piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats?
And the stench of corpses rotting in front of the frontline trench?
And dawn coming, dirty white and chilled with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask
Is it all going to happen again?
Do you remember that hour of din before the attack?
And the anger, the vlind compassion that seized and shook you
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men
Do you remember the stretcher cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads
Those ashen grey masks of the lads who were keen
And kind and gay
Have you forgotten yet?
Look up and swear by the green of the spring
That you’ll never forget.
Iceland became independent of Denmark.
The Boston Pilot newspaper, chief organ of the Catholic Church in Massachusetts wrote ‘The war has been won for demoracy. The world awaits the practical application to small nations of the principles for which it has been wages. Its vision is especially focussed on Ireland. Ireland’s sorrows and demans must reach the conference room. Ireland is the great test, without it victory will prove to be shadow and not substance.’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p166
1
In the General Election campaign, Sinn Fein ran candidates in every constituency (103) except Trinity College and North Down. The more famous candidates ran in marginal seats in Ulster as well as other provincial seats.
Of the 73 Republican candidates, 47 were in prison. In 26 constituencies, the Irish Parliamentary Party withdrew its candidates realising it had no chance of success. Irish Labour organisations were faced with the difficult decision, to run for Parliament and join the abstentionist platform with Sinn Fein, to agree with the drive for self Government in the south while possibly alientating the Union dominated trades unions in Ulster? The prarmatic soloution was taken – not to run any candidates.
In Ulster, many of the candidates began to appeal specifically to their electoral base by appealing directly to the workers for their votes. Joe Devlin, a Parliamentary Nationalist in West Belfast created a ‘New Democratic Movement’ which promoted a living wage for all workers and their participation in the runing of industry. Although de Valera was on the Sinn Fein ticket for this constiencucy, Devlin paid no attention to the rhetoric of Sinn Fein saying ‘I decline to tell the shipwrights and mill workers, the street sweepers or any section of the working people that they must wait fifty years on a Republic before their greivances are redressed….we are out for one thing, to improve and elevate the people’
Conor Kostick ‘Revolution in Ireland - popular militancy 1917-1923’ Pluto Press, London 1996 p44
Unionist fears were certainly not eased by the Sinn Fein West Belfast electoral manifesto that stated ‘As Irish Cathlics we will, by all and every effective means in our power, urge the Church and Nation to oppose…a demoralising and Godless educational system which a Foreign Parliament would impose on a partioned North-East corner..’. Charges that a United Ireland would be little more than a Catholic sectarain state and hostile to the interestes of the Protestant working class.
In the US, the Friends of Irish Freedom followed the election campaign closely.
Michael Collins, running as candidate in Cork said ‘Any scheme of Government which does not confer upon the people of Ireland the supreme, absolute nd final control of all of this country, external as well as internal, is a mockery and will not be accepted.’
Conor O’Clery ‘Ireland in Quotes’ The O’Brien Press Dublin 1999 p.45
Kathleen Clarke was nominated by the North City, Dublin Comhairle Ceanntar for the area. Harry Boland and Richard Mulcahy called on John Reynolds, Chairman of the Comhairle asking that Mrs Clarkes name be withdrawn in favour of Mulcahy. At the subsequent meeting, the members advised they did not wish to change their candidate. Harry Boland then told the meeting that Mrs Clarke was sure of being elected in Limerick and that litterature had already been sent out. Richard Mulchahy was put on the ticket for North City.
Iceland regains independence, but remains in personal union with the King of Denmark, who also becomes the King of Iceland until 1944. New voting laws in Sweden makes votes no longer dependent on taxable assets, each adult having one vote.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which later becomes the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is proclaimed.
The December 1918 edition of the National Geographic Magazine carried an article by Edwin A. Grosvenor titled ‘The Races of Europe’ including this paragraph on Ireland:
‘What a wealth of blood that wonderful little island, Ireland, has given us! More Irish people have crossed the seas to become part of us that have remained behind. It is remarkable that so small an island, smaller, indeed than the State of Maine – could in a century and a half send us enough people to duplicate the present population of eleven of our states having an aggregate area as large as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Austria Hungary together..’
National Geographic Magazine XXXIV. Pp 441-534. December 1918.
The image of the German as an enemy persisted for some time after the war - this British poster produced in late 1918 by the British Empire Union reminds employers of war time atrocities committed by German soldiers and officers. The British Empire Union (BEU) was originally the Anti-German Union, founded in April 1915 standing for patriotism, social reform, industrial peace, promotion of the Empire and anti-socialism. In 1936, the Soviet newspaper Izvestia attacked the BEU as the main opponent of socialism in Britain. The BEU continued on, in 1960, renamed the British Commonwealth Union until finally ceasing political activities in 1975.
General Election Campaign: The election, and the three-week campaign which preceded it, was marred by ill-feeling and controversy. In part, this was because many contemporaries felt it had been rushed upon the people, with voting occurring before the majority of the troops had returned home. It was also felt that voter registration had been hurried. In addition, the election was held during an influenza epidemic, and ill candidates as well as cancelled meetings were common. This was the first general election to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918 and the first election in which women over the age of 30, and all men over the age of 21, could vote. Previously, all women and most working-class men had been excluded from voting.
The principal controversy, however, was the muddled condition of the parties, especially the Liberals, who had effectively split in December 1916. Disaffected Members of Parliament backed by Conservatives in the wartime coalition – had ejected Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928) from the Premiership, criticising his war leadership, and replaced him with David Lloyd George (1863-1945). The acrimony between the two factions divided the Liberal candidates into supporters of one, the other, neither, or both. The Conservatives for the most part saw Lloyd George as indispensable as Prime Minister, and most (but not all) agreed to fight the election as part of a coalition with other Lloyd George supporters. Even Labour supporters were not universally committed to fighting as an independent party.
The vast majority of candidates who were given the coupon were Conservatives, with Lloyd George's Liberals receiving less than half the number. Most Liberals (the majority of them supporters of Asquith) and almost all Labour candidates, were un-couponed. Unsurprisingly, there were numerous compromises, deals, and pacts at a constituency level along both coupon and ideological lines. Sometimes these resulted in a single couponed candidate fighting a single un-couponed candidate, but more often the latter failed to unite behind a single leader, which naturally split the anti-coalition vote.
In such rushed and confused political circumstances, the 1918 election was not one of great issues, arguments, or programmes. The substance of the campaign mainly revolved around reparations, punishing the Kaiser, and excluding and repatriating enemy aliens. Despite Lloyd George's support for Colonial Preference, the Asquithians, who were weakly led and cash-strapped, failed to make Free Trade a particular election issue, or advance a social programme that could rival Labour's plan. Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937) wrote of the campaign: “I have never hated [one] so much. The voters are apathetic, the dividing lines of the parties obscure and uncertain, the issues ill-defined.”
The principal controversy, however, was the muddled condition of the parties, especially the Liberals, who had effectively split in December 1916. Disaffected Members of Parliament backed by Conservatives in the wartime coalition – had ejected Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928) from the Premiership, criticising his war leadership, and replaced him with David Lloyd George (1863-1945). The acrimony between the two factions divided the Liberal candidates into supporters of one, the other, neither, or both. The Conservatives for the most part saw Lloyd George as indispensable as Prime Minister, and most (but not all) agreed to fight the election as part of a coalition with other Lloyd George supporters. Even Labour supporters were not universally committed to fighting as an independent party.
The vast majority of candidates who were given the coupon were Conservatives, with Lloyd George's Liberals receiving less than half the number. Most Liberals (the majority of them supporters of Asquith) and almost all Labour candidates, were un-couponed. Unsurprisingly, there were numerous compromises, deals, and pacts at a constituency level along both coupon and ideological lines. Sometimes these resulted in a single couponed candidate fighting a single un-couponed candidate, but more often the latter failed to unite behind a single leader, which naturally split the anti-coalition vote.
In such rushed and confused political circumstances, the 1918 election was not one of great issues, arguments, or programmes. The substance of the campaign mainly revolved around reparations, punishing the Kaiser, and excluding and repatriating enemy aliens. Despite Lloyd George's support for Colonial Preference, the Asquithians, who were weakly led and cash-strapped, failed to make Free Trade a particular election issue, or advance a social programme that could rival Labour's plan. Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937) wrote of the campaign: “I have never hated [one] so much. The voters are apathetic, the dividing lines of the parties obscure and uncertain, the issues ill-defined.”
Ireland: The Irish electorate in 1918, as with the entire electorate throughout the United Kingdom, had changed in major ways since the preceding general election.
Firstly, there was a dramatic generational change because of World War I, which meant that the British general election due in 1915 had not taken place. As a result, no election took place between 1910 and 1918, the longest such spell in modern British (apart from the period 1935-45) and Irish constitutional history. Thus the 1918 election saw, in particular:
- All voters between the age of 21 and 29 were first time general election voters. They had no history of past voter loyalty to the IPP to fall back on, and had begun their political awareness in the period of 8 years that had seen a bitter world war, the home rule controversy and the Easter Rising and its aftermath.
- A generation of older voters, most of them IPP supporters, had died in that eight-year period.
- Emigration (except to Britain) had been almost impossible during the war because of the dangerous sea lanes, which meant that tens of thousands of young people were in Ireland who in normal times would have been abroad.
- As Ireland had not had conscription, Unionists and moderate Nationalists had predominantly made up the volunteers for the duration of the war. Consequently, there was a large loss in the age range of young Unionists and moderate Nationalists, which did not occur amongst Republicans who had not volunteered.
Secondly, the franchise had been greatly extended by the Representation of the People Act 1918. This granted voting rights to women (albeit only those over 30) for the first time, and gave all men over 21 and military servicemen over 19 a vote in parliamentary elections without property qualifications. The Irish electorate increased from around 700,000 to about two million.
Overall, a new generation of young voters, and the sudden influx of women over thirty, meant that vast numbers of new voters of unknown voter affiliation existed, changing dramatically the make-up of the Irish electorate.
Political factors
Since the last general election in 1910 the local organisation of the previously dominant Irish Party, unchallenged for nearly a decade, had atrophied at best making defence of its seats difficult and was largely of an older generation. It had enacted the Home Rule Act in 1914 which had however been suspended during the war. Its policy had been to achieve All-Ireland self-government constitutionally (within the framework of the United Kingdom), as opposed to using separatist physical force if required.
The electorate had become enamoured by Sinn Féin by the harsh response of the authorities to the Easter Rising after it had later been falsely blamed for the Rising even though it had taken no part in it. The party also took most of the credit for the successful campaign to prevent the introduction of conscription in 1918.
Whereas the IPP conceded a temporary form of partition in 1914, as a measure to pacify Ulster loyalists, Sinn Féin felt that this would worsen and prolong any differences between north and south. In contrast to the IPP, Sinn Féin were seen as a young and radical force. Its leaders were young militant politicians, such as Michael Collins (28) and de Valera (36), like most of the new voters and their imprisoned republican candidates.
The IPP led by leaders such as John Dillon, who had been in public office since the 1880s, were largely older moderate politicians, campaigning for All-Ireland Home Rule since Charles Stewart Parnell’s time, and now pressing for the implementation of the 1914 Act and a constitutional solution to have Ulster included in the jurisdiction of a Dublin parliament. On the other hand, Sinn Féin represented change and a radical new policy for achieving Irish self-government outside of the UK, and many of its Volunteer wing were ready to defend a republic with physical force. By 1918, Sinn Féin followers had come to see the gradual acquisition of All-Ireland Home Rule as an idea whose time had come and gone.
The Irish population were radicalised in the years of World War I. In addition to heavy losses suffered by Irish regiments, the conscription threat and British military measures, there was rapid inflation that sparked off a wave of strikes and industrial disputes. The 1918 election occurred at a time of revolution across Europe.
Unionist opinion from fear of Home Rule, or worse separation, solidified after the Rising and its vote was enhanced, aided in Ulster by the increased electorate. This was the first election since the Ulster Covenant, the formation of the Ulster Volunteers (UVF) and the Battle of the Somme.
Sinn Féin's policy was outlined in its election manifesto, which aimed for Irish representation and recognition at any post-war peace conference. IPP policy was to leave negotiation to the British government. Nearly a year earlier in January 1918 Woodrow Wilson had issued his Fourteen Points policy, which seemed to promise that self-government and self-determination would become normal policy in international relations. The Ulster Unionists' resistance to All-Ireland self-government remained unresolved, and little account was taken of its reservations to what it contended would be Catholic rule from Dublin
2
President Wilson was preparing to leave the United States for the Paris Peace Conference. Before he left, the Catholic hierarchy in America sent him an appeal to make the principle of self-determination applicable to Ireland.
Diarmuid Lynch, Liam Mellows and Richard Dalton drafted the following petition to President Wilson in support of the claim to have Ireland’s representatives heard at the Paris Peace Conference and copies sent to the Governments of twenty countries. It was signed by Dr. Patrick McCartan as Envoy of the Provisional Government of Ireland and presented by Diarmuid Lynch, Dr McCartan and Liam Mellows:
To the President of the United States:
Sir:
The Provisional Government of Ireland, recognising that the object of the Peace Conference is not alone to terminate the present war, but to ensure the future peace of the world, holds that said conference must necessarily take cognisance of Ireland’s national status, and instructs me as it's Envoy, and as an elected representative of the Irish people, to transmit to your excellency and to the Government of the United States a demand that the representatives of the said Provisional Government of Ireland be invited to participate in the Peace Conference.
I, accordingly have the honour to transmit, and I do hereby transmit, such demand.
The Provisional Government of Ireland further instructs me to state that such demand is based upon the facts that:
* Ireland is geographically, historically, linguistically and culturally, a distinct nation.
* Ireland possesses within herself all the moral and material constituents of independent nationhood.
* Ireland is one of the ancient and sovereign nations of the world, and exercised sovereign status for one
thousand years.
* Ireland has never surrendered her sovereign status by compact or by treaty or to conquest, and exercise of
such sovereignty has only been suspended by external force.
* Ireland has asserted the conscious will of her people for the restoration of the exercise of that sovereignty in
every generation since such suspension. The evidence of such conscious will has been reasserted by force of
arms during the present war, and continues to be so re-asserted by the moral attitude of the people of Ireland
and the continuance of the Provisional Government which I have the honour to represent.
To you, Sir, - the greatest exponent of international justice - the Provisional Government of Ireland wishes God Speed on your great mission to secure justice and permanent peace for all peoples.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your sincere friend in the great Cause of Human Liberty.
Patrick McCartan
Envoy of the Provisional Government of Ireland.
Dated, Washington, DC
December second, 1918.
Diarmuid Lynch "The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising". Mercier Press 1957. p196
The Washington DC based diplomats chosen to receive this letter were: Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, China, Ecuador, Paraguay, Persia, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Siam, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay, Russia, Venezuela, Austria, Hungary and Germany. The British were excluded.
In the Judge Cohalan legal action against the New York Mail and New York Express, both newspapers published an apology to Cohalan and made payment of $5,000 covering his counsel’s fees and expenses. The background to this case was when George Creel (1876-1953) head of the US War Information Bureau, circulated statements regarding Cohalan’s alleged connection to Imperial Germany following the discovery of documents in the 1916 Von-Igel raid and by impication he was at best un-patriotic and at worst, guilty of treason. Creel and Judge Cohalan were to have a further difference of opinion in February 1920.
As time passed Mellows became increasingly infuriated by the muted campaign for Irish self-determination which the FOIF was pursuing while the Great War lasted. Mellows’ sympathies were now on the side of those calling for more strident action: Joe McGarrity, Dr Patrick McCartan and Dr William Maloney.
President Wilson was preparing to leave the United States for the Paris Peace Conference. Before he left, the Catholic hierarchy in America sent him an appeal to make the principle of self-determination applicable to Ireland.
Diarmuid Lynch, Liam Mellows and Richard Dalton drafted the following petition to President Wilson in support of the claim to have Ireland’s representatives heard at the Paris Peace Conference and copies sent to the Governments of twenty countries. It was signed by Dr. Patrick McCartan as Envoy of the Provisional Government of Ireland and presented by Diarmuid Lynch, Dr McCartan and Liam Mellows:
To the President of the United States:
Sir:
The Provisional Government of Ireland, recognising that the object of the Peace Conference is not alone to terminate the present war, but to ensure the future peace of the world, holds that said conference must necessarily take cognisance of Ireland’s national status, and instructs me as it's Envoy, and as an elected representative of the Irish people, to transmit to your excellency and to the Government of the United States a demand that the representatives of the said Provisional Government of Ireland be invited to participate in the Peace Conference.
I, accordingly have the honour to transmit, and I do hereby transmit, such demand.
The Provisional Government of Ireland further instructs me to state that such demand is based upon the facts that:
* Ireland is geographically, historically, linguistically and culturally, a distinct nation.
* Ireland possesses within herself all the moral and material constituents of independent nationhood.
* Ireland is one of the ancient and sovereign nations of the world, and exercised sovereign status for one
thousand years.
* Ireland has never surrendered her sovereign status by compact or by treaty or to conquest, and exercise of
such sovereignty has only been suspended by external force.
* Ireland has asserted the conscious will of her people for the restoration of the exercise of that sovereignty in
every generation since such suspension. The evidence of such conscious will has been reasserted by force of
arms during the present war, and continues to be so re-asserted by the moral attitude of the people of Ireland
and the continuance of the Provisional Government which I have the honour to represent.
To you, Sir, - the greatest exponent of international justice - the Provisional Government of Ireland wishes God Speed on your great mission to secure justice and permanent peace for all peoples.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your sincere friend in the great Cause of Human Liberty.
Patrick McCartan
Envoy of the Provisional Government of Ireland.
Dated, Washington, DC
December second, 1918.
Diarmuid Lynch "The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising". Mercier Press 1957. p196
The Washington DC based diplomats chosen to receive this letter were: Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, China, Ecuador, Paraguay, Persia, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Siam, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uruguay, Russia, Venezuela, Austria, Hungary and Germany. The British were excluded.
In the Judge Cohalan legal action against the New York Mail and New York Express, both newspapers published an apology to Cohalan and made payment of $5,000 covering his counsel’s fees and expenses. The background to this case was when George Creel (1876-1953) head of the US War Information Bureau, circulated statements regarding Cohalan’s alleged connection to Imperial Germany following the discovery of documents in the 1916 Von-Igel raid and by impication he was at best un-patriotic and at worst, guilty of treason. Creel and Judge Cohalan were to have a further difference of opinion in February 1920.
As time passed Mellows became increasingly infuriated by the muted campaign for Irish self-determination which the FOIF was pursuing while the Great War lasted. Mellows’ sympathies were now on the side of those calling for more strident action: Joe McGarrity, Dr Patrick McCartan and Dr William Maloney.
London: The war cabinet decided to demand the extradition of the Kaiser to face a war crimes trial.
Lemberg, Poland: Over 3,200 Jews were reported as being murdered in a progrom in Poland.
Dublin
A voting pact was agreed between Sinn Féin and the Irish Party in six Ulster constituencies for the forthcoming general election. It followed a plea from the northern bishops, including Cardinal Logue, which urged a strategy designed to avoid three-cornered contests in constituencies where nationalist seats could be lost to unionism owing to a split vote between the Irish Party and Sinn Féin. Irish party leader, John Dillon, supported the proposal and added that it was his view that the bishops’ plan for Ulster should be extended to the rest of Ireland to avoid ‘a number of bitter contests between nationalists, which...must inflict terrible, if not fatal, injury on the national cause’.
Sinn Féin held a convention in Dungannon in which the Party agreed to a carve up of constituencies where they would be allowed to face off against unionism in Derry City, South Fermanagh and North West Tyrone, while they would stand aside and let the Irish Party have a clear run in South Down, East Down and South Armagh. Following the Bishops’ plan means that Sinn Féin would now go back on a prior pledge to contest each and every constituency.
The arrangement also raised questions as to how it would be observed by the supporters of both parties. As the Irish Independent commented: ‘A Sinn Feiner with very strong convictions may find it hard to take a prominent part in supporting Mr Dillon’s candidate, and vice versa.’
The voting pact between the Nationalist parties had obvious implications for the electoral prospects of unionism and the reaction to the agreement has been strong and critical. The intervention of the Ulster bishops has been denounced in the Unionist Belfast Newsletter, which has said that it should ‘open the eyes of British politicians who think the Roman Catholic Church would be a conservative force in Irish politics, that it would restrain the extremists and support law and order’. The bishops had always put the interests of their church first, the Newsletter insisted and had, since the Reformation, worked ‘openly and secretly for the destruction of England...That is the real reason of the hostility of the Vatican to the Allies all through the war, and it also explains its opposition to conscription.’
Lemberg, Poland: Over 3,200 Jews were reported as being murdered in a progrom in Poland.
Dublin
A voting pact was agreed between Sinn Féin and the Irish Party in six Ulster constituencies for the forthcoming general election. It followed a plea from the northern bishops, including Cardinal Logue, which urged a strategy designed to avoid three-cornered contests in constituencies where nationalist seats could be lost to unionism owing to a split vote between the Irish Party and Sinn Féin. Irish party leader, John Dillon, supported the proposal and added that it was his view that the bishops’ plan for Ulster should be extended to the rest of Ireland to avoid ‘a number of bitter contests between nationalists, which...must inflict terrible, if not fatal, injury on the national cause’.
Sinn Féin held a convention in Dungannon in which the Party agreed to a carve up of constituencies where they would be allowed to face off against unionism in Derry City, South Fermanagh and North West Tyrone, while they would stand aside and let the Irish Party have a clear run in South Down, East Down and South Armagh. Following the Bishops’ plan means that Sinn Féin would now go back on a prior pledge to contest each and every constituency.
The arrangement also raised questions as to how it would be observed by the supporters of both parties. As the Irish Independent commented: ‘A Sinn Feiner with very strong convictions may find it hard to take a prominent part in supporting Mr Dillon’s candidate, and vice versa.’
The voting pact between the Nationalist parties had obvious implications for the electoral prospects of unionism and the reaction to the agreement has been strong and critical. The intervention of the Ulster bishops has been denounced in the Unionist Belfast Newsletter, which has said that it should ‘open the eyes of British politicians who think the Roman Catholic Church would be a conservative force in Irish politics, that it would restrain the extremists and support law and order’. The bishops had always put the interests of their church first, the Newsletter insisted and had, since the Reformation, worked ‘openly and secretly for the destruction of England...That is the real reason of the hostility of the Vatican to the Allies all through the war, and it also explains its opposition to conscription.’
3
Washington: The Friends of Irish Freedom delegation (including Lynch and Mellows) called at the White House to present the plea to President Wilson. They were refused an appointment or allowed to leave the plea with his private secretary, Tumulty who advised the President:
‘..they represent the Sinn Fein element that had a convention in New York recently and wish to present a memorial to you on the matter. It seems to me that it would not be wise for you to receive them or even to receive the memorial... the speeches made at the convention were most seditious’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.273 quoting the Wilson papers.
Liam Mellows later wrote of his adventures at the White House: “Diarmuid and myself paid a visit to Washington six weeks or so go and called at the White House to see the President [Woodrow Wilson] to present a demand from the people of Ireland for representation at the ‘Peace’ Conference. His Lordship was not home, but we left the ‘scrap of paper’ and bowed ourselves out of the august presence of his secretary’s secretary. Some style, eh!” His spirits remain high: “As the Yanks in New York say—‘Safety foist.’ ”
http://irishamerica.com/2016/03/dear-julia-personal-peflections-on-1916-and-its-aftermath/ - accessed 29 Dec 2017
Washington: The Friends of Irish Freedom delegation (including Lynch and Mellows) called at the White House to present the plea to President Wilson. They were refused an appointment or allowed to leave the plea with his private secretary, Tumulty who advised the President:
‘..they represent the Sinn Fein element that had a convention in New York recently and wish to present a memorial to you on the matter. It seems to me that it would not be wise for you to receive them or even to receive the memorial... the speeches made at the convention were most seditious’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.273 quoting the Wilson papers.
Liam Mellows later wrote of his adventures at the White House: “Diarmuid and myself paid a visit to Washington six weeks or so go and called at the White House to see the President [Woodrow Wilson] to present a demand from the people of Ireland for representation at the ‘Peace’ Conference. His Lordship was not home, but we left the ‘scrap of paper’ and bowed ourselves out of the august presence of his secretary’s secretary. Some style, eh!” His spirits remain high: “As the Yanks in New York say—‘Safety foist.’ ”
http://irishamerica.com/2016/03/dear-julia-personal-peflections-on-1916-and-its-aftermath/ - accessed 29 Dec 2017
4
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes brought into being, but soon becoming known as Yugoslavia.
President of the U.S. Woodrow Wilson sails for the Paris Peace Conference, becoming the first U.S. president to travel to Europe while in office.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes brought into being, but soon becoming known as Yugoslavia.
President of the U.S. Woodrow Wilson sails for the Paris Peace Conference, becoming the first U.S. president to travel to Europe while in office.
5
Dublin: One of the more amazing recruitments to Collin’s growing spy network was that of his own cousin, Nancy O’Brien. She had been working for the telegraph service of the Post Office in London and had been transferred to the newly refurbished GPO in Dublin. She was summoned to the ofice of the Deputy Head of the telegraph service in Dublin, Sir James McMahon. There she was told that he was seeking a responsible and loyal employee who would be responsible for decoding messages between Whitehall and Dublin Castle. He advised her that the Government had checked into her background and believed that she had ‘no connection with the these upstarts who would tilt at the British Empire’ and offered her the job after explaining that the Government believed messages intended for officials in Ireland had been read by Collins before the officials had even seen them.
Nancy met with Collins that evening and explained her new position. Collins first reaction was ‘Christ, how did these people hang onto their empire for so long and achieve so much, when they would put a cousin of mine in a job like that’
For the following two years, his cousin would spend many of her meal breaks in the GPO toilets, copying decoded messages and tucking them into her underwear.
‘Michael Collins’ Colm Connolly – Weidenfield & Nicholson, London. P32
British light cruiser HMS Cassandra sunk by mine in the Gulf of Finland while assisting Estonia against the Bolsheviks, with eleven crew lost.
Versailles: British representatives call for an end to military conscription throughout Europe.
London: With the closure of nominations for the Parliamentary election at midnight, December 4th a number of Westminster seats were immediately filled as these were uncontested. 25 seats were taken by Sinn Fein including Cork South East by Diarmuid Lynch.
In 1918 and for some decades before, it was not uncommon for constituencies to be uncontested with the popular candidate standing unopposed. In Ireland, for example Unionists usually did not put up candidates where they would have no real chance against the Irish Parliamentary Party.
5
Dublin: One of the more amazing recruitments to Collin’s growing spy network was that of his own cousin, Nancy O’Brien. She had been working for the telegraph service of the Post Office in London and had been transferred to the newly refurbished GPO in Dublin. She was summoned to the ofice of the Deputy Head of the telegraph service in Dublin, Sir James McMahon. There she was told that he was seeking a responsible and loyal employee who would be responsible for decoding messages between Whitehall and Dublin Castle. He advised her that the Government had checked into her background and believed that she had ‘no connection with the these upstarts who would tilt at the British Empire’ and offered her the job after explaining that the Government believed messages intended for officials in Ireland had been read by Collins before the officials had even seen them.
Nancy met with Collins that evening and explained her new position. Collins first reaction was ‘Christ, how did these people hang onto their empire for so long and achieve so much, when they would put a cousin of mine in a job like that’
For the following two years, his cousin would spend many of her meal breaks in the GPO toilets, copying decoded messages and tucking them into her underwear.
‘Michael Collins’ Colm Connolly – Weidenfield & Nicholson, London. P32
British light cruiser HMS Cassandra sunk by mine in the Gulf of Finland while assisting Estonia against the Bolsheviks, with eleven crew lost.
Versailles: British representatives call for an end to military conscription throughout Europe.
London: With the closure of nominations for the Parliamentary election at midnight, December 4th a number of Westminster seats were immediately filled as these were uncontested. 25 seats were taken by Sinn Fein including Cork South East by Diarmuid Lynch.
In 1918 and for some decades before, it was not uncommon for constituencies to be uncontested with the popular candidate standing unopposed. In Ireland, for example Unionists usually did not put up candidates where they would have no real chance against the Irish Parliamentary Party.
6
7
Leeds, Yorkshire
The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, made a cryptic reference to Ireland in the course of a speech delivered in Leeds. The Prime Minister spoke mostly on the conduct of his government during the war, but when replying to a vote of thanks, made the following comments:
‘I have been up Snowdon trying to see Ireland. It is not the first time I have got into a mist trying to see Ireland, but there is one thing which always clears the mist and that it is a storm. And there is one advantage on the hills: When you are on the top of a hill, and it is clear, you can see further.’
The Prime Minister did not elaborate upon his remarks. Lloyd George’s predecessor, Herbert Henry Asquith, also made mention of Ireland while on the campaign trail for the general election. Speaking in Rochdale, Mr Asquith said that this election was already proving ‘what a terrible blunder we have made in not securing general consent – as there seemed good reason to believe we should – not only for putting Home Rule on the statute book, but for making self-government for Ireland an accomplished and working fact’. Looking to what lies ahead, Asquith offered the following bleak assessment:
‘So long as you have here, close to your own shores, an island which is now returning under a free system of election, with an enlarged electorate, men to the House of Commons who decline to sit there, men who are avowedly hostile to our government and constitution, you cannot say you have solved here at home the problems which we and the Allies are seeking to solve throughout the length and breadth of the civilised world so long as that is the case.’
New York: The Gaelic American announced that the chairman of the Friends of Irish Freedom meeting in Madison Square Garden would be Judge Gavegan , later it was announced that New York Governor Whitman would be temporary chairman and Judge Goff as permanent chairman.
"The Valley of the Squinting Windows" by Brinsley McNamara first published.
8
Herbert Samuel, an ex-Cabinet Minister in a speech at St. Albans commented:
‘Ireland is now being governed under military law. If what is now going on in Ireland had been going on in the Austrian Empire all England would be ringing with denuciation of the tyranny of the Hapsburgs and of denying people the right to rule themselves’
Irish National Bureau Newsletter – No. 29, January 16, 1920. Lynch Family Archives.
France: The French Government visited the newly incorporated province of Alsace-Lorraine. France's occupation the previous month ending German rule dating back to 1871.
‘Self-determination Week’ began with a series of nation-wide meetings throughout the US, calling on President Wilson to apply his principles of self-determination to Ireland.
Leeds, Yorkshire
The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, made a cryptic reference to Ireland in the course of a speech delivered in Leeds. The Prime Minister spoke mostly on the conduct of his government during the war, but when replying to a vote of thanks, made the following comments:
‘I have been up Snowdon trying to see Ireland. It is not the first time I have got into a mist trying to see Ireland, but there is one thing which always clears the mist and that it is a storm. And there is one advantage on the hills: When you are on the top of a hill, and it is clear, you can see further.’
The Prime Minister did not elaborate upon his remarks. Lloyd George’s predecessor, Herbert Henry Asquith, also made mention of Ireland while on the campaign trail for the general election. Speaking in Rochdale, Mr Asquith said that this election was already proving ‘what a terrible blunder we have made in not securing general consent – as there seemed good reason to believe we should – not only for putting Home Rule on the statute book, but for making self-government for Ireland an accomplished and working fact’. Looking to what lies ahead, Asquith offered the following bleak assessment:
‘So long as you have here, close to your own shores, an island which is now returning under a free system of election, with an enlarged electorate, men to the House of Commons who decline to sit there, men who are avowedly hostile to our government and constitution, you cannot say you have solved here at home the problems which we and the Allies are seeking to solve throughout the length and breadth of the civilised world so long as that is the case.’
New York: The Gaelic American announced that the chairman of the Friends of Irish Freedom meeting in Madison Square Garden would be Judge Gavegan , later it was announced that New York Governor Whitman would be temporary chairman and Judge Goff as permanent chairman.
"The Valley of the Squinting Windows" by Brinsley McNamara first published.
8
Herbert Samuel, an ex-Cabinet Minister in a speech at St. Albans commented:
‘Ireland is now being governed under military law. If what is now going on in Ireland had been going on in the Austrian Empire all England would be ringing with denuciation of the tyranny of the Hapsburgs and of denying people the right to rule themselves’
Irish National Bureau Newsletter – No. 29, January 16, 1920. Lynch Family Archives.
France: The French Government visited the newly incorporated province of Alsace-Lorraine. France's occupation the previous month ending German rule dating back to 1871.
‘Self-determination Week’ began with a series of nation-wide meetings throughout the US, calling on President Wilson to apply his principles of self-determination to Ireland.
9
Richard Coleman, an Irish republican prisoner died of influenza in Usk Prison in Wales. Coleman, from Swords, Co. Dublin, was heavily involved in the fighting at Ashbourne during Easter week in 1916 and the suffering he has endured in the intervening two years at the hands of the British authorities, may, friends believe, have weakened him to resist the influenza which took hold of him just a week before it claimed his life. Mr Coleman’s death comes as a ‘painful shock to the Irish public, according to Darrell Figgis, who has raised concerns about the welfare of other Irish prisoners in British jails. ‘There are others suffering from the influenza scourge, and unless something is immediately done we shall probably have further victims’, he wrote in a letter to the Irish Independent newspaper.
10
New York: The Friends of Irish Freedom meeting in Madison Square Garden, was to become historic gathering.
In a full arena, following an introduction by the Governor of New York, Charles Whitman, Cardinal O’Connell took the podium. Prior to this no member of the US Catholic Hierarchy had spoken publicly on the issue of Irish independence and the recognition of the Republic. His speech was to raise the campaign for Independence to a higher level:
‘In every century for seven hundred years, by protest, by appeal, by Parliament, by arms when other means seemed futile...Ireland has never failed to keep alive her own sense of distinct nationhood...as a profoundly Christian nation, she has clung to the law of God in all these demonstrations of her loyalty to herself....this war, we were told again and again by all those responsible for the conduct of the war, was for justice for all, for the inviolable rights of small nations, for the inalienable right, inherent in every nation, of self-determination. The purpose of this meeting tonight is very specific... The war can be justified only by the universal application of those principles. Let that application begin with Ireland...Ireland is the oldest nation and the longest sufferer. If these principles are not applied in her case, no matter what else may be done, there will be no complete justice, no genuinely sincerity believable, and the war nor bringing justice will not bring peace...’
Diarmuid Lynch ‘The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising’ . Mercier Press. 1957. p195.
John Devoy spoke, adding further emphasis to the importance of self-determination for Ireland and:
‘we don't know that President Wilson intends to bring the Irish question directly before the Conference...we don't know whether he only intends to bring it privately before the English representatives...but we do know that his solemn declarations committed him irrevocably to brining the case of ALL PEOPLES - all oppressed people before that congress. If he leaves Ireland out I am afraid he will never live long enough to live it down..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.281
Towards the close of proceedings, Judge Cohalan, suffering from Spanish flu, was introduced by Judge Goff saying ‘ a true friend of yours, a tried friend of Ireland, as true a heart as ever beat for Ireland...’
Judge Cohalan spoke of America’s war aims and hopes for a result from the Paris Peace Conference:
‘... if England wants to give the measure of her sincerity, let her say to the Peace Conference that she will withdraw her troops from Ireland; that she will permit a plebiscite to be taken in Ireland; that she will agree to abide by the decision in Ireland and no greater act of statesmanship could be performed by any English statesman than that very act..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.282
However Dr. Maloney described the Judge’s ‘Spanish Flu’ differently, describing the event on December 10th: ‘..on the appointed day he had a nervous collapse and he took to his bed. He was in despair; he would not be able to appear at the meeting; he would not receive the public imprimatur of the Cardinal. Through the efforts of a medical friend whom I called in to assist, and who worked over Judge Cohalan all the afternoon, towards evening Judge Cohalan felt sufficiently restored to leave his bed and take his place at the meeting...’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
The meeting closed with resolutions being adopted and sent by ‘wireless to the President’s craft at sea’ calling on him to make the principle of Self-determination applicable to Ireland.
The benefit of historic hindsight allows us to realise it was a futile gesture.
President Wilson had no deep interest in the Irish question or for promoting the concept of Irish independence at the Peace Conference in Paris. He supported the concept of Home Rule, allowing British control of Irish destiny. For him, Irish independence was little more than an unrealistic and unattainable dream that could and would disrupt the status quo.
There was widespread press coverage on the Cardinal’s declaration of intent and became a powerful influence in the consolidation of Irish American and Irish opinion behind the demand for complete freedom.
Shane Leslie commented that O’Connell’s speech ‘got into the Irish press and aroused the country like a trumpet call. They felt that they had the intelectual and moral force of America working in their favour and they have begun to hope again’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p166
Charles Tansill described Wilson’s abilities:
‘As a matter of fact, the President was a phrasemaker, not a real peacemaker, and many of his slogans had explosive implications of which he was but dimly aware’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.280
Richard Coleman, an Irish republican prisoner died of influenza in Usk Prison in Wales. Coleman, from Swords, Co. Dublin, was heavily involved in the fighting at Ashbourne during Easter week in 1916 and the suffering he has endured in the intervening two years at the hands of the British authorities, may, friends believe, have weakened him to resist the influenza which took hold of him just a week before it claimed his life. Mr Coleman’s death comes as a ‘painful shock to the Irish public, according to Darrell Figgis, who has raised concerns about the welfare of other Irish prisoners in British jails. ‘There are others suffering from the influenza scourge, and unless something is immediately done we shall probably have further victims’, he wrote in a letter to the Irish Independent newspaper.
10
New York: The Friends of Irish Freedom meeting in Madison Square Garden, was to become historic gathering.
In a full arena, following an introduction by the Governor of New York, Charles Whitman, Cardinal O’Connell took the podium. Prior to this no member of the US Catholic Hierarchy had spoken publicly on the issue of Irish independence and the recognition of the Republic. His speech was to raise the campaign for Independence to a higher level:
‘In every century for seven hundred years, by protest, by appeal, by Parliament, by arms when other means seemed futile...Ireland has never failed to keep alive her own sense of distinct nationhood...as a profoundly Christian nation, she has clung to the law of God in all these demonstrations of her loyalty to herself....this war, we were told again and again by all those responsible for the conduct of the war, was for justice for all, for the inviolable rights of small nations, for the inalienable right, inherent in every nation, of self-determination. The purpose of this meeting tonight is very specific... The war can be justified only by the universal application of those principles. Let that application begin with Ireland...Ireland is the oldest nation and the longest sufferer. If these principles are not applied in her case, no matter what else may be done, there will be no complete justice, no genuinely sincerity believable, and the war nor bringing justice will not bring peace...’
Diarmuid Lynch ‘The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising’ . Mercier Press. 1957. p195.
John Devoy spoke, adding further emphasis to the importance of self-determination for Ireland and:
‘we don't know that President Wilson intends to bring the Irish question directly before the Conference...we don't know whether he only intends to bring it privately before the English representatives...but we do know that his solemn declarations committed him irrevocably to brining the case of ALL PEOPLES - all oppressed people before that congress. If he leaves Ireland out I am afraid he will never live long enough to live it down..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.281
Towards the close of proceedings, Judge Cohalan, suffering from Spanish flu, was introduced by Judge Goff saying ‘ a true friend of yours, a tried friend of Ireland, as true a heart as ever beat for Ireland...’
Judge Cohalan spoke of America’s war aims and hopes for a result from the Paris Peace Conference:
‘... if England wants to give the measure of her sincerity, let her say to the Peace Conference that she will withdraw her troops from Ireland; that she will permit a plebiscite to be taken in Ireland; that she will agree to abide by the decision in Ireland and no greater act of statesmanship could be performed by any English statesman than that very act..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.282
However Dr. Maloney described the Judge’s ‘Spanish Flu’ differently, describing the event on December 10th: ‘..on the appointed day he had a nervous collapse and he took to his bed. He was in despair; he would not be able to appear at the meeting; he would not receive the public imprimatur of the Cardinal. Through the efforts of a medical friend whom I called in to assist, and who worked over Judge Cohalan all the afternoon, towards evening Judge Cohalan felt sufficiently restored to leave his bed and take his place at the meeting...’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
The meeting closed with resolutions being adopted and sent by ‘wireless to the President’s craft at sea’ calling on him to make the principle of Self-determination applicable to Ireland.
The benefit of historic hindsight allows us to realise it was a futile gesture.
President Wilson had no deep interest in the Irish question or for promoting the concept of Irish independence at the Peace Conference in Paris. He supported the concept of Home Rule, allowing British control of Irish destiny. For him, Irish independence was little more than an unrealistic and unattainable dream that could and would disrupt the status quo.
There was widespread press coverage on the Cardinal’s declaration of intent and became a powerful influence in the consolidation of Irish American and Irish opinion behind the demand for complete freedom.
Shane Leslie commented that O’Connell’s speech ‘got into the Irish press and aroused the country like a trumpet call. They felt that they had the intelectual and moral force of America working in their favour and they have begun to hope again’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p166
Charles Tansill described Wilson’s abilities:
‘As a matter of fact, the President was a phrasemaker, not a real peacemaker, and many of his slogans had explosive implications of which he was but dimly aware’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.280
Electoral advert for The Liberals and advertising for the Daily Mirror are muted but familiar a century on. Harrod's '20,000 square feet of Toyland' show a far simpler time. Above, the Kaiser and Crown Prince residency in the Netherlands continued to a be an issue for both British and French administrations as well as the Dutch who refused all attempts at extradition to face war crime charges. The Kaiser had fled to Holland after Germany's defeat staying with friends at a country estate until he took up residence in exile at a manor house at Doorn near Utrecht until his death in 1941. The Dutch government confiscated the premises in 1945 claiming it as "war booty". Since the early Fifties, the Government has run the Doorn house and mausoleum containing the kaiser's body as a museum commemorating the last days of the Hohenzollern dynasty.
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12
Judge Cohalan in a letter to John J. Splain remarked that the recent meeting in Madison Square Garden was the ‘greatest meeting ever held in America for the cause of Ireland ‘
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.283
Two days of hearings held by the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, began in Washington. The agreed resolution introduced by Thomas Gallagher of Illinois which requested the American delegation at the Peace Conference to ‘present the right of Ireland to freedom, independence and self-determination’. This was an opportunity for the most comprehensive presentation of Ireland’s case ‘ and it was fully availed of. It recorded the addresses of forty five of the delegates - lawyers, clergymen, labour representatives and businessmen - representing more than 20 cities, as well as those of a score of Congressmen’
Florence O'Donoghue editor of ‘The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising’ by Diarmuid Lynch. Mercier Press. 1957. p187.
Diarmuid Lynch was one of the forty-five that presented Ireland’s case:
Judge Cohalan in a letter to John J. Splain remarked that the recent meeting in Madison Square Garden was the ‘greatest meeting ever held in America for the cause of Ireland ‘
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.283
Two days of hearings held by the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, began in Washington. The agreed resolution introduced by Thomas Gallagher of Illinois which requested the American delegation at the Peace Conference to ‘present the right of Ireland to freedom, independence and self-determination’. This was an opportunity for the most comprehensive presentation of Ireland’s case ‘ and it was fully availed of. It recorded the addresses of forty five of the delegates - lawyers, clergymen, labour representatives and businessmen - representing more than 20 cities, as well as those of a score of Congressmen’
Florence O'Donoghue editor of ‘The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising’ by Diarmuid Lynch. Mercier Press. 1957. p187.
Diarmuid Lynch was one of the forty-five that presented Ireland’s case:
STATEMENT OF MR. DIARMUID LYNCH, OF NEW YORK.
Mr. Lynch. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen. I appear not only as an American citizen and national secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom, a federation of societies throughout the various States of the Union, having in their ranks citizens descended from many races, as well as those of Irish blood, but also as one of the men returned un- opposed last week on the Sinn Fein or Irish Republic platform in Ireland.
It is well that America should understand the real present-day Irish situation. And I speak of it as of my own personal knowledge, having fought in the Irish revolution of 1916, for which I was sen tenced to be shot by the British Government. This sentence was commuted to 10 years' penal servitude, and I have had personal experience in British convict prisons.
Incontestable facts have been placed before you concerning the bad rule of England in Ireland, but what Ireland most objects to is foreign rule.
Ireland has her back to the wall and looks the whole world square in the face. She will accept no measure of devolution from the British Parliament, no matter how designated. She will be satisfied only with a settlement secured in accordance with the wishes of her own people—expressed through a plebescite of her entire adult population—without any restriction whatsoever.
The Chairman. Does that include women?
Mr. Lynch. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. Of what age?
Mr. Lynch. Over 21, 1 should say.
Mr. Rogers. Would you say that the vote of the men alone would, be satisfactory?
Mr. Lynch. No: the Sinn Fein party in Ireland is committed to the policy that women are entitled to equal rights with men in the government of Ireland. The case of Ireland case drawn up for presentation to the peace conference by Irish leaders most competent to write and present it; but. gentlemen, each and every one of these leaders is to-day imprisoned in England. These men and women, leaders of the Irish people, and hundreds of their principal supporters, are held in custody of England, without charges legally preferred against them, and are denied trial. Lord Wimborne, lord lieutenant of Ireland at the time when the alleged acts for which they are imprisoned are said to have been committed, stated in the British Parliament that he, the head of the British Government in Ireland, had no evidence to sustain a charge.
Ireland is shut off from the world and prohibited by the civil, naval, and military power of England from sending her representatives direct to Versailles, there to present her case to the peace conference and to endeavor to secure the recognition of her independence.
Notwithstanding all that Ireland has suffered at the hands of England, the suspension of the exercise of her sovereign will, which she has never surrendered, the domination of her people by military and naval force, the burdens of overtaxation, the tragic wiping out of her popluation, the crushing of her industries, the suppression of her merchant marine, the campaign of calumny to which she has been subjected, the falsification of her history, her ideals and her aspirations—notwithstanding all this, Ireland asks only that her wrongs shall cease here and now, that right be substituted for might, and that she be allowed to work out her own national destiny, " free as the Great God made her." Gentlemen, in view of the arguments advanced in Ireland's behalf, and relying on your historical knowledge of Ireland's national rights and on the spirit of genuine American justice, which I am sure animates you, I am happy to feel that this resolution introduced by Mr. Gallagher will be reported favorably to Congress and that Congress will stand by the application of the principles enunciated by President Wilson and the fathers of our country, and secure the fulfilment of Ireland's national aspirations.
Mr. Goodwin. Did I understand you to say that you had been elected a member of Parliament?
Mr. Lynch. I have not been in Ireland since last May but understand that, in my absence, I was nominated, and that there were no opposing nominations.
Mr. Goodwin. Are you an American citizen?
Mr. Lynch. I am an American citizen.
Mr. Goodwin. Irish citizenship is not a prerequisite to election to Parliament?
Mr. Lynch. In the present position of Ireland no such question arises. The policy of the Sinn Fein party is that none of its members shall sit in the British Parliament or take any oath of allegiance to the British Crown. The Sinn Fein party is pledged to " deny the right and oppose the will of the British Parliament and the British Crown, or any other foreign Government, to legislate for Ireland."
Mr. Cooper. Will you please give us a definition of Sinn Fein ?
Mr. Lynch. I am glad to do so, as it is a term widely misunderstood in America. Sinn Fein simply means " we ourselves "— a synonym for self-reliance. Every good American, as such, is a thorough supporter of the Sinn Fein principle.
Mr. Sabath. I would like to ask the gentleman a question. He being elected to the new Parliament without any opposition, with 21 others, I take it for granted that he is in position to know what form of Government they will have there if self-determination is granted, and whether the Sinn Fein party and people of Ireland believe in personal and religious freedom?
Mr. Lynch. The platform of the Sinn Fein party is for an Irish Republic, and, in the proclamation of the Irish Republic on Easter Monday, 1916, the fullest measure of religious freedom was guaranteed to every person in Ireland. Notwithstanding the fact that the whole machinery at the coming election is in the hands of the British Government, that they will have control of the ballots from the 14th of December to the 28th of December, I believe that the people will declare in favor of an Irish Republic.
Mr. Cooper. As we all know, Great Britain has no written constitution—Parliament is supreme. This Republic has a written constitution—the organic law of the Republic—subject to amendment, but the amendment of which is difficult. It has what amounts to a bill of rights, guaranteeing personal and political liberty. Will that form of government which you think will be installed in free Ireland have a written constitution?
Mr. Lynch. Most assuredly. I am confident that the Irish Parliament would at the earliest moment possible draft and adopt a written constitution and include in it the fullest guaranties for personal and religious liberty.
Mr. Tague. In what way do the Irish people desire to express their will on self-determination?
Mr. Lynch. Under the present election conditions it is not possible for the Irish people to fully show where they stand. The leaders of the Sinn Fein Party are imprisoned in England, as already stated, and this letter, which I desire inserted in the record, will explain other conditions.
The letter is as follows :
Dublin, November 20, 1918.
To the Editor of the "Irish independent," Dublin.
Sir : I desire to call public attention to the fact that the Government already has arrested, without charge and in succession, three Sinn Fein Directors of Elections --
(1) Mr. Sean Milroy, in Cavan, on May 17;
(2) Mr. Daniel MacCarthy, in Dublin, in September; and
(3) Mr. Robert O'Brennan at these offices to-day.
Each arrest has naturally caused some disorganization, but the cause of Irish Independence will not be stayed or broken by such tyranny. Men have been, and will be, found who will fill the vacant places.
It may, however, be of interest to Irish voters and to the world outside Ire- land to point out that, in addition to those assaults on the machinery by which Sinn Fein endeavors to secure Self-Determination at the coming General Election, the Government now detains in jail :
(1) The President of Sinn Fein.
(2) One of the two Vice-Presidents.
(3) The two Treasurers.
(4) The two Secretaries.
(5) All but one or two of the members of the late Standing Committee, except those for whom warrants are issued, but not yet executed.
(6) And if our candidates are elected at the coming General Election, thirty four constituencies will be represented by men in jail, six by men evading arrest, four by men in the United States of America.
(7) In addition, hundreds of -workers, local election directors, agents, organizers, etc., are detained, some without trial, and some on long sentences for "crimes" which even the English Government has only recently invented.
(Signed) James O'Mara.
Sinn Fein Director of Elections, Pro Tem
Mr. Tague. But, assuming that self-determination is granted them, what would be the procedure?
Mr. Lynch. There should be a full register made of all the adult voters of Ireland and the voters then given liberty—without any restrictions imposed by England — to choose the exact form of government they desire to live under.
The Chairman. A representative doesn't necessarily represent the section he comes from ? He may come from any section ? You may have all of them from the north of Ireland or all of them from the south of Ireland?
Mr. Lynch. That is true. A man may be nominated for a constituency, irrespective of his residence, but he must be elected by the voters of the constituency which he is to represent.
Mr. Cooper. Let me say that in this country it isn't required that a Member of the House of Representatives shall be a resident of the district in which he is elected, but he must come from the State from which he is elected.
Mr. Colum. You have asked, Mr. Chairman, can a person from any point of Ireland represent any given place in Ireland. The case of Sir Edward Carson, who was the leader of the Ulster party, is in point. He is a South-of-Ireland man, born in Cork, and practices law in England. He is not a member for an Ulster constituency at all. He is one of the members for Dublin University. Dublin University has the privilege of returning two members of Parliament. The word "election" is a misnomer there, because Dublin University is a close corporation. It is a mere matter of nomination, and Sir Edward Carson is not, strictly speaking, a member for an Irish constituency at all.
The Chairman. Does he reside in Ulster ?
Mr. Columm. No; he resides in England.
The Chairman. Did he ever reside in Ulster?
Mr. Colum. Never.
Mr. Gallagher. The next speaker will be Miss Jeannette Rankin, Member of Congress from Montana.
Lynch Family Archives - part reported in The New York Times, 13 December, 1918.
Below: Statement by Diarmuid Lynch before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
Full text: https://ia800504.us.archive.org/24/items/irishquestionhea00unit/irishquestionhea00unit.pdf
Dr. Maloney commenting on the hearings wrote that ‘ Dr. McCartan, with other friends of Ireland appeared to advocate Ireland’s case at the hearing. Judge Cohalan failed to appear but sent a letter pleading...indisposition...’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
One of the resolutions presented by Congressman William E. Mason sought that ‘an appropriation be made out of the treasury of the United States to provide for salaries for a minister and consuls to the Republic of Ireland’ had been successful, it would have amounted to the tacit recognition of the Irish state and its nominated representatives by an important section of the American government.
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. P106/107
Belfast: The Ulster Hall in Belfast provided the venue for a powerful demonstration of political unionism, as Sir Edward Carson and other unionist electoral candidates addressed a large crowd in what was to be one of their final public appearances before polling day on 14 December. Thousands applied for tickets ahead of the event, but limits on capacity meant that many were disappointed. Carson, the candidate for Duncairn received a standing ovation from an audience that waved hats and handkerchiefs in the air and raised a chorus of ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’. Carson delivered a rousing speech in which he reasserted Ulster's opposition to Irish Party and Sinn Féin policy on Home Rule and pleaded strongly for voter unity on polling day; anyone who was not with them was against them, he said. He added that by their sacrifices in the war the people of Ulster had earned for themselves a stronger position than ever in the organisation of the United Kingdom and that they must be prepared to resist any attempt to deprive them of their place within the empire.
Below: United we stand: a unionist cartoon Photo: Belfast Newsletter, 12 December 1918
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
One of the resolutions presented by Congressman William E. Mason sought that ‘an appropriation be made out of the treasury of the United States to provide for salaries for a minister and consuls to the Republic of Ireland’ had been successful, it would have amounted to the tacit recognition of the Irish state and its nominated representatives by an important section of the American government.
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. P106/107
Belfast: The Ulster Hall in Belfast provided the venue for a powerful demonstration of political unionism, as Sir Edward Carson and other unionist electoral candidates addressed a large crowd in what was to be one of their final public appearances before polling day on 14 December. Thousands applied for tickets ahead of the event, but limits on capacity meant that many were disappointed. Carson, the candidate for Duncairn received a standing ovation from an audience that waved hats and handkerchiefs in the air and raised a chorus of ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’. Carson delivered a rousing speech in which he reasserted Ulster's opposition to Irish Party and Sinn Féin policy on Home Rule and pleaded strongly for voter unity on polling day; anyone who was not with them was against them, he said. He added that by their sacrifices in the war the people of Ulster had earned for themselves a stronger position than ever in the organisation of the United Kingdom and that they must be prepared to resist any attempt to deprive them of their place within the empire.
Below: United we stand: a unionist cartoon Photo: Belfast Newsletter, 12 December 1918
13
Dublin: Richard Coleman who died in Usk Jail returned to Irelan accompanied by his brother, Fred Coleman, and Frank Lawless, a fellow prisoner of the deceased who was released on parole. His body arrived into Kingstown harbour where, despite the early hour and poor weather, a large crowd had gathered on the pier. There were more sympathisers, including a line of Volunteers, waiting at Westland Row where the body was transferred by train. Mr Coleman’s coffin was then taken to the nearby St Andrew’s Church, borne on the shoulders of members of the Volunteers. A mass was said for the repose of his soul and, the following day, a public funeral was held, with the subsequent burial in Glasnevin Cemetery
New York: Judge Cohalan in a statement to the New York Times, told the members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs that the delegation of which he was a member spoke ‘for the majority of 20 million American of Irish descent, and was pleading on behalf of a Government which was well organised and firmly supported by its constituents’
New York Times.
Meanwhile, Clan na Gael and the Friends of Irish Freedom began organising an Irish Race Convention to be held in Philadelphia on February 22-23rd, 1919. The organisation committee included Diarmuid Lynch and Judge Cohalan.
President Wilson arrived in Brest aboard the USS ‘George Washington’
Dublin: Richard Coleman who died in Usk Jail returned to Irelan accompanied by his brother, Fred Coleman, and Frank Lawless, a fellow prisoner of the deceased who was released on parole. His body arrived into Kingstown harbour where, despite the early hour and poor weather, a large crowd had gathered on the pier. There were more sympathisers, including a line of Volunteers, waiting at Westland Row where the body was transferred by train. Mr Coleman’s coffin was then taken to the nearby St Andrew’s Church, borne on the shoulders of members of the Volunteers. A mass was said for the repose of his soul and, the following day, a public funeral was held, with the subsequent burial in Glasnevin Cemetery
New York: Judge Cohalan in a statement to the New York Times, told the members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs that the delegation of which he was a member spoke ‘for the majority of 20 million American of Irish descent, and was pleading on behalf of a Government which was well organised and firmly supported by its constituents’
New York Times.
Meanwhile, Clan na Gael and the Friends of Irish Freedom began organising an Irish Race Convention to be held in Philadelphia on February 22-23rd, 1919. The organisation committee included Diarmuid Lynch and Judge Cohalan.
President Wilson arrived in Brest aboard the USS ‘George Washington’
14
General Election Polling Day
General Election polling day in the Britain & Ireland. Throughout Ireland the message was ‘Vote for seperation from England. Vote for an Independent Ireland. Vote for the Irish Republic.’ Votes would not be finally counted until two weeks later. (This would be the last Ireland-wide election to be held until European Parliament elections in 1994 and the 1998 plebescite on the Good Friday Agreement.)
The Sinn Fein abstentionist policy was a risky venture. The only Irish voices in Parliament would be Unionists and how ever many members of the Irish Parliament Party would be re-elected and so a Partition settlement if and when it came would be easily run through.
While the rest of the United Kingdom fought the 'Khaki election' on other issues involving the British parties, in Ireland four major political parties had national appeal, the IPP, Sinn Féin, the Irish Unionist Party and the Irish Labour Party. The Labour Party, however, decided not to participate in the election, fearing that it would be caught in the political crossfire between the IPP and Sinn Féin; it thought it better to let the people make up their minds on the issue of Home Rule versus a Republic by having a clear two-way choice between the two nationalist parties. The Unionist Party favoured continuance of the union with Britain (along with its subordinate, the Ulster Unionist Labour Association, who fought as 'Labour Unionists'). A number of other small nationalist parties also took part.
In Ireland 105 MPs could be elected from 103 constituencies (although, as stated below, four MPs were elected for two constituencies and so the total number of people elected was 101). Ninety-nine seats were elected from single seat geographical constituencies under the Single Member Plurality or 'first past the post' system. However, there were also two two-seat constituencies: University of Dublin (Trinity College) elected two MPs under the Single Transferable Vote and Cork City elected two MPs under the Bloc voting system.
In addition to ordinary geographical constituencies there were three university constituencies: the Queen's University of Belfast (which returned a Unionist), the University of Dublin (which returned two Unionists) and the National University of Ireland (which returned a member of Sinn Féin).
Of the 105 seats in Ireland, twenty-five were uncontested for a number of reasons, not least that the IPP and Sinn Féin had been finding common ground in the immediately previous period. In some cases it was because there was a certain winner in Sinn Féin. British government propaganda formulated in Dublin Castle and circulated through a censored press alleged that republican militants had threatened potential candidates to discourage non-Sinn Féiners from running. For whatever reason, in the 73 constituencies in which Sinn Féin candidates were elected 25 were returned unopposed (17 were in Munster). The uncontested constituencies that Sinn Féin won subsequently showed high levels of support for republican candidates.
President Wilson arrives in Paris to a tumultuous welcome.
General Election Polling Day
General Election polling day in the Britain & Ireland. Throughout Ireland the message was ‘Vote for seperation from England. Vote for an Independent Ireland. Vote for the Irish Republic.’ Votes would not be finally counted until two weeks later. (This would be the last Ireland-wide election to be held until European Parliament elections in 1994 and the 1998 plebescite on the Good Friday Agreement.)
The Sinn Fein abstentionist policy was a risky venture. The only Irish voices in Parliament would be Unionists and how ever many members of the Irish Parliament Party would be re-elected and so a Partition settlement if and when it came would be easily run through.
While the rest of the United Kingdom fought the 'Khaki election' on other issues involving the British parties, in Ireland four major political parties had national appeal, the IPP, Sinn Féin, the Irish Unionist Party and the Irish Labour Party. The Labour Party, however, decided not to participate in the election, fearing that it would be caught in the political crossfire between the IPP and Sinn Féin; it thought it better to let the people make up their minds on the issue of Home Rule versus a Republic by having a clear two-way choice between the two nationalist parties. The Unionist Party favoured continuance of the union with Britain (along with its subordinate, the Ulster Unionist Labour Association, who fought as 'Labour Unionists'). A number of other small nationalist parties also took part.
In Ireland 105 MPs could be elected from 103 constituencies (although, as stated below, four MPs were elected for two constituencies and so the total number of people elected was 101). Ninety-nine seats were elected from single seat geographical constituencies under the Single Member Plurality or 'first past the post' system. However, there were also two two-seat constituencies: University of Dublin (Trinity College) elected two MPs under the Single Transferable Vote and Cork City elected two MPs under the Bloc voting system.
In addition to ordinary geographical constituencies there were three university constituencies: the Queen's University of Belfast (which returned a Unionist), the University of Dublin (which returned two Unionists) and the National University of Ireland (which returned a member of Sinn Féin).
Of the 105 seats in Ireland, twenty-five were uncontested for a number of reasons, not least that the IPP and Sinn Féin had been finding common ground in the immediately previous period. In some cases it was because there was a certain winner in Sinn Féin. British government propaganda formulated in Dublin Castle and circulated through a censored press alleged that republican militants had threatened potential candidates to discourage non-Sinn Féiners from running. For whatever reason, in the 73 constituencies in which Sinn Féin candidates were elected 25 were returned unopposed (17 were in Munster). The uncontested constituencies that Sinn Féin won subsequently showed high levels of support for republican candidates.
President Wilson arrives in Paris to a tumultuous welcome.
15
New York American ‘A paper for people who think’ carried details of ‘New Plea For Irish Freedom In Congress’.
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 5
New York American ‘A paper for people who think’ carried details of ‘New Plea For Irish Freedom In Congress’.
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 5
17
Australia: Darwin Rebellion: Disaffected workers march on Government House, Darwin demanding the resignation of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John A. Gilruth.
19
Dublin: The Sinn Fein exectuive met in Dublin to ‘convoke the Dail Eireann’ as agreed during the October 1918 Ard-Fheis. A committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Sean T. O'Kelly to deal with the formation of the new assembly and a tentative meeting was called for all elected Sinn Fein MP’s to be held in the Mansion House on January 1st. A special foreign affairs committee was also formed and given the immediate task of making contact with prominent pro-Irish sympathisers and governments.
The invitation to the January 1st meeting was clear ‘We have the honour to call you to the first meeting of the Dail Eireann which will hold a private session’
Ripley's Believe It or Not! first appears as a cartoon under the title Champs and Chumps in The New York Globe.
Australia: Darwin Rebellion: Disaffected workers march on Government House, Darwin demanding the resignation of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John A. Gilruth.
19
Dublin: The Sinn Fein exectuive met in Dublin to ‘convoke the Dail Eireann’ as agreed during the October 1918 Ard-Fheis. A committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Sean T. O'Kelly to deal with the formation of the new assembly and a tentative meeting was called for all elected Sinn Fein MP’s to be held in the Mansion House on January 1st. A special foreign affairs committee was also formed and given the immediate task of making contact with prominent pro-Irish sympathisers and governments.
The invitation to the January 1st meeting was clear ‘We have the honour to call you to the first meeting of the Dail Eireann which will hold a private session’
Ripley's Believe It or Not! first appears as a cartoon under the title Champs and Chumps in The New York Globe.
20
London: More lives have been lost to the influenza epidemic in recent months than were lost to war in the last four years. According to the medical correspondent for The Times in London, six million people have died from influenza in the last 12 weeks throughout the world. Not since the Black Death of the 14th century has such a plague swept across the earth, he suggests. By this calculation, the epidemic has been five times more deadly than the recent world war, which resulted in 20 million deaths, but over four and half years.
In India alone, there has been a reported three million deaths and in Barcelona an average of 1,200 people died every day. In Cape Town, 2,000 children have been left destitute as a result of the disease and the Commonwealth of Australia was compelled to send an aid ship to Samoa, where 80% of the population were afflicted. However, the correspondent from The Times maintained that the flu may have exacted an even greater human cost had it not been for some of the measures that were taken to limit its spread.
In San Francisco, for instance, the flu was stopped by an order requiring inhabitants to wear masks on the streets and in public places – the plan showed signs, within nine days, of being an effective method of preventing the spread of the disease.
In Ireland, the medical superintendent of the Westmeath Asylum, has attributed the low frequency of the illness among his patients to inoculation. Only 3% of those inoculated were impacted, whereas 80% of those who refused such treatment were stricken.
London: More lives have been lost to the influenza epidemic in recent months than were lost to war in the last four years. According to the medical correspondent for The Times in London, six million people have died from influenza in the last 12 weeks throughout the world. Not since the Black Death of the 14th century has such a plague swept across the earth, he suggests. By this calculation, the epidemic has been five times more deadly than the recent world war, which resulted in 20 million deaths, but over four and half years.
In India alone, there has been a reported three million deaths and in Barcelona an average of 1,200 people died every day. In Cape Town, 2,000 children have been left destitute as a result of the disease and the Commonwealth of Australia was compelled to send an aid ship to Samoa, where 80% of the population were afflicted. However, the correspondent from The Times maintained that the flu may have exacted an even greater human cost had it not been for some of the measures that were taken to limit its spread.
In San Francisco, for instance, the flu was stopped by an order requiring inhabitants to wear masks on the streets and in public places – the plan showed signs, within nine days, of being an effective method of preventing the spread of the disease.
In Ireland, the medical superintendent of the Westmeath Asylum, has attributed the low frequency of the illness among his patients to inoculation. Only 3% of those inoculated were impacted, whereas 80% of those who refused such treatment were stricken.
22
A unanimous invitation for President Wilson to visit Ireland was made at a public meeting in Dublin.
Having buried more than a million men in France and Belgium, the British public subscribed to a fund to buy the horses left behind and remove them ‘out of continental slavery’
In the wave of mourning that followed the war, millions of people were caught up in a spiritualist resurgence. Spirtualism gave people a chance to have a ritual interment of members of their family, whose graves were not know or literally had been blown to pieces. Maybe half of those killed in the war had no known graves. The families had no place to go through the rituals of seperation, except a séance was one of them. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described one such séance: “ Six of us sat in a semi-cirlce. My wife was on my left. Presntly a voice came quite close to my face, both my wife and I cried out ‘It’s our boy’. He began to talk. He tried to console me for his death. I asked ‘Are you happy?’ He answered ‘I am happy now’. He put his strong heavy hand on my head and pressed as solidly as possible, and I can assure you he left me a good deal happier than he found me’
22
A unanimous invitation for President Wilson to visit Ireland was made at a public meeting in Dublin.
Having buried more than a million men in France and Belgium, the British public subscribed to a fund to buy the horses left behind and remove them ‘out of continental slavery’
In the wave of mourning that followed the war, millions of people were caught up in a spiritualist resurgence. Spirtualism gave people a chance to have a ritual interment of members of their family, whose graves were not know or literally had been blown to pieces. Maybe half of those killed in the war had no known graves. The families had no place to go through the rituals of seperation, except a séance was one of them. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described one such séance: “ Six of us sat in a semi-cirlce. My wife was on my left. Presntly a voice came quite close to my face, both my wife and I cried out ‘It’s our boy’. He began to talk. He tried to console me for his death. I asked ‘Are you happy?’ He answered ‘I am happy now’. He put his strong heavy hand on my head and pressed as solidly as possible, and I can assure you he left me a good deal happier than he found me’
24
By Christmas Eve, de Valera composed another letter as no message to the first card had come through.
This time to a Fr. Kavanagh in Leeds with an instruction in Latin.
‘ it was veiled as if it was a quotation from the ancient classics:
"We all greet you. In the words of the old Roman ‘Hanc epistolam in toto ut per nuntium fidelem statim mittas ad illan mulierem eujus domicilium notavi, rogat et orat dux noster hibernicus.’
A rough translation of this would be ‘Our Irish Chief asks and prays that you send this letter complete by a faithful messenger immediately to that woman whose address I have indicated’
Earl of Longford & T.P.O’Neill. ‘Eamon de Valera’ Gill & MacMillan. Dublin 1970. P82/83
The letter contained veiled comments to the suggested route, signals and timing of an escape as well as asking if Mrs McGarry had received the Christmas Card with the key details.
Willie Clancy, uileann piper born. (died 1973).
By Christmas Eve, de Valera composed another letter as no message to the first card had come through.
This time to a Fr. Kavanagh in Leeds with an instruction in Latin.
‘ it was veiled as if it was a quotation from the ancient classics:
"We all greet you. In the words of the old Roman ‘Hanc epistolam in toto ut per nuntium fidelem statim mittas ad illan mulierem eujus domicilium notavi, rogat et orat dux noster hibernicus.’
A rough translation of this would be ‘Our Irish Chief asks and prays that you send this letter complete by a faithful messenger immediately to that woman whose address I have indicated’
Earl of Longford & T.P.O’Neill. ‘Eamon de Valera’ Gill & MacMillan. Dublin 1970. P82/83
The letter contained veiled comments to the suggested route, signals and timing of an escape as well as asking if Mrs McGarry had received the Christmas Card with the key details.
Willie Clancy, uileann piper born. (died 1973).
26
President Wilson arrived in Britain on 26 December, landing at Dover on board the special steamship, Brighton, which was welcomed with a 21 gun salute fired from vessels flying the stars and stripes from their masthead.
From Dover, Wilson travelled by train to London where the reception party included the King and Queen (who postponed a visit to Norfolk to attend), Princess Mary, the heads of the army, navy and air forces, Prime Minister Lloyd George and all of the Cabinet. According to the USA Committee on Public Information, two million Londoners lined the streets to witness the president then proceed through the city.
President Wilson arrived in Britain on 26 December, landing at Dover on board the special steamship, Brighton, which was welcomed with a 21 gun salute fired from vessels flying the stars and stripes from their masthead.
From Dover, Wilson travelled by train to London where the reception party included the King and Queen (who postponed a visit to Norfolk to attend), Princess Mary, the heads of the army, navy and air forces, Prime Minister Lloyd George and all of the Cabinet. According to the USA Committee on Public Information, two million Londoners lined the streets to witness the president then proceed through the city.
28
British General Election results
General Election results declared. The “Khaki Election” saw Lloyd George returned in a coalition of Liberals and Conservatives in Britain. In Ireland, Sinn Féin candidates won 73 seats out of 105, but four party candidates (Arthur Griffith, Éamon de Valera, Eoin MacNeill and Liam Mellows) were elected for two constituencies and so the total number of individual Sinn Féin MPs elected was 69. Despite the isolated allegations of intimidation and electoral fraud on the part of both republicans and unionists, the election was seen as a landslide victory for Sinn Féin.
Sinn Féin received 46.9% of votes island-wide, and 65% of votes in the area that became the Irish Free State. However, the 46.9% is not the total result of the overall success of Sinn Féin. That figure only accounts for 48 seats that they won because in 25 of the other constituencies the other parties did not contest them, and Sinn Féin won them unopposed. Most of these constituencies were Sinn Féin strongholds. It is estimated that, had the 25 seats been contested, Sinn Féin would have received at least 53% of the vote island-wide. However, this is a conservative estimate and the percentage would likely have been higher.[6] Sinn Féin also did not contest four seats due to a deal with the IPP. Labour, who had pulled out in the south under instructions to 'wait', polled better in Belfast than Sinn Féin.
The Irish Unionist Party won 22 seats and 25.3% of the vote island-wide (29.2% when Labour Unionist candidates are included), becoming the second-largest party in terms of MPs. The success of the unionists, who won 26 seats overall,[8] was largely limited to Ulster. Otherwise, southern unionists were elected only in the constituencies of Rathmines and the University of Dublin which returned two.
In Ulster (nine-counties), Unionists won 23 out of the 38 seats with Sinn Féin gaining ten and the Irish Parliamentary Party five.
There was a limited electoral pact brokered by Roman Catholic Cardinal Michael Logue between Sinn Féin and the Nationalist IPP in eight seats, after nominations closed. Sinn Féin, remarkably successfully, instructed its supporters to vote IPP in Armagh South (79 SF votes), Down South (33 SF votes), Tyrone North-East (56 SF votes) and Donegal East (46 SF votes). Armagh South had no Unionist candidate. The IPP instructed its supporters to vote Sinn Féin in Fermanagh South (132 IPP votes) which had no Unionist candidate, and Londonderry City (120 IPP votes) where Eoin MacNeill narrowly beat the Unionist. Sinn Féin was given a clear run in Tyrone North-West against a Unionist when no IPP candidate stood. The discipline of voters when faced with two rival nationalist candidates and with only a post-nomination pact in these six cases was impressive. The pact broke down in Down East where a Unionist won as the IPP candidate refused to participate and split the Catholic vote. There was no pact in Belfast Falls which Joe Devlin (IPP) won with 8,488 votes against 3,245 for Éamon de Valera (SF) although no Unionist stood. Monaghan North was won by Sinn Féin’s Ernest Blythe in a three-cornered fight against both IPP and Unionist candidates. In the Monaghan South, and Donegal North, South, and West seats, despite no Unionist standing, Sinn Féin won all four against IPP candidates. Sinn Féin took the two (uncontested) Cavan seats. Unionists won a majority of the Ulster seats and eight of the nine in Belfast.
43 of the 69 successful Sinn Fein candidates were in prison but the policy stated was the party would not attend Westminster and would begin the creation of a separate Irish Parliament. Their background was broadly similar, predominantly young, urban middle class, the majority in the proffessions or business. Sinn Fein won 47% of the just over 1 million votes cast in Ireland, Unionists taking 28% and other nationalists 25%. Turnout was strong at 70% countrywide.
Of the 1,600 candidates, 17 were women but only 1 was elected to Westminster. The first female MP, Countess Markievicz [ imprisoned in Holloway with Kathleen Clarke ] the Sinn Fein candidate refused to take the Oath of Allegiance and attend Parliament. Diarmuid Lynch was elected unopposed for Cork South East with a total vote of 17,419 in his favour.
The IPP suffered a catastrophic defeat, effectively oblierated and even its leader, John Dillon, was not re-elected loosing his seat in Mayo to De Valera.
The party won only six seats in Ireland, its losses exaggerated by the "first-past-the-post" system which gave it a share of seats far short of its much larger share of the vote (21.7%) and the number of seats it would have won under a "proportional representation" ballot system. All but one of its seats were in Ulster. The exception was Waterford City, the seat previously held by John Redmond, who had died earlier in the year, and retained by his son Captain William Redmond. Four of their Ulster seats were part of the deal to avoid unionist victories which saved some for the party but may have cost it the support of Protestant voters elsewhere. The IPP came close to winning other seats in Louth and Wexford South, and in general their support held up better in the north and east of the island. The party was represented in Westminster by seven MPs because T. P. O'Connor won the Liverpool Scotland seat due to Irish emigrant votes. The remnants of the IPP in time became the Nationalist Party (Northern Ireland) under the leadership of Joseph Devlin.
The London Times commented: ‘after 10 years of obscure agitation and two or three of noisy turbulence, Sinn Fein is at last in the saddle, and in paractically unchallendged political control of three fourths of Ireland…Sinn Fein has won a tremendous political victory.’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p306
Map of the Irish Republic showing the result of the 1918 General Election - published by the Friends of Irish Freedom, New York.
(with thanks to Cornell University Digital Collection)
Detail from map above (click to enlarge)
Meanwhile in Cork, the inveterate diarist Liam de Roiste wrote of the Sinn Fein success and of his friend:
All Co. Cork is Sinn Fein at one stroke. Diarmuid Lynch S.E. Cork…
Lynch Family Archives – Folder 3Test
above: Montage of members elected during the General Election to what was effectively, the first Dail Eireann, 1919.
Lynch is in the left panel, centre row and second from the bottom.
‘ That evening, Monsignor Coughlin of Philadelphia, at the request of Dr.McCartan and Mr. McGarrity, called a meeting at his residence, following which about thirty Philadelphia Priests proclaimed the tidings to their flocks on Sunday, December 29th, exhorting them to rejoice and give thanks that the Irish Republic had been peacfully established…..from that meeting Dr. McCartan and I hastened to New York to see Judge Cohalan, to get his co-operation in proclaiming the electoral victory of the Republic and to urge him to send a cable of congratulation...to President * De Valera then in Lincoln Jail. Judge Cohalan was not receptive, and postponed the matter till the next day...’
Dr. W.J.Maloney - Press Statement July 9th, 1921. Lynch Family Archives. * comment by Diarmuid ‘ Then only Priomh Aire of Sinn Fein and the Irish Volunteers’.
The full set of constituency results for all 103 Irish constituencies (two of which elected two MPs) is given below. Sinn Fein won 73 seats out of 105; Unionists won 22, plus 3 from the satellite "Labour Unionist" grouping; Nationalists won 6 seats in Ireland, plus also a seat in Liverpool; and one independent Unionist was elected from Dublin University (ie Trinity College Dublin).
Lynch is in the left panel, centre row and second from the bottom.
‘ That evening, Monsignor Coughlin of Philadelphia, at the request of Dr.McCartan and Mr. McGarrity, called a meeting at his residence, following which about thirty Philadelphia Priests proclaimed the tidings to their flocks on Sunday, December 29th, exhorting them to rejoice and give thanks that the Irish Republic had been peacfully established…..from that meeting Dr. McCartan and I hastened to New York to see Judge Cohalan, to get his co-operation in proclaiming the electoral victory of the Republic and to urge him to send a cable of congratulation...to President * De Valera then in Lincoln Jail. Judge Cohalan was not receptive, and postponed the matter till the next day...’
Dr. W.J.Maloney - Press Statement July 9th, 1921. Lynch Family Archives. * comment by Diarmuid ‘ Then only Priomh Aire of Sinn Fein and the Irish Volunteers’.
The full set of constituency results for all 103 Irish constituencies (two of which elected two MPs) is given below. Sinn Fein won 73 seats out of 105; Unionists won 22, plus 3 from the satellite "Labour Unionist" grouping; Nationalists won 6 seats in Ireland, plus also a seat in Liverpool; and one independent Unionist was elected from Dublin University (ie Trinity College Dublin).
29
New York: 4 p.m. A celebration was held in Judge Cohalan’s New York city home toasting the Irish election results.
Present were the Justices Goff, Gavegan, Rooney, and Cohalan. There too were Diarmuid Lynch, Robert Ford, John Devoy, Richard Dalton, Fr. Peter Magennis, Rev Hurton, William J Maloney, Joe McGarrity and Patrick McCartan.
In the discussions that followed, Judge Cohalan along with virtually all present took the view that all of Irish-America should now await the action of the first meeting of Dail Eireann and take direction from Dublin as to what was needed. The preliminary meeting was scheduled for January 7th in Dublin. McCartan and Moloney disagreed, urging that the FOIF should immediately declare for Ireland and that the Friends of Irish Freedom should hold meetings in every location to send their congratulations to the Irish people.
Later that evening, Dr. Maloney, McCartan , Devoy and McGarrity met at the Hotel Athens and ‘ drew up a proclamation signed by Dr. McCartan as Envoy of the Provisional Government, calling upon the people to rejoice in the electoral ratification of the Republic.’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
A note was duly sent to US Secretary of State, Robert Lansing and to most Washington diplomatic representatives declaring that 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is at an end"
New York: 4 p.m. A celebration was held in Judge Cohalan’s New York city home toasting the Irish election results.
Present were the Justices Goff, Gavegan, Rooney, and Cohalan. There too were Diarmuid Lynch, Robert Ford, John Devoy, Richard Dalton, Fr. Peter Magennis, Rev Hurton, William J Maloney, Joe McGarrity and Patrick McCartan.
In the discussions that followed, Judge Cohalan along with virtually all present took the view that all of Irish-America should now await the action of the first meeting of Dail Eireann and take direction from Dublin as to what was needed. The preliminary meeting was scheduled for January 7th in Dublin. McCartan and Moloney disagreed, urging that the FOIF should immediately declare for Ireland and that the Friends of Irish Freedom should hold meetings in every location to send their congratulations to the Irish people.
Later that evening, Dr. Maloney, McCartan , Devoy and McGarrity met at the Hotel Athens and ‘ drew up a proclamation signed by Dr. McCartan as Envoy of the Provisional Government, calling upon the people to rejoice in the electoral ratification of the Republic.’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
A note was duly sent to US Secretary of State, Robert Lansing and to most Washington diplomatic representatives declaring that 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is at an end"
30
On behalf of the Friends of Irish Freedom and Clan na Gael, Judge Cohalan sent a telegram to De Valera congratulating him on the election results: ‘Accept heartiest congratulations upon results of election. Ireland’s overwhelming victory in favour of President Wilson’s policy of self-determination for all peoples will greatly strenghten her position with lovers of liberty throughout America.’
Lynch Family Archives.
Dr. Maloney in his statment three years later complained that when Dr. McCartan’s statement to the press was issued, it was ‘... confronted by another statement concerning the Irish election, prepared by Judge Cohalan, and issued by him without consultation with anyone. Judge Cohalan’s statement did not mention the Irish Republic... Judge Cohalan could not realise the harm his misinterpreting and minimising of the significance of the election victory might end in ...Judge Cohalan and John Devoy were still thinking in terms of factions.’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
The reaction in Ireland was clear:
‘The Freemans Journal, which had consistently supported the Irish Parliamentary Party, admitted in a leading article of December 30th that:‘The meaning of the Irish vote is as clear as it is emphatic. More than two-thirds of the electors throughout national Ireland have endorsed the Sinn Fein programme...they invited the people to join to the demand for a Republic as something immediately obtainable and practicable as well as desirable, the declaration that they would accept nothing else and nothing less..’ The Times admitted ‘the overwhelming nature of the victory of Sinn Fein...the General election in Ireland was treated by all parties as a plebiscite and admittedly Sinn Fein swept the country...’
Macardle ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press Ltd, Dublin. 1951. p262
Michael Lynch, in his 1935 statement to the Pensions Board commented that during 1st April 1918 and 31st March 1919 ‘among other services, I purchased rifles from American sailors then at Passage West and delivered them to the Cork Brigade Hdqrs.’
Statement by Michael Lynch – part of application for Military Service Pension Certificate, December 1935. Lynch Archives.
On behalf of the Friends of Irish Freedom and Clan na Gael, Judge Cohalan sent a telegram to De Valera congratulating him on the election results: ‘Accept heartiest congratulations upon results of election. Ireland’s overwhelming victory in favour of President Wilson’s policy of self-determination for all peoples will greatly strenghten her position with lovers of liberty throughout America.’
Lynch Family Archives.
Dr. Maloney in his statment three years later complained that when Dr. McCartan’s statement to the press was issued, it was ‘... confronted by another statement concerning the Irish election, prepared by Judge Cohalan, and issued by him without consultation with anyone. Judge Cohalan’s statement did not mention the Irish Republic... Judge Cohalan could not realise the harm his misinterpreting and minimising of the significance of the election victory might end in ...Judge Cohalan and John Devoy were still thinking in terms of factions.’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
The reaction in Ireland was clear:
‘The Freemans Journal, which had consistently supported the Irish Parliamentary Party, admitted in a leading article of December 30th that:‘The meaning of the Irish vote is as clear as it is emphatic. More than two-thirds of the electors throughout national Ireland have endorsed the Sinn Fein programme...they invited the people to join to the demand for a Republic as something immediately obtainable and practicable as well as desirable, the declaration that they would accept nothing else and nothing less..’ The Times admitted ‘the overwhelming nature of the victory of Sinn Fein...the General election in Ireland was treated by all parties as a plebiscite and admittedly Sinn Fein swept the country...’
Macardle ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press Ltd, Dublin. 1951. p262
Michael Lynch, in his 1935 statement to the Pensions Board commented that during 1st April 1918 and 31st March 1919 ‘among other services, I purchased rifles from American sailors then at Passage West and delivered them to the Cork Brigade Hdqrs.’
Statement by Michael Lynch – part of application for Military Service Pension Certificate, December 1935. Lynch Archives.
Dublin: The scale of the electoral shakeup delivered by Irish voters was the subject of many newspaper editorials in recent days.
‘With the suddenness of a thunder-clap the electors have spoken their minds’, the Cork Examiner has observed, ‘and many distinguished figures as a consequence have, for the moment at all events, disappeared from the political arena. Chief amongst these are Mr Dillon and Mr Asquith.’
In the Irish context, the big winner was Sinn Féin but they were now faced with a ‘gigantic task’, the Cork Examiner commented.
‘For the first time it has an opportunity of showing what constructive faculty it possesses.’ The editorial suggested that the Irish Parliamentary Party would, not only ‘harbour no bitterness’ towards the party that displaced them as the voice of Irish nationalism, but will get behind the new movement...Young Ireland takes control with the best wishes of old Ireland, and if they can bring peace and happiness and goodwill to our people, none will bless them more fervently or hail their triumph with greater acclaim than those who have maintained the struggle through long and dark and evil days. May God grant that affairs will work out better for poor Ireland than they look at the moment as a result of the “Victory” elections.’
As for the Irish Times, it describes the Irish Party’s defeat as ‘crushing and final’. Speaking of the relative failure of both the Liberals and the IPP in the election the paper wrote: ‘If Mr Asquith’s Liberals could go back to parliament on a big aeroplane, the Nationalists could go back on an Irish jaunting-car.’
The Irish Party-aligned Freeman’s Journal, stated that the nationalist party has, ‘for the time being, practically ceased to exist as a parliamentary force’. The newspaper accepts that the Sinn Féin demand for a separate republic was clearly placed before the people and they, in turn, had given an ‘unmistakable answer’.
However, the newspaper was still convinced of the un-attainability of the Sinn Féin aims.
‘We remain of the opinion that an independent Irish republic is not within the field of practicable politics, or within measurable distance of that field and we are equally convinced that the freedom of Ireland cannot be extended or advanced by the methods of Sinn Féin’.
The unionist Belfast Newsletter maintained that with the triumph of Sinn Féin the ‘cleavage is no longer between the maintenance of the Union and the imposition of Home Rule... Separation and an independent sovereignty are now openly avowed to be the aim of the Irish agitation. We have all along contended that this was the ultimate objective of the agitators in the past. Now it cannot be denied...’
Against this separatist demand stood the Ulster Unionist Party, which the Belfast Newsletter continues, ‘stands solid for the maintenance of the union, but with an important modification in the methods by which that policy is to be pursued. The old purely defensive, negative policy is abandoned. It gives way to an offensive and positive policy of claiming for Ulster, as Sir Edward Carson has put it, that it shall be governed and treated as Great Britain is, and shall share the benefits of all the remedial legislation passed for Great Britain.’
Dismissing the policy and objectives of Sinn Féin as ‘pure delusion’, the Newsletter lauded the new aggressive policy of Ulster unionism and adds, pointedly, that Irish unionists as a whole ‘need not trouble themselves how the crisis inside Irish nationalism... works out, since their own position and their cause are stronger today than at any period since 1880, and the prospect far more promising’.
‘With the suddenness of a thunder-clap the electors have spoken their minds’, the Cork Examiner has observed, ‘and many distinguished figures as a consequence have, for the moment at all events, disappeared from the political arena. Chief amongst these are Mr Dillon and Mr Asquith.’
In the Irish context, the big winner was Sinn Féin but they were now faced with a ‘gigantic task’, the Cork Examiner commented.
‘For the first time it has an opportunity of showing what constructive faculty it possesses.’ The editorial suggested that the Irish Parliamentary Party would, not only ‘harbour no bitterness’ towards the party that displaced them as the voice of Irish nationalism, but will get behind the new movement...Young Ireland takes control with the best wishes of old Ireland, and if they can bring peace and happiness and goodwill to our people, none will bless them more fervently or hail their triumph with greater acclaim than those who have maintained the struggle through long and dark and evil days. May God grant that affairs will work out better for poor Ireland than they look at the moment as a result of the “Victory” elections.’
As for the Irish Times, it describes the Irish Party’s defeat as ‘crushing and final’. Speaking of the relative failure of both the Liberals and the IPP in the election the paper wrote: ‘If Mr Asquith’s Liberals could go back to parliament on a big aeroplane, the Nationalists could go back on an Irish jaunting-car.’
The Irish Party-aligned Freeman’s Journal, stated that the nationalist party has, ‘for the time being, practically ceased to exist as a parliamentary force’. The newspaper accepts that the Sinn Féin demand for a separate republic was clearly placed before the people and they, in turn, had given an ‘unmistakable answer’.
However, the newspaper was still convinced of the un-attainability of the Sinn Féin aims.
‘We remain of the opinion that an independent Irish republic is not within the field of practicable politics, or within measurable distance of that field and we are equally convinced that the freedom of Ireland cannot be extended or advanced by the methods of Sinn Féin’.
The unionist Belfast Newsletter maintained that with the triumph of Sinn Féin the ‘cleavage is no longer between the maintenance of the Union and the imposition of Home Rule... Separation and an independent sovereignty are now openly avowed to be the aim of the Irish agitation. We have all along contended that this was the ultimate objective of the agitators in the past. Now it cannot be denied...’
Against this separatist demand stood the Ulster Unionist Party, which the Belfast Newsletter continues, ‘stands solid for the maintenance of the union, but with an important modification in the methods by which that policy is to be pursued. The old purely defensive, negative policy is abandoned. It gives way to an offensive and positive policy of claiming for Ulster, as Sir Edward Carson has put it, that it shall be governed and treated as Great Britain is, and shall share the benefits of all the remedial legislation passed for Great Britain.’
Dismissing the policy and objectives of Sinn Féin as ‘pure delusion’, the Newsletter lauded the new aggressive policy of Ulster unionism and adds, pointedly, that Irish unionists as a whole ‘need not trouble themselves how the crisis inside Irish nationalism... works out, since their own position and their cause are stronger today than at any period since 1880, and the prospect far more promising’.
Manchester: President Wilson told a gathering at the Manchester Free Trade Hall that America has never had a vested interest in European politics – and had none still. However, to cheers, he added that America did have an interest in the ‘partnership of right between America and Europe’. The U.S. had earlier stated that until now, the world had been governed by a ‘partnership of interest’ which had broken down. ‘Interest does not bind men together’, he said. ‘Interest separates men, for the moment there is the slightest departure from the nice adjustments then jealousies begin to spring up. There is only one thing than can bind people together, and that is a common devotion to right.’
This was the first state visit by a sitting US President, and toasted at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace by the King: ‘Nearly 150 years have passed since your Republic began its independent life, and now for the first time a President of the United States is our guest in England.’
George V stressed the historic ties between the two countries and emphasised the president’s mission in Europe was to help in ‘building up new states amid the ruins of those the war has shattered, and in laying solid foundations of a settlement that may stand firm because it will rest upon the consent of emancipated nationalities.’
This was the first state visit by a sitting US President, and toasted at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace by the King: ‘Nearly 150 years have passed since your Republic began its independent life, and now for the first time a President of the United States is our guest in England.’
George V stressed the historic ties between the two countries and emphasised the president’s mission in Europe was to help in ‘building up new states amid the ruins of those the war has shattered, and in laying solid foundations of a settlement that may stand firm because it will rest upon the consent of emancipated nationalities.’
31
Mr Shortt said that the Irish question would be settled ‘ peacefully or bloodily within six months’.
Count Plunkett MP returned to Ireland following unconditional release from Birmingham Jail, where he had been imprisoned for seven months. During the period of his incarceration, Count Plunkett was refused release on a number of occasions, most notably when he applied to the Home Office on learning that his father was dying and, again, following the death of his father, when he applied to attend his funeral.
Plunkett explained to reporters the difficult conditions endured by the Irish prisoners in Birmingham Jail and noted how they had insisted that they be ‘detained as political prisoners’ so as not to have criminal conditions imposed upon them.
‘I can declare’, that the spirit of the prisoners, so far from being broken, has grown more robust since their entrance to the jail.’ Count Plunkett said that he thinks all the other Irish prisoners in British jails who had been arrested over the so-called ‘German plot’ will be released very shortly.
In Belfast Jail, Sinn Féin inmates barricaded themselves in a wing in protest at the placing of a prisoner by the name of Doran, who had been tried for political offences, in a wing assigned to criminals. Doran subsequently evaded his guards and took refuge in the Sinn Féin wing of the prison, where the inmates refused to give him up. Austin Stack, also a prisoner in Belfast and a newly elected MP, said that they will surrender Doran to the governor once they had obtained a guarantee that he would be treated as a political prisoner. Earlier, more than 20 Sinn Féin prisoners managed to climb on to the roof of the prison where, over the course of two hours, they waved republican flags and sang Sinn Féin and other songs to a large crowd that assembled on Crumlin Road. Not all of those who assembled were supporters. Among them were unionists who met their renditions of ‘A Soldier’s Song’ with ‘Rule Britannia’ and the waving of union jacks. The roof protest ended when, in spite of a police presence, members of the crowd on Crumlin Road, began throwing stones at the Sinn Féin protestors on the roof.
By the end of 1918, the Irish-American group, the Friends of Irish Freedom had changed substantially. Judge Cohalan, John Devoy and Diarmuid Lynch ‘ had bent every effort to make the Friends a strong organisation that would command the respect of politicians of both parties. Judge Cohalan was constant in his attendance at the meetings of the Friends..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.298
A meeting was arranged by Dr. McCartan and Dr. Maloney to ‘congratulate the people of Ireland on the peaceful achievement of their independence’ at which two Protestant ministers were to appear as principal speakers, along with Liam Mellows, Padraic Colum and the Rev. Peter Maginnis as Chairman. The meeting was announced for January 6, 1919.
‘..As soon as the announcements appeared, Judge Cohalan hired the same hall for a meeting on January 5th ‘ to congratulate the people of Ireland on the results of the election’. By threats and pleadings, ‘not to break the Old Man’s ( John Devoy ) heart, Messrs Liam Mellows and Padraic Colum and Dr. McCartan were induced to appear, and Judge Cohalan presided’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
In Dublin, the British administration celebrated New Year’s Eve and the end of the war years with a Victory Ball in Dublin Castle while throughout the country, the question remained – what course would or could Sinn Fein take? Among those attending the Ball, The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount French believed the lure of a £400 p.a. M.P. salary would be too much for many of the ‘Feiner’s’ to resist. In Belfast, Carson was insisting that the newly elected Sinn Fein MP’s would not and could not enter Parliament.
Earlier that day, the Irish Times ‘prepared it’s readers for a period of tumult…believing that Sinn Fein ‘had not the slightest chance’ of gaining a hearing at the Peace Conference…it could summon its proposed constituent assembly, and then by means of strikes, disorder and lawlessness ‘do it’s best to convince the world that British Government is impossible in Ireland’ In the Nationalist press, the Irish Independent celebrated the destruction of the Irish Party, while the Freeman’s Journal raised the spectre of socialism and demanded to know when Sinn Fein would declare its republic. The English press demonstrated a keen but generally hostile interest in Sinn Fein intentions…to The Globe the policy of abstension was simply ‘tomfoolery’ because a few differntial tariffs ‘on pigs and butter would make Ireland bankrupt and raise in 6 months an overwhelming cry to be re-admitted into the British Empire on any terms’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P6
In the US, Diarmuid Lynch later recalled the situation in both the US and Irish America with regard to the purchase of arms for the growing struggle in Ireland ‘With regard to another phase of military work, say, the purchase of arms in the United States during 1918, this was then utterly impossible. In the first place, no money was available. And, even if there had ben, the prevailing war conditions absoltley precluded either the purchase or transportation of arms or ammunition. Those with experience of the then situation know this to be an incontrovertible statement of fact.’
Application for Military Service Pension Certificate ( Diarmuid Lynch) - Department of Defence Files. Lynch Archives. March 9, 1938.
Eileen McGough writes of Lynch's work in the Friends of Irish Freedom: "Discovering that the organisation was handicapped by having only one named contact for each branch, Lynch mounted an ambitious campaign to record the names and addresses of every member of all branches of the FOIF in America. From his meticilous records it is clear that a phenomenal growth in membership was achieved in the months that followed. The organisation burgeoned from just eighteen affiliated regular branches in January 1918 to eighty eight branches and from fifteen affiliated associate branches to two hundred and five by the date of the Philadelphia Convention, 22 February 1919."
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. P103-104
Mr Shortt said that the Irish question would be settled ‘ peacefully or bloodily within six months’.
Count Plunkett MP returned to Ireland following unconditional release from Birmingham Jail, where he had been imprisoned for seven months. During the period of his incarceration, Count Plunkett was refused release on a number of occasions, most notably when he applied to the Home Office on learning that his father was dying and, again, following the death of his father, when he applied to attend his funeral.
Plunkett explained to reporters the difficult conditions endured by the Irish prisoners in Birmingham Jail and noted how they had insisted that they be ‘detained as political prisoners’ so as not to have criminal conditions imposed upon them.
‘I can declare’, that the spirit of the prisoners, so far from being broken, has grown more robust since their entrance to the jail.’ Count Plunkett said that he thinks all the other Irish prisoners in British jails who had been arrested over the so-called ‘German plot’ will be released very shortly.
In Belfast Jail, Sinn Féin inmates barricaded themselves in a wing in protest at the placing of a prisoner by the name of Doran, who had been tried for political offences, in a wing assigned to criminals. Doran subsequently evaded his guards and took refuge in the Sinn Féin wing of the prison, where the inmates refused to give him up. Austin Stack, also a prisoner in Belfast and a newly elected MP, said that they will surrender Doran to the governor once they had obtained a guarantee that he would be treated as a political prisoner. Earlier, more than 20 Sinn Féin prisoners managed to climb on to the roof of the prison where, over the course of two hours, they waved republican flags and sang Sinn Féin and other songs to a large crowd that assembled on Crumlin Road. Not all of those who assembled were supporters. Among them were unionists who met their renditions of ‘A Soldier’s Song’ with ‘Rule Britannia’ and the waving of union jacks. The roof protest ended when, in spite of a police presence, members of the crowd on Crumlin Road, began throwing stones at the Sinn Féin protestors on the roof.
By the end of 1918, the Irish-American group, the Friends of Irish Freedom had changed substantially. Judge Cohalan, John Devoy and Diarmuid Lynch ‘ had bent every effort to make the Friends a strong organisation that would command the respect of politicians of both parties. Judge Cohalan was constant in his attendance at the meetings of the Friends..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.298
A meeting was arranged by Dr. McCartan and Dr. Maloney to ‘congratulate the people of Ireland on the peaceful achievement of their independence’ at which two Protestant ministers were to appear as principal speakers, along with Liam Mellows, Padraic Colum and the Rev. Peter Maginnis as Chairman. The meeting was announced for January 6, 1919.
‘..As soon as the announcements appeared, Judge Cohalan hired the same hall for a meeting on January 5th ‘ to congratulate the people of Ireland on the results of the election’. By threats and pleadings, ‘not to break the Old Man’s ( John Devoy ) heart, Messrs Liam Mellows and Padraic Colum and Dr. McCartan were induced to appear, and Judge Cohalan presided’
Quoted in press Statement by William J Maloney – July 1921 Diarmuid Lynch papers – Lynch Family Archives. Folder 6/2
In Dublin, the British administration celebrated New Year’s Eve and the end of the war years with a Victory Ball in Dublin Castle while throughout the country, the question remained – what course would or could Sinn Fein take? Among those attending the Ball, The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount French believed the lure of a £400 p.a. M.P. salary would be too much for many of the ‘Feiner’s’ to resist. In Belfast, Carson was insisting that the newly elected Sinn Fein MP’s would not and could not enter Parliament.
Earlier that day, the Irish Times ‘prepared it’s readers for a period of tumult…believing that Sinn Fein ‘had not the slightest chance’ of gaining a hearing at the Peace Conference…it could summon its proposed constituent assembly, and then by means of strikes, disorder and lawlessness ‘do it’s best to convince the world that British Government is impossible in Ireland’ In the Nationalist press, the Irish Independent celebrated the destruction of the Irish Party, while the Freeman’s Journal raised the spectre of socialism and demanded to know when Sinn Fein would declare its republic. The English press demonstrated a keen but generally hostile interest in Sinn Fein intentions…to The Globe the policy of abstension was simply ‘tomfoolery’ because a few differntial tariffs ‘on pigs and butter would make Ireland bankrupt and raise in 6 months an overwhelming cry to be re-admitted into the British Empire on any terms’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P6
In the US, Diarmuid Lynch later recalled the situation in both the US and Irish America with regard to the purchase of arms for the growing struggle in Ireland ‘With regard to another phase of military work, say, the purchase of arms in the United States during 1918, this was then utterly impossible. In the first place, no money was available. And, even if there had ben, the prevailing war conditions absoltley precluded either the purchase or transportation of arms or ammunition. Those with experience of the then situation know this to be an incontrovertible statement of fact.’
Application for Military Service Pension Certificate ( Diarmuid Lynch) - Department of Defence Files. Lynch Archives. March 9, 1938.
Eileen McGough writes of Lynch's work in the Friends of Irish Freedom: "Discovering that the organisation was handicapped by having only one named contact for each branch, Lynch mounted an ambitious campaign to record the names and addresses of every member of all branches of the FOIF in America. From his meticilous records it is clear that a phenomenal growth in membership was achieved in the months that followed. The organisation burgeoned from just eighteen affiliated regular branches in January 1918 to eighty eight branches and from fifteen affiliated associate branches to two hundred and five by the date of the Philadelphia Convention, 22 February 1919."
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. P103-104
Hits of the year 1918: ‘If you could care for me’, ‘After you’ve gone’, and ‘Till we meet again’.
In Ireland during 1917 and 1918 there were:
In Ireland during 1917 and 1918 there were:
- 1,256 arrests
- 1,244 sentences for political offenses
- 115 deportations without trial or charge ( including that of Diarmuid Lynch )
- 99 supressions by military force of gatherings of unarmed men, women and children.
- 61 courts martials
- 260 police raids
- 81 baton or bayonet charges
- 32 suppressions of assemblied such as fairs or markets.
- 12 suppressions of national newspapers.
- 6 murders
- 1 RIC policeman was killed.
Births 1918
Deaths 1918