Work in Progress. Last updated: Friday, 16 August 2019
1
The ‘Irish Centre Party’ led by Captain Stephen Gwynn merged with Horace Plunkett’s League in an effort to secure Dominion Home Rule for Ireland. The widespread reaction was this was a failed policy and as a result had little support.
Sir William Wiseman, a British diplomat in a report to the Foreign Office commented that US Senate suport for Ireland’s cause was superficial: ‘Several of the Senators, Republicans and Democrats with whom I talked, admit that they do not regard a separate Irish Republic as either deasible or desirable and all they meant by the resoloution was to register their conviction that something ought to be done. Those who will discuss the matter frankly admit that it is not practical politics for them to oppose any Irish Resolution however extreme’.
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p168
The ‘Irish Centre Party’ led by Captain Stephen Gwynn merged with Horace Plunkett’s League in an effort to secure Dominion Home Rule for Ireland. The widespread reaction was this was a failed policy and as a result had little support.
Sir William Wiseman, a British diplomat in a report to the Foreign Office commented that US Senate suport for Ireland’s cause was superficial: ‘Several of the Senators, Republicans and Democrats with whom I talked, admit that they do not regard a separate Irish Republic as either deasible or desirable and all they meant by the resoloution was to register their conviction that something ought to be done. Those who will discuss the matter frankly admit that it is not practical politics for them to oppose any Irish Resolution however extreme’.
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p168
2
The London Times reported ’ ..the present demand of the ruling party in Ireland is a Republic .... Great Britain cannot and will not concede that demand...’
British airship R34 makes the first transatlantic flight by dirigible, and the first westbound flight, from RAF East Fortune, Scotland, to Mineola, New York.
The Irish Bureau in Washington was taken over by Daniel T. O’Connell, a Boston Lawyer who was ‘well known for his work in Masachussets both for Irish Republic freedom and at the bar’
The London Times reported ’ ..the present demand of the ruling party in Ireland is a Republic .... Great Britain cannot and will not concede that demand...’
British airship R34 makes the first transatlantic flight by dirigible, and the first westbound flight, from RAF East Fortune, Scotland, to Mineola, New York.
The Irish Bureau in Washington was taken over by Daniel T. O’Connell, a Boston Lawyer who was ‘well known for his work in Masachussets both for Irish Republic freedom and at the bar’
3
Patrick Studdert, a fisherman from Kilkee was shot and killed by Sergeant Wolsey of the Scottish Horse. Wolsley stated he fired to kill as those were his orders.
Patrick Studdert, a fisherman from Kilkee was shot and killed by Sergeant Wolsey of the Scottish Horse. Wolsley stated he fired to kill as those were his orders.
4
Sinn Fein, Irish Volunteers, Cumman na mBan and the Gaelic League declared illegal in Tipperary.
France: Demobilisation begins
Toledo, Ohio: Jack Dempsey became the heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
In the boiling heat of Toledo, Ohio and before a record Independence Day crowd – estimated at between 60,000 and 80,000 – he wrested the title from Jess Willard with a stunning victory in just three rounds. Willard has held the world title since he defeated Jack Johnson in Havana in 1915, a contest that ran to 26 rounds.
For this fight, however, the number of rounds was restricted to 12, but it never got that far. Despite landing a solid left to the jaw of his opponent, Willard found himself floored and taking a count of seven in the first round. By the second, the champion was staggering around the ring, unable to withstand Dempsey’s bombardment of punches. Willard somehow made it to the end of the third, his face swollen and his right eye almost closed. However when the bell sounded to come out for round four, he didn’t stand. He was beaten, the surrender marked by the tossing of a sponge by his seconds into the centre of the ring. The new champion Dempsey, who stood at 5ft 11 tall and weighed 13st 4Ib, hails from Salt Lake City, Utah was born in 1895 and began his career with a knockout of Kid Hancock in 1915. However, it is only in the last couple of years that he had fought his way to public prominence, helped by a grueling schedule that saw him rack up 21 wins in 1918 alone.
Dempsey will collect $27,500 for his efforts in defeating Willard, who, as defending champion, claims the more sizeable purse of $100,000. In addition, both men are to share one-third of the proceeds from the cinema rights to the fight.
Sinn Fein, Irish Volunteers, Cumman na mBan and the Gaelic League declared illegal in Tipperary.
France: Demobilisation begins
Toledo, Ohio: Jack Dempsey became the heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
In the boiling heat of Toledo, Ohio and before a record Independence Day crowd – estimated at between 60,000 and 80,000 – he wrested the title from Jess Willard with a stunning victory in just three rounds. Willard has held the world title since he defeated Jack Johnson in Havana in 1915, a contest that ran to 26 rounds.
For this fight, however, the number of rounds was restricted to 12, but it never got that far. Despite landing a solid left to the jaw of his opponent, Willard found himself floored and taking a count of seven in the first round. By the second, the champion was staggering around the ring, unable to withstand Dempsey’s bombardment of punches. Willard somehow made it to the end of the third, his face swollen and his right eye almost closed. However when the bell sounded to come out for round four, he didn’t stand. He was beaten, the surrender marked by the tossing of a sponge by his seconds into the centre of the ring. The new champion Dempsey, who stood at 5ft 11 tall and weighed 13st 4Ib, hails from Salt Lake City, Utah was born in 1895 and began his career with a knockout of Kid Hancock in 1915. However, it is only in the last couple of years that he had fought his way to public prominence, helped by a grueling schedule that saw him rack up 21 wins in 1918 alone.
Dempsey will collect $27,500 for his efforts in defeating Willard, who, as defending champion, claims the more sizeable purse of $100,000. In addition, both men are to share one-third of the proceeds from the cinema rights to the fight.
5
below: The Menace newspaper reprints an article from the New York World (July 5) along with a complaint letter from an incensed reader. These and future cuttings from the strongly anti-Irish & anti-Roman Catholic 'The Menace' of Aurora, Missouri provides a contrasting view on Irish-America and de Valera.
7
The United States Army sends a convoy across the continental U.S., starting in Washington, D.C., to assess the possibility of crossing North America by road. This crossing takes many months to complete, because the building of the U.S. Highway System has not commenced.
The United States Army sends a convoy across the continental U.S., starting in Washington, D.C., to assess the possibility of crossing North America by road. This crossing takes many months to complete, because the building of the U.S. Highway System has not commenced.
8
Dublin: The Sinn Féin party has failed the test of the Paris Peace Conference, according to the Freeman’s Journal, the newspaper traditionally associated with the Irish Parliamentary Party.
In a scathing editorial, the newspaper has measured the party’s performance against the confident claims of its own election literature in which voters were told that by selecting Sinn Féin candidates there was ‘every chance’ that the Irish people would be afforded the opportunity to present their demands for absolute independence before the nations of the world at the Paris Peace Conference. That did not happen. The conference concluded at the end of June without the Irish case being heard or factored into the settlement.
The scale of the Sinn Féin failure is, the newspaper asserts, crystallised best in the recent public utterances of some of the party’s best known champions in the United States. A speech of Judge Daniel Cohalan in Boston on 10 June is quoted in which he expresses the fear that ‘there will never have been an assembly which will adjourn with more disappointment on the part of the people of the world. It has made itself a second Congress of Vienna upon a larger scale… England, which did not win the war, has been permitted to make the peace… She emerges from the war greater in population, in size, in prestige than any nation in the history of the world.’
The Freeman’s Journal asks whether, if he was in Ireland, Judge Cohalan would be prepared to be as candid in acknowledging the collapse of the policy upon which the Sinn Féin party asked for a mandate from the people of Ireland. The Sinn Féin strategy has been, the paper continues, to effectively throw dust in the eyes of the Sinn Féin rank and file support in Ireland. It argues that Ireland has been left ‘without a friend on the continent of Europe among the victor nations’. There is only one party to blame for this state of affairs, the Freeman says – Sinn Féin. ‘Had the proposal of the Sinn Féin representatives not been of such a kind that its acceptance would dissolve the Conference, there might have been a chance.’
As it is, the Freeman claims the Irish people have been left depressed and uncertain by the turn of events. ‘The contrast between the promises of December and the realities of June has been altogether too painful and bitter to be healthful.’
New York: President Wilson returned to the US to find the Senate Republican’s were ready to block Senate approval of his Treaty. Wilson refused to bargain with his political opponents and took his case to the people, in the hope of influencing the Senate decision to allow the US to enter the League of Nations.
Walsh and Dunne of the Irish-American lobby group also returned on the same liner and spoke with de Valera who was now of the opinion that there was no further hope of Ireland’s case being heard in the Peace Conference.
Dublin: The Sinn Féin party has failed the test of the Paris Peace Conference, according to the Freeman’s Journal, the newspaper traditionally associated with the Irish Parliamentary Party.
In a scathing editorial, the newspaper has measured the party’s performance against the confident claims of its own election literature in which voters were told that by selecting Sinn Féin candidates there was ‘every chance’ that the Irish people would be afforded the opportunity to present their demands for absolute independence before the nations of the world at the Paris Peace Conference. That did not happen. The conference concluded at the end of June without the Irish case being heard or factored into the settlement.
The scale of the Sinn Féin failure is, the newspaper asserts, crystallised best in the recent public utterances of some of the party’s best known champions in the United States. A speech of Judge Daniel Cohalan in Boston on 10 June is quoted in which he expresses the fear that ‘there will never have been an assembly which will adjourn with more disappointment on the part of the people of the world. It has made itself a second Congress of Vienna upon a larger scale… England, which did not win the war, has been permitted to make the peace… She emerges from the war greater in population, in size, in prestige than any nation in the history of the world.’
The Freeman’s Journal asks whether, if he was in Ireland, Judge Cohalan would be prepared to be as candid in acknowledging the collapse of the policy upon which the Sinn Féin party asked for a mandate from the people of Ireland. The Sinn Féin strategy has been, the paper continues, to effectively throw dust in the eyes of the Sinn Féin rank and file support in Ireland. It argues that Ireland has been left ‘without a friend on the continent of Europe among the victor nations’. There is only one party to blame for this state of affairs, the Freeman says – Sinn Féin. ‘Had the proposal of the Sinn Féin representatives not been of such a kind that its acceptance would dissolve the Conference, there might have been a chance.’
As it is, the Freeman claims the Irish people have been left depressed and uncertain by the turn of events. ‘The contrast between the promises of December and the realities of June has been altogether too painful and bitter to be healthful.’
New York: President Wilson returned to the US to find the Senate Republican’s were ready to block Senate approval of his Treaty. Wilson refused to bargain with his political opponents and took his case to the people, in the hope of influencing the Senate decision to allow the US to enter the League of Nations.
Walsh and Dunne of the Irish-American lobby group also returned on the same liner and spoke with de Valera who was now of the opinion that there was no further hope of Ireland’s case being heard in the Peace Conference.
9
de Valera wrote to Arthur Griffith describing the situation current in the US: ‘The political situation here is obscure for the moment. Am trying to give Wilson to know that if he goes for his 14 points as thet were and a true League of Nations, Irishmen and men and women of Irish blood will be behind him. So Democrats and Republicans are bidding for our support – Democrats by amending the Covenant, Republicans by destroying it.’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p97.
de Valera wrote to Arthur Griffith describing the situation current in the US: ‘The political situation here is obscure for the moment. Am trying to give Wilson to know that if he goes for his 14 points as thet were and a true League of Nations, Irishmen and men and women of Irish blood will be behind him. So Democrats and Republicans are bidding for our support – Democrats by amending the Covenant, Republicans by destroying it.’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p97.
10
Washington DC: The United States President, Woodrow Wilson, offered an impassioned defence of the League of Nations to the U.S. Senate.
While presenting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles to the chamber, he described the league as an indispensable instrument of the maintenance of the new order the allies were seeking to establish.
Lauding the contribution of Americans to securing the final victory, President Wilson insisted that the purpose of the Paris conference was to turn the triumph of freedom and right into a lasting peace. The League of Nations was not only a means to remedy old wrongs, it was ‘the only hope of mankind’.
The president’s return to the United States was accompanied by significant fanfare. His ship, the USS George Washington, entered New York with an escort of four dreadnoughts and 36 destroyers. Whistles and sirens were sounded as the ship entered the harbour, after which, on the streets of the city, Wilson was met with an equally enthusiastic reception.
Prime Minister David Lloyd George returned to London last week, when he too justified the terms of the peace in a speech to the House of Commons, stressing the fairness and justice inherent in the settlement. He also defended the reparations bill being imposed upon Germany, stating that the defeated power had been spared the total costs of the war and was only being asked to pay what it was capable of paying. The signing of the peace treaty does not leave all matters resolved; notably there remains the outstanding issue of what to do with Kaiser Wilhelm II. London-based newspapers are reporting that the Kaiser will be detained in the Tower of London before being put on public trial, with the English Attorney General Sir Gordon Hewart leading the case for the prosecution. However, for any trial to take place, the Kaiser will need to be extradited from Holland and there remains considerable doubt as to whether the Dutch Government will accede to such a request.
Madison Square Garden held an ‘extraordinary meeting’ to debate the Irish-American approval for the League of Nations. The result was very strongly against any involvement by the US in the League and favoured continuing efforts at self-determination and independence for Ireland. Particularly Article X was criticised on the basis that if it was approved, America would recognise the right of England to own and rule Ireland against the expressed will of the majority of the Irish people.
Washington DC: The United States President, Woodrow Wilson, offered an impassioned defence of the League of Nations to the U.S. Senate.
While presenting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles to the chamber, he described the league as an indispensable instrument of the maintenance of the new order the allies were seeking to establish.
Lauding the contribution of Americans to securing the final victory, President Wilson insisted that the purpose of the Paris conference was to turn the triumph of freedom and right into a lasting peace. The League of Nations was not only a means to remedy old wrongs, it was ‘the only hope of mankind’.
The president’s return to the United States was accompanied by significant fanfare. His ship, the USS George Washington, entered New York with an escort of four dreadnoughts and 36 destroyers. Whistles and sirens were sounded as the ship entered the harbour, after which, on the streets of the city, Wilson was met with an equally enthusiastic reception.
Prime Minister David Lloyd George returned to London last week, when he too justified the terms of the peace in a speech to the House of Commons, stressing the fairness and justice inherent in the settlement. He also defended the reparations bill being imposed upon Germany, stating that the defeated power had been spared the total costs of the war and was only being asked to pay what it was capable of paying. The signing of the peace treaty does not leave all matters resolved; notably there remains the outstanding issue of what to do with Kaiser Wilhelm II. London-based newspapers are reporting that the Kaiser will be detained in the Tower of London before being put on public trial, with the English Attorney General Sir Gordon Hewart leading the case for the prosecution. However, for any trial to take place, the Kaiser will need to be extradited from Holland and there remains considerable doubt as to whether the Dutch Government will accede to such a request.
Madison Square Garden held an ‘extraordinary meeting’ to debate the Irish-American approval for the League of Nations. The result was very strongly against any involvement by the US in the League and favoured continuing efforts at self-determination and independence for Ireland. Particularly Article X was criticised on the basis that if it was approved, America would recognise the right of England to own and rule Ireland against the expressed will of the majority of the Irish people.
11
Dublin: The powerful Prohibition Party of the United States was set to bring its anti-alcohol crusade to Britain and Ireland. The prohibition of liquor has been formalised in the 18th amendment to the US constitution which was ratified by Congress in January.
Although teetotaler organisations in England claimed that they had not invited the American prohibitionists to join their crusade against alcohol, at least one prominent member of the Anti-Saloon League has already arrived, William ‘Pussyfoot’ Johnson.
The league plans to attract attention by advertising in newspapers. It will also make its case to employers on the benefits to productivity of having ‘dry’ workers. For all the resources that it appears to have at its disposal, some scepticism has been expressed about the prospects for such campaigns on this side of the Atlantic.
The Irish Times believes that the methods of the Anti-Saloon League ‘will not appeal to Englishmen, Scotsmen, or Irishmen. These ancient peoples are not easily ‘rushed’ into changes of habit and are apt to resent external dictation, whether in matters of politics or morals.’
One group certain to oppose the teetotalers was the British Labour movement. Trade unionist Ben Tillett had accused the abstinence societies of never concerning themselves with the big issues that confront working people: the demand for better housing, better wages and better education.
Consul General Hathaway in a letter to the State Department from Queenstown, commented: ‘the leading subject of the period under review in the press and in the minds of the people has been the American activities in respect to the Irish question..culminating in the Resolution in the Senate..’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p168
Judge Cohalan’s next move was to publicise the extent of anti-league feeling by having the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hold hearings on the Irish Question.
De Valera in a letter to Griffith stated
“ My three present objectives are (1) Pressing unofficial recognition of the Republic and preparing campaign re: the Treaty ( of Versailles ). (2) The interest of wealthy men of the race in the industrial development of Ireland. (3) The floating of the bonds.”
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p98
As Tim Pat Coogan points out, 45 years later in his address to Congress in 1964, de Valera recorded his reasons for going to America: “ I was sent here with a threefold mission. First to ask for official recognition of the Republic... I was sent here also to try to float an external loan..and final, I was asked to plead with the American People that the United States ...was not pledging itself to maintain Ireland as an integral part of British Territory”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p140
The National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom met. Harry Boland read a letter from de Valera outlining the campaign for sale of Bonds of the Irish Republic. The object of which was to raise $250,000 for the new state, to set as de Valera put it ‘establish the Irish Republic as a fixed entity in the realms of international finance’. Joe McGarrity, the prominent Irish-American convinced Mr. De Valera that it was quite feasible to float such bonds, and that banks throughout the US would sell them as they sold bonds issued by recognised states.
A special committee was formed to investigate the possibilities of such an action and the legal implications. The Committee comprised of T.H.Kelly, W.B.Cochran, Judge Cohalan, R.F. Dalton and J.D.Moore was appointed for that purpose.
Judge Cohalan maintained that as the Irish Republic was not officially recognised, the offering of bonds for sale within the US would be in contravention of statuettes known as the “Blue Sky Laws” and that no bank would handle them. This view was supported by other judges and lawyers. The proposal was then deemed ‘impractical’ and utterly beyond legal bounds
The first issue of a weekly newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom financed Irish National Bureau in Washington DC appeared. This newsletter contained short articles suitable for reprinting and a one to two page press release the ‘Weekly News Bulletin’ which was circulated to newspaper reporters. Both items were sent to all the politicians in Washington.
Lead article in the first issue was ‘ Ireland and the League of Nations’ arguing the unless Ireland is included as a participant, it will not be a true ‘League of Nations’. The writer conceeded that under the published Articles of the League, Ireland’s claim would be one within ‘the domestic juristicition’ of England and that ‘the council shall make no recommendation as to its settlement’
( The Irish National Bureau Newsletter changed it’s name in Issue 29, January 16th 1920 to that of Newsletter of the National Bureau of Information of the Friends of Irish Freedom )
Cardinal O’Connell of Boston warned Irish Americans of the efforts made by British diplomats to ‘cause dissension amongst Catholics by sending plausible and prominent men here for the that purpose’ by appointing Sir William Tyrell, an English Catholic, as secretary to the new English Ambassador, Lord Edward Grey *. The Irish National Bureau Newsletter agreed, stating that ‘it is an old policy of the British Foreign Office. Sir William Tyrell has in fact been preceeded in America by two other British Catholic agents in an unofficial capacity. They failed in their purpose, as Tyrell will fail.’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No.11. September 12, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
* Edward Grey ( 1862-1933 ) Liberal MP for Berwick for 31 years from 1885-1916 including 11 years as Foreign Secretary (1905-16). ‘Grey was a keen fisherman and ornithologist; he remained in politics from a sense of duty rather than from personal choice.’
A.W.Palmer. Dictionary of Modern History. Penguin 1962.
Dublin: The powerful Prohibition Party of the United States was set to bring its anti-alcohol crusade to Britain and Ireland. The prohibition of liquor has been formalised in the 18th amendment to the US constitution which was ratified by Congress in January.
Although teetotaler organisations in England claimed that they had not invited the American prohibitionists to join their crusade against alcohol, at least one prominent member of the Anti-Saloon League has already arrived, William ‘Pussyfoot’ Johnson.
The league plans to attract attention by advertising in newspapers. It will also make its case to employers on the benefits to productivity of having ‘dry’ workers. For all the resources that it appears to have at its disposal, some scepticism has been expressed about the prospects for such campaigns on this side of the Atlantic.
The Irish Times believes that the methods of the Anti-Saloon League ‘will not appeal to Englishmen, Scotsmen, or Irishmen. These ancient peoples are not easily ‘rushed’ into changes of habit and are apt to resent external dictation, whether in matters of politics or morals.’
One group certain to oppose the teetotalers was the British Labour movement. Trade unionist Ben Tillett had accused the abstinence societies of never concerning themselves with the big issues that confront working people: the demand for better housing, better wages and better education.
Consul General Hathaway in a letter to the State Department from Queenstown, commented: ‘the leading subject of the period under review in the press and in the minds of the people has been the American activities in respect to the Irish question..culminating in the Resolution in the Senate..’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p168
Judge Cohalan’s next move was to publicise the extent of anti-league feeling by having the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hold hearings on the Irish Question.
De Valera in a letter to Griffith stated
“ My three present objectives are (1) Pressing unofficial recognition of the Republic and preparing campaign re: the Treaty ( of Versailles ). (2) The interest of wealthy men of the race in the industrial development of Ireland. (3) The floating of the bonds.”
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p98
As Tim Pat Coogan points out, 45 years later in his address to Congress in 1964, de Valera recorded his reasons for going to America: “ I was sent here with a threefold mission. First to ask for official recognition of the Republic... I was sent here also to try to float an external loan..and final, I was asked to plead with the American People that the United States ...was not pledging itself to maintain Ireland as an integral part of British Territory”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p140
The National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom met. Harry Boland read a letter from de Valera outlining the campaign for sale of Bonds of the Irish Republic. The object of which was to raise $250,000 for the new state, to set as de Valera put it ‘establish the Irish Republic as a fixed entity in the realms of international finance’. Joe McGarrity, the prominent Irish-American convinced Mr. De Valera that it was quite feasible to float such bonds, and that banks throughout the US would sell them as they sold bonds issued by recognised states.
A special committee was formed to investigate the possibilities of such an action and the legal implications. The Committee comprised of T.H.Kelly, W.B.Cochran, Judge Cohalan, R.F. Dalton and J.D.Moore was appointed for that purpose.
Judge Cohalan maintained that as the Irish Republic was not officially recognised, the offering of bonds for sale within the US would be in contravention of statuettes known as the “Blue Sky Laws” and that no bank would handle them. This view was supported by other judges and lawyers. The proposal was then deemed ‘impractical’ and utterly beyond legal bounds
The first issue of a weekly newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom financed Irish National Bureau in Washington DC appeared. This newsletter contained short articles suitable for reprinting and a one to two page press release the ‘Weekly News Bulletin’ which was circulated to newspaper reporters. Both items were sent to all the politicians in Washington.
Lead article in the first issue was ‘ Ireland and the League of Nations’ arguing the unless Ireland is included as a participant, it will not be a true ‘League of Nations’. The writer conceeded that under the published Articles of the League, Ireland’s claim would be one within ‘the domestic juristicition’ of England and that ‘the council shall make no recommendation as to its settlement’
( The Irish National Bureau Newsletter changed it’s name in Issue 29, January 16th 1920 to that of Newsletter of the National Bureau of Information of the Friends of Irish Freedom )
Cardinal O’Connell of Boston warned Irish Americans of the efforts made by British diplomats to ‘cause dissension amongst Catholics by sending plausible and prominent men here for the that purpose’ by appointing Sir William Tyrell, an English Catholic, as secretary to the new English Ambassador, Lord Edward Grey *. The Irish National Bureau Newsletter agreed, stating that ‘it is an old policy of the British Foreign Office. Sir William Tyrell has in fact been preceeded in America by two other British Catholic agents in an unofficial capacity. They failed in their purpose, as Tyrell will fail.’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No.11. September 12, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
* Edward Grey ( 1862-1933 ) Liberal MP for Berwick for 31 years from 1885-1916 including 11 years as Foreign Secretary (1905-16). ‘Grey was a keen fisherman and ornithologist; he remained in politics from a sense of duty rather than from personal choice.’
A.W.Palmer. Dictionary of Modern History. Penguin 1962.
12
The Allies begin to lift their blockade of Germany.
Ballymenoch, Belfast: Sir Edward Carson has described this year’s Twelfth as the ‘greatest’ he could remember. There is a good reason that this year’s ceremonies and celebrations should eclipse those of recent years: the ending of the Great War, and the demobilisation of soldiers that has followed it, has allowed for far higher levels of participation than were seen for some time. An estimated 300,000 men participated in this year’s main Twelfth demonstration at Ballymenoch, near Belfast, which was held under the auspices of the Grand Loyal Lodge (GLL).
A large body of demobilised troops from the 36th (Ulster) Division took part in the demonstration, although it is understood that a large number of discharged ex-soldiers refrained from participating as a protest against their treatment since leaving the army. The echoes of war were still evident, most notably in the new colourful banners that depicted the Ulster Division's exploits at the front
Colonel Robert Hugh Wallace, the Grand Master of the GLL, told the massive gathering at the field in Ballymenoch that home rule was not dead and constituted as a big a menace as ever. He referenced the support shown for an Irish republic by the catholic bishops; Rome’s greatest ambition was to destroy the British empire, he said. However, it was Sir Edward Carson, MP for Belfast Duncairn, who delivered the fieriest of speeches after proposing a resolution demanding the repeal of the Home Rule Act.
Carson took aim at the Catholic hierarchy and Éamon de Valera, the head of Sinn Féin, an organisation which, according to Carson, in the ‘darkest hours of the war for the world’s freedom shot His Majesty’s soldiers in the streets of Dublin’.
Carson urged his audience to prepare for all eventualities and warned them he was willing once more to ‘call out the Ulster Volunteers’. He was not, however, afraid of an Irish republic, the idea of which he derided mockingly. He further stated that Ulster would have nothing to do with Dominion Home Rule either, which he sees as the ‘camouflage of Irish Republic’.
Summoning the spirit of resistance that was such a feature of Unionist politics in the pre-war years, Carson continued: ‘We are loyal men... The Government and the Constitution and the British Empire are good enough for us, and we tell them that the man who tries to knock a brick out of that sound and solid foundation, if he comes to Ulster, he will know what the real feeling of Ulstermen and Ulsterwomen is.’ and criticism of the Irish-American delegation which visited Ireland recently – ‘we will not brook any interference in our own affairs’ – and he condemned the ‘campaign of assassination of innocent policemen’.
In the wake of Carson’s speech and in particular his threat to re-mobilise the Ulster Volunteers, the Freeman’s Journal has asked as to the whereabouts of the organisation’s arsenal of weapons. On 15 October last, the then Chief Secretary Edward Shortt was asked whether the authorities had been handed over all or in part the 50,000 rifles and 11 machine guns which were in the possession of the Ulster Volunteers. His response left many nationalists unimpressed, including John Dillon, then leader of the Irish Party, who stated that the impression that there had been a widespread surrender of Ulster arms was a fraud.
Dublin: The US Consul in Dublin reporting to the State Department advised that the violence was ‘presumably the work of a small coterie of Sinn Fein supporters, perhaps the Irish Republican Brotherhood’ but that no Nationalist politican dared take a stand against them.
The RIC Inteligence reports advised that both Eoin Mac Neill and Fr. O’Flanagan were strongly opposed to violence and were threatening to resign from Sinn Fein unless it stopped it’s campaign...Darrell Figgis, a supporter of the old, non-violent Sinn Fein viewed the campaign against the police as part of a cunning ploy on the part of the Volunteers to condition the Irish public to the use of physical force: ‘The ground was well chosen and the gains were many. The first gain was that the civil work of the RIC practically ceased… the second gain, from the point of view of those who planned this campaign, was that the people were being attuned to the thought of the appeal to armed force. The third gain was that the RIC were steadily withdrawn from all isolated barracks and concentrated in the larger, more central barracks, leaving large tracts of country to be controlled and policed completely by the I.R.A’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P72
De Valera was reported in The Nation: ‘ Governors, Senators and mayors pay court to him and do him honour. He issues presedential statements of Irish Republican policy and the newspapers print it in full. He proposes to pay off the $500,000 issue of Fenian bonds put out in 1865 to finance an invasion of Canada, and the same jealous guardians of our national honour roar as gently as the sucking dove. He gets front page spread whenever he wants it, with unexampled editorial kindness thrown in.’
Arthur Mitchell. ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ p.115
The Allies begin to lift their blockade of Germany.
Ballymenoch, Belfast: Sir Edward Carson has described this year’s Twelfth as the ‘greatest’ he could remember. There is a good reason that this year’s ceremonies and celebrations should eclipse those of recent years: the ending of the Great War, and the demobilisation of soldiers that has followed it, has allowed for far higher levels of participation than were seen for some time. An estimated 300,000 men participated in this year’s main Twelfth demonstration at Ballymenoch, near Belfast, which was held under the auspices of the Grand Loyal Lodge (GLL).
A large body of demobilised troops from the 36th (Ulster) Division took part in the demonstration, although it is understood that a large number of discharged ex-soldiers refrained from participating as a protest against their treatment since leaving the army. The echoes of war were still evident, most notably in the new colourful banners that depicted the Ulster Division's exploits at the front
Colonel Robert Hugh Wallace, the Grand Master of the GLL, told the massive gathering at the field in Ballymenoch that home rule was not dead and constituted as a big a menace as ever. He referenced the support shown for an Irish republic by the catholic bishops; Rome’s greatest ambition was to destroy the British empire, he said. However, it was Sir Edward Carson, MP for Belfast Duncairn, who delivered the fieriest of speeches after proposing a resolution demanding the repeal of the Home Rule Act.
Carson took aim at the Catholic hierarchy and Éamon de Valera, the head of Sinn Féin, an organisation which, according to Carson, in the ‘darkest hours of the war for the world’s freedom shot His Majesty’s soldiers in the streets of Dublin’.
Carson urged his audience to prepare for all eventualities and warned them he was willing once more to ‘call out the Ulster Volunteers’. He was not, however, afraid of an Irish republic, the idea of which he derided mockingly. He further stated that Ulster would have nothing to do with Dominion Home Rule either, which he sees as the ‘camouflage of Irish Republic’.
Summoning the spirit of resistance that was such a feature of Unionist politics in the pre-war years, Carson continued: ‘We are loyal men... The Government and the Constitution and the British Empire are good enough for us, and we tell them that the man who tries to knock a brick out of that sound and solid foundation, if he comes to Ulster, he will know what the real feeling of Ulstermen and Ulsterwomen is.’ and criticism of the Irish-American delegation which visited Ireland recently – ‘we will not brook any interference in our own affairs’ – and he condemned the ‘campaign of assassination of innocent policemen’.
In the wake of Carson’s speech and in particular his threat to re-mobilise the Ulster Volunteers, the Freeman’s Journal has asked as to the whereabouts of the organisation’s arsenal of weapons. On 15 October last, the then Chief Secretary Edward Shortt was asked whether the authorities had been handed over all or in part the 50,000 rifles and 11 machine guns which were in the possession of the Ulster Volunteers. His response left many nationalists unimpressed, including John Dillon, then leader of the Irish Party, who stated that the impression that there had been a widespread surrender of Ulster arms was a fraud.
Dublin: The US Consul in Dublin reporting to the State Department advised that the violence was ‘presumably the work of a small coterie of Sinn Fein supporters, perhaps the Irish Republican Brotherhood’ but that no Nationalist politican dared take a stand against them.
The RIC Inteligence reports advised that both Eoin Mac Neill and Fr. O’Flanagan were strongly opposed to violence and were threatening to resign from Sinn Fein unless it stopped it’s campaign...Darrell Figgis, a supporter of the old, non-violent Sinn Fein viewed the campaign against the police as part of a cunning ploy on the part of the Volunteers to condition the Irish public to the use of physical force: ‘The ground was well chosen and the gains were many. The first gain was that the civil work of the RIC practically ceased… the second gain, from the point of view of those who planned this campaign, was that the people were being attuned to the thought of the appeal to armed force. The third gain was that the RIC were steadily withdrawn from all isolated barracks and concentrated in the larger, more central barracks, leaving large tracts of country to be controlled and policed completely by the I.R.A’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P72
De Valera was reported in The Nation: ‘ Governors, Senators and mayors pay court to him and do him honour. He issues presedential statements of Irish Republican policy and the newspapers print it in full. He proposes to pay off the $500,000 issue of Fenian bonds put out in 1865 to finance an invasion of Canada, and the same jealous guardians of our national honour roar as gently as the sucking dove. He gets front page spread whenever he wants it, with unexampled editorial kindness thrown in.’
Arthur Mitchell. ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ p.115
William Gordon Brewster (26 September 1889 ā 16 June 1946) was an editorial cartoonist for the Irish Independent group of newspapers. Born at 15 D'Olier Street, Dublin and educated at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. His father was general manager of the Irish Independent, and Gordon joined the paper as a staff artist in 1906. He drew cartoons mainly on money matters for the daily paper, and had a regular cartoon called "This, That and the Other" for the Sunday Independent.
Pinch and Zoom to view above or increase web-page size. Irish Standard report continues below:
The owner of The Philadelphia Public Ledger declared that ‘the attitude of the typical American, as a part from the Irish-American, on the Irish question is one of complete lack of interest. Irish-Americans are never satisfied. They are the most sensitive people in the world. The typical Yankee does not understand what the Irish want and he does not care.’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p169
The Battle of the Boyne (above) a 1778 historical painting by the Anglo-American artist Benjamin West. It portrays the Battle of the Boyne which took place in Ireland in 1690. West's depiction of William of Orange on his white horse became the iconic image of liberation from Catholic Ireland; the painting was widely copied and distributed throughout the nineteenth century. The painting itself is at Mount Stewart, Newtownards, Northern Ireland, and is the property of the National Trust.
West's 1778 work portrays the fighting at the Boyne, part of the Williamite War in Ireland (1689–91). The battle was a decisive victory for the Williamites over James II's Jacobite Irish Army, leading to the capture of the Irish capital city Dublin. By the time West made the painting, the Boyne had come to occupy an important position in Irish Protestant culture. The dominant image of the painting is William of Orange crossing the River Boyne. West's portrayal of the King became influential on subsequent images of William, particularly his use of a white horse. In the bottom right corner, he portrays the death of Marshal Schomberg, the second-in-command of William's army. Schomberg had crossed the Boyne earlier than William and had been killed by Jacobite cavalry in the melee around Oldbridge ford. West transformed Schomberg's chaotic death into a tableau, one that has strong similarities to other heroic death scenes in West's paintings, such as General Wolfe or Horatio Nelson in The Death of Nelson (1806). More information on The Battle of the Boyne (1690) here and the Williamite War (1688-91) in Ireland here. |
14
In a letter to Judge Cohalan, Bourke Cochrane deals with the difficulties of trying to sell in America the bonds of the Irish Republic. He had spoken with some prominent Irish-Americans and ‘the idea that a loan could be floated on normal financial grounds they scouted as preposterous, insisting that money might be raised for such a purpose ( Irish self-determination ) as a matter of sentiment but never cold financial investment’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.349
Cyril V. Briggs, the US Black radical-nationalist founded “ the secret African Blood Brotherhood for African Liberation and Redemption (ABB) … drew upon the example of the Irish Republican Brotherhood…The motto of the ABB was, "Those only need apply who are willing to go the limit."
Robert A Hill. “The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project “ UCLA ( Via Internet Site June 1997 )
Washington D.C. Over the next 14 days, Senator Cabot Lodge reads all 246 pages of Treaty aloud to Senate
Punch Magazine swipes at Archbishop Walsh:
In a letter to Judge Cohalan, Bourke Cochrane deals with the difficulties of trying to sell in America the bonds of the Irish Republic. He had spoken with some prominent Irish-Americans and ‘the idea that a loan could be floated on normal financial grounds they scouted as preposterous, insisting that money might be raised for such a purpose ( Irish self-determination ) as a matter of sentiment but never cold financial investment’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.349
Cyril V. Briggs, the US Black radical-nationalist founded “ the secret African Blood Brotherhood for African Liberation and Redemption (ABB) … drew upon the example of the Irish Republican Brotherhood…The motto of the ABB was, "Those only need apply who are willing to go the limit."
Robert A Hill. “The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project “ UCLA ( Via Internet Site June 1997 )
Washington D.C. Over the next 14 days, Senator Cabot Lodge reads all 246 pages of Treaty aloud to Senate
Punch Magazine swipes at Archbishop Walsh:
15
Iris Murdoch (15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and philosopher. Born in Phibsborough, Dublin, Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her first published novel, Under the Net, was selected in 1998 as one of Modern Library's 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 1987, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Her books include The Bell (1958), A Severed Head (1961), The Red and the Green (1965), The Nice and the Good (1968), The Black Prince (1973), Henry and Cato (1976), The Sea, the Sea (1978, Booker Prize), The Philosopher's Pupil (1983), The Good Apprentice (1985), The Book and the Brotherhood (1987), The Message to the Planet (1989), and The Green Knight (1993). In 2008, The Times ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945"
Iris Murdoch (15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and philosopher. Born in Phibsborough, Dublin, Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her first published novel, Under the Net, was selected in 1998 as one of Modern Library's 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 1987, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Her books include The Bell (1958), A Severed Head (1961), The Red and the Green (1965), The Nice and the Good (1968), The Black Prince (1973), Henry and Cato (1976), The Sea, the Sea (1978, Booker Prize), The Philosopher's Pupil (1983), The Good Apprentice (1985), The Book and the Brotherhood (1987), The Message to the Planet (1989), and The Green Knight (1993). In 2008, The Times ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945"
16
17
General Smuts in Paris for the Peace Conference said:
‘..the most pressing of all constitutional problems is the Irish question. It has become a chronic wound, the septic effects of which are spreading to our whole system...influence our most vital foreign relations…unless it is settled on the great principles which form the basis of this Empire, this Empire must cease to exist.’
Associated Press despatch – July 18th 1919. Reported in the Newsletter of the Irish National Bureau, Washington D.C.. Issue No.3 - July 25, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
The Dail Eireann executive purchased new offices a few doors up the road at 76 Harcourt Street. A master builder and carpenter were despatched to manufacture hiding places for important documents should expected British raids take place.
The RIC Inspector General reported to London that that the leaders of the the Irish Transport Union ‘hold strong Communistic and revolutionary principles and the majority of its 68,000 members are Sinn Feiners….the Union therefore may be regarded as the left wing of Sinn Fein’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolotionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922’. P178-179
Thursday evening - De Valera arrives in San Francisco
De Valera's journey from the San Francisco Ferry Terminal to the St. Francis Hotel on Union Square was 'interupted by an earnest deputation from the Ancient Order of Hibernians. They requested the driver turn the engine off so they could have the honor and the privilege of dragging de Valera's vehicle the rest of the way to his destination. Ropes were quickly attached and six proud men then hauled the automobile to the haughty establishment that was to be de Valera's base in California...the symbolism of this arrival was too grand an opportunity to pass up'
Dave Hannigan. 'De Valera in America. The rebel President and the making of Irish Independence'. Palgrave McMillan. New York 2013. p54
A crowd estimated at 10,000 were waiting amongst them a group of young girls in traditional Irish costume with baskets of petals and as de Valera proceeded into the hotel, flowers covered the ground where he walked. Welcomed by Peggy O'Neill, the Oakland Tribune reported she announced 'We hail you as the true representative of real democracy. Our joy at receiving you is beyond expression because you come from a country under whose government the women have the same constitutional rights and share equal privileges with men'
The following four days of de Valera's visit were 'days of constant adulation and loud acclaim...everything de Valera did was news. Everywhere he went became an event. The final leg of his journey through the wharf, ferry and train terminal...had been filmed and was almost immediately being broadcast in local theatres alongside the first footage of Jack Dempsey relaxing at home following his recent dethroning of the world heavyweight champion Jess Willard. Heady company for a politician to be keeping on any bill..'
Dave Hannigan. 'De Valera in America. The rebel President and the making of Irish Independence'. Palgrave McMillan. New York 2013. p54
US Journalist William Allen Wright commented: ‘Ireland is a football in American politics. It must be taken out of American politics for the good of Ireland and the future peace of the world.’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p169
18
The Washington D.C. based Irish National Bureau in the second of its weekly Friends of Irish Freedom sponsored newsletter ended with a call against American involvement in the League of Nations:
‘America, conclusive factor in ending the world-war – America, morally, financially, commercially and in every other way, potentially arbiter of the world – can free Ireland. But she cannot free Ireland by subscribing to Article X, for this guarantees to Great Britain a continued possesion of Ireland against the will of the Irish people.’
Newsletter of the Irish National Bureau, Washington Dublin Castle. Issue No.2 July 18, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
19
Derry: The city of Derry endured a difficult weekend involving what one policeman alleged was the most disgraceful and most wanton destruction he had ever witnessed.
The trouble centred on the areas around Butcher Street, Fahan Street and Ridge Street. The Irish Times has reported that rioting, window-smashing and looting occurred after midnight on the night of 16 August when the ‘hooligan element with Sinn Féin sympathies came out’. The military’s response to this was to send out large numbers of reinforcements. The military presence did not deter the large crowd which sang ‘The Soldier’s Song’ and ‘Wrap the Green Flag Round Me’ and other songs in front of the assembled troops. At intervals the soldiers advanced upon the crowd with bayonets pushing them backwards, only for them to return and sing some more.
Over the course of four to five hours, a number of constables were struck with stones, while a number of demonstrators also suffered injuries. The damage to property, meanwhile, is estimated at £5,000. As well as shop fronts, the damage extended to the Apprentice Boys’ Memorial Hall, the windows of which were broken by stones thrown from the Bogside. The Rossdowney schools at the Waterside were also damaged. The violence erupted from tensions that have been building in Derry since 15 August when a proclamation was issued by Brigadier General Hacket Pain prohibiting any meeting or procession from being held on, or near, the city walls. The effect of the proclamation was to frustrate plans for a procession that was to include nationalists, Sinn Féiners, Hibernians, Foresters and catholic discharged soldiers. Resentment was felt among members of these groups as the decision followed closely on the heels of a large event by the Orange Order on the walls, which has been described by some as a ‘No Popery display’.
At a meeting of Derry Corporation, nationalists registered their opposition with the mayor, who claimed not to have been consulted by the authorities as to the reasons for the proclamation. Councillor Hugh O’Doherty said that the incident typified the military rule that was being imposed all over the country. A nationalist motion protesting against the proclamation was defeated when unionists councillors voted against it.
New York, ‘..speaking at the formal dedication of Liberty Hall, the Universal Negro Improvement Association’s general meeting place, Marcus Garvey announced that ‘the time had come for the Negro race to offer up its martyrs upon the altar of liberty even as the Irish had given a long list from Robert Emmet to Roger Casement. The name chosen for the UNIA meeting place reflected an appreciation for Liberty Hall, Dublin, the symbolic seat of Irish Revoloution….Garvey consistently accorded the Irish independence struggle primacy among all other national movements of the era, including those in India, Egypt, China, the eastern European states, and the movement to secure a Jewish homeland in Palestine. His strong identification with Ireland's tradition of patriotic martyrdom inspired him to proclaim in a Chicago speech in 1919, "Robert Emmet gave his life for Irish independence . . . and the new negro is ready to give his life for the freedom of the negro race." Ultimately, Garvey was to be compared by William Ferris to Saint Patrick, the Irish patron saint: "the same courage which St. Patrick showed in defying the pagan gods of Ireland Marcus Garvey shows in defying Anglo-Saxon caste prejudice."
Robert A Hill. “The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project “ UCLA ( Via Internet Site June 1997 )
The New York Times declared that only if the Irish were prepared to implicate the United States in a war with Britain was their opposition to the League exlicaable.
De Valera in San Francisco answered questions put forward in the Missouri Post-Despatch earlier in the month and give some insight…
‘#1 What form of verdict do de Valera and his ardent Irish American supporters want from the American people. If they merely want American sympathy for the aspirations of the Irish for independent self-government – they have it.’
de Valera commented that ‘I am glad ‘that the Post Despatch recognises that this is a fact…I believe that the present demonstrations are necessary in order that those who may doubt, will have visible demonstrations of the feelings of the Americans’
#2 Do they want the verdict to take the form of an effort to free Ireland regardless of the will of Great Britain? Do they want us to go to war with Great Britain or take such offensive action that we risk a quarrel with Great Britain?’
"We do not ask America to take any active step of hostility to England. We ask of America to do that which she has right to do, irrespective of whether it pleases England or not - to recognize in our case the principle which America entered the war - the principle of the right of self-determination of nations. England accepted that principle, and peace was made on the basis of that principle. England has no right to object. America, in recognizing the Irish Republic - and the recognition of the Irish Republic is all we ask of America - is simply carrying out in practice the principle for which her sons fought in the war, and neither England nor any other nation has a right to offended when America does that which she has a right to do - act justly toward another nation. The victory in this war was said to be a triumph of justice - justice that plays no favourites, England must pay the price for a lasting peace as well other nations. America is strong enough to do that which she considers right fearlessly,
#3 "Do they want us to wreck the peace treaty because Ireland did not get a hearing at the Peace table and England is a signer of the treaty?
"We want to wreck nothing. But we believe, with President Wilson, 'that no peace can last or ought to last which does not recognize and accept the principle that governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed, and no rights anywhere exist to hand peoples about from potentate to potentate as if they were property.And with President Wilson we hold also 'that the ties and agreements which bring it (the War) to end must embody terms that will create a peace that is worth both guaranteeing and preserving, a peace that will win the approval of mankind, not merely a peace that will serve the several interests and immediate aims of the nations engaged.'
Our aims are constructive, not destructive, as we are moved not by a spirit of retaliation for not having received justice, but by the desire to obtain justice where justice can be got. So far are we from wanting to 'subordinate,' as it is suggested, American policy and American Interest or world interests at this critical time to Irish interests and aspirations, that we hold what we demand is in strict accord with both American policy and American interests and even more so with the wider world interests. Besides seeking official recognition of the Irish Republic from America, and more fundamental than the recognition of the Irish question, is the question of the positive act of injustice to Ireland and to oppressed peoples everywhere, which would be committed by America if it becomes signatory to a pact whereby America will become a partner to a conspiracy to maintain nations in subjection.
Article X of the Peace Treaty as it stands makes it illegal for nations that are sympathetic to give the downtrodden the aid that their sympathy dictates. They are to be cut off in future from the great means by "which subject people in the past have been liberated – the active assistance of friendly neighbors. If America is not going to help us, I am certain she is not going to do us harm, I have answered these questions as an Irishman and as an outsider in America, I only wish that I were an American, that I might answer them in the spirit in which I believe they will be answered when Americans who believe in justice come to deal with them.
Irish National Bureau Newsletter No.5, August 8 , 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
De Valera received an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from St. Ignatius College, San Francisco, California (now University of San Francisco).
In Los Angeles, an aircraft was used for the first time to arrest a speeding motorist.
Derry: The city of Derry endured a difficult weekend involving what one policeman alleged was the most disgraceful and most wanton destruction he had ever witnessed.
The trouble centred on the areas around Butcher Street, Fahan Street and Ridge Street. The Irish Times has reported that rioting, window-smashing and looting occurred after midnight on the night of 16 August when the ‘hooligan element with Sinn Féin sympathies came out’. The military’s response to this was to send out large numbers of reinforcements. The military presence did not deter the large crowd which sang ‘The Soldier’s Song’ and ‘Wrap the Green Flag Round Me’ and other songs in front of the assembled troops. At intervals the soldiers advanced upon the crowd with bayonets pushing them backwards, only for them to return and sing some more.
Over the course of four to five hours, a number of constables were struck with stones, while a number of demonstrators also suffered injuries. The damage to property, meanwhile, is estimated at £5,000. As well as shop fronts, the damage extended to the Apprentice Boys’ Memorial Hall, the windows of which were broken by stones thrown from the Bogside. The Rossdowney schools at the Waterside were also damaged. The violence erupted from tensions that have been building in Derry since 15 August when a proclamation was issued by Brigadier General Hacket Pain prohibiting any meeting or procession from being held on, or near, the city walls. The effect of the proclamation was to frustrate plans for a procession that was to include nationalists, Sinn Féiners, Hibernians, Foresters and catholic discharged soldiers. Resentment was felt among members of these groups as the decision followed closely on the heels of a large event by the Orange Order on the walls, which has been described by some as a ‘No Popery display’.
At a meeting of Derry Corporation, nationalists registered their opposition with the mayor, who claimed not to have been consulted by the authorities as to the reasons for the proclamation. Councillor Hugh O’Doherty said that the incident typified the military rule that was being imposed all over the country. A nationalist motion protesting against the proclamation was defeated when unionists councillors voted against it.
New York, ‘..speaking at the formal dedication of Liberty Hall, the Universal Negro Improvement Association’s general meeting place, Marcus Garvey announced that ‘the time had come for the Negro race to offer up its martyrs upon the altar of liberty even as the Irish had given a long list from Robert Emmet to Roger Casement. The name chosen for the UNIA meeting place reflected an appreciation for Liberty Hall, Dublin, the symbolic seat of Irish Revoloution….Garvey consistently accorded the Irish independence struggle primacy among all other national movements of the era, including those in India, Egypt, China, the eastern European states, and the movement to secure a Jewish homeland in Palestine. His strong identification with Ireland's tradition of patriotic martyrdom inspired him to proclaim in a Chicago speech in 1919, "Robert Emmet gave his life for Irish independence . . . and the new negro is ready to give his life for the freedom of the negro race." Ultimately, Garvey was to be compared by William Ferris to Saint Patrick, the Irish patron saint: "the same courage which St. Patrick showed in defying the pagan gods of Ireland Marcus Garvey shows in defying Anglo-Saxon caste prejudice."
Robert A Hill. “The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project “ UCLA ( Via Internet Site June 1997 )
The New York Times declared that only if the Irish were prepared to implicate the United States in a war with Britain was their opposition to the League exlicaable.
De Valera in San Francisco answered questions put forward in the Missouri Post-Despatch earlier in the month and give some insight…
‘#1 What form of verdict do de Valera and his ardent Irish American supporters want from the American people. If they merely want American sympathy for the aspirations of the Irish for independent self-government – they have it.’
de Valera commented that ‘I am glad ‘that the Post Despatch recognises that this is a fact…I believe that the present demonstrations are necessary in order that those who may doubt, will have visible demonstrations of the feelings of the Americans’
#2 Do they want the verdict to take the form of an effort to free Ireland regardless of the will of Great Britain? Do they want us to go to war with Great Britain or take such offensive action that we risk a quarrel with Great Britain?’
"We do not ask America to take any active step of hostility to England. We ask of America to do that which she has right to do, irrespective of whether it pleases England or not - to recognize in our case the principle which America entered the war - the principle of the right of self-determination of nations. England accepted that principle, and peace was made on the basis of that principle. England has no right to object. America, in recognizing the Irish Republic - and the recognition of the Irish Republic is all we ask of America - is simply carrying out in practice the principle for which her sons fought in the war, and neither England nor any other nation has a right to offended when America does that which she has a right to do - act justly toward another nation. The victory in this war was said to be a triumph of justice - justice that plays no favourites, England must pay the price for a lasting peace as well other nations. America is strong enough to do that which she considers right fearlessly,
#3 "Do they want us to wreck the peace treaty because Ireland did not get a hearing at the Peace table and England is a signer of the treaty?
"We want to wreck nothing. But we believe, with President Wilson, 'that no peace can last or ought to last which does not recognize and accept the principle that governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed, and no rights anywhere exist to hand peoples about from potentate to potentate as if they were property.And with President Wilson we hold also 'that the ties and agreements which bring it (the War) to end must embody terms that will create a peace that is worth both guaranteeing and preserving, a peace that will win the approval of mankind, not merely a peace that will serve the several interests and immediate aims of the nations engaged.'
Our aims are constructive, not destructive, as we are moved not by a spirit of retaliation for not having received justice, but by the desire to obtain justice where justice can be got. So far are we from wanting to 'subordinate,' as it is suggested, American policy and American Interest or world interests at this critical time to Irish interests and aspirations, that we hold what we demand is in strict accord with both American policy and American interests and even more so with the wider world interests. Besides seeking official recognition of the Irish Republic from America, and more fundamental than the recognition of the Irish question, is the question of the positive act of injustice to Ireland and to oppressed peoples everywhere, which would be committed by America if it becomes signatory to a pact whereby America will become a partner to a conspiracy to maintain nations in subjection.
Article X of the Peace Treaty as it stands makes it illegal for nations that are sympathetic to give the downtrodden the aid that their sympathy dictates. They are to be cut off in future from the great means by "which subject people in the past have been liberated – the active assistance of friendly neighbors. If America is not going to help us, I am certain she is not going to do us harm, I have answered these questions as an Irishman and as an outsider in America, I only wish that I were an American, that I might answer them in the spirit in which I believe they will be answered when Americans who believe in justice come to deal with them.
Irish National Bureau Newsletter No.5, August 8 , 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
De Valera received an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from St. Ignatius College, San Francisco, California (now University of San Francisco).
In Los Angeles, an aircraft was used for the first time to arrest a speeding motorist.
Dublin: Victory Day, or Peace Day, was celebrated across the British Empire, including in many of Ireland’s principal cities and towns (above: the parade from the roof of Trinity College)
One of the largest parades took place in Dublin where 15,000 regular soldiers with artillery, armoured cars, light and heavy tanks paraded alongside 5,000 demobilised troops. The Dublin parade commenced at 11.30 am and followed a route along Dame Street, College Green, Great Brunswick Street, Westland Row, Lincoln Place, Leinster Street, Kildare Street and then to St Stephen’s Green. Viscount French, the Lord Lieutenant, took the salute of the parading troops at the Bank of Ireland on College Green, where a large platform was erected to accommodate his staff and a number of government officials. Inside the gates of Trinity College more stands were erected to facilitate viewing by wounded soldiers. The first body of marchers to pass the reviewing stand was a mounted detachment of RIC men and they were followed by demobilised sailors and soldiers, some in uniform and some in civilian clothes.
Men from the Royal Irish Regiment, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, a detachment of Irish Guards, the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the Connaught Rangers, the Royal Munster Fusiliers, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Leinster Regiment also marched. The tail end of the procession was made up of men from English, Welsh and Scottish regiments.
In advance of the parade, a great effort was taken to brighten and decorate the city with flags and bunting in praise of Britain and the allied nations. This was especially apparent along the streets through which the parade proceeded, in particular the thoroughfares of Dame Street, Westmoreland Street, Nassau Street. Grafton Street was also a blaze of colour. ‘Outside of London’, the Irish Times has said, ‘the whole kingdom saw no more heart-stirring celebration of the day than in Dublin. Our city’s Victory March furnished a noble answer to those who say that Ireland did not give her best to the cause of freedom.’ Lord French declared in a note to King George following the parade, that the peace celebrations in Dublin had passed off most satisfactorily and that the servicemen who marched were acclaimed by his majesty’s subjects.
The acclaim was far from universal, however. While there was no great disturbances during the day when the parade was passing through the streets of Dublin, the atmosphere in the city changed later in the evening. At about 9.30 pm, on Ormond Quay, two soldiers were attacked and when Sergeant Roche from the Dublin Metropolitan Police intervened, he received a gunshot wound. Around midnight, police wielded batons which left 16 people requiring treatment at Jervis Street Hospital for scalp injuries. At Beresford Place, a large body of police charged a crowd of approximately 200 to 300 people where an ex-soldier was delivering a short address. Similar scenes of celebration and social unrest were reported in many other towns and cities all over the country
In Cork, the Victory March was composed of detachments from the southern regiments, alongside displays of armoured cars and tanks. Women who had been engaged in war service marched alongside demobilised sailors and soldiers and several large establishments closed in honour of the holiday. Spectators, mostly women and children, wore red, white and blue badges. However there was no festive bunting. Instead, black flags were hoisted over a number of workhouse buildings.
In Lismore, Co. Waterford, the Peace Day celebrations passed off without incident, but after nightfall a number marched on houses displaying union flags and pulled them down. The flags were then publicly burned. The night of disturbance ended with the setting off of explosives and a police baton charge of protestors.
In Wexford the holiday was observed only in government offices and foundries. Public decorations were scarcely visible - about a half dozen houses hung union jacks. Approximately 500 ex-sailors and soldiers marched through the town accompanied by the St Brigid’s Fife and Drum and the Taghmon Pipers’ Bands, which were principally composed of ex-servicemen.
In Athlone there was a major military display involving a procession of troops, accompanied by armoured cars. After the procession an afternoon of sports was held. All shops remained open and in St Mary’s Square on the night before, a huge poster was hung with the inscription: ‘Ex-soldiers, you have fought for Freedom. Where is it?’ Similar messages were displayed in many parts of the country. In Monaghan some union jacks were torn down and burned. On Wellington Street in Derry, a black flag was flown bearing the words: ‘England, clear out; give us our country.’ And in Dublin, on Dominick Street, a number of people also hung out black flags. Others waved smaller flags inscribed upon which were the words: ‘Peace, moryah! What about Ireland?’
One of the largest parades took place in Dublin where 15,000 regular soldiers with artillery, armoured cars, light and heavy tanks paraded alongside 5,000 demobilised troops. The Dublin parade commenced at 11.30 am and followed a route along Dame Street, College Green, Great Brunswick Street, Westland Row, Lincoln Place, Leinster Street, Kildare Street and then to St Stephen’s Green. Viscount French, the Lord Lieutenant, took the salute of the parading troops at the Bank of Ireland on College Green, where a large platform was erected to accommodate his staff and a number of government officials. Inside the gates of Trinity College more stands were erected to facilitate viewing by wounded soldiers. The first body of marchers to pass the reviewing stand was a mounted detachment of RIC men and they were followed by demobilised sailors and soldiers, some in uniform and some in civilian clothes.
Men from the Royal Irish Regiment, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, a detachment of Irish Guards, the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the Connaught Rangers, the Royal Munster Fusiliers, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Leinster Regiment also marched. The tail end of the procession was made up of men from English, Welsh and Scottish regiments.
In advance of the parade, a great effort was taken to brighten and decorate the city with flags and bunting in praise of Britain and the allied nations. This was especially apparent along the streets through which the parade proceeded, in particular the thoroughfares of Dame Street, Westmoreland Street, Nassau Street. Grafton Street was also a blaze of colour. ‘Outside of London’, the Irish Times has said, ‘the whole kingdom saw no more heart-stirring celebration of the day than in Dublin. Our city’s Victory March furnished a noble answer to those who say that Ireland did not give her best to the cause of freedom.’ Lord French declared in a note to King George following the parade, that the peace celebrations in Dublin had passed off most satisfactorily and that the servicemen who marched were acclaimed by his majesty’s subjects.
The acclaim was far from universal, however. While there was no great disturbances during the day when the parade was passing through the streets of Dublin, the atmosphere in the city changed later in the evening. At about 9.30 pm, on Ormond Quay, two soldiers were attacked and when Sergeant Roche from the Dublin Metropolitan Police intervened, he received a gunshot wound. Around midnight, police wielded batons which left 16 people requiring treatment at Jervis Street Hospital for scalp injuries. At Beresford Place, a large body of police charged a crowd of approximately 200 to 300 people where an ex-soldier was delivering a short address. Similar scenes of celebration and social unrest were reported in many other towns and cities all over the country
In Cork, the Victory March was composed of detachments from the southern regiments, alongside displays of armoured cars and tanks. Women who had been engaged in war service marched alongside demobilised sailors and soldiers and several large establishments closed in honour of the holiday. Spectators, mostly women and children, wore red, white and blue badges. However there was no festive bunting. Instead, black flags were hoisted over a number of workhouse buildings.
In Lismore, Co. Waterford, the Peace Day celebrations passed off without incident, but after nightfall a number marched on houses displaying union flags and pulled them down. The flags were then publicly burned. The night of disturbance ended with the setting off of explosives and a police baton charge of protestors.
In Wexford the holiday was observed only in government offices and foundries. Public decorations were scarcely visible - about a half dozen houses hung union jacks. Approximately 500 ex-sailors and soldiers marched through the town accompanied by the St Brigid’s Fife and Drum and the Taghmon Pipers’ Bands, which were principally composed of ex-servicemen.
In Athlone there was a major military display involving a procession of troops, accompanied by armoured cars. After the procession an afternoon of sports was held. All shops remained open and in St Mary’s Square on the night before, a huge poster was hung with the inscription: ‘Ex-soldiers, you have fought for Freedom. Where is it?’ Similar messages were displayed in many parts of the country. In Monaghan some union jacks were torn down and burned. On Wellington Street in Derry, a black flag was flown bearing the words: ‘England, clear out; give us our country.’ And in Dublin, on Dominick Street, a number of people also hung out black flags. Others waved smaller flags inscribed upon which were the words: ‘Peace, moryah! What about Ireland?’
Page 2 of a letter from Lynch to an unknown recipient but a member of the FOIF Executive.
July 19th, 1919 |
(1) Moloney-McCann:
(2) Miss Hughes: Katherine Hughes (1876-1925) a Canadian journalist and writer was a driving force behind the Irish National Bureau in Washington DC and the Friends of Irish Freedom publicity drives of 1919-1920. See biography June 1, 1919.
(3) Executive Meeting:
(4) Untermeyer: Samuel Untermyer (March 6, 1858 – March 16, 1940, a prominent American lawyer and civic leader. More information here.
(5) Harry Boland
(2) Miss Hughes: Katherine Hughes (1876-1925) a Canadian journalist and writer was a driving force behind the Irish National Bureau in Washington DC and the Friends of Irish Freedom publicity drives of 1919-1920. See biography June 1, 1919.
(3) Executive Meeting:
(4) Untermeyer: Samuel Untermyer (March 6, 1858 – March 16, 1940, a prominent American lawyer and civic leader. More information here.
(5) Harry Boland
20
London and Dublin: A lengthy address by the British Prime Minister to the House of Commons on 18 August was heavily criticised by representatives of the Irish Party. T.P. O’Connor, the party’s Liverpool MP, described the omission of any reference to Ireland from the speech as cold, deliberate and arrogant and said that it brought him to the point of near despair.
O’Connor, in an interview with the Evening Standard, added that by not mentioning Ireland, Lloyd George confirmed the suspicion that the Prime Minister was ‘only playing with Ireland – that he is seeking not means of solution, but means of escape’.
O’Connor added that in doing so, the Prime Minister was only furthering the Sinn Féin cause: ‘If the Irish Republic were ever to pass from the realm of fantasy to reality, Mr Lloyd George would have a larger claim to being the first President than de Valera. His only serious competitor for the honour would be Sir Edward Carson.’
Ireland was not the only issue that went unaddressed by the Prime Minister. A clearly underwhelmed British press has pointed to the lack of comment on Russia, on agriculture, or on reducing expenditure. ‘If oratorical wizardry were a substitute for an Irish policy, a trade policy, and a financial policy’, the Star remarked, ‘the speech would not send cold shivers down the national spine. But it is not a substitute… The nation is tired of the patter. It desires performance, and it is not willing to wait another three months.’
Earlier in the week, O’Connor’s party leader Joseph Devlin delivered a stinging attack on Sinn Féin’s policy of abstentionism from Westminster. Speaking at a political rally in Blackrock, Co. Louth, which attracted nationalists from the south Ulster and north Leinster regions, Mr Devlin said that the folly of the Sinn Féin approach was all too apparent: major schemes of reconstruction were passing through the houses of parliament in Westminster where Ireland was, he claimed, inarticulate and represented only a handful of members of his own party. The work carried out by these Irish Party MPs to safeguard Ireland's interests is ‘practical, necessary work... and in my opinion requiring attention here and now’.
San Francisco: De Valera attended a mass in St Peter's Cathedral where the sermon was delivered by Fr. Augustine, the Capuchin friar who had administered to the Easter Rising condemned leaders in Kilmainham Jail, 1916.
In New York a huge banquet organised at the Hotel Astor by the Maynooth Union, Archbishop Daniel Mannix of Melbourne said of de Valera’s message: “..We have listened to him here and you could almost see the sincerity of the man’s soul while he picked his steps so carefully and cautiously through the fight that the Irish people have been making”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p152
Diarmuid Lynch wrote to sister Mary:
New York
July 20.19
My Dear Moll.
The only time I get to write a personal note is when I'm ‘laid up’. I got a cold a fortnight ago & went to the Madison Square Garden meeting for de Valera before I was OK. Result was a relapse & I have been home for the past three days. I am much better but in this hot weather is is almost impossible to do the right things to get rid of a cold. However I hope to be OK in a day or two. It's hard lines to be on the sick list now – with so much on hand that needs attention.
I am enclosing some snaps taken on our short holidays last year at Lakewood & a few taken later. Kit had these made specially to send you but it was very doubtful if even snapshots would be allowed through during the war. Very sorry to hear about Father Leonard R.I.P. (1) I hope Fr Coveney (2) is his successor. Glad to hear Aunt K (3) was so well & was to write to me. I thought she had forgotten all together as so many others seemed to. I managed to write Aunt J (4) a week ago. De Valera was with us a couple of occasions – just for an hour or so.
You must apologies for me to Lettie Ahern, Sister Columba, Sr Juliana, Margaret etc etc. Brother Rahilly (5), Cork who was out here returned recently. I gave him Aunties address. He had some interesting experiences. Hope you meet him. I was terribly shocked of the news of poor Denis Murphy’s death.
I wonder if paper will reach you. Am sending another to Mick. Wrote him some months ago but got no reply. Never got a line from Tim since I left!! Hope Auntie & all the folks are well. Father P.B. (6) was in New York about a month ago. We met him and Mrs McGrath & sister. We thought we were to have a chance to go to Boston early this week but I never can count on anything. Just so surely as I make an appointment, I eventually have to cancel it. Important matters continually turn up day by day which must be attended to.
We never hear from Pat Canavan (7). Met him about this time a year ago but not a word since.
Just now the perspiration is rolling off us & we envy you folks who can live in comfort. Some of out friends yonder have unfortunately enough trouble in other respects. However God is good! Glad old Julia keeps well.
Remember me to all the friends and neighbours & Kit sends regards to those she met.
Hope to hear from you soon again.
I wonder if Dan got my letter regarding mail addressed to the N. of C.
Kit joins me in sending best love to yourself & the boys.
Diarmuid
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 5/16
(1) Rev. Mark Leonard (1855 - 30 May 1919) Parish Priest of Tracton 1917-1919. The grandson of John Windle, the author of the History of Cork, and a pioneer of archaeological research in the South of Ireland. Fr. Leonard on Sunday, September 20th 1903, at St. Finbarr’s (South), Church Cork, he baptised Michael John O’Donovan – who under the pseudonym of Frank O’Connor, later wrote 150 short stories, novels, plays, poetry and two autobiographies.Illness forced him to absent himself from the Parish of Tracton for the final year of his appointment. Interred in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Cork.
(2) Rev. Patrick Coveney (?-21 March 1931) was indeed Fr. Leonard's successor in Tracton Abbey parish 1918-1931. Died 21 March, 1931 & Interred in the graveyard of the Sacred Heart Church, Minane Bridge. He was a nephew of Very Rev. Daniel Coveney, P.P., Enniskeane (1867-1877), a cousin of Fr. Daniel Coveney, C.C., Ovens (1895-1899), uncle of Very Rev. Daniel V. Coveney, P.P., Turners Cross (1965-1973 and grand-uncle of Most Rev. Archbishop Patrick Coveney, (1934- ) Apostolic Nuncio (rtd)
3. Aunt K
4. Aunt J.
5. "Brother" Rev Fr. Rahilly - Was the Superior-general of the Presentation Order in Cork who in May 1919 had been imprisoned on arrival in New York on charges of having 'criticised' the British Government while aboard a liner en-route to the United States. See news clipping of 25 May 1919 in relevant chapter here.
6. Fr. P.B. was Fr. Patrick Bowen Murphy, (1850-1929) an uncle of Lynch's - a former Fenian who took part in the Raid on Canada, later a U.S. military Chaplain and saw service in the Spanish American War. Parish Priest of Church of the Holy Rosary, South Boston. Died en-route to Ireland and interred in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Cork.
(7) Pat Canavan -
(2) Rev. Patrick Coveney (?-21 March 1931) was indeed Fr. Leonard's successor in Tracton Abbey parish 1918-1931. Died 21 March, 1931 & Interred in the graveyard of the Sacred Heart Church, Minane Bridge. He was a nephew of Very Rev. Daniel Coveney, P.P., Enniskeane (1867-1877), a cousin of Fr. Daniel Coveney, C.C., Ovens (1895-1899), uncle of Very Rev. Daniel V. Coveney, P.P., Turners Cross (1965-1973 and grand-uncle of Most Rev. Archbishop Patrick Coveney, (1934- ) Apostolic Nuncio (rtd)
3. Aunt K
4. Aunt J.
5. "Brother" Rev Fr. Rahilly - Was the Superior-general of the Presentation Order in Cork who in May 1919 had been imprisoned on arrival in New York on charges of having 'criticised' the British Government while aboard a liner en-route to the United States. See news clipping of 25 May 1919 in relevant chapter here.
6. Fr. P.B. was Fr. Patrick Bowen Murphy, (1850-1929) an uncle of Lynch's - a former Fenian who took part in the Raid on Canada, later a U.S. military Chaplain and saw service in the Spanish American War. Parish Priest of Church of the Holy Rosary, South Boston. Died en-route to Ireland and interred in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Cork.
(7) Pat Canavan -
Below - The Menace Newspaper editor & Secretary/Treasurer of the Free Press Defense League of Aurora Missouri on July 20th invites Sir Edward Carson to a conference in September 1919 to assist in 'exposing this Sinn Fein thing' :
21
In London, Lloyd George stated that he had tried to apply the principle of self-determination to Ireland but without success. This would continue until all Irishmen agreed among themselves and until then, he despaired of any settlement of the Irish question.
He tells the House Of Commons that Ireland was ‘not a nation’ and if nationalist Ireland was entitled to self-determination, the Protestant people of north-east Ulster had an equal right to it. T J S Harbison, the nationalist MP for north-east Tyrone, replied ‘that the coercion of Tyrone into what is called …Ulster will be the one of the most difficult propositions that any government has yet set before it’.
The Committee appointed by the Friends of Irish Freedom to investigate raising a loan through Bonds, reported their findings and recommendations. Judge Cohalan reported to De Valera that the Committee sugegsted raising funds through the sale of ‘Bond Certificates’ and so circumvent the ‘Blue Sky Laws’.
The Indictment by Judge Daniel Cohalan published by the Friends of Irish Freedom. (To view, click on illustration below)
Wingfoot Air Express crash: The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express catches fire over downtown Chicago. Two passengers, one aircrewman and ten people on the ground are killed. However, two people parachute to the ground safely.
22
Cork: The family homestead in Cork of a British officer responsible for the murder of at least three civilians in Dublin during Easter week 1916 was the scene of an attack by a party of young, masked men. Three drivers who were delivering milk to the creamery of Peggy Bowen-Colthurst were stopped on the road by a group of young men, some of them masked, who surrounded their milk-carts. Patrick Mahony, Timothy Ring and servant boy M. Fitzgibbon Jnr were gagged and bound and left by the roadside, while their milk churns were smashed. They were subsequently freed by people living in the area.
Peggy Bowen-Colthurst, the intended recipient of the milk, was the sister of Captain John Bowen-Colthurst, who was found guilty but insane on charges connected with the shooting of Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Thomas Dickson and Patrick McIntyre at Portobello Barracks in 1916. He was released from Broadmoor Asylum in 1918 and later settled in Canada.
Dublin: A number of noteworthy projects were revealed at the annual meeting of the Árd Comhairle of Sinn Féin which took place in Dublin’s Mansion House. A consular scheme was announced by Michael Collins MP, the Minister for Finance. Dáil Éireann has allocated £10,000 to be used to finance the service over the course of the next year. The meeting also heard that sums of money were earmarked for (a) the development of a national civil service scheme applying to the offices in the gift of the local authorities; (b) the carrying out of a scheme of afforestation; and (c) aiding and advising on the development of fisheries. The active cooperation and support of the local authorities is seen as essential to the implementation of these schemes, so the Sinn Féin organisation feels it necessary to exert all its efforts to secure that the personnel of the local boards will reflect the will and purpose of the people.
All of these projects would depend on the new Dáil Loan, the details of which were also explained by Collins at the meeting. The success of the loan fund in America has been all but assured, courtesy of the efforts of Éamon de Valera who was currently involved in an extensive fundraising mission in the United States with fellow Sinn Féin MP, Harry Boland. Now the ambition of the Dáil was to ensure that support for the loan will be equally enthusiastic in Ireland. Copies of a prospectus were distributed amongst delegates of the party, building on an instruction already issued to key Sinn Féín supporters for the purposes of advertising the loan scheme and raising money in every parish in the country.
The meeting of the Árd Comhairle also heard that there currently 1,822 Sinn Féin cumainn, 60% of which had been affiliated. Yesterday’s meeting was attended by delegates from 47 constituencies, as well as delegates from England and Scotland and several members of Dáil Éireann. Apologies were received from Fr Michael O’Flanagan for his absence, as well as from Hanna Sheehy Skeffington who wrote to say that she would be unable to resume her duties for some time owing to a wound to her head. A vote of sympathy was passed with her.
Cork: The family homestead in Cork of a British officer responsible for the murder of at least three civilians in Dublin during Easter week 1916 was the scene of an attack by a party of young, masked men. Three drivers who were delivering milk to the creamery of Peggy Bowen-Colthurst were stopped on the road by a group of young men, some of them masked, who surrounded their milk-carts. Patrick Mahony, Timothy Ring and servant boy M. Fitzgibbon Jnr were gagged and bound and left by the roadside, while their milk churns were smashed. They were subsequently freed by people living in the area.
Peggy Bowen-Colthurst, the intended recipient of the milk, was the sister of Captain John Bowen-Colthurst, who was found guilty but insane on charges connected with the shooting of Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Thomas Dickson and Patrick McIntyre at Portobello Barracks in 1916. He was released from Broadmoor Asylum in 1918 and later settled in Canada.
Dublin: A number of noteworthy projects were revealed at the annual meeting of the Árd Comhairle of Sinn Féin which took place in Dublin’s Mansion House. A consular scheme was announced by Michael Collins MP, the Minister for Finance. Dáil Éireann has allocated £10,000 to be used to finance the service over the course of the next year. The meeting also heard that sums of money were earmarked for (a) the development of a national civil service scheme applying to the offices in the gift of the local authorities; (b) the carrying out of a scheme of afforestation; and (c) aiding and advising on the development of fisheries. The active cooperation and support of the local authorities is seen as essential to the implementation of these schemes, so the Sinn Féin organisation feels it necessary to exert all its efforts to secure that the personnel of the local boards will reflect the will and purpose of the people.
All of these projects would depend on the new Dáil Loan, the details of which were also explained by Collins at the meeting. The success of the loan fund in America has been all but assured, courtesy of the efforts of Éamon de Valera who was currently involved in an extensive fundraising mission in the United States with fellow Sinn Féin MP, Harry Boland. Now the ambition of the Dáil was to ensure that support for the loan will be equally enthusiastic in Ireland. Copies of a prospectus were distributed amongst delegates of the party, building on an instruction already issued to key Sinn Féín supporters for the purposes of advertising the loan scheme and raising money in every parish in the country.
The meeting of the Árd Comhairle also heard that there currently 1,822 Sinn Féin cumainn, 60% of which had been affiliated. Yesterday’s meeting was attended by delegates from 47 constituencies, as well as delegates from England and Scotland and several members of Dáil Éireann. Apologies were received from Fr Michael O’Flanagan for his absence, as well as from Hanna Sheehy Skeffington who wrote to say that she would be unable to resume her duties for some time owing to a wound to her head. A vote of sympathy was passed with her.
24
The Times of London published a proposal for the settlement of the Irish question. The newspaper announced that the British government was to bring forward legislation setting up two parliaments in Ireland – one for the nine counties of Ulster and one for the rest of Ireland.
In a leading article the paper claimed that the Home Rule Act could not be enforced in its present form. Nor does it believe that partition offers any viable, long-term solution. Insisting that the responsibility for finding a solution rests with the British government, the Times scheme envisages the establishment of three assemblies in Ireland. It proposed a two-state legislature, one for the nine counties of Ulster, and one for the other three provinces. Both of these legislatures should be established by an Act that would replace the existing Home Rule Act. The two parliaments proposed would, under the Times scheme, have full powers of legislation in all matters affecting their respective states and would enjoy equal representation in a third parliament, covering the whole island.
According to the Times the retention of the nine counties of Ulster as a unit would provide it with a stability it wouldn’t possess if it were to consist of four or six counties with an overwhelming unionist majority. Unionists would still maintain a majority in Ulster but the presence of a strong nationalist minority would protect against abuse of their rights.
Reacting to the article, the Cork Examiner says the proposals are similar to the Australian system, although the Australians would never have accepted a situation where a quarter of the nation would have equal representation in the Commonwealth Parliament with the remaining three quarters. The Cork Examiner also noted that the Irish Convention discussed the idea of two separate legislatures but found a consensus of opinion in favour of having one legislature for the whole country. Critical of the proposals, the paper points to a recent example where safeguards can be provided for minorities that didn’t require ‘splitting up the territories interminably’. The example is the recent peace treaty concluded by the Allies with Austria. The Examiner also notes the reality of British administration in Ireland where the hand of militarism has been strengthened and neither the Prime Minister nor any member of his government has given even the ‘slightest indication that any acceptable scheme of self-government is in process of evolution’.
The paper’s complaints followed the previous week’s remarks, widely publicised in Ireland, by the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, in the course of a Westminster debate on the peace treaty where he declared that self-determination was not for Ireland. In a speech made on 21 July, the Lloyd George informed Joseph Devlin of the Irish Party that his government faced a major practical difficulty when it came to Ireland, which was that Ireland was not one, but two nations.
‘Mr Devlin may believe it is in his heart, but, whenever you try to settle the question, you discover Ireland is not a nation. The mere fact that it is one island is no proof that it is one nation. In religion, in temperament, in tradition, in outlook, in everything that constitutes the fundamental essentials of a nation, unfortunately, they differ.’
The Irish Independent has remarked that the Prime Minister’s speech read as if it had been written by leading Ulster unionist Sir Edward Carson.
London - The House of Lords has been told by Lord Mayo that before the government introduced an Irish housing bill, it should first have brought forward a bill dealing specifically with Dublin, as its slums were ‘a disgrace to the United Kingdom’.
In moving the bill the Lord Chancellor, F.E. Smith, explained that it was largely urban in its focus as the issue of rural housing in Ireland had been dealt with separately under the Labourer Acts, which had provided, he asserted, 50,000 houses with suitable plots. The Lord Chancellor acknowledged that the urban housing problem in Ireland was very serious and referenced the Irish Convention’s estimate that around 67,000 new working class houses were required. It was noted that this housing bill had the distinction of being welcomed in the House of Commons by both unionist and nationalist Irish MPs, a most unusual occurrence.
Supporting the bill, Lord Mayo agreed with the Lord Chancellor’s comments on the Dublin situation, adding: ‘The working classes and the poor in that town live in the most wretched way. They live in houses which were built for gentlefolk in the eighteenth century. They are totally unsuitable, and the sanitary arrangements are practically nil. It is a town which is a disgrace, and if the government do not see that it is properly dealt with will be a very serious matter. The people there live in a filthy state, and people who are badly housed are the prey of every sort of agitator, and of every kind of wickedness you can imagine connected with agitation.’ The committee stage for the bill was fixed for Thursday 31 July.
New York: Judge Cohalan attempted to secure an address before the US Congress by De Valera. Following initial discussions with Senator Borah, the project was approved. However, De Valera insisted that first there should be unanimous support by the Senate Democrats for his speaking on the Irish cause. Cohalan knowing the majority of Democrats would not do so, plus Wilson would be strongly opposed to the Irish President addressing any of the houses, he sugegsted that Borah alone should handle the matter. De Valera then refused to work through Senator Borah, so Judge Cohalan, De Valera and Harry Boland met with Senators Phelan and Borah to resolve difficulties. Phelan advised he would have to consult with his Democratic colleagues in the Senate with the result that the request was denied. De Valera seemed to be unable to comprehend that Senators were unwilling to promote a cause which did not have Presidential approval.
The Times of London published a proposal for the settlement of the Irish question. The newspaper announced that the British government was to bring forward legislation setting up two parliaments in Ireland – one for the nine counties of Ulster and one for the rest of Ireland.
In a leading article the paper claimed that the Home Rule Act could not be enforced in its present form. Nor does it believe that partition offers any viable, long-term solution. Insisting that the responsibility for finding a solution rests with the British government, the Times scheme envisages the establishment of three assemblies in Ireland. It proposed a two-state legislature, one for the nine counties of Ulster, and one for the other three provinces. Both of these legislatures should be established by an Act that would replace the existing Home Rule Act. The two parliaments proposed would, under the Times scheme, have full powers of legislation in all matters affecting their respective states and would enjoy equal representation in a third parliament, covering the whole island.
According to the Times the retention of the nine counties of Ulster as a unit would provide it with a stability it wouldn’t possess if it were to consist of four or six counties with an overwhelming unionist majority. Unionists would still maintain a majority in Ulster but the presence of a strong nationalist minority would protect against abuse of their rights.
Reacting to the article, the Cork Examiner says the proposals are similar to the Australian system, although the Australians would never have accepted a situation where a quarter of the nation would have equal representation in the Commonwealth Parliament with the remaining three quarters. The Cork Examiner also noted that the Irish Convention discussed the idea of two separate legislatures but found a consensus of opinion in favour of having one legislature for the whole country. Critical of the proposals, the paper points to a recent example where safeguards can be provided for minorities that didn’t require ‘splitting up the territories interminably’. The example is the recent peace treaty concluded by the Allies with Austria. The Examiner also notes the reality of British administration in Ireland where the hand of militarism has been strengthened and neither the Prime Minister nor any member of his government has given even the ‘slightest indication that any acceptable scheme of self-government is in process of evolution’.
The paper’s complaints followed the previous week’s remarks, widely publicised in Ireland, by the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, in the course of a Westminster debate on the peace treaty where he declared that self-determination was not for Ireland. In a speech made on 21 July, the Lloyd George informed Joseph Devlin of the Irish Party that his government faced a major practical difficulty when it came to Ireland, which was that Ireland was not one, but two nations.
‘Mr Devlin may believe it is in his heart, but, whenever you try to settle the question, you discover Ireland is not a nation. The mere fact that it is one island is no proof that it is one nation. In religion, in temperament, in tradition, in outlook, in everything that constitutes the fundamental essentials of a nation, unfortunately, they differ.’
The Irish Independent has remarked that the Prime Minister’s speech read as if it had been written by leading Ulster unionist Sir Edward Carson.
London - The House of Lords has been told by Lord Mayo that before the government introduced an Irish housing bill, it should first have brought forward a bill dealing specifically with Dublin, as its slums were ‘a disgrace to the United Kingdom’.
In moving the bill the Lord Chancellor, F.E. Smith, explained that it was largely urban in its focus as the issue of rural housing in Ireland had been dealt with separately under the Labourer Acts, which had provided, he asserted, 50,000 houses with suitable plots. The Lord Chancellor acknowledged that the urban housing problem in Ireland was very serious and referenced the Irish Convention’s estimate that around 67,000 new working class houses were required. It was noted that this housing bill had the distinction of being welcomed in the House of Commons by both unionist and nationalist Irish MPs, a most unusual occurrence.
Supporting the bill, Lord Mayo agreed with the Lord Chancellor’s comments on the Dublin situation, adding: ‘The working classes and the poor in that town live in the most wretched way. They live in houses which were built for gentlefolk in the eighteenth century. They are totally unsuitable, and the sanitary arrangements are practically nil. It is a town which is a disgrace, and if the government do not see that it is properly dealt with will be a very serious matter. The people there live in a filthy state, and people who are badly housed are the prey of every sort of agitator, and of every kind of wickedness you can imagine connected with agitation.’ The committee stage for the bill was fixed for Thursday 31 July.
New York: Judge Cohalan attempted to secure an address before the US Congress by De Valera. Following initial discussions with Senator Borah, the project was approved. However, De Valera insisted that first there should be unanimous support by the Senate Democrats for his speaking on the Irish cause. Cohalan knowing the majority of Democrats would not do so, plus Wilson would be strongly opposed to the Irish President addressing any of the houses, he sugegsted that Borah alone should handle the matter. De Valera then refused to work through Senator Borah, so Judge Cohalan, De Valera and Harry Boland met with Senators Phelan and Borah to resolve difficulties. Phelan advised he would have to consult with his Democratic colleagues in the Senate with the result that the request was denied. De Valera seemed to be unable to comprehend that Senators were unwilling to promote a cause which did not have Presidential approval.
25
$10,000 from the Irish Victory Fund sent to Sean T. O'Kelly in Paris.
The Irish National Bureau continued with an attack on American involvement with the League of Nations:
‘America is being asked to forget its traditions and Constitution and to accept without reservations a world-agreement which Secretary Lansing admits has its ‘weakness, both of omission and commission, provisions inserted, which might better have been left out, and provisions left out which might better have been inserted.’
By this peace treaty and League Covenant, Americans…do incur enormous potential obligations of money and soldiers. Yet from this peace pact, Englishmen…emerge with –
- British domination of the seas more fully secured.
- An addition of 1,247,000 square miles of new territory.
- A new British protectorate in Arabia, an area of over 1,000,000 square miles.
- League Covenant drawn up by one of the reactionary Cecil family, which is designed to confirm the tenure of British supremacy – on the seas, in territorial holdings and in the world game of diplomacy.
- Dominating control of this League, by 5 votes to America’s one – and by appointment of a British Secretary. This last control is second only in value to the new and vastly rich territory aquired by England. ‘
The article goes on to warn that Japan ‘which is a compound of Britain and Germany’ secured Shantung in China and it’s coal and iron deposits ‘which will make Japan independent of the world in any program of armament and shipbuilding she cares to undertake’ and reminds its readers that US labour leaders claimed to have proof that the American Steel industry was planning to move to Shantung ‘where cheap labour is available in enormous quantities’
Readers were also reminded that France was helped by the US ‘because France has suffered and France helped us in our Revolution’ and asks ‘why not equal solicitude for Ireland?’
July 25th, the de Valera roadshow reached Montana and Butte City. Governor W. W. McDowell met his train and rode with De Valera through the streets to a city square where De Valera addressed over 10,000 people who had come out to hear him. “Irishmen want their country. It is rightfully and lawfully theirs. It is their home. The English power in that home is an intrusion and usurpation which Irishmen want to get rid of. England has no claim, no right whatever to Ireland. Irishmen want their country and they want freedom.”
As popular as de Valera was, Butte’s favorite Irish son was the parish priest at St. Mary’s Church, Father Michael Hannan, a native of County Limerick. The Irish priest was largely responsible for bringing many of the Irish to Butte. More often than not, he would be the first to greet them at the train station, holding a sign that read “Welcome to Butte and St. Mary’s Parish.” Following the Easter Rising, Father Hannan wrote a book titled “Irish Leaders of 1916 — Who Were They?” to honour the men who were executed. He also headed up committees and fund drives, all for the Irish cause. The longtime St. Mary’s pastor died in 1928 and asked that his remains be returned to his homeland. J.B. Mulcahy, editor and publisher of Butte’s Irish newspaper, The Butte Independent, described Father Hannan as “a man whose very soul was immersed in the ideals, the legends and the mystic story of the Gael, he loved Ireland with a devotion and an intensity that amounted almost to a self-consuming flame.”
"If a plebiscite of the United States were taken today on Irish Independence, Ireland would be free in the morning."
Lieut. Governor McDowell of Montana in the Butte Daily Post.
The Irish Bureau Newsletter reported on De Valera's arrival and welcome to Butte:
“The State of Montana, through its Governor, welcomed President de Valera to the State. The Legislature invited him to address a joint session of that body and accorded the President of Ireland a measure of endorsement that indicated what Montana actually thinks of the proposed League of Nations.
Mayor Stodden of Butte, an English-American (always identified with English societies), welcomed President de Valera to Butte, and said that while he had not a drop of Irish blood in his veins, he had been a sympathiser with Ireland's claim for freedom since he was eighteen. He assured his audience that hundreds of thousands in England, as well as the United States, favoured freedom for Ireland.
"THE MINER," a leading paper of Montana, gave two pages with seven-column headlines to the report of the demonstration in honor of President de Valera: "BUTTE EN MASSE GREETS IRISH CHAMPION. WELCOME EXTENDED PROVISIONAL PRESIDENT ONE THAT WOULD WARM HEART OF DANIEL O'CONNELL." Assuredly, when the State of Montana, through its citizens, gave to President de Valera the reception which the Montana papers fully reported, the Senate should realize that Lieut. Governor MacDowell's words and the sentiments of, Mayor Stodden are the correct expression of the views of the people of Montana.
Irish National Bureau Newsletter No 6. August 22, 1919. Washington DC. Lynch Family Archives.
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27
Dublin: The return of the Horse Show drew a huge number of spectators to the RDS showgrounds in Dublin.
A correspondent for the Irish Times described it as the most important event that has taken place in Ireland since the Horse Show was last held at the Ballsbridge venue six years ago. Following the disruption, strain and sadness of the war years, it was necessary to get the ‘social ball once more in motion’ and the resumption of the Horse Show provides, she states, a ‘necessary fillip’ and an ‘antidote to the listlessness which, curiously enough, has become more pronounced since the coming of peace’. For the entirety of the war period, the showgrounds were used by the military, its jumping enclosure and rings ploughed up by the authorities to allow for the growing of oats as fodder for up to 70,000 horses that passed through the grounds during these years. Despite all this, the facilities at the RDS were in excellent condition and in many places, there have been notable improvements made. Officials, exhibitors, grooms and attendants who have visited for this year’s Horse Show have expressed delight at the standard of the premises for the return of what many hold to be the ‘greatest show in the world’. A total of 970 horses participated in this year’s event and although the number of exhibits in the thoroughbred classes was down by about 50% since 1913, this, the Irish Times points out, need not be taken too seriously. It was inevitable that ‘many small breeders’ would ‘go under’ once their principal market in England was closed. Their disappearance, the paper continues, is ‘regrettable, but it does not constitute a fatal blow to the industry’s prosperity’; such breeders as have survived are now believed to be in a ‘stronger position than at any other period’.
Though a strong supporter of Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations , George Creel was also a supporter of Irish Freedom, though dismisisve of the Irish American leadership in general and such organisations as the Friends of Irish Freedom and Clan na Gael. His book, a collection of nationalist articles ‘Ireland’s fight for freedom* – setting forth the highlights of Irish history’ began serialisation in the New York Sunday American and immediately won him the confirmed enmity of both the Gaelic American and Leslie’s Weekly. Some considered Creel’s book quite important to the Irish movement and the ‘inability of Clan Leaders to recognise the importance of Creel’s book…was of some despair to Frank P. Walsh.’
American Opinion and the Irish Question 1910-23’ Francis M Carroll. Gill & McMillan 1978. P260n.
While Creel was equally unpopular with readers of the anti-Catholic weekly paper 'The Menace' as the Friends of Irish Freedom and Clan na Gael, he was popular enough to be guest speaker at a number of meetings of the Irish Progressive League throughout the US.
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The shooting of Det. Sgt. Smith (or Smyth) (48) of the G-Division, Dublin Metropolitan Police was the first attack carried out by the newly formed Squad. Those who took part were Jim Slattery, Tom Keogh, Tom Ennis and Paddy Kennedy from Intelligence who acted as spotter. They opened fire on Smith when he was returning from work, alighting from a tram at Drumcondra Bridge around 11pm - he fled towards his house on Millmount Avenue and collapsed just yards from his front door having been hit by five bullets. Smith received five bullet wounds, most of the wounds were to the back of his body and some received when he turned to face his attacker. Four of his children who were inside managed to drag him into the house and bolt the door. Unarmed on the night of the attack and lived for two months before dying of his wounds in the Mater Hospital on 8 September.
In the analysis after the attack Collins was appalled that the G-Man had survived five bullet wounds - and quickly had the .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolvers issued to the Squad replaced by .45 caliber weapons and Squad tactics were evolved for future operations. Henceforth one gunman would approach the target from the rear and fell him with a number of shots to the body while a second man would approach from the opposite direction and deliver a shot to the head while the victim was on the ground. The .38 Smith & Wessons were now dispatched to the IRA in Wexford... to be used for attacking police stations.
Smyth had many warnings to back off from his G-Division duties. Collins and Harry Boland had earlier in the year warned Smyth not to produce some incriminating documents in court, documents he had found on Piaras Beaslai after he'd arrested him for making a seditious speech. " I'm not letting any young scuts tell me how to do my duty" he said. Smyth went ahead and produced the docs in court....as a result Beaslai got two years instead of two months and Smyth was assassinated.
By the end of July, warrants had been issued for the arrest of many of the Ministers and Deputies of Dail Eireann and major administrative problems were evident throughout the country......’British civil administration had indeed broken down in nearly every part of the country. ‘The British Administration could no longer succeed in governing Ireland’, M. Goblet writes of this period; ‘it could only prevent her governing herself’.
Macardle. ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press 1957. p301
Germany declared a Republic at Weimar. Parliament is to retain the name Reichstag, election will be by proportional representation, and women have the vote for the first time.
Lord Beaverbrook, the former wartime British Director of Propaganda in the USA and owner of the Daily Express began to call for the sending of an Ulster Unionist/Protestant delegation to the US to rouse American Protestant feeling against the Irish Nationalistic effort and “to combat the teachings of de Valera “
He wrote ‘ The Methodist Church…regards a politico-religious crusade preached by the Irish with small favour, but it might take no practical action on the other side unless its interest was suddenly roused. Then it would act and it would crush the American Sinn Feiners as a cartwheel crushes a toad.’
The Ulster Unionist Council sponsored delegation sailed for the US in November.
Washington D.C. Senator Lodge conducts public hearings on the Treaty of Versailles and proposed League of Nations; calls 60 witnesses
De Valera addresses Montana State Legislature at Helena
As a revolutionary wave swept Europe in 1919, mass strikes by British coal miners against the mine owners, government and the miners’ own national and regional union officials rather than negotiation to achieve demands became known as 'Direct Action' In this cartoon from Punch (30 July 1919), Lloyd George faced with issues such as the Irish Question, the Sankey* Reports and profiteering takes a hint from a 'Direct Action' march.
* The Sankey Report (June 1919) examined the future of the mining industry and miner;s conditions resulted in a number of options ranging from private ownership to full nationalisation.
* The Sankey Report (June 1919) examined the future of the mining industry and miner;s conditions resulted in a number of options ranging from private ownership to full nationalisation.
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Chicago: The Chicago race riot of 1919 was a violent racial conflict provoked by ethnic white Americans against black Americans that began on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois on July 27, and ended on August 3, 1919. During the riot, thirty-eight people died (23 black and 15 white). Over the week, injuries attributed to the episodic confrontations stood at 537, with two-thirds of the injured being black and one-third white, while the approximately 1,000 to 2,000 who lost their homes were mostly black. It is considered the worst of the nearly 25 riots in the United States during the "Red Summer" of 1919, so named because of the racial and labour related violence and fatalities across the nation.
In early 1919, the sociopolitical atmosphere of Chicago around and near its rapidly growing black community was one of ethnic tension caused by competition among new groups, an economic slump, and the social changes engendered by World War I. With the Great Migration, thousands of African Americans from the American South had settled next to neighborhoods of European immigrants on Chicago's South Side, near jobs in the stockyards, meatpacking plants, and industry. Meanwhile, the Irish had been established earlier, and fiercely defended their territory and political power against all newcomers. Post-World War I tensions caused inter-community frictions, especially in the competitive labor and housing markets. Overcrowding and increased African American resistance against racism, especially by war veterans contributed to the visible racial frictions. Also, a combination of ethnic gangs and police neglect strained the racial relationships.
The turmoil came to a boil during a summer heat wave with the death of Eugene Williams, an African-American youth who had accidentally drifted into a swimming area at an informally segregated beach near 29th Street. Tensions between groups arose in a melee that blew up into days of unrest. Black neighbours near white areas were attacked, white gangs went into black neighborhoods, and black workers seeking to get to and from employment were attacked. Meanwhile some blacks organized to resist and protect, and some whites sought to lend aid to blacks, while the police department often turned a blind eye or worse. William Hale Thompson was the Mayor of Chicago during the riot, and a game of brinksmanship with Illinois Governor Frank Lowden may have exacerbated the riot since Thompson refused to ask Lowden to send in the Illinois National Guard for four days, despite Lowden having ensured that the guardsmen were called up, organized in Chicago's armories and made ready to intervene.
An interracial official city commission was convened to investigate causes, and issued a report that urged an end to prejudice and discrimination. United States President Woodrow Wilson and the United States Congress attempted to promote legislation and organizations to decrease racial discord in America. Governor Lowden took several actions at Thompson's request to quell the riot and promote greater harmony in its aftermath. Sections of the Chicago economy were shut down for several days during and after the riots, since plants were closed to avoid interaction among bickering groups. Mayor Thompson drew on his association with this riot to influence later political elections. Even so, one of the more lasting effects may have been decisions in both white and black communities to seek greater separation from each other.
Below: 'Lightning' (1919) by Georgia O'Keeffe. Oil on canvas. Location Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania
Chicago: The Chicago race riot of 1919 was a violent racial conflict provoked by ethnic white Americans against black Americans that began on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois on July 27, and ended on August 3, 1919. During the riot, thirty-eight people died (23 black and 15 white). Over the week, injuries attributed to the episodic confrontations stood at 537, with two-thirds of the injured being black and one-third white, while the approximately 1,000 to 2,000 who lost their homes were mostly black. It is considered the worst of the nearly 25 riots in the United States during the "Red Summer" of 1919, so named because of the racial and labour related violence and fatalities across the nation.
In early 1919, the sociopolitical atmosphere of Chicago around and near its rapidly growing black community was one of ethnic tension caused by competition among new groups, an economic slump, and the social changes engendered by World War I. With the Great Migration, thousands of African Americans from the American South had settled next to neighborhoods of European immigrants on Chicago's South Side, near jobs in the stockyards, meatpacking plants, and industry. Meanwhile, the Irish had been established earlier, and fiercely defended their territory and political power against all newcomers. Post-World War I tensions caused inter-community frictions, especially in the competitive labor and housing markets. Overcrowding and increased African American resistance against racism, especially by war veterans contributed to the visible racial frictions. Also, a combination of ethnic gangs and police neglect strained the racial relationships.
The turmoil came to a boil during a summer heat wave with the death of Eugene Williams, an African-American youth who had accidentally drifted into a swimming area at an informally segregated beach near 29th Street. Tensions between groups arose in a melee that blew up into days of unrest. Black neighbours near white areas were attacked, white gangs went into black neighborhoods, and black workers seeking to get to and from employment were attacked. Meanwhile some blacks organized to resist and protect, and some whites sought to lend aid to blacks, while the police department often turned a blind eye or worse. William Hale Thompson was the Mayor of Chicago during the riot, and a game of brinksmanship with Illinois Governor Frank Lowden may have exacerbated the riot since Thompson refused to ask Lowden to send in the Illinois National Guard for four days, despite Lowden having ensured that the guardsmen were called up, organized in Chicago's armories and made ready to intervene.
An interracial official city commission was convened to investigate causes, and issued a report that urged an end to prejudice and discrimination. United States President Woodrow Wilson and the United States Congress attempted to promote legislation and organizations to decrease racial discord in America. Governor Lowden took several actions at Thompson's request to quell the riot and promote greater harmony in its aftermath. Sections of the Chicago economy were shut down for several days during and after the riots, since plants were closed to avoid interaction among bickering groups. Mayor Thompson drew on his association with this riot to influence later political elections. Even so, one of the more lasting effects may have been decisions in both white and black communities to seek greater separation from each other.
Below: 'Lightning' (1919) by Georgia O'Keeffe. Oil on canvas. Location Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania
1
Diarmuid Lynch commented that in August 1919 Michael Collins said he (Lynch) ‘with regard to work then afoot in Ireland, …made direct reference to the fact that I was ‘not available by reason of enemy action’
Application for Military Service Pension Certificate ( Diarmuid Lynch) - Department of Defence Files. Lynch Archives. Sept.28 1935
Issue # 4 of the News Letter of the Irish National Bureau commented on the tax revenue gathered in Ireland
‘ in 1918 England collected in Ireland over $150 million…3/5th of it were expended by England for Imperial purposes, unaccounted for in Ireland. 2/5th ( $62 million ) were spent in Ireland for British Administration there..this is practically enough to finance the normal governmental business of five small nations – Serbia ( $26.5m ), Bulgaria ( $35m ), Greece ( $27m ), Switzerland ($35m) and Norway ($36m)… the net result of this expenditure of $62m in Ireland is a country with the worst transportation in Western Europe, no merchant fleet, disabled industries, a broken down system of education, the largest armed constabulary force in Europe and extravagantly paid British officials hostile to the Irish nation..’
Irish National Bureau Newsletter No 4. August 1, 1919. Washington DC. Lynch Family Archives.
America: The De Valera road show continued. His presence during the early stages coincided with that of the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII also on tour of the US.
“ When President de Valera was in Salt Lake City he received a visit from Simon Bamberger, Governor of the State, who is quoted in the Salt Lake papers as saying: "The people of Utah sympathize with the Irish and hope they will achieve their independence."
Newspaper correspondents who accompanied President de Valera from New York to San Francisco and return estimated he addressed fully 500,000 people in the various cities and towns visited. The people of America are - by their attendance at meetings, expressions of sentiments, passage of resolutions, welcome by State and municipal officials, addresses before legislative bodies, messages sent to their Senators, and by scores of other honorable means - speaking for the American nation. Wherever President de Valera goes the welcome given him rivals any ever accorded to Presidents of our own nation, and in many instances is more forceful in strength of numbers and expressions by leaders of the people.
Is there not behind these extraordinary meetings, and spontaneous demonstrations of support for Ireland's cause, a nation's (America's) voice respectfully encouraging the Senate to do justice to one small nation that the Peace Treaty guarantees shall remain in submission to England? May the Irish National Bureau recommend to all Senators that for a period of one month they subscribe to the clipping service of any large national clipping agency, and thereby obtain a disinterested compilation of editorials, reports of resolutions, meetings; etc., pertaining to Ireland, to President de Valera, Section 10 of the Treaty, and opposition to the League Covenant? It is not an expensive method of getting the "nation's pulse," and it is a fair test of actual conditions, and the views of the people of America.
Irish National Bureau Newsletter No 7. August 22, 1919. Washington DC. Lynch Family Archives.
Current Opinion commented that de Valera had ‘made himself an interesting world figure, whose passionate pleas and plitical adroitness have in a few weeks turned a joke into a topic of serious discussion on both sides of the Atlantic’
Arthur Mitchell. ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ p.115
In Dublin , a meeting was held between the leadership of the Irish Volunteers, the Citizen Army and Dail Executive, where the military groups agreed, for the time being at any rate, to be guided by the Dail. However they remained ready for immediate action.
2
The Friends of Irish Freedom receive an offer of an Irish jaunting car for 'use in your processions and for the purpose of escorting important officials and visitors..." followed by Lynch's reply.
The Friends of Irish Freedom receive an offer of an Irish jaunting car for 'use in your processions and for the purpose of escorting important officials and visitors..." followed by Lynch's reply.
3
Dublin: Relations between the public and police in Ireland continue to sour, and the breakdown of law and order was becoming increasingly apparent with each passing day.
In Broadford, Co. Clare, gunfire was exchanged when police scrambled to protect their barracks from attack by a party of about 30 masked men, some armed with rifles and revolvers. The attack lasted over an hour, with Sergeant Crowley and four constables defending the barracks as bullets hit the building’s door and windows. Sergeant Crowley’s wife assisted the police by keeping them supplied with bullets throughout the attack. Their combined efforts were lauded by the Inspector General of the RIC, Sir John Byrne, as ‘magnificent’ in the face of such unpromising odds.
Aside from violence, another republican tactic to demoralise the police and the army in Ireland emerged. During the court-martial of William McNally from Longford, the accused was reported to have been found in possession of a statement issued by Sinn Féin headquarters at 6 Harcourt Street in Dublin. This statement was signed by senior party figures Hanna Sheehy Skeffington and Tom Kelly, and urged, in keeping with a Dáil Éireann decree of 10 April 1919, that all English forces in Ireland be ‘ostracised socially by the people of Ireland’.
Members of all Sinn Féin branches were instructed to:
- Avoid all interactions with such persons, unless purely business matters made it absolutely necessary
- Do not salute them or reply to their salutations
- Do not take part in any social entertainment where they are expected to be present as guests
- Leave any social entertainments immediately, such as dances etc, where they were allowed to attend
- Avoid all places where they are known to visit, in particular public houses they were known to frequent
The Sinn Féin policy was to apply to all members of the RIC and DMP – officers and men (‘peelers’), as well as detectives and spies (‘g-men’).
Dublin: Relations between the public and police in Ireland continue to sour, and the breakdown of law and order was becoming increasingly apparent with each passing day.
In Broadford, Co. Clare, gunfire was exchanged when police scrambled to protect their barracks from attack by a party of about 30 masked men, some armed with rifles and revolvers. The attack lasted over an hour, with Sergeant Crowley and four constables defending the barracks as bullets hit the building’s door and windows. Sergeant Crowley’s wife assisted the police by keeping them supplied with bullets throughout the attack. Their combined efforts were lauded by the Inspector General of the RIC, Sir John Byrne, as ‘magnificent’ in the face of such unpromising odds.
Aside from violence, another republican tactic to demoralise the police and the army in Ireland emerged. During the court-martial of William McNally from Longford, the accused was reported to have been found in possession of a statement issued by Sinn Féin headquarters at 6 Harcourt Street in Dublin. This statement was signed by senior party figures Hanna Sheehy Skeffington and Tom Kelly, and urged, in keeping with a Dáil Éireann decree of 10 April 1919, that all English forces in Ireland be ‘ostracised socially by the people of Ireland’.
Members of all Sinn Féin branches were instructed to:
- Avoid all interactions with such persons, unless purely business matters made it absolutely necessary
- Do not salute them or reply to their salutations
- Do not take part in any social entertainment where they are expected to be present as guests
- Leave any social entertainments immediately, such as dances etc, where they were allowed to attend
- Avoid all places where they are known to visit, in particular public houses they were known to frequent
The Sinn Féin policy was to apply to all members of the RIC and DMP – officers and men (‘peelers’), as well as detectives and spies (‘g-men’).
4
Constables John Riordan and Michael Murphy were ambushed & shot dead by the IRA near Ennistymon, Co. Clare.
Budapest: Hungary’s first experiment with communist rule ended with the overthrow of the Béla Kun-led government in Budapest. The Hungarian Soviet Republic now become the Hungarian Republic, led by moderate socialists headed by new Prime Minister Gyula Peidl. The transfer of power occurred following a sitting of the governing council which had been convened by Béla Kun (1886-1938) himself, at which he provided a bleak assessment of the country’s political and military situation. At that meeting, the Deputy Commissary of the Interior delivered a lenghty speech in which he stated that the Soviet system established in March 1919 had been dependant on three factors – a world revolution; Russian military aid; and the readiness of the Hungarian proletariat to bear sacrifices. None of these scenarios had materialised. Béla Kun offered the view that the Soviet had fallen because there were many among the proletariat who didn’t understand socialism. Kun added that he didn’t hold high hopes for the new government. ‘We hand over the power to them in order to avoid the entrance of the enemy. In my opinion a white terror will come sooner or later. Then the proletarians will see what socialism means.’
Reacting to events in Budapest, the allies expressed satisfaction that a stable government had been established in Hungary, adding that they expected the immediate demobilisation of the Hungarian army and respect for the frontiers established by the Paris Peace Conference. Following the fall of the Hungarian revolution, Kun emigrated to the Soviet Union, where he worked as a functionary in the Communist International bureaucracy as the head of the Crimean Revolutionary Committee from 1920. He was an organizer and an active participant of the Red Terror in Crimea (1920–1921), following which he participated in the March Action (1921), a failed socialist uprising in Germany. During the Great Purge of the late 1930s, Kun was arrested, interrogated, tried, and executed in quick succession. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1956, following the death of Joseph Stalin and the critical reassessment of Stalinism
By July 1919, the London Times under Northcliffe was taking a remarkably difference approach to Ireland in comparison with other leading newspapers.
The Times had adopted a generally sympathetic examination of the realities of the complex Irish situation and even to the extent of putting forward it's own suggestions on how 'the Irish problem' could be resolved. Such proposals were the first moved by a non-political party and not surprisingly, received little support. The Constitutional Nationalists, or rather what was left of the once powerful political Irish Parliamentary Party had by now accepted that such any such proposals (either from the Government or the well meaning London Times) were largely ineffectual and had little advantage since Sinn Fein (and aided by the government's policy) had destroyed constitutionalism.
The Times had adopted a generally sympathetic examination of the realities of the complex Irish situation and even to the extent of putting forward it's own suggestions on how 'the Irish problem' could be resolved. Such proposals were the first moved by a non-political party and not surprisingly, received little support. The Constitutional Nationalists, or rather what was left of the once powerful political Irish Parliamentary Party had by now accepted that such any such proposals (either from the Government or the well meaning London Times) were largely ineffectual and had little advantage since Sinn Fein (and aided by the government's policy) had destroyed constitutionalism.
6
Cork: The Gaelic League unamiously elected a new president. John J. O’Kelly, also known as Sceilg.
Sceilg replaced Eoin MacNeill who served a two-year term as president. MacNeill was not in attendance at the event nor was Seán T. O’Kelly, who was given a further three months leave of absence owing to his ongoing duties at the Peace Conference in Paris.
The Gaelic League’s Oireachtas was opened in the City Hall, Cork by Liam de Róiste MP. In his opening remarks, de Róiste welcomed delegates to Cork and spoke of his hopes that the hosting of the Oireachtas in the city would result in the ‘complete victory over the English language’ there. Having referenced the events of Easter week 1916, Mr de Róiste remarked that the Gaels were back in Cork city again, that the children of Cork spoke Irish; that the young people knew the history of Ireland and understood that that ‘not alone would Ireland be free, but it would be Gaelic as well’.
A concert held after the opening ceremony provided a showcase for Irish songs, dances, recitations and more, while a hurling match between Cork and Kilkenny attracted a huge attendance, including the Most Rev. Dr Daniel Cohalan, Bishop of Cork, who threw in the ball. The game was preceded by a long puck competition in which Joe O’Driscoll from Mallow claimed first prize with 93 yards. As well as providing social opportunities for sport and entertainment, the Oireachtas was an occasion for taking stock of the progress of the Irish language. Since in year since the previous Ard Fheis, 135 new branches of the Gaelic League have been established with 65 ‘dead’ branches revived. A report delivered by Stephen Barrett, treasurer of the organisation and acting secretary in the absence of Seán T. O’Kelly, noted that the official use of Irish by Dáil Éireann had been a great help to the movement and had led to an increased number of people taking up the study of the language. Mr Barrett added that the proclaiming of feiseanna by the English authorities had also been advantageous with two or three feiseanna now being held where only one might previously have taken place. He also noted the success of the Fáinne in encouraging Irish usage.
Denver, Colorado: The Denver Jewish Times reports on the sum of $5,000 donated to the Irish Victory Fund by Samuel Untermyer. This resulted in a high level of publicity in the Fund and the Irish Cause. (see July 19 letter from Lynch to Cohalan)
Cork: The Gaelic League unamiously elected a new president. John J. O’Kelly, also known as Sceilg.
Sceilg replaced Eoin MacNeill who served a two-year term as president. MacNeill was not in attendance at the event nor was Seán T. O’Kelly, who was given a further three months leave of absence owing to his ongoing duties at the Peace Conference in Paris.
The Gaelic League’s Oireachtas was opened in the City Hall, Cork by Liam de Róiste MP. In his opening remarks, de Róiste welcomed delegates to Cork and spoke of his hopes that the hosting of the Oireachtas in the city would result in the ‘complete victory over the English language’ there. Having referenced the events of Easter week 1916, Mr de Róiste remarked that the Gaels were back in Cork city again, that the children of Cork spoke Irish; that the young people knew the history of Ireland and understood that that ‘not alone would Ireland be free, but it would be Gaelic as well’.
A concert held after the opening ceremony provided a showcase for Irish songs, dances, recitations and more, while a hurling match between Cork and Kilkenny attracted a huge attendance, including the Most Rev. Dr Daniel Cohalan, Bishop of Cork, who threw in the ball. The game was preceded by a long puck competition in which Joe O’Driscoll from Mallow claimed first prize with 93 yards. As well as providing social opportunities for sport and entertainment, the Oireachtas was an occasion for taking stock of the progress of the Irish language. Since in year since the previous Ard Fheis, 135 new branches of the Gaelic League have been established with 65 ‘dead’ branches revived. A report delivered by Stephen Barrett, treasurer of the organisation and acting secretary in the absence of Seán T. O’Kelly, noted that the official use of Irish by Dáil Éireann had been a great help to the movement and had led to an increased number of people taking up the study of the language. Mr Barrett added that the proclaiming of feiseanna by the English authorities had also been advantageous with two or three feiseanna now being held where only one might previously have taken place. He also noted the success of the Fáinne in encouraging Irish usage.
Denver, Colorado: The Denver Jewish Times reports on the sum of $5,000 donated to the Irish Victory Fund by Samuel Untermyer. This resulted in a high level of publicity in the Fund and the Irish Cause. (see July 19 letter from Lynch to Cohalan)
7
Chief Secretary Macpherson introduces a Bill in Westminster to improve the pay and conditions of the RIC. This Bill is passed on November 30th and leads to an increase in recruitment to the RIC.
Chief Secretary Macpherson introduces a Bill in Westminster to improve the pay and conditions of the RIC. This Bill is passed on November 30th and leads to an increase in recruitment to the RIC.
New York: The Irish Victory Fund appeal which had started in February at the Irish Race Convention within six months had raised just over $1,005,080, an impressive tally earmarked for political agitation in the United States and Ireland as well as donations to needy causes in Ireland. However, de Valera requested that the fund be closed down by August 31 before his tour through the United States began and to clear the way for the new initiative of the Dail Bonds. A Friends of Irish Freedom special committee was appointed to negotiate the process and "after consultation with President de Valera submitted the result of their deliberations to the meeting of the National Council" of the Friends as recorded in the minutes of August 7, 1919: "on motion duly seconded the Council unanimously decided the Irish Victory Fund should be closed by August 31st and all matters in connection therewith should be cleared up by September 1st. "
This brief and bland entry partly hid the increasing turmoil within the organisation. The Victory Fund had helped unite a largely disparate Irish-America and of the over $1 million raised, this was financing de Valera's headquarters at the Waldorf Astoria, his expenses and travel through the United States as well as financing political advertising, lobbying, donations to Ireland and the costs of the Irish delegation at the Paris Peace Conference. (To keep this in perspective, the Irish Victory Fund is over $15.5 million a century on.)
8
Drogheda: Approximately 230 delegates from all parts of the island attended the 25th annual meeting of the Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress (ILP&TUC), at Whitworth Hall in Drogheda.
In his opening address, Thomas Cassidy, President of the ILP&TUC, reflected upon what he said was a momentous year for the Irish labour movement, most notably the success of the general strike of April 1918, when ‘in spite of threats, in spite of the imprisonment of the recognised leaders of the vast majority of the people of the country without charge being preferred against them... in spite of all, the people remained steadfast to… resist by every means the imposition of compulsory military service.’ He asked that no attempt be made to make party political capital out of the anti-conscription campaign and lamented the failure to maintain that ‘unity of purpose’ that existed when the ‘shadow of conscription of hung over our land’.
He defended the decision of the Irish labour party to stand aside in the general election. Such was the strength of the desire for self-determination that Cassidy believed the time was not opportune last December for Labour to contest the Westminster election. Had they done so, it would, he continued, ‘have been the greatest error ever made. Strong trade unionists, adherents of their respective political parties, would, under the then existing circumstances, have felt themselves compelled to vote for the nominees of the political parties as against a Labour candidate, and the result would indeed have been disastrous to the cause of Labour. It was this consideration only which led to the withdrawal of the Labour Party from the last General Election.’
Mr Cassidy also made reference to international affairs. On the issue of the League of Nations he urged that to secure confidence in the new body it needed to ‘embrace all nations and must be representative of the peoples’; on Russia, he condemned the ‘interference of the Allied and Associated Powers’ in the country’s affairs and the ‘organised propaganda of calumny which is in existence to influence the public mind against the Bolshevist leaders’. Such condemnation, he added, did not ‘necessarily carry with it vindication of Bolshevism or a defence of the methods which are found necessary to support the revolution’
Furthermore, speaking to international developments, Cassidy said that one of the most important events to impact upon the labour movement in the last year was the admission of Irish Labour Party delegates Tom Johnson and Cathal O’Shannon to the Berne Conference in Switzerland as a distinct unit to that of British labour.
Over the course of the four days of the ILP&TUC conference, the schedule was packed with discussions and resolutions on a vast array of topics, including plans for future general elections, the Limerick soviet, working hours, cost of living, teachers and British militarism in Ireland. The issue of housing was also debated and a motion put forward by Tom Johnson instructed the executive to secure the provision of more houses for rural workers: it was claimed that at least 70,000 houses were required immediately. The housing motion called for the establishment of a national housing council which would be comprised of representatives of the local authorities and the trade unions in the building industry.
Finally, a resolution was passed criticising the failure to grant a passport to the former Irish trade union leader, James Larkin, who, due to the actions of the British and US administrations, was unable to return to Ireland from America to attend the event and exercise his duties as General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union.
Westminster: The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, has stated that he will present a scheme for the future government of Ireland to the House of Commons at the earliest opportunity. Speaking in the chamber yesterday, the Prime Minister declared that the ‘rule of force’ cannot be the last word when it comes to Ireland. He described the current situation as ‘not satisfactory...It is not a credit to this country that, after hundreds of years of British rule in Ireland, we should not have succeeded in reconciling Ireland to the partnership, and it is the business of statesmanship to bring that condition of things to an end.’
The Prime Minister was responding to a contribution from Donald Maclean, Liberal Party leader, who insisted that if the situation in Ireland were to continue as it is, it would be ‘fatal’.
Maclean acknowledged that the Irish question had now become a ‘world question’, though he did not think it right for Britain to be ‘dictated to in our own concerns by anybody’. Ireland, he continued, was a British responsibility and its condition needed to be addressed, not least for its impact on the domestic political life of Britain. ‘The reaction on England, Scotland, and Wales is evident every day. The whole appeal is for the preservation of law and order, while 40 miles across the sea you have a population which has in many ways borne a great part in the world's affairs—in art, in literature, in arms, in every branch of social life Ireland has been great, and sometimes pre-eminent, and yet she is held down today by a force of 50,000 soldiers, which cost this country nearly £1,000,000 a month. If we cannot do something to alleviate this we are bankrupt in statesmanship. Hitherto, whatever the difficulties have been, this country has always shown the way out of political difficulties which have conquered many other countries...There is a lesson for us there from which we might draw comfort and strength and guidance. We know the old tale of the Sphinx and its riddle. There it is to-day. Ireland is still spelling out its riddle to us. Everywhere we have succeeded where we have tried, but in Ireland we always fail.’
Irish republicans, meanwhile, continued with their efforts to internationalise their position. Addressing an audience of wounded soldiers at the Red Cross Presidio in San Francisco, Mr de Valera informed the men that in their recent fight for freedom, ‘we felt that you entered our cause – were fighting for our cause as well as your own. But the people of India, Egypt, Korea and Ireland are in the same thraldom as in the past. Your soldiers returned to a free country in contrast to some Irish soldiers who entered the army to fight for liberty for our country and returned home to find they had been cheated.’
Drogheda: Approximately 230 delegates from all parts of the island attended the 25th annual meeting of the Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress (ILP&TUC), at Whitworth Hall in Drogheda.
In his opening address, Thomas Cassidy, President of the ILP&TUC, reflected upon what he said was a momentous year for the Irish labour movement, most notably the success of the general strike of April 1918, when ‘in spite of threats, in spite of the imprisonment of the recognised leaders of the vast majority of the people of the country without charge being preferred against them... in spite of all, the people remained steadfast to… resist by every means the imposition of compulsory military service.’ He asked that no attempt be made to make party political capital out of the anti-conscription campaign and lamented the failure to maintain that ‘unity of purpose’ that existed when the ‘shadow of conscription of hung over our land’.
He defended the decision of the Irish labour party to stand aside in the general election. Such was the strength of the desire for self-determination that Cassidy believed the time was not opportune last December for Labour to contest the Westminster election. Had they done so, it would, he continued, ‘have been the greatest error ever made. Strong trade unionists, adherents of their respective political parties, would, under the then existing circumstances, have felt themselves compelled to vote for the nominees of the political parties as against a Labour candidate, and the result would indeed have been disastrous to the cause of Labour. It was this consideration only which led to the withdrawal of the Labour Party from the last General Election.’
Mr Cassidy also made reference to international affairs. On the issue of the League of Nations he urged that to secure confidence in the new body it needed to ‘embrace all nations and must be representative of the peoples’; on Russia, he condemned the ‘interference of the Allied and Associated Powers’ in the country’s affairs and the ‘organised propaganda of calumny which is in existence to influence the public mind against the Bolshevist leaders’. Such condemnation, he added, did not ‘necessarily carry with it vindication of Bolshevism or a defence of the methods which are found necessary to support the revolution’
Furthermore, speaking to international developments, Cassidy said that one of the most important events to impact upon the labour movement in the last year was the admission of Irish Labour Party delegates Tom Johnson and Cathal O’Shannon to the Berne Conference in Switzerland as a distinct unit to that of British labour.
Over the course of the four days of the ILP&TUC conference, the schedule was packed with discussions and resolutions on a vast array of topics, including plans for future general elections, the Limerick soviet, working hours, cost of living, teachers and British militarism in Ireland. The issue of housing was also debated and a motion put forward by Tom Johnson instructed the executive to secure the provision of more houses for rural workers: it was claimed that at least 70,000 houses were required immediately. The housing motion called for the establishment of a national housing council which would be comprised of representatives of the local authorities and the trade unions in the building industry.
Finally, a resolution was passed criticising the failure to grant a passport to the former Irish trade union leader, James Larkin, who, due to the actions of the British and US administrations, was unable to return to Ireland from America to attend the event and exercise his duties as General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union.
Westminster: The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, has stated that he will present a scheme for the future government of Ireland to the House of Commons at the earliest opportunity. Speaking in the chamber yesterday, the Prime Minister declared that the ‘rule of force’ cannot be the last word when it comes to Ireland. He described the current situation as ‘not satisfactory...It is not a credit to this country that, after hundreds of years of British rule in Ireland, we should not have succeeded in reconciling Ireland to the partnership, and it is the business of statesmanship to bring that condition of things to an end.’
The Prime Minister was responding to a contribution from Donald Maclean, Liberal Party leader, who insisted that if the situation in Ireland were to continue as it is, it would be ‘fatal’.
Maclean acknowledged that the Irish question had now become a ‘world question’, though he did not think it right for Britain to be ‘dictated to in our own concerns by anybody’. Ireland, he continued, was a British responsibility and its condition needed to be addressed, not least for its impact on the domestic political life of Britain. ‘The reaction on England, Scotland, and Wales is evident every day. The whole appeal is for the preservation of law and order, while 40 miles across the sea you have a population which has in many ways borne a great part in the world's affairs—in art, in literature, in arms, in every branch of social life Ireland has been great, and sometimes pre-eminent, and yet she is held down today by a force of 50,000 soldiers, which cost this country nearly £1,000,000 a month. If we cannot do something to alleviate this we are bankrupt in statesmanship. Hitherto, whatever the difficulties have been, this country has always shown the way out of political difficulties which have conquered many other countries...There is a lesson for us there from which we might draw comfort and strength and guidance. We know the old tale of the Sphinx and its riddle. There it is to-day. Ireland is still spelling out its riddle to us. Everywhere we have succeeded where we have tried, but in Ireland we always fail.’
Irish republicans, meanwhile, continued with their efforts to internationalise their position. Addressing an audience of wounded soldiers at the Red Cross Presidio in San Francisco, Mr de Valera informed the men that in their recent fight for freedom, ‘we felt that you entered our cause – were fighting for our cause as well as your own. But the people of India, Egypt, Korea and Ireland are in the same thraldom as in the past. Your soldiers returned to a free country in contrast to some Irish soldiers who entered the army to fight for liberty for our country and returned home to find they had been cheated.’
9
Start of a secret week-long Volunteer (IRA) training camp at Shorecliffe House, Glandore, Co Cork for 35 battalion and company officers of the Cork No. 3 (West) Cork Brigade.
An occasional historical aside
Barnstormer Lt. Ormar Lockyear The ‘Golden Era’ of aviation in the United States is considered to be the time where aviators thrived throughout 1919 and the roaring twenties. In this period, aviation became a passion shared with many and pilots made a precarious and dangerous living as entertainers, performing stunt flying and providing joy flights all over the nation. Some shone brightly for a few brief years before being extinguished through accident and regulation. |
The 1919 Minnesota State Fair proudly advertised the upcoming attendance of the barnstorming daredevil Lt. Ormar Locklear and his Flying Circus in an advert from the Minnesota Irish Standard of August 9 (opposite). After World War I, aviators were to be found almost everywhere in the American countryside. These young fliers, returning from the war and unable to find employment often slept out in the field under the wings of their machines, and frequently they would offer flights in return for a meal or enough fuel to get them to the next town and whatever work was available. Shows provided some income and these pilots performed ever more complex and dangerous stunts in rural small towns as an increasingly jaded public demanded it. Some barnstormers travelled with an ambulance that would simply drive through town with its siren blaring, leading customers to the airfield. In time, fliers pooled their resources and formed little troupes, and sometimes the best partnerships were formed when a flier and a talented promoter joined forces. One such team became the most successful barnstorming act of the post-war period—the pilot Ormer Leslie Locklear and the promoter William Pickens. Locklear had been trained at the Army Air Service flight school at Barron Field, near Fort Worth, Texas, and was performing stunts on the wings of his Jenny even while in the service. Wingwalking was not new in 1918; it was not unheard of that a pilot or passenger would (if he absolutely had to) climb out onto a wing to make a timely repair or pry loose a stubborn control surface. But Locklear took the practice to new levels, devising stunts that seemed aimed at nothing less than tempting fate. He perfected the use of the over-wing struts on the Jenny as a brace for wingwalking; spectators who never noticed the structures before thought they were made specifically for Locklear. When Locklear met Pickens in 1919, the promoter already had a great deal of experience promoting barnstormers like Lincoln Beachey and some post-war fliers, but from the very beginning Pickens knew he was going to have his greatest success with Locklear. Jumping from one plane to another while in the air was Locklear’s trademark stunt, and then, when the public tired of that, he worked on jumping from a car to a plane and from a plane to car. Locklear was severely injured in some of the earlier attempts of this stunt, but Pickens used that (and exaggerated bandages) to heighten the drama and stir public interest.
Below: Trailer for 'The Great Waldo Pepper' (1975) based on the life of Locklear. Locklear and Pickens became wealthy and lived a lavish lifestyle in contrast to the poverty of most other barnstormers. After January 1920, many fliers fortunes changed with the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment—Prohibition. This provided them with a new source of income: using their planes to smuggle liquor from Mexico into the United States. Locklear and Pickens instead moved west and brought the act to Los Angeles where they quickly came to the attention of the movie-making community. After several highly publicized exhibitions at an airfield owned by Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin’s brother, Pickens arranged for Locklear to appear as a stunt man in Universal’s "The Great Air Robbery" in 1920, and an offer was made by Twentieth Century Fox for a feature film, "the Skywayman".
Locklear became a hit, living fast and hard. In April 1920, he became the first pilot charged with dangerous flying and fined $25. Buzzing the movie lot, he perfected a highly risky manoeuvre in which he ricocheted off the roof of the sound stages, calling it the “Locklear Bounce,”. On the ground, he was also busy romancing a rising young actress at Metro, Viola Dana (1897-1987) (though he had a wife, Ruby Graves back in Texas). During the filming of The Skywayman, Locklear insisted on performing his stunts as realistically as possible, including those scripted to take place at night (forgoing the device of using filters to make daytime scenes appear as though shot at night). On August 2, 1920, while filming one of the night scenes, Locklear was apparently blinded by a spotlight and his aircraft went into a tailspin and crashed killing the young pilot and his flying companion, 'Skeets' Elliot. |
One stunt of Locklear’s, the incredibly dangerous “Dance of Death,” was described by one journalist as "difficult to believe and probably the most thrilling aerial stunt ever performed". Locklear would pilot one plane and fly closely to a second plane, with the two aircraft almost touching wings. At a signal and with the controls locked in place, the two pilots would change places, passing each other as they scampered across the wings.
|
Dana witnessed the plane crash that killed Locklear and was so traumatized by the event that she lost her hair and refused to fly for the next 25 years. Locklear received what may be termed the first gala Hollywood funeral (complete with Viola weeping, alone in her limousine).
With the entire film of 'The Skywayman' already completed except for the night scene, Fox made the decision to capitalize on the fatal crash by rushing the movie into post-production and release. With lurid notices proclaiming "Every Inch Of Film Showing Locklear's Spectacular (And Fatal) Last Flight. His Death-Defying Feats And A Close Up Of His Spectacular Crash To Earth," the film premiered in Los Angeles on September 5, 1920. The review in the Los Angeles Times noted: "The greatest monument that could be built to any man – the privilege of living on after all else has gone – is what 'The Skywayman' showing will do. What is gone in the flesh will live on forevermore on the screen" This was not to be. The Skywayman is today considered to be a 'lost' film with no surviving copies. Barnstorming was to survive for just a few more years until Congress passed the Air Commerce Act of 1926. The law called for the licensing of aircraft and pilots and laid down strict rules about stunts fliers could perform. Ironically, the law was passed at the insistence of the fledgling air transport industry, who saw the barnstormers as fostering the idea that flying was dangerous and difficult — which, of course, was the whole idea behind barnstorming in the first place. |
11
Throughout the US in the week 11-16th August, full page and half page adverts were inserted by the Friends of Irish Freedom indicating the ‘menace of the league to American liberties’
Support for the Irish cause came from many different sources, in one case the US Black radical-nationalist, Cyril V. Briggs…”…In the August 1919 issue of his journal, the Crusader, Briggs commented on "Approaching Irish Success."
Robert A Hill. “The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project “ UCLA ( Via Internet Site June 1997 )
While Briggs was commenting on the approaching Irish success, the ostracisation and boycott of the RIC throughout the country had reached critical levels. Joseph Byrne, the Inspector General of the police warned that ‘in a large area the police without the assistance of troops would be totally unable to maintain any semblance of order’
The first of a week of printed comment by the Friends of Irish Freedom appearing with full page adverts in the capital's newspapers: The Washington Herald, The Washington Times & The Washington Evening Star.
Throughout the US in the week 11-16th August, full page and half page adverts were inserted by the Friends of Irish Freedom indicating the ‘menace of the league to American liberties’
Support for the Irish cause came from many different sources, in one case the US Black radical-nationalist, Cyril V. Briggs…”…In the August 1919 issue of his journal, the Crusader, Briggs commented on "Approaching Irish Success."
Robert A Hill. “The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project “ UCLA ( Via Internet Site June 1997 )
While Briggs was commenting on the approaching Irish success, the ostracisation and boycott of the RIC throughout the country had reached critical levels. Joseph Byrne, the Inspector General of the police warned that ‘in a large area the police without the assistance of troops would be totally unable to maintain any semblance of order’
The first of a week of printed comment by the Friends of Irish Freedom appearing with full page adverts in the capital's newspapers: The Washington Herald, The Washington Times & The Washington Evening Star.
12
New York: Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie died in Lenox, Massachusetts. Best known in Ireland and Britain as the man who built over 600 public libraries on these islands, including in Rathmines, Dublin, in Clouncagh, Co. Limerick and Waterford City Library.
Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history. He became a leading philanthropist in the United States and in the British Empire. During the last 18 years of his life, he gave away about $350 million (conservatively $5.15 billion in 2019 dollars) to charities, foundations, and universities – almost 90 percent of his fortune. His 1889 article proclaiming "The Gospel of Wealth" called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and stimulated a wave of philanthropy.
Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1848 at age 12. Carnegie started work as a telegrapher, and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges, and oil derricks. He accumulated further wealth as a bond salesman, raising money for American enterprise in Europe. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which he sold to J. P. Morgan in 1901 for $303 milion. It became the U.S. Steel Corporation.
After selling Carnegie Steel, he surpassed John D. Rockefeller as the richest American for the next several years.
Carnegie devoted the remainder of his life to large-scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education, and scientific research. With the fortune he made from business, he built Carnegie Hall in New York, NY, and the Peace Palace and founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, among others.
While Carnegie did not comment on British imperialism, he strongly opposed the idea of American colonies. He opposed the annexation of the Philippines almost to the point of supporting William Jennings Bryan against McKinley in 1900. In 1898, Carnegie tried to arrange for independence for the Philippines. As the end of the Spanish–American War neared, the United States bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. To counter what he perceived as imperialism on the part of the United States, Carnegie personally offered $20 million to the Philippines so that the Filipino people could buy their independence from the United States. However, nothing came of the offer. In 1898 Carnegie joined the American Anti-Imperialist League, in opposition to the U.S. annexation of the Philippines. Its membership included former presidents of the United States Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison and literary figures like Mark Twain.
New York: Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie died in Lenox, Massachusetts. Best known in Ireland and Britain as the man who built over 600 public libraries on these islands, including in Rathmines, Dublin, in Clouncagh, Co. Limerick and Waterford City Library.
Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history. He became a leading philanthropist in the United States and in the British Empire. During the last 18 years of his life, he gave away about $350 million (conservatively $5.15 billion in 2019 dollars) to charities, foundations, and universities – almost 90 percent of his fortune. His 1889 article proclaiming "The Gospel of Wealth" called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and stimulated a wave of philanthropy.
Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1848 at age 12. Carnegie started work as a telegrapher, and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges, and oil derricks. He accumulated further wealth as a bond salesman, raising money for American enterprise in Europe. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which he sold to J. P. Morgan in 1901 for $303 milion. It became the U.S. Steel Corporation.
After selling Carnegie Steel, he surpassed John D. Rockefeller as the richest American for the next several years.
Carnegie devoted the remainder of his life to large-scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education, and scientific research. With the fortune he made from business, he built Carnegie Hall in New York, NY, and the Peace Palace and founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, among others.
While Carnegie did not comment on British imperialism, he strongly opposed the idea of American colonies. He opposed the annexation of the Philippines almost to the point of supporting William Jennings Bryan against McKinley in 1900. In 1898, Carnegie tried to arrange for independence for the Philippines. As the end of the Spanish–American War neared, the United States bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. To counter what he perceived as imperialism on the part of the United States, Carnegie personally offered $20 million to the Philippines so that the Filipino people could buy their independence from the United States. However, nothing came of the offer. In 1898 Carnegie joined the American Anti-Imperialist League, in opposition to the U.S. annexation of the Philippines. Its membership included former presidents of the United States Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison and literary figures like Mark Twain.
The Shandong (Shantung) Problem was a complex dispute over Article 156 of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which dealt with the concession of the Shandong Peninsula. It was finally resolved in China's favour in 1922. During the First World War, China supported the Allies on condition that the Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory on the Shandong peninsula, which had belonged to the German Empire prior to its occupation by Japan in 1914, would be returned to China. In 1915, however, China reluctantly agreed to thirteen of Japan's original Twenty-One Demands which, among other things, acknowledged Japanese control of former German holdings. Britain and France promised Japan it could keep these holdings. In late 1918, China reaffirmed the transfer and accepted payments from Japan. Article 156 of the Treaty of Versailles transferred the territory of Kiautschou as well as the rights, titles and privileges acquired by virtue of the Sino-German treaty of 1898 to the Empire of Japan rather than returning them to the Chinese administration.
Despite its formal agreement to Japan's terms in 1915 and 1918, China denounced the transfer of German holdings at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, with the strong support of President Woodrow Wilson of the United States. The Chinese ambassador to France, Wellington Koo, stated that China could no more relinquish Shandong, which was the birthplace of Confucius, the greatest Chinese philosopher, than could Christians concede Jerusalem. He demanded the promised return of Shandong, but to no avail. Japan prevailed. Chinese popular outrage over Article 156 led to demonstrations on 4 May 1919 and a cultural movement known as the May Fourth Movement. As a result, Wellington Koo refused to sign the treaty.
China's refusal to sign the Treaty of Versailles necessitated a separate peace treaty with Germany in 1921. The Shandong dispute was mediated by the United States in 1922 during the Washington Naval Conference. In a victory for China, the Japanese leasehold on Shandong was returned to China in the Nine-Power Treaty. Japan, however, maintained its economic dominance of the railway and the province as a whole.
Despite its formal agreement to Japan's terms in 1915 and 1918, China denounced the transfer of German holdings at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, with the strong support of President Woodrow Wilson of the United States. The Chinese ambassador to France, Wellington Koo, stated that China could no more relinquish Shandong, which was the birthplace of Confucius, the greatest Chinese philosopher, than could Christians concede Jerusalem. He demanded the promised return of Shandong, but to no avail. Japan prevailed. Chinese popular outrage over Article 156 led to demonstrations on 4 May 1919 and a cultural movement known as the May Fourth Movement. As a result, Wellington Koo refused to sign the treaty.
China's refusal to sign the Treaty of Versailles necessitated a separate peace treaty with Germany in 1921. The Shandong dispute was mediated by the United States in 1922 during the Washington Naval Conference. In a victory for China, the Japanese leasehold on Shandong was returned to China in the Nine-Power Treaty. Japan, however, maintained its economic dominance of the railway and the province as a whole.
13
de Valera in a letter to Arthur Griffith ‘ You may be surprised that I took the big step here of openly asking for recognition so soon. I havent yet sent any formal demand to Washington but said to the people generally that was what I was here for’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p97.
de Valera in a letter to Arthur Griffith ‘ You may be surprised that I took the big step here of openly asking for recognition so soon. I havent yet sent any formal demand to Washington but said to the people generally that was what I was here for’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p97.
14
Thursday, 14 August 1919: The Washington Herald, Washington Times & Washington Evening Star. Also appeared in 22 August 1919: Arizona Republican Phoenix Az, 23 August 1919: Richmond Times & Dispatch, Richmond Vt., 09 September 1919: Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Neb., 11 September 1919: Bismarck Tribune. Bismarck ND & 03 October 1919 The News Scimitar, Memphis, Tn.
15
The Harlem Gaelic Society held it's Monthly Ceilidh at Proctor’s Theatre Building, 112 East 125th Street. Lynch attended and a hat check ticket survives in his papers.
The Harlem Gaelic Society held it's Monthly Ceilidh at Proctor’s Theatre Building, 112 East 125th Street. Lynch attended and a hat check ticket survives in his papers.
16
"Albert Thomas, minister of munitions and recognized leader of the French laborites and socialists, has launched a campaign in behalf of the Irish Republic. He calls on the entire French democracy to support the Irish in their demand for an independent government. Since the Sinn Fein elections and the incidents which followed, especially the establishment of a state of siege, the Irish question has completely changed its aspect. ...
"This is especially true because of the extension which the British Empire received under the Peace Treaty. ... If England ceased within her Empire to be the protector and emancipator of weak peoples ... then the Peace Treaty would appear soiled with annexation and imperialism….The Ulster minority, as a minority, has rights which must be respected, but these rights must not prevent carrying out the wishes of the majority. ... From now on French public opinion, without false modesty or false tact, should give the British Government our most energetic support in order that it may be able to accomplish the utmost good for Ireland. This should be done in the name of the rights of the world's peoples."--cabled despatch from Paris, August 16.
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 8. August 29, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
"Albert Thomas, minister of munitions and recognized leader of the French laborites and socialists, has launched a campaign in behalf of the Irish Republic. He calls on the entire French democracy to support the Irish in their demand for an independent government. Since the Sinn Fein elections and the incidents which followed, especially the establishment of a state of siege, the Irish question has completely changed its aspect. ...
"This is especially true because of the extension which the British Empire received under the Peace Treaty. ... If England ceased within her Empire to be the protector and emancipator of weak peoples ... then the Peace Treaty would appear soiled with annexation and imperialism….The Ulster minority, as a minority, has rights which must be respected, but these rights must not prevent carrying out the wishes of the majority. ... From now on French public opinion, without false modesty or false tact, should give the British Government our most energetic support in order that it may be able to accomplish the utmost good for Ireland. This should be done in the name of the rights of the world's peoples."--cabled despatch from Paris, August 16.
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 8. August 29, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
While uncredited, this part quotation (above) published in the Irish Standard of a century ago is from the 1897 play by Shaw, “The Man of Destiny” set in Italy during the early career of Napoleon. Published as a part of Plays Pleasant, which also included Arms and the Man, Candida and You Never Can Tell. Shaw titled the volume Plays Pleasant in order to contrast it with his first book of plays, Plays Unpleasant. Shaw used Napoleon to voice his own Irish Anglican views that the English do everything on principle, even the most appalling deeds and these views certainly made the play extremely popular in Ireland with even Yeats requesting permission to use it in the 1903 Irish National Theatre offerings.
The full text is below: |
17
18
The London Times in a leading article said ‘ the hope that an army of military force might cowe the Irish into a frame of mind compatible with the eventual acceptance of some moderate measure of devolution has plainly miscarried’
By now it could be argued that the normally powerful Catholic Church was waning, Frank Gallagher asserted at the time that ‘Irish people no longer take seriously pulpit denounciations of political activities, however extreme these activities may have been. After three years the people realise that the heads of their church are either unable or unwilling to see the death struggle of a nation in it’s proper perspective’
The Inspector General of the RIC agreed with Gallagher reporting ‘there is good reason to believe that already the priests have to a considerable extent lost influence over their parishoners’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P73
While the Catholic Church may have been in decline, the Church of Ireland lost no time in re-iterating it’s opposition to Irish nationalism. Archbishop Crozier of Armagh declared that he ‘could not concieve how anyone who worshipped in the form provided by the prayer book of the Church of England or the Church of Ireland could be anything but loyal.’ Dr John Bernard, the Provost of Trinity College commenting on Dail Eireann activities:’A conspiracy of crime organised on behalf of a mad and impossible project of an Irish Republic’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P73
The London Times in a leading article said ‘ the hope that an army of military force might cowe the Irish into a frame of mind compatible with the eventual acceptance of some moderate measure of devolution has plainly miscarried’
By now it could be argued that the normally powerful Catholic Church was waning, Frank Gallagher asserted at the time that ‘Irish people no longer take seriously pulpit denounciations of political activities, however extreme these activities may have been. After three years the people realise that the heads of their church are either unable or unwilling to see the death struggle of a nation in it’s proper perspective’
The Inspector General of the RIC agreed with Gallagher reporting ‘there is good reason to believe that already the priests have to a considerable extent lost influence over their parishoners’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P73
While the Catholic Church may have been in decline, the Church of Ireland lost no time in re-iterating it’s opposition to Irish nationalism. Archbishop Crozier of Armagh declared that he ‘could not concieve how anyone who worshipped in the form provided by the prayer book of the Church of England or the Church of Ireland could be anything but loyal.’ Dr John Bernard, the Provost of Trinity College commenting on Dail Eireann activities:’A conspiracy of crime organised on behalf of a mad and impossible project of an Irish Republic’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P73
Dáil Eireann Report on Foreign Affairs
Dublin, 19 August 1919
The following members of Dáil elected to serve on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, namely:-
A. McCabe, T.D., Liam de Roiste, T.D., J. McBride, T.D., J.A. Burke, T.D., T. MacSuibhne, T.D., M. MacStain, T.D., and, D. FitzGerald, T.D.
Two meetings of this Committee were called but both proved abortive, as only three members put in an appearance in the first case, and two members in the second case. I hope the Committee will become a useful one and I desire to receive suggestions from the members, and to keep them in touch with our activities.
Since the last meeting of An Dail the Peace Treaty with Germany, which was the particular work of the Conference in Paris, was signed, and the more important members of the Conference returned to their respective countries. Persons of lesser importance remained in Paris to complete the work of the Conference on the negotiation of Peace Treaties with the other belligerents. M. Clemenceau, of course, remains, and all outstanding claims are in his charge, for the time.
It is now definitely established that M. Clemenceau has declined to take action upon the resolution of the American Senate requesting that the case of Ireland should be heard before the Conference. Mr. J.A. Murphy who is in charge of the American Delegation in Paris, wrote to M. Clemenceau on the 22nd ult., protesting against his decision. For certain reasons which will be communicated verbally, the Ministry instructed their representatives that it was not desirable to press for a reply to their demand for a hearing once the more important members of the Conference had left.
Messrs. Walsh, Ryan and Dunne returned to America to engage in the campaign which was initiated there by the President of the Republic. They were replaced in Paris by Mr. J.A. Murphy, and he is still working in close co-operation with our representatives in Paris. He intends, however, to return to the Unites States, the business of the Delegation being completed.
The Ministry considered that in view of the international importance of Paris it was essential that the services of Messrs. O’Ceallaigh and Duffy should be retained there for the time being. These envoys have expressed a desire to be allowed to return as soon as convenient, but, there is a difficulty in securing a suitable person to replace them. For the last month or two they have been mainly engaged in endeavouring to secure the support of the French Press and indirectly to influence the French Government from Ireland’s point of view. Mme. Vivanti has left Paris for Switzerland and Italy and is meeting with great success in her propaganda, particularly in the latter country. Victor Collins and Mrs. Gavan Duffy have also returned, and there now remain in Paris only Messrs. O’Ceallaigh and Duffy. Erskine Childers went recently to assist them. Mr. Childers’ services were considered likely to be extremely useful owing to his acquaintance with influential persons in Paris.
Notwithstanding the difficulty of constantly maintaining our propaganda in France, the more serious papers and reviews are now publishing well-informed and sympathetic articles on the claims of Ireland.
America.
Members of the Dail are of course aware how the President’s visit to America has been received. He has addressed immense meetings in all parts of the States, and his efforts to float the loan are meeting with such success that he has recently asked the Ministry to allow him to increase the amount of the issue at his discretion.
The President is particularly anxious that attacks against President Wilson and the American administration should not be made by the Irish Ireland papers, or by responsible Republicans.
The press in America has recently been very favourable and has given the President’s visit considerable attention. The news items appearing in the Irish papers regarding his visit are for the most part very meagre, and afford a remarkable comparison to the cuttings which we have received from the American Press.
A complete revolution has taken place in American opinion, and Ireland has been made an important factor in American politics. The presentation of Ireland’s case has had the effect of weakening the Anglo-American friendship which is also suffering as a result of Trade jealousies.
Switzerland.
Apart from Mme. Vivanti’s visit, little has been done in this country. As Geneva is the Headquarters of the League of Nations, the importance of having a diplomatic representative there is obvious, but, it is very difficult to secure the services of a suitable person. Owing to the situation of Switzerland, it is a very useful centre from which to organise propaganda among the people of Central Europe.
Foreign Trade.
This comes more particularly within the province of the Director of Trade and Commerce but, it may be mentioned here that Consuls have now been appointed to the following countries:- United States of America, Argentina, France and Italy. The appointment of a Trade Consul for Switzerland has been decided.
No. 22 NAI DE 2/269
Cathal Brugha inisted in the Dail that an Oath of Allegiance should eb swon to the Dail by individual IRA members. This was believed to have been motivated as a challenge to IRB authority and achieved little. Growing contempt for politicians was growing amongst the fighting units while the politicians continued to be relatively unaware of IRA plans.
Col. Arthur Lynch, ex- Irish Parliamentary Party MP for Clare admitted in an article that:
‘The present military domination of Ireland is no less hideous than was that of Belgium by the German imperialists…many Unionists in Ireland are longing for an opportunity which will allow the Government under cover of legality to shoot down Sinn Feiners wholesale and so rid themselves of determined enemies without a breach with America by ostensibly outraging all public morality. Again and again I have heard such opinions expressed by influential men occupying important positions’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 8. August 29, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
Widespread IRA activity in Clare as patrols are ambushed and barracks attacked in an effort to collect arms.
Governor Bartlett of New Hampshire, welcoming President de Valera, before an audience of 25,000 people at Manchester, said: "On behalf of 500,000 people I welcome you to the State of New Hampshire, and on behalf of every man, woman and child within my State I officially recognize you as the President of the Irish Republic. If the principles of Republican forms of government were sufficient to justify the creation of an American Republic in 1776, then they are just as good today in 1919, to justify the establishment and existence of an Irish Republic in Ireland. And if there is anything that the people of New Hampshire can do to :assist you in securing the- recognition of the United States for the Irish Republic, and to further help you to keep the Irish Republic alive, you may feel free to call upon us.”
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 8. August 29, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
The Highland Land League of Scotland ‘ the spearhead of the Scotch Sinn Fein’ requested a hearing to plead Scotland's case before the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate. Among the leaders of this Highland League were the Earl of Marr, Hen. Rory Erskine and Pringle, the most aggressive of Scottish members in the British Parliament.
Washington D.C. President Wilson at 3 hour lunch meeting with entire Senate Foreign Relations Committee agrees to interpretative reservations for the League of Nations.
Dublin, 19 August 1919
The following members of Dáil elected to serve on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, namely:-
A. McCabe, T.D., Liam de Roiste, T.D., J. McBride, T.D., J.A. Burke, T.D., T. MacSuibhne, T.D., M. MacStain, T.D., and, D. FitzGerald, T.D.
Two meetings of this Committee were called but both proved abortive, as only three members put in an appearance in the first case, and two members in the second case. I hope the Committee will become a useful one and I desire to receive suggestions from the members, and to keep them in touch with our activities.
Since the last meeting of An Dail the Peace Treaty with Germany, which was the particular work of the Conference in Paris, was signed, and the more important members of the Conference returned to their respective countries. Persons of lesser importance remained in Paris to complete the work of the Conference on the negotiation of Peace Treaties with the other belligerents. M. Clemenceau, of course, remains, and all outstanding claims are in his charge, for the time.
It is now definitely established that M. Clemenceau has declined to take action upon the resolution of the American Senate requesting that the case of Ireland should be heard before the Conference. Mr. J.A. Murphy who is in charge of the American Delegation in Paris, wrote to M. Clemenceau on the 22nd ult., protesting against his decision. For certain reasons which will be communicated verbally, the Ministry instructed their representatives that it was not desirable to press for a reply to their demand for a hearing once the more important members of the Conference had left.
Messrs. Walsh, Ryan and Dunne returned to America to engage in the campaign which was initiated there by the President of the Republic. They were replaced in Paris by Mr. J.A. Murphy, and he is still working in close co-operation with our representatives in Paris. He intends, however, to return to the Unites States, the business of the Delegation being completed.
The Ministry considered that in view of the international importance of Paris it was essential that the services of Messrs. O’Ceallaigh and Duffy should be retained there for the time being. These envoys have expressed a desire to be allowed to return as soon as convenient, but, there is a difficulty in securing a suitable person to replace them. For the last month or two they have been mainly engaged in endeavouring to secure the support of the French Press and indirectly to influence the French Government from Ireland’s point of view. Mme. Vivanti has left Paris for Switzerland and Italy and is meeting with great success in her propaganda, particularly in the latter country. Victor Collins and Mrs. Gavan Duffy have also returned, and there now remain in Paris only Messrs. O’Ceallaigh and Duffy. Erskine Childers went recently to assist them. Mr. Childers’ services were considered likely to be extremely useful owing to his acquaintance with influential persons in Paris.
Notwithstanding the difficulty of constantly maintaining our propaganda in France, the more serious papers and reviews are now publishing well-informed and sympathetic articles on the claims of Ireland.
America.
Members of the Dail are of course aware how the President’s visit to America has been received. He has addressed immense meetings in all parts of the States, and his efforts to float the loan are meeting with such success that he has recently asked the Ministry to allow him to increase the amount of the issue at his discretion.
The President is particularly anxious that attacks against President Wilson and the American administration should not be made by the Irish Ireland papers, or by responsible Republicans.
The press in America has recently been very favourable and has given the President’s visit considerable attention. The news items appearing in the Irish papers regarding his visit are for the most part very meagre, and afford a remarkable comparison to the cuttings which we have received from the American Press.
A complete revolution has taken place in American opinion, and Ireland has been made an important factor in American politics. The presentation of Ireland’s case has had the effect of weakening the Anglo-American friendship which is also suffering as a result of Trade jealousies.
Switzerland.
Apart from Mme. Vivanti’s visit, little has been done in this country. As Geneva is the Headquarters of the League of Nations, the importance of having a diplomatic representative there is obvious, but, it is very difficult to secure the services of a suitable person. Owing to the situation of Switzerland, it is a very useful centre from which to organise propaganda among the people of Central Europe.
Foreign Trade.
This comes more particularly within the province of the Director of Trade and Commerce but, it may be mentioned here that Consuls have now been appointed to the following countries:- United States of America, Argentina, France and Italy. The appointment of a Trade Consul for Switzerland has been decided.
No. 22 NAI DE 2/269
Cathal Brugha inisted in the Dail that an Oath of Allegiance should eb swon to the Dail by individual IRA members. This was believed to have been motivated as a challenge to IRB authority and achieved little. Growing contempt for politicians was growing amongst the fighting units while the politicians continued to be relatively unaware of IRA plans.
Col. Arthur Lynch, ex- Irish Parliamentary Party MP for Clare admitted in an article that:
‘The present military domination of Ireland is no less hideous than was that of Belgium by the German imperialists…many Unionists in Ireland are longing for an opportunity which will allow the Government under cover of legality to shoot down Sinn Feiners wholesale and so rid themselves of determined enemies without a breach with America by ostensibly outraging all public morality. Again and again I have heard such opinions expressed by influential men occupying important positions’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 8. August 29, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
Widespread IRA activity in Clare as patrols are ambushed and barracks attacked in an effort to collect arms.
Governor Bartlett of New Hampshire, welcoming President de Valera, before an audience of 25,000 people at Manchester, said: "On behalf of 500,000 people I welcome you to the State of New Hampshire, and on behalf of every man, woman and child within my State I officially recognize you as the President of the Irish Republic. If the principles of Republican forms of government were sufficient to justify the creation of an American Republic in 1776, then they are just as good today in 1919, to justify the establishment and existence of an Irish Republic in Ireland. And if there is anything that the people of New Hampshire can do to :assist you in securing the- recognition of the United States for the Irish Republic, and to further help you to keep the Irish Republic alive, you may feel free to call upon us.”
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 8. August 29, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
The Highland Land League of Scotland ‘ the spearhead of the Scotch Sinn Fein’ requested a hearing to plead Scotland's case before the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate. Among the leaders of this Highland League were the Earl of Marr, Hen. Rory Erskine and Pringle, the most aggressive of Scottish members in the British Parliament.
Washington D.C. President Wilson at 3 hour lunch meeting with entire Senate Foreign Relations Committee agrees to interpretative reservations for the League of Nations.
19
The fifth session and twelfth sitting of Dail Eireann opened with a private meeting of 42 TD’s chaired by Arthur Griffith reporting on the development of the Sinn Fein courts.
Afghanistan gains independence from the United Kingdom.
The fifth session and twelfth sitting of Dail Eireann opened with a private meeting of 42 TD’s chaired by Arthur Griffith reporting on the development of the Sinn Fein courts.
Afghanistan gains independence from the United Kingdom.
20
In the final meeting of Dail Eireann’s 5th session, the Minister for Agriculture, Robert Barton proposed a scheme for a Land Bank, where people wishing to buy land would be loaned 75% of the price. Cathal Brugha proposed a motion that every deputy, officer and clerk of the Dail ‘must swear allegiance to the Irish Republic and to the Dail’. Then it was discovered that the members had not taken an oath at the first meeting of Dail Eireann. After much discussion, the motion was passed. The issue of the Irish Volunteers taking an oath to the Dail at their next convention, surfaced. Michael Collins and others in the Volunteers, opposed the oath on the grounds that the Volunteer pledge to the Republic was enough. However, the overriding concern of the members of Dail Eireann was that the army should be under their control. Collins disagreed, as there were members of the Dail who had yet to prove their loyalty and that the Dail may some day, compromise the Republican cause. Eventually it was agreed that the Army Executive would remain in being and act as an advisory body to the Minister of Defence. The oath was then taken by the Irish Volunteers.
Dail Eireann now authorised unanimously the issue of a loan in the United States.
Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne travelling by transatlantic liner, was picked up by a British warship to prevent him landing in Ireland.
The British forces function in Ireland was officially to help and protect the police. Dublin Castle used troops and police throughout the autumn in a campaign of incessant activity ‘designed to make life impossible for a population to resist English rule’. Forces dispersed markets and fairs, meetings, Irish language classes, concerts, GAA matches, raiding private homes and businesses, arresting and imprisoning without trial or tried by stipendiary magistrates or by courts-martial.
Judge Cohalan speaking at a meeting for American and Irish Freedom said ‘That same spirit throughout America now demands that American ideas shall be preserved; that American traditions shall be strenghtened and that no super state shall be placed above us to destroy our sovereignty or curb our independence.’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No.9. September 5, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
In the final meeting of Dail Eireann’s 5th session, the Minister for Agriculture, Robert Barton proposed a scheme for a Land Bank, where people wishing to buy land would be loaned 75% of the price. Cathal Brugha proposed a motion that every deputy, officer and clerk of the Dail ‘must swear allegiance to the Irish Republic and to the Dail’. Then it was discovered that the members had not taken an oath at the first meeting of Dail Eireann. After much discussion, the motion was passed. The issue of the Irish Volunteers taking an oath to the Dail at their next convention, surfaced. Michael Collins and others in the Volunteers, opposed the oath on the grounds that the Volunteer pledge to the Republic was enough. However, the overriding concern of the members of Dail Eireann was that the army should be under their control. Collins disagreed, as there were members of the Dail who had yet to prove their loyalty and that the Dail may some day, compromise the Republican cause. Eventually it was agreed that the Army Executive would remain in being and act as an advisory body to the Minister of Defence. The oath was then taken by the Irish Volunteers.
Dail Eireann now authorised unanimously the issue of a loan in the United States.
Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne travelling by transatlantic liner, was picked up by a British warship to prevent him landing in Ireland.
The British forces function in Ireland was officially to help and protect the police. Dublin Castle used troops and police throughout the autumn in a campaign of incessant activity ‘designed to make life impossible for a population to resist English rule’. Forces dispersed markets and fairs, meetings, Irish language classes, concerts, GAA matches, raiding private homes and businesses, arresting and imprisoning without trial or tried by stipendiary magistrates or by courts-martial.
Judge Cohalan speaking at a meeting for American and Irish Freedom said ‘That same spirit throughout America now demands that American ideas shall be preserved; that American traditions shall be strenghtened and that no super state shall be placed above us to destroy our sovereignty or curb our independence.’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No.9. September 5, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
23
Francis Murphy, aged 15 of Glan, Co. Clare was shot and killed by unidentified British military during a raid on his father’s house.
Francis Murphy, aged 15 of Glan, Co. Clare was shot and killed by unidentified British military during a raid on his father’s house.
24
26
De Valera was feted in Richmond, Virginia. Welcomed by Govenor Davis and Mayor Ainsley. The Irish National Bureau Newsletter made much of the non-demoninational face of the Irish freedom struggle: ‘Irish blood is Irish blood wheteher it courses through the veins of Catholic or Protestant. The present movement in Ireland is not a Catholic movement. Ireland’s struggle for liberty never has been a acatholic movement. The prelates of the Catholic church have been among the foremost to disclaim any desire to make it a Catholic movement…the president of the Richmond Branch of the Friends of Irish Freedom, Daniel C O’Flaherty is an active member of the Presbyterian Church and among the most active members of the branch are scores of prominent Irish Protestants.’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 8. August 29, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
The American Federation of Labor continued its opposition to the League of Nations on the grounds that Ireland was not recognised.
27
Due to on-going demobilisation and overseas commitments, G. O. C-in-C of the British Army in Ireland, General Shaw, writes to RIC Inspector General Byrne saying that from Christmas, the British Army would no longer be able to provide outpost detachments.
Due to on-going demobilisation and overseas commitments, G. O. C-in-C of the British Army in Ireland, General Shaw, writes to RIC Inspector General Byrne saying that from Christmas, the British Army would no longer be able to provide outpost detachments.
28
Constance Markievievictz, jailed in Cork for making yet another seditious speech, wrote to her sister about Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington: ‘she interefered with the police who continued to hammer an unconscious man with clubbed rifles and she was clubbed over the head. She lost a lot of blood and will have to keep quiet for a bit..’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p311
Dr Patrick McCartan, Envoy of the Republic of Ireland in the United States presented to Vice President Marshall, President of the US Senate, a parchment communication from Dail Eireann expressing thanks for the recent action of the Senate in requestIng the American Commission to the Peace Conference to secure for President Eamon De Valera and his colleagues on the Irish Republic's Peace Commission a hearing before the Peace Conference at Paris; and for the expression of the Senate's sympathy with the aspirations of the Irish people to govern themselves. The document inscribed in both English and Irish was smuggled across the Atlantic by messenger.
De Valera addresses Virginia State Legislature.
The American Federation of Labor declared its opposition to the League of Nations until such time as Ireland was recognised.
28
Constance Markievievictz, jailed in Cork for making yet another seditious speech, wrote to her sister about Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington: ‘she interefered with the police who continued to hammer an unconscious man with clubbed rifles and she was clubbed over the head. She lost a lot of blood and will have to keep quiet for a bit..’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p311
Dr Patrick McCartan, Envoy of the Republic of Ireland in the United States presented to Vice President Marshall, President of the US Senate, a parchment communication from Dail Eireann expressing thanks for the recent action of the Senate in requestIng the American Commission to the Peace Conference to secure for President Eamon De Valera and his colleagues on the Irish Republic's Peace Commission a hearing before the Peace Conference at Paris; and for the expression of the Senate's sympathy with the aspirations of the Irish people to govern themselves. The document inscribed in both English and Irish was smuggled across the Atlantic by messenger.
De Valera addresses Virginia State Legislature.
The American Federation of Labor declared its opposition to the League of Nations until such time as Ireland was recognised.
30
Hearings, conducted by the Friends of Irish Freedom were held before the US Committee on Foreign Relations.
‘The oldest members of the U. S. Senate, the veteran newspaper correspondents, and a host of highly qualified critics, unite in saying the hearing was the most ably conducted hearing the Senate has witnessed in decades, in point of able, forceful and helpful presentation of a great subject. Judge Daniel F. Cohalan, Frank P. Walsh, Ex-Governor Edward F. Dunne of Illinois, Michael J. Ryan, Bourke Cochran and others.’
The Democratic members of the Foreign Relations Committee of the U. S. Senate are inviting sharp criticism for themselves by reason of their attitude towards the 20,000,000 Americans of Irish blood who ask that justice be done to Ireland. No Democrat voted in favor of the great hearing of Saturday, August 30. It was the votes of Republicans, exclusively that made the hearings possible. Then, at the hearing, for the first hour all Democrats were absent; throughout the remainder of the hearing not more than three Democrats were present at any time, and for the greater part of the time only one. Senator Hitchcock, the Democratic leader, shortly following the heating gave an interview, which was spread throughout the country, in which he said: "It was believed by the Administration that only Irishmen of the radical agitator type were against the treaty and the covenant. He was sure, he said, that the intelligent and thoughtful Irish of the United States were not against the covenant." Senator Hitchcock's sneering remarks are insulting to 20,000,000 Americans.
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 11. September 12, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
The Irish Press in Philadelphia was strong force for the Bond Drive. ‘The Poles and Czechs were able to raise larger sums in this country and the average citizen was scarcely aware of the fact’ and editorial commented. The Press faithfully reported all functions at which money was collected for the cause and prodded emigrants and natives alike to help Ireland’s fight for freedom’
Sean Cronin. ‘The McGarrity Papers’ Anvil Press 1972. P66
Hearings, conducted by the Friends of Irish Freedom were held before the US Committee on Foreign Relations.
‘The oldest members of the U. S. Senate, the veteran newspaper correspondents, and a host of highly qualified critics, unite in saying the hearing was the most ably conducted hearing the Senate has witnessed in decades, in point of able, forceful and helpful presentation of a great subject. Judge Daniel F. Cohalan, Frank P. Walsh, Ex-Governor Edward F. Dunne of Illinois, Michael J. Ryan, Bourke Cochran and others.’
The Democratic members of the Foreign Relations Committee of the U. S. Senate are inviting sharp criticism for themselves by reason of their attitude towards the 20,000,000 Americans of Irish blood who ask that justice be done to Ireland. No Democrat voted in favor of the great hearing of Saturday, August 30. It was the votes of Republicans, exclusively that made the hearings possible. Then, at the hearing, for the first hour all Democrats were absent; throughout the remainder of the hearing not more than three Democrats were present at any time, and for the greater part of the time only one. Senator Hitchcock, the Democratic leader, shortly following the heating gave an interview, which was spread throughout the country, in which he said: "It was believed by the Administration that only Irishmen of the radical agitator type were against the treaty and the covenant. He was sure, he said, that the intelligent and thoughtful Irish of the United States were not against the covenant." Senator Hitchcock's sneering remarks are insulting to 20,000,000 Americans.
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 11. September 12, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
The Irish Press in Philadelphia was strong force for the Bond Drive. ‘The Poles and Czechs were able to raise larger sums in this country and the average citizen was scarcely aware of the fact’ and editorial commented. The Press faithfully reported all functions at which money was collected for the cause and prodded emigrants and natives alike to help Ireland’s fight for freedom’
Sean Cronin. ‘The McGarrity Papers’ Anvil Press 1972. P66
31
The Victory Fund started in February 1919 and maintained by the Friends of Irish Freedom was wound up, clearing the way for de Valera's Bond Loan. The proceeds came to $1,005,080.83. Part of it was earmarked to fund a drive against American membership in the League of Nations By the end of the month, almost 1 million pamphlets against the League of Nations had been issued by the Friends of Irish Freedom including:
700,000 pamphlets entitled ‘The Irish Republic can pay its way’
500,000 coloured maps of Ireland showing the Republican victory in the 1918 election.
100,000 pamphlets by Edward McSweeney entitled ‘America First’.
A description of Judge Cohalan activities at the time comes from Daniel O’Connell, the Irish Bureau Chief in Washington:
‘...after our New York Headquarters closed for the day, I worked with the matchless strategist, Justice Daniel F Cohalan...every night by League of Nations distance phone we discussed our plan for the next day. Every Friday, Judge Cohalan left for Washington to confer with Senators. Rushing from office to office in taxis, telephoning and walking, this physical and mental marvel never tired... I was exhausted when the time came for him to board the train for New York ... the veteran Senator Lodge once said to me ‘I consider Judge Cohalan one of the ablest men who ever came to Washington to plead a cause. The citizens of Irish blood are fortunate in having him as a leader...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.332
Republican Cabot-Lodge, the renowned arch opponent of Irish interests in Boston swung in behind Irish interests in the hope of embarrasing President Wilson. Senator Phelan of California, a leading Irish-American Democratic Party politician commented that ‘the Republicans had been animated by the motive of embarassing President Wilson in his stand for the self-determination of nations…it is unfortunate that so great a cause should be so crudely used as a vulgar means of winning votes by men whose previous actions would indicate that they had no real sympathy with Ireland’.
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p168
The Irish National Bureau Newsletter commented on British funding of education in Ireland annually was ‘$9 million, less than the amount spent for policing the country, and amoutn that represents $2 per capita of the population. The United States expends for Indian education aproximately $14 per capita of the Indian population.’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No.11. September 12, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
The war victory parade of the Irish Regiments was held in Dublin with a large turnout.
The Victory Fund started in February 1919 and maintained by the Friends of Irish Freedom was wound up, clearing the way for de Valera's Bond Loan. The proceeds came to $1,005,080.83. Part of it was earmarked to fund a drive against American membership in the League of Nations By the end of the month, almost 1 million pamphlets against the League of Nations had been issued by the Friends of Irish Freedom including:
700,000 pamphlets entitled ‘The Irish Republic can pay its way’
500,000 coloured maps of Ireland showing the Republican victory in the 1918 election.
100,000 pamphlets by Edward McSweeney entitled ‘America First’.
A description of Judge Cohalan activities at the time comes from Daniel O’Connell, the Irish Bureau Chief in Washington:
‘...after our New York Headquarters closed for the day, I worked with the matchless strategist, Justice Daniel F Cohalan...every night by League of Nations distance phone we discussed our plan for the next day. Every Friday, Judge Cohalan left for Washington to confer with Senators. Rushing from office to office in taxis, telephoning and walking, this physical and mental marvel never tired... I was exhausted when the time came for him to board the train for New York ... the veteran Senator Lodge once said to me ‘I consider Judge Cohalan one of the ablest men who ever came to Washington to plead a cause. The citizens of Irish blood are fortunate in having him as a leader...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.332
Republican Cabot-Lodge, the renowned arch opponent of Irish interests in Boston swung in behind Irish interests in the hope of embarrasing President Wilson. Senator Phelan of California, a leading Irish-American Democratic Party politician commented that ‘the Republicans had been animated by the motive of embarassing President Wilson in his stand for the self-determination of nations…it is unfortunate that so great a cause should be so crudely used as a vulgar means of winning votes by men whose previous actions would indicate that they had no real sympathy with Ireland’.
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p168
The Irish National Bureau Newsletter commented on British funding of education in Ireland annually was ‘$9 million, less than the amount spent for policing the country, and amoutn that represents $2 per capita of the population. The United States expends for Indian education aproximately $14 per capita of the Indian population.’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No.11. September 12, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
The war victory parade of the Irish Regiments was held in Dublin with a large turnout.
Below: The Water Lilies is a 1919 painting by impressionist Claude Monet, one of his Water Lilies series. The painting depicts a scene in Monet's French pond showing light reflecting off the water with water lilies on the surface. It is on display in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of Monet's larger paintings, it shows the beauty of the sunset reflecting off the water. In 1919, Claude Monet was an elderly man who had already had been painting for almost 70 years, and his Water Lilies series came during a time when he was mainly painting water lilies in his pond, the pond's bridge, and his garden.
1
The Hearings on the Irish Question were held before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in Washington. Testimony was heard from the Irish-American delegation in Paris and Judge Cohalan. Two hours had intially been scheduled but was extended. Judge Cohalan ‘opened the hearing by presenting a masterly case against the League of Nations but confined himself, for the most part to it's destructive effects on American soverignity, the great increase in power, commercial and maritime, it conferred on England, giving her absolute control of the sea which could be used against the United States. At the conclusion of his testimony, Judge Cohalan was carefully interogated by members of the committee...’
Gaelic American. November 23, 1946. Lynch Family Archives.
2
America: The large crowds once much a part of De Valera's tour were beginning to fall off..” ..as the novelty of his appearances began to wear off, the crowds declined and his failings as a public speaker became more apparent. He tended to read his speeches in a dull, halting manner”
Dr Ryle Dwyer “De Valera, the Man and the Myths” Poolbeg, Dublin 1991. p32.
$40,000 was paid to Sean Nunan from the Irish Victory Fund raised by the Friends of Irish Freedom.
Diarmuid Lynch "The I.R.B. and the 1916 Rising" Mercier Press. 1957. p209
This sum of money, exceptionally large at the time was in fact paid out to Sean Nunan and Harry Boland. Nunan was later to become the Consul of the Irish Free State in New York. Diarmuid recalled that the funds were ‘for the immediate purpose of which I understood to be that of procuring arms for Oaglaigh na hEireann.’
Application for Military Service Pension Certificate ( Diarmuid Lynch) - Department of Defence Files. Lynch Archives. Sept.28 1935
Sean Nunan wrote to Collins: ‘I thought at one time that we had some pliticians at home, but believe me they are nothing to the brands we have over here. Harry’s hair is falling out with worry. Your remarks to him at Vaughan’s on the night of his American wake he often repeats, ‘I’m a poor lonesome whore’. Nunan added that ‘The GWC [ Great white Chief i.e. de Valera ] is beating them and in spite of a lot of trouble and jealousy will come out on top’.
Arthur Mitchell. ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ p.114
An RIC cycle patrol is ambushed between Lorrha and Carriguhorig, Co Tipperary resulting in the death of one RIC man (Sgt Philip Brady) and the serious wounding of another (Constable Foley). Among the IRA men who took part in the ambush were John Madden, Michael Hogan, John Gilligan and James Carroll. Madden was later tried for the murder of Sgt Brady.
Lynch was appointed secretary of the Board of Trustees of the FOIF (date to be confirmed)
3
The New York correspondent of the Times reported on De Valera in the US: ‘..undoubtedly the doings of De Valera in the US have given fresh impetus to his followers in Ireland. Sinn Fein newspapers publish eagerly glowing reports of the progress, of the enthuasiasm of his meetings and the success of theloan…it is, however, possible to exagerate the influence of the American Tour. Ultimately De Valera will be judged not by his trumphs in America, but by the merits of his policy in purely Irish affairs’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p170-171
Washington DC: Hearings on the Irish Question continued before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Members of the American Commission on Irish Independence (Frank P. Walsh, Edward F. Dunne, and Michael J. Ryan) testified at length on the right of Ireland to self-determination and on their recent experiences in Paris and in Ireland. They were followed by Judge Cohalan who testified as a representative of the Irish-American element in America, that he wished to emphasise the fact that the "Belgian atrocities have been duplicated a hundredfold in Ireland... As far as American foreign policy was concerned, the Irish Americans wished to point out that under the Monroe Doctrine* as it has been established, we have grown in wealth, prosperity and power as no nation in the history of the world has grown. . . . We Irish think that there should be no abandonment of the policy laid down by Washington in his Farewell Address of keeping away from permanent, entangling alliances with any of the countries of the Old World."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.333
*The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas beginning in 1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to take control of any independent state in North or South America would be viewed as "the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." At the same time, the doctrine noted that the U.S. would recognize and not interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries.
The New York correspondent of the Times reported on De Valera in the US: ‘..undoubtedly the doings of De Valera in the US have given fresh impetus to his followers in Ireland. Sinn Fein newspapers publish eagerly glowing reports of the progress, of the enthuasiasm of his meetings and the success of theloan…it is, however, possible to exagerate the influence of the American Tour. Ultimately De Valera will be judged not by his trumphs in America, but by the merits of his policy in purely Irish affairs’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p170-171
Washington DC: Hearings on the Irish Question continued before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Members of the American Commission on Irish Independence (Frank P. Walsh, Edward F. Dunne, and Michael J. Ryan) testified at length on the right of Ireland to self-determination and on their recent experiences in Paris and in Ireland. They were followed by Judge Cohalan who testified as a representative of the Irish-American element in America, that he wished to emphasise the fact that the "Belgian atrocities have been duplicated a hundredfold in Ireland... As far as American foreign policy was concerned, the Irish Americans wished to point out that under the Monroe Doctrine* as it has been established, we have grown in wealth, prosperity and power as no nation in the history of the world has grown. . . . We Irish think that there should be no abandonment of the policy laid down by Washington in his Farewell Address of keeping away from permanent, entangling alliances with any of the countries of the Old World."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.333
*The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas beginning in 1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to take control of any independent state in North or South America would be viewed as "the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." At the same time, the doctrine noted that the U.S. would recognize and not interfere with existing European colonies nor meddle in the internal concerns of European countries.
4
President Wilson began an 8,000 mile intensive coast to coast speaking tour of 20 speeches in 29 cities over 22 days.
Following Wilson around the United States less than a week later were Senators Borah, Johnson, Judge Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom against the League, targeting President Wilson’s daily audiences with half and full page adverts in the local press against his Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations asking what the founding fathers would have said to the surrender of American sovereignty through the agency of the league. On the days following his address, a series of adverts would appear in local press entitled ‘Then and Now’ which contrasted Wilson’s fourteen points with was written into the Treaty of Versailles. Of course, the failure of President Wilson to secure self-determination for Ireland was stressed continuously.
Article X of the Covenant continued to be a major difficulty for Irish-Americans. Through this article, the political status quo around the world was to be frozen, including Ireland’s subjection to England. Should Ireland at some stage take steps to secure outside help or in the form of another revolution against Britain, then American forces and technology, under the terms of Article X, could be called in to prevent it from taking place, or put it down if started. Irish-American organisations were now increasingly behind any move to prevent America joining and ratifying the League of Nations.
"You have heard a great deal about Article X of the covenant of the League of Nations. Article X speaks the conscience of the world. . . . You have heard it said . . . that we are robbed of some degree of our sovereign independent choice by articles of that sort. Every man who makes a choice to respect the rights of his neighbor deprives himself of absolute sovereignty, but he does it by promising never to do wrong...The solemn thing about Article X is the first sentence . . . that says we will respect and preserve against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of other nations, . . . When you read Article X, therefore, you will see that it is nothing but the inevitable, logical center of the whole system of the covenant of the League of Nations, and I stand for it absolutely"
President Wilson address in Bismarck, North Dakota. September 10, 1919
President Wilson began an 8,000 mile intensive coast to coast speaking tour of 20 speeches in 29 cities over 22 days.
Following Wilson around the United States less than a week later were Senators Borah, Johnson, Judge Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom against the League, targeting President Wilson’s daily audiences with half and full page adverts in the local press against his Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations asking what the founding fathers would have said to the surrender of American sovereignty through the agency of the league. On the days following his address, a series of adverts would appear in local press entitled ‘Then and Now’ which contrasted Wilson’s fourteen points with was written into the Treaty of Versailles. Of course, the failure of President Wilson to secure self-determination for Ireland was stressed continuously.
Article X of the Covenant continued to be a major difficulty for Irish-Americans. Through this article, the political status quo around the world was to be frozen, including Ireland’s subjection to England. Should Ireland at some stage take steps to secure outside help or in the form of another revolution against Britain, then American forces and technology, under the terms of Article X, could be called in to prevent it from taking place, or put it down if started. Irish-American organisations were now increasingly behind any move to prevent America joining and ratifying the League of Nations.
"You have heard a great deal about Article X of the covenant of the League of Nations. Article X speaks the conscience of the world. . . . You have heard it said . . . that we are robbed of some degree of our sovereign independent choice by articles of that sort. Every man who makes a choice to respect the rights of his neighbor deprives himself of absolute sovereignty, but he does it by promising never to do wrong...The solemn thing about Article X is the first sentence . . . that says we will respect and preserve against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of other nations, . . . When you read Article X, therefore, you will see that it is nothing but the inevitable, logical center of the whole system of the covenant of the League of Nations, and I stand for it absolutely"
President Wilson address in Bismarck, North Dakota. September 10, 1919
5
Roscommon man, John O’Shehan sentenced to two years imprisonment for singing ‘The Felons of Our Land’.
Paudee O’Keefe, secretary of Sinn Fein was sentenced to 18 months in Mountjoy Prison. Immediately he went on hunger strike and was released in October.
Roscommon man, John O’Shehan sentenced to two years imprisonment for singing ‘The Felons of Our Land’.
Paudee O’Keefe, secretary of Sinn Fein was sentenced to 18 months in Mountjoy Prison. Immediately he went on hunger strike and was released in October.
6
Judge Cohalan on the road heard from the Washington Bureau Chief that Senator Frelinghuysen of New Jersey was ‘weakening on the League issue...the Judge immediately got in touch with the other members of the advertising committee of the Friends of Irish Freedom, and it was decided to launch a postal-card campaign. 70,000 cards were prepared for mailing to the Senator...within 2 days 35,000 cards were in the mail. On the back of each card was a demand that the Senator work for the defeat of the Treaty of Versailles, and each card bore the signature and address of a voter in New Jersey...the pressure was highly effective...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.336
Judge Cohalan on the road heard from the Washington Bureau Chief that Senator Frelinghuysen of New Jersey was ‘weakening on the League issue...the Judge immediately got in touch with the other members of the advertising committee of the Friends of Irish Freedom, and it was decided to launch a postal-card campaign. 70,000 cards were prepared for mailing to the Senator...within 2 days 35,000 cards were in the mail. On the back of each card was a demand that the Senator work for the defeat of the Treaty of Versailles, and each card bore the signature and address of a voter in New Jersey...the pressure was highly effective...’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.336
7
In Fermoy – the most important British military base in Munster, Liam Lynch Commandant of Cork Number Two Brigade led an attack by 25 Volunteers on a group of 14 British Soldiers from The Shropshire Light Infantry on their way to church. In this, the first IRA attack in Ireland on a military target, one soldier was killed, four wounded and 15 rifles captured along with ammunition. That night, two hundred British troops of the Shropshire Infantry and Royal Field Artillery sacked and looted shops in Fermoy. As the troops appeared to be officially sanctioned and were not reprimanded by the authorities, the general consensus of opinion was that the British Government intended to resort to this method of retribution against a civilian population as a reprisal for an Irish Volunteer attack. Colonel Dobbs, the Commandant of the Barracks admitted that preceeding the attacks, he addressed the soldiers, saying they were to have a ‘night out’ and that ‘trench tools are handy things to have in a row’
In Fermoy – the most important British military base in Munster, Liam Lynch Commandant of Cork Number Two Brigade led an attack by 25 Volunteers on a group of 14 British Soldiers from The Shropshire Light Infantry on their way to church. In this, the first IRA attack in Ireland on a military target, one soldier was killed, four wounded and 15 rifles captured along with ammunition. That night, two hundred British troops of the Shropshire Infantry and Royal Field Artillery sacked and looted shops in Fermoy. As the troops appeared to be officially sanctioned and were not reprimanded by the authorities, the general consensus of opinion was that the British Government intended to resort to this method of retribution against a civilian population as a reprisal for an Irish Volunteer attack. Colonel Dobbs, the Commandant of the Barracks admitted that preceeding the attacks, he addressed the soldiers, saying they were to have a ‘night out’ and that ‘trench tools are handy things to have in a row’
8
9
Reacting to Shaw's memo of the 27th Aug, RIC Inspector General Byrne writes to Under Secretary saying that British Army withdrawal of outpost detachments will result in widespread withdrawal of RIC by Christmas. From the autumn, police barracks in large parts of the south and west, particularly in remote rural areas, were evacuated.
Reacting to Shaw's memo of the 27th Aug, RIC Inspector General Byrne writes to Under Secretary saying that British Army withdrawal of outpost detachments will result in widespread withdrawal of RIC by Christmas. From the autumn, police barracks in large parts of the south and west, particularly in remote rural areas, were evacuated.
10
Dáil Eireann is proclaimed by the British as a dangerous organisation and suppressed throughout Ireland. A number of historians have stated that this action resulted in an escalation of the military conflict as it cut off the main avenue of peaceful political protest.
Ian McPhearson, the Chief Secretary later commented on the apparent British delay in moving against Dail Eireann: ‘ We had to allow these members to sit togther in consultation if they wished, but when they conspired to executive acts…to overthhrow the duly constituted authority, then we could act.’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P61
While this caused difficulty in administering a Government, the benefits were immediately seen in the US.
‘To immense meetings in scores of American cities, to public bodies and to the Press, De Valera explained the conflict at home, shown the right of the Irish people to a Government of their own choice was being denied, and their effort to exercise it opposed, by a violent, military regime.’
Macardle. ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press, Dublin. 1957. p309.
Surprisingly, the Dail Eireann offices at 76 Harcourt Street were not closed by the authorities for a further 2 months.
The Government effectively went underground for the next 2 years, moving from safe house to safe house, department offices split into 2, 7 and as many as 14 different buildings throughout the city to avoid raids. The Ministers and officials moved freely around the city and it soon became known as ‘Government by bicycle’.
Marie Comerford recalled ‘ I soon knew the look of some of the bicycles ridden by the men we were trying to protect. Desmond Fitzgerald seemed to have the same bit of string hanging from his carrier all the time I knew it. Mick Collins rode a very big, high framed black Lucania. Cathal Brugha’s green Pierce was a sign that he was present in his office when one saw it in the corridor leading there. De Valera’s very high machine with a strenghtened frame was not, I think, ridden by him after 1916’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P55
Another bicycle story came from David Nelligan: ‘Collins had an old bicylce and the chain was faulty on it; it used to rattle against the frame…and one night a bloody awful fog came down. It was like a London pea-souper, you couldn’t see a shagging thing. So I was walking along Nassau Street minding my own business, you see, and I heard a rattle, this old banshee wail from [ a bicycle ] chain. ‘Christ’ says I ‘that’s Mick’s old bike’ and I stood in the middle of the tramline. So along comes Collins from Grafton Street corner with his dust coat flying and when he sees me he says ‘Jesus, where did you come out of?’ ‘I heard the old bicycle’ says I ‘By Christ, that’ll get you shot yet’, so he roared laughing.’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P55
Communications were carried between the many Government offices in hiding by a group of Fianna Eireann couriers. ‘These couriers were of tremendous importance to the organisation and they had great responsibilites, though they never seemed to realise it. They were seemingly carefree messenger boys, flitting here and there on bicycles…there was no danger of even an accidental leakage of information on the part of any of the couriers’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P56
Two of the most important couriers of the undergound government were Daithi O’Donnchada and Sean McGrath. ‘O Donnachada was the secretary of the Dail Trustees, a bowler hatted, formally dressed businessmen, he paraded with aplomb down the roads to the banks and the Dail offices carrying thousands of pounds…an unflappable man, on one occasion when his offices were being searched by the police, he ‘lit the cigar he kept for emergencies and joined the other interested spectators in the street outside. Sean McGath… carried the wages to the scattered employees of the Republic in Dublin. They called him ‘Bainc ar Suil’ [ The Walking Bank ] and appropriately his signature later appeared on the Free State paper money. Neither of the two couriers was arrested nor lost a penny – and this in a city supposedly filled with spies, touts and inteligence agents of the ancien regime’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P48
So the underground Government was able to operate and fund it’s activities in the capital using a network of safe houses and couriers, but what of the rest of the country and deputies themseleves – how was contact maintained with them?
‘members of Cumman na mBan were used mainly for communications with other parts of the country…the methold of summoning members of the dail for a meeting – each deputy had a girl assigned to him to whom Harling ( The Presidential Messenger ) would write a letter, as from a boyfriend, asking her to visit him in Dublin on a certain date, she would then inform the deputy. Not until he got to Dublin was he informed where and exactly when the meeting would be held.’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P56
With increasing communication demands on Cumman na mBan, the I.R.A network was called upon to assist. Delivering mail for the civil side of the movement became a hotly disputed additonal duty. Arthur Griffith’s hold on the Irish Volunteers was now released, and the I.R.A began to take the initiaitive. The first high profile action was to be the asassination of the British Government chief in Ireland, Lord French. After a number of abortive attempts, an attack was made on December 19th.
It has been argued since, that Griffith while by nature opposed to violence and violent means of attaining a political goal, did not try to stop the growing I.R.A activities as the physcial force group had achieved a great deal in promoting self-Government.
Washington DC: In the Senate, Committee proposes 45 amendments and 4 reservations; all amendments defeated by Senate; sent back to Committee
Austria signed the Treaty of St Germain, officially bringing the Austrian participation in the war to an end.
11
The Dail Eireann offices were raided in a joint police and military operation and 9 staff members were arrested.
‘Neither their goals nor their bullets nor their bayonets will prevent us from carrying on the trust the Irish people gave us’ said Griffith.
Collins authorised the formation of ‘The Squad’, a specialist unit to carry our assassinations of leading detectives, G-Men and undercover operatives searching for him. It’s members were all from the Dublin Brigade IRA, commanded by one of Collins close friends, Dick McKee, a Dublin printer. McKee handpicked eight young men for the dangerous and bloody work ahead: Jim Slattery, Joe Leonard, Bill Stapleton, Pat McCrae, Paddy Daly (who had fought in the Four Courts during the Rising), James Conroy, Sean Doyle and Ben Barrett. It’s leader was to be a former Frongoch internee, Michael McDonnell and operating under the direct orders of Michael Collins. All eight agreed to join the squad and were shortly afterwards joined by Tom Keogh, Mick O’Reilly and Vincent ‘Vinnie’ Byrne. These twelve men soon were nicknamed ‘The Twelve Apostles’. Each had full time employment in a trade or profession in which employers or workmates could provide alibis during raids and searches which invariably followed any assassination. On occasions others were added, such was the case on Bloody Sunday when Stephen Behan (father of Brendan and Dominic), Sean Lemass, James Ronan, Johnny Wilson, Andy Cooney, Carlie Dalton, Mick O'Reilly and Gearoid O'Sullivan, along with others were involved.
Rough justice was meted out to alleged informers, with most taken to remote areas and shot.
The Florida Keys hurricane kills 600 in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and Texas.
below: British forces raid the Dail Eireann offices.
The Dail Eireann offices were raided in a joint police and military operation and 9 staff members were arrested.
‘Neither their goals nor their bullets nor their bayonets will prevent us from carrying on the trust the Irish people gave us’ said Griffith.
Collins authorised the formation of ‘The Squad’, a specialist unit to carry our assassinations of leading detectives, G-Men and undercover operatives searching for him. It’s members were all from the Dublin Brigade IRA, commanded by one of Collins close friends, Dick McKee, a Dublin printer. McKee handpicked eight young men for the dangerous and bloody work ahead: Jim Slattery, Joe Leonard, Bill Stapleton, Pat McCrae, Paddy Daly (who had fought in the Four Courts during the Rising), James Conroy, Sean Doyle and Ben Barrett. It’s leader was to be a former Frongoch internee, Michael McDonnell and operating under the direct orders of Michael Collins. All eight agreed to join the squad and were shortly afterwards joined by Tom Keogh, Mick O’Reilly and Vincent ‘Vinnie’ Byrne. These twelve men soon were nicknamed ‘The Twelve Apostles’. Each had full time employment in a trade or profession in which employers or workmates could provide alibis during raids and searches which invariably followed any assassination. On occasions others were added, such was the case on Bloody Sunday when Stephen Behan (father of Brendan and Dominic), Sean Lemass, James Ronan, Johnny Wilson, Andy Cooney, Carlie Dalton, Mick O'Reilly and Gearoid O'Sullivan, along with others were involved.
Rough justice was meted out to alleged informers, with most taken to remote areas and shot.
The Florida Keys hurricane kills 600 in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and Texas.
below: British forces raid the Dail Eireann offices.
12
Dublin: Dail Eireann supressed.
An example of how the split in Irish-American circles had developed was when news of the suppression of Dail Eireann was made public in the United States. Dr.McCartan called a private meeting with Joe McGarrity and Dr. Maloney and planned a large protest meeting, without including representatives from Clan na Gael and the Friends of Irish Freedom. The meeting was planned for September 14th.
Liam Mellows writing back to Dail Eireann: ‘Gang not pulling with de Valera. Want to run him, he wont run. He has seen though them…never saw a sicker man. Disullusionment isnt the word’
Arthur Mitchell. ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ p.114
Security forces searched Sinn Fein Headquarters at 6 Harcourt Street.
In Munich, the German Worker’s Party leader, Adolf Hitler, addresses a meeting of the party.
Detective John Hoey (32) of the DMP, who had taken part in the earlier search of the Sinn Fein HQ but was better known in republican circles as having identified Sean MacDiarmada for the British military in 1916*, was shot dead outside the RIC HQ in Brunswick Street, Dublin. He was to have taken up duty with the Special Branch at Scotland Yard the following week.
* MacDiarmada was not well known to security forces in Dublin at the time of the Rising and so had been selected for internment in Britain, that is, until identified by Hoey. Detailed profiles had been maintained by the RIC on all the leadership and senior figures within the nationalist movement from c. 1913.
13
14
The McCartan/Garrity/Maloney organised meeting to protest the suppression of Dail Eireann was held in the Lexington Theatre and was a ‘sell-out’. The British Government was roundly denounced and resolutions of support passed for the members of Dail Eireann. However, uninvited were the main Irish-American leaders of Clan na Gael and the Friends of Irish Freedom. The bill for the event expenses however was presented to the National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom on October 3rd. The amount? $1,515.
John Devoy regarded the actions of McGarrity, Maloney and McCartan as inexcusable and published his regards to the newly developing Irish-American grouping in his November 5th edition of his newspaper, the Gaelic American.
‘The most dangerous English propaganda that ever menaced the Irish cause is now being carried out here in America under the pretence of zeal for the Irish Republic. Its object is to sow dissension in the Irish movement at a time when unity is absolutely necessary, and to destroy confidence in the leadership when the leadership is achieving results most beneficial to Ireland and most injurious to England. If it should succeed, the Irish movement in America would be destroyed or rendered powerless and Ireland, when she most needs American help, would be deprived of it…it does not matter to the slanders that the men they falsely accuse have given the most ample proof of sincerity by standing up for Ireland when the whole power of the Washington Administration was exercised remorselessly for their destruction.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.349
De Valera speaking in Syracuse, New York said ‘ What I seek in America in seeking recognition of the Republic, is that the United Staes Government recognise in Ireland’s case, Ireland’s right to national Self Determination – that and nothing more’
In Dublin, the former parliamentarian Stephen Gwynn spoke of the British Government’s efforts to supress Sinn Fein and Dail Eireann: ‘ Things have got to the point that the Government cannot check the growth of Sinn Fein: any repressive action can only increase it’s power’ and the correspondent for the Daily Herald :‘ Suppressed though it may be, the Republic…commands the unforced obedience of the Irish people…this invisible Republic…exists in the hearts of the men and women of Ireland and wields a moral authority which all the tanks and machine guns of King George cannot command’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P62
The McCartan/Garrity/Maloney organised meeting to protest the suppression of Dail Eireann was held in the Lexington Theatre and was a ‘sell-out’. The British Government was roundly denounced and resolutions of support passed for the members of Dail Eireann. However, uninvited were the main Irish-American leaders of Clan na Gael and the Friends of Irish Freedom. The bill for the event expenses however was presented to the National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom on October 3rd. The amount? $1,515.
John Devoy regarded the actions of McGarrity, Maloney and McCartan as inexcusable and published his regards to the newly developing Irish-American grouping in his November 5th edition of his newspaper, the Gaelic American.
‘The most dangerous English propaganda that ever menaced the Irish cause is now being carried out here in America under the pretence of zeal for the Irish Republic. Its object is to sow dissension in the Irish movement at a time when unity is absolutely necessary, and to destroy confidence in the leadership when the leadership is achieving results most beneficial to Ireland and most injurious to England. If it should succeed, the Irish movement in America would be destroyed or rendered powerless and Ireland, when she most needs American help, would be deprived of it…it does not matter to the slanders that the men they falsely accuse have given the most ample proof of sincerity by standing up for Ireland when the whole power of the Washington Administration was exercised remorselessly for their destruction.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.349
De Valera speaking in Syracuse, New York said ‘ What I seek in America in seeking recognition of the Republic, is that the United Staes Government recognise in Ireland’s case, Ireland’s right to national Self Determination – that and nothing more’
In Dublin, the former parliamentarian Stephen Gwynn spoke of the British Government’s efforts to supress Sinn Fein and Dail Eireann: ‘ Things have got to the point that the Government cannot check the growth of Sinn Fein: any repressive action can only increase it’s power’ and the correspondent for the Daily Herald :‘ Suppressed though it may be, the Republic…commands the unforced obedience of the Irish people…this invisible Republic…exists in the hearts of the men and women of Ireland and wields a moral authority which all the tanks and machine guns of King George cannot command’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P62
15
17
19
Although already active the Collins assassination team known as 'The Squad' became official at a meeting held at 46 Rutland Square (now Parnell Square). This was a professional operation and the core members were paid £4.10.0 a week. A few month's later 3 more members were added. Mick O'Reilly was now permanent and was joined by Vinny Byrne and Tom Keogh. This brought the number to 12 and hence the 'squad' became the 12 Apostles, a title first bestowed on them by Austin Stack.
The Irish National Bureau, Washington DC Newsletter No 12 led with news that the editors of newspapers and publications throughout the US were being sent a 36 page pamphlet of “ concrete evidence of the extensive efforts being made by the British Propagandists to sway American public opinion”. The pamphlet carried ‘ a series of articles reprinted from the London Times and other sources, which are so set-up as to permit of being published separately and in editorials or brief news form. There is no request to give credit to the London Times.Without giving the names of the authors of the articles, the pamphlet says: "The ten special articles are the work of Irishmen familiar with the affairs of their country and free from political animus." The public must remain in ignorance as to who the Irishmen referred to may be. Already many of these articles, which the clever manipulators of British propaganda arranged in their entirety or abbreviated form, have begun to appear in American dailies and weeklies’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 12. September 19, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
Although already active the Collins assassination team known as 'The Squad' became official at a meeting held at 46 Rutland Square (now Parnell Square). This was a professional operation and the core members were paid £4.10.0 a week. A few month's later 3 more members were added. Mick O'Reilly was now permanent and was joined by Vinny Byrne and Tom Keogh. This brought the number to 12 and hence the 'squad' became the 12 Apostles, a title first bestowed on them by Austin Stack.
The Irish National Bureau, Washington DC Newsletter No 12 led with news that the editors of newspapers and publications throughout the US were being sent a 36 page pamphlet of “ concrete evidence of the extensive efforts being made by the British Propagandists to sway American public opinion”. The pamphlet carried ‘ a series of articles reprinted from the London Times and other sources, which are so set-up as to permit of being published separately and in editorials or brief news form. There is no request to give credit to the London Times.Without giving the names of the authors of the articles, the pamphlet says: "The ten special articles are the work of Irishmen familiar with the affairs of their country and free from political animus." The public must remain in ignorance as to who the Irishmen referred to may be. Already many of these articles, which the clever manipulators of British propaganda arranged in their entirety or abbreviated form, have begun to appear in American dailies and weeklies’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No 12. September 19, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
20
Ireland: All republican newspapers supressed.
New York: The National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom received a letter from De Valera advising that the initial arrangements for placing the Bond-Certificates with the American public was now ready, that the drive was to begin not later than the first week in December, total running costs of collecting an estimated $10 million would be in the region of 10% or $1 million, and if the Friends of Irish Freedom could ‘give in advance their subscription for the amount in Certificates which the organisation proposes to take’ would assist in cash flow. The request was discussed at the September 29th meeting of the Irish Victory Fund Trustees.
‘…These Bond Certificates..were non-negotiable; they represented acknowledgement of subscriptions; they were exchangeable for Bonds of the Republic of Ireland upon the international recognition of the Irish Republic…’
Diarmuid Lynch to the Irish Press. November 1946. Lynch Family Archives Folder 46 - 00013
De Valera was in Rhode Island, officially received in Providence by Governor Beekham and Freedom of the City of Newport was conferred by the Mayor. Mass meetings were held in Providence ( 15,000 ) and Newport (8,000 ) to pledge support for full independence for Ireland.
The Irish National Bureau in Washington D.C. received requests for more than 20,000 copies of the report on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on August 30th.
The Irish World published in Fleet Street, Dublin carried one of the June 24th de Valera photo-shoot. The newspaper carried details of the Irish National Loan:
You can recover Ireland for the Irish
You can re-people the land
You can harness the rivers
You can put her flag on every sea
You can plant the hillsides and the wastes
You can set the looms spinning
You can set the hammer ringing on the anvil
You can abolish the slums
You can send her ships to every port
You can garner the harvest of the seas
You can drain the bogs
You can save the boys and girls for Ireland
You can restore Ireland’s health, he rstrenght, her beauty & her wealth.
The Irish National Loan (1919) of £250,000 is now open.
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 5/17
Ireland: All republican newspapers supressed.
New York: The National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom received a letter from De Valera advising that the initial arrangements for placing the Bond-Certificates with the American public was now ready, that the drive was to begin not later than the first week in December, total running costs of collecting an estimated $10 million would be in the region of 10% or $1 million, and if the Friends of Irish Freedom could ‘give in advance their subscription for the amount in Certificates which the organisation proposes to take’ would assist in cash flow. The request was discussed at the September 29th meeting of the Irish Victory Fund Trustees.
‘…These Bond Certificates..were non-negotiable; they represented acknowledgement of subscriptions; they were exchangeable for Bonds of the Republic of Ireland upon the international recognition of the Irish Republic…’
Diarmuid Lynch to the Irish Press. November 1946. Lynch Family Archives Folder 46 - 00013
De Valera was in Rhode Island, officially received in Providence by Governor Beekham and Freedom of the City of Newport was conferred by the Mayor. Mass meetings were held in Providence ( 15,000 ) and Newport (8,000 ) to pledge support for full independence for Ireland.
The Irish National Bureau in Washington D.C. received requests for more than 20,000 copies of the report on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on August 30th.
The Irish World published in Fleet Street, Dublin carried one of the June 24th de Valera photo-shoot. The newspaper carried details of the Irish National Loan:
You can recover Ireland for the Irish
You can re-people the land
You can harness the rivers
You can put her flag on every sea
You can plant the hillsides and the wastes
You can set the looms spinning
You can set the hammer ringing on the anvil
You can abolish the slums
You can send her ships to every port
You can garner the harvest of the seas
You can drain the bogs
You can save the boys and girls for Ireland
You can restore Ireland’s health, he rstrenght, her beauty & her wealth.
The Irish National Loan (1919) of £250,000 is now open.
Lynch Family Archives. Folder 5/17
21
First meeting of Commission of Inquiry into the Industry and Resources of Ireland set up in June by the Dáil. Figgis had been appointed Secretary of the Commission earlier in September after the British closed down his paper (The Republic) after it had advertised the Dáil Loan.
First meeting of Commission of Inquiry into the Industry and Resources of Ireland set up in June by the Dáil. Figgis had been appointed Secretary of the Commission earlier in September after the British closed down his paper (The Republic) after it had advertised the Dáil Loan.
22
President Wilson collapses from a stroke on his American speaking tour in Pueblo, Colorado.
From then until the end of his presidency 17 months later, he was little more than a shadow President. He returned to the White House where his wife, Edith Galt Wilson, Doctor and private secretary agreed to hide the true nature of his illness. The White House gates were closed and sentries posted with Edith assuming effective control. The Vice President, Thomas Marshal (whose only enduring contribution to American history was his statement “what this country needs is a good five cent cigar” ) was timid and the Wilson’s were not eager to hand over the reins. So effectively, America had it’s first female president.
( The 25th Amendment , ratified in 1967, was to avoid a repeat of the Wilson-Marshall situation as well as provide a clear cut means for the transfer of power in cases of presidential incapacity.)
In Ireland, small hand grenades were issued to the RIC for use if patrols or barracks were attacked.
Cathal Brugha announced that Sinn Fein appointed courts would settle all trade disputes in Ireland.
President Wilson collapses from a stroke on his American speaking tour in Pueblo, Colorado.
From then until the end of his presidency 17 months later, he was little more than a shadow President. He returned to the White House where his wife, Edith Galt Wilson, Doctor and private secretary agreed to hide the true nature of his illness. The White House gates were closed and sentries posted with Edith assuming effective control. The Vice President, Thomas Marshal (whose only enduring contribution to American history was his statement “what this country needs is a good five cent cigar” ) was timid and the Wilson’s were not eager to hand over the reins. So effectively, America had it’s first female president.
( The 25th Amendment , ratified in 1967, was to avoid a repeat of the Wilson-Marshall situation as well as provide a clear cut means for the transfer of power in cases of presidential incapacity.)
In Ireland, small hand grenades were issued to the RIC for use if patrols or barracks were attacked.
Cathal Brugha announced that Sinn Fein appointed courts would settle all trade disputes in Ireland.
25
RIC barracks in Ireland were issued with army surplus equipment – sandbags, barbed wire, steel shutters, rifles, grenades etc ‘but these defensive measures did nothing to offset their occupants sense of helplessness’
Peter Hart ‘The IRA & It's Enemies – Violence and Community in Cork 1916-1923’ Oxford University Press 1998. p64
RIC barracks in Ireland were issued with army surplus equipment – sandbags, barbed wire, steel shutters, rifles, grenades etc ‘but these defensive measures did nothing to offset their occupants sense of helplessness’
Peter Hart ‘The IRA & It's Enemies – Violence and Community in Cork 1916-1923’ Oxford University Press 1998. p64
26
North Cork TD Patrick O’Keeffe sentenced to two years imprisonment for seditious speech.
The Irish National Bureau Newsletter announced that arrangements were ‘about complete for the bond issue of the Irish Republic. The money raised will be expended in re-establishing an Irish Government with consular service and in establishing credits in this country for Irish trade. …Frank P. Walsh is chairman of the committee directing the campaign for the bond issue, and President de Valera has begun a continent wide tour to set Ireland’s case and conditions before the American people’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No.13. September 26, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
North Cork TD Patrick O’Keeffe sentenced to two years imprisonment for seditious speech.
The Irish National Bureau Newsletter announced that arrangements were ‘about complete for the bond issue of the Irish Republic. The money raised will be expended in re-establishing an Irish Government with consular service and in establishing credits in this country for Irish trade. …Frank P. Walsh is chairman of the committee directing the campaign for the bond issue, and President de Valera has begun a continent wide tour to set Ireland’s case and conditions before the American people’
Irish National Bureau, Washington DC. Newsletter No.13. September 26, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
27
28
Royal Irish Constabulary constables Sweeney and Walsh were attacked and wounded after leaving church in Berrings, Cork. None of the local residents would testify against their attackers.
RIC barracks in the South and West rural areas now began to be evacuated. ‘This dramatically illustrated the collapse of British rule and enabled the establishment of some elements of a counter-state, notably the republican courts’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p27
"As donations towards the Victory Fund began to trickle in, Lynch implemented a strict accounting of all monies and funds, as evidenced by a congratulatory letter from Richard Wolfe of Chicago, one of the Board of Trustees. ‘I am very happy indeed to know that you are taking definite steps towards the proper handling of the funds. It is unpardonable negligence that this was not done at the very outset. There is danger and ground for just criticism in the loose handling of funds. I frankly confess that I feel ashamed that we did not have the business sense to adopt at the outset the simple method of business in handling our funds.’
Reports from Dáil Éireann, were regularly received, printed and distributed from the national secretary’s office. The Irish Bulletin was sent from Dublin to Lynch to publicise the news of raids and arrests which the Bulletin routinely printed. In turn, Robert Brennan, Sinn Féin’s director of publicity, was soliciting information and ideas from Lynch for inclusion in the Bulletin. Other nationalist literature was organised from Lynch’s office, such as Lawrence Ginnell’s second pamphlet, English Atrocities in Ireland 1917–1918, which Harry Boland brought from Ireland in June 1919. At the same time, Lynch did not ignore the fine detail, sending a donation of £168. 16s 10d from FOIF funds to the Presentation Convent in Rathmore, County Kerry, to rebuild the convent and school after it had burned down.
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. Pxx
Royal Irish Constabulary constables Sweeney and Walsh were attacked and wounded after leaving church in Berrings, Cork. None of the local residents would testify against their attackers.
RIC barracks in the South and West rural areas now began to be evacuated. ‘This dramatically illustrated the collapse of British rule and enabled the establishment of some elements of a counter-state, notably the republican courts’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p27
"As donations towards the Victory Fund began to trickle in, Lynch implemented a strict accounting of all monies and funds, as evidenced by a congratulatory letter from Richard Wolfe of Chicago, one of the Board of Trustees. ‘I am very happy indeed to know that you are taking definite steps towards the proper handling of the funds. It is unpardonable negligence that this was not done at the very outset. There is danger and ground for just criticism in the loose handling of funds. I frankly confess that I feel ashamed that we did not have the business sense to adopt at the outset the simple method of business in handling our funds.’
Reports from Dáil Éireann, were regularly received, printed and distributed from the national secretary’s office. The Irish Bulletin was sent from Dublin to Lynch to publicise the news of raids and arrests which the Bulletin routinely printed. In turn, Robert Brennan, Sinn Féin’s director of publicity, was soliciting information and ideas from Lynch for inclusion in the Bulletin. Other nationalist literature was organised from Lynch’s office, such as Lawrence Ginnell’s second pamphlet, English Atrocities in Ireland 1917–1918, which Harry Boland brought from Ireland in June 1919. At the same time, Lynch did not ignore the fine detail, sending a donation of £168. 16s 10d from FOIF funds to the Presentation Convent in Rathmore, County Kerry, to rebuild the convent and school after it had burned down.
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch - A Forgotten Irish Patriot' Mercier Press, 2013. Pxx
29
New York - The Friends of Irish Freedom trustees voted a $100,000 “present” loan to cover “the preliminary expenses in connection with the Presidents tour and the Irish Republican Bond Certificate issue”
Minutes of the FOIF 29.9.19. Quoted by Patrick McCartan. “With de Valera in America” Bretano, New York. 1932. P.145
According to Patrick Tansill, what was approved was:
‘a loan to the American Commission for Irish Independence, through President De Valera, of a sum not to exceed $100,000’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.350
The Irish National Bureau Newsletter writing on the de Valera tour:
President de Valera has been invited by the Mayor of Philadelphia to visit that city in his official capacity as President of the Irish Republic. In his invitation, Mayor Smith recalled the fact that an Irishman planned and laid out the City of Philadelphia, that the Declaration of Independence was first publicly read in Philadelphia by another Irishman, first printed and distributed by still another Irishman, and is today preserved in the handwriting of another native of Ireland. While the policy of imposing tariffs not alone for revenue, but for the protection of growing industries, was evolved in Philadelphia by the son of the scholarly Irish rebel, Matthew Carey, friend of Franklin, and finally Thomas Fitzsimmons, native of Ireland, "had the distinction of first proposing and securing the enacting into law of that principle of legislation to which America owes so much of its greatness."
The Parliament of New South Wales of the Australian Commonwealth has passed a Resolution asking that Ireland be given the free right of self-determination. Ireland has already determined her desire for Republican form of Government, and Australians, whose population includes so many of the descendants of Irish political prisoners, have been very outspoken in urging a free expression of that determination.
Irish National Bureau Newsletter Washington DC. Issue no:15 – October 10, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
Denis Lordan, 13 St. Christopher's Walk, Cork.
BMH Statement WS 470. Excerpt
http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0470.pdf#page=13
Autumn 1919
"In September, 1919, for personal reasons I had to resign as Vice Commandant of the 1st Battalion and went to live outside Cork No. 3 Brigade area. I was then resident in Ballinhassig which was in 1st Cork Brigade area. The local Company of Ballinhassig was in a fair state of organisation but scarcely any organisation existed in districts surrounding it to the south- east. During my residence in Ballinhassig area I set about organising Companies in Ballygarvan, Nohoval, Tracton and Kinsale. Ear1y in 1920, an election was held for the formation of a Battalion staff, comprising the Companies in the area from Carrigaline, Kinsale and Ballinhassig, thence forward known as 9th Battalion, Cork No. 1 Brigade. Under protest I was elected Vice Commandant and carried out duties in the battalion area up to the end of 1920."
New York - The Friends of Irish Freedom trustees voted a $100,000 “present” loan to cover “the preliminary expenses in connection with the Presidents tour and the Irish Republican Bond Certificate issue”
Minutes of the FOIF 29.9.19. Quoted by Patrick McCartan. “With de Valera in America” Bretano, New York. 1932. P.145
According to Patrick Tansill, what was approved was:
‘a loan to the American Commission for Irish Independence, through President De Valera, of a sum not to exceed $100,000’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.350
The Irish National Bureau Newsletter writing on the de Valera tour:
President de Valera has been invited by the Mayor of Philadelphia to visit that city in his official capacity as President of the Irish Republic. In his invitation, Mayor Smith recalled the fact that an Irishman planned and laid out the City of Philadelphia, that the Declaration of Independence was first publicly read in Philadelphia by another Irishman, first printed and distributed by still another Irishman, and is today preserved in the handwriting of another native of Ireland. While the policy of imposing tariffs not alone for revenue, but for the protection of growing industries, was evolved in Philadelphia by the son of the scholarly Irish rebel, Matthew Carey, friend of Franklin, and finally Thomas Fitzsimmons, native of Ireland, "had the distinction of first proposing and securing the enacting into law of that principle of legislation to which America owes so much of its greatness."
The Parliament of New South Wales of the Australian Commonwealth has passed a Resolution asking that Ireland be given the free right of self-determination. Ireland has already determined her desire for Republican form of Government, and Australians, whose population includes so many of the descendants of Irish political prisoners, have been very outspoken in urging a free expression of that determination.
Irish National Bureau Newsletter Washington DC. Issue no:15 – October 10, 1919. Lynch Family Archives.
Denis Lordan, 13 St. Christopher's Walk, Cork.
BMH Statement WS 470. Excerpt
http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/reels/bmh/BMH.WS0470.pdf#page=13
Autumn 1919
"In September, 1919, for personal reasons I had to resign as Vice Commandant of the 1st Battalion and went to live outside Cork No. 3 Brigade area. I was then resident in Ballinhassig which was in 1st Cork Brigade area. The local Company of Ballinhassig was in a fair state of organisation but scarcely any organisation existed in districts surrounding it to the south- east. During my residence in Ballinhassig area I set about organising Companies in Ballygarvan, Nohoval, Tracton and Kinsale. Ear1y in 1920, an election was held for the formation of a Battalion staff, comprising the Companies in the area from Carrigaline, Kinsale and Ballinhassig, thence forward known as 9th Battalion, Cork No. 1 Brigade. Under protest I was elected Vice Commandant and carried out duties in the battalion area up to the end of 1920."
30
Below: The City (French: La Ville) is a 1919 painting by French painter and sculptor Fernand Léger. The painting is Cubist in style and is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as part of the collection donated by Albert Eugene Gallatin. Gallatin donated the piece to the museum 1952 and it has also been shown at the Guggenheim Museum. Medium Oil on canvas. Dimensions 231.1 cm × 298.4 cm (91.0 in × 117.5 in). Location Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia