Work in Progress. Last updated: 20 June 2020
1
New York
James O’Mara offered his resignation to De Valera as loan organiser. ( No mention made in de Valera biography )
The Friends of Irish Freedom Executive contributed $100,000 to the Irish Republic Bond Certificates drive.(equivalent of $1.25 million 2019)
In a letter to Cabinet, de Valera commented that he was continuing to press Ireland’s case ‘ heretofore everything was left to the Judge in this line. I never knew after he had left me that he wouldn’t go and do something quite different from that he had led me to believe he intended doing’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p109
The Carsonite Delegation to America returned to Ireland. As the Newsletter commented: ‘Their mission of hate was an ignominious failure. They leave behind nothing noble, nothing inspiring, nothing that makes for better conditions in the world. In a land dedicated to liberty, they trod Liberty underfoot. In a land dedicated to religious freedom, they strove to stir up religious strife…yet, unknowingly, they did good. They brought to apathetic minds and interest in Irish affairs. They reached hearts with their cries of hate that could never have been reached by pleas of justice…on the whole, the supporters of the Irish Republic have every reason to be thankful that Mr. Carson sent the delegation to America. ‘
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 36, March 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Ireland: Thurles was shot up and ‘partially wrecked’ by police and military.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported on ‘the blessings conferred upon the Irish people by the soldiery and military police in the months of January & February 1920 may be summarised as follows: Murders, 4; armed assaults upon citizenry 34; raids on private houses, etc., 5370; arrests of Irish citizens, 516; deportations 78; proclamations and suppression 20; prison sentences, 69; courts-martial, 13; total 6104.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The number of deportations of Irish citizens by British armed forces from May 1 1916 to March 1, 1920 was 2,162.
English Atrocities in Ireland – Katherine Hughes. Friends of Irish Freedom pamphlet. Lynch Family Archives.
Following the placing of curfew between midnight and 5am in Dublin, the city corporation issued these orders to all civil employees:
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 1st 1920.
Raids: 156
Arrests: 71
Sentences: 0
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 2
Deportations 0
Sabotage 4
Murder 0
Total 233
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
New York
James O’Mara offered his resignation to De Valera as loan organiser. ( No mention made in de Valera biography )
The Friends of Irish Freedom Executive contributed $100,000 to the Irish Republic Bond Certificates drive.(equivalent of $1.25 million 2019)
In a letter to Cabinet, de Valera commented that he was continuing to press Ireland’s case ‘ heretofore everything was left to the Judge in this line. I never knew after he had left me that he wouldn’t go and do something quite different from that he had led me to believe he intended doing’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p109
The Carsonite Delegation to America returned to Ireland. As the Newsletter commented: ‘Their mission of hate was an ignominious failure. They leave behind nothing noble, nothing inspiring, nothing that makes for better conditions in the world. In a land dedicated to liberty, they trod Liberty underfoot. In a land dedicated to religious freedom, they strove to stir up religious strife…yet, unknowingly, they did good. They brought to apathetic minds and interest in Irish affairs. They reached hearts with their cries of hate that could never have been reached by pleas of justice…on the whole, the supporters of the Irish Republic have every reason to be thankful that Mr. Carson sent the delegation to America. ‘
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 36, March 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Ireland: Thurles was shot up and ‘partially wrecked’ by police and military.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported on ‘the blessings conferred upon the Irish people by the soldiery and military police in the months of January & February 1920 may be summarised as follows: Murders, 4; armed assaults upon citizenry 34; raids on private houses, etc., 5370; arrests of Irish citizens, 516; deportations 78; proclamations and suppression 20; prison sentences, 69; courts-martial, 13; total 6104.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The number of deportations of Irish citizens by British armed forces from May 1 1916 to March 1, 1920 was 2,162.
English Atrocities in Ireland – Katherine Hughes. Friends of Irish Freedom pamphlet. Lynch Family Archives.
Following the placing of curfew between midnight and 5am in Dublin, the city corporation issued these orders to all civil employees:
- That the Council refuses permission to any employee or official to apply for permits to the English Military Government for the discharge of any municipal duties.
- That the Council orders the cessation of such municipal services as might endanger the lives of our officials or employees during the imposition of martial law, and that night watchmen shall leave their duty at 11pm and resume at 6am.
- That the Lighting Committee be directed to see that the public lamps are extinguished at such an hour as permits the completion of work by 11.30 pm.
- That the Council refuses to authorise the payment of overtime to any man in respect of work done between midnight and 5 am for which a permit has been obtained.
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 1st 1920.
Raids: 156
Arrests: 71
Sentences: 0
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 2
Deportations 0
Sabotage 4
Murder 0
Total 233
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
2
America’s involvement with the League of Nations remained high on the priorities of the Friends of Irish Freedom. During a Senate speech, Senator Borah* pointed out that even with reservations, the US would be obliged to cede control of the Panama Canal to the League of Nations and how the United States faced future difficulties with Great Britain concerning oil supplies. Borah quoting from a report made available to the House of Commons, stated that British concerns now controlled directly or indirectly 95-98% of the world’s oil supplies and how Britain had requested the League to fix the control and supply of oil it would distribute in event of a dispute. Borah explaining that this was an example of British manipulation of the League and indirectly the US. Senator Reed of Misouri joined the debate by alleging British interests had aquired ‘vast oil territories in Mexico’ and that a future scenario could see the League of Nations intervening in a US-Mexico dispute to protect British interests.
* Senator William E. Borah (1865-1940) Republican Senator from Idaho 1903-40. Generally described as an isolationist, he opposed the war and opposed the peace. After the death of Cabot Lodge in 1924 he became Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and opposed most of the foreign policy iniatives of subsequent administations. Borah was the most succesful Senator in working with ‘dissident’ Irish Americans and merging their objectives with his.
Judge Cohalan wrote to Borah that he was ‘greatly pleased with the situation…in Washington. I believe a final triumph for America is in sight.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.370
Moves were made in Canada to ban the ‘National Hibernain’ from the mails as it was ‘calculated to further the cause of the so-called Irish Republic’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 36, March 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Philadelphia City Council extended an invitation to de Valera to visit the city on March 7th.
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 2nd 1920.
Raids: 105
Arrests: 36
Sentences: 0
Proclamations: 1
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 2
Deportations 0
Sabotage 0
Murder 0
Total 144
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: The writer Katharine Tynan Hinkson raised concerns about the flogging of children in the wake of a case of a 13 year old boy who was sentenced to be birched and detained for a month for stealing some coal. Ms Tynan Hinkson said that a ‘great number of people in Dublin are chronically on the edge of starvation’ and the present coal shortage fell heaviest on them. In the case of the 13 year old boy, she asked whether he had helped himself to coal because he was a ‘incorrigible rogue or because the grate was empty at home?’
In a letter to the Freeman’s Journal, she added that the practice of flogging children degraded the one who inflicted it and if it should be considered at all in respect of children, it should be reserved for acts of cruelty or brutish offences. Moreover, she contrasted the harshness of the punishment inflicted on the boy with the leniency of the sentence passed on a man who had lured two or three young girls into his shop with sweets before indecently assaulting them. For this individual a guilty verdict of common assault and a fine of £5 was considered an adequate punishment.
‘The law in cases of assault on women and children in these countries is monstrously lenient. Doubtless the women, with their new power, will know how to change all that.’
Ms Tynan Hinkson’s comments have won the support of Maud Gonne MacBride, who has written a letter of her own to the same paper. Ms Gonne MacBride contends that the magistrate who sentences a child of nine to be flogged for stealing an egg or a child of 13 to be flogged for stealing some coal in these hard times ‘deserves a taste of their own medicine’. Gonne MacBride was also critical of the practice of imprisoning children. Recalling her own six month incarceration in Holloway Prison she said she saw the ‘faces of hundreds of unfortunate girls who surrounded us, many of them little more than children, growing paler and more pinched and harder, as the want of air and liberty and scanty food told on them; and what of sin and misery they did not know when they entered its gates, they learned before they left.’ Prisons are not the answer, she argued, and neither is flogging. ‘Why substitute one form of English brutality for another? Corporal punishment is particularly English. It exists in English schools, and in the Irish schools which, alas, are under English influence. Other more civilised nations have done away with it long ago.’
In Clare, police discovered a body in a coffin buried in a bog near Ennistymon. The body had a bullet wound in the head, and is believed to be that of a man who took part in a recent attack on a police patrol in the Inagh district.
America’s involvement with the League of Nations remained high on the priorities of the Friends of Irish Freedom. During a Senate speech, Senator Borah* pointed out that even with reservations, the US would be obliged to cede control of the Panama Canal to the League of Nations and how the United States faced future difficulties with Great Britain concerning oil supplies. Borah quoting from a report made available to the House of Commons, stated that British concerns now controlled directly or indirectly 95-98% of the world’s oil supplies and how Britain had requested the League to fix the control and supply of oil it would distribute in event of a dispute. Borah explaining that this was an example of British manipulation of the League and indirectly the US. Senator Reed of Misouri joined the debate by alleging British interests had aquired ‘vast oil territories in Mexico’ and that a future scenario could see the League of Nations intervening in a US-Mexico dispute to protect British interests.
* Senator William E. Borah (1865-1940) Republican Senator from Idaho 1903-40. Generally described as an isolationist, he opposed the war and opposed the peace. After the death of Cabot Lodge in 1924 he became Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and opposed most of the foreign policy iniatives of subsequent administations. Borah was the most succesful Senator in working with ‘dissident’ Irish Americans and merging their objectives with his.
Judge Cohalan wrote to Borah that he was ‘greatly pleased with the situation…in Washington. I believe a final triumph for America is in sight.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.370
Moves were made in Canada to ban the ‘National Hibernain’ from the mails as it was ‘calculated to further the cause of the so-called Irish Republic’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 36, March 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Philadelphia City Council extended an invitation to de Valera to visit the city on March 7th.
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 2nd 1920.
Raids: 105
Arrests: 36
Sentences: 0
Proclamations: 1
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 2
Deportations 0
Sabotage 0
Murder 0
Total 144
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: The writer Katharine Tynan Hinkson raised concerns about the flogging of children in the wake of a case of a 13 year old boy who was sentenced to be birched and detained for a month for stealing some coal. Ms Tynan Hinkson said that a ‘great number of people in Dublin are chronically on the edge of starvation’ and the present coal shortage fell heaviest on them. In the case of the 13 year old boy, she asked whether he had helped himself to coal because he was a ‘incorrigible rogue or because the grate was empty at home?’
In a letter to the Freeman’s Journal, she added that the practice of flogging children degraded the one who inflicted it and if it should be considered at all in respect of children, it should be reserved for acts of cruelty or brutish offences. Moreover, she contrasted the harshness of the punishment inflicted on the boy with the leniency of the sentence passed on a man who had lured two or three young girls into his shop with sweets before indecently assaulting them. For this individual a guilty verdict of common assault and a fine of £5 was considered an adequate punishment.
‘The law in cases of assault on women and children in these countries is monstrously lenient. Doubtless the women, with their new power, will know how to change all that.’
Ms Tynan Hinkson’s comments have won the support of Maud Gonne MacBride, who has written a letter of her own to the same paper. Ms Gonne MacBride contends that the magistrate who sentences a child of nine to be flogged for stealing an egg or a child of 13 to be flogged for stealing some coal in these hard times ‘deserves a taste of their own medicine’. Gonne MacBride was also critical of the practice of imprisoning children. Recalling her own six month incarceration in Holloway Prison she said she saw the ‘faces of hundreds of unfortunate girls who surrounded us, many of them little more than children, growing paler and more pinched and harder, as the want of air and liberty and scanty food told on them; and what of sin and misery they did not know when they entered its gates, they learned before they left.’ Prisons are not the answer, she argued, and neither is flogging. ‘Why substitute one form of English brutality for another? Corporal punishment is particularly English. It exists in English schools, and in the Irish schools which, alas, are under English influence. Other more civilised nations have done away with it long ago.’
In Clare, police discovered a body in a coffin buried in a bog near Ennistymon. The body had a bullet wound in the head, and is believed to be that of a man who took part in a recent attack on a police patrol in the Inagh district.
3
Thurles: Constable John Heany (22) of the RIC died from wounds received when he was shot in the village of Ragg, Co. Tipperary.
In Galway, Frank Shawe-Taylor (opposite), a Justice of the Peace, died when he was shot on his way to a fair on 3 March. A barrier was placed on the road as Mr Shawe-Taylor's motor car approached, and when his chauffeur got out to remove it, armed men surrounded the vehicle and two shots were fired at Mr Shawe-Taylor from close range.
His chauffeur, John Barrett, was wounded in the attack.
Senator Borah replying to Cohalan’s letter commented that despite the Judge’s growing optimism, he counselled caution:'...the fluid forces with which we have to deal may develop anything at almost anytime’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.372
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 3rd 1920.
Raids: 71
Arrests: 25
Sentences: 1
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 1
Armed Assaults 0
Deportations 0
Sabotage 0
Murder 0
Total 98
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
James Doohan, Canadian actor (Star Trek) born (d. 2005)
Ronald Searle, British cartoonist born (d. 2011)
Thurles: Constable John Heany (22) of the RIC died from wounds received when he was shot in the village of Ragg, Co. Tipperary.
In Galway, Frank Shawe-Taylor (opposite), a Justice of the Peace, died when he was shot on his way to a fair on 3 March. A barrier was placed on the road as Mr Shawe-Taylor's motor car approached, and when his chauffeur got out to remove it, armed men surrounded the vehicle and two shots were fired at Mr Shawe-Taylor from close range.
His chauffeur, John Barrett, was wounded in the attack.
Senator Borah replying to Cohalan’s letter commented that despite the Judge’s growing optimism, he counselled caution:'...the fluid forces with which we have to deal may develop anything at almost anytime’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.372
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 3rd 1920.
Raids: 71
Arrests: 25
Sentences: 1
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 1
Armed Assaults 0
Deportations 0
Sabotage 0
Murder 0
Total 98
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
James Doohan, Canadian actor (Star Trek) born (d. 2005)
Ronald Searle, British cartoonist born (d. 2011)
4
Dublin: The Dail Eireann cabinet required all Sinn Fein members of local bodies to sign undated letters of resignation ‘ to be available in case of wholesale arrest of members’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P125
Constable John Heanue (24) was shot in the village of Bouladuff, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, dying of wounds the following day.
Trade Union leader William O’Brien was arrested and taken to Wormwood Scrubs in London.
New York
In a letter to O’Mara, de Valera reveals perhaps he was more concerned about Cohalan-Devoy’s impressions of the resignation:
“ ..He begged him to stay on “..your resignation would be misrepresented and misconstrued. Certain persons are, as you know, but waiting for a vantage point to attack. I hate to make it so hard for you but you know I am stating the conditions as they are”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p170
To influence American public opinion, on December 22, 1919 Lloyd George likened the Irish movement for independence to the secession movement in the United States in 1861. Ersklne Childers replied in the pages of The Irish Bulletin:
"We do not attempt secession. Nations cannot secede from a rule they have never accepted. . . . Lincoln's reputation is safe from your comparison. He fought to abolish slavery, you fight to maintain it. ... We are a small people with a population dwindling without cessation under your rule. We have no armaments nor any prospect of obtaining them. Nevertheless, we accept your challenge and will fight you "with the same determination, with the same resolve" as the American States, North and South, put into their fight for their freedom against your Empire."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.400
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 4th 1920.
Raids: 153
Arrests: 319
Sentences: 0
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 1
Deportations 0
Sabotage 0
Murder 0
Total 473
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: The Dail Eireann cabinet required all Sinn Fein members of local bodies to sign undated letters of resignation ‘ to be available in case of wholesale arrest of members’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P125
Constable John Heanue (24) was shot in the village of Bouladuff, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, dying of wounds the following day.
Trade Union leader William O’Brien was arrested and taken to Wormwood Scrubs in London.
New York
In a letter to O’Mara, de Valera reveals perhaps he was more concerned about Cohalan-Devoy’s impressions of the resignation:
“ ..He begged him to stay on “..your resignation would be misrepresented and misconstrued. Certain persons are, as you know, but waiting for a vantage point to attack. I hate to make it so hard for you but you know I am stating the conditions as they are”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p170
To influence American public opinion, on December 22, 1919 Lloyd George likened the Irish movement for independence to the secession movement in the United States in 1861. Ersklne Childers replied in the pages of The Irish Bulletin:
"We do not attempt secession. Nations cannot secede from a rule they have never accepted. . . . Lincoln's reputation is safe from your comparison. He fought to abolish slavery, you fight to maintain it. ... We are a small people with a population dwindling without cessation under your rule. We have no armaments nor any prospect of obtaining them. Nevertheless, we accept your challenge and will fight you "with the same determination, with the same resolve" as the American States, North and South, put into their fight for their freedom against your Empire."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.400
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 4th 1920.
Raids: 153
Arrests: 319
Sentences: 0
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 1
Deportations 0
Sabotage 0
Murder 0
Total 473
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
5
St. John Ervine continued his US tour and was hailed by the Rochester New York Post as ‘the right kind of Irishman’ because in Mr. Ervine’s own words, he is not a hater of England and he ‘refuses to wallow in the past for anyone’…he remarked in New York recently that what pained him most in the Irish situation was that all the young artists and writers in Ireland had gone over to the Republican Party.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 36, March 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 5th 1920.
Raids: 32
Arrests: 20
Sentences: 3
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 2
Deportations 2
Sabotage 2
Murder 1
Total 62
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
St. John Ervine continued his US tour and was hailed by the Rochester New York Post as ‘the right kind of Irishman’ because in Mr. Ervine’s own words, he is not a hater of England and he ‘refuses to wallow in the past for anyone’…he remarked in New York recently that what pained him most in the Irish situation was that all the young artists and writers in Ireland had gone over to the Republican Party.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 36, March 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 5th 1920.
Raids: 32
Arrests: 20
Sentences: 3
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 2
Deportations 2
Sabotage 2
Murder 1
Total 62
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
6
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 6th 1920.
Raids: 401
Arrests: 8
Sentences: 1
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 1
Deportations 0
Sabotage 1
Murder 0
Total 412
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Total military and police actions – March 1-6th 1920.
Raids: 918
Arrests: 479
Sentences: 5
Proclamations: 1
Courts-martial 1
Armed Assaults 8
Deportations 2
Sabotage 7
Murder 1
Total 1422
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Lord Mayor of Limerick, George Cleary and his predecessor in office, Michael O’Callaghan, were murdered in separate raids on their homes by armed gangs believed to be RIC.
Throughout Ireland, the following military and police actions took place – March 6th 1920.
Raids: 401
Arrests: 8
Sentences: 1
Proclamations: 0
Courts-martial 0
Armed Assaults 1
Deportations 0
Sabotage 1
Murder 0
Total 412
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Total military and police actions – March 1-6th 1920.
Raids: 918
Arrests: 479
Sentences: 5
Proclamations: 1
Courts-martial 1
Armed Assaults 8
Deportations 2
Sabotage 7
Murder 1
Total 1422
Source: Weekly News Bulletin of the Friends of Irish Freedom – published: Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Lord Mayor of Limerick, George Cleary and his predecessor in office, Michael O’Callaghan, were murdered in separate raids on their homes by armed gangs believed to be RIC.
Theda Bara born Theodosia Burr Goodman (July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955) was an American silent film and stage actress. She became one of the most popular actresses of the silent era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols.
Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname The Vamp (short for "vampire"), later fueling the rising popularity in "vamp" roles that encapsulated exoticism and sexual domination which hardly surprisingly led to denunciations from church pulpits, religious and community groups throughout the Twenties. (see opposite) Some fans failed to distinguish Bara from her fictionalised roles. One bitter moviegoer wrote, “It is such women as you who break up happy homes.” Bara replied, “I am working for my living, dear friend, and if I were the kind of woman you seem to think I am, I wouldn’t have to.” Bara made more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926, but most were lost in the 1937 Fox vault fire. After her marriage to Charles Brabin in 1921, she made two more feature films and then retired from acting in 1926, having never appeared in a sound film. |
7
Several houses in Thurles, Co Tipperary ‘partially wrecked’ by police and military.
Dublin: A man, alleged to have been a British spy, was shot dead on Ballymun Road in Glasnevin. Named as John Charles Byrne, 38, from Romford in Essex, and believed to have been staying in the Granville Hotel under the fictitious name of John Jameson. At the inquest into Mr Byrne’s death, contrary to the usual custom, no questions were asked by the police or the coroner as to whether anything was found on the deceased, although it is being reported that some documents were.
‘There seems to be a peculiar lack of interest in [Mr Byrne’s] identity’, the Dublin correspondent of the Daily Herald has commented, adding: ‘He is generally believed to have been a political agent, and some persons declare that he occupied an important position in the secret service.’
Press inquiries in Romford have done little to dispel suspicions around Byrne’s activities in Ireland. He leaves behind a wife and three children, and was known in Romford to often work ‘away for short periods’, the local understanding being that he was acting for a well-known London firm of music publishers.
Byrne was a British Intelligence officer. "... succeeded in ingratiating himself with the IRA in late 1919 & early 1920 and in winning for a short time the confidence of Michael Collins. Working originally for A2, the military intelligence department which had the job of countering Bolshevikism in Britain, Byrne had infiltrated the socialist scene in London. He was spotted by the IRA while pretending to be a Bolshevist , but really an agent provocateur, in London. When he went to Ireland Jameson relied for his credentials on his position as General Secretary of the SSAU and his role with the British Socialist Party. Jameson impressed Collins with schemes to obtain arms and money from the Soviet Government. His handler in Ireland was believed to be Alan Bell - and Bell in turn reported to Basil Thomson in London. Thornton's Witness Statement records that "he came within an ace of securing his [Collins] capture " Eventually the IRA decided to test their suspicions on who Byrne was really working for. Collins allowed Jameson to see parts of a false document referring to papers in the possession of a pro-British ex-mayor of Dublin. Jameson in turn dutifully told Dublin Castle and soon afterward the British raided the ex-mayor's home. This convinced the IRA that Byrne was a spy. Jameson's body was found a few weeks later in a Dublin suburb. Byrne was shot as a spy by members of the Squad led by Paddy Daly and Joe Dowling near Albert College, Glasnevin, Dublin."
More information on John Charles Byrne here.
With the Irish National Loan continuing to raise funds, Dublin Castle opted for more direct action. £18,000 was consficated in a raid on the Sinn Fein Bank.
Meetings were held in Germany to land arms at Helvick Head, but nothing came to fruition until after the Truce.
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p78
The Red Army started an offensive against Poland.
De Valera addressed three meetings in Philadelphia, one in the Metropolitan Opera House and the others in the Forrest and Broad Street Theatres.
Radio station WGI in Boston initiates first known regularly scheduled radio broadcasts, eight months before the traditionally accepted "first" of regularly scheduled broadcasts claimed by KDKA in Pittsburgh. Before it became defunct in 1925, WGI billed itself as the station "where broadcasting began."
The Syrian National Congress proclaims Syria independent, with Faisal I of Iraq as king.
Eilís Dillon, author born (died 1994).
Several houses in Thurles, Co Tipperary ‘partially wrecked’ by police and military.
Dublin: A man, alleged to have been a British spy, was shot dead on Ballymun Road in Glasnevin. Named as John Charles Byrne, 38, from Romford in Essex, and believed to have been staying in the Granville Hotel under the fictitious name of John Jameson. At the inquest into Mr Byrne’s death, contrary to the usual custom, no questions were asked by the police or the coroner as to whether anything was found on the deceased, although it is being reported that some documents were.
‘There seems to be a peculiar lack of interest in [Mr Byrne’s] identity’, the Dublin correspondent of the Daily Herald has commented, adding: ‘He is generally believed to have been a political agent, and some persons declare that he occupied an important position in the secret service.’
Press inquiries in Romford have done little to dispel suspicions around Byrne’s activities in Ireland. He leaves behind a wife and three children, and was known in Romford to often work ‘away for short periods’, the local understanding being that he was acting for a well-known London firm of music publishers.
Byrne was a British Intelligence officer. "... succeeded in ingratiating himself with the IRA in late 1919 & early 1920 and in winning for a short time the confidence of Michael Collins. Working originally for A2, the military intelligence department which had the job of countering Bolshevikism in Britain, Byrne had infiltrated the socialist scene in London. He was spotted by the IRA while pretending to be a Bolshevist , but really an agent provocateur, in London. When he went to Ireland Jameson relied for his credentials on his position as General Secretary of the SSAU and his role with the British Socialist Party. Jameson impressed Collins with schemes to obtain arms and money from the Soviet Government. His handler in Ireland was believed to be Alan Bell - and Bell in turn reported to Basil Thomson in London. Thornton's Witness Statement records that "he came within an ace of securing his [Collins] capture " Eventually the IRA decided to test their suspicions on who Byrne was really working for. Collins allowed Jameson to see parts of a false document referring to papers in the possession of a pro-British ex-mayor of Dublin. Jameson in turn dutifully told Dublin Castle and soon afterward the British raided the ex-mayor's home. This convinced the IRA that Byrne was a spy. Jameson's body was found a few weeks later in a Dublin suburb. Byrne was shot as a spy by members of the Squad led by Paddy Daly and Joe Dowling near Albert College, Glasnevin, Dublin."
More information on John Charles Byrne here.
With the Irish National Loan continuing to raise funds, Dublin Castle opted for more direct action. £18,000 was consficated in a raid on the Sinn Fein Bank.
Meetings were held in Germany to land arms at Helvick Head, but nothing came to fruition until after the Truce.
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p78
The Red Army started an offensive against Poland.
De Valera addressed three meetings in Philadelphia, one in the Metropolitan Opera House and the others in the Forrest and Broad Street Theatres.
Radio station WGI in Boston initiates first known regularly scheduled radio broadcasts, eight months before the traditionally accepted "first" of regularly scheduled broadcasts claimed by KDKA in Pittsburgh. Before it became defunct in 1925, WGI billed itself as the station "where broadcasting began."
The Syrian National Congress proclaims Syria independent, with Faisal I of Iraq as king.
Eilís Dillon, author born (died 1994).
8
Constable Thoms Ryan (35) was seriously injured at the Hugginstown RIC barracks, Co. Kilkenny when the IRA used explosives. He died from injuries two days later.
Chief Secretary Macpherson reported to Cabinet that ‘there are very few RIC barracks which the local Volunteers could not destroy in a very short time, assuming of course that they are determined and able men’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p47
Washington D.C: Wilson repeats his opposition to Lodge reservations
Coahalan writing to Senator Borah on the Treaty, felt that the sooner it was ‘brought to a head and disposed of the better in order that public opinion throughout the country may come to understand what it means. I think it will be the over shadowing issue in the coming campaign.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.372
Constable Thoms Ryan (35) was seriously injured at the Hugginstown RIC barracks, Co. Kilkenny when the IRA used explosives. He died from injuries two days later.
Chief Secretary Macpherson reported to Cabinet that ‘there are very few RIC barracks which the local Volunteers could not destroy in a very short time, assuming of course that they are determined and able men’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p47
Washington D.C: Wilson repeats his opposition to Lodge reservations
Coahalan writing to Senator Borah on the Treaty, felt that the sooner it was ‘brought to a head and disposed of the better in order that public opinion throughout the country may come to understand what it means. I think it will be the over shadowing issue in the coming campaign.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.372
9
Six men charged with the killings of Sergeant Wallace and Constable Enright during the resuce of Commadant Hogan at Knocklong Station in May 1919 went on trial in Armagh. Three were found guilty; Edmund Foley, Paddy Maher and Michael Murphy were sentenced to death in June 1921.
Six men charged with the killings of Sergeant Wallace and Constable Enright during the resuce of Commadant Hogan at Knocklong Station in May 1919 went on trial in Armagh. Three were found guilty; Edmund Foley, Paddy Maher and Michael Murphy were sentenced to death in June 1921.
10
McCartan met with the Dail Cabinet to explain de Valera’s actions. Afterwards he found that Countess Markievicz, Cathal brugha and Count Plunkett remained disastisfied ‘but Griffith and Collins closed down the discussion and secured approval of McCartan’s explanation’ McCartan himself commented ‘The Cabinet had acted on the problem of de Valera, in his Cuban role, practiclly as we had acted on it in the United States, and for the same compelling reason: de Valera had usurped the right to speak and act for Ireland, and the situation left us without the power to challenge him’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P195
The Ulster Unionist Council accepted the Government of Ireland Bill, offering a 6 county state. Recognising the disapointment of Unionists in Cavan, Monagahan and Donegal not being included in the Northern Ireland Government area, Belfast MP Tom Moles argued: ‘in a sinking ship with lifeboats sufficient for only two-thirds of the ship’s company, were all to condemn themselves to death because all could not be saved?’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p320
6 Republican prisoners executed in Dublin, four convicted of high treason for levying war against His Brittanic Majesty.
R.I.C. Sergeant George Neazer (43) was killed while in the dining room of Ward’s Hotel, Rathkeale, Co. Limerick. Neazer and Constable Garrett Doyle had been providing police protection to a land steward employed by the Rattoo estate near Ballyduff, Michael O'Brien.
The world's first peaceful establishment of a social democratic government takes place in Sweden, as Hjalmar Branting takes over as Prime Minister, when Nils Edén leaves office.
New York
In a letter to Grifith, de Valera wrote “‘I desire that Ireland's interests should come first’ He held that the Irish in America ‘were organised not in their own interests here so much as to help Ireland. I held that the money contributed was obtained in the belief that it would be used directly as possible for Ireland…” By ‘organised ...to help Ireland’ he clearly intended: ‘organised to do what I told them’.
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p170
At a meeting of the National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom, a committee was appointed to "wait on the Republican and Democratic Conventions to request a plank in the party platforms favouring recognition of the Republic of Ireland". Judge Cohalan hoped that this pressure might lead to some good result, but he received no co-operation from De Valera. This fact was made very clear in a later statement by Daniel T. O'Connell, head of the Irish National Bureau in Washington:
The President [De Valera] has several times been quoted as saying that he went to Chicago when he found those charged with the responsibility of seeking adoption of a plank here making no preparations. , . . President de Valera knew better than anyone else. Practically all details of legislation and national political matters went through the hands of the writer. Not once did President de Valera ask for information as to the plans for Chicago. He had been fully informed regarding the Mason legislation. He had only to intimate that he wished for information regarding Chicago, to receive all available information. ... A great deal of preliminary work in behalf of Ireland was done at Washington before the party leaders left for Chicago."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.373-374
The Ulster Unionist Council accepted the Government plan for an Ulster Parliament.
In Montreal, St. John Ervine continued to spread the gospel according to Lloyd George. St. John announced that ‘Ireland Is not tyranised over by England, but that in truth, England is in the thrall of Ireland. A very sad state of affairs said he.’ The Newsletter put it down to a work by Ian Hay Beith ‘The Oppressed English’ in which Ireland was England’s oppressor or ‘can it be that he is merely following orders from headquarters?’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 39, March 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Friends of Irish Freedom writing on Ulster that the province was divided as never before.
"...The three counties which Lloyd George proposes to attach to the fantastic Southern Parliament accuse the six other Ulster Counties of “broken pledges”, “bad faith” and “treachery”. What do those who a while ago talked of “minority” rights say? It is evident to all that the so-called Ulster minority cannot agree. The six counties will cast out the three because it appears that the three are practically certain to declare, at the first election opportunity, for independent nationhood. “We love you, brothers,” say the Ulster extremists to those of the three outcast counties who aided them when Carson organized his army and framed the covenant of life or death loyalty to all Ulster and her nine counties; and then they add; “but we have discovered you do not control your counties. If we take you in, we will probably lose all. Keep on swimming. Our leaking lifeboat is too crowded.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The London Daily News correspondent reported from Dublin: ‘…armoured cars, motor lories and bodies of cyclists nightly accost civilians and it is no uncommon thing for a man to be held up three or four times within a few hundred yards. Revolvers are thrust into their faces; they are told to hold up their hands above their heads, and even if they have permits are often questioned at length about their business and their pockets searched..’
English Atrocities in Ireland – Katherine Hughes. Friends of Irish Freedom phamphlet. Lynch Family Archives.
Full text of letter to the Irish Cabinet from de Valera:
The Waldorf Astoria, New York, 10 March 1920
A Cháirde,
Dr. McCartan will be with you by this time. He will be able to make things clear to you. There is no fear of damage being done at this side - it is all for the better, for, now I have a good reason for not being content to let the Judge [Cohalan] alone be the intermediary for us in political matters. I intend getting an immediate grip myself on these questions with five or six prominent Irish Americans as an advisory and executive committee. Heretofore everything was left to the Judge in this line and I never knew after he had left me that he wouldn't go and do something quite different from that he had led me to believe he intended doing - in future he will be only one of a number and the others will be a check on him.
Apart from any personal antagonism to me he desired to build up a great I-American organisation which might make the Irish here dominant in political life here. He would have this organisation he figured in his vest pocket and would be a political Warwick. Ireland would be secondary. I desired that Ireland's interests should come first - the other second. I held that the I.[Irish] here were organised not in their own interests here so much as to help Ireland. I held that the money contributed was obtained in the belief that it would be used as directly as possible for Ireland.
Our first clash came about the bonds. He pooh poohed idea of bonds in any shape - He called F.P. Walsh aside when he came here and suggested that I be sent home with 3/4 million dollars - 'The biggest sum any Irish leader ever brought to Ireland'. He wanted the money collected thro' the F.O.I.F. organisation which was quite inadequate to such a task. When I wouldn't be moved by him he simply lay down and had since to be carried in the bond matters as a dead weight. Next I saw he wouldn't play fair with me. He was going around talking behind our backs etc.
Then I wanted to be let into the political steps which he was going to take. I would not trust the Republican party nor any party as a party. The example of the Liberals and Tories and the Irish cause used as a mere catch cry till polling day was in my mind. I wanted to get results now - before election times. We have little chance to my mind after. He didn't want me to go near the political end at all - anyhow the rift was developing. I did my best to stop it. I knew of letters being sent to Paris, people going home being buttonholed and stuff poured into their ears - I said nothing - but others knew about it and then an effort was made to stop the talking which was going on as the result of the methods they were employing.
The idea was to light if they could a fire which would need my going home as they thought. I once said to the Judge that I was regarded as a 'moderate' at home. He thought he saw his chance by twisting my argument re Britain's national security out of its plain and obvious meaning - hence the appeal 'I have confidence in the young men of Ireland'. The distance they were prepared to go is shown by the fact that they sent to Harry to tell him that he would not be living up to the principles of Wolfe Tone if he did not leave me immediately and I suppose denounce me for 'lowering the flag'. Well his messenger was near finding himself thro' a window of the Waldorf. The significance of this is that they were prepared to do the damage to the cause which such action would have done for the sake of a purely personal triumph. Suppose my argument - and it was only an argument - was regarded with disfavour by them - they could have made their representations to me in private. They will never get me to go every time I want to answer an opponent's argument - to them to dot my i's and cross my t's. It is disgusting to me to have to write this but I want to give you the background so that you may understand. No one knew the meaning of what I wrote better than they. I quoted the part of the Platt amendment (the first article) which was germane to the point I was making - I wouldn't personally accept any more of it - but if I accept one or several even of the 39 articles of the Protestant creed surely it cannot be said that that means I must accept them all. I only ask you at home to remember that I never say anything here which I would not say at home. I do not believe in the old parliamentarian policy of one sort of speech for America and another for Ireland. I am never likely to forget my responsibilities but I admit I do not weigh every word and every sentence of a speech and of an interview as if it were a treaty I was actually signing. That interview1 which I would be prepared to defend anywhere has been productive of a great deal of good here with people who imagine we want our freedom only for the sake of being in a position to use it to take revenge on Britain. In England I expected it would give a chance, to those who wanted a way out, to talk about the existing republic. It was bound to be all to the good. It would be a counterblast to those who would proclaim that the Republic was 'unthinkable' and that Home Rule the only solution etc. I am satisfied you all understood me and were it not the cry raised by the G.[aelic] A.[merican] (i.e. the judge really) no one would have misconstrued it here. There are Americans even I. Americans who would not see Ireland free if an unfree Ireland was likely to be of benefit to America but they are not thank God many.
Do not worry the cause is going on well. I am more optimistic than when I came here. What you are doing is magnificent. Especially the guerrilla warfare making the enemy forces concentrate. I have a South American project in view - also Russia. I may have letters for the Doctor to take to Russia by the next mail. We ought to try to get recognition before they settle with Britain.
If you think the Doc. can return soon you should have a long chat with him - and exchange ideas. I will not trust many more letters like this. It is dangerous.
By the way - a good rapid shorthand-writer and stenographer is an absolute necessity for me - a young fellow if possible. One that can be thoroughly depended upon. I should have brought one with me. Get him as quickly as ever you can.
Eamon de Valera
Please excuse me to friends for not writing. I would like to write to you all individually but I am sure you will understand. I hope all are well. We understand all the difficulties now in your way. The Americans are beginning to realise how wonderful your resistance is.
P.S. Dr. McC. will tell you the steps in the evolution of the Judge. We have some magnificent men here - F. P. Walsh, Kinkead; J. K. Maguire, Burke Cochran, McGarrity, T.J. Moloney; in fact except the one I have never met one who isn't with us.
Eamon de Valera
11
Cork: Constable Timothy Scully (64) was shot dead during an ambush at Glanmire, Co. Cork. He and another two RIC men were sheltering by a high wall from a rain storm, when they were surrounded by a gang of men who immediately opened fire. Scully, a native of Skibbereen County Cork managed to fire two shots before he was shot through the heart, he died at the scene.
Dublin: Griffith wrote personally to de Valera ‘ have no fear for Ireland. No such misrepresentation as that you have suffered will shake the national solidarity, but the men responsible for it have little realisation of how England sought to exploit their action over here and how indignant Ireland is at their thoughtlessness’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p108
Dublin: from The Irish Times 11 March 1920
"From The Times of London today (By special arrangement with the proprietors of The Times) The Times, in a leading article dealing with yesterday's decision of the Ulster Unionist Council upon the Home Rule proposals of the Government, says:
It is obvious that the Government have left no stone un-turned to secure yesterday's result, and have been prepared to jeopardise every chance of conciliating Nationalist opinion by the prodigality of their provision for Ulster Unionism. We need not here restate the limits set by abstract justice in this course of action - limits which, we hold, have been exceeded by the bill. Nevertheless we do not underestimate the importance of the concession which has been made by Ulster, or its far-reaching effects upon the nature of Irish policies. After remarking that it is now almost possible to view, as a whole, Sir Edward Carson's conduct of the Ulster case, The Times adds - If Unionism were merely the desire to keep North-East Ulster beyond the control of an Irish Parliament, Sir Edward Carson might have claimed a victory. But Unionism is more. It is a tradition of government, a social and economic conception. It involves the maintenance of a common civilisation in Ireland and Great Britain.
Judged by such a standard, he has suffered a terrible and humiliating defeat, of which the full magnitude has yet to be seen. We do not disguise our profound disappointment, proceeds The Times, at a decision which threatens to confine Unionist influence for all practical purposes to an area of six Irish counties. We had hoped that Ulster Unionists might have looked further than the immediate situation, and have sought to build upon broader foundations than those which their now shrunken province can supply. Belfast Unionism seems to care nought for the morrow. It seems determined to hold what it has got as long as it can. There is no sign of the vision and energy that might have inspired more daring minds to create a new tradition of good government, which should establish a harmony in the whole of the nine counties, with influence far beyond them. It is not, however, The Times further adds, on the phrases of a carefully drawn document that we base a fleeting hope than they encourage, but rather on the expectation that many North-Eastern Unionists will yet realise that the only effective safeguard which they can confer upon their former comrades lies in seeking the fulfilment of every possibility of extra-provincial action on the part of North-East Ulster, for which the bill provides.
The Fort Wayne, Indiana Journal Gazette editorialised on ‘The war between England and Ireland’ reported on the recent arrest of Irish leaders: ‘The fact that they were arrested without warrant, convicted without trial, and transported to another country for incarceration will appeal to most Americans as novel – to put it mildly. Something of that sort, we believe, entered into our own revolution. It means , of course, that there is a war on between England and Ireland and the the Irish are being transported, much after the fashion that the Germans transported the Belgians.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 39, March 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: Arising from a raid on the Sinn Féin bank at the end of February 1920, the Hibernian Bank and the Munster & Leinster Bank have been commanded to produce all documentation relating to dealings or transactions between their bank and the organisations known as Sinn Féin and Dáil Éireann. Bank officials had been summoned to appear at what has been called a star chamber court in the Dublin Police Court buildings. The court was held by Resident Magistrate, Alan Bell, who examined each witness individually in the company only of an official note taker with the public and press excluded. The absence of legal representation for the bankers has met with widespread criticism. According to the Dublin correspondent of the Evening Standard many of the banks may not even have anything to reveal if compelled. As the government’s actions were known in Sinn Féin circles beforehand, it is believed that effective measures would have already been taken to remove whatever funds the party held in them.
Cork: Constable Timothy Scully (64) was shot dead during an ambush at Glanmire, Co. Cork. He and another two RIC men were sheltering by a high wall from a rain storm, when they were surrounded by a gang of men who immediately opened fire. Scully, a native of Skibbereen County Cork managed to fire two shots before he was shot through the heart, he died at the scene.
Dublin: Griffith wrote personally to de Valera ‘ have no fear for Ireland. No such misrepresentation as that you have suffered will shake the national solidarity, but the men responsible for it have little realisation of how England sought to exploit their action over here and how indignant Ireland is at their thoughtlessness’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p108
Dublin: from The Irish Times 11 March 1920
"From The Times of London today (By special arrangement with the proprietors of The Times) The Times, in a leading article dealing with yesterday's decision of the Ulster Unionist Council upon the Home Rule proposals of the Government, says:
It is obvious that the Government have left no stone un-turned to secure yesterday's result, and have been prepared to jeopardise every chance of conciliating Nationalist opinion by the prodigality of their provision for Ulster Unionism. We need not here restate the limits set by abstract justice in this course of action - limits which, we hold, have been exceeded by the bill. Nevertheless we do not underestimate the importance of the concession which has been made by Ulster, or its far-reaching effects upon the nature of Irish policies. After remarking that it is now almost possible to view, as a whole, Sir Edward Carson's conduct of the Ulster case, The Times adds - If Unionism were merely the desire to keep North-East Ulster beyond the control of an Irish Parliament, Sir Edward Carson might have claimed a victory. But Unionism is more. It is a tradition of government, a social and economic conception. It involves the maintenance of a common civilisation in Ireland and Great Britain.
Judged by such a standard, he has suffered a terrible and humiliating defeat, of which the full magnitude has yet to be seen. We do not disguise our profound disappointment, proceeds The Times, at a decision which threatens to confine Unionist influence for all practical purposes to an area of six Irish counties. We had hoped that Ulster Unionists might have looked further than the immediate situation, and have sought to build upon broader foundations than those which their now shrunken province can supply. Belfast Unionism seems to care nought for the morrow. It seems determined to hold what it has got as long as it can. There is no sign of the vision and energy that might have inspired more daring minds to create a new tradition of good government, which should establish a harmony in the whole of the nine counties, with influence far beyond them. It is not, however, The Times further adds, on the phrases of a carefully drawn document that we base a fleeting hope than they encourage, but rather on the expectation that many North-Eastern Unionists will yet realise that the only effective safeguard which they can confer upon their former comrades lies in seeking the fulfilment of every possibility of extra-provincial action on the part of North-East Ulster, for which the bill provides.
The Fort Wayne, Indiana Journal Gazette editorialised on ‘The war between England and Ireland’ reported on the recent arrest of Irish leaders: ‘The fact that they were arrested without warrant, convicted without trial, and transported to another country for incarceration will appeal to most Americans as novel – to put it mildly. Something of that sort, we believe, entered into our own revolution. It means , of course, that there is a war on between England and Ireland and the the Irish are being transported, much after the fashion that the Germans transported the Belgians.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 39, March 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: Arising from a raid on the Sinn Féin bank at the end of February 1920, the Hibernian Bank and the Munster & Leinster Bank have been commanded to produce all documentation relating to dealings or transactions between their bank and the organisations known as Sinn Féin and Dáil Éireann. Bank officials had been summoned to appear at what has been called a star chamber court in the Dublin Police Court buildings. The court was held by Resident Magistrate, Alan Bell, who examined each witness individually in the company only of an official note taker with the public and press excluded. The absence of legal representation for the bankers has met with widespread criticism. According to the Dublin correspondent of the Evening Standard many of the banks may not even have anything to reveal if compelled. As the government’s actions were known in Sinn Féin circles beforehand, it is believed that effective measures would have already been taken to remove whatever funds the party held in them.
12
Several houses in Cork city ‘wrecked by police’
Issue 37 of the Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information came out strongly against the League of Nations calling it ‘A League of Dominations’ and citing an editiorial in the ‘leading imperialist organ in Canada’ the Montreal Daily Star. In this editorial ‘An Hour of Peril’ reference was made to the perceived threat from ‘Bolshevism and of Moslem unrest’ threatening British oil interests in the Caspian. However the final paragraph seemed to indicate to anti-League forces just what could be anticipated in the future. ‘Had the League of Nations been in operation six months ago, Britain could have called to her aid partners in the Covenant. Today she must play a lone hand.’. The Newsletter called for ‘..no compromise. If American interests are to be preserved, the United States must not become a party to the League.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 37, March 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Captain Julius Peyser, ‘one of the most prominent Jews in Washington…epitomised England’s relations with Ireland in a recent address..’England, when she thinks of humanity, forgets Ireland; and when she thinks of Ireland, she forgets humanity.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 37, March 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter expressed concern at the apparent hijacking of the Landing of the Pilgrims tercentenary by British interests. To the editor it appeared as if history was being re-written ‘to make future generations believe that in sending the Pilgrims to America, England made a heroic sacrifice for the benefit of the new world….the Pilgrims came to America because they were driven out of England by persecution..’ and commented that ‘the whole British propaganda machinery on both sides of the water is travelling at high speed to completely monopolise the Pilgrim’s celebration’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 37, March 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The dream of a British-American union as ‘a key to the puzzle of this distracted world’ continued to be promoted much to the alarm of the Newsletter. The opinion of the former London Daily News editor, A.G.Gardiner was that while the ‘best mind’ of America is overwhelmingly friendly towards England, ‘the popular mind’ has yet to be won and admits ‘the most formidable of all is the Irish Question. Until that question is satisfactorily out of the way there can be no secure friendship between the two countries. The influence of the Irish upon American politics is much greater than their numbers would suggest. Those numbers are great – not less than a tenth of the population, probably much more. But they are a solid phalanx in American life.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 37, March 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Several houses in Cork city ‘wrecked by police’
Issue 37 of the Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information came out strongly against the League of Nations calling it ‘A League of Dominations’ and citing an editiorial in the ‘leading imperialist organ in Canada’ the Montreal Daily Star. In this editorial ‘An Hour of Peril’ reference was made to the perceived threat from ‘Bolshevism and of Moslem unrest’ threatening British oil interests in the Caspian. However the final paragraph seemed to indicate to anti-League forces just what could be anticipated in the future. ‘Had the League of Nations been in operation six months ago, Britain could have called to her aid partners in the Covenant. Today she must play a lone hand.’. The Newsletter called for ‘..no compromise. If American interests are to be preserved, the United States must not become a party to the League.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 37, March 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Captain Julius Peyser, ‘one of the most prominent Jews in Washington…epitomised England’s relations with Ireland in a recent address..’England, when she thinks of humanity, forgets Ireland; and when she thinks of Ireland, she forgets humanity.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 37, March 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter expressed concern at the apparent hijacking of the Landing of the Pilgrims tercentenary by British interests. To the editor it appeared as if history was being re-written ‘to make future generations believe that in sending the Pilgrims to America, England made a heroic sacrifice for the benefit of the new world….the Pilgrims came to America because they were driven out of England by persecution..’ and commented that ‘the whole British propaganda machinery on both sides of the water is travelling at high speed to completely monopolise the Pilgrim’s celebration’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 37, March 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The dream of a British-American union as ‘a key to the puzzle of this distracted world’ continued to be promoted much to the alarm of the Newsletter. The opinion of the former London Daily News editor, A.G.Gardiner was that while the ‘best mind’ of America is overwhelmingly friendly towards England, ‘the popular mind’ has yet to be won and admits ‘the most formidable of all is the Irish Question. Until that question is satisfactorily out of the way there can be no secure friendship between the two countries. The influence of the Irish upon American politics is much greater than their numbers would suggest. Those numbers are great – not less than a tenth of the population, probably much more. But they are a solid phalanx in American life.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 37, March 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
13
The readers of ‘Old Ireland’ may have been reassured by the editorial content that there was ‘no possibility of the enemies of Ireland magnifying the discussion into a split’ arguing that de Valera was ‘the last person in the world to resent healthy criticism’ and that there was ‘much wisdom’ in Devoy’s comments.’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P195-6
In Britain, the Women’s National Liberal Federation went on record as being ‘earnestly opposed to the regime of British violence in Ireland’.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 38, March 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
(March 13-17)--Germany in chaos: An attempted overthrow of the unpopular Weimar Republic, the target of ongoing insurrections, general strikes and takeover attempts, occurs on this date in Berlin. Known as the "Kapp Putsch," from Wolfgang Kapp, the reactionary politician, it forced the Berlin government into brief exile in Stuttgart for five days until the overthrow collapsed following a general strike.
The readers of ‘Old Ireland’ may have been reassured by the editorial content that there was ‘no possibility of the enemies of Ireland magnifying the discussion into a split’ arguing that de Valera was ‘the last person in the world to resent healthy criticism’ and that there was ‘much wisdom’ in Devoy’s comments.’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P195-6
In Britain, the Women’s National Liberal Federation went on record as being ‘earnestly opposed to the regime of British violence in Ireland’.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 38, March 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
(March 13-17)--Germany in chaos: An attempted overthrow of the unpopular Weimar Republic, the target of ongoing insurrections, general strikes and takeover attempts, occurs on this date in Berlin. Known as the "Kapp Putsch," from Wolfgang Kapp, the reactionary politician, it forced the Berlin government into brief exile in Stuttgart for five days until the overthrow collapsed following a general strike.
14
Belfast: The government’s plan to partition Ireland divided Irish unionists along geographic lines – north and south.
After a week spent deliberating the government’s plans, the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) decided, yesterday, to support a resolution which effectively endorses the establishment of a northern parliament for a six-county area. This endorsement followed the rejection of a proposal put forward on behalf of unionists in Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal that called upon the party to insist upon the alteration of the government’s bill to encompass all nine counties of Ulster.
Sir Edward Carson, addressing a gathering at the West Belfast Orange Hall on the Shankill Road said that in the ‘momentous decisions that we had to take we had one consideration before us, and one consideration only, and that was to do what was best for Ulster.’
The Belfast Newletter defended the UUC’s decision arguing that the inclusion of the three other counties of Ulster would bring with it an anti-unionist representation strong enough to endanger the existence of the northern parliament and drag the entire province into the area of the Dublin parliament. Meanwhile, the Unionist Anti-Partition League (UAPL) has addressed a letter to the British Prime Minister taking him to task for the partition plan that lies at the core of his home rule bill. The signatories of the letter include all those who represented southern unionism at the Irish Convention and challenges the proposed settlement on the grounds that it threatens disaster not only to Irish unionists, but also to Irish nationalists, the United Kingdom and the Empire. The basis of the UAPL's criticism is that the the government's proposals fail to pass a test for success that was laid out by Lloyd George himself in February 1918 when he told the chairman of the Convention that the ‘only hope of agreement’ lay in a solution guaranteeing three things: a single legislature for a united Ireland; adequate safeguards for minorities; and the fundamental unity of the three kingdoms. None of these, it is argued, will be met by the government’s proposals which permanently divide the country and, as the Irish Times is reporting, ‘abandons three-quarters of Ireland, including 400,000 southern loyalists, to the bitterest enemies of the British Crown.’
Catholics in partitioned Ulster: It is not only unionists that are threatened by partition. Irish nationalism faces similar worries, with Ulster Catholics expressing concern at plans that would see them reduced to a minority status under a northern parliament.
Patrick O’Donnell, the Bishop of Raphoe pointed out that during the long deliberations of the Irish Convention ‘partition was never once put forward to solve anything. Even the device of provincial assemblies under a national parliament had no adherents to push it.’
According to Dr O’Donnell, Ireland is being governed today by a ruling class in England in the same spirit that dictated the plantation of Ulster in the 17th century. The bishop concluded that the ‘policy of the British government is every day strengthening the hands of the extremists, and making the chances of an acceptable settlement more and more remote.’
Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist born (d. 2001)
Belfast: The government’s plan to partition Ireland divided Irish unionists along geographic lines – north and south.
After a week spent deliberating the government’s plans, the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) decided, yesterday, to support a resolution which effectively endorses the establishment of a northern parliament for a six-county area. This endorsement followed the rejection of a proposal put forward on behalf of unionists in Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal that called upon the party to insist upon the alteration of the government’s bill to encompass all nine counties of Ulster.
Sir Edward Carson, addressing a gathering at the West Belfast Orange Hall on the Shankill Road said that in the ‘momentous decisions that we had to take we had one consideration before us, and one consideration only, and that was to do what was best for Ulster.’
The Belfast Newletter defended the UUC’s decision arguing that the inclusion of the three other counties of Ulster would bring with it an anti-unionist representation strong enough to endanger the existence of the northern parliament and drag the entire province into the area of the Dublin parliament. Meanwhile, the Unionist Anti-Partition League (UAPL) has addressed a letter to the British Prime Minister taking him to task for the partition plan that lies at the core of his home rule bill. The signatories of the letter include all those who represented southern unionism at the Irish Convention and challenges the proposed settlement on the grounds that it threatens disaster not only to Irish unionists, but also to Irish nationalists, the United Kingdom and the Empire. The basis of the UAPL's criticism is that the the government's proposals fail to pass a test for success that was laid out by Lloyd George himself in February 1918 when he told the chairman of the Convention that the ‘only hope of agreement’ lay in a solution guaranteeing three things: a single legislature for a united Ireland; adequate safeguards for minorities; and the fundamental unity of the three kingdoms. None of these, it is argued, will be met by the government’s proposals which permanently divide the country and, as the Irish Times is reporting, ‘abandons three-quarters of Ireland, including 400,000 southern loyalists, to the bitterest enemies of the British Crown.’
Catholics in partitioned Ulster: It is not only unionists that are threatened by partition. Irish nationalism faces similar worries, with Ulster Catholics expressing concern at plans that would see them reduced to a minority status under a northern parliament.
Patrick O’Donnell, the Bishop of Raphoe pointed out that during the long deliberations of the Irish Convention ‘partition was never once put forward to solve anything. Even the device of provincial assemblies under a national parliament had no adherents to push it.’
According to Dr O’Donnell, Ireland is being governed today by a ruling class in England in the same spirit that dictated the plantation of Ulster in the 17th century. The bishop concluded that the ‘policy of the British government is every day strengthening the hands of the extremists, and making the chances of an acceptable settlement more and more remote.’
Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist born (d. 2001)
15
The Ruhr Red Army, a communist army 60,000 men strong, is formed in Germany.
Constantinople is occupied by British Empire forces, acting for the Allied Powers against the Turkish National Movement.
Retrospectively, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey regards this as the dissolution of the Ottoman regime in Istanbul.
Lawrence Sanders, American novelist born (d. 1998)
The Ruhr Red Army, a communist army 60,000 men strong, is formed in Germany.
Constantinople is occupied by British Empire forces, acting for the Allied Powers against the Turkish National Movement.
Retrospectively, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey regards this as the dissolution of the Ottoman regime in Istanbul.
Lawrence Sanders, American novelist born (d. 1998)
16
Constables Charles Healy (25) and James Rocke (26) were shot and killed as they left church in Tommevarra, near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. They were the first RIC members to be killed while leaving church services.
While in prison in Thurles, Morgan was informed that both he and the Republican lord mayor of Cork, Tomas MacCurtain were marked for assassination.
At the annual Oxford University Union Debating, the subject was the Irish Republican Government. It was won by an Irishman, Grattan Esmonde, advocating the Irish Republic, which the London Morning Post regarded as ‘very courageous in such company’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 39, March 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Elmira New York Star Gazette in an editorial on Bond Certificates pointed out ‘The Irish Republic is doing exactly what the American republic did back in Revolutionary days to finance itself. Bonds were then sold to such purchasers as could be found, payable when the American Government was set up and in funds.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 38, March 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish Issue was brought up by Senator Shields of Tennessee ‘ a consistent friend to the Irish Cause and a powerful opponent of the League of Nations’. Shields proposed an amendment to the Egyptian Reservation, saying ‘Ireland has the right to be free and to govern her own people…it has a right to take its place as a free and independent member of the family of nations, and her people will never cease their brave struggle until this right is accorded them.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish Reservation was offered as an amendment to the Egyptian Reservation and read:
‘The United States further understands that in fulfillment and execution of the great principles of self-determination of peoples and equality of all Governments said to pervade and underlie the covenant of the League of Nations, Great Britain will forthwith recognise the existence and political independence of the Republic of Ireland, and agree that it shall become a member of the League of Nations with equal representation, accorded to all other soverign and independent Governments’
However before coming to vote, the reservation was shelved by Parliamentary tactics.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A lively debate followed, some strongly supporting, other equally strongly against:
‘It is an insult to a friendly nation... Let us permit British to manage her own affairs….I do not care about any Irish votes that are secured at the expense of maligning a great nation like Britain.’ Senator Kenyon, Iowa.
Senator Thomas of Colorado even offered an ironic amendment to the Irish amendment ‘for the Kingdom of Korea'.
With that, the Senate took a recess until the following day.
Leo McKern, Australian actor born (d. 2002)
Constables Charles Healy (25) and James Rocke (26) were shot and killed as they left church in Tommevarra, near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. They were the first RIC members to be killed while leaving church services.
While in prison in Thurles, Morgan was informed that both he and the Republican lord mayor of Cork, Tomas MacCurtain were marked for assassination.
At the annual Oxford University Union Debating, the subject was the Irish Republican Government. It was won by an Irishman, Grattan Esmonde, advocating the Irish Republic, which the London Morning Post regarded as ‘very courageous in such company’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 39, March 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Elmira New York Star Gazette in an editorial on Bond Certificates pointed out ‘The Irish Republic is doing exactly what the American republic did back in Revolutionary days to finance itself. Bonds were then sold to such purchasers as could be found, payable when the American Government was set up and in funds.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 38, March 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish Issue was brought up by Senator Shields of Tennessee ‘ a consistent friend to the Irish Cause and a powerful opponent of the League of Nations’. Shields proposed an amendment to the Egyptian Reservation, saying ‘Ireland has the right to be free and to govern her own people…it has a right to take its place as a free and independent member of the family of nations, and her people will never cease their brave struggle until this right is accorded them.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish Reservation was offered as an amendment to the Egyptian Reservation and read:
‘The United States further understands that in fulfillment and execution of the great principles of self-determination of peoples and equality of all Governments said to pervade and underlie the covenant of the League of Nations, Great Britain will forthwith recognise the existence and political independence of the Republic of Ireland, and agree that it shall become a member of the League of Nations with equal representation, accorded to all other soverign and independent Governments’
However before coming to vote, the reservation was shelved by Parliamentary tactics.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A lively debate followed, some strongly supporting, other equally strongly against:
‘It is an insult to a friendly nation... Let us permit British to manage her own affairs….I do not care about any Irish votes that are secured at the expense of maligning a great nation like Britain.’ Senator Kenyon, Iowa.
Senator Thomas of Colorado even offered an ironic amendment to the Irish amendment ‘for the Kingdom of Korea'.
With that, the Senate took a recess until the following day.
Leo McKern, Australian actor born (d. 2002)
17
The St Patrick’s Day Parade in New York was by all accounts, impressive. Judge Cohalan was the Grand Marshall, but yielded his position on the review stand to De Valera. On the platform were the New York State Govenor, the Mayor and the Archbisop. The New York Senate for the first time it its history, adjourned in honour of the day ( and the Irish vote!).
The Newsletter comments: ‘On Fifth Avenue, decorated with the Irish Tricolour and breathing a manifestly republican spirit, the annual parade, led by Hon. Daniel F. Cohalan as Grand Marshall, took more than two hours to pass the reviewing stand.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 38, March 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
De Valera issued his own St. Patrick's Day Message:
"Sons and daughters of the Gael, wherever you be today, in the name of the motherland, greetings. Whatever flag be the flag you guard and cherish, it is consistent with your highest duty to link yourselves together to use your united strength to break the chains that bind our sweet sad mother -- and never before have the scattered children of Eire had such an opportunity for noble service. Today you can serve not only Ireland but the world.
A cruel war and a more cruel peace has shattered the [generous] of soul. Apathy mocks the high minded, and heartless cynicism points the way of selfishness. We the children of Eire, that has endured for ages the blight of war and the disappointment of peace, who have had the cup of the fruition of hope dashed from our lips in every decade and have not despaired, whose temper has never soured but who have always looked forward for the good in tomorrow. The world needs what we can give it today.
Once before, our people gave their souls to a barbarian continent and led brute materialism to an understanding of higher things. It is still our mission to show the world the might of moral duty, to teach mankind peace and happiness in keeping the law of love, doing to our neighbor what we would have our neighbor do to us. We are the spear point of the hosts in political slavery. We can be the shaft of dawn for the despairing and the wretched everywhere.
And those of our race, citizens of this mighty land of America whose thought will help to mold the policy of the leader among the nations, how much the world looks to you this St. Patrick's Day, hopes in you, trusts in you. You can so easily accomplish that which is needed. You will have only to have the will -- the way is all clear. What would not the people of the old land give for the power which is yours. May God and St. Patrick inspire you to use it and to use it well."
That evening at a banquet given by the ‘Friendly Sons of St Patrick’, with Judge Cohalan as Master of Ceremonies: ‘I have the honour of introducing now...a man who is a soldier, who is a scholar, who is a patriot, and who is the elected head of the Republic of Ireland - Eamon De Valera’
Some writers were now beginning to term de Valera the ‘Itinerant President’.
It was business as usual on Capitol Hill. Before the Senate was the Owen Reservation on Egypt, the Shields Amendment on Ireland and the Thomas Amendment on Korea. Senator King of Utah steered the issue from international to one of US interests, by advocating freedom for the American possesions of Purto Rico, the Phillipines, US Virgin Islands, Hawaii etc. Senator Kellogg of Minnesota proposed voting on the original Egypt Reservation and kill the Irish and Korean amendments. Both amendments were killed with a vote 54 to 21.
Following the shelving of the Shield’s reservation, Senator Gerry of Rhode Island in the late afternoon, introduced the Irish Reservation. This Reservation held two distinct propositions: first was the proposal to have the United States state it’s adherence to the general principle of self-determination and secondly, the expression of sympathy ‘for the aspirations of the Irish people for a Government of their own choice and of hope that Ireland would soon take it’s rightful place in the community of nations.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The St Patrick’s Day Parade in New York was by all accounts, impressive. Judge Cohalan was the Grand Marshall, but yielded his position on the review stand to De Valera. On the platform were the New York State Govenor, the Mayor and the Archbisop. The New York Senate for the first time it its history, adjourned in honour of the day ( and the Irish vote!).
The Newsletter comments: ‘On Fifth Avenue, decorated with the Irish Tricolour and breathing a manifestly republican spirit, the annual parade, led by Hon. Daniel F. Cohalan as Grand Marshall, took more than two hours to pass the reviewing stand.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 38, March 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
De Valera issued his own St. Patrick's Day Message:
"Sons and daughters of the Gael, wherever you be today, in the name of the motherland, greetings. Whatever flag be the flag you guard and cherish, it is consistent with your highest duty to link yourselves together to use your united strength to break the chains that bind our sweet sad mother -- and never before have the scattered children of Eire had such an opportunity for noble service. Today you can serve not only Ireland but the world.
A cruel war and a more cruel peace has shattered the [generous] of soul. Apathy mocks the high minded, and heartless cynicism points the way of selfishness. We the children of Eire, that has endured for ages the blight of war and the disappointment of peace, who have had the cup of the fruition of hope dashed from our lips in every decade and have not despaired, whose temper has never soured but who have always looked forward for the good in tomorrow. The world needs what we can give it today.
Once before, our people gave their souls to a barbarian continent and led brute materialism to an understanding of higher things. It is still our mission to show the world the might of moral duty, to teach mankind peace and happiness in keeping the law of love, doing to our neighbor what we would have our neighbor do to us. We are the spear point of the hosts in political slavery. We can be the shaft of dawn for the despairing and the wretched everywhere.
And those of our race, citizens of this mighty land of America whose thought will help to mold the policy of the leader among the nations, how much the world looks to you this St. Patrick's Day, hopes in you, trusts in you. You can so easily accomplish that which is needed. You will have only to have the will -- the way is all clear. What would not the people of the old land give for the power which is yours. May God and St. Patrick inspire you to use it and to use it well."
That evening at a banquet given by the ‘Friendly Sons of St Patrick’, with Judge Cohalan as Master of Ceremonies: ‘I have the honour of introducing now...a man who is a soldier, who is a scholar, who is a patriot, and who is the elected head of the Republic of Ireland - Eamon De Valera’
Some writers were now beginning to term de Valera the ‘Itinerant President’.
It was business as usual on Capitol Hill. Before the Senate was the Owen Reservation on Egypt, the Shields Amendment on Ireland and the Thomas Amendment on Korea. Senator King of Utah steered the issue from international to one of US interests, by advocating freedom for the American possesions of Purto Rico, the Phillipines, US Virgin Islands, Hawaii etc. Senator Kellogg of Minnesota proposed voting on the original Egypt Reservation and kill the Irish and Korean amendments. Both amendments were killed with a vote 54 to 21.
Following the shelving of the Shield’s reservation, Senator Gerry of Rhode Island in the late afternoon, introduced the Irish Reservation. This Reservation held two distinct propositions: first was the proposal to have the United States state it’s adherence to the general principle of self-determination and secondly, the expression of sympathy ‘for the aspirations of the Irish people for a Government of their own choice and of hope that Ireland would soon take it’s rightful place in the community of nations.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
18
Washington D.C. The Senate, considering the Ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, debated the Gerry Reservation to the Treaty. Senator Thomas of Colorado again tacked on the case for Korea. Hitchcock of Nebraska spoke for the reservation ‘The 'Irish Question' is a burning issue, not only in Great Britain, but it is a serious question in other countries. It disturbs the relations between the United States and Great Britain, and until the Irish Question is settled, the world will not be entirely free from international embarrasments.’
However, the main issue was the commitment implied, to unlimited self-determination. Many Senators objected, stating that the US would be unwise to accept such a wide-sweeping policy and several attempts were made to strike out the proposal. Senator Lodge attempted to have the reservation changed and so allow him and others vote for it in total, admitting that he was quite prepared to vote for Irish self-determination providing the Senate did not commit itself to apply the principle in all cases. In a vote on the Irish Reservation, it was carried 51 to 28. Following the vote, the Korean amendment was defeated 34 to 46.
Senator Lodge now attempted to change the wording from a general acceptance of self-determination for all, to one of ‘sympathy with the aspirations of the Irish people.’. The Lodge Amendment was defeated 37 to 42 leaving the Gerry Reservation in the original form but with agreement of Shields and Gerry, the reservation was amended to read:
“ In consenting to the ratification of the Treaty with Germany the United States adheres to the principle of self-determination and to the resolution of sympathy with the aspiration of the Irish people for a government of their own choice adopted by the Senate on June 6th, 1919, and declares that when self-government is attained by Ireland, a consummation it is hoped is at hand, it should promptly be admitted as a member of the League of Nations.”
The Reservation was now subject to further interpretation and two attempted changes, both of which were defeated.
This proved to be too much for the Senator from Massachussets, so Walsh took to the floor and ‘upbraided the Senate for trifling with a great cause, he pleaded for justice to Ireland and to all the oppressed peoples of the world, he charged that if any Senator or group of Senators, by reason of mere parliamentary difficulties, contributed to the defeat of a measure in which the whole Senate and the people of the country were fully in sympathy, it would be a bad days work.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Senate now sat in Committee of the Whole [entire Assembly] and agreed to the Irish reservation 38 to 36. 22 Senators did not vote. The Resolution moved on and was finally voted on, passing by 7 votes (45 to 38 ) with 13 Senators not voting.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter listed the Senators who had voted consistently for Irish recognition and self-determination, those who while voting against the Shields reservation, ‘voted unfailingly’ for the Gerry reservation and named the 26 who ‘voted consistently against the Irish Reservations.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter stridently declared ‘America Speaks Out’ that ‘Notice was served on England…by the United States Senate – and the notice was written into the Peace Treaty – that the struggle of the Irish nation for freedom is a mighty moral issue which causes grave concern to America, and which must be settled, and settled right, if the future peace of the world is to be secure…Senator Lodge came out flatly in favour of self-determination for Ireland…the debate proves conclusively that public sentiment in the United States is with the Irish people….’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 38, March 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
De Valera was naturally delighted, sending a cable to Arthur Griffith that:
“ … the promised land had been reached: A The Deum should be sung throughout all Ireland. We thank Almighty God , we thank the noble American nation, we thank all the friends of Ireland here who have worked so unselfishly for our cause - we thank the heroic dead whose sacrifices made victory possible. Our mission has been successful. The principle of self-determination has been formally adopted in an international instrument. Ireland has been given her place among the nations by the greatest nation of them all.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p171-172
Westminster: The Chief Secretary of Ireland, Ian Macpherson, revealed to the House of Commons the number of murders and attempted murders of police, soldiers and government officials across Ireland during the last 15 months.
Responding to a question from the Conservative-Unionist MP, Lt Col. Walter Guinness, the Chief Secretary said that since 1 January 1919, there had been 27 murders and 89 attempted murders, with a further 25 attacks on police barracks.
• Royal Irish Constabulary – 18 murders, 65 attempted murders
• Dublin Metropolitan Police – 6 murders, 17 attempted murders
• Soldiers – 2 murders, 4 attempted murders
• Other public servants – 1 murder, 3 attempted murders
The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, stated that the only alternative to the present coalition government was a government controlled by what he described as socialist extremists. The demonisation of Labour lay at the core of remarks, which he delivered at a private meeting of pro-coalition Liberal Party MPs. He claimed that the Labour Party policy of common ownership was one that went by different labels in other countries – communism in France, socialism in Germany and Bolshevism in Russia. He asked if they were willing to contemplate the success of a policy which threatened the entire fabric of their society. To defeat Labour, Mr Lloyd George emphasised the need for closer cooperation between the coalition parties.
Sir Edward Carson in the House of Commons argued that the proper course now was to let Ulster continue to be governed from Westminster and explaining that in certain eventualities ‘you will have a jumping off place from which you can carry on all the necessary operations’
P.S. O’Hegarty warned in New Ireland ‘It would be a great mistake to to count too much on America…if an Irish Republic is to be established it will have to be established by us here..’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P191.
Washington D.C. The Senate, considering the Ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, debated the Gerry Reservation to the Treaty. Senator Thomas of Colorado again tacked on the case for Korea. Hitchcock of Nebraska spoke for the reservation ‘The 'Irish Question' is a burning issue, not only in Great Britain, but it is a serious question in other countries. It disturbs the relations between the United States and Great Britain, and until the Irish Question is settled, the world will not be entirely free from international embarrasments.’
However, the main issue was the commitment implied, to unlimited self-determination. Many Senators objected, stating that the US would be unwise to accept such a wide-sweeping policy and several attempts were made to strike out the proposal. Senator Lodge attempted to have the reservation changed and so allow him and others vote for it in total, admitting that he was quite prepared to vote for Irish self-determination providing the Senate did not commit itself to apply the principle in all cases. In a vote on the Irish Reservation, it was carried 51 to 28. Following the vote, the Korean amendment was defeated 34 to 46.
Senator Lodge now attempted to change the wording from a general acceptance of self-determination for all, to one of ‘sympathy with the aspirations of the Irish people.’. The Lodge Amendment was defeated 37 to 42 leaving the Gerry Reservation in the original form but with agreement of Shields and Gerry, the reservation was amended to read:
“ In consenting to the ratification of the Treaty with Germany the United States adheres to the principle of self-determination and to the resolution of sympathy with the aspiration of the Irish people for a government of their own choice adopted by the Senate on June 6th, 1919, and declares that when self-government is attained by Ireland, a consummation it is hoped is at hand, it should promptly be admitted as a member of the League of Nations.”
The Reservation was now subject to further interpretation and two attempted changes, both of which were defeated.
This proved to be too much for the Senator from Massachussets, so Walsh took to the floor and ‘upbraided the Senate for trifling with a great cause, he pleaded for justice to Ireland and to all the oppressed peoples of the world, he charged that if any Senator or group of Senators, by reason of mere parliamentary difficulties, contributed to the defeat of a measure in which the whole Senate and the people of the country were fully in sympathy, it would be a bad days work.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Senate now sat in Committee of the Whole [entire Assembly] and agreed to the Irish reservation 38 to 36. 22 Senators did not vote. The Resolution moved on and was finally voted on, passing by 7 votes (45 to 38 ) with 13 Senators not voting.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter listed the Senators who had voted consistently for Irish recognition and self-determination, those who while voting against the Shields reservation, ‘voted unfailingly’ for the Gerry reservation and named the 26 who ‘voted consistently against the Irish Reservations.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Special Edition, March 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter stridently declared ‘America Speaks Out’ that ‘Notice was served on England…by the United States Senate – and the notice was written into the Peace Treaty – that the struggle of the Irish nation for freedom is a mighty moral issue which causes grave concern to America, and which must be settled, and settled right, if the future peace of the world is to be secure…Senator Lodge came out flatly in favour of self-determination for Ireland…the debate proves conclusively that public sentiment in the United States is with the Irish people….’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 38, March 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
De Valera was naturally delighted, sending a cable to Arthur Griffith that:
“ … the promised land had been reached: A The Deum should be sung throughout all Ireland. We thank Almighty God , we thank the noble American nation, we thank all the friends of Ireland here who have worked so unselfishly for our cause - we thank the heroic dead whose sacrifices made victory possible. Our mission has been successful. The principle of self-determination has been formally adopted in an international instrument. Ireland has been given her place among the nations by the greatest nation of them all.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p171-172
Westminster: The Chief Secretary of Ireland, Ian Macpherson, revealed to the House of Commons the number of murders and attempted murders of police, soldiers and government officials across Ireland during the last 15 months.
Responding to a question from the Conservative-Unionist MP, Lt Col. Walter Guinness, the Chief Secretary said that since 1 January 1919, there had been 27 murders and 89 attempted murders, with a further 25 attacks on police barracks.
• Royal Irish Constabulary – 18 murders, 65 attempted murders
• Dublin Metropolitan Police – 6 murders, 17 attempted murders
• Soldiers – 2 murders, 4 attempted murders
• Other public servants – 1 murder, 3 attempted murders
The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, stated that the only alternative to the present coalition government was a government controlled by what he described as socialist extremists. The demonisation of Labour lay at the core of remarks, which he delivered at a private meeting of pro-coalition Liberal Party MPs. He claimed that the Labour Party policy of common ownership was one that went by different labels in other countries – communism in France, socialism in Germany and Bolshevism in Russia. He asked if they were willing to contemplate the success of a policy which threatened the entire fabric of their society. To defeat Labour, Mr Lloyd George emphasised the need for closer cooperation between the coalition parties.
Sir Edward Carson in the House of Commons argued that the proper course now was to let Ulster continue to be governed from Westminster and explaining that in certain eventualities ‘you will have a jumping off place from which you can carry on all the necessary operations’
P.S. O’Hegarty warned in New Ireland ‘It would be a great mistake to to count too much on America…if an Irish Republic is to be established it will have to be established by us here..’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P191.
19
Cork:
Arrest order for Tomas MacCurtain - Lord Mayor of Cork
An order issued from British Headquarters in Dublin for the arrest of the Lord Mayor. It was transmitted to General Strickland, Commander of the British 6th Division and was passed by his officers to the County Inspector at Union Quay and a request made for police to accompany the military party in making the arrest.
Cork County RIC Inspector Maloney stated that on this date in Cork City he 'received certain verbal orders from the Military Authorities—namely to detail three men to meet a military lorry at 2 a.m. on the following morning [March 20th]'; and on being asked for what purpose, he replied: 'To arrest the Lord Mayor of Cork'. He 'passed the order on to the District Inspector Cork (North) whose district it was, District Inspector Swanzy'.
District Inspector Swanzy stated that he was told in Union Quay barracks 'about mid-day on March 19' by Mr. Clayton, the County Inspector who had just been appointed Divisional Commissioner, and Mr. Maloney, the County Inspector who had 'arrived in Cork only at twelve noon on Thursday and knew nothing of local conditions' that the Lord Mayor was to be arrested. 'He was ordered to detail some policemen to point out the Lord Mayor to the military.' Later he said: 'I was not ordered to arrest the Lord Mayor, but I was ordered to detail police to indicate the house of the Lord Mayor to a military party....told the Head Constable to detail two of the night men to carry out the military order'.
Later that day, there was a further consultation between police and military on the matter. Swanzy says': 'At five o'clock on the afternoon of March 19, at King Street Barracks', a military officer showed him a document 'directing' the arrest of the Lord Mayor, but that the military officer took the document away. 'The hour of arrest was arranged at five o'clock on the afternoon of March 19 when the military officer called. The hour arranged was 2 a.m. on March 20.'
Lord Mayor MacCurtain was at his desk in the City Hall during the afternoon when Alderman Tadhg Barry advised that he had heard if another policeman was shot in Cork, Tomas would be shot in reprisal. The only comment made by the Lord Mayor was: 'That's interesting'. He went on with his work.
Head Constable Cahill, King Street Barracks went on record to state 'he got orders from the competent Military Authority on March 19, relating to the late Lord Mayor, and he communicated these orders to Sergeant Beatty at about 11.10 p.m. He detailed Sergeant Beatty and three constables to accompany a party of military to the residence of the late Lord Mayor. The military party was to call at King Street...A type-written communication was shown to me by the District Inspector in his office. . . . Amongst other things it contained a reference to the Lord Mayor, and the Lord Mayor was the only person we were concerned with. ... I am not sure whether it was four or five persons were referred to.'
Major General Strickland, commanding the British 6th Division with headquarters in Cork, said that 'the authority for the order for the arrest of the Lord Mayor came from the Government. It came to him from the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland. The document contained authority for arrest and search.' The order 'was received about mid-day on March 19'. When asked if the order contained any other names besides that of the Lord Mayor, General Strickland replied: 'I can't answer that question'.
That evening, at 11pm, Constable Joseph Murtagh (46) was shot dead as he walked along Pope’s Quay, returning from the funeral of Constable Healy.
A British military raid took place on the home of Justice O'Grady in Rochestown, Cork.
"Mrs. Alice O’Grady, of Norwood, County Cork, Ireland, wife of Justice O’Grady, the Protestant Judge who resigned his commission because he could no longer reconcile court justice with the measures of oppression, disregard for justice and contempt for law, pursued by the Crown authorities, has written to an American friend a most pathetic recital of conditions in Ireland, and a raid by the British soldiers at her home. Part of Mrs. O'Grady’s letter reads as follows: “My son was in the house at the time and they arrested him also— Think of it!—arrested their own! I was also arrested. As my son Jack said, if he were away and I had written and told him, he would have said it was un true, and now, thank God, he saw it all. He is very ill, in fact, dying since the raid. He will never again be the same. It took a great effect on him. I am afraid we will never see our money or jewellery again. This treatment is very, very hard and very, very cruel, but we must hope and pray a change will come. May God bring peace to our land.” It is interesting to know that Mrs. O’Grady’s son, Jack, referred to in this letter, was a Lieutenant in the British Army and had fought through the war, suffering the loss of an arm. Mrs. O’Grady operates, very successfully, a Utility Poultry Industry and at one time won, in open competition in Great Britain, £1,000 sterling prize for her utility poultry. Early in the war period, she was actively engaged in war work in support of the British forces."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Mrs O'Grady also made a deposition years later in a Bureau of Military History Archives statement of 20 September 1955. Click here to view a copy.
Waterford: The Waterford Lord Mayor returned to an ancient Irish custom of wearing a green robe of office with a silver clasp modelled on the Ardagh Chalice. ‘The makers of the robe in Waterford claim that it is the first of its kind to be worn by an Irish official in more than seven hundred years.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 39, March 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Conservative MP Alfred Davies told the Sinn Fein representaive in London, Art O’Brien ‘that the majority of the House of Commons favoured a peaceful settlement and that he was desirous of bringing about a meeting between Griffith and Lloyd George.’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p179
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter was now being translated into German and distributed through Germany and Switzerland.
Washington DC: In the US Senate,a final attempt to ratify the Versailles Treaty and make the United States a member of the League of Nations was defeated. Objectors to the Treaty, led by Senator Cabot-Lodge took 49 votes, the Democrats held 23 and were joined by 12 ‘Irreconcilables’ who were unwilling to vote yes with or without a reservation. With the Treaty dead as far as the United States was concerned, so too was the Gerry Resoloution.
In the Senate Gallery was Judge Cohalan along with Diarmuid Lynch.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter #39 dated March 26th effectively marks a watershed between the aspirations of the Irish Americans and those of de Valera’s Mission in the United States.
Wheras the principle of self-determination was of primary concern to de Valera, the issue of American involvement in the League of Nations was that of Judge Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom. The British threat to America was more immediate. Cohalan commented in the issue: ‘The defeat of the British proposed League of Nations is a new Declaration of American Independence and puts an end to the most insidious, powerful and persistent effort yet made by England to undermine and overthrow our country from within. It is at once the greatest American triumph and worst English defeat since the Revolution. It sets the seal of disapproval upon the plan of English Tories in England and America to destroy our Republic and couple us with British Imperialism in its desire to rule the world…it ends our adventures in the field of entangling alliances..’
Cohalan continues with his forecast of Wilson’s future electoral chances ‘Before the people, upon a platform of internationalism against Americanism, he will be beaten as decisively as Taft was beaten in 1912..never before in our history was it more necessary that the people be aroused and awakened to the danger than confronts them.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 39, March 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The issue was further raised in a Special Edition of the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter published on March 31st. Perhaps there was some dissent on the comments by Judge Cohalan in issue 39 that were more specifically anti-League of Nations than pro-Irish Republic. The Newsletter commented ‘It must be distinctly remembered, however, that despite the deserved defeat of the League of Nations, the declarations embodied in the Irish Reservation adopted by the Senate, have not lost their force. The Principles and hopes set forth in the Reservation must still be regarded by the world as the truthful expressions of the opinion of the people of the United States. England cannot ignore them."
The Newsletter printed details of de Valera’s ‘Te-Deum’ cabelgram to Griffith was mentioned on page 4, following details of the St. Patrick’s Day parades throughout the US and New York.
25 members of the Massachussetts State Legislature issued a joint statement condemning comments made by the Carson Delegation which had just left the US.
Park Avenue Hotel Meeting, New York
Depending on the source, a meeting was called by the Friends of Irish Freedom for March 19th at the Park Avenue Hotel with the purpose of discussing the now obvious split in Irish-American ranks. De Valera had not been invited but the intention was to either neutralise or side-line the President.
Charles Tansill supports the view that Judge Cohalan suggested a meeting of ‘about 100 important men identified with the Irish movement’. De Valera comments that the Judge ‘called a meeting of a number of his supporters and a few other distinguished Irish Americans’. Tim Pat Coogan saw it as an ‘impending putsch’ which does appear to be supported.
Devoy and Cohalan had decided to “read out” de Valera at a caucus of Irish American leaders which they convened secretly in the Park Avenue Hotel, New York on the 19th March. They had arranged for de Valera to be decoyed out of the city to Chicago, where a fictitious dinner in his honour had been arranged. The findings of the Caucus, repudiating de Valera, were intended to be revealed on the eve of his dinner - so that when de Valera turned up to rows of empty seats the impression would be created that the guests had stayed away in sympathy with these findings.
The McGarrity-McCartan faction got wind of the "impending putsch" when a letter from Devoy to John McGarry fell into their hands ( see February 26 entry for letter details):
As Devoy put it: “ All the advantages, except the scandal of a fight, are on our side now.. we’d be worse off in the end than if we fought it out now. I am also convinced that he meant to fight us all along and was only waiting for a good opportunity. He selected the wrong time and the wrong issue, because his judgement is very poor, but he is filled with the idea that the great ovations he got here were for him personally and practically gave him a mandate to do as he pleases. His head is turned to a greater extent than any man I have me in more than half a century....they wanted to make an excuse for the “reading out of the movement” with which you know he has been threatening the Judge for some time...the response he got which was the finest thing Cohalan has ever done, evidently deterred him from “reading out” him and me...His motto is the King can do no wrong...we cannot permit the continuance of the present intolerable relations without assuming responsibility for very serious danger to the cause.”
However, Boland learned of the scheme and de Valera stayed in New York while the indomitable McGarrity pushed his way uninvited into the caucus meeting. The fiery “gallowglass” then brushed aside all efforts to get him to leave, even though he had no invitation and attendance at the gathering was supposed to be confined to those who were allowed to sign a register after producing their credentials.
"The following eight hour meeting was fractious, chaotic and turbulent, underlining the deep mistust and hostility on both sides"
Eileen McGough. 'Diarmuid Lynch: A Forgotten Irish Patriot'. Mercier Press 2013. p125
Tim Pat Coogan continues to describe the scene in the Park Avenue Hotel: (where considering it’s significance, all de Valera's biographers have recorded the events in less detail than would be expected )
“Cohalan opened for the prosecution with a tirade in which de Valera was accused of alienating lifetime supporters of Ireland's cause through his arrogance and failure to consult with anyone, despite his ignorance of American politics and history. He was arraigned for wasting money through living in luxury hotels and of splitting the solidarity of the greatest movement for Ireland than ever existed. Worst of all, he was charged with placing Ireland alongside England by his use of the Cuban analogy in a manner which could make Ireland a potential enemy of America's. Cohalan also read out his exchange of letters with de Valera over the Westminster Gazette interview. Then Devoy took over the case, alleging that the bond drive was being badly handled and that de Valera's advisers were “the enemies of the leaders of the Irish race in America.” This was a reference to Maloney, whom Cohalan termed “one of the ablest men in the British secret service...
After an interlude of invective during which Brendan Behan would have had no cause to complain about lack of fidelity to that central Republican tenet,” The Split ”, the ’ gallowglass’ unsheathed his axe and McGarrity went into battle. Where was de Valera, the subject of the meeting? Why had he not been invited? Two prominent New York politicians, Judge John W Goff and Burke Cockran, thought McGarrity had a point. Cockran said that, if de Valera had made a mistake “it was the business of friends to set him right, not by what might be considered abuse, but by friendly counsel” Bishop Turner, too, thought some “friendly counsel” with de Valera was in order.
Accordingly a phone call was put through from the meeting to de Valera's suite in the Waldorf. Harry Boland took it, and was disposed at first to prevent de Valera from going. But then a deputation arrived at the Waldorf from the meeting and, further and better particulars of what might be expected at the Park Avenue Hotel having been elicited, de Valera, accompanied by Boland and James O’Mara, went to confront Cohalan and Devoy. McGarrity described him, not surprisingly, as appearing under great strain as he entered the room. “His teeth were set, and he looked over the crowd, anxious, apparently, to see the makeup of same”. Other descriptions were less sympathetic; de Valera's attitude was one of infallibility. The incredible meeting lasted for ten hours and was “acrimonious in the extreme”.
The tension was such that at one point Harry Boland went into hysterics and had to leave the room
(taken John H Splain’s memorandum, quoted in Tansill ”America and the Fight for Irish Freedom, 1866-1922 Devin Adair. New York 1957 p367. ( Believed to be sourced in turn from Spains Voice of Ireland, Dublin 1923. p247 )
McGarrity wrote:
“ The judge made a very clever case, keeping part of the time at least quite cool, and doing everything to irritate the President - walking close to him and pointing his finger, etc. The President was always courteous and respectful, and at one point when the Judge told the President that he should repeat his assurances that he did not intend to lower the flag etc., the President pointed out that he had already done so ( de Valera then gave a number of occasions on which he had explained his Cuban references including a banquet at which Cohalan was present ) ..that he was quite conscious that the Judge desired to humiliate him and irritate him by making these requests to repeat and repeat...in the Judge’s attempts to humiliate him, he was only showing his own measurement to his friends”
However, McGarrity’s assessment of the conference was far from being shared by everyone present. De Valera lessened the good impression he had created by repeating his observation that he had not been in the country a month before he realised that it was not big enough for himself and Cohalan. To this Bishop Turner replied that the judge could hardly be expected to “leave his native land just because de Valera had come in” but the respected shipping magnate John P Grace in a letter to a friend some months after the confrontation, not only painted a far darker picture than McGarrity but raised questions about de Valera's sanity:
“ ..I confess before heaven that President de Valera was that day revealed to me as either labouring under some psychopathic condition or that the evil spirit himself had taken hold of the Irish movement...Judge Cohalan, humbling himself under insults repeated constantly during those ten hours...did everything humanly possible or imaginable to bridge the chasm. De Valera had not only been the aggressor, but repeatedly the aggressor, and perhaps encouraged to go a little further as each new aggression was overlooked... de Valera's attitude was one of infallibility; he was right , everybody else was wrong, and he couldn’t be wrong... Bishops and priests, Protestants and Catholics, aged men born in Ireland and young men born here worked for those ten hours to bring President de Valera to the point of amenability beg to repeat that not having seen him before, as for those ten hours he unfolded himself, I thought the man was crazy...”
J.P.Grace letter to A.J.Ryan. Quoted in Tansill ”America and the Fight for Irish Freedom, 1866-1922 Devin Adair. New York 1957 p367. ).
Finally, however, after both sides had stated and restated their respective positions as to who was entitled to control what in America where matters Irish were concerned, de Valera brought off a coup de theatre. He announced that letters had come into his possession showing that the Devoy faction had intended to send him home a discredited man. Devoy denied this, but Boland interjected to say that the man they were written to was present “ John A McGarry of Chicago”.
Horrified at being singled out in such circumstances, McGarry (to whom the Devoy letter was indeed writte ) was attempting to deny that charge when de Valera gestured dramatically at McGarrity and told him to “Get those letters”. At this, he said “the audience became quite excited, and I fumbled in my overcoat as though going to produce the letters, when a number of persons took the floor and made an appeal...the incident of the letters was then dropped, in fact there was a general desire for peace..”
Judge Goff called the meeting order, adding that it appeared that Judge Cohalan had acted hastily and suggested that he was a big enough man to apologise in the interests of peace.
One account (McGarrity’s) says Cohalan shook hands with de Valera and retracted his accusations, another (Tansill) denies this. But there seems to be little doubt that in his moment of triumph, he did shake hands with McGarrity and proclaim that if he were dying in the morning, McGarrity was the man he would hand over the cause of Ireland.
Bishop Turner then asked everyone to kneel while he said a prayer in Latin for harmony. He then persuaded the two factions to a truce and “the meeting broke up on the understanding that henceforth de Valera would not interfere in purely American matters and Cohalan and Devoy would keep out of essentially Irish affairs”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p173-175.
Dr McCartan noted that ‘many wept as they knelt, for all day they had sat in anguish ‘while they heard the death-knell of their hopes in the wrangling of their leaders’
Desmond Ryan ‘Unique Dictator’ Arthur Barker Ltd, London. 1936. p123
In his diary, Boland recorded the event 'Dirty attempt to break Chief fails miserably...Jas.O'Mara cool and calm. Boland crying. DeV shaken. Devoy and Cohalan licked'
Bishop Gallagher commented later on events at the Park Avenue Hotel:
20
In a letter to Sean Nunan in New York, Michael Collins perhaps commented factually on the Irish American situation in comparison to the struggle taking place in Ireland “I am fully aware of all the little troubles you have had in the new world, but the little troubles here are so absorbing that one is inclined to forget them’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P195
Cork: At 1.10am on the morning of Tomas MacCurtain’s 36th birthday, his home was surrounded by British forces and the Lord Mayor of Cork, was shot in his home by the R.I.C. ‘A company of thirty men…surrounded the house, made all passers by stand with their backs to the wall at safe distances, stood guard while two of their number committed the murder, shot at members of the family who opened the windows to call for help…then in military formation, marched off.’ The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported that ‘the bullet that killed the Lord Mayor has been identified as a regulation police bullet, and one assassin left behind as convincing evidence, a button off hs coat that admitedly is a regulation police uniform button.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A lamplighter saw a group of armed men hurrying along King Street shortly after the murder before going into the RIC barracks.
Army Lieutenant D. F. Cooke stated that on March 19 he was detailed to take charge of a party of twenty men to report at King Street Police Barracks at 2 a.m. [March 20] to carry out arrests. He reported at King Street and was joined there by a Sergeant and three Constables. He learned then for the first time who was to be arrested. He got the name of Thomas MacCurtain, 40 Thomas Davis Street. He went to the Lord Mayor's house, and was there informed that he had been shot dead. He considered that it was his duty to search the house, and he did so, including the bed on which the remains of the Lord Mayor were lying. The police refused to enter the house with him when they heard the Lord Mayor was dead.
That evening. RIC Constable Joseph Murtagh of Sunday’s Well Station Cork was shot dead in Cork City. He was a native of Galway and had served in the RIC for nearly thirty years the last ten of these in Cork. Murtagh had left the barrack at about 11pm going by was of Pope’s Quay and had reached a point opposite St. Mary’s Church when a number of men fired at him, he received several bullet wounds and died instantly. Constable Murtagh, a widower and father of two children lived at Sunday’s Well Barrack and was returning from a night out at the theatre or picture house when the attack happened, he was dressed in civilian clothes.
Pamela Harriman, English-born American diplomat, socialite born (d. 1997)
In a letter to Sean Nunan in New York, Michael Collins perhaps commented factually on the Irish American situation in comparison to the struggle taking place in Ireland “I am fully aware of all the little troubles you have had in the new world, but the little troubles here are so absorbing that one is inclined to forget them’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P195
Cork: At 1.10am on the morning of Tomas MacCurtain’s 36th birthday, his home was surrounded by British forces and the Lord Mayor of Cork, was shot in his home by the R.I.C. ‘A company of thirty men…surrounded the house, made all passers by stand with their backs to the wall at safe distances, stood guard while two of their number committed the murder, shot at members of the family who opened the windows to call for help…then in military formation, marched off.’ The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported that ‘the bullet that killed the Lord Mayor has been identified as a regulation police bullet, and one assassin left behind as convincing evidence, a button off hs coat that admitedly is a regulation police uniform button.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A lamplighter saw a group of armed men hurrying along King Street shortly after the murder before going into the RIC barracks.
Army Lieutenant D. F. Cooke stated that on March 19 he was detailed to take charge of a party of twenty men to report at King Street Police Barracks at 2 a.m. [March 20] to carry out arrests. He reported at King Street and was joined there by a Sergeant and three Constables. He learned then for the first time who was to be arrested. He got the name of Thomas MacCurtain, 40 Thomas Davis Street. He went to the Lord Mayor's house, and was there informed that he had been shot dead. He considered that it was his duty to search the house, and he did so, including the bed on which the remains of the Lord Mayor were lying. The police refused to enter the house with him when they heard the Lord Mayor was dead.
That evening. RIC Constable Joseph Murtagh of Sunday’s Well Station Cork was shot dead in Cork City. He was a native of Galway and had served in the RIC for nearly thirty years the last ten of these in Cork. Murtagh had left the barrack at about 11pm going by was of Pope’s Quay and had reached a point opposite St. Mary’s Church when a number of men fired at him, he received several bullet wounds and died instantly. Constable Murtagh, a widower and father of two children lived at Sunday’s Well Barrack and was returning from a night out at the theatre or picture house when the attack happened, he was dressed in civilian clothes.
Pamela Harriman, English-born American diplomat, socialite born (d. 1997)
21
An tAthair Peadar O’Laoghaire, scholar and author of Seadna 1894 and Mo Sceal Fein 1915, dies aged 81.
Westminster: Uproar in Westminster as The Chief Secretary of Ireland, Ian Macpherson, explained the action of sending troops to McCurtain's home following his murder on the basis that it was the responsibility of those with a duty to uphold law and order to enter a place where a murder had been committed, although he didn’t explain why it was soldiers and not the police who did the searching. To shouts in the House of Commons of ‘order’, ‘shame’ and ‘withdraw’, the Irish nationalist MP for Liverpool, T.P. O’Connor, asked whether the insistence of the soldiers to search the whole premises gave rise to the ‘suspicion that this was meant to destroy the evidence of the crime?’
Another MP, Jeremiah MacVeagh, who represents the constituency of South Down, made a similarly pointed contribution when implicating police involvement in the murder. ‘If you had searched the police barracks you would have got the evidence’, he told Mr Macpherson
The Freeman’s Journal, a newspaper which is often critical of Sinn Féin, stated that the murder in Cork is a ‘portent of the gravest evil… Mr Mac Curtain was evidently murdered because he was a representative Sinn Féiner of the City of Cork’ and he was the victim of a ‘conspiracy of vengeance, formed by the enemies of the Sinn Féin movement and supporters of British rule in Ireland.’
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Cork, Dr Daniel Cohalan, has denounced the Mac Curtain attack as a murder and a crime, but has asked that no thought be given to ‘retaliation or reprisals’ which, apart from being unlawful, might be directed in error against individuals or classes of men unconnected with the Lord Mayor’s murder.
Father Dominic O’Connor, chaplain to the Lord Mayor, has likewise called for calm, asking citizens to resist the provocation to retaliate.
Bishop Michael Fogarty of Killaloe, speaking on the recent Gerry Reservation in the Senate said:
‘If Ireland had one days rest from the reign of terror she suffered, she would have celebrated with solemn services in every church throughout the land that declaration of America. But in her manacles, from dungeons and from above the graves of her martyred dead, she saluted the great people of America, for that declaration of sympathy and hope in her national struggle…with such a mighty ally, Ireland can afford to bide her time in calm confidence. There is a fissure already visible in Dublin Castle and cement cannot be made that will close it again. In a few years Dublin Castle will be, with the Bastille of Paris, in the limbo of time.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In a little less than 2 years, the Bishop would be correct.
An tAthair Peadar O’Laoghaire, scholar and author of Seadna 1894 and Mo Sceal Fein 1915, dies aged 81.
Westminster: Uproar in Westminster as The Chief Secretary of Ireland, Ian Macpherson, explained the action of sending troops to McCurtain's home following his murder on the basis that it was the responsibility of those with a duty to uphold law and order to enter a place where a murder had been committed, although he didn’t explain why it was soldiers and not the police who did the searching. To shouts in the House of Commons of ‘order’, ‘shame’ and ‘withdraw’, the Irish nationalist MP for Liverpool, T.P. O’Connor, asked whether the insistence of the soldiers to search the whole premises gave rise to the ‘suspicion that this was meant to destroy the evidence of the crime?’
Another MP, Jeremiah MacVeagh, who represents the constituency of South Down, made a similarly pointed contribution when implicating police involvement in the murder. ‘If you had searched the police barracks you would have got the evidence’, he told Mr Macpherson
The Freeman’s Journal, a newspaper which is often critical of Sinn Féin, stated that the murder in Cork is a ‘portent of the gravest evil… Mr Mac Curtain was evidently murdered because he was a representative Sinn Féiner of the City of Cork’ and he was the victim of a ‘conspiracy of vengeance, formed by the enemies of the Sinn Féin movement and supporters of British rule in Ireland.’
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Cork, Dr Daniel Cohalan, has denounced the Mac Curtain attack as a murder and a crime, but has asked that no thought be given to ‘retaliation or reprisals’ which, apart from being unlawful, might be directed in error against individuals or classes of men unconnected with the Lord Mayor’s murder.
Father Dominic O’Connor, chaplain to the Lord Mayor, has likewise called for calm, asking citizens to resist the provocation to retaliate.
Bishop Michael Fogarty of Killaloe, speaking on the recent Gerry Reservation in the Senate said:
‘If Ireland had one days rest from the reign of terror she suffered, she would have celebrated with solemn services in every church throughout the land that declaration of America. But in her manacles, from dungeons and from above the graves of her martyred dead, she saluted the great people of America, for that declaration of sympathy and hope in her national struggle…with such a mighty ally, Ireland can afford to bide her time in calm confidence. There is a fissure already visible in Dublin Castle and cement cannot be made that will close it again. In a few years Dublin Castle will be, with the Bastille of Paris, in the limbo of time.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In a little less than 2 years, the Bishop would be correct.
22
Many shop windows in Dublin ‘wrecked by troops’
Thousands gather to pay their respects to the murdered Tomás Mac Curtain. Over 8,000 IRA Volunteers line the route to St. Finbarr's Cemetery. He is succeeded as Lord Mayor by Terence MacSwiney.
Cork: Lord Mayor Tomás Mac Curtain was laid to rest in St Finbarr’s Cemetery in Cork.
His funeral was observed as a civic holiday in Cork and the cortège that followed his coffin was the largest in living memory in the city, with all classes and creeds represented. Black flags and flags bearing the republican colours were hung from City Hall and from businesses and private houses. Alderman Mac Curtain’s remains rested overnight in the Roman Catholic Cathedral where a Requiem Mass was held in his honour at 11am, celebrated by Dr Daniel Cohalan, the Bishop of Cork.
The procession from the cathedral to the graveyard left at 12.30pm and was headed by approximately 200 priests led by Dr Cohalan. It comprised almost 20,000 people and took 90 minutes to pass any particular point. Representatives of public bodies, corporations, and various shades of nationalist opinion, including those from the old Irish Parliamentary Party tradition were in attendance. There were also senior figures from the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian, Methodist and Jewish faiths in attendance. There was a strong turnout from the Volunteers, one estimate putting their number at 8,000, many of whom wore uniforms. Many pipers’ bands were also present and wearing their traditional costumes. Also represented were Cumann na mBan, the transport union, the Catholic Young Men’s Society and other groupings.
The procession passed the entrance to Cork Jail where Volunteers were positioned to ensure that large crowds would not obstruct the view of political prisoners from their cell windows which overlooked the roadway. The Volunteers also policed the entrance to the graveyard, where access was restricted principally for immediate relatives and friends, among them Margaret Pearse, Áine Ceannt and Tomasina McGarry.
At the graveside, Terence McSwiney delivered the eulogy. He told mourners that while the work being done by the late Lord Mayor had been interrupted, it would continue all the same. Men would be found to take Tomás Mac Curtain’s place and no matter how many were stopped in a similar way, there were others who would come forward and take the lead. After the eulogy, a party of Volunteers fired a volley over the grave.
The inquest into the death of the Cork Lord Mayor has already heard startling suggestions that implicate the police in his murder. Among other revelations, the counsel for the family of the deceased noted that the raiders – who numbered 20 men in all, six of whom entered the house – wore civilian overcoats and caps, but carried rifles with straps such as those served out to the police and that men fitting their description were shortly after seen entering the King Street Police Barracks, which is situated only 40 yards from the Lord Mayor’s house. Mac Curtain’s home has been raided over 20 times in four years by the police and it was clear that the raiders knew the layout when they entered. A policeman’s button was also discovered immediately outside the house.
Many shop windows in Dublin ‘wrecked by troops’
Thousands gather to pay their respects to the murdered Tomás Mac Curtain. Over 8,000 IRA Volunteers line the route to St. Finbarr's Cemetery. He is succeeded as Lord Mayor by Terence MacSwiney.
Cork: Lord Mayor Tomás Mac Curtain was laid to rest in St Finbarr’s Cemetery in Cork.
His funeral was observed as a civic holiday in Cork and the cortège that followed his coffin was the largest in living memory in the city, with all classes and creeds represented. Black flags and flags bearing the republican colours were hung from City Hall and from businesses and private houses. Alderman Mac Curtain’s remains rested overnight in the Roman Catholic Cathedral where a Requiem Mass was held in his honour at 11am, celebrated by Dr Daniel Cohalan, the Bishop of Cork.
The procession from the cathedral to the graveyard left at 12.30pm and was headed by approximately 200 priests led by Dr Cohalan. It comprised almost 20,000 people and took 90 minutes to pass any particular point. Representatives of public bodies, corporations, and various shades of nationalist opinion, including those from the old Irish Parliamentary Party tradition were in attendance. There were also senior figures from the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian, Methodist and Jewish faiths in attendance. There was a strong turnout from the Volunteers, one estimate putting their number at 8,000, many of whom wore uniforms. Many pipers’ bands were also present and wearing their traditional costumes. Also represented were Cumann na mBan, the transport union, the Catholic Young Men’s Society and other groupings.
The procession passed the entrance to Cork Jail where Volunteers were positioned to ensure that large crowds would not obstruct the view of political prisoners from their cell windows which overlooked the roadway. The Volunteers also policed the entrance to the graveyard, where access was restricted principally for immediate relatives and friends, among them Margaret Pearse, Áine Ceannt and Tomasina McGarry.
At the graveside, Terence McSwiney delivered the eulogy. He told mourners that while the work being done by the late Lord Mayor had been interrupted, it would continue all the same. Men would be found to take Tomás Mac Curtain’s place and no matter how many were stopped in a similar way, there were others who would come forward and take the lead. After the eulogy, a party of Volunteers fired a volley over the grave.
The inquest into the death of the Cork Lord Mayor has already heard startling suggestions that implicate the police in his murder. Among other revelations, the counsel for the family of the deceased noted that the raiders – who numbered 20 men in all, six of whom entered the house – wore civilian overcoats and caps, but carried rifles with straps such as those served out to the police and that men fitting their description were shortly after seen entering the King Street Police Barracks, which is situated only 40 yards from the Lord Mayor’s house. Mac Curtain’s home has been raided over 20 times in four years by the police and it was clear that the raiders knew the layout when they entered. A policeman’s button was also discovered immediately outside the house.
23
In his address to the Grand Jury on the inquest into Lord Mayor MacCurtain’s assassination, Lord Justice O’Connor ‘administered a rebuke to the powers that be in Ireland, which is almost without precedent in Irish judicial annals’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Lloyd George continued making changes to the Irish administration and appointed General Sir Neville Macready as Commander of the regular military forces in Ireland. Macready had previously served as commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police since 1918 and it was originally intended that he assume control of the RIC as well as the military. Macready thought otherwise and as he favoured direct military rule in Ireland, refused the responsibility of the RIC.
Judge Cohalan was delighted with the defeat of the Treaty in the US Senate and in the course of a letter to Senator Hiram W. Johnson, indicated that Johnson was his choice for the Republican Presidential nomination.
In his address to the Grand Jury on the inquest into Lord Mayor MacCurtain’s assassination, Lord Justice O’Connor ‘administered a rebuke to the powers that be in Ireland, which is almost without precedent in Irish judicial annals’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Lloyd George continued making changes to the Irish administration and appointed General Sir Neville Macready as Commander of the regular military forces in Ireland. Macready had previously served as commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police since 1918 and it was originally intended that he assume control of the RIC as well as the military. Macready thought otherwise and as he favoured direct military rule in Ireland, refused the responsibility of the RIC.
Judge Cohalan was delighted with the defeat of the Treaty in the US Senate and in the course of a letter to Senator Hiram W. Johnson, indicated that Johnson was his choice for the Republican Presidential nomination.
24
The Coroners Inquest into the death of the Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomas MacCurtain, found that he ‘was wilfully murdered under circumstances of most callous brutality; that the murder was organised and carried out by the Royal Constabulary, officially directed by the British Government...they returned a verdict of ‘wilful murder against Lloyd George, Lord French, and Ian McPherson, as well as against three inspectors of the R.I.C and some unknown members of the same force’
Macardle. ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press. Dublin 1957. p334
Lord French had alleged the Lord Mayor had been murdered by Sinn Fein extremists but declined to supply evidence.
‘The RIC is on the verge of breakup, at all events in the South’ Dublin Castle advised Sir Warren Fisher, leading Civil Servant in charge of the UK Treasury.
The Coroners Inquest into the death of the Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomas MacCurtain, found that he ‘was wilfully murdered under circumstances of most callous brutality; that the murder was organised and carried out by the Royal Constabulary, officially directed by the British Government...they returned a verdict of ‘wilful murder against Lloyd George, Lord French, and Ian McPherson, as well as against three inspectors of the R.I.C and some unknown members of the same force’
Macardle. ‘The Irish Republic’ Irish Press. Dublin 1957. p334
Lord French had alleged the Lord Mayor had been murdered by Sinn Fein extremists but declined to supply evidence.
‘The RIC is on the verge of breakup, at all events in the South’ Dublin Castle advised Sir Warren Fisher, leading Civil Servant in charge of the UK Treasury.
25
The British Government now facing country-wide revolt in Ireland, began recruiting a group of ex-servicemen in England with the express purpose of “making Ireland hell for the rebels”. Recruiting offices were set up in Liverpool and Glasgow, and although recruiting posters warned any potential candidate that they had to be prepared for ‘a rough and dangerous task’, positions were soon filled from the returned ex-servicemen, mostly under 30, working class and unemployed. These men were paid 10/ a day, their wives received allowances and due to a shortage of uniforms, they were dressed in the dark bottle green trousers of the R.I.C. and khaki tunics of the regular army. Immediately they were nicknamed ‘The Black and Tans’ and made their first public appearance on this day in Dublin.
As one historian, Charles Duff described the average recruit:
‘what can be said about all of them is that they were disillusioned or disgruntled: the ‘land fit for heroes’ promised by the politicians showed no signs of materialising...the trenches had helped brutalise them, demobilisation brought about demoralisation...’
Duff. ‘Six days to shake an Empire’. Dent, London. 1966. p.255.
These special forces were in effect given carte blanche. They could not be tried before the civil courts for any offences and were not under military discipline. 400 arrived in Dublin on March 25th, coinciding with the retirement of several high officials of the R.I.C and grew to 1,200 by mid June.
‘They [ the Black and Tans ] thought that, after the mud and slush of the trenches in France...Ireland would be a paradise. It did not prove so...on the contrary, Ireland with it's frustrations and worries, combined with the infuriating strike-and-vanish tactics of the IRA strained their nerves to breaking point...after a time they were ready to shoot at sight almost any Irishmen they met..’
Duff. ‘Six days to shake an Empire’. Dent, London. 1966. p.255/256
The Tans succeeded in their posting to Ireland, to terrorise the population. Drunken indiscipline followed them throughout the countryside and finer points of the Hague Convention were not exactly followed by either them or their adversaries, the IRA.
William Hill, the founder of Britain's biggest bookmakers, served as a Black and Tan in Ireland.
General Shaw, GOC Army in Ireland commented in a memorandum to Cabinet: ‘It became obvious before the end of 1919 that matters had got beyond the power of the police to handle’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p48
New York
De Valera wrote to Griffith after the Senate had killed the reservation to say that it was “What I had always been wishing for, and it came finally beyond expectations”.
One biographer has judged that this reaction showed de Valera’s “inexperience in American politics because he obviously did not recognise that the resolution had been passed only as a tactical means of making the reservations so unpalatable to ensure the defeat of the actual Treaty”.. However Tim Pat Coogan disagreed “..de Valera was not that simple-minded. He understood, with or without Machiavelli’s teachings, that politics are about perceptions; and it suited him then and subsequently to heighten domestic Irish perceptions, amongst and unsophisticated electorate, that he was a wonder worker who had bent the United States Government to his will."
Here is the authorised interpretation of the significance of the Senate reservation which he first sanction seventeen years after cabling Griffith ( 1937 ) and subsequently took care to ensure remained in print thereafter:
“ Ireland's position in relation to the League of Nations was thoroughly understood, and on March 18th, 1920, the United States Senate took an action on behalf of the small and struggling nation so remarkable that the gratitude of the Irish people was scarcely greater than their surprise... it passed a resolution that: On Ireland’s behalf the United States Senate had issued what amounted to a public reprimand on the Government of Great Britain, America's ally in the World War. It seemed as though recognition of the Irish Republic might not be too much hope for if only the claim could be advanced with firmness and discretion by a united organisation.”
McCardle “ The Irish Republic” Irish Press, Dublin 1951.p366-7 )
Tim Pat Coogan continues with the De Valera - Cohalan - Devoy feud & reveals de Valera's plans:
“ (De Valera ) ..’had no intention of upholding his side of the agreement’ with them. In fact the letter to Griffith written after the Park Avenue (Hotel) confrontation, formed part of his plan to escalate the war with Cohalan. He asked Griffith to get the Dail to “secretly authorise him to spend between a $250,000 and $500,000 in connection with the forthcoming elections in the United States.” De Valera made it quite clear that he did not want this demand to be made public because his adversaries could use it to block the bond drive: “ It is very important that there should not be an open rupture until the bond drive were over at any rate”. To increase his leverage with Dublin, both in getting this money and in ensuring the Cabinet’s continuing support against his enemies, he also sent Harry Boland to Dublin in McCartan’s wake to lobby for him”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P172, 176 & 165.
De Valera further added his thoughts on the Friends of Irish Freedom:
“ It is sympathy for Ireland that has enabled such an organisation as the Friends of Irish Freedom to be built up. That is why the vast mass of the rank and file have joined - that is why they have contributed, and I will not allow myself to be in any hobble skirts with respect to the doings of anything which we feel certain is good for the Cause..”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P172, 176 & 165.
De Valera writing to Griffith commented:
"It is not however, from fundamentals like this the trouble arises. The trouble is purely one of personalities. I cannot feel confidence enough in a certain man[Judge Cohalan] to let him have implicit control of tactics here, without consultation and agreement with me'
26
The Dail Loan continued to grow despite some attempts by Dublin Castle to prevent otherwise. but a threat appeared in the form of a retired magistrate and former Land League detective named Alan Bell.
Alan Bell (1858-1920). Described as ‘a man utterly unscrupulous and a perfect liar’ he was appointed to question Bank Managers and inspect their accounts and began to unravel the myriad chains of how the money was manipulated through the accounts of various businessmen. His personal papers also reveal that he was investigating the attempted assassination of Lord French and the killing of DMP Second Assistant Commissioner of Police Redmond. Some funds in a number of accounts had already been confiscated as a result of Bell's audits. Collins determined that this growing threat to the emerging Republic had to be neutralised. Bell was dragged off a tram at Elm Park Golf Club on this day and shot by members of the Collin’s squad, the ‘Twelve Apostles’. It was the 29th political murder in 1920. Jim Slattery, a member of the Squad criticised the fact that Bell was shot in a quiet residential area, in that it made escape far more difficult.
More details on Alan Bell here
The Friends of Irish Freedom Washington based Newsletter’s popularity grew substantially and so found itself short of back-issues, appealed for copies of issues 1-6 inclusive, 9,11,12, 18 and 20.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, his first novel, is published. During the same period, his short stories, including "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," begin appearing in The Saturday Evening Post.
Labour leader William O’Brien on hunger strike in Wormwood Scrubs was judged to be ‘in a precarious condition’ but he would not be released. Within a few days, he was moved to a nursing home where under armed guard he resumed eating but insisted that if brought back to the Scrubs, he would resume striking. He was released early May.
The German government asks France for permission to use its own troops against the rebellious Ruhr Red Army, in the French-occupied area.
The Dail Loan continued to grow despite some attempts by Dublin Castle to prevent otherwise. but a threat appeared in the form of a retired magistrate and former Land League detective named Alan Bell.
Alan Bell (1858-1920). Described as ‘a man utterly unscrupulous and a perfect liar’ he was appointed to question Bank Managers and inspect their accounts and began to unravel the myriad chains of how the money was manipulated through the accounts of various businessmen. His personal papers also reveal that he was investigating the attempted assassination of Lord French and the killing of DMP Second Assistant Commissioner of Police Redmond. Some funds in a number of accounts had already been confiscated as a result of Bell's audits. Collins determined that this growing threat to the emerging Republic had to be neutralised. Bell was dragged off a tram at Elm Park Golf Club on this day and shot by members of the Collin’s squad, the ‘Twelve Apostles’. It was the 29th political murder in 1920. Jim Slattery, a member of the Squad criticised the fact that Bell was shot in a quiet residential area, in that it made escape far more difficult.
More details on Alan Bell here
The Friends of Irish Freedom Washington based Newsletter’s popularity grew substantially and so found itself short of back-issues, appealed for copies of issues 1-6 inclusive, 9,11,12, 18 and 20.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, his first novel, is published. During the same period, his short stories, including "Bernice Bobs Her Hair," begin appearing in The Saturday Evening Post.
Labour leader William O’Brien on hunger strike in Wormwood Scrubs was judged to be ‘in a precarious condition’ but he would not be released. Within a few days, he was moved to a nursing home where under armed guard he resumed eating but insisted that if brought back to the Scrubs, he would resume striking. He was released early May.
The German government asks France for permission to use its own troops against the rebellious Ruhr Red Army, in the French-occupied area.
27
The Springfield Illinois ‘Republican’ printed a Dublin dispatch ‘ arrests of suspected persons, who are usually deported without trial, continue unchecked, and every effort is made to implicate Sinn Fein in every crime which takes place in the country…after a series of outrages of which the larger proportion were committed by a criminal influx from England, Dublin is suddenly placed under martial law between the hours of midnight and five in the morning, and immediately thereafter a so called Home Rule Bill is introduced which all Irish people will regard, according to their respective tempraments, as either a bad imitation of Gilbert and Sullivan, or an insult to the intelligence of the country. Yet the outstanding feature of Irish life at the present moment is the complete indifference of the people to all the proceedings, both military and civil, of the British Government. The tone is set of course in this regard by the leaders of Sinn Fein. The responsible leaders of Sinn Fein are the only people who can ( and do ) repress the violent anger of their fellow countrymen against the policy adopted by the ‘Castle’ Government. If Britain should at any time succeed in placing all these leaders in prison, as she apparently wishes to do, she will reap rebellion in Ireland as her reward.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The British Ambassador to Washington, Auckland Geddes states there is no quarrel between England and Ireland in this generation.
The Springfield Illinois ‘Republican’ printed a Dublin dispatch ‘ arrests of suspected persons, who are usually deported without trial, continue unchecked, and every effort is made to implicate Sinn Fein in every crime which takes place in the country…after a series of outrages of which the larger proportion were committed by a criminal influx from England, Dublin is suddenly placed under martial law between the hours of midnight and five in the morning, and immediately thereafter a so called Home Rule Bill is introduced which all Irish people will regard, according to their respective tempraments, as either a bad imitation of Gilbert and Sullivan, or an insult to the intelligence of the country. Yet the outstanding feature of Irish life at the present moment is the complete indifference of the people to all the proceedings, both military and civil, of the British Government. The tone is set of course in this regard by the leaders of Sinn Fein. The responsible leaders of Sinn Fein are the only people who can ( and do ) repress the violent anger of their fellow countrymen against the policy adopted by the ‘Castle’ Government. If Britain should at any time succeed in placing all these leaders in prison, as she apparently wishes to do, she will reap rebellion in Ireland as her reward.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The British Ambassador to Washington, Auckland Geddes states there is no quarrel between England and Ireland in this generation.
28
The British secret agent James Byrnes who had inflitrated the Collins network and had been run as a double-agent for some time, was taken for a meeting with Collins in Drumcondra. At least, this is what he was told. Instead, he was taken from the tram and shot by members of the ‘Squad’ led by Paddy Daly. Papers on his possesion indicated his involvement with the British secret service as did papers found in his luggage. When the Squad now moved to assassinate other members of Byrne’s group, they had fled, taking the mail-boat to Hollyhead that night.
The British secret agent James Byrnes who had inflitrated the Collins network and had been run as a double-agent for some time, was taken for a meeting with Collins in Drumcondra. At least, this is what he was told. Instead, he was taken from the tram and shot by members of the ‘Squad’ led by Paddy Daly. Papers on his possesion indicated his involvement with the British secret service as did papers found in his luggage. When the Squad now moved to assassinate other members of Byrne’s group, they had fled, taking the mail-boat to Hollyhead that night.
29
The Bill for the “Better Government of Ireland” (or as it was known in Ireland: ‘The Partition Bill’ ) was introduced in the House of Commons for its second reading with Ulster Unionists restating their reasons for reluctantly accepting it.
The Bill for the “Better Government of Ireland” (or as it was known in Ireland: ‘The Partition Bill’ ) was introduced in the House of Commons for its second reading with Ulster Unionists restating their reasons for reluctantly accepting it.
Published in the London Daily News, written by Erskine Childers...a description of the period:
“ ... a typical night in Dublin. As the citizens go to bed, the barracks spring to life. Lorries, tanks and armoured searchlight cars muster in fleets. Lists of ‘objectives’ are distributed, and when the midnight curfew order has emptied the streets - pitch dark streets -the weird cavalcades issue forth to the attack. Think of raiding a private house at dead of night in a tank ( my own experience ) in a tank whose weird rumble and roar can be heard miles away. The proceedings of the raid is in keeping, thought the objectives are held for the most part by women and terrified children. A thunder of knocks, no time to dress ( even for a woman alone ) or the door will crash in. On opening, in charge the soldiers - literally charge - with fixed bayonets in full war kit...in nine cases out of ten suspicions prove to be groundless and the raid a mistake...is it any wonder that gross abuses occur..."
Childers received numerous official ‘visits’ on his home, one prompting a letter to the British General Headquarters ‘I received the honour of a visit last night from a tank belonging to your command, at the somewhat inconvient hour of 1 a.m. I do not demur at this. War is war.’. He takes issue with a young Lieutenant who walked into Childer’s drawing room smoking a cigarette. When asked to put it out, dropped it still lit, to the carpet. ‘The point may seem trivial, but is it so? When armies are eventually withdrawn from occupied territory – and may I, without the least offence, express the hope that yours will be eventually withdrawn from ours – it of the most vital importance to the future relations of the nations concerned than an army should leave behind it a record for civility and humanity in the performance of the most obnoxious duties. Surely none can be more obnoxious and more easily provocative of exasperation that these midnight raids upon civilian’s houses, about 19,000 of which have taken place… in the last two years…’
Childers did receive a response in the form of an apology from British GHQ on the behaviour of the officer and ‘trusts that you will not have cause to complain again.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
By the end of March, an escalation of violence and murder signalled the beginning of what was to become a vicious year in the battle against Crown forces and Republicans.
The British Government was divided on which policy to use in restoring law and order to Ireland. Some factions preferred the action of provoking another Rising in Ireland to justify the crushing of all opposition, others that the only way to combat guerrilla warfare was to terrorise the civilian population into submission and others, though fewer, that the use of the army in a campaign against civilians was uncivilised and had to stop. Lloyd George was of the opinion that the Irish people wanted secession but that this would not, or could not be tolerated.
Major General Sir Nevil Macready (1862-1945), the former Commissioner of Police for London, was appointed Commander in Chief of the British forces in Ireland (replacing Lieutenant-General Shaw) by Lloyd George with control of over 60,000 troops, after being given ‘practically a free hand by the Cabinet’
London Daily Mail, April 3. American Commission on Conditions in Ireland. Report, 1921. P1056. Lynch Family Archives.
Major General Macready could certainly have been termed impartial as he disliked both Nationalists and Unionists intensely. A police specialist, he had served as Adjutant-general to Lord French 1914-15, spent some time in Belfast where he became a fierce critic of Ulster Loyalism and supporting civil authority during the 1912 Tonypandy miner’s strike. He demanded and received a hefty financial ‘disturbance allowance’, but refused to take over joint Police and Military command and instead suggested that a special police adviser be appointed with a deputy to act as Head of Intelligence, suggesting Major-General Sir Edward Bulfin. Lloyd George, in appointing Macready managed to offend both the King and Winston Churchill by appointing Macready without consultation.
Macready’s opinion of Lord French in those days was highlighted during the retreat from Mons, where he was quartered in a French Chateau with the Judge Advocate and a Colonel Childs. The Colonel ‘noticing an ominious stillness one evening, went to investigate and discovered that French and his headquarters staff had decamped. Childs reported the fact to the Adjutant-General [Macready] saying ‘General, the whole box of tricks has gone. We’ve been left behind. Forgotten!’. ‘The dirty dogs!’ said Macready.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives quoting Phillip Gibs (the war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph) ‘Now it can be told’ p49.
The Pall Mal Gazette reported on the Macready appointment:
“The very wide powers to be conferred on him will enable him to employ not only the military and police forces at his discretion but other means and forces will be available to deal with whatever circumstances may arise.’
American Commission on Conditions in Ireland. Report, 1921. P1056. Lynch Family Archives.
Lloyd George made an uncharacteristic slip up during the course of a debate in the House of Commons. ‘There is union between England, Scotland and Wales’ said the Premier. ‘There is no union with Ireland – a grappling hook is not Union’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
By now, the Irish Republican Army’s immediate objective was to make England’s attempts to govern Ireland so costly in terms of manpower, money and international relations, that the British Government would find it more expedient to withdraw. The essentials of the Guerrilla war were already in place. The Irish Volunteer army knew the terrain and had the support of the people, the British had the resources, armaments and wealth.
What precipated the next move by the I.R.A was the imposition of martial law in many areas and the courtmartial of any ‘rebels’ real or imagined by British forces. This had the effect of driving many ‘weekend’ activists from their home areas into full time guerialla activity. This was the genesis of the “Flying Column” which quickly became the general unit of operations. Group of men, living on the move, wearing no uniforms, carrying their arms and operating in the home areas of the members dependent on the population for food, shelter and support.
The Flying Column was the strategy of Dick McKee, a printer at Gills where he had a firing range in the basement of the building suitably equipped with a full length target of King George V. The men of these columns were sheltered by local people or in dug-outs. Moving under cover of night and never staying too long in one place. Their main area of operations was against the RIC and British Army, ambushing convoys, attacking installations, seizing equipment and escaping to the hills or melting away into the towns and cities before troops arrived.
The guerrilla campaign of raiding R.I.C barracks for arms and munitions were quickly followed by destroying communications, railway tracks, blowing up bridges, burning barracks to the ground, intelligence gathering and killings. Entire districts were declared ‘no-go areas’ by the military. The Volunteers numbered some 15,000 in total but due to lack of arms, arrests and casualties, the number at any one time was about 5,000. Intelligence gathering continued to grow and develop. From January to October 1920, over 250 mail raids on official Dublin Castle mail and communications took place.
The British Authorities now decided that a ‘great final effort must be made to suppress by force the whole Republican movement and all it's sympathisers’. Sir Henry Wilson as Chief of the Imperial General Staff certainly agreed. In his view, should English policy fail in Ireland then ‘the Empire would be lost’, an unthinkable event. A recruitment drive for R.I.C. personnel began in England, for the first and last time.
Lord French felt that the IRA strength was ‘estimated at 100,000 men. An impassioned Chief Secretary in Dublin Castle, Ian McPhearson, thought of the IRA in terms of 200,000.’
Mcpherson resigned as Irish Chief Secretary and returned to London. Health reasons were cited but it is clear that he was pushed out.
A Committee formed by Lord French to report on the DMP performance, gave it’s report. ‘They demonstrated considerably more sympathy with the force than the Viceroy had. They stressed that ‘these murders and intimidation must destroy the morale of any police force no matter how good it may be’. They also appreciated that it was useless to blame the DMP for its lack of patrols given the current situation’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p48
Land agitation was now growing throughout the country, but particually in the midlands and west. Attacks on large landowners became commonplace, more so in areas where the RIC were no longer present. Despite the land purchase acts, many lands still remained in the hands of large estate owners. The cry ‘Land for the landless and the road for the bullocks’, growing bands of armed tenants and growing attacks shook what was left of the landed ascendancy. Some called for assistance from the army and RIC, but little was forthcoming – there were more pressing matters on hand than guarding lands and homes from attack. The only recourse left was to appeal to the alternative Dublin Government, Dail Eireann. Trains brought many to Dublin, appealing to Arthur Griffith to halt the ‘land grabbing & outrages’.
‘It is a curious anomaly’ noted Art O’Connor ‘that those aggrieved landholders, mostly persons with strong British sympathies and hence opposed to the Republic, were actually the first section of the community to advocate strongly the setting up of a judiciary responsible to An Dail’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P133
New York: Among the general business of Friends of Irish Freedom National Executive was a letter from James O'Mara 'requesting full particulars regarding the 25% Fund*. As the entire Irish Victory Fund has not yet been received by us the matter was laid on the table. The Secretary was instructed to have a statement of the Irish Vistory Fund receipts to date ready for the next meeting of the National Council." (scheduled for March 12, 1920)
To put this in perspective, when the Irish Victory Fund was launched in early 1919, it had been clearly stated that 25% of the fund raised would be retained by the FOIF in the United States to fund both political work for Irish Independence and to counter anti-Irish propaganda which was growing. This was the beginning of the demand by de Valera that the Irish Victory Fund in it's entirety, had been donated for Ireland and therefore was morally due or belonging to Ireland.
30
Alderman Terence McSwiney was unanimously elected as Lord Mayor of Cork.
In his inagural address (the religious content of which seems totally inappropriate and out of place today) he said ‘Anyone surviving events in Ireland for the past five years, must see that is is approaching a miracle how our country has been preserved during a persecution unexampled in history, culminating in the murder of the head of our great city. God has permitted this to be to try our spirit, to prove us worthy of a noble line, to prepare us for a great and noble destiny. You among us who have no vision of our future have been led astray by false prophets…the liberty for which we today strive is a sacred thing, inseperably intertwined with that spiritual liberty for which the Savior of Man died, and which is the inspiration and foundation of all just Government. Because it is sacred, and death for it is akin to the sacrifice of Calvary, following far off but constant to that divine example, in every generation, our best and bravest have died. Sometimes in our grief we cry out foolish and unthinking word ‘the sacrifice is too great ‘ but it is because they were our best and bravest they had to die. No lesser sacrifice would save us. Because of it our struggle is holy, our battle is sanctified by their blood, and our victory is assurred by their martyrdom. We. Taking up the work they left incomplete, confident in God, offer in turn sacrifice from ourselves. It is not we who take innocent blood, but we offer it sustained by the example of our immortal dead, and that divine example which inspires us all, for the redemption of our country’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No 18 October 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In a press release, he characterised the murder of his predecessor, MacCurtain as ‘an attempt to terrify us all. Our first duty is to answer that threat in the only fitting manner – by showing ourselves un-terrified…for that reason I take his place. It is, I think, though I say it, the fitting answer to those who struck him down’. Meanwhile Lloyd George continued to assert that rogue Sinn Fein men assassinated MacCurtain (see news cutting below)
McSwiney contributed half of his £500 salary to a memorial fund for MacCurtain’s widow and children.
Judge Cohalan issued a statement on the Auckalnd Geddes interview published in New York: ‘His [Auckland Geddes] statement is a tissue of arrant hypocrisy and English middle-class impertinence. Within three days after a coroner’s jury in Cork has held the British Premier and two chief English officers in Ireland guilty of assassinating the Mayor of Cork, Sir Auckland Geddes says there is no quarrel between England and Ireland in this question. The truth is the two countries are at war, and will continue so to be until England withdraws her army of occupation and leave the Irish to rule their own country in their own way. In face of conditions in India and Egypt, he can only speak of these countries as he does, on the theory that he has come here, like the proverbial diplomat, to lie for his country.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Alderman Terence McSwiney was unanimously elected as Lord Mayor of Cork.
In his inagural address (the religious content of which seems totally inappropriate and out of place today) he said ‘Anyone surviving events in Ireland for the past five years, must see that is is approaching a miracle how our country has been preserved during a persecution unexampled in history, culminating in the murder of the head of our great city. God has permitted this to be to try our spirit, to prove us worthy of a noble line, to prepare us for a great and noble destiny. You among us who have no vision of our future have been led astray by false prophets…the liberty for which we today strive is a sacred thing, inseperably intertwined with that spiritual liberty for which the Savior of Man died, and which is the inspiration and foundation of all just Government. Because it is sacred, and death for it is akin to the sacrifice of Calvary, following far off but constant to that divine example, in every generation, our best and bravest have died. Sometimes in our grief we cry out foolish and unthinking word ‘the sacrifice is too great ‘ but it is because they were our best and bravest they had to die. No lesser sacrifice would save us. Because of it our struggle is holy, our battle is sanctified by their blood, and our victory is assurred by their martyrdom. We. Taking up the work they left incomplete, confident in God, offer in turn sacrifice from ourselves. It is not we who take innocent blood, but we offer it sustained by the example of our immortal dead, and that divine example which inspires us all, for the redemption of our country’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No 18 October 30, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In a press release, he characterised the murder of his predecessor, MacCurtain as ‘an attempt to terrify us all. Our first duty is to answer that threat in the only fitting manner – by showing ourselves un-terrified…for that reason I take his place. It is, I think, though I say it, the fitting answer to those who struck him down’. Meanwhile Lloyd George continued to assert that rogue Sinn Fein men assassinated MacCurtain (see news cutting below)
McSwiney contributed half of his £500 salary to a memorial fund for MacCurtain’s widow and children.
Judge Cohalan issued a statement on the Auckalnd Geddes interview published in New York: ‘His [Auckland Geddes] statement is a tissue of arrant hypocrisy and English middle-class impertinence. Within three days after a coroner’s jury in Cork has held the British Premier and two chief English officers in Ireland guilty of assassinating the Mayor of Cork, Sir Auckland Geddes says there is no quarrel between England and Ireland in this question. The truth is the two countries are at war, and will continue so to be until England withdraws her army of occupation and leave the Irish to rule their own country in their own way. In face of conditions in India and Egypt, he can only speak of these countries as he does, on the theory that he has come here, like the proverbial diplomat, to lie for his country.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
31
Westminster, 1 April 1920 - The government of Ireland bill continued its second reading in the House of Commons yesterday, passing by 348 votes to 94.
The most noteworthy contribution to the debate came from the Ulster Unionist leader, Sir Edward Carson, who was the first to speak on the government’s plan. Carson used the occasion to reiterate his long-standing opposition to the policy of home rule for Ireland. ‘I never believed in it. I do not believe in it now, and I believe that it will be fraught with disaster to your country and to mine.’ However, he argued that this bill was better than the 1914 Home Rule Act and for that reason he would support it....There are two things, one of which affects one side and one the other, which are cardinal facts in the present situation. One is that the Act of 1914 is upon the statute book, and the other is the pledges that have been given to Ulster. That is really the whole situation. I know that many of my old friends in Ireland will call me a traitor. Plenty of them will. Why? Because I will not go on and fight to the end. Let me say this. I am offered by this bill a parliament for the six counties. Ought I to try and kill a bill that contains that proposal with the Act of 1914 upon the statute book? In other words, if I help to kill this bill, I bring into force automatically the Act of 1914. What a nice statesman and leader I would be when the Act of 1914 or something worse was being set up! If I saw no hope from the other side in the course of this debate, what a nice leader I would be to go up to Belfast and call the people there together, and say, 'Look here, you made a Covenant; go and get your rifles again, and come out and drill and fight.' For what? For the six counties that are offered in a bill which I could have got without fighting at all. No one but a lunatic would undertake such a performance.’
Sir Edward’s contribution has been commended by the Ulster unionist press, with the Belfast Newsletter lauding it as a speech of ‘great brilliance and power’.
Nationalist contributions to the debate were less supportive of the new bill. Joseph Devlin interjected repeatedly in the discussion and challenged the Prime Minister on, among other things, the composition and role of the Council of Ireland. The Prime Minister, David Lloyd George said that ‘The composition is of a character which makes it absolutely essential that, before anything can be done for the whole of Ireland, there should be agreement between north and south.’
Speaking at a luncheon at the National Liberal Club before the Commons debate, Herbert Asquith MP, the former Prime Minister who helped place the Home Rule Act of 1914 on the statute books, registered his own criticisms of the British government's new Irish policy. He said that the government now proposed to replace the Home Rule Act with ‘a most fantastic scheme and a mockery of self government.’
Ireland: Two high profile inquests were underway in Ireland arising out of the recent murders of the Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomás Mac Curtain on 20 March, and the magistrate Alan Bell, who was shot dead after being dragged from a tram in Ballsbridge, Dublin, on 26 March.
Mac Curtain Inquest
The Mac Curtain inquest in the City Hall in Cork had been in session for a week. Evidence by one witness, F.J. Corcoran, caused a sensation when he recounted hearing three policemen speak on the street on 23 February. While he was not sure exactly what was said, he was sure he heard the word ‘soldiers’ and the phrase ‘going to kill Curtain’. Another witness, P. Kelly, deposed that he discovered a button outside the Lord Mayor’s house on the morning of the tragedy, similar to the buttons found on police uniforms.
The focus on the police involvement in Mr Mac Curtain’s murder was a feature of the inquest, which attracted large crowds, including Daniel Cohalan, the Bishop of Cork, and other members of the clergy.
There was laughter and hisses at the inquest when William Wylie on behalf of the Crown, stated that he was prepared to produce copies of the police patrol books and diaries, and added that an investigation had shown that no police ammunition was missing and that the three police motors could not have been used in connection with the crime.
When District Inspector Cruise, of the Royal Irish Constabulary, admitted that there were practically no entries in the police patrol books, Mr Lynch, the Mac Curtains’ counsel, responded, to loud applause, that the witness might as well go and buy an empty copybook and it would be as much use as these patrol books. Despite the evidence being produced at the inquest, elements of the British press have come up with an alternative narrative around the murder of the Lord Mayor.
The official publication of Dáil Éireann, the Irish Bulletin, has drawn attention to this other view, citing the Daily Mail (Manchester edition) of 30 March which stated that there was no doubt in the mind of Irish officials that Alderman Mac Curtain’s murderers ‘were Sinn Feiners acting under order of the inner ring of the Irish Republican Brotherhood’.
Bell inquest
While the inquest into Tomás Mac Curtain murder continued in Cork, that into the murder of magistrate Alan Bell concluded on 28 March, with the jury returning a verdict of death from shock, following injury to the brain. They also expressed their ‘abhorrence’ of the crime.
The coroner, C. Friery, said that the deceased was recently engaged in quasi political work – Bell presided over a star chamber court into links between Sinn Féin and various Irish banks – and that had been sufficient to mark him out for ‘destruction’.
The coroner added: ‘One wonders what we are coming to in this age, when murders like this occur day after day’
United States: American fund raising for the purchase of St. Enda's College was now nearing completion.
St. Enda's College: Opened in 1908 by Patrick Pearse, St Enda’s College was Ireland's first bilingual, lay Catholic school for boys (day and boarding) at Cullenswood House, Dublin. The project was pioneering in its promotion of child-centred education, creativity and personal development, and liberal teaching methods. Forty boys were enrolled at the school in its first year and the following year, enrolments at the school rose to c.130. To accommodate the increased numbers enrolling at the school, Pearse in 1910 relocated St Enda's to The Hermitage, an eighteenth-century house, set in fifty acres of woodlands in Rathfarnham, Dublin. Extensive modifications costing £2,666 were carried out on the building to adapt it for the purpose of a school and a lease of £300 per annum was agreed.
Each member of the Pearse family and some of their extended family taught at or assisted in the running of the school. Mrs. Pearse acted as housekeeper and matron and Patrick's brother Willie taught art, English, and history. Patrick's elder sister Margaret was an assistant mistress but also assumed various other roles, including teaching junior French and corresponding with pupils during holidays; his younger sister Mary Brigid taught harp and piano at the school. Despite the Pearse family's commitment to the school, the move to The Hermitage was not successful and student numbers decreased gradually from 1911 onwards.
Pearse travelled to the United States in February 1914 with the intention of promoting his educational philosophy, but chiefly as a fund-raising trip for the school with hopes of raising $10,000. The visit was organised by Bulmer Hobson who also swore Pearse into the IRB before departure. There he also met with Clann na Gael and Devoy, Cohalan & McGarrity contributed funds to help keep the school afloat. Pearse returned with $3,000, somewhat short of his expectation but enough to re-open the school for the school year.
After the Rising in April 1916 and the execution of both Patrick & Wille Pearse, St. Enda's was occupied by British troops but the school reopened back at Cullenswood House and returned to Rathfarnham in 1919. When Pearse signed The Hermitage lease in 1910, there was an option to purchase the property by July 1, 1920 for €6,500 (£327k/ €368k values a century later).
In May 1918, at the Irish Race Convention, it was resolved to raise $50,000 to help secure St. Enda's for the Irish nation as a memorial to Pearse and Diarmuid Lynch was appointed as the FOIF representative on the project. Two committees were subsequently formed - one in the United States and another in Ireland to fundraise. American donations were lodged at the Produce Exchange Bank in New York. The Irish organisation in July 1919, appointed Lynch as one of the Trustees of the St. Enda's Fund in Ireland along with Count Plunkett, Frank Lawless, Joe McGuinness, P.T. McGinley and Mrs Margaret Pearse. On the American fundraising organisation, the trustees included Joe McGarrity and Mrs. Mary Colum (wife of the poet Padraig Colum).
With the time limit option to purchase St. Enda's running out and a strong US Dollar exchange rate to Sterling, it was proposed that the American operation begin wind up operations.
Lynch wrote to the trustees of 'Save St. Enda's' that the fund was about to wind up;
"The National Executive, Friends of Irish Freedom, have taken steps whereby the necessary purchase money may be remitted in the immediate future. Before it can be forwarded however, it is essential that the balance to the credit of the Save St. Enda's Fund be turned over to the Friends of Irish Freedom and owing to the death of Mr. Robert Ford, we find that some new arrangements must be made with the bank in which Mr. Ford deposited the fund.
For the latter purpose and also to discuss certain points covered in the enclosed correspondence, it is essential that the American Trustees of St. Enda's hold a meeting at once...
...The time within which the St. Endas property may be purchased is now drawing to a close and there are other reasons why a meeting of the Trustees should be held no later than April 9."
Westminster, 1 April 1920 - The government of Ireland bill continued its second reading in the House of Commons yesterday, passing by 348 votes to 94.
The most noteworthy contribution to the debate came from the Ulster Unionist leader, Sir Edward Carson, who was the first to speak on the government’s plan. Carson used the occasion to reiterate his long-standing opposition to the policy of home rule for Ireland. ‘I never believed in it. I do not believe in it now, and I believe that it will be fraught with disaster to your country and to mine.’ However, he argued that this bill was better than the 1914 Home Rule Act and for that reason he would support it....There are two things, one of which affects one side and one the other, which are cardinal facts in the present situation. One is that the Act of 1914 is upon the statute book, and the other is the pledges that have been given to Ulster. That is really the whole situation. I know that many of my old friends in Ireland will call me a traitor. Plenty of them will. Why? Because I will not go on and fight to the end. Let me say this. I am offered by this bill a parliament for the six counties. Ought I to try and kill a bill that contains that proposal with the Act of 1914 upon the statute book? In other words, if I help to kill this bill, I bring into force automatically the Act of 1914. What a nice statesman and leader I would be when the Act of 1914 or something worse was being set up! If I saw no hope from the other side in the course of this debate, what a nice leader I would be to go up to Belfast and call the people there together, and say, 'Look here, you made a Covenant; go and get your rifles again, and come out and drill and fight.' For what? For the six counties that are offered in a bill which I could have got without fighting at all. No one but a lunatic would undertake such a performance.’
Sir Edward’s contribution has been commended by the Ulster unionist press, with the Belfast Newsletter lauding it as a speech of ‘great brilliance and power’.
Nationalist contributions to the debate were less supportive of the new bill. Joseph Devlin interjected repeatedly in the discussion and challenged the Prime Minister on, among other things, the composition and role of the Council of Ireland. The Prime Minister, David Lloyd George said that ‘The composition is of a character which makes it absolutely essential that, before anything can be done for the whole of Ireland, there should be agreement between north and south.’
Speaking at a luncheon at the National Liberal Club before the Commons debate, Herbert Asquith MP, the former Prime Minister who helped place the Home Rule Act of 1914 on the statute books, registered his own criticisms of the British government's new Irish policy. He said that the government now proposed to replace the Home Rule Act with ‘a most fantastic scheme and a mockery of self government.’
Ireland: Two high profile inquests were underway in Ireland arising out of the recent murders of the Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomás Mac Curtain on 20 March, and the magistrate Alan Bell, who was shot dead after being dragged from a tram in Ballsbridge, Dublin, on 26 March.
Mac Curtain Inquest
The Mac Curtain inquest in the City Hall in Cork had been in session for a week. Evidence by one witness, F.J. Corcoran, caused a sensation when he recounted hearing three policemen speak on the street on 23 February. While he was not sure exactly what was said, he was sure he heard the word ‘soldiers’ and the phrase ‘going to kill Curtain’. Another witness, P. Kelly, deposed that he discovered a button outside the Lord Mayor’s house on the morning of the tragedy, similar to the buttons found on police uniforms.
The focus on the police involvement in Mr Mac Curtain’s murder was a feature of the inquest, which attracted large crowds, including Daniel Cohalan, the Bishop of Cork, and other members of the clergy.
There was laughter and hisses at the inquest when William Wylie on behalf of the Crown, stated that he was prepared to produce copies of the police patrol books and diaries, and added that an investigation had shown that no police ammunition was missing and that the three police motors could not have been used in connection with the crime.
When District Inspector Cruise, of the Royal Irish Constabulary, admitted that there were practically no entries in the police patrol books, Mr Lynch, the Mac Curtains’ counsel, responded, to loud applause, that the witness might as well go and buy an empty copybook and it would be as much use as these patrol books. Despite the evidence being produced at the inquest, elements of the British press have come up with an alternative narrative around the murder of the Lord Mayor.
The official publication of Dáil Éireann, the Irish Bulletin, has drawn attention to this other view, citing the Daily Mail (Manchester edition) of 30 March which stated that there was no doubt in the mind of Irish officials that Alderman Mac Curtain’s murderers ‘were Sinn Feiners acting under order of the inner ring of the Irish Republican Brotherhood’.
Bell inquest
While the inquest into Tomás Mac Curtain murder continued in Cork, that into the murder of magistrate Alan Bell concluded on 28 March, with the jury returning a verdict of death from shock, following injury to the brain. They also expressed their ‘abhorrence’ of the crime.
The coroner, C. Friery, said that the deceased was recently engaged in quasi political work – Bell presided over a star chamber court into links between Sinn Féin and various Irish banks – and that had been sufficient to mark him out for ‘destruction’.
The coroner added: ‘One wonders what we are coming to in this age, when murders like this occur day after day’
United States: American fund raising for the purchase of St. Enda's College was now nearing completion.
St. Enda's College: Opened in 1908 by Patrick Pearse, St Enda’s College was Ireland's first bilingual, lay Catholic school for boys (day and boarding) at Cullenswood House, Dublin. The project was pioneering in its promotion of child-centred education, creativity and personal development, and liberal teaching methods. Forty boys were enrolled at the school in its first year and the following year, enrolments at the school rose to c.130. To accommodate the increased numbers enrolling at the school, Pearse in 1910 relocated St Enda's to The Hermitage, an eighteenth-century house, set in fifty acres of woodlands in Rathfarnham, Dublin. Extensive modifications costing £2,666 were carried out on the building to adapt it for the purpose of a school and a lease of £300 per annum was agreed.
Each member of the Pearse family and some of their extended family taught at or assisted in the running of the school. Mrs. Pearse acted as housekeeper and matron and Patrick's brother Willie taught art, English, and history. Patrick's elder sister Margaret was an assistant mistress but also assumed various other roles, including teaching junior French and corresponding with pupils during holidays; his younger sister Mary Brigid taught harp and piano at the school. Despite the Pearse family's commitment to the school, the move to The Hermitage was not successful and student numbers decreased gradually from 1911 onwards.
Pearse travelled to the United States in February 1914 with the intention of promoting his educational philosophy, but chiefly as a fund-raising trip for the school with hopes of raising $10,000. The visit was organised by Bulmer Hobson who also swore Pearse into the IRB before departure. There he also met with Clann na Gael and Devoy, Cohalan & McGarrity contributed funds to help keep the school afloat. Pearse returned with $3,000, somewhat short of his expectation but enough to re-open the school for the school year.
After the Rising in April 1916 and the execution of both Patrick & Wille Pearse, St. Enda's was occupied by British troops but the school reopened back at Cullenswood House and returned to Rathfarnham in 1919. When Pearse signed The Hermitage lease in 1910, there was an option to purchase the property by July 1, 1920 for €6,500 (£327k/ €368k values a century later).
In May 1918, at the Irish Race Convention, it was resolved to raise $50,000 to help secure St. Enda's for the Irish nation as a memorial to Pearse and Diarmuid Lynch was appointed as the FOIF representative on the project. Two committees were subsequently formed - one in the United States and another in Ireland to fundraise. American donations were lodged at the Produce Exchange Bank in New York. The Irish organisation in July 1919, appointed Lynch as one of the Trustees of the St. Enda's Fund in Ireland along with Count Plunkett, Frank Lawless, Joe McGuinness, P.T. McGinley and Mrs Margaret Pearse. On the American fundraising organisation, the trustees included Joe McGarrity and Mrs. Mary Colum (wife of the poet Padraig Colum).
With the time limit option to purchase St. Enda's running out and a strong US Dollar exchange rate to Sterling, it was proposed that the American operation begin wind up operations.
Lynch wrote to the trustees of 'Save St. Enda's' that the fund was about to wind up;
"The National Executive, Friends of Irish Freedom, have taken steps whereby the necessary purchase money may be remitted in the immediate future. Before it can be forwarded however, it is essential that the balance to the credit of the Save St. Enda's Fund be turned over to the Friends of Irish Freedom and owing to the death of Mr. Robert Ford, we find that some new arrangements must be made with the bank in which Mr. Ford deposited the fund.
For the latter purpose and also to discuss certain points covered in the enclosed correspondence, it is essential that the American Trustees of St. Enda's hold a meeting at once...
...The time within which the St. Endas property may be purchased is now drawing to a close and there are other reasons why a meeting of the Trustees should be held no later than April 9."
In June 1920, Lynch & the National Executive of the Friends of Irish Freedom agreed with the trustees of the St. Enda's Fund both in the United States and Ireland to use FOIF funds to donate to Mrs Pearse the entire £6,500 required to purchase the premises and lands and that the FOIF treasury be compensated by transferring the funds from the Produce Exchange account. Patrick Kavanagh of the Friends delivered the cheque to Mrs Pearse when he was holidaying in Ireland c. July/August 1920, the sale was made and completed by December 1920.
However, back in the United States, the fallout between the Friends and McGarrity also affected the repayment of the account. McGarrity insisting that nothing from the St. Enda's Fund be paid to the Friends of Irish Freedom. With their Treasury owed £6,500 (or c.£330/$412k in 2019 values) and a refusal to recompense by McGarrity, the Friends resorted to the courts.
However, despite now owning the property, the school & the Pearse family continued to struggle financially and issues were complicated as Mrs. Pearse had retained some of the funds for her personal use.
In May 1924, Mrs. Pearse toured the USA to raise funds for St Enda’s and Sinn Féin. This tour of cities such as Boston, New York, Concorde, Lexington, and Detroit was arduous for a 67-year-old woman but was a testament to her desperation to keep the doors of St Enda’s open. The trip raised $10,000.
Meanwhile in June 1924, the Friends of Irish Freedom were successful in their bitter New York Supreme Court battle for funds held in the American St. Enda's Fund account but it took another two years before the case was concluded with full re-payment plus interest being made.
Throughout the 1920s, donations were sent to the Pearse family from all parts of the world; for example, $100 from the Pittsburgh Irish Independence Club and $1,500 from a group of Irish Americans represented by Eugene Kinkaid. Some Gaelic Athletic Association clubs in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, and Limerick organised fundraising matches and an annual céilí was held in New York City to raise funds.
Funding of the college remained a problem for the Pearse family and running short again, in 1926, Margaret embarked on another fundraising tour to the USA.
In the absence of proper records, it is impossible to say how much money was donated to Mrs. Pearse and Margaret from 1916 onwards and also how this income was spent. The family had poor business skills and even poorer accounting, donations were sporadic and as a result, the financial situation at St Enda’s was precarious throughout the 1920s and 30s.
In a letter to the McGraths from Long Island, New York, in 1927, Margaret expressed her concerns about her mother’s health and the endless work and financial strain they were both under. Notwithstanding this, Mrs Pearse and both her daughters, Margaret & Mary Bridget persevered with their efforts to keep St Enda's open as a memorial to Patrick and Willie.
Mrs Pearse died in 1932 and bequeathed St. Enda's to the Irish Nation. However legal complications saw Margaret inherit it and Mary Bridget's relationship with her sister Margaret deteriorated. An argument arose over the publication of Mary Brigid’s second book, 'The Home Life of Patrick Pearse', which contained large extracts from their brother’s unfinished autobiography. They eventually settled the matter, but were never reconciled.
The school closed in 1935, Margaret became a Senator in 1937 and she lived out her life in St Enda’s, but was never free from financial worries. Mary Brigid died in 1947. Over the years, the property fell into decline. It is believed that Margaret was not planning on leaving the building to the Nation but following an intercession from President de Valera, eventually agreed to this.
Margaret Pearse died in 1968 and, following the wishes of her mother (and President de Valera), bequeathed St Enda’s to the people of Ireland.
However, back in the United States, the fallout between the Friends and McGarrity also affected the repayment of the account. McGarrity insisting that nothing from the St. Enda's Fund be paid to the Friends of Irish Freedom. With their Treasury owed £6,500 (or c.£330/$412k in 2019 values) and a refusal to recompense by McGarrity, the Friends resorted to the courts.
However, despite now owning the property, the school & the Pearse family continued to struggle financially and issues were complicated as Mrs. Pearse had retained some of the funds for her personal use.
In May 1924, Mrs. Pearse toured the USA to raise funds for St Enda’s and Sinn Féin. This tour of cities such as Boston, New York, Concorde, Lexington, and Detroit was arduous for a 67-year-old woman but was a testament to her desperation to keep the doors of St Enda’s open. The trip raised $10,000.
Meanwhile in June 1924, the Friends of Irish Freedom were successful in their bitter New York Supreme Court battle for funds held in the American St. Enda's Fund account but it took another two years before the case was concluded with full re-payment plus interest being made.
Throughout the 1920s, donations were sent to the Pearse family from all parts of the world; for example, $100 from the Pittsburgh Irish Independence Club and $1,500 from a group of Irish Americans represented by Eugene Kinkaid. Some Gaelic Athletic Association clubs in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, and Limerick organised fundraising matches and an annual céilí was held in New York City to raise funds.
Funding of the college remained a problem for the Pearse family and running short again, in 1926, Margaret embarked on another fundraising tour to the USA.
In the absence of proper records, it is impossible to say how much money was donated to Mrs. Pearse and Margaret from 1916 onwards and also how this income was spent. The family had poor business skills and even poorer accounting, donations were sporadic and as a result, the financial situation at St Enda’s was precarious throughout the 1920s and 30s.
In a letter to the McGraths from Long Island, New York, in 1927, Margaret expressed her concerns about her mother’s health and the endless work and financial strain they were both under. Notwithstanding this, Mrs Pearse and both her daughters, Margaret & Mary Bridget persevered with their efforts to keep St Enda's open as a memorial to Patrick and Willie.
Mrs Pearse died in 1932 and bequeathed St. Enda's to the Irish Nation. However legal complications saw Margaret inherit it and Mary Bridget's relationship with her sister Margaret deteriorated. An argument arose over the publication of Mary Brigid’s second book, 'The Home Life of Patrick Pearse', which contained large extracts from their brother’s unfinished autobiography. They eventually settled the matter, but were never reconciled.
The school closed in 1935, Margaret became a Senator in 1937 and she lived out her life in St Enda’s, but was never free from financial worries. Mary Brigid died in 1947. Over the years, the property fell into decline. It is believed that Margaret was not planning on leaving the building to the Nation but following an intercession from President de Valera, eventually agreed to this.
Margaret Pearse died in 1968 and, following the wishes of her mother (and President de Valera), bequeathed St Enda’s to the people of Ireland.
1
A swift round of appointments to the Irish Office were made and all with the very obvious intention of holding the fort until it could be 'handed over to the natives' when Home Rule came in, as was inevitably expected:
Ian Macpherson, the outgoing Chief Secretary of Ireland moved to the Ministry of Pensions.
The top job of Chief Secretary now went to Sir Hamar Greenwood (1870 - 1948 ) a 50 year old, Home Rule supporting, bluff and obdurate Canadian that Lloyd George later said ‘knows nothing at all about Ireland’. A lifelong teetotaler, Liberal MP for Sunderland and Secretary for Overseas Trade. Though not the first choice for the position, he was a firm Lloyd George suporter. G.C.Duggan described Greenwood as ‘incapable of handling more than one idea at a time’…Lord Oranmore described him as ‘A Canadian bagman and a windbag at that’. However his wife, Lady Margery Spencer was far more highly regarded in social and political circles.
With an eye on international public opinion, Greenwood said that his appointment would serve as a sign to every American that the government was committed to bringing order and prosperity to Ireland along the lines of its home rule proposals, which he was confident would be applied logically and willingly.
Lack of experience not only in the Irish situation, but in his respective portfolios marked the succesor to Joseph Byrne as Head of the RIC. General Sir Nevil Macready’s nominee, Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Bulfin turned down the offer and Major General Sir Hugh H.Tudor ( 1871-1965) was appointed as Police Adviser. Tudor had no experience in running a police force, but time was to show that he equally had no intention of doing so anyway. His qualifications and abilities were gained while serving in Artillery and he lacked the flexibility and sensitivity required for police work. Brigadier Sir Ormonde Winter became Tudor’s Deputy and Head of Intelligence.
General Sir Frederick Shaw, Commander of the British Army in Ireland since May 1918, also stepped down. He was replaced by General Sir Nevil Macready, whom the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George says will bring both police experience, a distinguished military career, as well as ‘remarkable powers of organisation’ and ‘exceptional judgment and tact’ that will help ‘strengthen the administration of the law in Ireland’. Macready's appointment is seen as evidence that the government believes it needs a firmer hand in control of the military in Ireland.
‘Thus it was that a military man became police supremo and a police specialist took over military command’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p36
As both the Army and Police forces were not under a single command, intelligence was not shared and in campaigns against the Irish Volunteers, these forces rarerly combined.
The new job of creating a united intelligence system was given to Brigadier-General Ormonde Winter, certainly clever but with no experience whatsoever of intelligence work. Nevertheless, he gave himself the code-name ‘O’ and was described by a senior Civil Servant as a ‘little white snake’. The IRA nickname for him was ‘Holy Terror’ due to his appearance – sallow complexion, receeding, greased hairline, small eyes, one peering out through a monocle. A black cigarette holder completed the picture. Within a short time however, the British intelligence service had been completely re-organised.
One of the civil servants in Dublin Castle, G.C.Duggan commented on Winter: ‘one would imagine him the typical Colonel of light comedy – slight and small, dapper, delicate of speech, eyeglass set in eye’
The Last Days of Dublin Castle – The Diaries of Mark Sturgis. Irish Academic Press Dublin & Oregon 1999. p 4
Mark Sturgis saw him more as ‘clever as paint, probably enitrely non-moral, a first-class horseman, a card genius, knows several languages, is a super sleuth…when a soldier who knew him in India heard he was coming to Ireland, he said ‘God help Sinn Fein, they don’t know what they’re up against’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p57
However, Winter was more obsessed with cloak and dagger work as opposed to the mundane, dreary tasks of building up dossiers on suspects. He holed up in Dublin Castle, filtering information passed to him and directing operations of the group of counter-insurgents known as ‘The Cairo Gang’ named after the restaurant they frequented in Dublin. Winter quickly warmed to the task however, organising a network of contacts and intelligence gatherers throughout the city. These were usually serving British army officers, living alone in flats and suburbia with the brief to pinpoint IRA operatives and offices, gather whatever information they could and report back to the Castle. In fact, Winter’s operation would come the closest to capturing Collins.
Winter in a memorandum commented on the situation in Ireland ‘to all intents and purposes, the Inteligence Service has been operating in a completely hostile country, without any of the advantages conferred by the proclamation of war’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p54
But he also adopted the usual patronising attitude towards the Irish ‘The Irishman, without any insult being intended, strongly resembles a dog, and understands firm treatment, but, like a dog, he cannot understand being cajoled with a piece of sugar in one hand whilst he receives a beating from a stick in the other’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p57
In addition, to maintain order in a diminishing imperial civil service, a new team of top British Civil Servants led by Sir John Anderson, was installed in Dublin Castle. Not breaking with an established tradition, Anderson’s group also had no experience whatsoever in Irish affairs.
Sir Warren Fisher the head of the British Civil Service, along with Alfred Cope ( 2nd Secretary in the Ministry of Pensions) and R.E.Harwood (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury) were commissioned to write a report on the state of the Irish administration in Dublin Castle. His report on April 18th was to exceed even the most pessimistic expectations.
Two of Sir John’s junior members were Mark Sturgis who wrote a witty account of events in his diary, and Alfred ‘Andy’ Cope, who took on the role of energetic handyman… Sturgis wrote of him ‘Old Andy is like an octopus grasping everything with his tentacles and when he has got hold of more than he can digest, he sinks to the bottom of the tank’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P197
However, Michael Collins knew what was taking place in the inner-sanctum of Dublin Castle. Andy Cope’s girlfriend reported all the pillow talk direct to Collins. On one event when he and Sturgis were part of a sortie ’…when they got outside Dublin or any other big town, they put a Sinn Fein flag on the bonnet of the car. Thought this was a great joke’ he further told her that ‘he wished he was on the other side (meaning ours) that it must be a great adventure and very exciting’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P197
Initially these handpicked servants of the crown felt that it ‘would be fatal to any prospect of success either in restoring the Civil machinery or in influencing public opinion if they allowed themselves to be besieged in the Castle’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P206
This belief lasted for only four months before a general order was made moving them from city accommodation into the safety and security of Dublin Castle.
In Germany, the German Worker’s Party becomes the National Socialist German Workers Party.
Karl Spindler, Captain of the ‘Aud’ wrote "The Mysterious Ship" and was published in 1920 in several printings by Scherl Publishers GmbH, Berlin.
De Valera addressed the house of delegates in the Maryland legislature.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented on the 10,000 war veterans that met in Melbourne, Australia on April 1st and passed a resolution demanding ‘the complete independence for Ireland in the manner already indicated by the majority of her people in setting up the Republic. The resolution, which was sent to Lloyd George, Mr. Asquith and J.R.Clynes, English labor leader, contained the following paragraph which has become the cry of the veterans of the great war in all parts of the world: ‘We fought for liberty and we claim Ireland should not be denied her freedom’ among the Australians who signed this resolution were fourteen winners of the Victoria Cross – all of them of Irish blood.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
New York: The US "red scare" continues: Five legitimately elected members of the New York state legislature are expelled for being members of the Socialist Party.
A swift round of appointments to the Irish Office were made and all with the very obvious intention of holding the fort until it could be 'handed over to the natives' when Home Rule came in, as was inevitably expected:
Ian Macpherson, the outgoing Chief Secretary of Ireland moved to the Ministry of Pensions.
The top job of Chief Secretary now went to Sir Hamar Greenwood (1870 - 1948 ) a 50 year old, Home Rule supporting, bluff and obdurate Canadian that Lloyd George later said ‘knows nothing at all about Ireland’. A lifelong teetotaler, Liberal MP for Sunderland and Secretary for Overseas Trade. Though not the first choice for the position, he was a firm Lloyd George suporter. G.C.Duggan described Greenwood as ‘incapable of handling more than one idea at a time’…Lord Oranmore described him as ‘A Canadian bagman and a windbag at that’. However his wife, Lady Margery Spencer was far more highly regarded in social and political circles.
With an eye on international public opinion, Greenwood said that his appointment would serve as a sign to every American that the government was committed to bringing order and prosperity to Ireland along the lines of its home rule proposals, which he was confident would be applied logically and willingly.
Lack of experience not only in the Irish situation, but in his respective portfolios marked the succesor to Joseph Byrne as Head of the RIC. General Sir Nevil Macready’s nominee, Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Bulfin turned down the offer and Major General Sir Hugh H.Tudor ( 1871-1965) was appointed as Police Adviser. Tudor had no experience in running a police force, but time was to show that he equally had no intention of doing so anyway. His qualifications and abilities were gained while serving in Artillery and he lacked the flexibility and sensitivity required for police work. Brigadier Sir Ormonde Winter became Tudor’s Deputy and Head of Intelligence.
General Sir Frederick Shaw, Commander of the British Army in Ireland since May 1918, also stepped down. He was replaced by General Sir Nevil Macready, whom the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George says will bring both police experience, a distinguished military career, as well as ‘remarkable powers of organisation’ and ‘exceptional judgment and tact’ that will help ‘strengthen the administration of the law in Ireland’. Macready's appointment is seen as evidence that the government believes it needs a firmer hand in control of the military in Ireland.
‘Thus it was that a military man became police supremo and a police specialist took over military command’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p36
As both the Army and Police forces were not under a single command, intelligence was not shared and in campaigns against the Irish Volunteers, these forces rarerly combined.
The new job of creating a united intelligence system was given to Brigadier-General Ormonde Winter, certainly clever but with no experience whatsoever of intelligence work. Nevertheless, he gave himself the code-name ‘O’ and was described by a senior Civil Servant as a ‘little white snake’. The IRA nickname for him was ‘Holy Terror’ due to his appearance – sallow complexion, receeding, greased hairline, small eyes, one peering out through a monocle. A black cigarette holder completed the picture. Within a short time however, the British intelligence service had been completely re-organised.
One of the civil servants in Dublin Castle, G.C.Duggan commented on Winter: ‘one would imagine him the typical Colonel of light comedy – slight and small, dapper, delicate of speech, eyeglass set in eye’
The Last Days of Dublin Castle – The Diaries of Mark Sturgis. Irish Academic Press Dublin & Oregon 1999. p 4
Mark Sturgis saw him more as ‘clever as paint, probably enitrely non-moral, a first-class horseman, a card genius, knows several languages, is a super sleuth…when a soldier who knew him in India heard he was coming to Ireland, he said ‘God help Sinn Fein, they don’t know what they’re up against’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p57
However, Winter was more obsessed with cloak and dagger work as opposed to the mundane, dreary tasks of building up dossiers on suspects. He holed up in Dublin Castle, filtering information passed to him and directing operations of the group of counter-insurgents known as ‘The Cairo Gang’ named after the restaurant they frequented in Dublin. Winter quickly warmed to the task however, organising a network of contacts and intelligence gatherers throughout the city. These were usually serving British army officers, living alone in flats and suburbia with the brief to pinpoint IRA operatives and offices, gather whatever information they could and report back to the Castle. In fact, Winter’s operation would come the closest to capturing Collins.
Winter in a memorandum commented on the situation in Ireland ‘to all intents and purposes, the Inteligence Service has been operating in a completely hostile country, without any of the advantages conferred by the proclamation of war’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p54
But he also adopted the usual patronising attitude towards the Irish ‘The Irishman, without any insult being intended, strongly resembles a dog, and understands firm treatment, but, like a dog, he cannot understand being cajoled with a piece of sugar in one hand whilst he receives a beating from a stick in the other’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p57
In addition, to maintain order in a diminishing imperial civil service, a new team of top British Civil Servants led by Sir John Anderson, was installed in Dublin Castle. Not breaking with an established tradition, Anderson’s group also had no experience whatsoever in Irish affairs.
Sir Warren Fisher the head of the British Civil Service, along with Alfred Cope ( 2nd Secretary in the Ministry of Pensions) and R.E.Harwood (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury) were commissioned to write a report on the state of the Irish administration in Dublin Castle. His report on April 18th was to exceed even the most pessimistic expectations.
Two of Sir John’s junior members were Mark Sturgis who wrote a witty account of events in his diary, and Alfred ‘Andy’ Cope, who took on the role of energetic handyman… Sturgis wrote of him ‘Old Andy is like an octopus grasping everything with his tentacles and when he has got hold of more than he can digest, he sinks to the bottom of the tank’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P197
However, Michael Collins knew what was taking place in the inner-sanctum of Dublin Castle. Andy Cope’s girlfriend reported all the pillow talk direct to Collins. On one event when he and Sturgis were part of a sortie ’…when they got outside Dublin or any other big town, they put a Sinn Fein flag on the bonnet of the car. Thought this was a great joke’ he further told her that ‘he wished he was on the other side (meaning ours) that it must be a great adventure and very exciting’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P197
Initially these handpicked servants of the crown felt that it ‘would be fatal to any prospect of success either in restoring the Civil machinery or in influencing public opinion if they allowed themselves to be besieged in the Castle’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P206
This belief lasted for only four months before a general order was made moving them from city accommodation into the safety and security of Dublin Castle.
In Germany, the German Worker’s Party becomes the National Socialist German Workers Party.
Karl Spindler, Captain of the ‘Aud’ wrote "The Mysterious Ship" and was published in 1920 in several printings by Scherl Publishers GmbH, Berlin.
De Valera addressed the house of delegates in the Maryland legislature.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented on the 10,000 war veterans that met in Melbourne, Australia on April 1st and passed a resolution demanding ‘the complete independence for Ireland in the manner already indicated by the majority of her people in setting up the Republic. The resolution, which was sent to Lloyd George, Mr. Asquith and J.R.Clynes, English labor leader, contained the following paragraph which has become the cry of the veterans of the great war in all parts of the world: ‘We fought for liberty and we claim Ireland should not be denied her freedom’ among the Australians who signed this resolution were fourteen winners of the Victoria Cross – all of them of Irish blood.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
New York: The US "red scare" continues: Five legitimately elected members of the New York state legislature are expelled for being members of the Socialist Party.
2
The Newsletter made comment on the recent British mandates allocation of former German Colonies: ‘German East Africa goes to Great Britain and Belgium, German Southwest Africa to the Union of South Africa, German Samoa to New Zealand; and other German possesions in the Pacific south of the Equator to Australia. The consolidation of the British Empire in Africa is now practically complete…England will now bring to these ‘weaker peoples’ the blessings of which Egypt, India and Ireland are speaking so freely these days.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Robert Smillie, President of the Miners Association of Great Britain resigned his position and as the Newsletter put it ‘the Republic of Ireland will lose one of its staunchest advocates in English public life’ who as well as supporting Irish independence also believed in Scottish independence.
The newly appointed British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Auckland Campbell Geddes (1879-1954)* attended a dinner in London’s Canadian Club where the Newsletter reported that Mr. Long, First Lord of the Admiralty in an after dinner speech ‘dealt at length with England ‘s naval policy. He agreed that the time had come to let competition in armaments give place to competition in the reduction of armaments. This pious formula once dutifully uttered. Mr. Long became more frank; ‘We who have great possessions and who are above all, the chief security for the freedom of the world, cannot agree now to abandon all our protective armament'’…in short…the statement simply means that Great Britain must remain mistress of the seas.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
* Geddes, initially a succesful surgeon, entered Government service during the First War and by 1919 was a Cabinet member. He held the position from 1920 to 1924.
The Newsletter remarked on the visit to Ireland of the Parisian wartime supply chief of the Knights of Columbus, Carleton W. Cameron who said ‘In Ireland I saw more British Tommies than I had ever seen in all my soujourns about France’ and of a statement made recently in the House of Commons that the number of troops in Ireland now numbered 40,750. ‘It is a curious fact that despite the continued movement of British soldiers into Ireland, each official estimate of this army is less than the last.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Irish Culture was a subject frequently touched upon by the Newsletter. ‘Kipling once wrote that the avergae English workingman has a vocabularly of ‘800 words and the expletive’…it is suffieicent to prompt a comparison with the Gaelic speaking residents of Ireland. Douglas Hyde, in the course of his comparatively recent investigations for the compilations of a Gaelic dictionary, discovered to his amazement that the Gaelic speaking peasant folk have vocabularies of from 8,000 to 10,000 words. This seems all the more remarkable when it is remembered that Milton used only 9,000 words and even the great Shakespeare no more than 16,000.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Support for Irish independence continued in Canada, the latest in Columbus Hall, Quebec which was chaired by Lindsay Crawford, Michael Monagahan and MP John Hall Kelly. A guest speaker was Rev James Grattan Mythen of the Protestant Friends of Ireland and resolutions were adopted denouncing the British Government's conduct in Ireland.
Physicist Albert Einstein arrives in New York to lecture at Columbia University on his theory of relativity.
The Newsletter made comment on the recent British mandates allocation of former German Colonies: ‘German East Africa goes to Great Britain and Belgium, German Southwest Africa to the Union of South Africa, German Samoa to New Zealand; and other German possesions in the Pacific south of the Equator to Australia. The consolidation of the British Empire in Africa is now practically complete…England will now bring to these ‘weaker peoples’ the blessings of which Egypt, India and Ireland are speaking so freely these days.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Robert Smillie, President of the Miners Association of Great Britain resigned his position and as the Newsletter put it ‘the Republic of Ireland will lose one of its staunchest advocates in English public life’ who as well as supporting Irish independence also believed in Scottish independence.
The newly appointed British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Auckland Campbell Geddes (1879-1954)* attended a dinner in London’s Canadian Club where the Newsletter reported that Mr. Long, First Lord of the Admiralty in an after dinner speech ‘dealt at length with England ‘s naval policy. He agreed that the time had come to let competition in armaments give place to competition in the reduction of armaments. This pious formula once dutifully uttered. Mr. Long became more frank; ‘We who have great possessions and who are above all, the chief security for the freedom of the world, cannot agree now to abandon all our protective armament'’…in short…the statement simply means that Great Britain must remain mistress of the seas.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
* Geddes, initially a succesful surgeon, entered Government service during the First War and by 1919 was a Cabinet member. He held the position from 1920 to 1924.
The Newsletter remarked on the visit to Ireland of the Parisian wartime supply chief of the Knights of Columbus, Carleton W. Cameron who said ‘In Ireland I saw more British Tommies than I had ever seen in all my soujourns about France’ and of a statement made recently in the House of Commons that the number of troops in Ireland now numbered 40,750. ‘It is a curious fact that despite the continued movement of British soldiers into Ireland, each official estimate of this army is less than the last.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Irish Culture was a subject frequently touched upon by the Newsletter. ‘Kipling once wrote that the avergae English workingman has a vocabularly of ‘800 words and the expletive’…it is suffieicent to prompt a comparison with the Gaelic speaking residents of Ireland. Douglas Hyde, in the course of his comparatively recent investigations for the compilations of a Gaelic dictionary, discovered to his amazement that the Gaelic speaking peasant folk have vocabularies of from 8,000 to 10,000 words. This seems all the more remarkable when it is remembered that Milton used only 9,000 words and even the great Shakespeare no more than 16,000.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 2, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Support for Irish independence continued in Canada, the latest in Columbus Hall, Quebec which was chaired by Lindsay Crawford, Michael Monagahan and MP John Hall Kelly. A guest speaker was Rev James Grattan Mythen of the Protestant Friends of Ireland and resolutions were adopted denouncing the British Government's conduct in Ireland.
Physicist Albert Einstein arrives in New York to lecture at Columbia University on his theory of relativity.
American Women Pickets
By late March, Dr. William J Maloney was beginning to organise a series of picket protests outside the British Embassy in Washington DC, largely acting on a plea from Harry Boland to build more public support for the Irish cause in the United States.
Following an appeal for action by Hannah Sheehy Skeffington, many women's action groups were now independently planning action including the women's section of the Irish Progressive League and Gertrude Kelly's US Cumman na mBan.
"...However, while many of the women volunteering their services stemmed from a variety of radical backgrounds, it soon became apparent that Maloney did not care much for the motivations of the women involved but rather sought to carefully select young, attractive women who were most likely to receive the media’s attention. The extent of this approach went so far that many of the women chosen to picket were actually actresses who would be paid for protesting.
‘The Irish Aviatrix’ Mollie Carroll, best known for perhaps the most daring stunt of the picketing campaign which involved flying a plane over Washington and “bombing” the British Embassy with leaflets denouncing British rule in Ireland [April 6, 1920], was reportedly offered rent money and an additional $50 by Maloney if she committed to the picket lines for four weeks. Although such methods of assembling support were highly disapproved of by many women within the burgeoning movement, it appeared they were willing to carry on for the time being and focus on the objective ahead by proceeding with the picketing campaign. However, from the beginning of the initial picketing period a number of women worked towards undermining Maloney’s approach and leadership, providing a telling insight into events which would unfold in due course...
The ability to stir publicity was another factor which Maloney placed heavy importance on. Indeed, a number of the women approached to be involved in the picketing had some line of connection to the media. Gertrude Corless, one of the women chosen as co-leader of the women’s pickets, was a journalist by profession and a public relations expert. In addition to Corless, Kathleen O’Brennan was another journalist and writer who was instrumental in garnering media attention for the pickets, despite an active order for her deportation existing from her relationship with anarchist Dr. Marie Equi and the Industrial Workers of the World. As Corless and O’Brennan were busy putting in the work on the ground in Washington, Gertrude Kelly was operating from New York City in an attempt to help maintain the women’s movement and transform it towards to a more radical approach, independent of Maloney who viewed the pickets as a mere short term publicity stunt."
Conor Harte. https://www.revolutionaryirishamerica.com/americanwomenspickets
Moloney in fact quickly lost control of events.
By late March, Dr. William J Maloney was beginning to organise a series of picket protests outside the British Embassy in Washington DC, largely acting on a plea from Harry Boland to build more public support for the Irish cause in the United States.
Following an appeal for action by Hannah Sheehy Skeffington, many women's action groups were now independently planning action including the women's section of the Irish Progressive League and Gertrude Kelly's US Cumman na mBan.
"...However, while many of the women volunteering their services stemmed from a variety of radical backgrounds, it soon became apparent that Maloney did not care much for the motivations of the women involved but rather sought to carefully select young, attractive women who were most likely to receive the media’s attention. The extent of this approach went so far that many of the women chosen to picket were actually actresses who would be paid for protesting.
‘The Irish Aviatrix’ Mollie Carroll, best known for perhaps the most daring stunt of the picketing campaign which involved flying a plane over Washington and “bombing” the British Embassy with leaflets denouncing British rule in Ireland [April 6, 1920], was reportedly offered rent money and an additional $50 by Maloney if she committed to the picket lines for four weeks. Although such methods of assembling support were highly disapproved of by many women within the burgeoning movement, it appeared they were willing to carry on for the time being and focus on the objective ahead by proceeding with the picketing campaign. However, from the beginning of the initial picketing period a number of women worked towards undermining Maloney’s approach and leadership, providing a telling insight into events which would unfold in due course...
The ability to stir publicity was another factor which Maloney placed heavy importance on. Indeed, a number of the women approached to be involved in the picketing had some line of connection to the media. Gertrude Corless, one of the women chosen as co-leader of the women’s pickets, was a journalist by profession and a public relations expert. In addition to Corless, Kathleen O’Brennan was another journalist and writer who was instrumental in garnering media attention for the pickets, despite an active order for her deportation existing from her relationship with anarchist Dr. Marie Equi and the Industrial Workers of the World. As Corless and O’Brennan were busy putting in the work on the ground in Washington, Gertrude Kelly was operating from New York City in an attempt to help maintain the women’s movement and transform it towards to a more radical approach, independent of Maloney who viewed the pickets as a mere short term publicity stunt."
Conor Harte. https://www.revolutionaryirishamerica.com/americanwomenspickets
Moloney in fact quickly lost control of events.
3
McCartan explained to the Dublin Cabinet De Valera’s interview with the Westminster Gazette:
‘First, he had wanted to start England talking so that some basis of settlement might be considered; secondly, in the interview he quoted only one paragraph of the Platt Amendment relating to Cuba, to show that Ireland was willing to discuss safeguards for English security compatible with Ireland’s independence; and lastly, that only his enemies, and Devoy and Cohalan, had put a hostile construction on the interview in pursuance of the campaign they had started against him when he arrived in the United States, and which overtly and covertly they had since continued.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.361
“ De Valera’s contention that he did not then abandon the ideal of Easter Week was upheld by his colleagues in Dail Eireann.”
Declaration on the political situation in Ireland. Friends of Irish Freedom March 28, 1922. Lynch Family Archives.
McCartan explained to the Dublin Cabinet De Valera’s interview with the Westminster Gazette:
‘First, he had wanted to start England talking so that some basis of settlement might be considered; secondly, in the interview he quoted only one paragraph of the Platt Amendment relating to Cuba, to show that Ireland was willing to discuss safeguards for English security compatible with Ireland’s independence; and lastly, that only his enemies, and Devoy and Cohalan, had put a hostile construction on the interview in pursuance of the campaign they had started against him when he arrived in the United States, and which overtly and covertly they had since continued.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.361
“ De Valera’s contention that he did not then abandon the ideal of Easter Week was upheld by his colleagues in Dail Eireann.”
Declaration on the political situation in Ireland. Friends of Irish Freedom March 28, 1922. Lynch Family Archives.
4
While British soldiers and barbed wire entanglements were maintained in Dublin, the I.R.A struck throughout Ireland with 22 Revenue offices and more than 300 evacuated R.I.C Barracks burned down overnight. The destruction of the Tax Office records was so successful, that the British administration was reduced to Customs and Excise for sourcing it’s revenues and burning the barracks hampered the military occupation of Cork, Kerry and Limerick. It was estimated that over 25,000 men took part in the attacks.
Palestine riots: Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in Jerusalem; 9 are killed, 216 injured.
While British soldiers and barbed wire entanglements were maintained in Dublin, the I.R.A struck throughout Ireland with 22 Revenue offices and more than 300 evacuated R.I.C Barracks burned down overnight. The destruction of the Tax Office records was so successful, that the British administration was reduced to Customs and Excise for sourcing it’s revenues and burning the barracks hampered the military occupation of Cork, Kerry and Limerick. It was estimated that over 25,000 men took part in the attacks.
Palestine riots: Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in Jerusalem; 9 are killed, 216 injured.
5
The Irish Times commenting on the ‘nationwide assault…illustrates the startling progress of the Republican Party’s Guerilla campaign during the last three months. During those months a large number of police barracks and huts have been abandoned, and on Saturday night the armies of revolution ‘cleaned up’ the job’
Resistance to British rule continued throughout the country and also in the prisons where Republican prisoners demanded Prisoners of War status or release. In Mountjoy Prison, 200 of the Irish political prisoners resorted to a hunger strike. Within days, crowds had gathered outside, singing Fenian songs and praying.
Dublin: Rumours of another Easter Rising in Ireland have proved to be unfounded. Speculation arose that republicans had planned a rebellion for Easter Monday, 5 April, after the London Evening Standard published what it claimed were plans to ship considerable quantities of arms and ammunition from Germany to Ireland. The report added that the difficulty for the British authorities was in identifying which ships would be used to bring in the arms and ammunition.
The newspaper reports prompted questions in the House of Commons, with Clement Edwards asking the Prime Minister whether the government had received any information about a planned rising for Ireland, or local risings planned for Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. He further asked if any arms or ammunition had been seized by the navy and if the government had any reason to suspect that the German secret service is behind the suspected rising. Edwards’ questions, which the Prime Minister refused to answer, citing the ‘public interest’, were described by Nationalist MP for South Down, Jeremiah MacVeagh as ‘mischievous’ and he asked for details of the official from whom the information had been received.
The comments in the press and the House of Commons were sufficient for military activity to be intensified across Ireland, with cordons and road blocks set up in cities and towns. Roads leading to Dublin, Derry, Cork, Limerick, Newry, Thurles, Dundalk and elsewhere were occupied by military and police with barriers thrown across many of them and traffic held up for close examination.
Talk of a possible insurrection also lured foreign journalists into Dublin in the expectation of being on hand to witness a major event. As the Freeman’s Journal reported, these journalists have now ‘gone back to their several countries with new ideas about the veracity of the Ministers and members at Westminster, and fresh insights on the tactics and purposes of Dublin Castle’.
Any rising that occurred, the paper said, was an ‘April Fool Rising’. Rather than rise in rebellion, the people went about their daily lives and attended events in Croke Park, Dalymount and Fairyhouse and ‘other centres of Easter jollification’.
However. the Easter weekend did see a wave of attacks on police barracks throughout the country. A total of 218 barracks and huts were damaged or destroyed. Most of the attacks took place in Clare, Cork, Limerick and Meath, but the campaign of burnings and bombings extended to 27 counties. One estimate suggests that almost 15% of all Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks were targeted. Most of the barracks were vacant when they were attacked. In two stations in Co. Roscommon, RIC men left when directed to do so by the assailants. The Irish Independent reported that great care appeared to have been taken to ensure the safety of families of RIC – in some instances, the paper reports, raiders saw to it that the families were provided with temporary accommodation. In addition to the barracks attacks, telegraph and telephone wires were cut in many places.
There were also attacks on approximately 21 Inland Revenue Offices where documents were burned. Among the Inland Revenue offices targeted were those on Ann Street and North Street in Belfast, where fires were also started in the Custom House and in government offices in the Grand Central Hotel. The unionist Belfast Newsletter has branded the widespread incendiarism witnessed throughout the country as ‘disgraceful’.
The women and children of Ireland have silently borne the suffering incurred as a result of the heavy-handedness of British military rule, according to Erskine Childers. In an article for the Daily News which has been partly re-printed by the Irish Bulletin, the official Dáil Éireann newspaper, Childers claims that there have been over 20,000 raids on Irish homes over the course of the last two years and he provides details of individual cases where the impact has been felt most acutely by the women of the house.
Although he doesn’t give their names, Childers mentions that a wife of a personal friend had been alone at home with her three children last March when she was awoken during the night by banging on the front door. She ran down the stairs in her nightdress and when she asked if she could dress, she was met with the response: ‘Damn you, open or we’ll smash it in.’ When the woman opened the door, soldiers rushed in with bayonets and ignored her pleas to allow her to be with her children as they searched the house, including the children’s rooms. One of the soldiers was drunk and used foul language, and the entire operation was conducted with what Mr Childers claims was ‘a roughness and insolence worthy of veritable huns’. Nothing was found in the house and no apology was issued.
Jerusalem: British forces declare martial law as Jews and Arabs clash.
Arthur Hailey, American writer born (d. 2004)
During the period April 1 1920 and 31st March 1921, Michael Lynch ‘operated under Michael Collins Dublin and Florence O’Donoghue, Cork’ in the districts of ‘Cork, Dublin and Clonmel’ doing ‘intelligence work and bearer of secret dispatches’
Statement by Michael Lynch – part of application for Military Service Pension Certificate, December 1935. Lynch Archives.
Washington DC Women Pickets: from Monday April 5, policing policy in Washington towards the American Women pickets changed as more of the protestors were arrested and charged with violating federal law which stated it was illegal to “offer an insult to a diplomatic representative of a foreign government”. The pickets were judged to have insulted British officials by protesting British activity in Ireland on the steps of the Embassy.
"Following the initial arrests, the women decide to change their tact and relocate the protest to the State Department where it was believed they would be able to avoid arrest. However, upon returning to the British Embassy, the arrests resumed and by the time the picketing ceased there were a total of ten women who faced federal grand jury.
The arresting of pickets signalled an end to Maloney’s involvement with the movement. It was now swiftly shifting away from the idea which he initially conceived of a positive publicity stunt, and he could not justify the arrests of women protesters to the upper echelons of the Irish republican movement in America. Needless to say the women’s convictions remained unhindered. On the contrary, the arrests made by police served to push them towards greater radicalisation. Having witnessed two arrests first-hand, Mollie Carroll was inspired to perform her infamous aviation stunt which caught the imagination of the nationwide press the following day as they declared, “Capitol Sees Woman Flier Elude Police”. To further emphasise their commitment to the cause, many of the women refused to accept the provision of bail money following their arrests.
The primary objective of the pickets conducted in Washington was to generate as much anti-British publicity as possible in an effort to deter any potential massacre taking place in Ireland at a time when the War of Independence was escalating. It is undoubtedly a testament to the efforts of the women involved that no casualties were inflicted on the Irish within the two week period their protesting took place. In addition to this, it became evident again the strength that public attention in America, to the atrocities being committed in Ireland, can hold. Not only can the pickets of April 1920 be viewed as a success for the women’s movement in averting a potential massacre but it can also be recognised as a pivotal moment when the women assumed complete control of the movement, away from the likes of Maloney and other male influencers. From this point forth they effectively became the American Women Pickets for the Enforcement of America’s War Aims.
As Dr. William Maloney relinquished himself from any authority and involvement with the women’s pickets, following a series of arrests outside the British Embassy in Washington D.C., control of the movement had now been fully assumed by the women with a more radical outlook on how to achieve support for Irish independence. They would no longer be hindered by the constraints of the conservative male republicans, be they Irish or Irish-American. The women’s movement, for now, was in full control of its destiny and they acted in such a manner so to emphasis their autonomy from male politicians and influencers. It was their aim to demonstrate the ability of women to effect change without male interference. However, in spite of the radicalism of many of the women during this period, there remained a contingent of women who stayed loyal to the more-so conservative male republicans and their views on how to pursue Irish freedom. On each side of the nationalist divide in 1920, both from de Valera’s perspective and Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom, there was a fear that independent activism would serve to only disrupt and dismantle the efforts of the wider movement associated with Irish nationalism and republicanism. As a result, attempts would be made during the summer of 1920 to undermine and derail the work of the independent republican women activists."
Conor Harte. https://www.revolutionaryirishamerica.com/americanwomenspickets
The Irish Times commenting on the ‘nationwide assault…illustrates the startling progress of the Republican Party’s Guerilla campaign during the last three months. During those months a large number of police barracks and huts have been abandoned, and on Saturday night the armies of revolution ‘cleaned up’ the job’
Resistance to British rule continued throughout the country and also in the prisons where Republican prisoners demanded Prisoners of War status or release. In Mountjoy Prison, 200 of the Irish political prisoners resorted to a hunger strike. Within days, crowds had gathered outside, singing Fenian songs and praying.
Dublin: Rumours of another Easter Rising in Ireland have proved to be unfounded. Speculation arose that republicans had planned a rebellion for Easter Monday, 5 April, after the London Evening Standard published what it claimed were plans to ship considerable quantities of arms and ammunition from Germany to Ireland. The report added that the difficulty for the British authorities was in identifying which ships would be used to bring in the arms and ammunition.
The newspaper reports prompted questions in the House of Commons, with Clement Edwards asking the Prime Minister whether the government had received any information about a planned rising for Ireland, or local risings planned for Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. He further asked if any arms or ammunition had been seized by the navy and if the government had any reason to suspect that the German secret service is behind the suspected rising. Edwards’ questions, which the Prime Minister refused to answer, citing the ‘public interest’, were described by Nationalist MP for South Down, Jeremiah MacVeagh as ‘mischievous’ and he asked for details of the official from whom the information had been received.
The comments in the press and the House of Commons were sufficient for military activity to be intensified across Ireland, with cordons and road blocks set up in cities and towns. Roads leading to Dublin, Derry, Cork, Limerick, Newry, Thurles, Dundalk and elsewhere were occupied by military and police with barriers thrown across many of them and traffic held up for close examination.
Talk of a possible insurrection also lured foreign journalists into Dublin in the expectation of being on hand to witness a major event. As the Freeman’s Journal reported, these journalists have now ‘gone back to their several countries with new ideas about the veracity of the Ministers and members at Westminster, and fresh insights on the tactics and purposes of Dublin Castle’.
Any rising that occurred, the paper said, was an ‘April Fool Rising’. Rather than rise in rebellion, the people went about their daily lives and attended events in Croke Park, Dalymount and Fairyhouse and ‘other centres of Easter jollification’.
However. the Easter weekend did see a wave of attacks on police barracks throughout the country. A total of 218 barracks and huts were damaged or destroyed. Most of the attacks took place in Clare, Cork, Limerick and Meath, but the campaign of burnings and bombings extended to 27 counties. One estimate suggests that almost 15% of all Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks were targeted. Most of the barracks were vacant when they were attacked. In two stations in Co. Roscommon, RIC men left when directed to do so by the assailants. The Irish Independent reported that great care appeared to have been taken to ensure the safety of families of RIC – in some instances, the paper reports, raiders saw to it that the families were provided with temporary accommodation. In addition to the barracks attacks, telegraph and telephone wires were cut in many places.
There were also attacks on approximately 21 Inland Revenue Offices where documents were burned. Among the Inland Revenue offices targeted were those on Ann Street and North Street in Belfast, where fires were also started in the Custom House and in government offices in the Grand Central Hotel. The unionist Belfast Newsletter has branded the widespread incendiarism witnessed throughout the country as ‘disgraceful’.
The women and children of Ireland have silently borne the suffering incurred as a result of the heavy-handedness of British military rule, according to Erskine Childers. In an article for the Daily News which has been partly re-printed by the Irish Bulletin, the official Dáil Éireann newspaper, Childers claims that there have been over 20,000 raids on Irish homes over the course of the last two years and he provides details of individual cases where the impact has been felt most acutely by the women of the house.
Although he doesn’t give their names, Childers mentions that a wife of a personal friend had been alone at home with her three children last March when she was awoken during the night by banging on the front door. She ran down the stairs in her nightdress and when she asked if she could dress, she was met with the response: ‘Damn you, open or we’ll smash it in.’ When the woman opened the door, soldiers rushed in with bayonets and ignored her pleas to allow her to be with her children as they searched the house, including the children’s rooms. One of the soldiers was drunk and used foul language, and the entire operation was conducted with what Mr Childers claims was ‘a roughness and insolence worthy of veritable huns’. Nothing was found in the house and no apology was issued.
Jerusalem: British forces declare martial law as Jews and Arabs clash.
Arthur Hailey, American writer born (d. 2004)
During the period April 1 1920 and 31st March 1921, Michael Lynch ‘operated under Michael Collins Dublin and Florence O’Donoghue, Cork’ in the districts of ‘Cork, Dublin and Clonmel’ doing ‘intelligence work and bearer of secret dispatches’
Statement by Michael Lynch – part of application for Military Service Pension Certificate, December 1935. Lynch Archives.
Washington DC Women Pickets: from Monday April 5, policing policy in Washington towards the American Women pickets changed as more of the protestors were arrested and charged with violating federal law which stated it was illegal to “offer an insult to a diplomatic representative of a foreign government”. The pickets were judged to have insulted British officials by protesting British activity in Ireland on the steps of the Embassy.
"Following the initial arrests, the women decide to change their tact and relocate the protest to the State Department where it was believed they would be able to avoid arrest. However, upon returning to the British Embassy, the arrests resumed and by the time the picketing ceased there were a total of ten women who faced federal grand jury.
The arresting of pickets signalled an end to Maloney’s involvement with the movement. It was now swiftly shifting away from the idea which he initially conceived of a positive publicity stunt, and he could not justify the arrests of women protesters to the upper echelons of the Irish republican movement in America. Needless to say the women’s convictions remained unhindered. On the contrary, the arrests made by police served to push them towards greater radicalisation. Having witnessed two arrests first-hand, Mollie Carroll was inspired to perform her infamous aviation stunt which caught the imagination of the nationwide press the following day as they declared, “Capitol Sees Woman Flier Elude Police”. To further emphasise their commitment to the cause, many of the women refused to accept the provision of bail money following their arrests.
The primary objective of the pickets conducted in Washington was to generate as much anti-British publicity as possible in an effort to deter any potential massacre taking place in Ireland at a time when the War of Independence was escalating. It is undoubtedly a testament to the efforts of the women involved that no casualties were inflicted on the Irish within the two week period their protesting took place. In addition to this, it became evident again the strength that public attention in America, to the atrocities being committed in Ireland, can hold. Not only can the pickets of April 1920 be viewed as a success for the women’s movement in averting a potential massacre but it can also be recognised as a pivotal moment when the women assumed complete control of the movement, away from the likes of Maloney and other male influencers. From this point forth they effectively became the American Women Pickets for the Enforcement of America’s War Aims.
As Dr. William Maloney relinquished himself from any authority and involvement with the women’s pickets, following a series of arrests outside the British Embassy in Washington D.C., control of the movement had now been fully assumed by the women with a more radical outlook on how to achieve support for Irish independence. They would no longer be hindered by the constraints of the conservative male republicans, be they Irish or Irish-American. The women’s movement, for now, was in full control of its destiny and they acted in such a manner so to emphasis their autonomy from male politicians and influencers. It was their aim to demonstrate the ability of women to effect change without male interference. However, in spite of the radicalism of many of the women during this period, there remained a contingent of women who stayed loyal to the more-so conservative male republicans and their views on how to pursue Irish freedom. On each side of the nationalist divide in 1920, both from de Valera’s perspective and Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom, there was a fear that independent activism would serve to only disrupt and dismantle the efforts of the wider movement associated with Irish nationalism and republicanism. As a result, attempts would be made during the summer of 1920 to undermine and derail the work of the independent republican women activists."
Conor Harte. https://www.revolutionaryirishamerica.com/americanwomenspickets
6
Collins set July 17th as the closing date for the First National Loan. His reasoning, he told the Dail was to ‘dispel the idea that the loan fund was going to drag on indefinitely…and by doing so would help to assure the success of a future loan appeal’
Germany: French troops occupy the neutral zone of Frankfurt and the Ruhr under the terms of the Versailles Treaty. This was in opposition to the wishes of its allies Britain, Italy, Belgium and the United States. Under the Treaty of Versailles, the region was designated a demilitarised buffer zone between Germany and France. The French action followed the movement of the Reichswehr – the regular German army – into the Ruhr in an effort to quell Bolshevist activity and restore order.
The British position has been that the suppression of social disorder in Germany is essentially a matter for the German government. In a broad sense, the French action was interpreted as undermining the unity and solidarity of the allies. While not defending the French decision to act unilaterally, the unionist Belfast Newsletter asked whether, given the failure of Germany to comply with a number of provisions of the recent Peace Treaty, the consent of the allies should have been given to the French. The German government, meanwhile, has declared that it will hold the French responsible for all the damage suffered as a consequence of their latest military exploits. The Germans countered a French statement which claimed that 43,000 Reichswehr troops were operating in the Ruhr region, saying that only 15,000 were situated within the neutral zone. The French troops, by contrast, number 30,000.
United States: De Valera addressed the Delaware legislature which had postponed business including a vote on the suffrage amendment. De Valera commented that Irish women had an equal vote and voice in the Irish Republican Government which received strong applause from the suffrage advocates in the statehouse.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported on opposition encountered during speaking engagements by the Friends of Irish Freedom and the Protestant Friends of Ireland explaining it as coming from:
‘British subjects who have emigrated to the United States, some of whom have not yet thrown off their allegiance to King George, although they have long enjoyed the advantages of residence in this country’. Among incidents listed were:
Newport, Rhode Island: ‘ a Canadian clergyman who had lived for a decade in the United States but was not yet naturalised.’
A Texas town: ‘a very similar instance of opposition on the part of a Britisher occurred’
Charlotte, North Carolina: ‘two British born gentlemen strenously objected in the press to an advocate of Irish freedom’
Birmingham, Alabama: ‘A Londoner…has for the past two years persistently attacked every advocate of Irish freedom in that city’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 6, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Washington DC: Mollie Carroll, who had been picketing the British Embassy with other members of the American Women Picket managed a remarkable publicity coup. Realising that the city police were intent on arresting picket members as soon as they were close to the Embassy, she took to the air over Washington to spread the message.
In a plane provided and financed by the Democratic Party Governor Albert Cabell Ritchie, (a long-time supporter of the establishment of an independent Irish republic), Carroll flew over the U.S. State Department, Capitol Hill and the British Embassy dropping masses of leaflets ...'literature in the interest of the Irish cause' and became front page news nationwide. While low visibility and strong winds scattered leaflets everywhere, the 'bombing mission' was judged a success.
Papers reported how Carroll had “outwitted the police who had been instructed to prevent further ‘insulting’ of attachés of the British Embassy”.
Following the flight, the women protestors resumed their pickets at the British Embassy with several of them later arrested.
Collins set July 17th as the closing date for the First National Loan. His reasoning, he told the Dail was to ‘dispel the idea that the loan fund was going to drag on indefinitely…and by doing so would help to assure the success of a future loan appeal’
Germany: French troops occupy the neutral zone of Frankfurt and the Ruhr under the terms of the Versailles Treaty. This was in opposition to the wishes of its allies Britain, Italy, Belgium and the United States. Under the Treaty of Versailles, the region was designated a demilitarised buffer zone between Germany and France. The French action followed the movement of the Reichswehr – the regular German army – into the Ruhr in an effort to quell Bolshevist activity and restore order.
The British position has been that the suppression of social disorder in Germany is essentially a matter for the German government. In a broad sense, the French action was interpreted as undermining the unity and solidarity of the allies. While not defending the French decision to act unilaterally, the unionist Belfast Newsletter asked whether, given the failure of Germany to comply with a number of provisions of the recent Peace Treaty, the consent of the allies should have been given to the French. The German government, meanwhile, has declared that it will hold the French responsible for all the damage suffered as a consequence of their latest military exploits. The Germans countered a French statement which claimed that 43,000 Reichswehr troops were operating in the Ruhr region, saying that only 15,000 were situated within the neutral zone. The French troops, by contrast, number 30,000.
United States: De Valera addressed the Delaware legislature which had postponed business including a vote on the suffrage amendment. De Valera commented that Irish women had an equal vote and voice in the Irish Republican Government which received strong applause from the suffrage advocates in the statehouse.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported on opposition encountered during speaking engagements by the Friends of Irish Freedom and the Protestant Friends of Ireland explaining it as coming from:
‘British subjects who have emigrated to the United States, some of whom have not yet thrown off their allegiance to King George, although they have long enjoyed the advantages of residence in this country’. Among incidents listed were:
Newport, Rhode Island: ‘ a Canadian clergyman who had lived for a decade in the United States but was not yet naturalised.’
A Texas town: ‘a very similar instance of opposition on the part of a Britisher occurred’
Charlotte, North Carolina: ‘two British born gentlemen strenously objected in the press to an advocate of Irish freedom’
Birmingham, Alabama: ‘A Londoner…has for the past two years persistently attacked every advocate of Irish freedom in that city’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 40, April 6, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Washington DC: Mollie Carroll, who had been picketing the British Embassy with other members of the American Women Picket managed a remarkable publicity coup. Realising that the city police were intent on arresting picket members as soon as they were close to the Embassy, she took to the air over Washington to spread the message.
In a plane provided and financed by the Democratic Party Governor Albert Cabell Ritchie, (a long-time supporter of the establishment of an independent Irish republic), Carroll flew over the U.S. State Department, Capitol Hill and the British Embassy dropping masses of leaflets ...'literature in the interest of the Irish cause' and became front page news nationwide. While low visibility and strong winds scattered leaflets everywhere, the 'bombing mission' was judged a success.
Papers reported how Carroll had “outwitted the police who had been instructed to prevent further ‘insulting’ of attachés of the British Embassy”.
Following the flight, the women protestors resumed their pickets at the British Embassy with several of them later arrested.
Mollie Carroll, while described by Dr. McCartan as 'a lovely little actress charmingly garbed as an aviatrix' was far more than just an activist with a pretty face. She was an original member of the Irish Progressive League.
Tara McCarthy. Respectability and Reform: Irish American Women's Activism, 1880-1920. Syracuse University Press 2018. p141/142
7
de Valera was in Washington D.C. as guest of honour at a dinner in the Lafayette Club. Attending were a number of Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill, clergymen, writers, lawyers or as the gathering was described by Bishop Shanahan of the Washington Catholic University of America ‘a cross section of the American nation’.
Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player born (d. 2012)
de Valera was in Washington D.C. as guest of honour at a dinner in the Lafayette Club. Attending were a number of Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill, clergymen, writers, lawyers or as the gathering was described by Bishop Shanahan of the Washington Catholic University of America ‘a cross section of the American nation’.
Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player born (d. 2012)
8
The Irish Bureau of Information Chief in Washington, Daniel O’Connell, wrote to Judge Cohalan, commenting that the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs did not wish to take any immediate action on the Mason Bill.
De Valera had anticipated this action and had prepared a draft resolution which was later introduced by Mason as House Concurrent Resolution No.56 reading:
‘Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, that as the people of Ireland by ballot, in orderly election, have established an independent Republic of Ireland, we respectfully urge upon the President the propriety of acting upon the principle of national self-determination and of according official recognition to that Republic and to its duly elected Government.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.357
This was to come up again on May 22, 1920.
The Irish Bureau of Information Chief in Washington, Daniel O’Connell, wrote to Judge Cohalan, commenting that the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs did not wish to take any immediate action on the Mason Bill.
De Valera had anticipated this action and had prepared a draft resolution which was later introduced by Mason as House Concurrent Resolution No.56 reading:
‘Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, that as the people of Ireland by ballot, in orderly election, have established an independent Republic of Ireland, we respectfully urge upon the President the propriety of acting upon the principle of national self-determination and of according official recognition to that Republic and to its duly elected Government.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.357
This was to come up again on May 22, 1920.
9
Constables William Finn (23) and Daniel McCarthy (27) were ambushed and killed at Lackamore Wood between Rearcross and Newport, Co. Tipperary.
New York: Meeting of the 'Save St. Enda's' fund trustees at the Friends headquarters 280 Broadway before the National Council Meeting.
Constables William Finn (23) and Daniel McCarthy (27) were ambushed and killed at Lackamore Wood between Rearcross and Newport, Co. Tipperary.
New York: Meeting of the 'Save St. Enda's' fund trustees at the Friends headquarters 280 Broadway before the National Council Meeting.
10
London: The British press announced sudden retirements of senior RIC officials, most of whom were opposed to the Government’s increasingly aggressive approach.
New York: All was not quiet on the De Valera & Friends of Irish Freedom feud:
“ ...war resumed shortly after they finished their prayers for peace. McCartan records that “ the first aggressive move was taken by de Valera. He made an attempt to gain control of the Friends of Irish Freedom Victory Fund through James O’Mara.
On 10 April, O’Mara wrote to the Friends in his capacity as a trustee (a position, of course, that he shared with de Valera) of the Dail loan, making a formal request for a statement of account of the fund. He quoted from a poster issued to publicise the Victory Fund and went on “in response to this and similar appeals the fund was raised. Such money morally belongs to Ireland - and it is only reasonable for the representative of the Government of Ireland to ask for a statement of account, both receipts and expenditure””
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P176-177.
below: O'Mara's request was noted and discussed at the Friends of Irish Freedom National Council meeting minutes of April 16:
London: The British press announced sudden retirements of senior RIC officials, most of whom were opposed to the Government’s increasingly aggressive approach.
New York: All was not quiet on the De Valera & Friends of Irish Freedom feud:
“ ...war resumed shortly after they finished their prayers for peace. McCartan records that “ the first aggressive move was taken by de Valera. He made an attempt to gain control of the Friends of Irish Freedom Victory Fund through James O’Mara.
On 10 April, O’Mara wrote to the Friends in his capacity as a trustee (a position, of course, that he shared with de Valera) of the Dail loan, making a formal request for a statement of account of the fund. He quoted from a poster issued to publicise the Victory Fund and went on “in response to this and similar appeals the fund was raised. Such money morally belongs to Ireland - and it is only reasonable for the representative of the Government of Ireland to ask for a statement of account, both receipts and expenditure””
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P176-177.
below: O'Mara's request was noted and discussed at the Friends of Irish Freedom National Council meeting minutes of April 16:
Presidential Election race 1920: The Republican Convention was due to be held in Chicago on June 9th. Stablemates in the race for nomination were the favourite Senator Hiram Johnson and a compromise choice, 55 year old Warren Harding. Senator Johnson was supported strongly by Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom for his possible future nomination of the pro- Irish Republic Borah as Secretary of State. Johnson won the Presidential Primary in Michigan where the Irish World carried the banner ‘ glorious news from Michigan’. Meanwhile the Friends of Irish Freedom began preparations for inclusion of a pro-Ireland resolution in both the Republican and Democratic Conventions.
‘Judge Cohalan hoped that this pressure might lead to some good result, but he received no co-operation from De Valera’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.373
11
Washington DC: Not following US Government thinking at the time was Bernard Baruch, one of Wilson’s confidential advisors, former Head of the War Industries Board and member of the US Delegation to Versailles. In an interview quoted by the New York Times, he said ‘Russia and the Russian people have a right, it seems to me, to set up any form of Government they wish. The world has no right to impose any system of Government upon any people. Neither would Russia have a right to try and impose upon the rest of the world a system of Government the rest of the world did not desire.’
The Newsletter picked up on the interview and urged that Baruch ‘confer immediately with President Wilson and impress these views upon Mr. Wilson’s mind’ substituting Ireland and England where appropriate.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Judge Cohalan addressed ‘a great mass meeting’ in Portland, Maine on the American aspect of the Irish issue. His speech was reported in the Newsletter:
‘The eyes of the world are being slowly opened to the realisation of the fact that liberty for mankind requires the destruction of navalism, and this can never be brought about until England’s grip upon the seas is broken. So long as England holds Ireland, she holds the seas…there is no question that comes home more cloesly to America than the question of the freedom of the seas. Our commercial development, our prosperity and our future, depend upon our right to carry on commerce freely with all the nations of the earth. So long as the seas are not free…our interests are threatened, our liberties insecure.…there are only two ways of meeting it – by having England voluntarily give up her control of the seas, or by preparing a Navy so powerful as to enable us to assert our rights…the establishment of an indpendent Ireland, growing in power and wealth and on terms of amity and concerd with all the world, would take from England her control of the seas and practically secure for manking the freedom of commerce and of trade, without which there must be a succession of wars…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Washington DC: Not following US Government thinking at the time was Bernard Baruch, one of Wilson’s confidential advisors, former Head of the War Industries Board and member of the US Delegation to Versailles. In an interview quoted by the New York Times, he said ‘Russia and the Russian people have a right, it seems to me, to set up any form of Government they wish. The world has no right to impose any system of Government upon any people. Neither would Russia have a right to try and impose upon the rest of the world a system of Government the rest of the world did not desire.’
The Newsletter picked up on the interview and urged that Baruch ‘confer immediately with President Wilson and impress these views upon Mr. Wilson’s mind’ substituting Ireland and England where appropriate.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Judge Cohalan addressed ‘a great mass meeting’ in Portland, Maine on the American aspect of the Irish issue. His speech was reported in the Newsletter:
‘The eyes of the world are being slowly opened to the realisation of the fact that liberty for mankind requires the destruction of navalism, and this can never be brought about until England’s grip upon the seas is broken. So long as England holds Ireland, she holds the seas…there is no question that comes home more cloesly to America than the question of the freedom of the seas. Our commercial development, our prosperity and our future, depend upon our right to carry on commerce freely with all the nations of the earth. So long as the seas are not free…our interests are threatened, our liberties insecure.…there are only two ways of meeting it – by having England voluntarily give up her control of the seas, or by preparing a Navy so powerful as to enable us to assert our rights…the establishment of an indpendent Ireland, growing in power and wealth and on terms of amity and concerd with all the world, would take from England her control of the seas and practically secure for manking the freedom of commerce and of trade, without which there must be a succession of wars…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
12
The Irish Labour and Trades Union Congress called a general strike in support of the Mountjoy Prison hunger strikers.
Lord French stated that the strikers could die if they chose to do so.
The new Irish Chief Secretary, Sir Hamar Greenwood, arrived in Dublin by Royal Navy Destroyer and was escorted to his residence in the Phoenix Park by ‘a strong force of military and police’.
Nevil Macready formally became Commander of the British Army in Ireland. On his desk he kept a copy of Arthur Griffith’s ‘The Resurection of Hungary’ and as measures proposed in it were carried out by the Sinn Fein Government, he marked in the dates achieved.
New York: The Friends of Irish Freedom National Executive met at the Friends Headquarters.
Among the subjects for discussion with the National Executive was James O'Mara's request for a full listing of the names and addresses of those comprising the National Council. The meeting minutes show that this was discussed and a resolution passed to advise O'Mara that all communication for the organisation was to be though the National Secretary (Lynch) who would in turn raise this with the Council. The issue of O'Mara's request of April 10th was for discussion with the National Council on April 16.
The Irish Labour and Trades Union Congress called a general strike in support of the Mountjoy Prison hunger strikers.
Lord French stated that the strikers could die if they chose to do so.
The new Irish Chief Secretary, Sir Hamar Greenwood, arrived in Dublin by Royal Navy Destroyer and was escorted to his residence in the Phoenix Park by ‘a strong force of military and police’.
Nevil Macready formally became Commander of the British Army in Ireland. On his desk he kept a copy of Arthur Griffith’s ‘The Resurection of Hungary’ and as measures proposed in it were carried out by the Sinn Fein Government, he marked in the dates achieved.
New York: The Friends of Irish Freedom National Executive met at the Friends Headquarters.
Among the subjects for discussion with the National Executive was James O'Mara's request for a full listing of the names and addresses of those comprising the National Council. The meeting minutes show that this was discussed and a resolution passed to advise O'Mara that all communication for the organisation was to be though the National Secretary (Lynch) who would in turn raise this with the Council. The issue of O'Mara's request of April 10th was for discussion with the National Council on April 16.
transcript:
transcript:
13
The ICTGWU general strike in support of the prisoners began and was virtually completely observed throughout Ireland with the exception of North East Ulster. In Waterford, the Trades Council took control of the town for two days:
‘its order was enforced by ‘Red Guards’ who were followed by a mischevious rabble’ . The mayor afterwards congratulated the ‘Soviet Government of Waterford on a very effective, masterly and successful administration’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P180
The British Government support of Lord French was total according to Thomas Jones. He advised Macready that ‘we were not going to interefere with French but would support French’
Thomas Jones. ‘Whitehall Diary’ Vol.III Ireland 1918-1925. Oxford University Press 1971. P16
Frank Gallagher, one of the Mountjoy hunger strikers later described how the general strike affected the British administration in Ireland, not only did it paralyse all work..’..it had paralysed the official mind; they could not telephone, post a letter, they could not call a taxi or board a train; they could not eat a meal in their exclusive clubs or be sure of tomorrows dinner behind their castellated towers..’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p325
Constable Patrick Foley, while on leave in Annascaul, Co Kerry was abducted by armed men.
Liam Cosgrave, 5th Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael born (died 2017).
The ICTGWU general strike in support of the prisoners began and was virtually completely observed throughout Ireland with the exception of North East Ulster. In Waterford, the Trades Council took control of the town for two days:
‘its order was enforced by ‘Red Guards’ who were followed by a mischevious rabble’ . The mayor afterwards congratulated the ‘Soviet Government of Waterford on a very effective, masterly and successful administration’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P180
The British Government support of Lord French was total according to Thomas Jones. He advised Macready that ‘we were not going to interefere with French but would support French’
Thomas Jones. ‘Whitehall Diary’ Vol.III Ireland 1918-1925. Oxford University Press 1971. P16
Frank Gallagher, one of the Mountjoy hunger strikers later described how the general strike affected the British administration in Ireland, not only did it paralyse all work..’..it had paralysed the official mind; they could not telephone, post a letter, they could not call a taxi or board a train; they could not eat a meal in their exclusive clubs or be sure of tomorrows dinner behind their castellated towers..’
Liz Curtis ‘The Cause of Ireland – from the United Irishmen to Partition’. Beyond the Pale, Belfast 1994. p325
Constable Patrick Foley, while on leave in Annascaul, Co Kerry was abducted by armed men.
Liam Cosgrave, 5th Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael born (died 2017).
14
The Mountjoy strikers were offered a release on parole by Dublin Castle as an act of good faith by the newly appointed (and also to be the last ) Chief Secretary of Ireland, Sir Hamar Greenwood and British Forces commander in Ireland, Sir Nevil Macready. This was refused unanimously by the prisoners who continued to seek treatment as prisoners of war.
The Irish Times commenting on the growing activities of the revolutionary forces, said that the English people ‘do not realise to the full extent – or one half of the extent – to which the Government of the country has been snatched from the hands of the British crown and of the Imperial Parliament…the House does not seem to know that the whole South of Ireland has fallen under the Government of Sinn Fein’
DMP Detective Constable Henry Kells (42) was shot dead while on plain clothes duty at the corner of Upper Camden Street and Pleasants Street, Dublin by Paddy Daly, Commander of the Squad. A few days earlier he had attended an identity parade in Mountjoy, where he was recognised by Peadar Clancy and details smuggled from the prison to Michael Collins.
Sergeant Patrick Finnerty (51) was shot and wounded at Balbriggan, Co. Dublin and died from wounds 2 days later.
Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare: a crowd, including children under 15, that had gathered around a lit tar barrel to celebrate the release of the Mountjoy hunger-strikers were fired upon by police and military. Three men were killed and nine were injured in the attack. Some of the injuries were incurred in a stampede which followed the shootings.
The dead have been named as Patrick Hennessy, a 30 year-old small farmer from Miltown Malbay and a father of two; John O’Loughlin, an unmarried tailor from Ennistymon; and Thomas Leary, 33, a married father of 10 children from Miltown Malbay.
The Bishop of Killaloe, Michael Fogarty, wrote to the local parish priest in Miltown Malbay, urging restraint in response to events there. Dr Fogarty noted that without firing a shot, the will of the people had defeated conscription and forced open the gates of Mountjoy and this was proof that moral force was more powerful than the strongest tyranny. Also in Miltown Malbay, on the same night of the shooting, two young women had their hair cut off by a number of unknown men for keeping company with soldiers. The girls, who are now wearing wigs, had been given repeated warnings in advance to avoid soldiers.
The Mountjoy strikers were offered a release on parole by Dublin Castle as an act of good faith by the newly appointed (and also to be the last ) Chief Secretary of Ireland, Sir Hamar Greenwood and British Forces commander in Ireland, Sir Nevil Macready. This was refused unanimously by the prisoners who continued to seek treatment as prisoners of war.
The Irish Times commenting on the growing activities of the revolutionary forces, said that the English people ‘do not realise to the full extent – or one half of the extent – to which the Government of the country has been snatched from the hands of the British crown and of the Imperial Parliament…the House does not seem to know that the whole South of Ireland has fallen under the Government of Sinn Fein’
DMP Detective Constable Henry Kells (42) was shot dead while on plain clothes duty at the corner of Upper Camden Street and Pleasants Street, Dublin by Paddy Daly, Commander of the Squad. A few days earlier he had attended an identity parade in Mountjoy, where he was recognised by Peadar Clancy and details smuggled from the prison to Michael Collins.
Sergeant Patrick Finnerty (51) was shot and wounded at Balbriggan, Co. Dublin and died from wounds 2 days later.
Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare: a crowd, including children under 15, that had gathered around a lit tar barrel to celebrate the release of the Mountjoy hunger-strikers were fired upon by police and military. Three men were killed and nine were injured in the attack. Some of the injuries were incurred in a stampede which followed the shootings.
The dead have been named as Patrick Hennessy, a 30 year-old small farmer from Miltown Malbay and a father of two; John O’Loughlin, an unmarried tailor from Ennistymon; and Thomas Leary, 33, a married father of 10 children from Miltown Malbay.
The Bishop of Killaloe, Michael Fogarty, wrote to the local parish priest in Miltown Malbay, urging restraint in response to events there. Dr Fogarty noted that without firing a shot, the will of the people had defeated conscription and forced open the gates of Mountjoy and this was proof that moral force was more powerful than the strongest tyranny. Also in Miltown Malbay, on the same night of the shooting, two young women had their hair cut off by a number of unknown men for keeping company with soldiers. The girls, who are now wearing wigs, had been given repeated warnings in advance to avoid soldiers.
15
The Irish Times continued it’s commentary on Sinn Fein activities, insisting that the Volunteer attacks are ‘revoloutions bold and resoloute challenge to the last strongholds of the King’s Authority in Ireland’
The Mountjoy strikers and others were unconditionally released. Throughout Ireland, crowds gathered to celebrate the news of releases. In Milltown-Malbay, Co Clare, a crowd was fired upon by the R.I.C and military, leaving 3 dead and 9 wounded.
However, these releases were as a result of an administrative error. W.E.Wylie*, the Law Adviser to Dublin Castle commented: ‘Jailbirds, political prisoners, petty thieves, every damn one of them. I nearly fainted when I heard of it’. The decision to release them was taken while Sir John Taylor was on leave and he never returned. Many in the military and police questioned the competence and resolve of the British administration.
* Wiliam E Wylie was from Ulster Presbyterian stock, a special prosecutor following the Easter Rising and Crown Proseccutor 1919-20. He became a fierce advocate of Dominion Home Rule and for amending the Government of Ireland Act. Appointed a judge in 1920 and was also later appointed Judge by the Irish Free State in 1924.
The Sacco & Vanzetti saga began in what would be termed, up to that time, the "trial of the century." On this date, shoe factory paymaster F.A. Parmenter and a guard are murdered in South Braintree, Mass. Suspected radicals Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are arrested for the crime on May 5. On July 14, 1921, following trial, the two are convicted of the murder, arousing a firestorm of protests from leftists and a divisive debate worldwide. Many unsuccessful appeals later, they were executed in 1927, despite what was widely thought to be inconclusive evidence. Many believe they were tried for their anarchist political beliefs (both were exonerated posthumously in 1977).
Terence McSwiney proposed that King Street in Cork be changed to MacCurtain Street in honour of the murdered Lord Mayor.
Arthur Griffith establishes a Republican legal system (under Austin Stack) in areas under IRA control. The traditional Summer Assizes become virtually unworkable.
Kathleen wrote to Mary Lynch from 2366 Grand Concourse, New York:
The Irish Times continued it’s commentary on Sinn Fein activities, insisting that the Volunteer attacks are ‘revoloutions bold and resoloute challenge to the last strongholds of the King’s Authority in Ireland’
The Mountjoy strikers and others were unconditionally released. Throughout Ireland, crowds gathered to celebrate the news of releases. In Milltown-Malbay, Co Clare, a crowd was fired upon by the R.I.C and military, leaving 3 dead and 9 wounded.
However, these releases were as a result of an administrative error. W.E.Wylie*, the Law Adviser to Dublin Castle commented: ‘Jailbirds, political prisoners, petty thieves, every damn one of them. I nearly fainted when I heard of it’. The decision to release them was taken while Sir John Taylor was on leave and he never returned. Many in the military and police questioned the competence and resolve of the British administration.
* Wiliam E Wylie was from Ulster Presbyterian stock, a special prosecutor following the Easter Rising and Crown Proseccutor 1919-20. He became a fierce advocate of Dominion Home Rule and for amending the Government of Ireland Act. Appointed a judge in 1920 and was also later appointed Judge by the Irish Free State in 1924.
The Sacco & Vanzetti saga began in what would be termed, up to that time, the "trial of the century." On this date, shoe factory paymaster F.A. Parmenter and a guard are murdered in South Braintree, Mass. Suspected radicals Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are arrested for the crime on May 5. On July 14, 1921, following trial, the two are convicted of the murder, arousing a firestorm of protests from leftists and a divisive debate worldwide. Many unsuccessful appeals later, they were executed in 1927, despite what was widely thought to be inconclusive evidence. Many believe they were tried for their anarchist political beliefs (both were exonerated posthumously in 1977).
Terence McSwiney proposed that King Street in Cork be changed to MacCurtain Street in honour of the murdered Lord Mayor.
Arthur Griffith establishes a Republican legal system (under Austin Stack) in areas under IRA control. The traditional Summer Assizes become virtually unworkable.
Kathleen wrote to Mary Lynch from 2366 Grand Concourse, New York:
‘My Dear Mary.
I think it's about time for us to acknowledge your last most welcome letter & to thank you for sending the shamrock which we still have carefully pressed between the leaves of a book, any little bit of growth from Irish soil is deeply treasured by us, more especially when it grew around Granig.
Diarmuid is feeling pretty well D.G. & would have written you long ago, but for some time back has been very worried with the situation here among our own friends, a very unfortunate position arose which threatens the life of the Irish movement here, but Thank God the men from your side awoke before it was too late and realised in time the disaster to which they were heading. I never saw anything to worry D so much as that did, but now all is peace again & good feeling prevails all round.
We had very enthusiastic Easter celebrations, the President of Ireland was in New York and spoke at a number of meetings, also a Presbyterian clergyman from Antrim who had just arrived in this country who delivered a wonderful speech on Easter Monday night on the ‘Justice of the Irish fight for Freedom’. He is now touring the country & is giving the lie in good style to all the English propaganda which Carson’s bunch from Ulster tried to poision the minds of the Protestants here with.
The brutal and savage murder of poor Thomas MacC shocked the whole Irish race here & it was not neccesary to tell us at whose instigation it was committed. Nothing is too low for the English hirelings to stoop to.
Is Terry MacS the present L.M. [Lord Mayor]? D was hoping that he would be chosen to succeed poor Tomas R.I.P.
The news during the past week from Mountjoy was depressing in the extreme. It was just awful picturing the agony those poor fellow were made to endure (we could not help thinking of poor Michael in the very same condition in Mountjoy this month 2 years ago.) but they have now a great victory, God grant none of them will die though. It's doubtful some of them will ever regain their health again. If the English don't clear out of Ireland soon they will become the laughing stock of the whole world.
We have not heard from Rev P.B.M [Rev P.B.Murphy of Boston - a relative of Lynch's] since Xmas. I suppose he feel a little sore at us for not going up to visit him, but it is totally impossible for D to spare the time from his office. He (P.B.) has invited Alice & Denis over to Boston on a visit any time they wish to come, he is to pay one fare each way. Denis says they intend to keep him to his word & will probably avail of his invitation next spring. I hope nothing will turn up to prevent them from doing so. I am simply dying to see someone from home.
I suppose you have heard that my friend Betty Grimes (you met her time time two years ago) was married just before Lent to a brother of one of the men who was in Lewes Jail with Diarmuid. Also that my brother Willie was married about that time also. This surprised me very much as I had no idea that he was even thinking of such a thing.
Are Michael & Tim still in Cnoc or did M sell the place yet? I suppose his marriage is the next we will hear about, but I suppose his mind is too deeply occupied with other important matters just now.
Mgr James Coveney (of Boston) was in to see Diarmuid one day last week. (the first time since his return from Ireland) & gave him all the news.
We spent a very pleasant day last Sunday out with Teddy Wunderleck & his family. They have a delightful country home about 25 miles from the city. Teddy was over in Europe last autumn for a few weeks & intends going again this spring & visiting Ireland, but he had delayed his plans owing to the constraints of affairs on your side of the ocean.
I hope Mrs Ahern is still keeping as well as she can & taking every possible care of herself. We had a card from Mrs T.J.Murphy over Easter. Do you often see Mrs Leroy. [ Word illegible ] remember us to her & also to poor old Julia & all the old friends 'round Granig.
Best love to you, Dan, Tim & M
From Diarmuid & me.
Yours very affectionately.
Kattie.
Diarmuid added a brief comment at the end of the letter:
‘I intended to wrote yourself, Mick & a dozen others long before this, but - !!. Well it's a long story & must wait. Love to all. D.'
Lynch Family Archives . Folder 5/23
‘I intended to wrote yourself, Mick & a dozen others long before this, but - !!. Well it's a long story & must wait. Love to all. D.'
Lynch Family Archives . Folder 5/23
16
Constable Patrick Foley (25) abducted three days previously was found dead in Deelis, Co Kerry. Foley was an ex-soldier who had served in the 1st Battalion, The Irish Guards, spending some years in a German POW camp.
Sergeant Patrick Finnerty was shot dead when on duty with other Constables who were attending several bonfires which had been lit as part of a Sinn Fein rally.
Lord French, quickly distancing himself from the previous Chief Secretary Macpherson, and aware of his survival in the reshuffle, commented to Bonar Law: ‘During the last year, the position has become greatly accentuated by the fact that Macpherson completely ostracised…Macmahon, and would not permit him to fulfil his proper functions. Consequently there was always a missing link in the chain of responsible Government…’
Attempting to pre-empt the Fisher Report due on the 18th, French complained that both his Chief Secretaries had disregarded his attempts to reform the system by means of his three Councils. Despite these attempts, French was to become increasingly marginalised.
Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of Imperial General Staff wrote in his diary that general army recruitment had dropped from 1,000 to 100 a day.
Belfast: Representatives from the counties of Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal have urged the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) to revise its position on the proposed partition of Ireland – that is, that those three counties would be excluded from the northern parliament and would instead by governed from Dublin.
The delegates from the three counties met in Clones and unanimously adopted a motion calling on the UUC to reconsider its decision, arguing that many people in the six counties were also opposed to it. Southern loyalists, led by Lord Midleton, are also against the proposals. They have issued a statement pointing at the distressed condition of the country, in particular the ‘orgy of crime’ and ‘organised terrorism’ which has seen the murders of police and civilians. They argue that these attacks are designed to ‘over-awe the well disposed section of the population’. The statement acknowledges that a state of war now exists and that it is one that the government is losing.
Pointing to the organisation of Sinn Féin and its ability to act with ‘complete impunity; the loyalists make the point that the effects of the Sinn Féin war have been ‘enormous’.
Lord Midleton's Unionist Anti-Partition League has committed to expending every effort to prevent the passage of the new home rule bill, but an Irish Times editorial suggests that this effort will be in vain: the bill will pass and if it does so in its present form it will be ‘fatal to Irish peace and progress and to Imperial security’.
The newspaper, a voice of southern unionist opinion, has once again stressed the ‘recklessness and danger of the government’s Irish experiments. We hate the prospect of even temporary partition.’
The Belfast Newsletter has defended the Ulster Unionist Council stance on the bill, stating that it is ‘useless, or worse than useless, to oppose partition....The bill does not divide Ireland; Ireland is divided and is based on that indisputable fact. The unionists of Ulster have never asked for a parliament...but...because the majority of British unionists have abandoned their principles, they are determined to save as much of Ireland as possible from the disaster which nationalist misrule will bring upon it.’
The Newsletter has also defended the decision to back a proposal that effectively cuts unionists from six counties off from those in the rest of the country. Lord Midleton and his southern unionists, the newspaper argues, ‘want to expose the 800,000 unionists of the north to all the disadvantages and dangers to which the 400,000 unionists of the south and west will be exposed....Ulster will have succeeded, if the bill becomes law, in delivering two-thirds of the loyal people of Ireland from the dangers which threaten them, and it would have been folly to sacrifice the two-thirds when it could do nothing to help the remaining third.’
Washington D.C.: The Mason Bill was proposed in May 1919 by Congressman William E Mason. This was a means of securing official recognition of Irish independence by securing diplomatic representation to Ireland. The end result was merely a motion of sympathy.
“ Patricia Lavelle describes the resolution as a “bitter blow”. McGarrity and McCartan were disgusted.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P177.
New York: The Friends of Irish Freedom, on the resolutions of the National Council meeting of April 12th, refused to divulge any information in response a written response to the O’Mara/de Valera request for financial information.
“ ..as a result, de Valera privately included in Boland’s brief and instruction to get the Supreme Council to present an ultimatum to Devoy wither to co-operate with de Valera or be expelled, thus depriving Cohalan of vital Clan na Gael support. De Valera's elastic conscience was able on occasion to overcome his distaste for secret societies when it suited him. Meanwhile de Valera co-operated with Cohalan on a matter of common concern which still had to be resolved, this was the Mason bill which had given rise to the Cuban suggestion and all the controversy which ensued.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P177.
Below - minutes of the FOIF National Council meeting:
Constable Patrick Foley (25) abducted three days previously was found dead in Deelis, Co Kerry. Foley was an ex-soldier who had served in the 1st Battalion, The Irish Guards, spending some years in a German POW camp.
Sergeant Patrick Finnerty was shot dead when on duty with other Constables who were attending several bonfires which had been lit as part of a Sinn Fein rally.
Lord French, quickly distancing himself from the previous Chief Secretary Macpherson, and aware of his survival in the reshuffle, commented to Bonar Law: ‘During the last year, the position has become greatly accentuated by the fact that Macpherson completely ostracised…Macmahon, and would not permit him to fulfil his proper functions. Consequently there was always a missing link in the chain of responsible Government…’
Attempting to pre-empt the Fisher Report due on the 18th, French complained that both his Chief Secretaries had disregarded his attempts to reform the system by means of his three Councils. Despite these attempts, French was to become increasingly marginalised.
Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of Imperial General Staff wrote in his diary that general army recruitment had dropped from 1,000 to 100 a day.
Belfast: Representatives from the counties of Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal have urged the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) to revise its position on the proposed partition of Ireland – that is, that those three counties would be excluded from the northern parliament and would instead by governed from Dublin.
The delegates from the three counties met in Clones and unanimously adopted a motion calling on the UUC to reconsider its decision, arguing that many people in the six counties were also opposed to it. Southern loyalists, led by Lord Midleton, are also against the proposals. They have issued a statement pointing at the distressed condition of the country, in particular the ‘orgy of crime’ and ‘organised terrorism’ which has seen the murders of police and civilians. They argue that these attacks are designed to ‘over-awe the well disposed section of the population’. The statement acknowledges that a state of war now exists and that it is one that the government is losing.
Pointing to the organisation of Sinn Féin and its ability to act with ‘complete impunity; the loyalists make the point that the effects of the Sinn Féin war have been ‘enormous’.
Lord Midleton's Unionist Anti-Partition League has committed to expending every effort to prevent the passage of the new home rule bill, but an Irish Times editorial suggests that this effort will be in vain: the bill will pass and if it does so in its present form it will be ‘fatal to Irish peace and progress and to Imperial security’.
The newspaper, a voice of southern unionist opinion, has once again stressed the ‘recklessness and danger of the government’s Irish experiments. We hate the prospect of even temporary partition.’
The Belfast Newsletter has defended the Ulster Unionist Council stance on the bill, stating that it is ‘useless, or worse than useless, to oppose partition....The bill does not divide Ireland; Ireland is divided and is based on that indisputable fact. The unionists of Ulster have never asked for a parliament...but...because the majority of British unionists have abandoned their principles, they are determined to save as much of Ireland as possible from the disaster which nationalist misrule will bring upon it.’
The Newsletter has also defended the decision to back a proposal that effectively cuts unionists from six counties off from those in the rest of the country. Lord Midleton and his southern unionists, the newspaper argues, ‘want to expose the 800,000 unionists of the north to all the disadvantages and dangers to which the 400,000 unionists of the south and west will be exposed....Ulster will have succeeded, if the bill becomes law, in delivering two-thirds of the loyal people of Ireland from the dangers which threaten them, and it would have been folly to sacrifice the two-thirds when it could do nothing to help the remaining third.’
Washington D.C.: The Mason Bill was proposed in May 1919 by Congressman William E Mason. This was a means of securing official recognition of Irish independence by securing diplomatic representation to Ireland. The end result was merely a motion of sympathy.
“ Patricia Lavelle describes the resolution as a “bitter blow”. McGarrity and McCartan were disgusted.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P177.
New York: The Friends of Irish Freedom, on the resolutions of the National Council meeting of April 12th, refused to divulge any information in response a written response to the O’Mara/de Valera request for financial information.
“ ..as a result, de Valera privately included in Boland’s brief and instruction to get the Supreme Council to present an ultimatum to Devoy wither to co-operate with de Valera or be expelled, thus depriving Cohalan of vital Clan na Gael support. De Valera's elastic conscience was able on occasion to overcome his distaste for secret societies when it suited him. Meanwhile de Valera co-operated with Cohalan on a matter of common concern which still had to be resolved, this was the Mason bill which had given rise to the Cuban suggestion and all the controversy which ensued.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P177.
Below - minutes of the FOIF National Council meeting:
transcript
transcript:
transcript
17
Constable Martin Clifford (21) was ambushed and killed at Bradley’s Cross, Dromod, Waterville, Co. Kerry while home on leave.
Food prices continued to be a major problem within the country. On the same day as Labour began a campaign to lower food prices, the British Government removed all price controls on bacon and butter which resulted in rapid price increases. Labour counteracted with a boycott of live pigs, bacon and butter along the lines of Diarmuid Lynch’s actions as Minister for Food Supply in 1917.
The Government acknowledged that in future, all persons arrested and imprisoned for political offences would be treated as political prisoners. However the definition of ‘political offences’ were not including homicide, riot, unlawful assembly and incitement to commit such offences.
The New Statesman Magazine reported on the hunger-strikers:
‘in the last resort, subject peoples have an argument to which there is no reply; Sinn Feiners have discovered this argument’
Bouladuff, Co. Tipperary ‘shot up by police’
The Friends Newsletter commented on the Mason Bill, stating that it was some four months since the hearings on December 12-13, 1919 with the testimony print only coming off the presses on April 5th, bemoaning the fact that ‘thus far there has been no public distribution of this report’ and urged any ‘friends of the Mason Bill’ to wire their congressman ‘urging definite action by the Committee, and no more delays.’
Whether British propaganda was responsible for the accusation or not, the Newsletter challenged one authors assertion that during the American Civil War ‘soldiers of Irish blood in more or less large numbers have abandoned their country and their cause’. Daniel T. O’Connell, editor of the Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information contacted the Adjutant General of the United States to confirm or deny the accusations. The reply was that records were not maintained of soldiers country of birth, nor of those who may have deserted during the war. In addition the War Department never in its history issued a statement or estimate of the number of desertions based on country of birth, adding ‘it will be realised that any statements that may have been published, purporting to show the number or percentage of deserters by nativity, are entitled to no credence whatsoever.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A new membership drive for the Friends of Irish Freedom began with issue #42 of the Newsletter reminding readers if they ‘reside in a town or city where there is no branch of the Friends of Irish Freedom, he can render Ireland no better service than by organising a branch….Diarmuid Lynch, National Secretary, 280 Broadway, New York City, will gladly supply additional advices. It was the organisation of the Friends of Irish Freedom, its growth in membership, influences and resources, its able leadership and far reaching activities that has made possible the commanding position in America the struggle of Ireland has won. It laid the foundation for the Bond Certificate Loan which is now an assured success. An army cannot move except under competent leadership, and organised units, such as divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions and companies. So it is with a great cause. Every new branch is an organised unit possessing strength that individuals cannot as such exert.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter requested its readers to tell those who are ‘Americans of Irish blood, possessed of much money, business or professional prestige and social ambitions to whom the ideals of race mean little…to read American history and learn from the pages which describe the ideals the patriots of the Revolutionary period struggled to attain…they should be broad visioned enough to help obtain for those of their blood now resident in Ireland, equal opportunities, namely ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 41, April 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
High profile new members to the Friends of Irish Freedom and the Protestant Friends of Ireland included Governor Lee Russell of Mississippi and ex-Governor O’Neal of Alabahama.
The inquest on the murder of Tomás MacCurtain concluded. Conducted by Coroner James J. McCabe, ninety-seven witnesses were examined, sixty-four police, thirty-one civilians, and two military. The inquest which opened on March 20 and concluded with the following unanimous verdict:
"We find that the late Alderman MacCurtain, Lord Mayor of Cork, died from shock and hemorrhage caused by bullet wounds, and that he was willfully murdered under circumstances of the most callous brutality, and that the murder was organised and carried out by the Royal Irish Constabulary, officially directed by the British Government, and we return a verdict of willful murder against David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of England; Lord French, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; Ian McPherson, late Chief Secretary of Ireland; Acting Inspector General Smith, of the Royal Irish Constabulary; Divisional Inspector Clayton of the Royal Irish Constabulary; District Inspector Swanzy and some unknown members of the Royal Irish Constabulary. We strongly condemn the system at present in vogue of carrying out raids at unreasonable hours. We tender to Mrs. MacCurtain and family our sincerest sympathy. We extend to the citizens of Cork our sympathy in the loss they have sustained by the death of one so eminently capable of directing their civic administration."
The unionist Irish Times has said that the guilty verdict against the police was a ‘foregone conclusion’, but the jury had surpassed itself with a ‘stroke of Celtic fantasy’ in naming Lloyd George and Ian Macpherson. The paper proceeded to cast doubt on the judgement and the assessment of the evidence provided, including the finding of a policeman’s button close to the scene - ‘the recent killing and wounding of policemen must have made the capture of dozens of such buttons an easy task’, it suggested.
In contrast, the moderate nationalist Freeman’s Journal has defended the inclusion of the Prime Minister and Chief Secretary in the verdict, pointing out that it follows the precedent of the ‘black years’ of the famine when juries placed on record that the victims had been ‘murdered’ by then Prime Minister, John Russell. This approach is designed to indict not individuals, but a system, and in this case the ‘ruthless repression, which the coalition government have pursued in this country, is no less responsible for the death of the Lord Mayor of Cork and for the tragedies that make the record of the last few months such terrible reading than was Lord John Russell... for the famine pits of Skibbereen.’
The Freeman claims nonetheless that the ‘mystery’ of the murder of the Lord Mayor has not been entirely cleared up by the inquest, not least the lack of accountability for the lax investigation which saw the offence not even entered in the barracks’ office book and the refusal of the Lord Lieutenant John French and his under-secretary Sir John Taylor to provide evidence.
‘When men in high places take such a view of their obligations is it difficult to guess what the effect is likely to be on those who exercise authority under them?’
It is not only in Cork where serious accusations have been levelled against the RIC. The Irish Bulletin, the newspaper of Dáil Éireann, has published the names of a number of citizens which it claims have been murdered by police and military forces in Ireland since 20 March. This list includes Thomas Dwyer, whom a coroner’s inquest has found was murdered by unknown members of the RIC at his home at Bouladuff, near Thurles in Co. Tipperary last month.
Another case where foul play on the part of the police is alleged is that of Thomas Mulholland, 28, of Dundalk. The inquest into his death has been told that evidence will be produced that will ‘prove conclusively’ that Mr Mulholland was shot by the police. Mr Mulholland was a yard worker for P. Deery, UDC, and a member of the Irish Volunteers. He was shot at 11pm on 16 April on Bridge Street after police claimed that two of their patrols were attacked.
18
The New Statesman [London] commenting on the Irish Question stated:
‘The final decision as to whether Ireland is or is not to remain a part of the British Empire rests in fact, whether we like it or not, with the Irish people, and the sooner we discard the illusion that it rests with us the more likely we will be to avert what most of us regard as a catastrophe. If Ireland’s desire for republican independence is sufficiently deep and persistent, then beyond all question she will get it. She needs only to continue the present tactics a sufficiently long time and she will force a withdrawal of British power over her. So long as English statesmen refuse to face the facts and, while continuing their policy of military coercion, insult and provoke the Irish people by such proposals as those embodied in the bill now in Parliament, the only result will be an extension of the chaos and anarchy in Ireland and an ever increasing determination on the part of the Irish people to reject all half measures and to win by maintaining their insistence on absolute separation and independence’
Reprinting the article, the New York Tribune commented:
‘This is the first time in history a reputable non-partisan English periodical places before its readers the possibility of Ireland becoming a republic.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Fisher Report on Dublin Castle's Irish Adminstration
Sir Warren Fisher’s report on the Irish Civil Service and Dublin Castle Administration along with a supplementary report by Cope and Harwood was presented to Cabinet and was quite pessimistic: ‘The Castle Administration does not administer. On the mechanical side it can never have been good and is now quite obsolete; in the infinitly more important sphere (a) of informing and advising the Irish Government in relation to policy and (b) of practical capacity in the application of policy it simply has no existence’
The Last Days of Dublin Castle – The Diaries of Mark Sturgis. Irish Academic Press Dublin & Oregon 1999. p 3
Overall, the report was highly critical of the administration inefficiencies as well as the failure of the Government to assert sufficient control over both the military and police. Comment was made on how work had been transferred to both Assistant Under-Secretary Taylor and Principal Clerk, Connolly which had resulted in reducing Under-Secretary MacMahon to the level of a ‘routine clerk’ with no role in policy decisions. Both Cope and Harwood recommended drastic reorganisation of the Administrative Division of the Chief Secretaries Office with seconded personnel from Whitehall.
MacMahon however was also criticised for lacking ‘iniative, force and driving power’ but his removal was not advised for fears of upsetting Catholic sensitivities and loosing MacMahon’s contacts with the Catholic Hierarchy. Fisher recommended the appointment of Sir John Anderson, Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue as Joint-Under-Secretary with Anderson ‘rapidly acquiring the real control’. Sir John Taylor was not to return to the Castle, instead taking retirement and being replaced by Cope.
Fisher also argued that the administration be removed from Dublin Castle to help remove the ‘heavy sentimental handicap’ through association with the Castle and that the role of Lord Lieutenant be abolished ‘with it’s athmosphere of pinchbeck royalty’. Unity of command for the Crown Forces and civil control of the RIC by a ‘really able and powerful Civil Servant’.
The quality of political advice offered by Dublin Castle was strongly questioned with the present Government (excluding Macready) as being ‘almost woodenly stupid and quite devoid of imagination. It listens solely to the ascendancy party and never seems to think of keeping in close touch with opinions of all kinds’.
Fisher also argued that the Castle made the critical mistake of failing to understand the breadth of the Sinn Fein movement and it’s proscription had only served to rally moderate opinion behind the hardliners.
Hardly surprisingly, Fisher’s report led to a widespread purge of the old administration and the appointment of new personnel. Sir Nevil Macready became the GOC, General Sir Henry Tudor was appointed Police Adviser, Sir Hamar Greenwood became Chief Secretary and a team of seconded civil servants led by Sir John Anderson, the joint Under-Secretary arrived shortly afterwards.
Fisher’s suggested administrative and personnel reforms were quickly implemented, with a team of seconded officials arriving in May and June, although most of his policy suggestions were apparently disregarded.
‘The most obvious omission was any discussion of how much Dublin castle’s failure was down to the British Government itself. It was after all, Lloyd George who had appointed French and Macpherson and who had not interefered with their handling of Government. Fisher’s suggested remedies did not involve a fundamental restructure of the administration nor any improvement in the channels of communication between Dublin and Westminster…an all probability however, Fisher realised that such conclusions were academic because Dublin Castle was doomed.’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p61
Sergeant Patrick J Carroll (43) was killed in Kilmihill, Co Clare as returning from attending a local mass. One of the attackers, a local man Stephen John Breen, was shot dead.
The Friends of Irish Freedom commented on the Breen inquest some weeks later:
"A people surrounded by soldiers, machine guns, armed tanks, and booming planes might be pardoned for keeping their real sentiments dark. The Irish people are in exactly that position, but are they intimidated into silence? By no means. John Breen was shot and killed after Mass on Sunday, April 18, at Kilmihil, Co. Clare. Now listen to this outspoken verdict of the coroner's jury, arrived at after an hour's deliberation: “We find that John Breen died from shock and haemorrhage caused by a bullet wound inflicted by Constable Martin while John Breen was fighting for the freedom of his country. From the evidence put before us, we desire to say that the present system of government in Ireland is as barbarous and as uncivilized as the authority on which that Government is founded was immoral and unjust and that that Government is, as it always has been, destructive of material prosperity and intellectual development, and the way, and the only way, to secure peace and prosperity to Ireland is to allow the Irish people to choose their own form of government. We respectfully ask the civilized nations of the world to aid us in the choice.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
London: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Austen Chamberlain, presented the 1920-1921 budget to the House of Commons.
In his speech he announced that there has been an overspend of £144m on what had been projected in his last budget statement for 1919-1920. To make up the deficit and balance the books, a number of new taxes and duties were introduced, two of which will hit Ireland’s drinks industry. The duty on spirits rose by almost 50% to 72s 6d a proof gallon resulting in a 2s per bottle increase in public bars. It is estimated that the increased duty would yield £24.5m per year.
The price of beer also went up, with duty on a standard barrel being raised by 30s, meaning that the price to the consumer would go up by a penny a pint. Chamberlain estimated that this alone would deliver £30m per year.
A member of the wholesale trade in Dublin, interviewed by the Freeman’s Journal, said that the budget measure came as a surprise to those involved in manufacturing and wholesale trade, adding that it constituted a ‘direct blow’ to the remaining important Irish industries outside of the Belfast area. Whiskey, he insisted, could not bear the additional duties and their effect will only be a decrease in the quantity of whiskey consumed. The Freeman’s Journal stated that, in trying to return the UK to a stable economic condition, the chancellor has shirked the real problem, which is an ‘immediate and effective reduction of expenditure.’ The newspaper added that ‘taxation, local and imperial, has grown in 20 years from 12 or 13 million to nearly 70 million... The coincidence of Lord French’s control of our lives and liberties, and of the ineffable Mr Chamberlain’s control of our purses, is the final demonstration of the curse of the Union.’
The budget also drew criticism from the British press, with the London-based Daily Express commenting in a very familiar way even a century later, that the Budget ‘presses unfairly on the professional, the middle and the working classes, and consumers of all classes. It spares the multi-millionaire.’
The New Statesman [London] commenting on the Irish Question stated:
‘The final decision as to whether Ireland is or is not to remain a part of the British Empire rests in fact, whether we like it or not, with the Irish people, and the sooner we discard the illusion that it rests with us the more likely we will be to avert what most of us regard as a catastrophe. If Ireland’s desire for republican independence is sufficiently deep and persistent, then beyond all question she will get it. She needs only to continue the present tactics a sufficiently long time and she will force a withdrawal of British power over her. So long as English statesmen refuse to face the facts and, while continuing their policy of military coercion, insult and provoke the Irish people by such proposals as those embodied in the bill now in Parliament, the only result will be an extension of the chaos and anarchy in Ireland and an ever increasing determination on the part of the Irish people to reject all half measures and to win by maintaining their insistence on absolute separation and independence’
Reprinting the article, the New York Tribune commented:
‘This is the first time in history a reputable non-partisan English periodical places before its readers the possibility of Ireland becoming a republic.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Fisher Report on Dublin Castle's Irish Adminstration
Sir Warren Fisher’s report on the Irish Civil Service and Dublin Castle Administration along with a supplementary report by Cope and Harwood was presented to Cabinet and was quite pessimistic: ‘The Castle Administration does not administer. On the mechanical side it can never have been good and is now quite obsolete; in the infinitly more important sphere (a) of informing and advising the Irish Government in relation to policy and (b) of practical capacity in the application of policy it simply has no existence’
The Last Days of Dublin Castle – The Diaries of Mark Sturgis. Irish Academic Press Dublin & Oregon 1999. p 3
Overall, the report was highly critical of the administration inefficiencies as well as the failure of the Government to assert sufficient control over both the military and police. Comment was made on how work had been transferred to both Assistant Under-Secretary Taylor and Principal Clerk, Connolly which had resulted in reducing Under-Secretary MacMahon to the level of a ‘routine clerk’ with no role in policy decisions. Both Cope and Harwood recommended drastic reorganisation of the Administrative Division of the Chief Secretaries Office with seconded personnel from Whitehall.
MacMahon however was also criticised for lacking ‘iniative, force and driving power’ but his removal was not advised for fears of upsetting Catholic sensitivities and loosing MacMahon’s contacts with the Catholic Hierarchy. Fisher recommended the appointment of Sir John Anderson, Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue as Joint-Under-Secretary with Anderson ‘rapidly acquiring the real control’. Sir John Taylor was not to return to the Castle, instead taking retirement and being replaced by Cope.
Fisher also argued that the administration be removed from Dublin Castle to help remove the ‘heavy sentimental handicap’ through association with the Castle and that the role of Lord Lieutenant be abolished ‘with it’s athmosphere of pinchbeck royalty’. Unity of command for the Crown Forces and civil control of the RIC by a ‘really able and powerful Civil Servant’.
The quality of political advice offered by Dublin Castle was strongly questioned with the present Government (excluding Macready) as being ‘almost woodenly stupid and quite devoid of imagination. It listens solely to the ascendancy party and never seems to think of keeping in close touch with opinions of all kinds’.
Fisher also argued that the Castle made the critical mistake of failing to understand the breadth of the Sinn Fein movement and it’s proscription had only served to rally moderate opinion behind the hardliners.
Hardly surprisingly, Fisher’s report led to a widespread purge of the old administration and the appointment of new personnel. Sir Nevil Macready became the GOC, General Sir Henry Tudor was appointed Police Adviser, Sir Hamar Greenwood became Chief Secretary and a team of seconded civil servants led by Sir John Anderson, the joint Under-Secretary arrived shortly afterwards.
Fisher’s suggested administrative and personnel reforms were quickly implemented, with a team of seconded officials arriving in May and June, although most of his policy suggestions were apparently disregarded.
‘The most obvious omission was any discussion of how much Dublin castle’s failure was down to the British Government itself. It was after all, Lloyd George who had appointed French and Macpherson and who had not interefered with their handling of Government. Fisher’s suggested remedies did not involve a fundamental restructure of the administration nor any improvement in the channels of communication between Dublin and Westminster…an all probability however, Fisher realised that such conclusions were academic because Dublin Castle was doomed.’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p61
Sergeant Patrick J Carroll (43) was killed in Kilmihill, Co Clare as returning from attending a local mass. One of the attackers, a local man Stephen John Breen, was shot dead.
The Friends of Irish Freedom commented on the Breen inquest some weeks later:
"A people surrounded by soldiers, machine guns, armed tanks, and booming planes might be pardoned for keeping their real sentiments dark. The Irish people are in exactly that position, but are they intimidated into silence? By no means. John Breen was shot and killed after Mass on Sunday, April 18, at Kilmihil, Co. Clare. Now listen to this outspoken verdict of the coroner's jury, arrived at after an hour's deliberation: “We find that John Breen died from shock and haemorrhage caused by a bullet wound inflicted by Constable Martin while John Breen was fighting for the freedom of his country. From the evidence put before us, we desire to say that the present system of government in Ireland is as barbarous and as uncivilized as the authority on which that Government is founded was immoral and unjust and that that Government is, as it always has been, destructive of material prosperity and intellectual development, and the way, and the only way, to secure peace and prosperity to Ireland is to allow the Irish people to choose their own form of government. We respectfully ask the civilized nations of the world to aid us in the choice.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
London: The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Austen Chamberlain, presented the 1920-1921 budget to the House of Commons.
In his speech he announced that there has been an overspend of £144m on what had been projected in his last budget statement for 1919-1920. To make up the deficit and balance the books, a number of new taxes and duties were introduced, two of which will hit Ireland’s drinks industry. The duty on spirits rose by almost 50% to 72s 6d a proof gallon resulting in a 2s per bottle increase in public bars. It is estimated that the increased duty would yield £24.5m per year.
The price of beer also went up, with duty on a standard barrel being raised by 30s, meaning that the price to the consumer would go up by a penny a pint. Chamberlain estimated that this alone would deliver £30m per year.
A member of the wholesale trade in Dublin, interviewed by the Freeman’s Journal, said that the budget measure came as a surprise to those involved in manufacturing and wholesale trade, adding that it constituted a ‘direct blow’ to the remaining important Irish industries outside of the Belfast area. Whiskey, he insisted, could not bear the additional duties and their effect will only be a decrease in the quantity of whiskey consumed. The Freeman’s Journal stated that, in trying to return the UK to a stable economic condition, the chancellor has shirked the real problem, which is an ‘immediate and effective reduction of expenditure.’ The newspaper added that ‘taxation, local and imperial, has grown in 20 years from 12 or 13 million to nearly 70 million... The coincidence of Lord French’s control of our lives and liberties, and of the ineffable Mr Chamberlain’s control of our purses, is the final demonstration of the curse of the Union.’
The budget also drew criticism from the British press, with the London-based Daily Express commenting in a very familiar way even a century later, that the Budget ‘presses unfairly on the professional, the middle and the working classes, and consumers of all classes. It spares the multi-millionaire.’
19
Michael Collins wrote to Harry Boland... “what on earth is the matter with Mr.O’Mara? There always seems to be something depressing coming from the USA. I cannot tell how despondent this particular incident has made me...Mr Griffith is writing to Mr. O Mara appealing to him to re-consider the question, as his action, if persisted in, would have a really bad effect - very much worse that the Gaelic American difference.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p170
De Valera wrote to James O’Mara again and made no bones about stressing that he was concerned about the Devoy-Cohalan clique would make of O’Mara’s return to Ireland:
“ My one anxiety henceforth will be to withdraw from direct political activities - so as to devote myself entirely to the winding up of the Bond Campaign. It seems to me almost a disaster that I must abandon the political objective just now. Your resignation as you see then involves break up in my department as well as yours. Oh, do no, by unduly pressing your resignation now, spoil the ripe fruit of your devoted efforts hitherto. I beg you to defer your intended departure for another month or two...my entreaty is personal as well as official. You do not need to be reminded of the peculiar difficulties of the moment, you know the campaign that had been taking place underground - and how every opportunity will be seized when it is baulked in one direction to renew it in another”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p170
The Boston Globe newspaper wrote:
‘In Guatamala, in Ireland, in India, in Egypt, in China and Korea, millions of men and women have taken up the cry of ‘self-determination’. It is no new cry. It inspired the embattled farmers of suburban Boston in 1775. It betokens the ambitions of people to govern themselves. Unwise men make vain attempts to stem a tide which, history shows, never rolls back, but surges ever onward. Wise are they who recognise this and confine their energies to directing the rising torrents into channels of wisdom and sobriety.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
San Remo conference: Representatives of Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Japan meet to determine the League of Nations mandates for administration of territories, following the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. At conclusion, it was agreed that the British government would prepare a statute for Palestine which will include clauses relating to the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people. This accords with the declaration of Arthur Balfour, then Foreign Secretary, in November 1917 in which he affirmed the British government’s sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations.
The Supreme Council, which includes the Premiers of France, Italy and Britain, had left it to Britain and France to settle the question of borders, with some controversy predicted in drawing the border between Palestine and Syria. The protection of religious communities, formerly the responsibility of France, will be entrusted to the consulates of the respective communities. The question of the guardianship of the holy sites was unfinished but was expected to finish shortly.
More details here.
The new British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Auckland Geddes arrived in New York.
The 1920 Summer Olympics open in Antwerp, Belgium. The Olympic symbols of five interlocking rings and the associated flag are first displayed at the games. Great Britain and Ireland competed at the Olympics in Antwerp (for the last time) and win 15 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze medals.
- These Olympics were the first in which the Olympic Oath was voiced, the first in which doves were released to symbolise peace, and the first in which the Olympic Flag was flown.
- The United States won 41 gold, 27 silver, and 27 bronze medals. Sweden, Great Britain, Finland, and Belgium rounded out the five most successful medal-winning nations, with France and Belgium being the nations that fielded the most athletes, with the United States being only the third by that statistic.
- The Games also featured a week of winter sports, with figure skating appearing for the first time since the 1908 Olympics, and ice hockey making its Olympic debut.
- At the age of 72, Sweden's 100 metre running deer double-shot event champion Oscar Swahn, who had participated in the 1908 and 1912 Games, came in second in the team event to become the oldest Olympic medal winner ever.
- 23-year-old Paavo Nurmi won the 10,000 m and 8000 m cross country races, took another gold in team cross country, and a silver in the 5000 m run. His contributions for Finland broke record in track and field with 9 medals.
- Duke Kahanamoku retained the 100 m swimming title he won before the war.
- In a rather strange moment in Olympic history, the 12-foot dinghy event in sailing took place in two different countries. The final two races in the event were independently held in the Netherlands, on its own accord, supposedly because the only two competitors in the event were Dutch.
- Sport shooter Guilherme Paraense won Brazil's very first gold medal at the Olympic Games.
- The United States sent a women's swimming team for the first time, and the Americans won seven out of seven available medals in women's swimming.
More details here
20
The Government introduced new regulations for the treatment of prisoners.
DMP Detective Constable Laurence Dalton (26) was shot and killed in Mountjoy St, Dublin.
At the Anglican General Synod in London, Bishop Farthing of Montreal, Canada said ‘No law can be effectively enforced, unless public opinion is behind it. That is illustrated by the condition existing in Ireland to-day and the question there is not prohibition.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Manchester Guardian published a special review of conditions in Ireland commenting:
‘Over all the country hangs the cloud of despair and bitterness, for it is not only the men who are swept up in a midnight raid and imprisoned without trial are suffering. Their waives and children are left without compensation or support, ignorant even as to where their man has been taken or how long he must be away. Small businesses are quickly broken up in this way, and poverty and destitution are increasing on every side. Information, for instance, may reach an individual that he may soon ‘be wanted’ and he has either to face arrest or go ‘on the run’. In either case, he must abandon his work and forgo his livelihood. Even the arrested men have no knowledge that they will be tried, or how long they are to be detained. So for the women and children of thousands of families there is the horror of an endless uncertainty that is what some people are pleased to call maintaining law and order ans the bitter irony of it all is that coercion, naturally failing o bring a peace of conciliation, cannot even bring the peace of Caesar.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
American Women Pickets: By mid-April 1920, most of Irish-American organisations including Dr. William Maloney, Dr Patrick McCartan, John Devoy and the Freinds of Irish Freedom had effectively disowned themselves from any involvement with the women’s pickets.
The American Women Pickets leadership had now been taken by women with a more radical outlook on how best to achieve support for Irish independence:
"They would no longer be hindered by the constraints of the conservative male republicans, be they Irish or Irish-American. The women’s movement, for now, was in full control of its destiny and they acted in such a manner so to emphasis their autonomy from male politicians and influencers. It was their aim to demonstrate the ability of women to effect change without male interference. However, in spite of the radicalism of many of the women during this period, there remained a contingent of women who stayed loyal to the more-so conservative male republicans and their views on how to pursue Irish freedom. On each side of the nationalist divide in 1920, both from de Valera’s perspective and Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom, there was a fear that independent activism would serve to only disrupt and dismantle the efforts of the wider movement associated with Irish nationalism and republicanism. As a result, attempts would be made during the summer of 1920 to undermine and derail the work of the independent republican women activists."
Conor Harte https://www.revolutionaryirishamerica.com/americanwomenspickets
The American Women Pickets were now renamed as the American Women Pickets for the Enforcement of America’s War Aims and their first meeting was held in New York on April 20, 1920, organised by Gertrude Kelly. Listed among the speakers at this event were Gertrude Corless and Leonora O’Reilly, a highly influential Irish-American labour organiser.
"During this meeting comparisons were drawn between the women involved in the April pickets and the revolutionaries involved in the American War of Independence. In the aftermath of their formal inauguration, the newly named association began to place a greater emphasis on the story of America’s rebellion against the British Empire. This was considered to be an integral aspect if the protests were to be considered a success and in order to generate further success for the Irish movement throughout the United States. In addition to this, by likening the American struggle for independence with the Irish struggle, republican activists were creating a deterrent for the ever-increasing Anglo-Saxon nativist climate which sought to highlight the similarities between American and British culture while at the same time disparaging the growth and influence of immigrant communities throughout the country."
Conor Harte https://www.revolutionaryirishamerica.com/americanwomenspickets
The Government introduced new regulations for the treatment of prisoners.
DMP Detective Constable Laurence Dalton (26) was shot and killed in Mountjoy St, Dublin.
At the Anglican General Synod in London, Bishop Farthing of Montreal, Canada said ‘No law can be effectively enforced, unless public opinion is behind it. That is illustrated by the condition existing in Ireland to-day and the question there is not prohibition.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Manchester Guardian published a special review of conditions in Ireland commenting:
‘Over all the country hangs the cloud of despair and bitterness, for it is not only the men who are swept up in a midnight raid and imprisoned without trial are suffering. Their waives and children are left without compensation or support, ignorant even as to where their man has been taken or how long he must be away. Small businesses are quickly broken up in this way, and poverty and destitution are increasing on every side. Information, for instance, may reach an individual that he may soon ‘be wanted’ and he has either to face arrest or go ‘on the run’. In either case, he must abandon his work and forgo his livelihood. Even the arrested men have no knowledge that they will be tried, or how long they are to be detained. So for the women and children of thousands of families there is the horror of an endless uncertainty that is what some people are pleased to call maintaining law and order ans the bitter irony of it all is that coercion, naturally failing o bring a peace of conciliation, cannot even bring the peace of Caesar.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
American Women Pickets: By mid-April 1920, most of Irish-American organisations including Dr. William Maloney, Dr Patrick McCartan, John Devoy and the Freinds of Irish Freedom had effectively disowned themselves from any involvement with the women’s pickets.
The American Women Pickets leadership had now been taken by women with a more radical outlook on how best to achieve support for Irish independence:
"They would no longer be hindered by the constraints of the conservative male republicans, be they Irish or Irish-American. The women’s movement, for now, was in full control of its destiny and they acted in such a manner so to emphasis their autonomy from male politicians and influencers. It was their aim to demonstrate the ability of women to effect change without male interference. However, in spite of the radicalism of many of the women during this period, there remained a contingent of women who stayed loyal to the more-so conservative male republicans and their views on how to pursue Irish freedom. On each side of the nationalist divide in 1920, both from de Valera’s perspective and Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom, there was a fear that independent activism would serve to only disrupt and dismantle the efforts of the wider movement associated with Irish nationalism and republicanism. As a result, attempts would be made during the summer of 1920 to undermine and derail the work of the independent republican women activists."
Conor Harte https://www.revolutionaryirishamerica.com/americanwomenspickets
The American Women Pickets were now renamed as the American Women Pickets for the Enforcement of America’s War Aims and their first meeting was held in New York on April 20, 1920, organised by Gertrude Kelly. Listed among the speakers at this event were Gertrude Corless and Leonora O’Reilly, a highly influential Irish-American labour organiser.
"During this meeting comparisons were drawn between the women involved in the April pickets and the revolutionaries involved in the American War of Independence. In the aftermath of their formal inauguration, the newly named association began to place a greater emphasis on the story of America’s rebellion against the British Empire. This was considered to be an integral aspect if the protests were to be considered a success and in order to generate further success for the Irish movement throughout the United States. In addition to this, by likening the American struggle for independence with the Irish struggle, republican activists were creating a deterrent for the ever-increasing Anglo-Saxon nativist climate which sought to highlight the similarities between American and British culture while at the same time disparaging the growth and influence of immigrant communities throughout the country."
Conor Harte https://www.revolutionaryirishamerica.com/americanwomenspickets
The National Secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom was at times expected to go over and above on behalf of various branches of the organisation throughout the United States. Below is a good example from the Friends archives in the American Irish Historical Society, New York.
Dated April 20, 1920, this is a telegram from the Thomas Davis Branch of the Friends of Irish Freedom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they request that Lynch 'do all possible to make Victor Herbert's Eileen a great success in Milwaukee. You are to invite Victor Herbert to be our guest at a five o'clock dinner Sunday May eight. Wire me his acceptance and his address letter follows. Andrew J. Clarke.'
Lynch's handwritten reply for a return telegram advises 'Herbert personally cannot be with his company Milwaukee visit. Just learned he personally has to return New York'
Dated April 20, 1920, this is a telegram from the Thomas Davis Branch of the Friends of Irish Freedom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they request that Lynch 'do all possible to make Victor Herbert's Eileen a great success in Milwaukee. You are to invite Victor Herbert to be our guest at a five o'clock dinner Sunday May eight. Wire me his acceptance and his address letter follows. Andrew J. Clarke.'
Lynch's handwritten reply for a return telegram advises 'Herbert personally cannot be with his company Milwaukee visit. Just learned he personally has to return New York'
Victor August Herbert (1859 – 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of Irish ancestry and German training. Herbert is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I. He was also prominent among the tin pan alley composers and was later a founder of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). A prolific composer, Herbert produced two operas, a cantata, 43 operettas, incidental music to 10 plays, 31 compositions for orchestra, nine band compositions, nine cello compositions, five violin compositions with piano or orchestra, 22 piano compositions and numerous songs, choral compositions and orchestrations of works by other composers, among other music.
Herbert was born on the island of Guernsey to Frances "Fanny" Muspratt and August Herbert, of whom nothing is known. His mother told Herbert that he had been born in Dublin, and he believed this all his life, listing Ireland as his birthplace on his 1902 American naturalisation petition and on his 1914 American passport application Marion R. Casey - History Ireland 'Was Victor Herbert Irish?'
In the early 1880s, Herbert began a career as a cellist in Vienna, Austria, and Stuttgart, Germany, during which he began to compose orchestral music. Herbert and his opera singer wife, Therese Förster, moved to the U.S. in 1886 when both were engaged by the Metropolitan Opera. In the U.S., Herbert continued his performing career, while also teaching at the National Conservatory of Music, conducting and composing. He led the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1898 to 1904 and then founded the Victor Herbert Orchestra, which he conducted throughout the rest of his life.
Herbert began to compose operettas in 1894, producing several successes, including The Serenade (1897) and The Fortune Teller (1898). Some of the operettas that he wrote after the turn of the 20th century were even more successful: Babes in Toyland (1903), Mlle. Modiste (1905), The Red Mill (1906), Naughty Marietta (1910), Sweethearts (1913) and Eileen (1917).
Herbert moved in the upper echelons of New York's Irish society. By 1914 he was increasingly involved in Irish nationalism and vocal in criticism of the British government. Six weeks before the 1916 Easter Rising, Herbert—who was not usually active in politics—became president of the Friends of Irish Freedom, a new American advocacy group established by the March 1916 Irish Race Convention in New York City.
"In late 1916, as he was finishing his Irish operetta, Herbert also orchestrated ‘Soldiers of Erin, the Rallying Song of the Irish Volunteers’. For all practical purposes, it appeared simultaneously with Cathal MacDubhghaill’s arrangement of ‘A Soldier’s Song’, published in Dublin in December 1916. Both use the same melody and English words (with slight variation) of the Peadar Kearney/Patrick Heaney composition that was sung in the GPO during the Easter Rising and in the internment camps afterwards.
Fr Robert O’Reilly got the tune from Robert Monteith’s son and they somehow connected with Victor Herbert. The result was a score for orchestra, as well as a piano version, published for the benefit of the Gaelic League. The priest claimed copyright for editing the latter and it was duly filed in the United States on 14 January 1917. As early as 2 March it was on the West Coast, as part of the Emmet programme of the Knights of the Red Branch in San Francisco. By May it was being sung at a rally in Hibernian Hall, Seattle. A 50-piece orchestra under Herbert’s baton played ‘Soldiers of Erin’ at a special Carnegie Hall programme to mark the first anniversary of the Rising. The Gaelic American reported that Herbert ‘created an atmosphere of patriotism and a feeling of kinship and association with all those who died for Ireland that was impossible to resist. He thrilled and inspired the entire proceedings in a really magnificent way.’
Marion R. Casey - History Ireland 'Was Victor Herbert Irish?'
After World War I, with the change of popular musical tastes, Herbert began to compose musicals and contributed music to other composers' shows. While some of these were well-received, he never again achieved the level of success that he had enjoyed with his most popular operettas.
Herbert was born on the island of Guernsey to Frances "Fanny" Muspratt and August Herbert, of whom nothing is known. His mother told Herbert that he had been born in Dublin, and he believed this all his life, listing Ireland as his birthplace on his 1902 American naturalisation petition and on his 1914 American passport application Marion R. Casey - History Ireland 'Was Victor Herbert Irish?'
In the early 1880s, Herbert began a career as a cellist in Vienna, Austria, and Stuttgart, Germany, during which he began to compose orchestral music. Herbert and his opera singer wife, Therese Förster, moved to the U.S. in 1886 when both were engaged by the Metropolitan Opera. In the U.S., Herbert continued his performing career, while also teaching at the National Conservatory of Music, conducting and composing. He led the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1898 to 1904 and then founded the Victor Herbert Orchestra, which he conducted throughout the rest of his life.
Herbert began to compose operettas in 1894, producing several successes, including The Serenade (1897) and The Fortune Teller (1898). Some of the operettas that he wrote after the turn of the 20th century were even more successful: Babes in Toyland (1903), Mlle. Modiste (1905), The Red Mill (1906), Naughty Marietta (1910), Sweethearts (1913) and Eileen (1917).
Herbert moved in the upper echelons of New York's Irish society. By 1914 he was increasingly involved in Irish nationalism and vocal in criticism of the British government. Six weeks before the 1916 Easter Rising, Herbert—who was not usually active in politics—became president of the Friends of Irish Freedom, a new American advocacy group established by the March 1916 Irish Race Convention in New York City.
"In late 1916, as he was finishing his Irish operetta, Herbert also orchestrated ‘Soldiers of Erin, the Rallying Song of the Irish Volunteers’. For all practical purposes, it appeared simultaneously with Cathal MacDubhghaill’s arrangement of ‘A Soldier’s Song’, published in Dublin in December 1916. Both use the same melody and English words (with slight variation) of the Peadar Kearney/Patrick Heaney composition that was sung in the GPO during the Easter Rising and in the internment camps afterwards.
Fr Robert O’Reilly got the tune from Robert Monteith’s son and they somehow connected with Victor Herbert. The result was a score for orchestra, as well as a piano version, published for the benefit of the Gaelic League. The priest claimed copyright for editing the latter and it was duly filed in the United States on 14 January 1917. As early as 2 March it was on the West Coast, as part of the Emmet programme of the Knights of the Red Branch in San Francisco. By May it was being sung at a rally in Hibernian Hall, Seattle. A 50-piece orchestra under Herbert’s baton played ‘Soldiers of Erin’ at a special Carnegie Hall programme to mark the first anniversary of the Rising. The Gaelic American reported that Herbert ‘created an atmosphere of patriotism and a feeling of kinship and association with all those who died for Ireland that was impossible to resist. He thrilled and inspired the entire proceedings in a really magnificent way.’
Marion R. Casey - History Ireland 'Was Victor Herbert Irish?'
After World War I, with the change of popular musical tastes, Herbert began to compose musicals and contributed music to other composers' shows. While some of these were well-received, he never again achieved the level of success that he had enjoyed with his most popular operettas.
Eileen is a comic opera with music by Herbert and lyrics and book by Henry Blossom, based loosely on the 1835 novel Rory O'Moore by Herbert's grandfather, Samuel Lover. Set in 1798, the story concerns an Irish revolutionary arrested by the British for treason. Eileen, his nobly born sweetheart, helps him to escape by disguising him as a servant. After two Cleveland performances at the Colonial Theatre on January 1–2, 1917 titled Hearts of Erin, the musical moved on to Boston, changing its name to Eileen. It then opened at the Shubert Theatre on March 19, 1917 and ran for only 64 performances.
"...critics either received Eileen as propaganda (Herbert conducted the première ‘with all the ardor of a rebel’) or as old-fashioned. The Boston Daily Globe called it ‘rather conventional in its fidelity to the stage tales of Irish patriotism that have been standard since the days of Boucicault’. The powerful Clan na Gael leader John Devoy, on the other hand, whatever he actually thought of its artistic merit, understood its value for the cause and declared that Eileen ‘pulsates with a passionate devotion to Ireland and breathes the deathless spirit of Irish nationhood’.
Marion R. Casey - History Ireland 'Was Victor Herbert Irish?'
It then toured, but a fire destroyed its sets and costumes three months into the tour. The show was not revived in New York until 1982. Herbert was eager to write an "Irish" musical to celebrate the land of his birth. His score was well received by the critics, but the libretto received some harsh reviews. Alexander Woollcott wrote: "Mr Blossom [must have] gathered his material and atmosphere by reading for quite half an hour in some public library."
Sources: Thanks to Wikipedia, History Ireland 'Was Victor Herbert Irish'? Kaye, Joseph. Victor Herbert: The biography of America's Greatest Composer of Romantic Music. New York: G.Howard Watt, 1931
"...critics either received Eileen as propaganda (Herbert conducted the première ‘with all the ardor of a rebel’) or as old-fashioned. The Boston Daily Globe called it ‘rather conventional in its fidelity to the stage tales of Irish patriotism that have been standard since the days of Boucicault’. The powerful Clan na Gael leader John Devoy, on the other hand, whatever he actually thought of its artistic merit, understood its value for the cause and declared that Eileen ‘pulsates with a passionate devotion to Ireland and breathes the deathless spirit of Irish nationhood’.
Marion R. Casey - History Ireland 'Was Victor Herbert Irish?'
It then toured, but a fire destroyed its sets and costumes three months into the tour. The show was not revived in New York until 1982. Herbert was eager to write an "Irish" musical to celebrate the land of his birth. His score was well received by the critics, but the libretto received some harsh reviews. Alexander Woollcott wrote: "Mr Blossom [must have] gathered his material and atmosphere by reading for quite half an hour in some public library."
Sources: Thanks to Wikipedia, History Ireland 'Was Victor Herbert Irish'? Kaye, Joseph. Victor Herbert: The biography of America's Greatest Composer of Romantic Music. New York: G.Howard Watt, 1931
21
London: 172 Irish Republican prisoners in London’s Wormwood Scrubs prison went on hunger strike. Every evening during the strike, hundreds of men and women assembled on the open ground behind the prison, singing national songs and reciting the Rosary. On a number of occasions, those gathering were attacked by angered locals but no attempt was made by the police to stop the violence. A volunteer organisation was formed to protect those keeping vigil outside the prison. Michael Collins believed that the prisoners decision to hunger strike was wrong: ‘it was a great mistake on their part to come out’.
The London strikers did not achieve a mass release but were removed to hospital from where they were free to leave once recovered.
RIC Sergeant Patrick Fennerty (53) was fatally wounded in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.
RIC Acting-Sergeant Patrick Lavin (39) found dead of self-inflicted wounds at the RIC Depot, Phoenix Park.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter carried a report on Commandant Lawless of the Conrwallis Road Hospital in London, where the hunger strikers were removed to for treatment. In it he states that ‘numerous applications were made to the Governor of the prison for the property and money of discharged prisoners and applications made to the Irish Office and Home Office in London have been completely ignored…as..Lawless well points out, this retention of property is absolutely illegal…and in a normally governed country would be called robbery.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In the US, 140 people were killed as a Tornado swept through the Southern States.
Head of the Irish National Bureau of Information in Washington D.C., Daniel T.O’Connell wrote to Judge Cohalan advising that George Creel’s controversial 1919 book ‘Ireland’s fight for freedom – setting forth the highlights of Irish History’ along with a number of other works had been distributed to members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
De Valera’s tour of the Southern States kicked off with a ‘huge meeting’ in the Armory at Norfolk, Virginia followed with visits to Charleston, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville, New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama. ‘In each city, record breaking crowds heard him speak. In Charleston, two overflow meetings were held. The whole south has recorded its overwhelming sentiment in favour of Ireland’s legitimate claims to independence.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Prior to de Valera’s arrival in Birmingham, Alabama, the cities American Legion Post Newspaper protested against his visit. The end result was ‘two hundred and fifty young Americans of Irish blood, who fought in France, volunteered to act as personal escort to Ireland’s Chief Executive.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The new British Ambassador to Washington, Auckland Geddes in his first interview announced ‘Hands off in relation to England’s acts towards Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
On the same day in Dublin, the editorial in the Freemans Journal, Dublin advised ‘Americans will know that they cannot trust a word from Sir Auckland Geddes’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: Two new lifeboats were launched to help protect lives in Irish coastal waters. The launches took place in Kingstown in Co. Dublin and Baltimore in west Cork in recent days amidst speeches and fanfare.
In Kingstown, the new motor boat Dunleary was launched by the Countess of Fingal, following a ceremony of blessing by the local parish priest. The blessing included the singing of the hymn ‘Hail, Queen of Heaven’. The boat was presented by the Civil Service Lifeboat Committee to the Lifeboat Institution. Commander Stopford Douglas, Deputy Chief Inspector of Lifeboat Institution, remarked upon the great debt they owed to the committee. On accepting the vessel, he made reference to the disaster of 1895 when Kingstown lifeboatmen lost their lives endeavouring to save the crew of another boat, the Palme.
The Dunleary is 45ft long with a 12ft 6in beam and weighs 16 tons. It is 60 horsepower and can reach a speed of 7.5 knots.
Meanwhile, in Baltimore, the new motor boat Shamrock was launched in the presence of a very large crowd which included representatives from different faith traditions and prominent local figures from the worlds of law, banking, business and public life. The boat was decked out in flags for the occasion but the speeches were difficult to hear owing to noise from a westerly gale.
Archdeacon Becher, who presided over the ceremonies, said that not much was required by way of speeches as they had the best lifeboat in Ireland there that day. The archdeacon said that there was something spiritual in a vessel of the kind that they were launching and he asked that the crew ‘love their boat and it would bring honour to themselves and a blessing from Him who watched from the mountain tops.’
London: 172 Irish Republican prisoners in London’s Wormwood Scrubs prison went on hunger strike. Every evening during the strike, hundreds of men and women assembled on the open ground behind the prison, singing national songs and reciting the Rosary. On a number of occasions, those gathering were attacked by angered locals but no attempt was made by the police to stop the violence. A volunteer organisation was formed to protect those keeping vigil outside the prison. Michael Collins believed that the prisoners decision to hunger strike was wrong: ‘it was a great mistake on their part to come out’.
The London strikers did not achieve a mass release but were removed to hospital from where they were free to leave once recovered.
RIC Sergeant Patrick Fennerty (53) was fatally wounded in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.
RIC Acting-Sergeant Patrick Lavin (39) found dead of self-inflicted wounds at the RIC Depot, Phoenix Park.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter carried a report on Commandant Lawless of the Conrwallis Road Hospital in London, where the hunger strikers were removed to for treatment. In it he states that ‘numerous applications were made to the Governor of the prison for the property and money of discharged prisoners and applications made to the Irish Office and Home Office in London have been completely ignored…as..Lawless well points out, this retention of property is absolutely illegal…and in a normally governed country would be called robbery.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In the US, 140 people were killed as a Tornado swept through the Southern States.
Head of the Irish National Bureau of Information in Washington D.C., Daniel T.O’Connell wrote to Judge Cohalan advising that George Creel’s controversial 1919 book ‘Ireland’s fight for freedom – setting forth the highlights of Irish History’ along with a number of other works had been distributed to members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
De Valera’s tour of the Southern States kicked off with a ‘huge meeting’ in the Armory at Norfolk, Virginia followed with visits to Charleston, Columbia, Savannah, Jacksonville, New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama. ‘In each city, record breaking crowds heard him speak. In Charleston, two overflow meetings were held. The whole south has recorded its overwhelming sentiment in favour of Ireland’s legitimate claims to independence.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Prior to de Valera’s arrival in Birmingham, Alabama, the cities American Legion Post Newspaper protested against his visit. The end result was ‘two hundred and fifty young Americans of Irish blood, who fought in France, volunteered to act as personal escort to Ireland’s Chief Executive.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The new British Ambassador to Washington, Auckland Geddes in his first interview announced ‘Hands off in relation to England’s acts towards Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
On the same day in Dublin, the editorial in the Freemans Journal, Dublin advised ‘Americans will know that they cannot trust a word from Sir Auckland Geddes’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: Two new lifeboats were launched to help protect lives in Irish coastal waters. The launches took place in Kingstown in Co. Dublin and Baltimore in west Cork in recent days amidst speeches and fanfare.
In Kingstown, the new motor boat Dunleary was launched by the Countess of Fingal, following a ceremony of blessing by the local parish priest. The blessing included the singing of the hymn ‘Hail, Queen of Heaven’. The boat was presented by the Civil Service Lifeboat Committee to the Lifeboat Institution. Commander Stopford Douglas, Deputy Chief Inspector of Lifeboat Institution, remarked upon the great debt they owed to the committee. On accepting the vessel, he made reference to the disaster of 1895 when Kingstown lifeboatmen lost their lives endeavouring to save the crew of another boat, the Palme.
The Dunleary is 45ft long with a 12ft 6in beam and weighs 16 tons. It is 60 horsepower and can reach a speed of 7.5 knots.
Meanwhile, in Baltimore, the new motor boat Shamrock was launched in the presence of a very large crowd which included representatives from different faith traditions and prominent local figures from the worlds of law, banking, business and public life. The boat was decked out in flags for the occasion but the speeches were difficult to hear owing to noise from a westerly gale.
Archdeacon Becher, who presided over the ceremonies, said that not much was required by way of speeches as they had the best lifeboat in Ireland there that day. The archdeacon said that there was something spiritual in a vessel of the kind that they were launching and he asked that the crew ‘love their boat and it would bring honour to themselves and a blessing from Him who watched from the mountain tops.’
22
The London Times admitted that the independent Government set up in Ireland was exercising the powers of a defacto Government : ‘While the Irish executives and administrators of affairs cannot maintain any semblance of authority and the situation had largely passed beyond control, the defacto Government absorbs the powers which the ostensible executors can no longer exercise.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish Independent editorial commented ‘Sir Auckland Geddes tells the American people that the inspiration of British policy is to meet the legitimate aspiration of a dependent people. When the late Lord Kitchener was asked what reply he gave the press correspondents, his answer was ‘Oh, just a lie’. In this respect he has many imitators, not excluding Ambassadors, in high official places.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Volunteer John Madden went on trial at Green Street Courthouse, Dublin for the murder of RIC Sergeant Brady on 2nd September 1919 in Tipperary.
DMP Constable Michael McCarthy (27) shot dead while on leave in Clonakilty County Cork.
The London Times admitted that the independent Government set up in Ireland was exercising the powers of a defacto Government : ‘While the Irish executives and administrators of affairs cannot maintain any semblance of authority and the situation had largely passed beyond control, the defacto Government absorbs the powers which the ostensible executors can no longer exercise.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish Independent editorial commented ‘Sir Auckland Geddes tells the American people that the inspiration of British policy is to meet the legitimate aspiration of a dependent people. When the late Lord Kitchener was asked what reply he gave the press correspondents, his answer was ‘Oh, just a lie’. In this respect he has many imitators, not excluding Ambassadors, in high official places.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Volunteer John Madden went on trial at Green Street Courthouse, Dublin for the murder of RIC Sergeant Brady on 2nd September 1919 in Tipperary.
DMP Constable Michael McCarthy (27) shot dead while on leave in Clonakilty County Cork.
23
Constantinople: The Grand National Assembly of Turkey is founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in Ankara. It denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI, and announces a temporary constitution.
Carlow: In Carlow Urban Council, the 1916 minutes condemning the Easter Rising were removed from the official records by the man who originally proposed them, Chairman Michael Governey.
The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter commented on the event a few months later:
"Here is a significant symptom of the trend of opinion in Ireland. At its meeting on April 23 Carlow Urban Council decided unanimously to expunge from the minutes a resolution passed in May, 1916, condemning the First Rebellion. Amid loud applause, the Chairman, Mr. Michael Governey, the man who had proposed the original resolution, drew his pen across the obnoxious entry. Mr. Governey, who is an extensive manufacturer and a man of considerable wealth, was always a staunch nationalist in the days of the Land League and the National League. He stood loyally by Parnell to the very end, and then by Parnell’s successor, John Redmond. It was doubtless his fealty to Redmond that led him temporarily astray during the stirring events following Easter Week, 1916. Mr. Governey is a great power in the Midlands. Men with records like his are always welcome back to the true fold."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Macready in a letter to Sir Walter Long confirmed Fisher’s reports on the Dublin Castle administration: ‘Before I had been there three hours, I was honestly flabergasted at the administrative chaos that seems to reign here’
The Last Days of Dublin Castle – The Diaries of Mark Sturgis. Irish Academic Press Dublin & Oregon 1999. p 3
On the British election trail was the Irish Chief Secretary, Sir Hamar Greenwood. Speaking in his constituency of Sunderland, he said ‘Every day since the campaign started has, in my opinion, emphasised the need of peace in Ireland, for the sake of Ireland herself, this kingdom, our Empire, and our relations with the United States. The world wide influence of Irishmen differentiates the Irish Question from all other questions that command the attention of the Imperial Parliament’
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented ‘The world wide influence of Irishmen’! Admittedly we have the power; let us use it for all it is worth’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
DMP Constable Michael McCarty was shot and seriously wounded while home on leave at Lackenalooha, Clonakilty, Co Cork, he died the following day.
THE STATE OF IRELAND. Letter to the Editor of the Spectator.
23 April 1920
SIR,—We are in the most deplorable state over here. God only knows what the next movement will be. We are absolutely unprotected, the unfortunate police guarding their barracks behind sandbags and barbed wire, while all the might of the great British Empire is defied by these Sinn Feiners, who have just scored another triumph in forcing the Government to release their prisoners. They are apparently absolute masters now in Ireland, and may any day order the massacre of every Protestant or Unionist, when it would certainly be carried out. I have lived through pretty bad times in Ireland since 1879, but it was all child's-play to what is going on at present.
http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/24th-april-1920/12/the-state-of-ireland
Constantinople: The Grand National Assembly of Turkey is founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in Ankara. It denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI, and announces a temporary constitution.
Carlow: In Carlow Urban Council, the 1916 minutes condemning the Easter Rising were removed from the official records by the man who originally proposed them, Chairman Michael Governey.
The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter commented on the event a few months later:
"Here is a significant symptom of the trend of opinion in Ireland. At its meeting on April 23 Carlow Urban Council decided unanimously to expunge from the minutes a resolution passed in May, 1916, condemning the First Rebellion. Amid loud applause, the Chairman, Mr. Michael Governey, the man who had proposed the original resolution, drew his pen across the obnoxious entry. Mr. Governey, who is an extensive manufacturer and a man of considerable wealth, was always a staunch nationalist in the days of the Land League and the National League. He stood loyally by Parnell to the very end, and then by Parnell’s successor, John Redmond. It was doubtless his fealty to Redmond that led him temporarily astray during the stirring events following Easter Week, 1916. Mr. Governey is a great power in the Midlands. Men with records like his are always welcome back to the true fold."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Macready in a letter to Sir Walter Long confirmed Fisher’s reports on the Dublin Castle administration: ‘Before I had been there three hours, I was honestly flabergasted at the administrative chaos that seems to reign here’
The Last Days of Dublin Castle – The Diaries of Mark Sturgis. Irish Academic Press Dublin & Oregon 1999. p 3
On the British election trail was the Irish Chief Secretary, Sir Hamar Greenwood. Speaking in his constituency of Sunderland, he said ‘Every day since the campaign started has, in my opinion, emphasised the need of peace in Ireland, for the sake of Ireland herself, this kingdom, our Empire, and our relations with the United States. The world wide influence of Irishmen differentiates the Irish Question from all other questions that command the attention of the Imperial Parliament’
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented ‘The world wide influence of Irishmen’! Admittedly we have the power; let us use it for all it is worth’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
DMP Constable Michael McCarty was shot and seriously wounded while home on leave at Lackenalooha, Clonakilty, Co Cork, he died the following day.
THE STATE OF IRELAND. Letter to the Editor of the Spectator.
23 April 1920
SIR,—We are in the most deplorable state over here. God only knows what the next movement will be. We are absolutely unprotected, the unfortunate police guarding their barracks behind sandbags and barbed wire, while all the might of the great British Empire is defied by these Sinn Feiners, who have just scored another triumph in forcing the Government to release their prisoners. They are apparently absolute masters now in Ireland, and may any day order the massacre of every Protestant or Unionist, when it would certainly be carried out. I have lived through pretty bad times in Ireland since 1879, but it was all child's-play to what is going on at present.
http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/24th-april-1920/12/the-state-of-ireland
24
Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London.
A letter from one of the hunger striking prisoners, John Keane of Mitchelstown, was published in the Cork Examiner. The letter, dated 24 April, was addressed to a friend and highlighted both the desperation and resilience of the hunger strikers. ‘A lot of the chaps are bad, very bad at that. I am on the down hill, too, but with God’s help, we are going to win through. Every man is full of determination to carry through.’ Referring to the plight of W.J. Ryan, Mr Keane said that he is ‘broken up completely. It is just as good for him to get a quick death as a lingering one.’ The letter concluded with a reiteration of the prisoners’ motto which is ‘Release or death’.
Support for the prisoners had been building among Irish people in Britain. A demonstration, organised by the Irish Self Determination League, was held outside the gates of the prison with the aim of boosting the hunger strikers’ morale and furthering their cause. During the protest, to the bemusement of English onlookers, the crowd recited the rosary in Irish.
A priest, Fr Roche, who addressed the gathering, said they were there to console and cheer their men who were in prison for no other reason than ‘they love Ireland’ and they were there to offer whatever help they could in the ‘latest fight for Irish freedom’.
The hunger strike in London sparked similar protests by in Belfast Jail and Galway, bringing the number of Irish prisoners on hunger strike to 315.
General Sir Nevil Macready, Commander in Chief of British forces in Ireland wrote: ‘From a soldiers standpoint, the easiest and simplest soloution of present difficulties would be martial law, and the consequent suspension of the Civil Courts etc. Given sufficient troops, the country could be reduced to comparative quietitude…coercion has been tried in the past and has failed. Will the situation be any worse in the future if a policy of giving the peope the very fullest measure of Self-Determination within the Empire is tried?’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p37
The 'Gaelic American' came out strongly in favour of Senator Hiram Johnson as the preferred Republican candidate for presidential nomination, showing again that many Irish Americans tended to vote en-bloc as directed:
‘The English crowd who are behind Hoover are putting in tremendous work and spending enormous sums of money to defeat Johnson…go to the primaries and vote for Johnson.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.373
Saturday. Issue 43 of the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter.
Front page of the issue was ‘America Again Protests’ refering to the resoloution introduced by Massachussets Congressman, Peter F.Tague and signed by eighty-seven fellow Congressmen protesting to Lloyd George against the imprisonment of Irishmen without trial. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby* ‘gave an attentive hearing to the committee of twenty Congressmen, representing a group of eighty-seven, who joined Tague in voicing protest to the State department and asking that our Government demand that those arrested for acts of a political nature be not treated as felons, and also be accorded early trials.’ And closed with an early lobbying call ‘Write or wire your Congressman urging support of the Tague resoloution.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
* Colby, Bainbridge, (1869-1950) US Secretary of State from 1920 to 1921.Reputedly a man of liberal political views and was on record as speaking out on the Irish Question following the 1916 Rising.
‘His words to some extent came back to haunt him as he attempted to serve as Secretary.’
Francis Carroll. ‘American Opinion and the Irish Question 1910-23’ Gill& Mcmillan. P196.
John Devoy received a warm paragraph in the Newsletter. ‘The great services being rendered by John Devoy of New York, to the cause of freedom for Ireland endear him to all who are working earnestly to aid the land where seventy six years ago the noted New York editor was born. For sixty years, John Devoy has laboured unceasingly to make Ireland free. Advanced age has not weakened the power of the pen he uses with such far reaching effect. The hand that hold the pen may move more slowly, but the great brain that directs the pen works today with more speed than ever before.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter offered an answer to opponents of the Irish Republic Bond Certificates claiming that they were without guarantee of repayment ‘The Continental Congress in the years 1776, ’77, ’78 and ’79 issued $241,000,000 of paper money without any guarantee…that the certificates would eventually be redeemed…the paper money issued…was eventually redeemed because the Colonies won liberty and were able to establish their own Government.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
And should any critics be so foolish as to comment that ‘it is now more than four years since Ireland’s Declaration of Independence was first given to the world, and she is not yet free from England’s grip’ were advised to remind them that ‘America’s declaration of Independence was first announced on July 4th 1776 and it was not until 1783 that England cried ‘Enough’ and gladly signed a Treaty of Peace and acknowledged the United States of America as a free and independent nation.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
It appeared that British critics of the Republic were linking the moves for independence with those of the southern United States prior to the American Civil War. The Irish National Bureau of Information compiled a phamphlet from many citations of law and historical authorities establishing clearly and conclusively that the attempt of Lloyd George and many pro-British champions to show that "Ireland’s effort to secure independence is comparable to the attempted secession of the South, is wholly without support. The phamphlet contains a foreword by Justice Daniel F. Cohalan…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
"The cable sent to Premier Lloyd George by a number of Congressmen on the subject of the Irish political prisoners has “fluttered the dove-cots in Corioli” with a vengeance. The London Morning Post, in resenting the message, ask what would Americans think if the British parliament were to pass a resolution in favor of granting self-government to the Philippines. Commenting on this absurd line of argument, the Evening Star (Washington, D. C.) has this to say: “The Irish have always held, and now hold, that their country was joined to England by a trick, and that English rule in Ireland has always been, and now is, tyrannical and prejudiced to the country’s interests. The Philippines came to us fairly and openly, and our rule there, by the confessions of the Filipinos themselves, has been productive of good. American rule is without protest anywhere on the score either of oppression or of injury to the country ruled.” The Star is conservative, cautious, and reserved, and this editorial expression of its views is on that account all the more valuable. The implications no less than the direct statements of the article show that American opinion is steadily focusing in the right direction."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London.
A letter from one of the hunger striking prisoners, John Keane of Mitchelstown, was published in the Cork Examiner. The letter, dated 24 April, was addressed to a friend and highlighted both the desperation and resilience of the hunger strikers. ‘A lot of the chaps are bad, very bad at that. I am on the down hill, too, but with God’s help, we are going to win through. Every man is full of determination to carry through.’ Referring to the plight of W.J. Ryan, Mr Keane said that he is ‘broken up completely. It is just as good for him to get a quick death as a lingering one.’ The letter concluded with a reiteration of the prisoners’ motto which is ‘Release or death’.
Support for the prisoners had been building among Irish people in Britain. A demonstration, organised by the Irish Self Determination League, was held outside the gates of the prison with the aim of boosting the hunger strikers’ morale and furthering their cause. During the protest, to the bemusement of English onlookers, the crowd recited the rosary in Irish.
A priest, Fr Roche, who addressed the gathering, said they were there to console and cheer their men who were in prison for no other reason than ‘they love Ireland’ and they were there to offer whatever help they could in the ‘latest fight for Irish freedom’.
The hunger strike in London sparked similar protests by in Belfast Jail and Galway, bringing the number of Irish prisoners on hunger strike to 315.
General Sir Nevil Macready, Commander in Chief of British forces in Ireland wrote: ‘From a soldiers standpoint, the easiest and simplest soloution of present difficulties would be martial law, and the consequent suspension of the Civil Courts etc. Given sufficient troops, the country could be reduced to comparative quietitude…coercion has been tried in the past and has failed. Will the situation be any worse in the future if a policy of giving the peope the very fullest measure of Self-Determination within the Empire is tried?’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p37
The 'Gaelic American' came out strongly in favour of Senator Hiram Johnson as the preferred Republican candidate for presidential nomination, showing again that many Irish Americans tended to vote en-bloc as directed:
‘The English crowd who are behind Hoover are putting in tremendous work and spending enormous sums of money to defeat Johnson…go to the primaries and vote for Johnson.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.373
Saturday. Issue 43 of the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter.
Front page of the issue was ‘America Again Protests’ refering to the resoloution introduced by Massachussets Congressman, Peter F.Tague and signed by eighty-seven fellow Congressmen protesting to Lloyd George against the imprisonment of Irishmen without trial. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby* ‘gave an attentive hearing to the committee of twenty Congressmen, representing a group of eighty-seven, who joined Tague in voicing protest to the State department and asking that our Government demand that those arrested for acts of a political nature be not treated as felons, and also be accorded early trials.’ And closed with an early lobbying call ‘Write or wire your Congressman urging support of the Tague resoloution.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
* Colby, Bainbridge, (1869-1950) US Secretary of State from 1920 to 1921.Reputedly a man of liberal political views and was on record as speaking out on the Irish Question following the 1916 Rising.
‘His words to some extent came back to haunt him as he attempted to serve as Secretary.’
Francis Carroll. ‘American Opinion and the Irish Question 1910-23’ Gill& Mcmillan. P196.
John Devoy received a warm paragraph in the Newsletter. ‘The great services being rendered by John Devoy of New York, to the cause of freedom for Ireland endear him to all who are working earnestly to aid the land where seventy six years ago the noted New York editor was born. For sixty years, John Devoy has laboured unceasingly to make Ireland free. Advanced age has not weakened the power of the pen he uses with such far reaching effect. The hand that hold the pen may move more slowly, but the great brain that directs the pen works today with more speed than ever before.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter offered an answer to opponents of the Irish Republic Bond Certificates claiming that they were without guarantee of repayment ‘The Continental Congress in the years 1776, ’77, ’78 and ’79 issued $241,000,000 of paper money without any guarantee…that the certificates would eventually be redeemed…the paper money issued…was eventually redeemed because the Colonies won liberty and were able to establish their own Government.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
And should any critics be so foolish as to comment that ‘it is now more than four years since Ireland’s Declaration of Independence was first given to the world, and she is not yet free from England’s grip’ were advised to remind them that ‘America’s declaration of Independence was first announced on July 4th 1776 and it was not until 1783 that England cried ‘Enough’ and gladly signed a Treaty of Peace and acknowledged the United States of America as a free and independent nation.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
It appeared that British critics of the Republic were linking the moves for independence with those of the southern United States prior to the American Civil War. The Irish National Bureau of Information compiled a phamphlet from many citations of law and historical authorities establishing clearly and conclusively that the attempt of Lloyd George and many pro-British champions to show that "Ireland’s effort to secure independence is comparable to the attempted secession of the South, is wholly without support. The phamphlet contains a foreword by Justice Daniel F. Cohalan…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 43, April 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
"The cable sent to Premier Lloyd George by a number of Congressmen on the subject of the Irish political prisoners has “fluttered the dove-cots in Corioli” with a vengeance. The London Morning Post, in resenting the message, ask what would Americans think if the British parliament were to pass a resolution in favor of granting self-government to the Philippines. Commenting on this absurd line of argument, the Evening Star (Washington, D. C.) has this to say: “The Irish have always held, and now hold, that their country was joined to England by a trick, and that English rule in Ireland has always been, and now is, tyrannical and prejudiced to the country’s interests. The Philippines came to us fairly and openly, and our rule there, by the confessions of the Filipinos themselves, has been productive of good. American rule is without protest anywhere on the score either of oppression or of injury to the country ruled.” The Star is conservative, cautious, and reserved, and this editorial expression of its views is on that account all the more valuable. The implications no less than the direct statements of the article show that American opinion is steadily focusing in the right direction."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
25
The first moves made by Dail Eireann to control ‘land grabbing’ in the West was made. ‘Sinn Fein clubs should not take steps of this nature until a fair offer has been made to owner’
Sergeant Cornelius Crean (48) and Constable Patrick McGoldrick (59) were ambushed at Ballinspittal, Co Cork and killed. Crean was considered by the IRA as dangerous due to his intimate local knowledge. His brother had accompanied Scott's 1911-13 Terra Nova Antartic expediton and the famous Sir Ernest Shackelton Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-17.
The Millstreet bank robbery of 17th November had it’s sequel today as a force of between 100-200 volunteers ocucpied the village of Millstreet, the RIC retreating to barracks, and instigated a massive investigation into the robbery. Within hours, 6 men were arrested by the Volunteers and about half the funds recovered. While this was effective, the quandry remained. Were they to co-operate with the RIC and hand the men over for trial by the crown courts? Return the cash to the bank? Instead the robbers were court-martialled and ordered out of the area under an armed escort.
The mood of most of the British press against the Irish Administration grew and one, the Morning Post, had it’s own conspiracy theory:
‘The position is wholly inexplicable, except upon the hypotisis we have already mentioned that the Government is intent to allow the Irish Republic to be established, and then explain to the British public and they are very sorry, but they have been unable to prevent that consumation’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P203
The bond certificate campaign closed in Massachussets with more than $1.6 million already subscribed and anticipated to reach $1.75 million when all pledges were redeemed. The initial target for the State was $1 million.
The first moves made by Dail Eireann to control ‘land grabbing’ in the West was made. ‘Sinn Fein clubs should not take steps of this nature until a fair offer has been made to owner’
Sergeant Cornelius Crean (48) and Constable Patrick McGoldrick (59) were ambushed at Ballinspittal, Co Cork and killed. Crean was considered by the IRA as dangerous due to his intimate local knowledge. His brother had accompanied Scott's 1911-13 Terra Nova Antartic expediton and the famous Sir Ernest Shackelton Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-17.
The Millstreet bank robbery of 17th November had it’s sequel today as a force of between 100-200 volunteers ocucpied the village of Millstreet, the RIC retreating to barracks, and instigated a massive investigation into the robbery. Within hours, 6 men were arrested by the Volunteers and about half the funds recovered. While this was effective, the quandry remained. Were they to co-operate with the RIC and hand the men over for trial by the crown courts? Return the cash to the bank? Instead the robbers were court-martialled and ordered out of the area under an armed escort.
The mood of most of the British press against the Irish Administration grew and one, the Morning Post, had it’s own conspiracy theory:
‘The position is wholly inexplicable, except upon the hypotisis we have already mentioned that the Government is intent to allow the Irish Republic to be established, and then explain to the British public and they are very sorry, but they have been unable to prevent that consumation’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P203
The bond certificate campaign closed in Massachussets with more than $1.6 million already subscribed and anticipated to reach $1.75 million when all pledges were redeemed. The initial target for the State was $1 million.
26
Kilcommon, Co Tipperary ‘partially wrecked by police’
IRA attack RIC barracks in Ballylanders, Co.Limerick.
A Unionist delegation from the South met with Bonar Law and concluded: ‘The evacuation of police stations has been undoubtedly a grave mistake, which if not remedied must prove fatal. All the abandoned police stations should be re-occupied and the police should be placed in a position to carry out their normal duties…’ with ‘adequate military co-operation’ if necessary.
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p47
Denver, Colorado saw the ‘nine self righteous citizens…[ who ] protested against the Irish Bond Drive in their city were well answered by the great mass meeting of Catholics and Protestants, Americans and Irishmen, and Englishmen, who made common cause in their demand of fair play for Ireland. At this meeting held recently in Denver, the speakers were of such diverse races and creeds…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Rumours from ‘some quarters’ reported that the recent Tague Resoloution did not have the support of Irish American groups. The Newsletter hit back saying that such comments ‘should not be heeded…Congressman Tague’s efforts and not the efforts of a few well meaning friends of Ireland, should be encouraged cordially.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The newly appointed British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Auckland Geddes commented to the press on his arrival: ‘There is no quarrel between England and Ireland. It takes two to make a quarrel, and this generation of Englishmen has steadily refused to quarrel with Ireland’
English Atrocities in Ireland – Katherine Hughes. Friends of Irish Freedom phamphlet. Lynch Family Archives.
New York: The Friends of Irish Freedom National Executive met.
Kilcommon, Co Tipperary ‘partially wrecked by police’
IRA attack RIC barracks in Ballylanders, Co.Limerick.
A Unionist delegation from the South met with Bonar Law and concluded: ‘The evacuation of police stations has been undoubtedly a grave mistake, which if not remedied must prove fatal. All the abandoned police stations should be re-occupied and the police should be placed in a position to carry out their normal duties…’ with ‘adequate military co-operation’ if necessary.
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p47
Denver, Colorado saw the ‘nine self righteous citizens…[ who ] protested against the Irish Bond Drive in their city were well answered by the great mass meeting of Catholics and Protestants, Americans and Irishmen, and Englishmen, who made common cause in their demand of fair play for Ireland. At this meeting held recently in Denver, the speakers were of such diverse races and creeds…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Rumours from ‘some quarters’ reported that the recent Tague Resoloution did not have the support of Irish American groups. The Newsletter hit back saying that such comments ‘should not be heeded…Congressman Tague’s efforts and not the efforts of a few well meaning friends of Ireland, should be encouraged cordially.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The newly appointed British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Auckland Geddes commented to the press on his arrival: ‘There is no quarrel between England and Ireland. It takes two to make a quarrel, and this generation of Englishmen has steadily refused to quarrel with Ireland’
English Atrocities in Ireland – Katherine Hughes. Friends of Irish Freedom phamphlet. Lynch Family Archives.
New York: The Friends of Irish Freedom National Executive met.
27
Many houses in Limerick City ‘shot up by police’.
The United States steamer ‘Columbia’ was searched by British authorities on her arrival at Moville, Ireland. ‘The search was for President de Valera, who the authorities suspected was on board. While the doughty English were searchinG the ship, the President of the Irish Republic was the guest at Chicago of hundreds of believers in freedom and independence for Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Belfast: Sir Edward Carson, MP for Belfast Duncairn, defended the decision of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) to support the government’s partition plan which excludes three Ulster counties – Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan – from the proposed northern parliament. Carson said the UUC’s decision did not constitute a breach of the Solemn Covenant of September 1912 which, he says, Ulster unionists entered into to defeat the home rule bill which became an act in 1914.
‘The present bill now before parliament relieves 830,000 protestants in Ulster from the effects of the act of 1914, and any other action than that taken by the Ulster Council would in the immediate future have led to the whole province being placed under a Dublin parliament.’
Carson’s statement follows news that the UUC has received a communication demanding that a special meeting of the council be summoned to consider the impending resignation of many delegates, and to rethink the exclusion of these counties from the northern parliament area. The communication was sent by Major Robert Stevenson of Tullyhogue, Co. Tyrone, signed by unionists from across the nine counties of Ulster. It noted that they were being asked to commit to the partition of Ulster, a course of action which will affect on the future of all inhabitants of the province. The impact of such a partition would be both economic and political. The signatories noted that the trade of Donegal is almost entirely with Derry and great inconvenience would be caused by placing it under a different, and possibly hostile, administration.
Washington: Mrs G. Thatcher Guernsey, the retiring president of the Daughters of the American Revolution raised strong approval amongst many Irish Americans with her final speech in Washington D.C.. The next available edition of the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reprinted a letter from Elizabeth Geary of Washington:
‘Since when has Americanism become synonomous with a timid disinclination to aid oppressed peoples and a snobbish desire to curry favour with empires? Have you forgotten what Revolution it is that you are a ‘Daughter’ of, and who it was from whom we revolted? Why blame another country for doing that which we are proud of having done ourselves, and why disapprove of Irishmen coming here to enlist our sympathy, when we sought and secured foreign aid in our effort to achieve freedom? Was it un-French for Lafayette to aid us? Then why would it be un-American for us to go to the aid of Ireland?…personally I prefer the ‘Spirit of ‘76’ to the the brand of Americanism which you appear to champion.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Many houses in Limerick City ‘shot up by police’.
The United States steamer ‘Columbia’ was searched by British authorities on her arrival at Moville, Ireland. ‘The search was for President de Valera, who the authorities suspected was on board. While the doughty English were searchinG the ship, the President of the Irish Republic was the guest at Chicago of hundreds of believers in freedom and independence for Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Belfast: Sir Edward Carson, MP for Belfast Duncairn, defended the decision of the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) to support the government’s partition plan which excludes three Ulster counties – Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan – from the proposed northern parliament. Carson said the UUC’s decision did not constitute a breach of the Solemn Covenant of September 1912 which, he says, Ulster unionists entered into to defeat the home rule bill which became an act in 1914.
‘The present bill now before parliament relieves 830,000 protestants in Ulster from the effects of the act of 1914, and any other action than that taken by the Ulster Council would in the immediate future have led to the whole province being placed under a Dublin parliament.’
Carson’s statement follows news that the UUC has received a communication demanding that a special meeting of the council be summoned to consider the impending resignation of many delegates, and to rethink the exclusion of these counties from the northern parliament area. The communication was sent by Major Robert Stevenson of Tullyhogue, Co. Tyrone, signed by unionists from across the nine counties of Ulster. It noted that they were being asked to commit to the partition of Ulster, a course of action which will affect on the future of all inhabitants of the province. The impact of such a partition would be both economic and political. The signatories noted that the trade of Donegal is almost entirely with Derry and great inconvenience would be caused by placing it under a different, and possibly hostile, administration.
Washington: Mrs G. Thatcher Guernsey, the retiring president of the Daughters of the American Revolution raised strong approval amongst many Irish Americans with her final speech in Washington D.C.. The next available edition of the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reprinted a letter from Elizabeth Geary of Washington:
‘Since when has Americanism become synonomous with a timid disinclination to aid oppressed peoples and a snobbish desire to curry favour with empires? Have you forgotten what Revolution it is that you are a ‘Daughter’ of, and who it was from whom we revolted? Why blame another country for doing that which we are proud of having done ourselves, and why disapprove of Irishmen coming here to enlist our sympathy, when we sought and secured foreign aid in our effort to achieve freedom? Was it un-French for Lafayette to aid us? Then why would it be un-American for us to go to the aid of Ireland?…personally I prefer the ‘Spirit of ‘76’ to the the brand of Americanism which you appear to champion.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
28
The IRA attacked the Ballylanders, Co Limerick RIC barracks, capturing a substantial numbers of weapons and ammunition. 30 men were used and the adjoining building occupied which allowed the Volunteers to break into the barracks roof and throw in petrol bombs. Once the station was burning, it was promptly surrendered.
The IRA attacked the Ballylanders, Co Limerick RIC barracks, capturing a substantial numbers of weapons and ammunition. 30 men were used and the adjoining building occupied which allowed the Volunteers to break into the barracks roof and throw in petrol bombs. Once the station was burning, it was promptly surrendered.
29
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Sir John French, met the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, in London to discuss the situation in Ireland. Also present was Sir Hamar Greenwood, Ireland’s new Chief Secretary; Denis Henry, Irish Attorney-General; and cabinet members Walter Long and Andrew Bonar Law.
The Lord Lieutenant’s political future had been the subject of some press and political comment since the previous week when Lord French departed Dublin for London without any announcement as to why he was travelling. Speculation was rife that he may not return. Many had noticed a resemblance between these circumstances and those that led to the removal, without warning, of Ian Macpherson from his post as Chief Secretary which followed a similar summons to a meeting in London.
Speaking later in the House of Commons, Mr Bonar Law stated that there was ‘no foundation’ to the suggestion that Lord French had been invited to resign his position as Lord Lieutenant. However, these remarks failed to quell speculation about Lord French’s future. The London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian wrote that ‘most political observers are now waiting for the exact way in which Lord French’s resignation is to take place. It is admitted that the power in Ireland has been transferred to other hands.’
Those hands, it would seem, belong to the recently appointed Chief Secretary, Sir Hamar Greenwood, whose own statements, the Northern Whig has observed, imply that he comes to Ireland with sole authority.
Either way, the prevailing theory was that the British government is intent on a clean out of Dublin Castle that would be combined with a new policy of conciliation. One London-based reporter for the Daily Express forecast ‘dramatic changes’ in Irish policy which will be designed to deliver a ‘better atmosphere’ in Ireland. He pointed to the release of hunger striking prisoners as the first indication of a ‘more sympathetic regime’.
The Newsletter commented that ‘nothing that has happened in recent years is more significant of the deep political transformation which has been wrought in Ireland’ than the speech made by the Provost of Trinity College Dublin to the Anti-Partition League in Dublin. There the Provost urged ‘his colleagues to oppose the Lloyd George Home Rule Bill with all their might’ and paid tribute to the representatives of the Convention with the ‘willingness with which their Nationalist fellow country-men approved of measures giving them [ the Unionists ] more than their share of representation.’ The fact that a noted Unionist and Protestant as the Provost of TCD then paid tribute to the Catholic Hierarchy was described as ‘more astounding still was his reference to the Catholic bishops ‘they were more powerful people than anyone else in this country, and on the whole, they had been in the past a steadying force. He did not wish to deprive them of their power, because he would be very much afraid of the consequences of doing so.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
John Devoy was interested in the reception the Republic's Cabinet would give to Dr McCartan and his explanation of events in the United States. Writing to Judge Cohalan he assessed the situation:
‘…now that McCartan’s presence in Ireland has been made public and that Fr. Cullinane says he had been sent there to explain the situation here, it seems plain to me that De Valera wants them to endorsed his action towards us and to reappoint McCartan as Ambassador...it is hardly possible to think that, with all the knowledge they now have of McCartan’s conduct and of our objections to him, they would send him out again, but if De Valera insists on it, they may do so. That would mean Maloney in charge here, constant interference in Washington and irritation and squabbling that would be very annoying and embarrassing. If they do it I see no remedy only a resolution by the National Council [ of the Friends of Irish Freedom ] declaring McCartan persona non grata and demanding his immediate recall..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.384
“T. P.” O’Connor of Liverpool and Joseph Devlin of Belfast are not listed as Sinn Fein supporters, yet in the House of Commons this pair of Nationalists, with Colonel Wedgewood, of the Labor Party and a handful of other forceful members are keeping the British Cabinet very busy defending the British methods. England is constantly kept on the defensive, and each roll call finds the Ministry weaker than before. O’Connor, on April 29, drew general applause, when he said to the Ministry: “You are making war on public opinion not war on crime.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Welwyn Garden City established by Ebenezer Howard in Hertfordshire, England and the second 'Garden City' in Britain.
Howard had called for the creation of planned towns that were to combine the benefits of the city and the countryside and to avoid the disadvantages of both. "a town designed for healthy living and industry of a size that makes possible a full measure of social life but not larger, surrounded by a rural belt; the whole of the land being in public ownership, or held in trust for the community". The first house was occupied just before Christmas 1920.
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Sir John French, met the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, in London to discuss the situation in Ireland. Also present was Sir Hamar Greenwood, Ireland’s new Chief Secretary; Denis Henry, Irish Attorney-General; and cabinet members Walter Long and Andrew Bonar Law.
The Lord Lieutenant’s political future had been the subject of some press and political comment since the previous week when Lord French departed Dublin for London without any announcement as to why he was travelling. Speculation was rife that he may not return. Many had noticed a resemblance between these circumstances and those that led to the removal, without warning, of Ian Macpherson from his post as Chief Secretary which followed a similar summons to a meeting in London.
Speaking later in the House of Commons, Mr Bonar Law stated that there was ‘no foundation’ to the suggestion that Lord French had been invited to resign his position as Lord Lieutenant. However, these remarks failed to quell speculation about Lord French’s future. The London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian wrote that ‘most political observers are now waiting for the exact way in which Lord French’s resignation is to take place. It is admitted that the power in Ireland has been transferred to other hands.’
Those hands, it would seem, belong to the recently appointed Chief Secretary, Sir Hamar Greenwood, whose own statements, the Northern Whig has observed, imply that he comes to Ireland with sole authority.
Either way, the prevailing theory was that the British government is intent on a clean out of Dublin Castle that would be combined with a new policy of conciliation. One London-based reporter for the Daily Express forecast ‘dramatic changes’ in Irish policy which will be designed to deliver a ‘better atmosphere’ in Ireland. He pointed to the release of hunger striking prisoners as the first indication of a ‘more sympathetic regime’.
The Newsletter commented that ‘nothing that has happened in recent years is more significant of the deep political transformation which has been wrought in Ireland’ than the speech made by the Provost of Trinity College Dublin to the Anti-Partition League in Dublin. There the Provost urged ‘his colleagues to oppose the Lloyd George Home Rule Bill with all their might’ and paid tribute to the representatives of the Convention with the ‘willingness with which their Nationalist fellow country-men approved of measures giving them [ the Unionists ] more than their share of representation.’ The fact that a noted Unionist and Protestant as the Provost of TCD then paid tribute to the Catholic Hierarchy was described as ‘more astounding still was his reference to the Catholic bishops ‘they were more powerful people than anyone else in this country, and on the whole, they had been in the past a steadying force. He did not wish to deprive them of their power, because he would be very much afraid of the consequences of doing so.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
John Devoy was interested in the reception the Republic's Cabinet would give to Dr McCartan and his explanation of events in the United States. Writing to Judge Cohalan he assessed the situation:
‘…now that McCartan’s presence in Ireland has been made public and that Fr. Cullinane says he had been sent there to explain the situation here, it seems plain to me that De Valera wants them to endorsed his action towards us and to reappoint McCartan as Ambassador...it is hardly possible to think that, with all the knowledge they now have of McCartan’s conduct and of our objections to him, they would send him out again, but if De Valera insists on it, they may do so. That would mean Maloney in charge here, constant interference in Washington and irritation and squabbling that would be very annoying and embarrassing. If they do it I see no remedy only a resolution by the National Council [ of the Friends of Irish Freedom ] declaring McCartan persona non grata and demanding his immediate recall..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.384
“T. P.” O’Connor of Liverpool and Joseph Devlin of Belfast are not listed as Sinn Fein supporters, yet in the House of Commons this pair of Nationalists, with Colonel Wedgewood, of the Labor Party and a handful of other forceful members are keeping the British Cabinet very busy defending the British methods. England is constantly kept on the defensive, and each roll call finds the Ministry weaker than before. O’Connor, on April 29, drew general applause, when he said to the Ministry: “You are making war on public opinion not war on crime.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Welwyn Garden City established by Ebenezer Howard in Hertfordshire, England and the second 'Garden City' in Britain.
Howard had called for the creation of planned towns that were to combine the benefits of the city and the countryside and to avoid the disadvantages of both. "a town designed for healthy living and industry of a size that makes possible a full measure of social life but not larger, surrounded by a rural belt; the whole of the land being in public ownership, or held in trust for the community". The first house was occupied just before Christmas 1920.
30
Widespread critical press coverage of British losses in Ireland, their retaliatory action and the British Administration in Ireland resulted in the muzzling of journalists and the issue of daily communiqués from Dublin Castle which effectively protected the military from any further adverse comment.
Lord French asked Lloyd George and Bonar Law ‘whether the Government should take measures of war - that is, should round up the rebels as in the Boer War and put them in concentration camps - or whether it should call for a truce and summon both sides to a conference table. The Prime Minister replied offhandedly that one does not declare war on rebels, that a truce would be and admission of defeat, and that all that was needed was more troops’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p316-317
Bonar Law related what Edward Carson had told him earlier: ‘that he was at a loss to know why the Irish Government had given up keeping police in small districts; the moment the police were removed the district fell outside British control and anyone who objected to law breaking was left defenceless..’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p47
Meanwhile Carson commented at the Conference of Ministers with the Irish Executive that the British soldiers in Ireland were ‘little more than boys’.
Lloyd George told the Cabinet that the Government could not declare war on the IRA.
Lord Robert Cecil denounced in Parliament the ‘increasing anarchy’ in Ireland and then made a call for ‘stronger Government’.
By the end of April, the beginning of economic reprisals by British forces were becoming apparent. Creameries were being destroyed, shops, homes & factories torched and livestock killed. It would not become systematic until August.
British forces in Ireland numbered 36,000 men, and while reinforcements were promised, by April 1921, the numbers were only 40,000.
Not everything went de Valera’s way during his Southern tour. His public meeting went ahead in Charlotte, North Carolina despite a blanket ban by the city’s newspaper editors to allow publication of advance notices of the meeting. The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported that possibly a day or two before the meeting: ‘Charles P. Sweeney who travels with President de Valera, hastened to Charlotte, and within twenty-four hours, wrote, edited, and published ten thousand copies of a special four page edition of an up to date daily. A score of members distributed the paper through Charlotte. The new daily made a big hit; the meeting was a huge success; the Charlotte editors were dumbfounded…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Widespread critical press coverage of British losses in Ireland, their retaliatory action and the British Administration in Ireland resulted in the muzzling of journalists and the issue of daily communiqués from Dublin Castle which effectively protected the military from any further adverse comment.
Lord French asked Lloyd George and Bonar Law ‘whether the Government should take measures of war - that is, should round up the rebels as in the Boer War and put them in concentration camps - or whether it should call for a truce and summon both sides to a conference table. The Prime Minister replied offhandedly that one does not declare war on rebels, that a truce would be and admission of defeat, and that all that was needed was more troops’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p316-317
Bonar Law related what Edward Carson had told him earlier: ‘that he was at a loss to know why the Irish Government had given up keeping police in small districts; the moment the police were removed the district fell outside British control and anyone who objected to law breaking was left defenceless..’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p47
Meanwhile Carson commented at the Conference of Ministers with the Irish Executive that the British soldiers in Ireland were ‘little more than boys’.
Lloyd George told the Cabinet that the Government could not declare war on the IRA.
Lord Robert Cecil denounced in Parliament the ‘increasing anarchy’ in Ireland and then made a call for ‘stronger Government’.
By the end of April, the beginning of economic reprisals by British forces were becoming apparent. Creameries were being destroyed, shops, homes & factories torched and livestock killed. It would not become systematic until August.
British forces in Ireland numbered 36,000 men, and while reinforcements were promised, by April 1921, the numbers were only 40,000.
Not everything went de Valera’s way during his Southern tour. His public meeting went ahead in Charlotte, North Carolina despite a blanket ban by the city’s newspaper editors to allow publication of advance notices of the meeting. The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported that possibly a day or two before the meeting: ‘Charles P. Sweeney who travels with President de Valera, hastened to Charlotte, and within twenty-four hours, wrote, edited, and published ten thousand copies of a special four page edition of an up to date daily. A score of members distributed the paper through Charlotte. The new daily made a big hit; the meeting was a huge success; the Charlotte editors were dumbfounded…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives