Work in Progress. Last updated: 14 June 2020
1
The Irish Times reported: ‘the Irish Executive must begin with the full recognition of the dismal truth, that it has hitherto been fighting a losing battle...the forces of the Crown are being driven back on their Headquarters in Dublin by a steadily advancing enemy...the King’s Government has virtually ceased to exist south of the Boyne and west of the Shannon..’
During this month, the number of civilian shootings by the military increased as did the number of attacks by the Volunteers on British bases, R.I.C barracks and suspected spies and informers.
Limerick City was ‘shot up by police’
Issue 44 of the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter opened with the front page call ‘Write to your Congressman’ reminding readers that the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives would meet on May 17th to take final action on the Mason Bill. The full list of the Committee was printed along with the exhortation that ‘Friends of the bill should lose no time in urging the Committee to report the bill.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
De Valera’s tour through the South was reported in some detail. Some hecklers were encountered in Montgomery, in Atlanta, Georgia the President was received by the State Governor and city mayor and following a reception in Macon, Georgia, he left for Chicago where he was guest of honour of ‘five hundred of Chicago’s most representative citizens at a banquet at the Congress Hotel. Leaving Chicago, after a stay of less than twenty four hours, he travelled back to Georgia for the resumption of his campaign. After visiting various Carolina and Virginia cities during the remainder of the week, he will return to Washington, thus completing one of his most succesful trips in behalf of recognition of the Irish Republic’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Colorado’s Senator Charles Thomas sent an ‘ill considered letter’ to the secretary of the Irish Victory Fund Committee in Denver, Colorado, characterising the ‘struggle of the Irish people for national independence as a ‘carnival of murder and outrage’’ received a resolution from citizens of Denver and members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, considering him a ‘disgrace to the great state of Colorado which he so unworthily represents.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish Times reported: ‘the Irish Executive must begin with the full recognition of the dismal truth, that it has hitherto been fighting a losing battle...the forces of the Crown are being driven back on their Headquarters in Dublin by a steadily advancing enemy...the King’s Government has virtually ceased to exist south of the Boyne and west of the Shannon..’
During this month, the number of civilian shootings by the military increased as did the number of attacks by the Volunteers on British bases, R.I.C barracks and suspected spies and informers.
Limerick City was ‘shot up by police’
Issue 44 of the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter opened with the front page call ‘Write to your Congressman’ reminding readers that the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives would meet on May 17th to take final action on the Mason Bill. The full list of the Committee was printed along with the exhortation that ‘Friends of the bill should lose no time in urging the Committee to report the bill.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
De Valera’s tour through the South was reported in some detail. Some hecklers were encountered in Montgomery, in Atlanta, Georgia the President was received by the State Governor and city mayor and following a reception in Macon, Georgia, he left for Chicago where he was guest of honour of ‘five hundred of Chicago’s most representative citizens at a banquet at the Congress Hotel. Leaving Chicago, after a stay of less than twenty four hours, he travelled back to Georgia for the resumption of his campaign. After visiting various Carolina and Virginia cities during the remainder of the week, he will return to Washington, thus completing one of his most succesful trips in behalf of recognition of the Irish Republic’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Colorado’s Senator Charles Thomas sent an ‘ill considered letter’ to the secretary of the Irish Victory Fund Committee in Denver, Colorado, characterising the ‘struggle of the Irish people for national independence as a ‘carnival of murder and outrage’’ received a resolution from citizens of Denver and members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, considering him a ‘disgrace to the great state of Colorado which he so unworthily represents.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 44, May 1, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
2
London: In Britain, an estimated 8 million workers participated in May Day events that included protests and cessations of work.
The capital witnessed a major demonstration, the centrepiece of which was a march that began on the embankment, progressed through the West End and concluded at Hyde Park. Over 70 speeches were delivered in many different languages at Hyde Park during which calls were made demanding a withdrawal of British troops from Ireland and proclaiming the right of the Irish people to determine their own form of government.
In Ireland, the May Day celebrations were less of a spectacle. There was no general stoppage of work in Dublin owing to the recent general strike for the Mountjoy prisoners, but the half holiday did see large numbers of workers attend trade union meetings and social gatherings. The Irish Labour Party & Trade Union Council organised a procession to Glasnevin Cemetery where wreaths were laid on the graves of The O’Rahilly, O’Donovan Rossa, Thomas Ashe, James Stephens, John O’Leary and Muriel MacDonagh (née Gifford). A tribute was also paid at the burial place of Anne Devlin, an Irish republican and Robert Emmet’s housekeeper who was tortured by British authorities. The wreaths bore the names of the various unions and messages which included, ‘In loving memory of our martyred dead of 1916’ and ‘In memory of Labour’s martyrs’.
In Belfast, the workers marched behind bands from Belfast City Hall to Ormeau Park where a meeting was held and resolutions were adopted on a range of national and international issues from the demand for a 44-hour week, to calls on Belfast Corporation to municipalise coal, milk and bread and establish municipal restaurants. Horror was also expressed at the conditions of women and children in Central Europe. The demonstrations and the Belfast Labour Party were denounced by the Belfast Newsletter for indulging in the usual violent attacks on capitalists and existing institutions, as well as expressing sympathy for the Bolshevists.
Chicago: The Illinois State Council of the Knights of Columbus were keen to record their enthusiasm and support to President de Valera, sending this message: “Appreciative of the principle of man’s inalienable right to freedom and the inalienable right to self-government upon which principle our own free land is founded, and realizing the long struggle which Ireland has made during the centuries which have passed to finally regain her freedom from foreign rule, the State Council of the Knights of Columbus of Illinois, representing 62,000 Knights of Columbus holding session in the city of Champaign, Ill., on rising vote, tender assurances of sympathy and encouragement to you as President of the youngest republic and as a leader and exemplar of man’s belief in the freedom of the individual man and the right of all nations to self-determination and government.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
London: In Britain, an estimated 8 million workers participated in May Day events that included protests and cessations of work.
The capital witnessed a major demonstration, the centrepiece of which was a march that began on the embankment, progressed through the West End and concluded at Hyde Park. Over 70 speeches were delivered in many different languages at Hyde Park during which calls were made demanding a withdrawal of British troops from Ireland and proclaiming the right of the Irish people to determine their own form of government.
In Ireland, the May Day celebrations were less of a spectacle. There was no general stoppage of work in Dublin owing to the recent general strike for the Mountjoy prisoners, but the half holiday did see large numbers of workers attend trade union meetings and social gatherings. The Irish Labour Party & Trade Union Council organised a procession to Glasnevin Cemetery where wreaths were laid on the graves of The O’Rahilly, O’Donovan Rossa, Thomas Ashe, James Stephens, John O’Leary and Muriel MacDonagh (née Gifford). A tribute was also paid at the burial place of Anne Devlin, an Irish republican and Robert Emmet’s housekeeper who was tortured by British authorities. The wreaths bore the names of the various unions and messages which included, ‘In loving memory of our martyred dead of 1916’ and ‘In memory of Labour’s martyrs’.
In Belfast, the workers marched behind bands from Belfast City Hall to Ormeau Park where a meeting was held and resolutions were adopted on a range of national and international issues from the demand for a 44-hour week, to calls on Belfast Corporation to municipalise coal, milk and bread and establish municipal restaurants. Horror was also expressed at the conditions of women and children in Central Europe. The demonstrations and the Belfast Labour Party were denounced by the Belfast Newsletter for indulging in the usual violent attacks on capitalists and existing institutions, as well as expressing sympathy for the Bolshevists.
Chicago: The Illinois State Council of the Knights of Columbus were keen to record their enthusiasm and support to President de Valera, sending this message: “Appreciative of the principle of man’s inalienable right to freedom and the inalienable right to self-government upon which principle our own free land is founded, and realizing the long struggle which Ireland has made during the centuries which have passed to finally regain her freedom from foreign rule, the State Council of the Knights of Columbus of Illinois, representing 62,000 Knights of Columbus holding session in the city of Champaign, Ill., on rising vote, tender assurances of sympathy and encouragement to you as President of the youngest republic and as a leader and exemplar of man’s belief in the freedom of the individual man and the right of all nations to self-determination and government.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Referring to the growing number of incidents of land agitation in the west of Ireland, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Clonfert, Thomas O’Doherty, has said that, despite the fact that land reform is an important national issue, ‘no matter how good or noble your purpose… unjust means must not be used in the effort to attain it.’
Dr O’Doherty, preaching last month in the cathedral in Loughrea, stated that there were many examples he could cite of these ‘unjust means’ that were being used, but he provided details of just one case – this involved the house of a widow being fired into in the dead of night because she refused to give up land which she was entitled to hold. "If the woman had been killed, the bishop continued, those responsible would have been guilty of murder in the eyes of God and man." The bishop added that, as a principle, a person could not be justly forced to give up what they lawfully possessed without fair and adequate compensation. It was not right or proper to threaten an owner and simply say: ‘We must have your land and at our own price’. A further principle that could not be violated, the bishop added, was that a person could not be asked to give up property that was necessary for the maintenance of themselves or their family or which might be dear to them for family reasons. ‘If this principle is violated, the door is open to Communism’, he insisted. The Bishop of Clonfert was not alone in drawing attention to the escalation in land agitation. A special correspondent of the Irish Times had written of the extensive litany of outrages to which the west of Ireland is currently being subjected – lands stripped of their stock, fences broken, gates smashed, walls demolished, graves dug, farmers threatened and homes fired at. ‘The law is flagrantly defied’, the correspondent claimed, ‘and its forces openly flouted. An intense greed for land possesses the hearts of the people, and they are striving recklessly to satisfy it. It is with them a fetish. Property for them has no rights.’ |
3
Dublin Corporation passed a resolution acknowledging the authority of Dail Eireann ‘ as the only effective government in the country’ and in London, the remaining members of the Irish Parliamentary Party announced that they would take no part in further debates on Home Rule. It was decided to send copies of the resolution to all European Governments, President Wilson, the US Senate and House of Representatives. The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented that ‘even in living memory, the old Dublin Corporation used to be a hotbed of Toryism and reaction and an annex to Dublin Castle and the Viceregal Lodge, we see at once what a change has been wrought in public opinion.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In an effort to present the British view of the Irish situation, Dublin Castle began publishing regularly a ‘Summary of Official Reports’. Erskine Childers commented that these soon ‘became the laughing stock and the scandal of Ireland, thought they probably served their purpose as defamatory propaganda against her for the consumption of the outisde world’ The Irish Statesman considered the material presented as ‘the propaganda of lies’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P212
When the US Government severed financial assistance with Russia, their diplomatic mission in Washington was severely strapped for cash. Harry Boland offered to loan the mission $20,000 in ‘exchange for some Russian ‘Crown Jewels’ as collatteral.
According to Arthur Mitchell, de Valera then ‘turned over negotiations to McCartan, with the instruction that he wanted an agreement to be secured. The resulting accord provided for mutual recognition by the two Governments and important advantages for Dublin in trade and religious matters. The Irish Republic would be entrusted with ‘the interest of the Roman Catholic Church within the territory of the Russian Republic’; to McCartan ‘ this clause gives us a good grip on the Vatican and makes them less impressionable by British agents’. When McCartan showed the draft agreement to de Valera, he observed that the President ‘showed surprise at it but no enthusiasm. It seemed as if he got more in a treaty than he really wanted.’ Nevertheless, de Valera instructed McCartan to send the proposed agreement to Dublin; he also informed the cabinet that he was ‘very anxious’ that a delegation ‘should proceed at once to Russia’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P190-91
The actual negotiations and loan were kept hushed up for many years to avoid any political fallout between de Valera and the Irish Catholic hierarchy and also as a growing American public opinion held that Ireland was soon to become a second Russia and that the Sinn Fein leadership were all Bolsheviks. The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter appeared somewhat concerned at such rumours going so far as to state that these suggestions came initially from the Carson delegation. ‘they made a lot of mysterious talk about Bolshevism and Ireland when they first reached America and continued to talk it all through their tour’. On their departure, the publication of a book by Richard Dawson claiming an Irish-Bolshevik alliance added for some, credence to claims. The Newsletter jokingly commented that the next thing would be revelations that ‘de Valera is Trotsky in disguise, that the branches of the Friends of Irish Freedom are American Soviets and … the old gag about the Irish Republic being financed by Russia…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The last thing de Valera would have wanted would be definite proof that instead of Soviet support for Ireland, Ireland had instead supported the Soviets when strapped for cash.
As to the eventual outcome of the jewels? In Arthur Mitchell’s notes ‘according to James O’Mara, de Valera told him that Harry Boland brought the jewels back to Ireland, who gave them to Collins, who threw them back after the Treaty split. Boland gave them to his mother to keep safe until de Valera returned to power. She gave them to the new Government in 1932. Patrick McGilligan, Minister for Finance, said in 1948 that the jewels were given to the Department of the Taoiseach in 1938 and transferred to the Department of Finance in 1948. Wesley Boyd has written that the Russian Government repaid the loan and the jewels were returned in the following year ( 1949 ).
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P367
Sergeant Francis McKenna (39) was shot dead at Galebridge, Co. Kerry as he and another constable cycled from the Listowel Quarter Sessions to Ballylongford, Co. Kerry. McKenna was the arresting officer of Sir Roger Casement in April 1916 and had been a former detective in Tralee for some years.
Dublin Corporation passed a resolution acknowledging the authority of Dail Eireann ‘ as the only effective government in the country’ and in London, the remaining members of the Irish Parliamentary Party announced that they would take no part in further debates on Home Rule. It was decided to send copies of the resolution to all European Governments, President Wilson, the US Senate and House of Representatives. The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented that ‘even in living memory, the old Dublin Corporation used to be a hotbed of Toryism and reaction and an annex to Dublin Castle and the Viceregal Lodge, we see at once what a change has been wrought in public opinion.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In an effort to present the British view of the Irish situation, Dublin Castle began publishing regularly a ‘Summary of Official Reports’. Erskine Childers commented that these soon ‘became the laughing stock and the scandal of Ireland, thought they probably served their purpose as defamatory propaganda against her for the consumption of the outisde world’ The Irish Statesman considered the material presented as ‘the propaganda of lies’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill & McMillan 1996. P212
When the US Government severed financial assistance with Russia, their diplomatic mission in Washington was severely strapped for cash. Harry Boland offered to loan the mission $20,000 in ‘exchange for some Russian ‘Crown Jewels’ as collatteral.
According to Arthur Mitchell, de Valera then ‘turned over negotiations to McCartan, with the instruction that he wanted an agreement to be secured. The resulting accord provided for mutual recognition by the two Governments and important advantages for Dublin in trade and religious matters. The Irish Republic would be entrusted with ‘the interest of the Roman Catholic Church within the territory of the Russian Republic’; to McCartan ‘ this clause gives us a good grip on the Vatican and makes them less impressionable by British agents’. When McCartan showed the draft agreement to de Valera, he observed that the President ‘showed surprise at it but no enthusiasm. It seemed as if he got more in a treaty than he really wanted.’ Nevertheless, de Valera instructed McCartan to send the proposed agreement to Dublin; he also informed the cabinet that he was ‘very anxious’ that a delegation ‘should proceed at once to Russia’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P190-91
The actual negotiations and loan were kept hushed up for many years to avoid any political fallout between de Valera and the Irish Catholic hierarchy and also as a growing American public opinion held that Ireland was soon to become a second Russia and that the Sinn Fein leadership were all Bolsheviks. The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter appeared somewhat concerned at such rumours going so far as to state that these suggestions came initially from the Carson delegation. ‘they made a lot of mysterious talk about Bolshevism and Ireland when they first reached America and continued to talk it all through their tour’. On their departure, the publication of a book by Richard Dawson claiming an Irish-Bolshevik alliance added for some, credence to claims. The Newsletter jokingly commented that the next thing would be revelations that ‘de Valera is Trotsky in disguise, that the branches of the Friends of Irish Freedom are American Soviets and … the old gag about the Irish Republic being financed by Russia…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The last thing de Valera would have wanted would be definite proof that instead of Soviet support for Ireland, Ireland had instead supported the Soviets when strapped for cash.
As to the eventual outcome of the jewels? In Arthur Mitchell’s notes ‘according to James O’Mara, de Valera told him that Harry Boland brought the jewels back to Ireland, who gave them to Collins, who threw them back after the Treaty split. Boland gave them to his mother to keep safe until de Valera returned to power. She gave them to the new Government in 1932. Patrick McGilligan, Minister for Finance, said in 1948 that the jewels were given to the Department of the Taoiseach in 1938 and transferred to the Department of Finance in 1948. Wesley Boyd has written that the Russian Government repaid the loan and the jewels were returned in the following year ( 1949 ).
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P367
Sergeant Francis McKenna (39) was shot dead at Galebridge, Co. Kerry as he and another constable cycled from the Listowel Quarter Sessions to Ballylongford, Co. Kerry. McKenna was the arresting officer of Sir Roger Casement in April 1916 and had been a former detective in Tralee for some years.
4
In the US, 88 Congressmen appeal to Lloyd George to free Irish prisoners held without trial.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported as front page news:
‘PROTEST FROM CONGRESSMEN…. Another step forward in bringing the British Cabinet to a realisation that America inists that Ireland be freed from oppression was taken by the eighty-eight Congressmen who on May 4, cabled to Lloyd George and the British Parliament the following protest: ‘With the profound conviction that further wars and acts of war should be avoided and believing that the wholesale arrests without arraignment or trial disturb the peace and tranquillity of a people, are destructive of human rights, and are at variance with the principle of liberty which is embodied in the United States Constitution….the undersigned Members of Congress of the United States of America protest against further imprisonment without arraignment or trial of persons, resident in Ireland, arrested for acts of a political nature; and we ask in the spirit of American freedom and love of justice, out of our friendliness to the people of England and Ireland and in the name of international peace, that, hereafter, if arrests based upon acts of a political nature are made in Ireland, by colour of any form of authority, the right of trial shall without unreasonable delay be accorded to the accused.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
New York: Jim Larkin, former leader of the Irish Transport Union, was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison with hard labour following his recent conviction in New York on a charge of criminal anarchy. Mr Larkin has been living in the United States since 1914, after leaving Ireland in the wake of the 1913 strike and lockout, working as a longshoreman. The evidence presented at his trial was that, in the course of a public speech, he used the expression ‘March forward with the Red flag on the bayonet’ and that he was a member of the Anarchist Council which had been advocating the overthrow of the American government by violent means. Mr Larkin provided his own defence over three hours during which he denied using that expression and stated he believed in the Soviet government of Russia, which sought to do away with class distinctions. Reacting to the sentence, the Belfast Newsletter praised the American methods of dealing with the revolutionary threat and stated that there would be ‘peace in this country if the Irish executive would only stop fooling and govern.’
In the US, 88 Congressmen appeal to Lloyd George to free Irish prisoners held without trial.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported as front page news:
‘PROTEST FROM CONGRESSMEN…. Another step forward in bringing the British Cabinet to a realisation that America inists that Ireland be freed from oppression was taken by the eighty-eight Congressmen who on May 4, cabled to Lloyd George and the British Parliament the following protest: ‘With the profound conviction that further wars and acts of war should be avoided and believing that the wholesale arrests without arraignment or trial disturb the peace and tranquillity of a people, are destructive of human rights, and are at variance with the principle of liberty which is embodied in the United States Constitution….the undersigned Members of Congress of the United States of America protest against further imprisonment without arraignment or trial of persons, resident in Ireland, arrested for acts of a political nature; and we ask in the spirit of American freedom and love of justice, out of our friendliness to the people of England and Ireland and in the name of international peace, that, hereafter, if arrests based upon acts of a political nature are made in Ireland, by colour of any form of authority, the right of trial shall without unreasonable delay be accorded to the accused.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
New York: Jim Larkin, former leader of the Irish Transport Union, was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison with hard labour following his recent conviction in New York on a charge of criminal anarchy. Mr Larkin has been living in the United States since 1914, after leaving Ireland in the wake of the 1913 strike and lockout, working as a longshoreman. The evidence presented at his trial was that, in the course of a public speech, he used the expression ‘March forward with the Red flag on the bayonet’ and that he was a member of the Anarchist Council which had been advocating the overthrow of the American government by violent means. Mr Larkin provided his own defence over three hours during which he denied using that expression and stated he believed in the Soviet government of Russia, which sought to do away with class distinctions. Reacting to the sentence, the Belfast Newsletter praised the American methods of dealing with the revolutionary threat and stated that there would be ‘peace in this country if the Irish executive would only stop fooling and govern.’
5
Reaction to the US Congressmen protest was swift. The London Morning Post asked what would Americans think if the British Parliament were to pass a resolution in favour of granting self-Government to the Phillipines?*
* The Phillipines were ceded from Spain to the US following the Spanish-American War of 1898. Filipinos resenting control of the islands by the US conducted a guerilla war in favour of independence from February 1899 to April 1902 when a form of Home Rule was granted. Between 1902 and 1935, various movements continued to call for independence and resulted in full Home Rule. Further independence measures were halted with the Japanese invasion in 1942. The islands became independent in 1946.
The New Orleans Item newspaper carried this editorial comment, reprinted in the Newsletter:
‘Calling people ‘pro-this’ or ‘pro-that’ has been a comfortable substitute for argument and a malicious device of self-interest to provoke progfitable prejudice at times of stress in all ages and places since chronicles were written. The Irish, between periods of exhaustion, have been agitating against the English for freedom during six or seven hundred years. When England warred on Spain, the English Tories called the Irish ‘pro-Spanish’. When England warred on France, the Irish were called ‘pro-French’. When England warred against these American colonies, the British Tories called the Irish ‘pro-American’.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Reaction to the US Congressmen protest was swift. The London Morning Post asked what would Americans think if the British Parliament were to pass a resolution in favour of granting self-Government to the Phillipines?*
* The Phillipines were ceded from Spain to the US following the Spanish-American War of 1898. Filipinos resenting control of the islands by the US conducted a guerilla war in favour of independence from February 1899 to April 1902 when a form of Home Rule was granted. Between 1902 and 1935, various movements continued to call for independence and resulted in full Home Rule. Further independence measures were halted with the Japanese invasion in 1942. The islands became independent in 1946.
The New Orleans Item newspaper carried this editorial comment, reprinted in the Newsletter:
‘Calling people ‘pro-this’ or ‘pro-that’ has been a comfortable substitute for argument and a malicious device of self-interest to provoke progfitable prejudice at times of stress in all ages and places since chronicles were written. The Irish, between periods of exhaustion, have been agitating against the English for freedom during six or seven hundred years. When England warred on Spain, the English Tories called the Irish ‘pro-Spanish’. When England warred on France, the Irish were called ‘pro-French’. When England warred against these American colonies, the British Tories called the Irish ‘pro-American’.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
6
The Washington D.C. Evening Star news, regarded as somewhat conservative and reserved, commented on the London Morning Star’s Phillipine argument: ‘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, tyranical and prejudiced to the country’s interests…the Phillipines came to us fairly and openly, and our rule there, by the confessions of the Fillipinos themselves, has been productive of good…American rule is without protest anywhere on the score either of oppression or of injury to the country rules.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Washington D.C. Evening Star news, regarded as somewhat conservative and reserved, commented on the London Morning Star’s Phillipine argument: ‘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, tyranical and prejudiced to the country’s interests…the Phillipines came to us fairly and openly, and our rule there, by the confessions of the Fillipinos themselves, has been productive of good…American rule is without protest anywhere on the score either of oppression or of injury to the country rules.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
7
Justice F.C.Eschweiler of the Wisconsin Supreme Court speaking before a ‘large audience in Milwaukee said ‘For almost ten centuries, Ireland’s history has been the story of her wrongs, and the list of wrongs committed against her is as long as the list of blessings conferred is short. For a period over five times longer than the national existence of this, our people, Ireland has appealed in the name of justice for…self-determination. Is her cry that has come down the long of suffering centuries still – and now in these days of all days, to remain unheeded?’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Rev. G. S. Lackland, D.D., Minister of Grace Episcopal Church, Denver, Col., wrote of religious hatred and prejudice and promulgated by the British government:
“Of all the unscrupulous devices used to break down brother hood there is none worse than that of stirring up religious hatred by an appeal to prejudice. No one can dispute that wrongs have been committed by both Protestants and Catholics. Blood has been spilt and antagonisms engendered. Surely the crosses of Europe call to the world to buy their narrow prejudices and join hands with men of all nations and all creeds in the rebuilding of the world. To deny Ireland her political rights because certain economic interests have utilized a religious prejudice that in actual practice they never have accepted, is hypocritical. These men seek to hide their selfish Imperialistic aims behind the Protestant Church. An investigation of the English vote concerning the Irish question will reveal the fact that the majority of the Protestants in England are tired of the stigma that has rested upon the name of Great Britain, because of her selfishness in regard to her possessions. Christianity calls for faith among men. If England would manifest this faith toward Ireland spiritually, every obstacle to self-determination would be swept away.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Justice F.C.Eschweiler of the Wisconsin Supreme Court speaking before a ‘large audience in Milwaukee said ‘For almost ten centuries, Ireland’s history has been the story of her wrongs, and the list of wrongs committed against her is as long as the list of blessings conferred is short. For a period over five times longer than the national existence of this, our people, Ireland has appealed in the name of justice for…self-determination. Is her cry that has come down the long of suffering centuries still – and now in these days of all days, to remain unheeded?’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Rev. G. S. Lackland, D.D., Minister of Grace Episcopal Church, Denver, Col., wrote of religious hatred and prejudice and promulgated by the British government:
“Of all the unscrupulous devices used to break down brother hood there is none worse than that of stirring up religious hatred by an appeal to prejudice. No one can dispute that wrongs have been committed by both Protestants and Catholics. Blood has been spilt and antagonisms engendered. Surely the crosses of Europe call to the world to buy their narrow prejudices and join hands with men of all nations and all creeds in the rebuilding of the world. To deny Ireland her political rights because certain economic interests have utilized a religious prejudice that in actual practice they never have accepted, is hypocritical. These men seek to hide their selfish Imperialistic aims behind the Protestant Church. An investigation of the English vote concerning the Irish question will reveal the fact that the majority of the Protestants in England are tired of the stigma that has rested upon the name of Great Britain, because of her selfishness in regard to her possessions. Christianity calls for faith among men. If England would manifest this faith toward Ireland spiritually, every obstacle to self-determination would be swept away.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A bathing suit made of…wool? That’s right. In the 1920s, the idea of going to the beach and actually getting into the water to swim was still relatively new. Functionality in swimwear was not as important as fashion, so the prevailing theory was that wool would help keep you warm. As swimming for recreation came into vogue in the 1920s, makers of swimwear had to adapt and make swimwear, well, for swimming. Jantzen revolutionized swimwear material with a stretchy ribbed jersey that fit more snug than regular jersey and certainly more comfortable than thick wool. This made it easier to swim, but it also showed off more of a woman’s curves. Colors were as vibrant as other ’20s sportswear- red, blue, black, gray and kelly green with contrasting stripes. An optional white rubber belt helped keep the two piece suit from floating up in the water. An “aviator” style rubber swim cap fit as tight as a cloche hat with an optional strap under the chin. A swim cap helped keep a gal’s bobbed hair from losing its shape. The idea of swimming was very popular but the actual sport was limited to serious athletes. Most beach goers merely played by the water, waded and maybe doggy paddled around in shallow waters. As swimwear also became shorter, women had to be on the lookout for the beach police who patrolled the area with measuring tape in hand. (see opposite & below). These skin censors would measure the distance between the bottom of a woman’s bathing suit and her knee. Too much bare skin and that could result in a hefty $10 fine or even being hauled off to jail! Most of these modesty rules were lifted by the mid twenties — too many women simply didn’t care to follow them and far too many men enjoyed the new view. |
8
Dublin: Sir Hamar Greenwood, the new Chief Secretary in a letter to Bonar Law, confirmed Fisher’s assesment of the Dublin Administration and the collapse of police and Government authority: ‘There is a sloppiness in administration and a lack of cohesion in the protective forces that is amazing’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p60
New York: De Valera made a formal and public declaration repudiating the right of the British ambassador to represent Ireland in America.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commenting on de Valera’s ‘epoch making tour of the Southern States’ added that former Senator and Governor of Mississippi, James K. Vardaman heard de Valera’s speech in Jackson and ‘was so moved that he wrote in a subsequent editorial in his weekly paper: ‘If Jesus Christ had been in Jackson that night, he would have shown his sympathy by his presence at the meeting….the man who opposes the Irish cause is either a fool or he is opposed to the pretended purpose of the war. There is not an instance in the history of the world where a strong Government such as Great Britain has so shamefully and brutally oppressed a weak nation as England has oppressed and outraged Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Protestant Friends of Ireland continued with their role of education and public relations. A pamphlet entitled ‘In Darkest Ulster’ was compiled and published with an appeal, as the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported ‘mainly to Americans of Protestant faith who are confused with all the talk of Ulster and alleged Protestant opposition to independence for Ireland…’ and the Bureau had ‘obtained a limited supply for distribution to readers who wish to digest the facts to be made public in every community where enemies of Ireland resort to religious bigotry, after all other methods have failed.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter reported on the jailing of Charles Diamond ‘former Ulster member of Parliament…owner of 35 newspapers… rated as a millionaire…director and manager of a large insurance company and has other diversified interests… for encouraging and advocating 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
The new British Ambassador to Washington, Sir Auckland Geddes created a diplomatic gaffe that was quickly siezed by the Newsletter: ‘Washington has no ceased laughing at the first plunge of Sir Auckland Geddes into the dangerous seas of diplomacy. His statement that proposals were made to the English Cabinet for the secession of Ireland brought denials from the spokesmen of the Cabinet in the House of Commons, and an indignant repudiation from the leaders of the republican forces in Ireland.’ Adding that the general belief in London was the ‘The Great Auk’s’ appointment to the US would ‘head off the dangerous tendency in Canada to manage their own affairs.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A growing interest in Irish culture and language within the US was commented on by the Newsletter. Particular interest was in the University of Notre Dame and proposal to hold ‘at least nine courses in Gaelic subjects. Of these, three will give instruction in the Gaelic language and the others will cover many pahses of Celtic history and art. The University prospectus for these courses urges the attendance of educators, and well points out that the growing interest in things Gaelic will cause a great future demand for instructors in this field.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter edition for May 8th closed with a warning to Ambassador Geddes:
‘Geddes continues to talk. He will not be the first diplomat to talk himself out of a job.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: Sir Hamar Greenwood, the new Chief Secretary in a letter to Bonar Law, confirmed Fisher’s assesment of the Dublin Administration and the collapse of police and Government authority: ‘There is a sloppiness in administration and a lack of cohesion in the protective forces that is amazing’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p60
New York: De Valera made a formal and public declaration repudiating the right of the British ambassador to represent Ireland in America.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commenting on de Valera’s ‘epoch making tour of the Southern States’ added that former Senator and Governor of Mississippi, James K. Vardaman heard de Valera’s speech in Jackson and ‘was so moved that he wrote in a subsequent editorial in his weekly paper: ‘If Jesus Christ had been in Jackson that night, he would have shown his sympathy by his presence at the meeting….the man who opposes the Irish cause is either a fool or he is opposed to the pretended purpose of the war. There is not an instance in the history of the world where a strong Government such as Great Britain has so shamefully and brutally oppressed a weak nation as England has oppressed and outraged Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Protestant Friends of Ireland continued with their role of education and public relations. A pamphlet entitled ‘In Darkest Ulster’ was compiled and published with an appeal, as the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported ‘mainly to Americans of Protestant faith who are confused with all the talk of Ulster and alleged Protestant opposition to independence for Ireland…’ and the Bureau had ‘obtained a limited supply for distribution to readers who wish to digest the facts to be made public in every community where enemies of Ireland resort to religious bigotry, after all other methods have failed.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter reported on the jailing of Charles Diamond ‘former Ulster member of Parliament…owner of 35 newspapers… rated as a millionaire…director and manager of a large insurance company and has other diversified interests… for encouraging and advocating 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
The new British Ambassador to Washington, Sir Auckland Geddes created a diplomatic gaffe that was quickly siezed by the Newsletter: ‘Washington has no ceased laughing at the first plunge of Sir Auckland Geddes into the dangerous seas of diplomacy. His statement that proposals were made to the English Cabinet for the secession of Ireland brought denials from the spokesmen of the Cabinet in the House of Commons, and an indignant repudiation from the leaders of the republican forces in Ireland.’ Adding that the general belief in London was the ‘The Great Auk’s’ appointment to the US would ‘head off the dangerous tendency in Canada to manage their own affairs.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A growing interest in Irish culture and language within the US was commented on by the Newsletter. Particular interest was in the University of Notre Dame and proposal to hold ‘at least nine courses in Gaelic subjects. Of these, three will give instruction in the Gaelic language and the others will cover many pahses of Celtic history and art. The University prospectus for these courses urges the attendance of educators, and well points out that the growing interest in things Gaelic will cause a great future demand for instructors in this field.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter edition for May 8th closed with a warning to Ambassador Geddes:
‘Geddes continues to talk. He will not be the first diplomat to talk himself out of a job.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 45, May 8, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
9
Labour organisations around the world continued to vote resolutions in favour of the Irish Republic and of those ‘struggling for freedom and the privilege of establishing a Government of their own choice.’ The latest organisation to do so was the Georgia State Federation of Labour whose members voted at the 22nd annual convention that ‘this body go on record as being in full sympathy with Ireland in her present struggle for freedom and self-determination.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
RIC Sergeant Rush who was seriously injured in an attack on Rush Barracks County Dublin died of his injuries.
Labour organisations around the world continued to vote resolutions in favour of the Irish Republic and of those ‘struggling for freedom and the privilege of establishing a Government of their own choice.’ The latest organisation to do so was the Georgia State Federation of Labour whose members voted at the 22nd annual convention that ‘this body go on record as being in full sympathy with Ireland in her present struggle for freedom and self-determination.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
RIC Sergeant Rush who was seriously injured in an attack on Rush Barracks County Dublin died of his injuries.
10
40 Irish prisoners on hunger-strike in Wormwood Scrubs were released.
RIC Sergeant Patrick McDonnell (49) was shot dead at Goold’s Cross, Co Tipperary while making his way with another constable to the RIC Hut at Clonoulty. In March he had been involved in a strong defence of the the hut when attacked by members of the IRA’s 2nd Battalion, South Tipperary Brigade. Later that day, three more RIC members were killed in an ambush near Timoleague, Co. Cork. Sergeant John Flynn (51) married with 27 years service, William Brick (32) of Tralee with 12 years service and Edward Dunne (40) with 15 years service.
Bonar Law in a dispatch to the US was quoted as saying ‘that the main object of the Government in proposing the [ Home Rule] Bill was to be able to say to the colonies and to the world that England had offered Ireland a measure of self-Government and that the majority of Irishmen had refused.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The editorial writer for Hearst publications, Philip Francis commented on British propaganda in the United States:
‘For the past four or five years the American people have been submerged ‘neath a deluge of English propaganda which aims at nothing less than the re-conquest of America, the divorcing of the Republic from the traditions of the Revolution and the principles of Washington…yet, at the same time, that England would have us renounce our history and prove ourselves apostates to the Declaration of Independence, she would have us embroiled in the quarrels and jealousies of the Old World.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
40 Irish prisoners on hunger-strike in Wormwood Scrubs were released.
RIC Sergeant Patrick McDonnell (49) was shot dead at Goold’s Cross, Co Tipperary while making his way with another constable to the RIC Hut at Clonoulty. In March he had been involved in a strong defence of the the hut when attacked by members of the IRA’s 2nd Battalion, South Tipperary Brigade. Later that day, three more RIC members were killed in an ambush near Timoleague, Co. Cork. Sergeant John Flynn (51) married with 27 years service, William Brick (32) of Tralee with 12 years service and Edward Dunne (40) with 15 years service.
Bonar Law in a dispatch to the US was quoted as saying ‘that the main object of the Government in proposing the [ Home Rule] Bill was to be able to say to the colonies and to the world that England had offered Ireland a measure of self-Government and that the majority of Irishmen had refused.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The editorial writer for Hearst publications, Philip Francis commented on British propaganda in the United States:
‘For the past four or five years the American people have been submerged ‘neath a deluge of English propaganda which aims at nothing less than the re-conquest of America, the divorcing of the Republic from the traditions of the Revolution and the principles of Washington…yet, at the same time, that England would have us renounce our history and prove ourselves apostates to the Declaration of Independence, she would have us embroiled in the quarrels and jealousies of the Old World.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
11
General Macready requested eight further battalions of Regulars and transport at a Cabinet meeting. These were agreed.
Sergeant Denis Garvey (47) and Constable Daniel Harrington (44) were shot dead while on a tram at Lower Road, Glanmire, Cork. Garvey had featured prominently in the inquest of Cork Lord Mayor, Tomas MacCurtain.
General Macready requested eight further battalions of Regulars and transport at a Cabinet meeting. These were agreed.
Sergeant Denis Garvey (47) and Constable Daniel Harrington (44) were shot dead while on a tram at Lower Road, Glanmire, Cork. Garvey had featured prominently in the inquest of Cork Lord Mayor, Tomas MacCurtain.
12
The 'Loyal Coalition' founded in March 1920 was composed of old-stock Bostonians who vigorously opposed a free Irish Republic, particularly following the publicity surrounding de Valera's tour of the United States. To mobilise American opinion against the Irish American organisations, extensive newspaper adverts were taken out nationwide along with lobbying of Congress members and public speaking engagements. (Much the same as the Friends of Irish Freedom had been active in for some years)
The Loyal Coalition "... argued that support in the United States for an independent Irish Republic was fomented by Sinn Fein criminals from Ireland who sought to bring about a war between Britain and the United States. The Loyal Coalition dismissed local revolutionary separatists claims that the Sinn Fein revolution in Ireland was akin to the American Revolution in 1776 as historically inaccurate. It warned that those members of other ethnic groups who supported Ireland's cause would 'seriously jeopardise their American citizenship, and that in them they (would) find themselves in the same category of un-American citizenship which jeopardises their very presence in this land'. Instead the Loyal Coalition urged Americans no to shatter that 'great era of peace between English-speaking peoples which has been enjoyed for over 100 years"
Damien Murray. Irish Nationalists in Boston: Catholicism and Conflict, 1900-1928 . Catholic University of America, 2018. P.235
As Murray also points out, the Loyal Coalition betrayed both the prejudices & elitism of Protestant nativists in the post-war era and by criticising other 'hyphenated Americans' were effectively ignoring their own Anglo-Saxon identity.
Shortly after the founding of the Coalition, Edward McSweeney wrote to Judge Cohalan advising that the new organisation The Loyal Coalition... 'should be attacked just as vigorously as the American Protective Association, the virulently anti-Catholic body that had prospered in the 1880s and 1890s. Another FOIF member wrote..'the head and fangs of bigotry are spreading in Yankeedom' in the guise of the Loyal Coalition....it was clear to McSweeney and other nationalists that Massachusetts was to be the battleground for a struggle over the ethnic makeup of the American nation because as McSweeney wrote 'it is easier to rouse a racial fight here than anywhere else in the U.S.'...
Damien Murray. Irish Nationalists in Boston: Catholicism and Conflict, 1900-1928 . Catholic University of America, 2018. P.234
Never able to attain more than a niche support nationwide, the Coalition within a year was damaged by a series of controversies involving it's leaders. The Boston American exposed the organisations president, Demarest Lloyd as 'animated by religious hatred' and shortly afterwards, the Secretary was arraigned on charges of sodomy. The Coalition later associated openly with the Klu Klux Klan until finally becoming defunct in 1926.
The Loyal Coalition "... argued that support in the United States for an independent Irish Republic was fomented by Sinn Fein criminals from Ireland who sought to bring about a war between Britain and the United States. The Loyal Coalition dismissed local revolutionary separatists claims that the Sinn Fein revolution in Ireland was akin to the American Revolution in 1776 as historically inaccurate. It warned that those members of other ethnic groups who supported Ireland's cause would 'seriously jeopardise their American citizenship, and that in them they (would) find themselves in the same category of un-American citizenship which jeopardises their very presence in this land'. Instead the Loyal Coalition urged Americans no to shatter that 'great era of peace between English-speaking peoples which has been enjoyed for over 100 years"
Damien Murray. Irish Nationalists in Boston: Catholicism and Conflict, 1900-1928 . Catholic University of America, 2018. P.235
As Murray also points out, the Loyal Coalition betrayed both the prejudices & elitism of Protestant nativists in the post-war era and by criticising other 'hyphenated Americans' were effectively ignoring their own Anglo-Saxon identity.
Shortly after the founding of the Coalition, Edward McSweeney wrote to Judge Cohalan advising that the new organisation The Loyal Coalition... 'should be attacked just as vigorously as the American Protective Association, the virulently anti-Catholic body that had prospered in the 1880s and 1890s. Another FOIF member wrote..'the head and fangs of bigotry are spreading in Yankeedom' in the guise of the Loyal Coalition....it was clear to McSweeney and other nationalists that Massachusetts was to be the battleground for a struggle over the ethnic makeup of the American nation because as McSweeney wrote 'it is easier to rouse a racial fight here than anywhere else in the U.S.'...
Damien Murray. Irish Nationalists in Boston: Catholicism and Conflict, 1900-1928 . Catholic University of America, 2018. P.234
Never able to attain more than a niche support nationwide, the Coalition within a year was damaged by a series of controversies involving it's leaders. The Boston American exposed the organisations president, Demarest Lloyd as 'animated by religious hatred' and shortly afterwards, the Secretary was arraigned on charges of sodomy. The Coalition later associated openly with the Klu Klux Klan until finally becoming defunct in 1926.
Dublin: The funeral of Irish Volunteer Francis Aidan Gleeson took place. His death came shortly after his release from Mountjoy, where he had been on hunger strike. While the official report records that he died from toxaemia, following nephritis and acute appendicitis, it was generally accepted that his condition was exacerbated by his time in prison. Mr Gleeson, 22, was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery following a mass at the Church of the Visitation in Fairview, the route from which was thronged with thousands of onlookers and sympathisers. Many shops along the route closed their doors and drew their blinds as a mark of respect. Private homes flew tricolour flags in sympathy. Representatives of Dáil Éireann, Dublin Corporation, Irish Volunteers, Citizen’s Army, Fianna Scouts, Cumann na mBan, trade and labour organisations marched in the procession.
Born in Britain to Irish parents from Tipperary, Gleeson came to Ireland from Liverpool when conscription was introduced to England. He took up residence in Dublin under the assumed name of Aedan Redmond and became involved in Irish political affairs. He was arrested in February this year and released in March, but then re-arrested on stepping out of the jail gate. It was at this point that he went on hunger strike as a protest against being classed as an ordinary criminal as opposed to a political prisoner.
Gleeson went 10 days without food, after which he was released along with dozens of others, in response to a general strike. Owing to his weak condition he was immediately admitted to the Mater Hospital for several weeks. He was discharged on 3 May but was readmitted on 5 May, and was discovered to be suffering from appendicitis. He died four days later.
The hunger strikes in Wormwood Scrubs came to an effective end with the release of PJ Moloney, MP for Tipperary, and Joseph Lawless, TC, Dublin who went without food for 23 days. They were removed by ambulance in a weak condition to the Islington Infirmary. Over 100 prisoners from Wormwood Scrubs were released over the previous week.
In a letter to the Irish Independent, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington has stressed the need for appropriate after-care for prisoners recovering from hunger strike, especially the need for a careful diet following a prolonged fast. Sheehy Skeffington stated that she had observed one patient being served a beef-steak two days after his release and another being given a dish of fish and potatoes the day after a 10 day fast, and in light of that, she expressed surprise that casualties were not more frequent.
Born in Britain to Irish parents from Tipperary, Gleeson came to Ireland from Liverpool when conscription was introduced to England. He took up residence in Dublin under the assumed name of Aedan Redmond and became involved in Irish political affairs. He was arrested in February this year and released in March, but then re-arrested on stepping out of the jail gate. It was at this point that he went on hunger strike as a protest against being classed as an ordinary criminal as opposed to a political prisoner.
Gleeson went 10 days without food, after which he was released along with dozens of others, in response to a general strike. Owing to his weak condition he was immediately admitted to the Mater Hospital for several weeks. He was discharged on 3 May but was readmitted on 5 May, and was discovered to be suffering from appendicitis. He died four days later.
The hunger strikes in Wormwood Scrubs came to an effective end with the release of PJ Moloney, MP for Tipperary, and Joseph Lawless, TC, Dublin who went without food for 23 days. They were removed by ambulance in a weak condition to the Islington Infirmary. Over 100 prisoners from Wormwood Scrubs were released over the previous week.
In a letter to the Irish Independent, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington has stressed the need for appropriate after-care for prisoners recovering from hunger strike, especially the need for a careful diet following a prolonged fast. Sheehy Skeffington stated that she had observed one patient being served a beef-steak two days after his release and another being given a dish of fish and potatoes the day after a 10 day fast, and in light of that, she expressed surprise that casualties were not more frequent.
Dublin: A series of seemingly co-ordinated attacks left a trail of devastation across Ireland.
Official reports from Dublin Castle indicate that between 9 to 13 May nearly 50 police barracks were either burned or blown up and between 20 and 30 income tax offices were raided and the documents that they contained were carried away and burned. Some of the offices were also set alight and destroyed. In Cashel. Co. Tipperary, one of the largest buildings in the town – the courthouse – was destroyed. And in Downpatrick, Co. Down, a group of eight to 10 armed men raided the local excise office and seized pension papers and other documents. A Church of Ireland clergyman, Rev. Thomas Wilkinson, chased the raiders, but was shot in the thigh. He is currently receiving treatment in the county infirmary. This is the second such concentration of attacks on barracks and tax offices this year; over 200 were damaged or destroyed over Easter weekend. Other reported outrages include the murder of a gardener who was fatally wounded when shot during a raid on Ballybrack Barracks in Dublin. There were four shootings reported, three robberies of mails, a bomb attack, burglaries and the intimidation of police. A constable in Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, received a letter with the message: ‘Prepare for your last. Your day is done. Repent for your past acts. Up Clare. Be ready when called upon. You are doomed.’ There were several other violent incidents around the country during the week: Three constables and a sergeant were shot dead on 10 May by armed men near Timoleague, Co. Cork, as they were on a cycling patrol. In Tipperary, Sergeant McDonnell of the Royal Irish Constabulary was killed when attacked between Goold’s Cross railway station and Clonoulty police hut. McDonnell has only been based in Clonoulty a few months and was involved in the successful defence of the barracks from armed attack at the end of March this year. In Limerick City, James Dalton (48), a member of Sinn Féin was shot and killed on Saturday evening as he emerged from Humphrey’s public house, where he had been with his father-in-law, 200 yards from his home on Clare Street. Dalton was set upon by around seven men with revolvers who chased him and continued shooting him, even as he lay on the ground. Mr Dalton was a prominent figure in the republican movement. He worked as a clerk at the gas works and was survived by his wife and 13 children. |
13
The general British opinion of the situation in Ireland included this statement from the Globe Newspaper:
‘The Union is broken... England can never govern Ireland again’
Houses in Thurles, Co. Tipperary ‘fired and bombed by police’.
Bonar Law announced in Parliament that the Government had decided to create a special judicial body to examine the cases of all Irishmen under arrest and held without trial. The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented:
‘How much good will come out of this move remains to be seen. It will depend largely on the constitution of the ‘special judicial body’. Previous experience does not warrant any great hope as to its impartiality’. More importantly was the fact that most of those held would be freed and the action showed that the British Government was somewhat sensitive to external pressure, particularly from the United States....‘Moral: Keep up the Pressure’.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The general British opinion of the situation in Ireland included this statement from the Globe Newspaper:
‘The Union is broken... England can never govern Ireland again’
Houses in Thurles, Co. Tipperary ‘fired and bombed by police’.
Bonar Law announced in Parliament that the Government had decided to create a special judicial body to examine the cases of all Irishmen under arrest and held without trial. The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented:
‘How much good will come out of this move remains to be seen. It will depend largely on the constitution of the ‘special judicial body’. Previous experience does not warrant any great hope as to its impartiality’. More importantly was the fact that most of those held would be freed and the action showed that the British Government was somewhat sensitive to external pressure, particularly from the United States....‘Moral: Keep up the Pressure’.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: Large crowds flocked to the Ballsbridge Showgrounds in bright sunshine for the final day of the Spring Show. Many were drawn to the exhibition stands, including the poultry exhibition, an industry that was then valued in excess of £21m. Competitions were held for bee-keeping, horse-shoeing and butter-making. In the main central hall in the RDS the latest farm machinery was on display – mowers, reapers and binders, rakes, ploughs, the modernity contrasting with an old world scene in the Art Industries Hall, where women in frilled bonnets of linen with spinning wheels, twisted wool into a thread.
Journalist John F. Doyle reflected on ‘perfect day’ socially, and a great success, commercially. He reckoned that a foreigner could be forgiven for thinking that Ireland had as bright a future in front of it as any country in Europe. ‘And yet! There’s the rub’, he wrote. ‘It requires peace and good government to develop the resources of such a country. All the machinery displayed at the show, if multiplied a hundred-fold, cannot do it unless the foundations are laid properly’.
Journalist John F. Doyle reflected on ‘perfect day’ socially, and a great success, commercially. He reckoned that a foreigner could be forgiven for thinking that Ireland had as bright a future in front of it as any country in Europe. ‘And yet! There’s the rub’, he wrote. ‘It requires peace and good government to develop the resources of such a country. All the machinery displayed at the show, if multiplied a hundred-fold, cannot do it unless the foundations are laid properly’.
14
Government reported 94 attacks on R.I.C stations in recent days.
At the inquest into the death of RIC Sergeant Patrick Carroll who was shot dead in an ambush at Kilmihil County Clare the jury returned the verdict that “We find that Sergeant Carroll died of shock and haemorrhage as a result of bullet wounds inflicted by some person or persons unknown whilst bearing arms on behalf of an alien and enemy Government."
A British military raid discovered the offices of the Dail’s Home Affair’s Department.
National Council FOIF Meeting
The National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom meeting in New York adopted resolutions commending Congressman Tague of Massachussets, ex-Speaker Clark and the eighty eight Congressmen who signed the cable sent to the British Parliament protesting against the imprisonment without trial of political prisoners. The Council also recorded the ‘warm appreciation and recognition’ be extended to Captain Daniel T. O’Connell of Boston for ‘the splendid services which he has rendered and continues to render as Director of our Bureau at Washington.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The resolutions in part were:
“Be it Resolved, That a protest against the exercise of power upon the part of an invader involves in no sense any acknowledgment of right upon the part of such invader to exercise such power, and
“Be it Further Resolved, That the public thanks of this, the supreme body of the Friends of Irish Freedom, be tendered to the Eighty-eight Congressmen, headed by the Hon. Champ Clark, who signed the communication described on the preamble hereto, and to Congressman Tague of Massachusetts for the introduction of his resolution, and
“Be it Finally Resolved that the warm appreciation and recognition of the National Council be extended to Captain Daniel T. O’Connell of Boston for the splendid services which he has rendered and continues to render as Director of our Bureau at Washington.”
Also discussed was the Irish Victory Fund.
"Father Hurton offered an amendment dealing with his remarks on the subject of the Irish Victory Fund. His contention was that the Fund was intended for Ireland as well as for America and should be so disbursed. Also that he gave Mr. Joseph McGarrity as his authority for his statement regarding Justice Cohalan's attitude at the National Executive meeting referred to."
"Father Hurton offered an amendment dealing with his remarks on the subject of the Irish Victory Fund. His contention was that the Fund was intended for Ireland as well as for America and should be so disbursed. Also that he gave Mr. Joseph McGarrity as his authority for his statement regarding Justice Cohalan's attitude at the National Executive meeting referred to."
The National Council also passed a resolution for publication in the Irish American papers:
"First - That the accounts of the Friends of Irish Freedom were on October 31, 1919, examined by a certified public accountant;
Second - The the examination conducted by such accountant covered a full audit of the receipts and disbursements of all the moneys of the Friends of Irish Freedom. Including the Irish Victory Fund.
Third - That the auditor's report included a high commendation of the businesslike methods of account and record in the office of the National Secretary, Mr. Diarmuid Lynch;
Fourth - That the report of the accountant was presented in due course to the Board of National Trustees and was unanimously approved;
Fifth - That the report was then submitted to the National Council and the approval of the Board of Trustees was unanimously confirmed;
Sixth - That an excerpt from the Auditor's Report was thereupon sent to each member in good standing of the Friends of Irish Freedom throughout the country;
Seventh - That since then the accounts of the National Treasury and of the National Secretary have been constantly subject to the scrutiny of the Board of Trustees and are in perfect order.
Michael J Ryan. Philadelphia, Pa. Chairman of the Meeting.
John A Murphy, Buffalo, N.Y., Chairman of the Board of Trustees."
"First - That the accounts of the Friends of Irish Freedom were on October 31, 1919, examined by a certified public accountant;
Second - The the examination conducted by such accountant covered a full audit of the receipts and disbursements of all the moneys of the Friends of Irish Freedom. Including the Irish Victory Fund.
Third - That the auditor's report included a high commendation of the businesslike methods of account and record in the office of the National Secretary, Mr. Diarmuid Lynch;
Fourth - That the report of the accountant was presented in due course to the Board of National Trustees and was unanimously approved;
Fifth - That the report was then submitted to the National Council and the approval of the Board of Trustees was unanimously confirmed;
Sixth - That an excerpt from the Auditor's Report was thereupon sent to each member in good standing of the Friends of Irish Freedom throughout the country;
Seventh - That since then the accounts of the National Treasury and of the National Secretary have been constantly subject to the scrutiny of the Board of Trustees and are in perfect order.
Michael J Ryan. Philadelphia, Pa. Chairman of the Meeting.
John A Murphy, Buffalo, N.Y., Chairman of the Board of Trustees."
15
Bantry: Houses were ‘wrecked by police’.
Derry/Londonderry: Detective Sergeant Denis Moroney, Chief of the Crimes Detective Department in Derry became the first policeman killed in Ulster since the start of the War of Independence. Moroney was part of a larger group of policemen who had charged a group of Sinn Fein supporters when he was shot.
London: Dockers refused to load munitions on a ship supplying anti-communist forces in Poland. Within days, the Irish dockers using the parallel between Poland and Ireland, refused to handle any military supplies arriving in Ireland.
Tuam, Co. Galway: Three brothers were sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour for cutting off the hair of Bridget Keegan of Cloondarone. The offence occurred at 12.45 am on 30 April when seven masked men entered the Keegan family home. At least one of the men was armed with a revolver. They grabbed Ms Keegan, who had fainted, and took her out to the yard in her nightdress where they chopped her hair off with a shears. Bridget’s sister, Margaret, who was threatened with a similar fate, was told that this is what Bridget got ‘for going with Tommies’.
Mr Golding, Crown Solicitor, described the crime as a ‘blackguardly action’. ‘All I can say’, he continued, ‘is God help Ireland if these are the acts of Irishmen and God help Ireland if these are the men to free her...Having attempted to free Ireland by cutting off the girl’s hair, to complete the freedom of Ireland they threatened to cut off her ears but they didn’t do so.’ Dr Thompson of Tuam testified that Bridget was still suffering from shock and was under his care. The Resident Magistrate, J. Kilbride, said that it was the worst kind of case to appear before the court, and for that reason they imposed the maximum penalty allowed
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter No.46 headlined a return to the Admiral Simms controversy:
“SIMMS, PRO-BRITISH” SAYS SECRETARY DANIELS’ when a Senate Naval Committee met to investigate charges initially made by the Irish National Bureau of Information in Washington D.C. that his book and articles were anti-Irish and questionable on his revelations of war-time Navy activities:
‘Testimony after testimony brought out at this hearing is branding Simms before the world as pro-British in all his views….Secretary [of the Navy] Daniels himself, in his testimony before the Senate Committee has given open expression to his regret. He said ‘Simms genuflected to British Admiralty ideas and accepted British views so fully and courted British honours so earnestly that he came to regard as anti-British such a rugged American as Admiral Benson, who is ‘All American’ neither ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ with reference to any other country…. If I had known that eh proposed, under the permission granted him to tell the story of what the Navy had doen overseas, to denoucne the Irish people as he did in his articles in ‘World’s Work’, the permission would not have been granted.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Simms continued to be known in some circles in the United States as 'The best damned British Admiral in the United States Navy"
Diarmuid Lynch received a mention in the Newsletter:
‘Only the national officers, and those directly in touch with the office of the National secretary can realise the prodigious labours, inspiring example and devotion to the cause, the Honourable Diarmuid Lynch contributes daily and weekly. Fortunate indeed is Ireland to have this member of her Parliament assisting the National Council in directing America’s efforts. Ireland owes much to the modest, conscientious and loyal son who brings to his great responsibilities a perfect love for the land of his birth and a comprehensive understanding of America’s traditions and viewpoint.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The upcoming Mason Bill received further support from the Newsletter which also called on individual Friends of Irish Freedom branches to ‘judge the attitude of its own representative. Commendation is in order where deserved, just as well as adverse criticism when justified’ addding that to the ‘average member’ Congressional procedure is difficult to understand ‘except to urge the committee to take a vote.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Judging by an article in the newsletter, the Friends of Freedom for India in New York were in regular contact with the Friends of Irish Freedom in Washington. Mr. Taraknath Das ‘informs us that England is trying by items issued through the daily newspaper press, to create an impression that the agitation is due chiefly to activities of the Moslems. As a matter of fact, the very Government reports show that the Hindus are in complete accord and Christians also are connected with the movement.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter’s editor considered Los Angeles as a city of ‘extreme bigotry and intolerance, probably more so than any other city.’ The Mayor, Meredith P. Synder was alleged to have on ‘several occasions, supported movements inculcating bigotry. His latestest act is to praise the formation of ‘The Anglo-American Unity League, Inc.’.
The Editor smelled more than a rat in its quarter page advert in the LA Times, declaring it ‘exposes clearly its propaganda motives’ as the League stated it’s background and mission statement: ‘Our organisation utilises the combined power of the Press, motion picture screen and all organisations of nation-wide influence to disseminate ‘truthful facts’ that we may, through a more intimate knowledge of each other, develop a greater harmony and reciprocity.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Sir Edward Mackay Edgar ‘one of England’s master business minds’ was incredibly wide of target when he stated ‘I do not believe America a few years hence will be anything like so prominent in international trade or finance or on the ocean routes as she imagines..’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Bantry: Houses were ‘wrecked by police’.
Derry/Londonderry: Detective Sergeant Denis Moroney, Chief of the Crimes Detective Department in Derry became the first policeman killed in Ulster since the start of the War of Independence. Moroney was part of a larger group of policemen who had charged a group of Sinn Fein supporters when he was shot.
London: Dockers refused to load munitions on a ship supplying anti-communist forces in Poland. Within days, the Irish dockers using the parallel between Poland and Ireland, refused to handle any military supplies arriving in Ireland.
Tuam, Co. Galway: Three brothers were sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour for cutting off the hair of Bridget Keegan of Cloondarone. The offence occurred at 12.45 am on 30 April when seven masked men entered the Keegan family home. At least one of the men was armed with a revolver. They grabbed Ms Keegan, who had fainted, and took her out to the yard in her nightdress where they chopped her hair off with a shears. Bridget’s sister, Margaret, who was threatened with a similar fate, was told that this is what Bridget got ‘for going with Tommies’.
Mr Golding, Crown Solicitor, described the crime as a ‘blackguardly action’. ‘All I can say’, he continued, ‘is God help Ireland if these are the acts of Irishmen and God help Ireland if these are the men to free her...Having attempted to free Ireland by cutting off the girl’s hair, to complete the freedom of Ireland they threatened to cut off her ears but they didn’t do so.’ Dr Thompson of Tuam testified that Bridget was still suffering from shock and was under his care. The Resident Magistrate, J. Kilbride, said that it was the worst kind of case to appear before the court, and for that reason they imposed the maximum penalty allowed
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter No.46 headlined a return to the Admiral Simms controversy:
“SIMMS, PRO-BRITISH” SAYS SECRETARY DANIELS’ when a Senate Naval Committee met to investigate charges initially made by the Irish National Bureau of Information in Washington D.C. that his book and articles were anti-Irish and questionable on his revelations of war-time Navy activities:
‘Testimony after testimony brought out at this hearing is branding Simms before the world as pro-British in all his views….Secretary [of the Navy] Daniels himself, in his testimony before the Senate Committee has given open expression to his regret. He said ‘Simms genuflected to British Admiralty ideas and accepted British views so fully and courted British honours so earnestly that he came to regard as anti-British such a rugged American as Admiral Benson, who is ‘All American’ neither ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ with reference to any other country…. If I had known that eh proposed, under the permission granted him to tell the story of what the Navy had doen overseas, to denoucne the Irish people as he did in his articles in ‘World’s Work’, the permission would not have been granted.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Simms continued to be known in some circles in the United States as 'The best damned British Admiral in the United States Navy"
Diarmuid Lynch received a mention in the Newsletter:
‘Only the national officers, and those directly in touch with the office of the National secretary can realise the prodigious labours, inspiring example and devotion to the cause, the Honourable Diarmuid Lynch contributes daily and weekly. Fortunate indeed is Ireland to have this member of her Parliament assisting the National Council in directing America’s efforts. Ireland owes much to the modest, conscientious and loyal son who brings to his great responsibilities a perfect love for the land of his birth and a comprehensive understanding of America’s traditions and viewpoint.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The upcoming Mason Bill received further support from the Newsletter which also called on individual Friends of Irish Freedom branches to ‘judge the attitude of its own representative. Commendation is in order where deserved, just as well as adverse criticism when justified’ addding that to the ‘average member’ Congressional procedure is difficult to understand ‘except to urge the committee to take a vote.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Judging by an article in the newsletter, the Friends of Freedom for India in New York were in regular contact with the Friends of Irish Freedom in Washington. Mr. Taraknath Das ‘informs us that England is trying by items issued through the daily newspaper press, to create an impression that the agitation is due chiefly to activities of the Moslems. As a matter of fact, the very Government reports show that the Hindus are in complete accord and Christians also are connected with the movement.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter’s editor considered Los Angeles as a city of ‘extreme bigotry and intolerance, probably more so than any other city.’ The Mayor, Meredith P. Synder was alleged to have on ‘several occasions, supported movements inculcating bigotry. His latestest act is to praise the formation of ‘The Anglo-American Unity League, Inc.’.
The Editor smelled more than a rat in its quarter page advert in the LA Times, declaring it ‘exposes clearly its propaganda motives’ as the League stated it’s background and mission statement: ‘Our organisation utilises the combined power of the Press, motion picture screen and all organisations of nation-wide influence to disseminate ‘truthful facts’ that we may, through a more intimate knowledge of each other, develop a greater harmony and reciprocity.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Sir Edward Mackay Edgar ‘one of England’s master business minds’ was incredibly wide of target when he stated ‘I do not believe America a few years hence will be anything like so prominent in international trade or finance or on the ocean routes as she imagines..’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 46, May 15, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
16
17
Sinn Fein set up arbitration courts to deal with land agitation in the West where landowners were appealing to the Dail to enforce the law and order that the British forces could no longer guarantee. The first such court was held in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo. The decision, which was found in favour of the landowner was not popular but was enforced by the Republican police. Legal professionals within the Republican movement gave their services. The new Land Commission proved an effective pioneer in the counter-state’s judicial system By the end of the year, the Republican courts were functioning in ten counties and had settled 400 cases.
The High Land Commission Court of the Irish Republic was opened some weeks ago for the first time in Mayo, with a former English barrister presiding. At this inaugural session, the barrister read his war rant from Dáil Eireann, which empowered him to adjudicate upon all disputes arising out of land, and gave him a final voice in all judgments.
“The procedure is very simple, but I cannot hear any case at all until the authorized form of submission is first signed by the parties concerned. Probably in the vast majority of cases I will not give judgement at all until I get back to town and go into my notes of the evidence that will be submitted here.” The reports of the first proceedings of this high court read with a degree of formality which is absent from the proceedings of the neighborhood arbitration courts. It is obvious that administration of justice under the Irish Republic is entering into a further and more highly developed phase; that the beginnings logically made by the local courts are being consistently developed to a complete judicial system."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.6 August 7, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Manchester Guardian commented ‘Accordingly the responsibility for maintaining law and order has devolved upon Sinn Fein, which works in alliance with the Irish Volunteers, who have a police department in their force. A land dispute arbitration court sits five nights a week in Galway City, and can rely upon the volunteers to back up its decisions. It must be added, however, that these decisions are respected scrupulously in the vast majority of cases.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Pitched battles fought in Derry between Unionists and Nationalists.
Reports in British press included announcements that a bureau of military information was to be established in Dublin by Sir Neville Macready, Commander-In-Chief of the British Army in Ireland. The Manchester Guardian reported that Sir Neville’s intention was to establish a press bureau for ‘the dissemination of official facts concerning events in which the British military forces in Ireland are involved.
The proposed Mason Bill did not come up for definite vote and action in the US House of Representatives as expected. The chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ordered a postponement to May 24th ‘much to the surprise of all the friends of the Mason Bill. Congressman Mason was not consulted and later voiced a vigorous protest…Mr Mason…has served official notice that on May 24th he will move to discharge the Committee. If the Committee acts on the 24th the motion will not be pressed; if further delay is occasioned by ‘unseen’ influences, the motion will be pressed…Members of Congress who are afraid to vote on legislation affecting Ireland are open to justifiable criticism. It may be said they are without concientious convictions.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Sinn Fein set up arbitration courts to deal with land agitation in the West where landowners were appealing to the Dail to enforce the law and order that the British forces could no longer guarantee. The first such court was held in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo. The decision, which was found in favour of the landowner was not popular but was enforced by the Republican police. Legal professionals within the Republican movement gave their services. The new Land Commission proved an effective pioneer in the counter-state’s judicial system By the end of the year, the Republican courts were functioning in ten counties and had settled 400 cases.
The High Land Commission Court of the Irish Republic was opened some weeks ago for the first time in Mayo, with a former English barrister presiding. At this inaugural session, the barrister read his war rant from Dáil Eireann, which empowered him to adjudicate upon all disputes arising out of land, and gave him a final voice in all judgments.
“The procedure is very simple, but I cannot hear any case at all until the authorized form of submission is first signed by the parties concerned. Probably in the vast majority of cases I will not give judgement at all until I get back to town and go into my notes of the evidence that will be submitted here.” The reports of the first proceedings of this high court read with a degree of formality which is absent from the proceedings of the neighborhood arbitration courts. It is obvious that administration of justice under the Irish Republic is entering into a further and more highly developed phase; that the beginnings logically made by the local courts are being consistently developed to a complete judicial system."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.6 August 7, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Manchester Guardian commented ‘Accordingly the responsibility for maintaining law and order has devolved upon Sinn Fein, which works in alliance with the Irish Volunteers, who have a police department in their force. A land dispute arbitration court sits five nights a week in Galway City, and can rely upon the volunteers to back up its decisions. It must be added, however, that these decisions are respected scrupulously in the vast majority of cases.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Pitched battles fought in Derry between Unionists and Nationalists.
Reports in British press included announcements that a bureau of military information was to be established in Dublin by Sir Neville Macready, Commander-In-Chief of the British Army in Ireland. The Manchester Guardian reported that Sir Neville’s intention was to establish a press bureau for ‘the dissemination of official facts concerning events in which the British military forces in Ireland are involved.
The proposed Mason Bill did not come up for definite vote and action in the US House of Representatives as expected. The chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ordered a postponement to May 24th ‘much to the surprise of all the friends of the Mason Bill. Congressman Mason was not consulted and later voiced a vigorous protest…Mr Mason…has served official notice that on May 24th he will move to discharge the Committee. If the Committee acts on the 24th the motion will not be pressed; if further delay is occasioned by ‘unseen’ influences, the motion will be pressed…Members of Congress who are afraid to vote on legislation affecting Ireland are open to justifiable criticism. It may be said they are without concientious convictions.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
18
Limerick City ‘shot up by police’
Bantry, Co. Cork: 2,000 British troops landed at Bantry, The Dublin Correspondent of the Daily Herald reported that the British military authorities were intent on trying to placate Ireland with military force, with the new commander of the British army in Ireland, Sir Nevil Macready, planning to establish hundreds of blockhouses throughout the country. These would soon be manned by 30 to 50 well-armed soldiers armed with adequate motor transport. Echoing this sentiment, the Westminster Gazette stated that the government has sanctioned new military measures the cost of which will run into the millions, with Ireland treated in a manner similar to the Transvaal at the latter stages of the Boer war.
‘If the government are bent on such measures it means that they have lost all faith in the home rule bill, and that they are about to fall back on a plan for the reconquest of Ireland’.
The Freeman’s Journal has characterised developments in Bantry as an invasion, likening it to Gallipoli and trumpeting the new British policy as one ‘of conciliation by bayonets’.
Arthur Balfour met with Pope Benedict XV seeking a papal denunciation of Sinn Fein and the IRA. The Beaverbrook owned Sunday Express reported that Balfour asked the Pope would he denounce all incitements to disturbances in Ireland and would he appoint vacant bishoprics himself instead of leaving it to the Irish Hierarchy. The Vatican said no to both.
Attempts were made by a group of Irish American to heal the growing rifts between Devoy and de Valera. As Devoy wrote to Cohalan, the groups organiser Fr. Patrick Healy of the Catholic University, had appealed to ‘de Valera to stop me from defending the organisation [ Friends of Irish Freedom ] from attacks inspired and encouraged by de Valera’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.384
Limerick City ‘shot up by police’
Bantry, Co. Cork: 2,000 British troops landed at Bantry, The Dublin Correspondent of the Daily Herald reported that the British military authorities were intent on trying to placate Ireland with military force, with the new commander of the British army in Ireland, Sir Nevil Macready, planning to establish hundreds of blockhouses throughout the country. These would soon be manned by 30 to 50 well-armed soldiers armed with adequate motor transport. Echoing this sentiment, the Westminster Gazette stated that the government has sanctioned new military measures the cost of which will run into the millions, with Ireland treated in a manner similar to the Transvaal at the latter stages of the Boer war.
‘If the government are bent on such measures it means that they have lost all faith in the home rule bill, and that they are about to fall back on a plan for the reconquest of Ireland’.
The Freeman’s Journal has characterised developments in Bantry as an invasion, likening it to Gallipoli and trumpeting the new British policy as one ‘of conciliation by bayonets’.
Arthur Balfour met with Pope Benedict XV seeking a papal denunciation of Sinn Fein and the IRA. The Beaverbrook owned Sunday Express reported that Balfour asked the Pope would he denounce all incitements to disturbances in Ireland and would he appoint vacant bishoprics himself instead of leaving it to the Irish Hierarchy. The Vatican said no to both.
Attempts were made by a group of Irish American to heal the growing rifts between Devoy and de Valera. As Devoy wrote to Cohalan, the groups organiser Fr. Patrick Healy of the Catholic University, had appealed to ‘de Valera to stop me from defending the organisation [ Friends of Irish Freedom ] from attacks inspired and encouraged by de Valera’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.384
19
Kilcommon, Co Tipperary ‘shot up by police’
The British War Office agreed to General Macready’s request for more troops and held eight battalions on standby to proceed to Ireland if necessary, leaving only 29 battalions as ’the central reserves of the Empire’.
Churchill then proposed ‘to submit a scheme for raising what he called a ‘Special Emergency Gendarmerie’ which would become a branch of the R.I.C - the first one hears of the Auxiliary Division, activated in July and sent its original 500 to Ireland in September. The Auxiliaries were ex-officers, distinguished from the Black & Tans by their uniform and their pay. They were dressed in dark blue uniforms and glengarry [ tam-o-shanter] caps, and they were paid twice as much - £1 a day compared with 10/ a day for the Black and Tans. Their behaviour was also, if possible, twice as brutal...’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p317
In all, 2,214 Auxilliaries were recruited including 281 who had been decorated for gallantry in the war and three were Victoria Cross holders.
‘While the Black and Tans were ‘simple and unsophisticated and too often uncouth. Men of a ‘better type’...were required to deal with the IRA and to help with intelligence work...men who had a public school education, ex army officers with a good military record...more intelligent, more disciplined, more daring and far more ruthless when the mood took them. This was a ‘stop at nothing’ body of desperate men.’
Duff. ‘Six days to shake an Empire’. Dent. 1966. p.257
Lord Birkenhead (F.E. 'Galloper' Smith) announced in the House of Lords that ‘the Government’s policy is to employ the whole available forces and resources of the kingdom to restore law and order in Ireland and to render impossible the existing campaign aiming at ‘secession’”
In other words, The British armed forces were to deploy ‘flying columns’ of military personnel in an attempt to restore order in Ireland. Smith admitted that Ireland was in a state of ‘veiled rebellion’ and added, in recognition of the current limits of British power in Ireland, that ‘it is not at this moment in our power in all parts of Ireland to protect the innocent from isolated assault’. He spoke of the issues facing British forces in Ireland due to the actions of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which is engaged in a ‘succession of cowardly assassinations and murders’, which the authorities are finding much more difficult to deal with than if they would ‘come into the open… to be dealt with by military means...if the troops who are at present in Ireland and those who are now being sent prove insufficient, then more will be sent’, he said.
Also reported in the British press that these ‘flying columns’ will descend unexpectedly on assemblies of so-called ‘terrorists’ and that all prisoners captured and convicted of capital offences will be hanged. The ‘flying column’ policy is understood to be favoured by Dublin Castle and is already in extensive operation in Dublin and Wicklow, where infantry columns are now the norm.
A flying column or squadron of the 11th Hussars has been posted to the Powerscourt demesne with a brief to patrol the mountainous district of County Wicklow, while the Loughlinstown Workhouse is expected to be taken over by troops. Avondale, the residence of Charles Stewart Parnell, was occupied by troops from the Royal Berkshire Regiment, which also has detachments in Arklow, Wicklow, Rathdrum, Bray and Enniskerry. It was believed that residents of Bray and Greystones, whose local economy benefits so much from tourism, are concerned that the heavy military presence will damage the regular holiday traffic.
Meanwhile in Co. Cork, the military had taken occupancy of the Clonakilty Workhouse and patrolled the town at night with fixed bayonets, interrogating individuals who are out of doors.
Archbishop Mannix*of Melbourne left Australia on his way to Rome. First stop en-route would be San Francisco.
* Daniel Mannix (1864-1963 ) was Archbishop of Melbourne 1917-63. Initially Professor of Philosophy in Maynooth in 1894, later became Vice-President and President of the College 1903-12. Appointed Co-adjutor for Melbourne in 1912 until appointment in 1917. However he was better known as an outspoken Nationalist, denouncing British activities in Ireland and particularly virulent in his comments on the Auxillliaries and Black and Tans. As with Nationalism, he was equally outspoken on war, commenting on the 1945 Atomic bombs that such a question was not new ‘…all such bombings, no matter by whom, are indefensible and immoral’.
Strife between coal mine operators and miners attempting to be organised by the United Mine Workers comes to a head on this date with a pitched gun battle in the streets of Matewan, West Virginia. Twelve people, mostly men from the detective agency hired by coal operators to stop the organising, are killed.
Sergeants Kieran Dunphy (32) was killed and Patrick Hearty (53) mortally wounded in Mallow Street, Limerick as they were leaving a doctor’s surgery by members of B Co. Limerick City Batt. An ambush of RIC personnel had been planned for the area but the arrival of both sergeants in uniform forced a change of plan. Hearty died on 22 June.
William J McCabe was shot dead in Killiney County Dublin. McCabe who been employed as head gardener for the Right Honourable Laurence Waldron P.C. for the past ten years, was stopped by masked men at the bottom of Killiney Hill. McCabe though it was a prank played by locals and tried to brush by and was immediately shot in the head, he was a native of Kilcock County Kildare.
Kilcommon, Co Tipperary ‘shot up by police’
The British War Office agreed to General Macready’s request for more troops and held eight battalions on standby to proceed to Ireland if necessary, leaving only 29 battalions as ’the central reserves of the Empire’.
Churchill then proposed ‘to submit a scheme for raising what he called a ‘Special Emergency Gendarmerie’ which would become a branch of the R.I.C - the first one hears of the Auxiliary Division, activated in July and sent its original 500 to Ireland in September. The Auxiliaries were ex-officers, distinguished from the Black & Tans by their uniform and their pay. They were dressed in dark blue uniforms and glengarry [ tam-o-shanter] caps, and they were paid twice as much - £1 a day compared with 10/ a day for the Black and Tans. Their behaviour was also, if possible, twice as brutal...’
George Dangerfield “ The Damnable Question - a study in Anglo-Irish relations” Constable, London. 1977. p317
In all, 2,214 Auxilliaries were recruited including 281 who had been decorated for gallantry in the war and three were Victoria Cross holders.
‘While the Black and Tans were ‘simple and unsophisticated and too often uncouth. Men of a ‘better type’...were required to deal with the IRA and to help with intelligence work...men who had a public school education, ex army officers with a good military record...more intelligent, more disciplined, more daring and far more ruthless when the mood took them. This was a ‘stop at nothing’ body of desperate men.’
Duff. ‘Six days to shake an Empire’. Dent. 1966. p.257
Lord Birkenhead (F.E. 'Galloper' Smith) announced in the House of Lords that ‘the Government’s policy is to employ the whole available forces and resources of the kingdom to restore law and order in Ireland and to render impossible the existing campaign aiming at ‘secession’”
In other words, The British armed forces were to deploy ‘flying columns’ of military personnel in an attempt to restore order in Ireland. Smith admitted that Ireland was in a state of ‘veiled rebellion’ and added, in recognition of the current limits of British power in Ireland, that ‘it is not at this moment in our power in all parts of Ireland to protect the innocent from isolated assault’. He spoke of the issues facing British forces in Ireland due to the actions of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which is engaged in a ‘succession of cowardly assassinations and murders’, which the authorities are finding much more difficult to deal with than if they would ‘come into the open… to be dealt with by military means...if the troops who are at present in Ireland and those who are now being sent prove insufficient, then more will be sent’, he said.
Also reported in the British press that these ‘flying columns’ will descend unexpectedly on assemblies of so-called ‘terrorists’ and that all prisoners captured and convicted of capital offences will be hanged. The ‘flying column’ policy is understood to be favoured by Dublin Castle and is already in extensive operation in Dublin and Wicklow, where infantry columns are now the norm.
A flying column or squadron of the 11th Hussars has been posted to the Powerscourt demesne with a brief to patrol the mountainous district of County Wicklow, while the Loughlinstown Workhouse is expected to be taken over by troops. Avondale, the residence of Charles Stewart Parnell, was occupied by troops from the Royal Berkshire Regiment, which also has detachments in Arklow, Wicklow, Rathdrum, Bray and Enniskerry. It was believed that residents of Bray and Greystones, whose local economy benefits so much from tourism, are concerned that the heavy military presence will damage the regular holiday traffic.
Meanwhile in Co. Cork, the military had taken occupancy of the Clonakilty Workhouse and patrolled the town at night with fixed bayonets, interrogating individuals who are out of doors.
Archbishop Mannix*of Melbourne left Australia on his way to Rome. First stop en-route would be San Francisco.
* Daniel Mannix (1864-1963 ) was Archbishop of Melbourne 1917-63. Initially Professor of Philosophy in Maynooth in 1894, later became Vice-President and President of the College 1903-12. Appointed Co-adjutor for Melbourne in 1912 until appointment in 1917. However he was better known as an outspoken Nationalist, denouncing British activities in Ireland and particularly virulent in his comments on the Auxillliaries and Black and Tans. As with Nationalism, he was equally outspoken on war, commenting on the 1945 Atomic bombs that such a question was not new ‘…all such bombings, no matter by whom, are indefensible and immoral’.
Strife between coal mine operators and miners attempting to be organised by the United Mine Workers comes to a head on this date with a pitched gun battle in the streets of Matewan, West Virginia. Twelve people, mostly men from the detective agency hired by coal operators to stop the organising, are killed.
Sergeants Kieran Dunphy (32) was killed and Patrick Hearty (53) mortally wounded in Mallow Street, Limerick as they were leaving a doctor’s surgery by members of B Co. Limerick City Batt. An ambush of RIC personnel had been planned for the area but the arrival of both sergeants in uniform forced a change of plan. Hearty died on 22 June.
William J McCabe was shot dead in Killiney County Dublin. McCabe who been employed as head gardener for the Right Honourable Laurence Waldron P.C. for the past ten years, was stopped by masked men at the bottom of Killiney Hill. McCabe though it was a prank played by locals and tried to brush by and was immediately shot in the head, he was a native of Kilcock County Kildare.
Cartoon above is from Punch Magazine dated May 19, 1920 and portrays a veteran officer of the British Expeditionary Forces (the first British army sent to the Western Front during the First World War, nicknamed 'The Old Contemptibles') sympathising naturally enough from the British perspective with an armed but injured member of the Royal Irish Constabulary on the nature of the Irish adversaries.
Of the 17,000 Royal Irish Constabulary members in Ireland, 513 were killed by the IRA between 1919-21 while 682 were wounded. The vast majority of the men serving in the RIC in 1919 were Irish-born and raised and as largely only trained for police work, not war, were ill-prepared to take on the counter-insurgency duties expected of them from 1919 let alone their growing ostracisation within Irish society.
During January-March 1920, 600 RIC men resigned from the force of 9,500. In the same period, 500 police barracks and huts in outlying areas were evacuated. The IRA had destroyed over 400 of these by the end of June 1920 to prevent their subsequent reuse. The consequence of this was the removal of RIC authority in many outlying areas and allowing the IRA to assert military & political control in these areas. Large houses were burned, often to punish their owners for allowing them to be used for policing or military purposes or as revenge for the government-backed burning of republican homes. Much of the country's rich architectural heritage was destroyed during this year.
To reinforce the much reduced and demoralised police the United Kingdom government recruited returned World War I veterans from English and Scottish cities. They were sent to Ireland in 1920, to form a police reserve unit which became better known as the despised and feared "Black and Tans" and the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary.
Of the 17,000 Royal Irish Constabulary members in Ireland, 513 were killed by the IRA between 1919-21 while 682 were wounded. The vast majority of the men serving in the RIC in 1919 were Irish-born and raised and as largely only trained for police work, not war, were ill-prepared to take on the counter-insurgency duties expected of them from 1919 let alone their growing ostracisation within Irish society.
During January-March 1920, 600 RIC men resigned from the force of 9,500. In the same period, 500 police barracks and huts in outlying areas were evacuated. The IRA had destroyed over 400 of these by the end of June 1920 to prevent their subsequent reuse. The consequence of this was the removal of RIC authority in many outlying areas and allowing the IRA to assert military & political control in these areas. Large houses were burned, often to punish their owners for allowing them to be used for policing or military purposes or as revenge for the government-backed burning of republican homes. Much of the country's rich architectural heritage was destroyed during this year.
To reinforce the much reduced and demoralised police the United Kingdom government recruited returned World War I veterans from English and Scottish cities. They were sent to Ireland in 1920, to form a police reserve unit which became better known as the despised and feared "Black and Tans" and the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary.
20
Dublin Castle officially announced the retirement of Sir John Taylor, Under-Secretary to the Chief Secretary of Ireland. The Newsletter termed him as ‘an influence in Dublin Castle since the {18] 80’s…has long been recognised by the sufferers in Ireland as one of the most determined organisers of violence and oppression under the name of Imperial Government.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The London Times commented that ‘there is little doubt that the administration machine of Dublin Castle has fallen into disrepair and has long required overhauling. The strain of the present conditions in Ireland has completely deranged it and these appointments probably foresahdow complete reorganisation of the Chief Secretary’s office and a different orientation of policy.’
The Manchester Guardian made an editorial estimate of the Lord Lieutenant: “Then as to Lord French. Whether Lord French stays at the Viceregal Lodge, or goes, matters very little. In neither case will he exercise authority. To begin with, he is not competent to exercise authority in civil matters in a difficult situation and everybody knows it. He proclaimed it himself in his recent famous ‘interview’. “
By now, the three most important new players in Dublin Castle were in place: John Anderson, Andy Cope and Mark Sturgis.
Anderson was from a middle-class background in Edinburgh, widely considered to be the most ablest civil servant of his time, though at times was reported to be aloof and pompous. He was, to all intents and purposes, the head of the British Government in Ireland.
Alfred ‘Andy’ Cope apparently aroused extremes of reaction. From a middle class background, he was considered to be nervous and highly strung. Appointed as Under-Secretary, his function was to improve the administrative machinery of the Castle but had also been given the secret brief by Lloyd George to establish links and open communications with Sinn Fein. He was also to remain in Ireland after the Treaty acting as Chief Liasion with the new Government.
Mark Sturgis was in effect Anderson’s deputy but was never given the title for fear of upsetting Cope. From a landed class background, educated at Eton and Oxford. He had been personal secretary to the former Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and on his move to Dublin, assumed the role of diplomatic attache.
Within months, this civil service junta had effectively sidelined the Chief Secretary Greenwood but the liason between Dublin and Westminster remained a problem and all three shared an intense dislike of Ulster Unionism.
Dublin Castle officially announced the retirement of Sir John Taylor, Under-Secretary to the Chief Secretary of Ireland. The Newsletter termed him as ‘an influence in Dublin Castle since the {18] 80’s…has long been recognised by the sufferers in Ireland as one of the most determined organisers of violence and oppression under the name of Imperial Government.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The London Times commented that ‘there is little doubt that the administration machine of Dublin Castle has fallen into disrepair and has long required overhauling. The strain of the present conditions in Ireland has completely deranged it and these appointments probably foresahdow complete reorganisation of the Chief Secretary’s office and a different orientation of policy.’
The Manchester Guardian made an editorial estimate of the Lord Lieutenant: “Then as to Lord French. Whether Lord French stays at the Viceregal Lodge, or goes, matters very little. In neither case will he exercise authority. To begin with, he is not competent to exercise authority in civil matters in a difficult situation and everybody knows it. He proclaimed it himself in his recent famous ‘interview’. “
By now, the three most important new players in Dublin Castle were in place: John Anderson, Andy Cope and Mark Sturgis.
Anderson was from a middle-class background in Edinburgh, widely considered to be the most ablest civil servant of his time, though at times was reported to be aloof and pompous. He was, to all intents and purposes, the head of the British Government in Ireland.
Alfred ‘Andy’ Cope apparently aroused extremes of reaction. From a middle class background, he was considered to be nervous and highly strung. Appointed as Under-Secretary, his function was to improve the administrative machinery of the Castle but had also been given the secret brief by Lloyd George to establish links and open communications with Sinn Fein. He was also to remain in Ireland after the Treaty acting as Chief Liasion with the new Government.
Mark Sturgis was in effect Anderson’s deputy but was never given the title for fear of upsetting Cope. From a landed class background, educated at Eton and Oxford. He had been personal secretary to the former Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and on his move to Dublin, assumed the role of diplomatic attache.
Within months, this civil service junta had effectively sidelined the Chief Secretary Greenwood but the liason between Dublin and Westminster remained a problem and all three shared an intense dislike of Ulster Unionism.
21
The Government proposes a car tax of £1 per horsepower.
A Worker’s Soviet was proclaimed in Knocklong, Co. Limerick at the Cleeve family owned Knocklong Creamery. The Red Flag was hoisted and the company's nameplate removed. In its place was put a sign Knocklong Soviet Creamery and above this “We make butter not profits”. All the depots were occupied and the much hated manager, Riordan, was ordered out and a new manager elected from the ranks of the union members.
97% of the usual milk went to the creamery. Two tons of butter were made each day, and all the orders filled, including those of Belfast. For a few weeks, the local Trades Council ran the town, issuing ration cards and comandeering supplies and means of production.The workers were making a better job of running things and within weeks, the owners capitulated. They contacted the Soviet Creamery where the workers gave them a list of demands including more pay, less hours, more holidays, the permanent sacking of Riordan and no victimisation. After just 11 hours Cleeves conceded these terms. On being given back the creamery their first act was to paint out the Soviet sign. . . with green paint. This victory led other Cleeves staff to occupy and win demands in Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir and Limerick. The least successful fight was in Tipperary where the women occupiers found it impossible to get supplies or markets. But even there they got half the wage rise they were looking for.
A wave of occupations, mainly in Munster, then occurred. The Co Wexford Farmers Association warned of Red Flag Terrorist Agitators. Over 400 landlords were dispossessed by agricultural labourers until the IRA came to the aid of the gentry by having the republican land courts order an end to illegal seizures.
This Irish Soviet was not an isolated incident. The IRA was used to smash a farm strike in Bulgaden and to evict a Soviet occupation from the mills at Quarterstown. Countess Markievicz warned of the imminence of social revolution. Her friends in the Dail decided “All this is a grave menace to the Republic. The mind of the people is being diverted from the struggle for freedom by a class war.”
In Washington, William Mason advised the Bureau of Irish Information Chief, O’Connell, that the House Concurrent Resolution No.56 which was introduced in April, had little chance of being given favourable action by the Committee on Foreign Affairs. A meeting was organised for the following day with De Valera, Judge Cohalan and Congressmen Kennedy of Rhode Island and Smith of New York.
Henry Ford’s ‘Dearborn Independent’ newspaper carried a report from their ‘special observer’ in Ireland, Denis L. O’Connell on the successes of the manner in which the ‘Sinn Fein Secret Service has outwitted the British intelligence for many months past.’. O’Connell wrote ‘Irishmen all over the world know what a power the Government’s secret agents had in all times up to this. They know of the lavish awards that were offered for political information…in times gone by $1,500 award was considered a big amount and generally brought results. The cities of Ireland today are placarded with posters offering $50,000 and farms in the Colonies, with protection, but nobody comes to claim. Some people say that the reason for the Government’s failure is that many of the ‘G’ men of Dublin Castle have become imbued with the freedom of spirit and have their hearts no longer in the job. At any rate it is unmistakably clear that the old fortress of ascendancy is not nearly so clever and astute as it used to be in the times of the Fenians.’ And summarising ‘I have been told that England will never countenance an Irish Republic, but whether the British Government likes it or not, it has to face the full facts of the situation and at the moment the Irish Republic does exisit in very nearly three-fourths of the country’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. & Vol.11, No.1. July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Government proposes a car tax of £1 per horsepower.
A Worker’s Soviet was proclaimed in Knocklong, Co. Limerick at the Cleeve family owned Knocklong Creamery. The Red Flag was hoisted and the company's nameplate removed. In its place was put a sign Knocklong Soviet Creamery and above this “We make butter not profits”. All the depots were occupied and the much hated manager, Riordan, was ordered out and a new manager elected from the ranks of the union members.
97% of the usual milk went to the creamery. Two tons of butter were made each day, and all the orders filled, including those of Belfast. For a few weeks, the local Trades Council ran the town, issuing ration cards and comandeering supplies and means of production.The workers were making a better job of running things and within weeks, the owners capitulated. They contacted the Soviet Creamery where the workers gave them a list of demands including more pay, less hours, more holidays, the permanent sacking of Riordan and no victimisation. After just 11 hours Cleeves conceded these terms. On being given back the creamery their first act was to paint out the Soviet sign. . . with green paint. This victory led other Cleeves staff to occupy and win demands in Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir and Limerick. The least successful fight was in Tipperary where the women occupiers found it impossible to get supplies or markets. But even there they got half the wage rise they were looking for.
A wave of occupations, mainly in Munster, then occurred. The Co Wexford Farmers Association warned of Red Flag Terrorist Agitators. Over 400 landlords were dispossessed by agricultural labourers until the IRA came to the aid of the gentry by having the republican land courts order an end to illegal seizures.
This Irish Soviet was not an isolated incident. The IRA was used to smash a farm strike in Bulgaden and to evict a Soviet occupation from the mills at Quarterstown. Countess Markievicz warned of the imminence of social revolution. Her friends in the Dail decided “All this is a grave menace to the Republic. The mind of the people is being diverted from the struggle for freedom by a class war.”
In Washington, William Mason advised the Bureau of Irish Information Chief, O’Connell, that the House Concurrent Resolution No.56 which was introduced in April, had little chance of being given favourable action by the Committee on Foreign Affairs. A meeting was organised for the following day with De Valera, Judge Cohalan and Congressmen Kennedy of Rhode Island and Smith of New York.
Henry Ford’s ‘Dearborn Independent’ newspaper carried a report from their ‘special observer’ in Ireland, Denis L. O’Connell on the successes of the manner in which the ‘Sinn Fein Secret Service has outwitted the British intelligence for many months past.’. O’Connell wrote ‘Irishmen all over the world know what a power the Government’s secret agents had in all times up to this. They know of the lavish awards that were offered for political information…in times gone by $1,500 award was considered a big amount and generally brought results. The cities of Ireland today are placarded with posters offering $50,000 and farms in the Colonies, with protection, but nobody comes to claim. Some people say that the reason for the Government’s failure is that many of the ‘G’ men of Dublin Castle have become imbued with the freedom of spirit and have their hearts no longer in the job. At any rate it is unmistakably clear that the old fortress of ascendancy is not nearly so clever and astute as it used to be in the times of the Fenians.’ And summarising ‘I have been told that England will never countenance an Irish Republic, but whether the British Government likes it or not, it has to face the full facts of the situation and at the moment the Irish Republic does exisit in very nearly three-fourths of the country’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. & Vol.11, No.1. July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
22
A conference to discuss the proposed Mason Resolution was held in the Irish National Bureau in Washington. Attending were Mason, De Valera, Judge Cohalan, Congressmen Kennedy of Rhode Island and Al Smith of New York. The developments of the day were explained in detail to President de Valera and it was agreed that a defeat of the resolution ‘would be inadvisable, and it was better to get a resolution of substantial merit (approved by Congress). President De Valera personally dictated a new substitute.’ (The Resolution became known as ‘The Mason Resolution no.57’ )
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.357
This was to come before the Committee on Foreign Affairs on May 27th.
At another meeting later the same day, Judge Cohalan met with John E Milholland and De Valera where it was ‘strongly urged that the Friends of Irish Freedom advance $50,000 for the purpose of making ‘a tremendous display at Chicago to drive through the Republican Convention the resolution in favour of recognition’. Judge Cohalan opposed this expenditure and these tactics, but De Valera sent Millholland to Chicago to exert what pressure he could command..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.374
Frank P. Walsh and other Irish-Americans close to De Valera advised him not to attend the Republican convention, but he disregarded this advice, much to the consternation of his friends. The situation is graphically described by McCartan:
"Frank P. Walsh, Bourke Cockran and others had advised President de Valera that it would be improper for him and dangerous to intrude upon the Convention. The risks he ran I made abundantly clear to him in a talk in which I supposed he meant his presence in Chicago to remain secret. So when I saw, in the New York World, that his departure with Sean Nunan for the Republican Convention had leaked out, I at once wrote through a third party advising him to leave Chicago immediately. , . . Before my letter could reach him, he ordered me by telegraph to join him in Chicago. So there we were President de Valera, Mellows, Nunan, and I all four of us, members of a foreign mission, trespassing on American hospitality. And our trespassing did not end with our presence. We opened offices, with huge circus posters outside on Michigan Boulevard; headquarters at the Blackstone Hotel at the Convention centre. . . . There was no chance of offending America that we did not take..."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.374-375
The Twenty-second Annual Convention of the Georgia State Federation of Labor went on record as opposed to all propaganda and legislation which may interfere with the activity of those "patriots now struggling for freedom and the privilege of establishing a government of their own choice and has further resolved that this body go on record as being in full sympathy with Ireland in her present struggle for freedom and self-determination.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Railwaymen as well as dockers were now refusing to handle munitions, transport soldiers & armed police throughout the country and the issue quickly escalated. The result was to disrupt the movement of British troops and supplies at a critical period, an immediate shortage of available trucks and then when they did manage to form a convoy, naturally they became an irresistible target for the Irish Volunteers for miles around.
Religion played an important part in the life of the average Irish American. The Newsletter carried an article on how Cardinal O’Connell was ‘signally honoured by the prelates of Ireland…appreciating deeply the extraordinary assistance given to Ireland’s struggle for recognition as an independent nation… that Cardinal O’Connell should preside at the solemn benediction to be held [in Rome for the beatification of Oliver Plunkett.]… it is noteworthy that the bishops of Ireland, in observing the canonisation of an Irish saint should give to an American the distinction of presiding.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The formation of an organisation known as the ‘League of Nations Union’ came to the attention of the Newsletter editor, Daniel O’Connell. Its purpose, according to O’Connell was to force ratification of the League of Nations Covenant by the United States Senate. ‘Viscount Grey, Admiral Beatty, Former Premier Asquith, Lord Robert Cecil, Sir Hubert Gough and Mr. Clynes are circularising the English press with petition asking for funds. It is to be expected of course that when the American branches are organised the usual list of our distinguished pro-English advocates will become honorary patrons, councilors and agents.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Meanwhile in Detroit, Michigan, the Abraham Lincoln Post, No. 1 of the private Soldiers and Sailors Legion adopted unanimously the resolution condemning ‘the un-American act of the American legion in some Eastern cities prohibiting President de Valera of the Irish Republic from speaking. It is hard to believe that such actions speak the real sentiment of the men who fought for the principles of free speech, free press and peaceful assemblage, but rather the long arm of British propaganda. It was further resolved that this Post, composed of over 1,000 veterans of the World War, give their moral support to Ireland in her fight for liberty.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
One of the Irish constructive Unionists, Earl Dunraven attacked the Home Rule bill saying ‘the majority in Ireland are so convinced of the fradulent nature of the measure as to consider examination mere waste of time.’ Another anti-independence supporter, Sir Horace Plunkett said ‘When I ask Englishmen what would happen if anything like the present regime in Ireland were attempted elsewhere in the United Kingdom, the only answer I get is that nothing like the present regime could be attempted.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
London: The British government has moved to distance itself from one of its senior military officers in India, General Reginald Dyer, whose decision to fire on unarmed civilians in April 1919 resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and injuries to more than 1,000 in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. The move followed the publication of a report by the commission established in November 1919 under Lord William Hunter to investigate the circumstances of the atrocity.
That commission, however, had not arrived at a unanimous decision about what happened, its majority verdict bringing only the very mildest criticism of the general responsible. General Dyer was acting out of a ‘mistaken concept of duty’, according to the majority of the members of the commission. In effect, General Dyer’s error was to use force greatly exceeding that required to disburse the crowd on the day in question, resulting in unnecessary loss of life and suffering.
The commission also rebuked Sir Michael O’Dwyer, the Irish-born Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, the region where the killings took place, stating that he should have suspended judgement instead of endorsing General Dyer’s actions.
The conclusions of the commission have, the Irish Independent has argued, been ‘toned down by the bias of the English witnesses’. The paper also points out that not all the evidence is laid out in the report as Sir Michael O’Dwyer gave his testimony behind closed doors. In contrast to the Hunter Commission, a report by the Indian National Congress is far more stark in its description of events in Amritsar. They describe the massacre as a premeditated ‘calculated act of inhumanity’ and disputed the official death count of 379, saying it was far more likely to be closer to 1,000.
The British historian Froude (1818-94) was referenced by the Friends Newsletter. The English historian wrote in the 1880's, recognising that, to free herself from English "tyranny, Ireland must, of necessity, look to friends abroad. The Irish were not to be blamed if they looked to Spain, to France, to any friend on earth or in Heaven to deliver them from a power which discharged no single duty that rulers hold to subjects.”
"Stupidity is the word which most fitly characterizes the attitude of the British government toward Ireland. The late Henry Labouchere, one of the few Englishmen who, for reasons other than political expediency, was a sterling champion of Home Rule when Home Rule was a live issue, always insisted that the stupidity of his fellow countrymen was at the base of the Irish trouble. The whole long story of English misrule in Ireland justifies to the full that point of view. “A crass stupidity unparalleled in history” is how Dr. P. J. Lennox designated it in the North American Review for June 1912. The late Lord Morris of Killanin, himself a vigorous opponent of Home Rule, on being asked by the wife of an English viceroy in Ireland to tell her the real cause of Irish disaffection, bluntly replied that all the trouble arose from the fact that a stupid race like the English persisted in trying to govern a clever race like the Irish. The leopard does not change his spots. The old characteristic British stupidity was never more rampant than at present. Even the London Times is forced to admit in a recent issue that “the brains of Dublin Castle are out witted at every turn by the brains of the revolutionary movement.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A conference to discuss the proposed Mason Resolution was held in the Irish National Bureau in Washington. Attending were Mason, De Valera, Judge Cohalan, Congressmen Kennedy of Rhode Island and Al Smith of New York. The developments of the day were explained in detail to President de Valera and it was agreed that a defeat of the resolution ‘would be inadvisable, and it was better to get a resolution of substantial merit (approved by Congress). President De Valera personally dictated a new substitute.’ (The Resolution became known as ‘The Mason Resolution no.57’ )
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.357
This was to come before the Committee on Foreign Affairs on May 27th.
At another meeting later the same day, Judge Cohalan met with John E Milholland and De Valera where it was ‘strongly urged that the Friends of Irish Freedom advance $50,000 for the purpose of making ‘a tremendous display at Chicago to drive through the Republican Convention the resolution in favour of recognition’. Judge Cohalan opposed this expenditure and these tactics, but De Valera sent Millholland to Chicago to exert what pressure he could command..’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.374
Frank P. Walsh and other Irish-Americans close to De Valera advised him not to attend the Republican convention, but he disregarded this advice, much to the consternation of his friends. The situation is graphically described by McCartan:
"Frank P. Walsh, Bourke Cockran and others had advised President de Valera that it would be improper for him and dangerous to intrude upon the Convention. The risks he ran I made abundantly clear to him in a talk in which I supposed he meant his presence in Chicago to remain secret. So when I saw, in the New York World, that his departure with Sean Nunan for the Republican Convention had leaked out, I at once wrote through a third party advising him to leave Chicago immediately. , . . Before my letter could reach him, he ordered me by telegraph to join him in Chicago. So there we were President de Valera, Mellows, Nunan, and I all four of us, members of a foreign mission, trespassing on American hospitality. And our trespassing did not end with our presence. We opened offices, with huge circus posters outside on Michigan Boulevard; headquarters at the Blackstone Hotel at the Convention centre. . . . There was no chance of offending America that we did not take..."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.374-375
The Twenty-second Annual Convention of the Georgia State Federation of Labor went on record as opposed to all propaganda and legislation which may interfere with the activity of those "patriots now struggling for freedom and the privilege of establishing a government of their own choice and has further resolved that this body go on record as being in full sympathy with Ireland in her present struggle for freedom and self-determination.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Railwaymen as well as dockers were now refusing to handle munitions, transport soldiers & armed police throughout the country and the issue quickly escalated. The result was to disrupt the movement of British troops and supplies at a critical period, an immediate shortage of available trucks and then when they did manage to form a convoy, naturally they became an irresistible target for the Irish Volunteers for miles around.
Religion played an important part in the life of the average Irish American. The Newsletter carried an article on how Cardinal O’Connell was ‘signally honoured by the prelates of Ireland…appreciating deeply the extraordinary assistance given to Ireland’s struggle for recognition as an independent nation… that Cardinal O’Connell should preside at the solemn benediction to be held [in Rome for the beatification of Oliver Plunkett.]… it is noteworthy that the bishops of Ireland, in observing the canonisation of an Irish saint should give to an American the distinction of presiding.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The formation of an organisation known as the ‘League of Nations Union’ came to the attention of the Newsletter editor, Daniel O’Connell. Its purpose, according to O’Connell was to force ratification of the League of Nations Covenant by the United States Senate. ‘Viscount Grey, Admiral Beatty, Former Premier Asquith, Lord Robert Cecil, Sir Hubert Gough and Mr. Clynes are circularising the English press with petition asking for funds. It is to be expected of course that when the American branches are organised the usual list of our distinguished pro-English advocates will become honorary patrons, councilors and agents.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Meanwhile in Detroit, Michigan, the Abraham Lincoln Post, No. 1 of the private Soldiers and Sailors Legion adopted unanimously the resolution condemning ‘the un-American act of the American legion in some Eastern cities prohibiting President de Valera of the Irish Republic from speaking. It is hard to believe that such actions speak the real sentiment of the men who fought for the principles of free speech, free press and peaceful assemblage, but rather the long arm of British propaganda. It was further resolved that this Post, composed of over 1,000 veterans of the World War, give their moral support to Ireland in her fight for liberty.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
One of the Irish constructive Unionists, Earl Dunraven attacked the Home Rule bill saying ‘the majority in Ireland are so convinced of the fradulent nature of the measure as to consider examination mere waste of time.’ Another anti-independence supporter, Sir Horace Plunkett said ‘When I ask Englishmen what would happen if anything like the present regime in Ireland were attempted elsewhere in the United Kingdom, the only answer I get is that nothing like the present regime could be attempted.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
London: The British government has moved to distance itself from one of its senior military officers in India, General Reginald Dyer, whose decision to fire on unarmed civilians in April 1919 resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and injuries to more than 1,000 in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. The move followed the publication of a report by the commission established in November 1919 under Lord William Hunter to investigate the circumstances of the atrocity.
That commission, however, had not arrived at a unanimous decision about what happened, its majority verdict bringing only the very mildest criticism of the general responsible. General Dyer was acting out of a ‘mistaken concept of duty’, according to the majority of the members of the commission. In effect, General Dyer’s error was to use force greatly exceeding that required to disburse the crowd on the day in question, resulting in unnecessary loss of life and suffering.
The commission also rebuked Sir Michael O’Dwyer, the Irish-born Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, the region where the killings took place, stating that he should have suspended judgement instead of endorsing General Dyer’s actions.
The conclusions of the commission have, the Irish Independent has argued, been ‘toned down by the bias of the English witnesses’. The paper also points out that not all the evidence is laid out in the report as Sir Michael O’Dwyer gave his testimony behind closed doors. In contrast to the Hunter Commission, a report by the Indian National Congress is far more stark in its description of events in Amritsar. They describe the massacre as a premeditated ‘calculated act of inhumanity’ and disputed the official death count of 379, saying it was far more likely to be closer to 1,000.
The British historian Froude (1818-94) was referenced by the Friends Newsletter. The English historian wrote in the 1880's, recognising that, to free herself from English "tyranny, Ireland must, of necessity, look to friends abroad. The Irish were not to be blamed if they looked to Spain, to France, to any friend on earth or in Heaven to deliver them from a power which discharged no single duty that rulers hold to subjects.”
"Stupidity is the word which most fitly characterizes the attitude of the British government toward Ireland. The late Henry Labouchere, one of the few Englishmen who, for reasons other than political expediency, was a sterling champion of Home Rule when Home Rule was a live issue, always insisted that the stupidity of his fellow countrymen was at the base of the Irish trouble. The whole long story of English misrule in Ireland justifies to the full that point of view. “A crass stupidity unparalleled in history” is how Dr. P. J. Lennox designated it in the North American Review for June 1912. The late Lord Morris of Killanin, himself a vigorous opponent of Home Rule, on being asked by the wife of an English viceroy in Ireland to tell her the real cause of Irish disaffection, bluntly replied that all the trouble arose from the fact that a stupid race like the English persisted in trying to govern a clever race like the Irish. The leopard does not change his spots. The old characteristic British stupidity was never more rampant than at present. Even the London Times is forced to admit in a recent issue that “the brains of Dublin Castle are out witted at every turn by the brains of the revolutionary movement.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 47, May 22, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter in New York commented on Sir John Taylor's retirement as Under Secretary of the Chief Secretary for Ireland: "England admits the failure of the terrible and bloody game which she has been playing in that country. Taylor, has been an influence in Dublin Castle since the 80’s of the last century, has long been recognized by the sufferers in Ireland as one of the most determined organizers of violence and oppression under the name of Imperial government. The change in personnel of the Castle is chiefly important as an admission of past failure. It is probable that the new collaboration will offer merely a different variety of blunders from the old. Yet British opinion is slowly awakening to the international scandal which it has kept at its elbow. Even the London Times is forced to conclude: “There is little doubt that the administration machine of Dublin Castle has fallen into disrepair and has long required overhauling. The strain of present conditions in Ireland has completely deranged it and these appointments probably foreshadow complete reorganization of the Chief Secretary’s office and a different orientation of policy.” ".
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives It didn't take a weatherman to tell Sir John which way the wind was blowing. He quickly opted to return to Britain and obscurity, leaving within days under armed escort. His Dublin house at 12 Bushy Park Road, Rathgar was sold shortly afterwards to a surprising purchaser.The Newsletter takes up the story: "One of the jokes of the season is the purchase of Sir John Taylor’s house in Dublin by one of the most forceful and unsparing of his critics—Mr. Erskine Childers. We are told that Mr. Childers did not know, until the negotiations for purchase were completed, who was the vendor of the premises and Sir John Taylor was equally ignorant of the identity of the purchaser." Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives After being appointed director of publicity for the first Dáil, Collins gave Childers a small Spanish revolver that he always kept on his person. This revolver was stored in a secret compartment in a stair tread leading from the hall return to the first floor at 12 Bushy Park Road. The house now became a Republican press bureau and general post office for Dáil interdepartmental material, while Childer's American wife Molly hosted foreign correspondents in the drawing room. 12 Bushy Park Road was raided for the first time later in 1920. |
23
The Sunday Independent responding to proposals to re-introduce a conscription law in England to provide an army large enough to conquer Ireland, wrote: ‘we do not feel capable of commenting adequately on the spectacle of the Lord Chancellor pledging a conscripted British democracy to the task of subduing rebellion in Ireland. It is one of those pictures which defy burlesque or caricature by reason of its sheer inate insanity. The British public which can face it without an explosion of wild anger or wild laughter deserves to remain the British public.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Peter Kelly of Aghagad County Roscommon was shot dead in his home. The jury at his inquest returned a verdict that he was killed by persons unknown with deliberate intention of killing the deceased.
The Sunday Independent responding to proposals to re-introduce a conscription law in England to provide an army large enough to conquer Ireland, wrote: ‘we do not feel capable of commenting adequately on the spectacle of the Lord Chancellor pledging a conscripted British democracy to the task of subduing rebellion in Ireland. It is one of those pictures which defy burlesque or caricature by reason of its sheer inate insanity. The British public which can face it without an explosion of wild anger or wild laughter deserves to remain the British public.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Peter Kelly of Aghagad County Roscommon was shot dead in his home. The jury at his inquest returned a verdict that he was killed by persons unknown with deliberate intention of killing the deceased.
24
At the inquest into the murder of Sergeant Hearty in Limerick on 19th May, an associate of both Sergeants, Constable Igoe stated ‘I wish to state here that if the Sinn Fein organisations think they will terrorise the police force in carrying out their duties they are making a very big mistake. On the contrary, they are making them more determined every day to carry out their duties’
Work began throughout the country on large RIC barracks, providing protective shuttering and sandbags.
Kingstown: Irish members of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) joined with the dockers of Dublin in refusing to handle war munitions arriving into Ireland. The situation, which had been developing over the previous few days, escalated further with the arrival of army stores and weapons at Kingstown aboard the SS Polbein on 22 May. After the dockers refused to handle the cargo, soldiers were forced to unload the freight from the boat to train carriages. However, the train’s firemen and drivers then refused to convey the carriages to Dublin, and signalmen, reportedly acting on NUR instructions, made it clear that they would vacate their boxes if asked to signal the progress of the train to Dublin City. Soldiers later transported the munitions on military lorries.
The executive of the NUR also passed a resolution expressing serious concern at the unnecessary bloodshed in Ireland, and called for a meeting of the joint board of railwaymen, miners and transport workers, known as the Triple Alliance, with a view to examining the whole question of Ireland. To assist the Triple Alliance in their examinations, the strike committee in Dublin decided to send a deputation consisting of Mathew O’Brien (chairman), James Manwheeler and William Coffey, who have been given the following instructions: ‘No surrender, and remember this is not a question of Sinn Féinism or Orangeism, but a protest against militarism and the landing of arms which might be turned on their fellow countrymen.’
Ben Tillet, an English Labour MP, said that the dockers union was going to ‘fight for Ireland all ends up; we have our own means and are going to utilise them to the full.’
There was also union support for Ireland in Glasgow where J. McKinley told the National Union of Clerks that the people of Ireland had demanded their right to decide their own destiny and should be free to work out their own social and economic salvation.
France: President Deschanel of France falls from his sleeper train & is later found wandering on the line in his pyjamas.
The 7th Modern Olympic Games are inaugurated in Antwerp, the first since 1912 in London. The events would begin on August 14th.
In an interview with Judge Cohalan published in the Boston Post, he scotched rumours that the adoption of the proposed Mason Bill could give cause for Great Britain to break diplomatic relations with the United States adding ‘it may not please some members of the governing class of England who want to rule the world, but by the great mass of the English people who believe in liberty it will be regarded as a suggestion…of a way out of the impasse that affairs have reached in Ireland. The English people do not want war. They ware weary of its burdens…passage of the Mason bill in it's present form would be a long step in the direction of permanent peace for all mankind….it would give notice to England in a friendly way that America is determined that the purpose for which we entered the war shall be attained..’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
At the inquest into the murder of Sergeant Hearty in Limerick on 19th May, an associate of both Sergeants, Constable Igoe stated ‘I wish to state here that if the Sinn Fein organisations think they will terrorise the police force in carrying out their duties they are making a very big mistake. On the contrary, they are making them more determined every day to carry out their duties’
Work began throughout the country on large RIC barracks, providing protective shuttering and sandbags.
Kingstown: Irish members of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) joined with the dockers of Dublin in refusing to handle war munitions arriving into Ireland. The situation, which had been developing over the previous few days, escalated further with the arrival of army stores and weapons at Kingstown aboard the SS Polbein on 22 May. After the dockers refused to handle the cargo, soldiers were forced to unload the freight from the boat to train carriages. However, the train’s firemen and drivers then refused to convey the carriages to Dublin, and signalmen, reportedly acting on NUR instructions, made it clear that they would vacate their boxes if asked to signal the progress of the train to Dublin City. Soldiers later transported the munitions on military lorries.
The executive of the NUR also passed a resolution expressing serious concern at the unnecessary bloodshed in Ireland, and called for a meeting of the joint board of railwaymen, miners and transport workers, known as the Triple Alliance, with a view to examining the whole question of Ireland. To assist the Triple Alliance in their examinations, the strike committee in Dublin decided to send a deputation consisting of Mathew O’Brien (chairman), James Manwheeler and William Coffey, who have been given the following instructions: ‘No surrender, and remember this is not a question of Sinn Féinism or Orangeism, but a protest against militarism and the landing of arms which might be turned on their fellow countrymen.’
Ben Tillet, an English Labour MP, said that the dockers union was going to ‘fight for Ireland all ends up; we have our own means and are going to utilise them to the full.’
There was also union support for Ireland in Glasgow where J. McKinley told the National Union of Clerks that the people of Ireland had demanded their right to decide their own destiny and should be free to work out their own social and economic salvation.
France: President Deschanel of France falls from his sleeper train & is later found wandering on the line in his pyjamas.
The 7th Modern Olympic Games are inaugurated in Antwerp, the first since 1912 in London. The events would begin on August 14th.
In an interview with Judge Cohalan published in the Boston Post, he scotched rumours that the adoption of the proposed Mason Bill could give cause for Great Britain to break diplomatic relations with the United States adding ‘it may not please some members of the governing class of England who want to rule the world, but by the great mass of the English people who believe in liberty it will be regarded as a suggestion…of a way out of the impasse that affairs have reached in Ireland. The English people do not want war. They ware weary of its burdens…passage of the Mason bill in it's present form would be a long step in the direction of permanent peace for all mankind….it would give notice to England in a friendly way that America is determined that the purpose for which we entered the war shall be attained..’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
25
At the biennial convention of the Hibernian Life Insurance Association held at Emmet Memorial Hall, Chicago, May 25, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: “Moved and seconded that we recommend the stand which the Irish people are now taking for recognition of the Irish Republic by other nations of the world; and that we extend to President Eamon de Valera, the duly elected representative of the Republic of Ireland, a genuine “Cead Mile Failte' to this great sister Republic, the United States of America.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
At the biennial convention of the Hibernian Life Insurance Association held at Emmet Memorial Hall, Chicago, May 25, the following resolution was unanimously adopted: “Moved and seconded that we recommend the stand which the Irish people are now taking for recognition of the Irish Republic by other nations of the world; and that we extend to President Eamon de Valera, the duly elected representative of the Republic of Ireland, a genuine “Cead Mile Failte' to this great sister Republic, the United States of America.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
26
A mass meeting was held at Cooper Union, New York, at which Frank P. Walsh was the principal speaker. The meeting adopted unanimously a resolution addressed to the British Labour Party, one paragraph of which is as follows s reported in the Newsletter: : “In the universal spirit of labor and the name of our common human rights, we ask you in this awesome moment to exert your mighty political force as well as every ounce of your irresistible economic power to the end that the officials at present by your will in control of government immediately withdraw the Army of Occupation from Ireland, and permit its people to peacefully pursue their lives under the form of government which they have lawfully chosen, through laws made by themselves and executed by their duly elected officials,”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter highlighted what it termed as 'British official propaganda' had undertaken the publication at frequent intervals of lists of “Outrages attributed to Sinn Fein.”
"A recent government pronouncement of this character included the following item: “Threatening Letters, 166.” The following excerpt from a recent issue of the Irish Independent shows the true character of the great proportion of these alleged threatening letters: “A week ago two licensed traders of Ballinagare (Roscommon) received notices purporting to be signed by the local Sinn Fein club, stating that if they did not leave £20 at a certain gate on a certain night they would be made to suffer. The traders took no notice of the matter, but two days later they received two further communications of a more threatening character. The two traders then interviewed the captain of the Sinn Fein club, and he said he had no knowledge of the matter and that the documents did not emanate from the club. It was then decided to make up a parcel of soap wrappers and leave it at the place indicated. The Sinn Fein club had a muster of their members who were concealed near the gate. Within a short time three men approached the parcel and were seized by the Sinn Feiners. The men in question who were subsequently liberated, had no connection with the Sinn Fein club or movement.” -
The Newsletter continues: "The most recent news fake foisted on the American public by the publicity agents of British imperialism was promptly exposed by President de Valera in the interview printed in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, last week, on the day following the publication in the same paper of Carl W. Ackerman’s “discovery” of a purported constitution of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. As the President pointed out, Mr. Ackerman’s dispatch with its London date line bears all the earmarks of familiar British propaganda, and displays a close tactical resemblance to the dispatches fathered by the British government in 1918 when it wished to create a pretext for the wholesale arrest of Irish men and women. This time the move has proved to be an obviously clumsy one. Inter nal evidence in the document itself proves that even if it is authentic, it ante dated the establishment of the Republic of Ireland. The lesson to be learned from the publication of Mr. Ackerman’s news fake is one of vital importance to all American editors at this particular time when English agencies are flooding this country with news stories which demand the most careful verification."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
A mass meeting was held at Cooper Union, New York, at which Frank P. Walsh was the principal speaker. The meeting adopted unanimously a resolution addressed to the British Labour Party, one paragraph of which is as follows s reported in the Newsletter: : “In the universal spirit of labor and the name of our common human rights, we ask you in this awesome moment to exert your mighty political force as well as every ounce of your irresistible economic power to the end that the officials at present by your will in control of government immediately withdraw the Army of Occupation from Ireland, and permit its people to peacefully pursue their lives under the form of government which they have lawfully chosen, through laws made by themselves and executed by their duly elected officials,”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter highlighted what it termed as 'British official propaganda' had undertaken the publication at frequent intervals of lists of “Outrages attributed to Sinn Fein.”
"A recent government pronouncement of this character included the following item: “Threatening Letters, 166.” The following excerpt from a recent issue of the Irish Independent shows the true character of the great proportion of these alleged threatening letters: “A week ago two licensed traders of Ballinagare (Roscommon) received notices purporting to be signed by the local Sinn Fein club, stating that if they did not leave £20 at a certain gate on a certain night they would be made to suffer. The traders took no notice of the matter, but two days later they received two further communications of a more threatening character. The two traders then interviewed the captain of the Sinn Fein club, and he said he had no knowledge of the matter and that the documents did not emanate from the club. It was then decided to make up a parcel of soap wrappers and leave it at the place indicated. The Sinn Fein club had a muster of their members who were concealed near the gate. Within a short time three men approached the parcel and were seized by the Sinn Feiners. The men in question who were subsequently liberated, had no connection with the Sinn Fein club or movement.” -
The Newsletter continues: "The most recent news fake foisted on the American public by the publicity agents of British imperialism was promptly exposed by President de Valera in the interview printed in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, last week, on the day following the publication in the same paper of Carl W. Ackerman’s “discovery” of a purported constitution of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. As the President pointed out, Mr. Ackerman’s dispatch with its London date line bears all the earmarks of familiar British propaganda, and displays a close tactical resemblance to the dispatches fathered by the British government in 1918 when it wished to create a pretext for the wholesale arrest of Irish men and women. This time the move has proved to be an obviously clumsy one. Inter nal evidence in the document itself proves that even if it is authentic, it ante dated the establishment of the Republic of Ireland. The lesson to be learned from the publication of Mr. Ackerman’s news fake is one of vital importance to all American editors at this particular time when English agencies are flooding this country with news stories which demand the most careful verification."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Punch over-emphasising the involvement of the US Government in Irish issues 'preventing' a stronger stand being taken with the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20. The accompanying verse (as politically incorrect as could be a century on) makes it plain, that America, as far as Punch is concerned at any rate, should keep it's nose out of British affairs in Ireland and instead concentrate on it's own backyard. The Mexican Revolution armed conflict is often characterised as the most important sociopolitical event in Mexico and one of the greatest upheavals of the 20th century. The cost was high, with c.2.7 million Mexican deaths and 500 Americans - some of whom had been killed in raids on border towns led by Pancho Villa eventually resulted in a nine month incursion of northern Mexico by United States forces led by General Pershing on a futile mission to capture the Mexican General.
27
The substitute resolution no. 57, drafted by De Valera came before the Committee of Foreign Affairs in Washington and was defeated by 12 to 7. After some amendments the resolution was adopted by the committee where instead of providing recognition for the Irish Republic, it expressed ‘sympathy for the aspirations of the Irish people for a Government of their own choice’
Apparently the proccedings were not without drama as some Irish American ‘women pickets’ without official sanction, caused disturbances in both halls of Congress, making numerous remarks that the resolution was not wanted by Ireland and ‘angered scores of members into statements that their intended support would be withdrawn’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
"....criticism comes from a mere handful, mostly the women “pickets”, so-called, who without authority caused commotion in both halls of Congress by remarks and actions which angered scores of members into statements that their intended support would be withdrawn. The mere fact that this group of women are pursuing the course of ignoring the authority of the National Council and its accredited representatives, is sufficient proof of the lurking danger behind their acts, irrespective of the sincerity of their purposes. The substitute resolution was approved by President De Valera, Justice Cohalan and others of discerning judgement, yet the women “pickets” sought to tell Congress the resolution was not wanted by Ireland. At the time of going to press, Ireland’s best friends are keeping up the fight for passage of the resolution, hopeful that the acts of the “pickets” do not mean sufficient impairment of strength to prevent an open vote by the House and Senate."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The action of the ‘Women Pickets’ was sufficient for the Irish National Bureau of Information Chief, Daniel T. O’Connell to issue a press statement: ‘The apparent determination of the women ‘pickets’ to engage war at Washington and elsewhere in actions which cause the public to believe, perhaps, that they act with the approval of those giving their best efforts to advancing the cause of freedom and independence for the people of Ireland, makes necessary the statement, in addition to what has previously been said officially, that these women act only as individuals and have no sanction whatever from any of the large bodies of American men and women of Irish blood who act by and through the direction of the Friends of Irish Freedom and affiliated organisations. Though these women are very generally refferred to in published newspaper reports and ‘Friends of Ireland’, and by reason of that reference may be regarded as speaking and acting for the body officially known as the Friends of Irish Freedom, it must be clearly understood that they do not in any sense speak for or act on behalf of the Friends of Irish Freedom, as an organised body, or the 20,000,000 American men and women of Irish blood supporting the activities of that body.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Diarmuid Lynch had marked the paragraph above in his bound copy of the 1920 Newsletter and wrote the word ‘pickets’ in red pencil plus ‘dog-eared’ the page.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported that Pope Benedict received 300 Irish churchmen and ‘made the following significant statement: ‘In this hour Ireland needs special help from above, so that what she legitimately longs for may be obtained without falling short in any of her duties.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Carson frequently appears in the pages of the Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter:
"During the intrigues of the past few years against Ireland, the true character of Sir Edward Carson has gradually come to light. The New York World, in a recent editorial summarized the career of this astute politician as follows: “The Ulsterite chief is the kind of obstructionist, from principle or prejudice, who makes it his personal duty to block every hope of settlement and arouses fresh antagonism and ill-will in every discussion in which he figures. In his recent attitude in the House of Commons he has been true to form. In his hostility to all measures of conciliation he is the consistent trouble-maker. "He has been throughout the most sinister influence in the Irish situation.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The quoted New York World editorial was picked up by a number of the United States dailies including The Carson City Daily Appeal newspaper in Carson City, Nevada (below)
The substitute resolution no. 57, drafted by De Valera came before the Committee of Foreign Affairs in Washington and was defeated by 12 to 7. After some amendments the resolution was adopted by the committee where instead of providing recognition for the Irish Republic, it expressed ‘sympathy for the aspirations of the Irish people for a Government of their own choice’
Apparently the proccedings were not without drama as some Irish American ‘women pickets’ without official sanction, caused disturbances in both halls of Congress, making numerous remarks that the resolution was not wanted by Ireland and ‘angered scores of members into statements that their intended support would be withdrawn’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
"....criticism comes from a mere handful, mostly the women “pickets”, so-called, who without authority caused commotion in both halls of Congress by remarks and actions which angered scores of members into statements that their intended support would be withdrawn. The mere fact that this group of women are pursuing the course of ignoring the authority of the National Council and its accredited representatives, is sufficient proof of the lurking danger behind their acts, irrespective of the sincerity of their purposes. The substitute resolution was approved by President De Valera, Justice Cohalan and others of discerning judgement, yet the women “pickets” sought to tell Congress the resolution was not wanted by Ireland. At the time of going to press, Ireland’s best friends are keeping up the fight for passage of the resolution, hopeful that the acts of the “pickets” do not mean sufficient impairment of strength to prevent an open vote by the House and Senate."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The action of the ‘Women Pickets’ was sufficient for the Irish National Bureau of Information Chief, Daniel T. O’Connell to issue a press statement: ‘The apparent determination of the women ‘pickets’ to engage war at Washington and elsewhere in actions which cause the public to believe, perhaps, that they act with the approval of those giving their best efforts to advancing the cause of freedom and independence for the people of Ireland, makes necessary the statement, in addition to what has previously been said officially, that these women act only as individuals and have no sanction whatever from any of the large bodies of American men and women of Irish blood who act by and through the direction of the Friends of Irish Freedom and affiliated organisations. Though these women are very generally refferred to in published newspaper reports and ‘Friends of Ireland’, and by reason of that reference may be regarded as speaking and acting for the body officially known as the Friends of Irish Freedom, it must be clearly understood that they do not in any sense speak for or act on behalf of the Friends of Irish Freedom, as an organised body, or the 20,000,000 American men and women of Irish blood supporting the activities of that body.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Diarmuid Lynch had marked the paragraph above in his bound copy of the 1920 Newsletter and wrote the word ‘pickets’ in red pencil plus ‘dog-eared’ the page.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported that Pope Benedict received 300 Irish churchmen and ‘made the following significant statement: ‘In this hour Ireland needs special help from above, so that what she legitimately longs for may be obtained without falling short in any of her duties.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Carson frequently appears in the pages of the Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter:
"During the intrigues of the past few years against Ireland, the true character of Sir Edward Carson has gradually come to light. The New York World, in a recent editorial summarized the career of this astute politician as follows: “The Ulsterite chief is the kind of obstructionist, from principle or prejudice, who makes it his personal duty to block every hope of settlement and arouses fresh antagonism and ill-will in every discussion in which he figures. In his recent attitude in the House of Commons he has been true to form. In his hostility to all measures of conciliation he is the consistent trouble-maker. "He has been throughout the most sinister influence in the Irish situation.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The quoted New York World editorial was picked up by a number of the United States dailies including The Carson City Daily Appeal newspaper in Carson City, Nevada (below)
28
The Final Mason Bill resolution No.57, while amended and adopted by the Committee of Foreign Affairs, was not permitted by the Chairman of the Committee, Mr Porter, to come to a vote. The combined efforts of the Friends of Irish Freedom and De Valera came to nothing but the action of the House of Representatives made a lasting impression on Cohalan, something he was to be aware of in the forthcoming Democratic and Republican Conventions.
The Irish correspondent for the Daily News, Hugh Martin wrote from Dublin that ‘Sinn Fein effectively is taking over the Executive and Judicial functions of Government...it has become the de-facto Government in three-quarters of Ireland; it virtually possesses Treaty powers’
Kilmallock, Co. Limerick: Two policemen were killed and one was seriously wounded during a republican attack on a Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in the town. The attackers numbered between 50 and 100, while 10 men defended the barracks according to figures in the Irish Independent.
The incident took place in the early morning and lasted five hours amid near continuous rifle fire and exploding grenades. The Irish Independent noted that the policemen were asked to surrender but they declined to, thereby prolonging the battle. The attackers were able to acquire positions overlooking the western wing of the barracks from a nearby house and used this position to throw petrol and paraffin bombs through the roof. The battle ended with the barracks in ruins and two policemen dead. They have been named as Sergeant Thomas Keane and Constable Joseph Morton. It is believed their escape route was cut off by falling debris. One IRA member was killed and another wounded.
The assault matched the pattern that had been seen in similiar incidents rural Ireland; communications were cut, roads were blocked and lights were ordered to be extinguished in the town. Civilians living nearby were evacuated under armed guard while the attack went on. A Freeman’s Journal correspondent, who arrived on the scene in the aftermath of the attack, called it a ‘desperate and bloody battle’. The unionist Irish Times praised the heroism of the RIC men. "In the long annals of the Royal Irish Constabulary" the newspaper trumpeted, there is ‘no finer story of fearless service’.
That evening, the town was ‘sacked by police’.
The Final Mason Bill resolution No.57, while amended and adopted by the Committee of Foreign Affairs, was not permitted by the Chairman of the Committee, Mr Porter, to come to a vote. The combined efforts of the Friends of Irish Freedom and De Valera came to nothing but the action of the House of Representatives made a lasting impression on Cohalan, something he was to be aware of in the forthcoming Democratic and Republican Conventions.
The Irish correspondent for the Daily News, Hugh Martin wrote from Dublin that ‘Sinn Fein effectively is taking over the Executive and Judicial functions of Government...it has become the de-facto Government in three-quarters of Ireland; it virtually possesses Treaty powers’
Kilmallock, Co. Limerick: Two policemen were killed and one was seriously wounded during a republican attack on a Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in the town. The attackers numbered between 50 and 100, while 10 men defended the barracks according to figures in the Irish Independent.
The incident took place in the early morning and lasted five hours amid near continuous rifle fire and exploding grenades. The Irish Independent noted that the policemen were asked to surrender but they declined to, thereby prolonging the battle. The attackers were able to acquire positions overlooking the western wing of the barracks from a nearby house and used this position to throw petrol and paraffin bombs through the roof. The battle ended with the barracks in ruins and two policemen dead. They have been named as Sergeant Thomas Keane and Constable Joseph Morton. It is believed their escape route was cut off by falling debris. One IRA member was killed and another wounded.
The assault matched the pattern that had been seen in similiar incidents rural Ireland; communications were cut, roads were blocked and lights were ordered to be extinguished in the town. Civilians living nearby were evacuated under armed guard while the attack went on. A Freeman’s Journal correspondent, who arrived on the scene in the aftermath of the attack, called it a ‘desperate and bloody battle’. The unionist Irish Times praised the heroism of the RIC men. "In the long annals of the Royal Irish Constabulary" the newspaper trumpeted, there is ‘no finer story of fearless service’.
That evening, the town was ‘sacked by police’.
29
The Newsletter reported that Il Messagero newspaper in Rome, Italy declared that ‘English news agencies are most unscrupulous in their methods and as a rule only transmit tainted news concerning Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
George McLean Harper, Professor of English at Princeton University proposed solving the ‘Irish difficulty…by federation of all elements of the Anglo-Celtic race’ suggesting that if only the United States and England make this federation possible, Ireland could take her place amongst other English speaking nations of the world. The Newsletter commented that the Professor ‘does not wish to cut Ireland off from the rich heritage of English culture, and because an independent Ireland would be ‘extremely poor, over-taxed, unequally developed nation, beginning life with a bitter race feud and a religious quarrel on its hands’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter suggested that those who object to Americans buying bond certificates of the Irish Republic on the grounds that there was no guarantee of repayment should the move for world recognition fail, look to how the first Congress financed America’s revolution. Over $241 million Bills of Credit were issued between 1775-1779.
The Newsletter reported that Il Messagero newspaper in Rome, Italy declared that ‘English news agencies are most unscrupulous in their methods and as a rule only transmit tainted news concerning Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
George McLean Harper, Professor of English at Princeton University proposed solving the ‘Irish difficulty…by federation of all elements of the Anglo-Celtic race’ suggesting that if only the United States and England make this federation possible, Ireland could take her place amongst other English speaking nations of the world. The Newsletter commented that the Professor ‘does not wish to cut Ireland off from the rich heritage of English culture, and because an independent Ireland would be ‘extremely poor, over-taxed, unequally developed nation, beginning life with a bitter race feud and a religious quarrel on its hands’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 48, May 29, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter suggested that those who object to Americans buying bond certificates of the Irish Republic on the grounds that there was no guarantee of repayment should the move for world recognition fail, look to how the first Congress financed America’s revolution. Over $241 million Bills of Credit were issued between 1775-1779.
30
The funeral of Constable Morton took place in Kilmallock and the towns RIC members were addressed in front of the ruined barracks by Major General Tudor, Police adviser to the Viceroy. He awarded each of the survivors the Constabulary medal and a promotion along with a cash award of £50 and £25 per constable.
Joan of Arc is made a saint on the anniversary of her death in 1431.
By the end of May 1920, the RIC force of 15,000 was near total collapse. Most had served more than 20 years and were now approaching retirement and pension. The younger men knew no other trade or work, and on resignation from the force, all that faced them was unemployment. The choices were stark – remain in the RIC, receive wages and run the very real risk of assassination or resign, live and take one’s chances. Too many had too much invested. Some initial moves were now made to arrange employment as an added incentive to induce mass resignations from the force. De Valera had earlier commented ‘ whilst a very large sum of money is available in America to take all these men to the USA and give them good employment now, it is…highly desirable to keep them in Ireland.’
Some of the force took matters into their own hands, organising pressure groups advocating the abolition of the RIC and the immediate application of all pension rights.
Some Irish American groups made some promises of assistance and employment on landing in the US. For the men that did resign, very little was actually done to help them find employment or assist their emigration to the US. Meanwhile the DMP was virtually completely neautralised by assassinations and resignations. During May, they requested to be disarmed for their own protection. Within the ranks of the DMP it was recognised that they were either neutral or favourable towards the revolutionary movement. ‘some were neutral through fear, some through a natural disinclination to be involved in activities against their fellow countrymen’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P149.
The end result was the virtual complete retreat of the RIC into armed compounds, leaving streets un-patrolled, and many areas were without any police presence. Into this void from necessity stepped the I.R.A.
The funeral of Constable Morton took place in Kilmallock and the towns RIC members were addressed in front of the ruined barracks by Major General Tudor, Police adviser to the Viceroy. He awarded each of the survivors the Constabulary medal and a promotion along with a cash award of £50 and £25 per constable.
Joan of Arc is made a saint on the anniversary of her death in 1431.
By the end of May 1920, the RIC force of 15,000 was near total collapse. Most had served more than 20 years and were now approaching retirement and pension. The younger men knew no other trade or work, and on resignation from the force, all that faced them was unemployment. The choices were stark – remain in the RIC, receive wages and run the very real risk of assassination or resign, live and take one’s chances. Too many had too much invested. Some initial moves were now made to arrange employment as an added incentive to induce mass resignations from the force. De Valera had earlier commented ‘ whilst a very large sum of money is available in America to take all these men to the USA and give them good employment now, it is…highly desirable to keep them in Ireland.’
Some of the force took matters into their own hands, organising pressure groups advocating the abolition of the RIC and the immediate application of all pension rights.
Some Irish American groups made some promises of assistance and employment on landing in the US. For the men that did resign, very little was actually done to help them find employment or assist their emigration to the US. Meanwhile the DMP was virtually completely neautralised by assassinations and resignations. During May, they requested to be disarmed for their own protection. Within the ranks of the DMP it was recognised that they were either neutral or favourable towards the revolutionary movement. ‘some were neutral through fear, some through a natural disinclination to be involved in activities against their fellow countrymen’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P149.
The end result was the virtual complete retreat of the RIC into armed compounds, leaving streets un-patrolled, and many areas were without any police presence. Into this void from necessity stepped the I.R.A.
31
The first Westminster Conference on the Irish situtation since the end of the war was held in Whitehall with the entire Irish Executive:
Sir Hamar Greenwood Lord Curzon Sir Nevil Macready Mr Denis Henry (AG)
Mr Churchill Mr Long Mr Fisher Sir John Anderson
Mr Shortt Lord Birkenhead Lloyd George Sir L. Worthington Evans
Mr Bonar Law Sir Maurice Hankey
The confidential discussion forms a useful indicator of the lack of knowledge within the Irish Executive and that the siege mentality was well in progress.
Lloyd George opened the meeting with ‘I’m glad to see you all back alive’
Greenwood comented on the general situation in Ireland ‘The real difficulty in Ireland is not so much the big issue of putting down crime, as the inadequacy and sloppiness of the instruments of Government. We can only rely on the Navy, military and RIC. The Dublin police cannot be relied on, nor the Post Office nor the Civil Service. The great task is to crush out murder and arson. Linked up with it is the problem of labour and the problem of agrarian outrage against the graziers in the three western counties…. The vital point is to deal with the Thugs, a number of whom are going about shooting in Dublin, Limerick and Cork. We are certain they are handsomely paid, that the money comes from the USA and that it is passed through Bishop Fogarty and Arthur Griffith by means of cheques issued to Michael Collins…the money is paid out to the murderers in public houses. In addition, there is shooting after dark by local people drawn from a district of 10 to 20 miles around and who have energetic leaders from outside. The community is hostile, indifferent or terrorised. The majority I believe are terrorised.’
Lord French disagreed somewhat with the Chief Secretary’s opinion. ‘In my view the mischief originates with the Irish Volunteers and unless you knock them on the head you make no progress. The raids on the police barracks are done, I think, by members of the local volunteer batallion. The first thing to do is to go for the Sinn Fein volunteers.’
Greenwood commented that RIC resignations were running at around 200 a week as against 25 in pre-war. The force was efectively ostracised. Lloyd George asked what was to be done. Greenwood replied that all the military requisitions requested by Macready should be fulfilled but while the War Office was filling his demands, the ongoing railway strike was certainly having an effect.
Lloyd George change direction somewhat, commenting ‘The Cork jury has found the Lord Lieutenant and myself guilty of murder!’
Greenwood : ‘Yes, but it has a different effect on Irishmen with their strange mental aparatus if they are found guilty. I have the greatest possible reluctance to apply martial law at present. It may be necessary in Cork to Limerick..’
Lloyd George: ‘Another way would be to act indirectly on the opinion of the peasants – make the rates liable for compensation for damage to barracks etc.’
Greenwood: ‘That is the law now’ and Henry commented ‘They are refusing to strike a rate’.
Greenwood: ‘The County Council system is breaking down’
Lloyd George: ‘deduct it out of the grants in aid’
Greenwoood: ‘We have a draft bill for that now in hand’
Churchill: ‘You should include in the Bill a special tribunal for trying murderers. It is monstrous that we have some 200 murders and no one hung…what strikes me is the feebelness of the local machinery. After a person is caught he should pay the penalty within a week. Look at the tribunals which the Russian Government have devised. You should get three or four judges whose scope would be universal and they should move quickly over the country and do summary justice.’
Henry: ‘When that was put to the judges some months ago they did not want to touch it’
Churchill: ‘Shows all the more the need for extraordinary action. Get three generals if you cannot get three judges’
Fisher; ‘How many men have you strong evidence against?’
Greenwood: ‘Six in jail with good cases against them.’
Churchill (to the Prime Minister ) ‘You agreed six or seven months ago that there should be hanging’
Lloyd George: ‘I feel certain you must hang. Can you get convictions from Catholics?’
Denis: ‘Substantially no’
General Macready advised ‘ the troops are now stationary except the cavalry. The War Office is fulfiling my demands as fast as they can but they are held up by the strike’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P181 sourced from Thomas Jones. ‘Whitehall Diary’ Vol.III Ireland 1918-1925. Oxford University Press 1971. P18
Walter Long at the meeting, commented that they had lost their best spy when Byrnes was killed in Dublin in late January.
Martial law was rejected on grounds of impracticality but emergency legislation was discussed to speed up justice
The Freemans Journal commenting on the additional £6 million tax collection responsibility placed on Ireland by the British budget: ‘ The amount of taxation extracted from Ireland, direct and indirect, is only part of the loss that this country is made to suffer through its fiscal identity with wealthy Britain….British Chancellors of the Exchequer have in every generation been noted for discovering avenues of taxation that crush out Irish industries. Swift in the ‘Inteligencer’ in 1728 writes of ‘deadweight upon every beneficial branch of our trade; half our revenues are sent to England, with many other grievances peculiar to this unhappy kingdom, which keep us from enjoying the common benefits of mankind.’ Today not one half, but eighty percent of our revenues are sent to England and our industries and trade are crushed and unemployment is chronic…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The first Westminster Conference on the Irish situtation since the end of the war was held in Whitehall with the entire Irish Executive:
Sir Hamar Greenwood Lord Curzon Sir Nevil Macready Mr Denis Henry (AG)
Mr Churchill Mr Long Mr Fisher Sir John Anderson
Mr Shortt Lord Birkenhead Lloyd George Sir L. Worthington Evans
Mr Bonar Law Sir Maurice Hankey
The confidential discussion forms a useful indicator of the lack of knowledge within the Irish Executive and that the siege mentality was well in progress.
Lloyd George opened the meeting with ‘I’m glad to see you all back alive’
Greenwood comented on the general situation in Ireland ‘The real difficulty in Ireland is not so much the big issue of putting down crime, as the inadequacy and sloppiness of the instruments of Government. We can only rely on the Navy, military and RIC. The Dublin police cannot be relied on, nor the Post Office nor the Civil Service. The great task is to crush out murder and arson. Linked up with it is the problem of labour and the problem of agrarian outrage against the graziers in the three western counties…. The vital point is to deal with the Thugs, a number of whom are going about shooting in Dublin, Limerick and Cork. We are certain they are handsomely paid, that the money comes from the USA and that it is passed through Bishop Fogarty and Arthur Griffith by means of cheques issued to Michael Collins…the money is paid out to the murderers in public houses. In addition, there is shooting after dark by local people drawn from a district of 10 to 20 miles around and who have energetic leaders from outside. The community is hostile, indifferent or terrorised. The majority I believe are terrorised.’
Lord French disagreed somewhat with the Chief Secretary’s opinion. ‘In my view the mischief originates with the Irish Volunteers and unless you knock them on the head you make no progress. The raids on the police barracks are done, I think, by members of the local volunteer batallion. The first thing to do is to go for the Sinn Fein volunteers.’
Greenwood commented that RIC resignations were running at around 200 a week as against 25 in pre-war. The force was efectively ostracised. Lloyd George asked what was to be done. Greenwood replied that all the military requisitions requested by Macready should be fulfilled but while the War Office was filling his demands, the ongoing railway strike was certainly having an effect.
Lloyd George change direction somewhat, commenting ‘The Cork jury has found the Lord Lieutenant and myself guilty of murder!’
Greenwood : ‘Yes, but it has a different effect on Irishmen with their strange mental aparatus if they are found guilty. I have the greatest possible reluctance to apply martial law at present. It may be necessary in Cork to Limerick..’
Lloyd George: ‘Another way would be to act indirectly on the opinion of the peasants – make the rates liable for compensation for damage to barracks etc.’
Greenwood: ‘That is the law now’ and Henry commented ‘They are refusing to strike a rate’.
Greenwood: ‘The County Council system is breaking down’
Lloyd George: ‘deduct it out of the grants in aid’
Greenwoood: ‘We have a draft bill for that now in hand’
Churchill: ‘You should include in the Bill a special tribunal for trying murderers. It is monstrous that we have some 200 murders and no one hung…what strikes me is the feebelness of the local machinery. After a person is caught he should pay the penalty within a week. Look at the tribunals which the Russian Government have devised. You should get three or four judges whose scope would be universal and they should move quickly over the country and do summary justice.’
Henry: ‘When that was put to the judges some months ago they did not want to touch it’
Churchill: ‘Shows all the more the need for extraordinary action. Get three generals if you cannot get three judges’
Fisher; ‘How many men have you strong evidence against?’
Greenwood: ‘Six in jail with good cases against them.’
Churchill (to the Prime Minister ) ‘You agreed six or seven months ago that there should be hanging’
Lloyd George: ‘I feel certain you must hang. Can you get convictions from Catholics?’
Denis: ‘Substantially no’
General Macready advised ‘ the troops are now stationary except the cavalry. The War Office is fulfiling my demands as fast as they can but they are held up by the strike’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P181 sourced from Thomas Jones. ‘Whitehall Diary’ Vol.III Ireland 1918-1925. Oxford University Press 1971. P18
Walter Long at the meeting, commented that they had lost their best spy when Byrnes was killed in Dublin in late January.
Martial law was rejected on grounds of impracticality but emergency legislation was discussed to speed up justice
The Freemans Journal commenting on the additional £6 million tax collection responsibility placed on Ireland by the British budget: ‘ The amount of taxation extracted from Ireland, direct and indirect, is only part of the loss that this country is made to suffer through its fiscal identity with wealthy Britain….British Chancellors of the Exchequer have in every generation been noted for discovering avenues of taxation that crush out Irish industries. Swift in the ‘Inteligencer’ in 1728 writes of ‘deadweight upon every beneficial branch of our trade; half our revenues are sent to England, with many other grievances peculiar to this unhappy kingdom, which keep us from enjoying the common benefits of mankind.’ Today not one half, but eighty percent of our revenues are sent to England and our industries and trade are crushed and unemployment is chronic…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
1
Polling took place for elections to County Councils, Rural District Councils and Boards of Poor Law Guardians throughout Ireland. While the Dail Cabinet advised it would not tolerate voter intimidation, Volunteers stood guard at the polls in rural areas in Munster and Connaught.
As polling was taking place, what was later described by the US Consul in Dublin as ‘perhaps the most sensational raid that has taken place in Ireland’ occurred. The Registry of Deeds office in the Kings Inns was raided for arms and ammunition as it was a large British troop billet. None of the records dating back to 1702 were destroyed, but the mere fact it took place, was viewed as an audacious and daring daytime raid. The raid was carried out by Peadar Clancy and among the volunteers was the 18 year old Section Commander, Kevin Barry.
Letter from RIC Munster No. 1 Divisional Commissioner to Dublin Castle
Meanwhile, in Limerick, the Senior RIC officer in North Munster, the Munster No. 1 Division Commissioner, Brigadier General Cecil Precott-Decie wrote to John Taylor, then Assistant Under-Secretary in Dublin Castle and reported on the current situation in the western Munster region.
This letter is held in the Crime Special Branch Other Papers, Box 24 at the National Archives of Ireland. No related material accompanied the one-page document, which appeared to have become separated from a larger administrative file and was left behind during the British administration evacuation of Dublin Castle in 1922.
Historians Gabriel Doherty and John Borgonovo in a 2009 article "Smoking gun? RIC reprisals, summer 1920' published by History Ireland argue that this letter by Prescott-Decie challenges a historical consensus held since the 1970's, that the British government did not officially initiate reprisals against the Irish civilian population during 1920-21.
D.M.Leeson in Irish Historical Studies (May 2013) sumarises this consensus as: ‘Reprisals were not, in the first instance, a “deliberate act of government policy ...They were to the Irish police a means of retaliation against a ruthless and elusive enemy who, they alleged, was enjoying “the usual advantages of guerrilla warfare without suffering any of the penalties attached to it”.’ And aside from occasional suggestions that the government may have done more than just condone reprisals, historians have generally agreed that the British government sinned more by omission than by commission."
D.M.Leeson - Irish Historical Studies, May 2013)
Doherty & Borgonovo challenged this consensus by providing evidence that ‘Dublin Castle had authorised an assassination campaign against its republican opponents’ primarily in this letter from Prescott-Decie.
Prescott-Decie favoured the ‘instant retaliation’ inherent in reprisals for the ‘stamping out of terrorism’, rather than the policy of ‘secret murder’ which he had seemingly been informed of by police adviser Major General Sir Henry Tudor.
‘I have been told the new policy and plan and I am satisfied, though I doubt its ultimate success in the main particular—the stamping out of terrorism by secret murder. I still am of opinion that instant retaliation is the only course for this, and until it is stamped for good and all, the same situation is only likely to recur.’
The 2009 Article by Gabriel Doherty and John Borgonovo available from History Ireland here.
D.M.Leeson's article in Irish Historical Studies (May 2013) is available here.
Full text of the Prescott-Decie letter:
The 2009 Article by Gabriel Doherty and John Borgonovo available from History Ireland here.
D.M.Leeson's article in Irish Historical Studies (May 2013) is available here.
Full text of the Prescott-Decie letter:
MUNSTER No. 1 DIVISION
Divisional Commissioners Office
Limerick. 1st June 1920.
To the Assistant Under Secretary
I beg to report that the state of this Division is steadily getting worse. The efforts of the Sinn Feiners are principally directed to getting rid of the Police, so that the laws of Kingdom may become wholly inoperative. For the same reason they are endeavouring to reduce all Courts of Justice, and Inquests to a farce. In lieu of British Courts, they are establishing their own. County Kilkenny at present seems a favourite spot for these courts. Probably because it is so weakly garrisoned with Police and Military. The Sinn Fein method of maintaining their hold is very simple, they threaten all who oppose them and if that is not sufficient, murder them. The Loyal people and the Law abiding people who are considerable in number are completely terrorised. The openly say “What is the good of being Loyal to the British government which let us down every time”., A fine old man said to me yesterday “my three sons were killed in the War, my only daughter died of disease while nursing, and now I am being robbed of my land, and yet I am loyal? God knows why”
The situation with the police themselves has been very ticklish. They have been very near throwing up the sponge. They consider that they have been let down by the Government and that they have been unsupported. Their arguments are hard to find answers to. Let no one suppose they are frightened – they are not. I dont wish to blow my own trumpet, but merely to show how close a shave it has
been, in saying they have been held together by the influence of myself, and the Officers of the R.I.C. Major General Tudor’s visit was of great value. We can hold them now for a time but if the support promised was to fail, the situation would be, I fear, beyond retrieving. I have been told the new policy and plan and I am satisfied, though I doubt its ultimate success in the main particular – the stamping out of terrorism by secret murder. I still am of opinion that instant retaliation is the only course for this, and until it is stamped for good and all, the same situation is likely to recur. The I.R.A. are improving their Organization. I expect more and better prepared attacks on Barracks.
I trust that now any demands of mine will be more promptly met. It is unnecessary I think to say more at this moment. When the support we are promised arrives, we shall know how to employ it in carrying out the policy outlined to me. Meanwhile we hang on.
[Signed] C. Prescott Decie
Brig. Genl.
Prescott-Decie was to remain a leading figure in the RIC and later promoted to Senior Commissioner for Munster (effectively leading the RIC in the province for the remainder of the War of Independence.) He later became involved in unionist politics but his involvement with the British fascist movement led to his ultimate disgrace.
Washington DC: Before the US House of Representatives, Thomas F. Smith of New York made this appeal for Ireland:
‘Let us not forget that Ireland is demanding the same rights from England that our ancestors demanded from the Government in 1776 – the right to government only by the consent of the governed. That she asks only for the application of principles embodied int e American Declaration of Independence…whether you will or no, the Irish Question stands out boldly as the problem of the hour, which not only concerned the welfare of American but the welfare of the world…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Before Smith's speech, a group of the American Women Pickets staged an invasion of both the House and the Senate with both Gertrude Corless, Elizabeth Meland, Ella McKenna and Amelia Rosser shouting from the visitor galleries demanding freedom for Ireland. The group were quickly removed and detained before release. Later in the day, another group made their way to the visitors galleries while a Miss Rosser managed to get to the floor of the Senate. There she startled the assembled Senators shouting 'Cowards' as others joined in from different galleries with 'Call the loans on England now!" and "Your resolution is only an insult to the friends of Irish Freedom"
Daniel T. Connell, director of the Friends of Irish Freedom, released a statement that the American Women Pickets had no authority for their actions from the organisation and had no association with them. Gertrude Corless responded with a statement that "We represent the rank and file of the Irish people in this country and work on our own lines"
Clearly, the American Women Pickets were now operating radically and independently of any established Irish American organisation. More was to follow over the next few days.
Below - a water damaged archive letter from Michael Lynch dated June 1, 1920 to the Irish Volunteer Executive regarding an incident at a race meeting in North Cork. Letters are for transcription at a future date.
2
The London Times was somewhat pessimistic: ‘If the Government of Ireland bill goes into operation, the Sinn Feiners of today will exercise constitutionally many of those powers which they now arbitarily assume….for the moment, Sinn Fein is all-powerful, and it is virtually synonymous with the Irish people.’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P207
The New Statesman considered the Irish Republic to be a distinct future possibility: ‘It is time people in this country [England] realised that, sooner or later, we may be forced to consent to the creation of an independent Irish Republic. Admittedly it is as yet as possibility only, not a probability, but as such it must be faced, for until it is faced, as one at least of the actually possible alternatives, we do not believe that any British Government sill succeed in finding a better solution for the most desperate situation into which Irish affairs have been allowed to drift.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Establishment of Dáil Courts
Cootehill, Co. Cavan: Sinn Féin took the Irish justice system into their own hands by establishing so-called 'Dáil Courts'.
These unofficial arbitration bodies have begun to make an appearance around the country and are dealing with criminal and civil cases of various kinds.
The Irish Bulletin, the official Dáil Éireann newspaper, published a lengthy list of the cases that had been dealt with by the ‘Republican Police’ and the ‘Republican Land and Criminal Courts’ from 15 April to May 31, 1920. The cases listed indicate that there are now 19 Irish counties which ‘administer their own law’ in defiance of British authorities and that the decisions of these republican courts are being ‘almost unanimously respected by the public’. In the few cases where the court decisions have been ignored or defied, offenders have been ‘taught that respect for the republican law can be enforced.’
The deliberations have also been covered in the mainstream Irish press. Both the Irish Independent and the Belfast Newsletter recently reported on the trial of two young men in Cootehill, Co. Cavan, who had been arrested by local Irish Volunteers, on a charge of complicity in a recent raid on post offices at Knockvicar and Cootehill that involved the theft of £50, mostly old age pension money. According to the Belfast Newsletter, the trial took place in a remote dilapidated house guarded by sentries with the accused men being led into the court blindfolded. The trial, which a representative of the Roscommon Press attended, heard from an advocate for the prosecution and an advocate for the defence, and much time was spent trying to discern what became of the stolen money. In the end it was decided that the prisoners, who made no complaint about their treatment, were to be kept in custody until the full amount of the money taken was restored.
In Ballinrobe, meanwhile, Sinn Féin arbitration proceedings facilitated an agreement between a landowner and tenants, and directed Volunteers not to interfere with fences and walls of a farmer at Tourmakeady.
The Irish Times lamented the influence of the Sinn Féin courts and their sidelining of the existing judicial system. The situation suggests, the paper noted, that these arbitration bodies are considered more important in the eyes of a large section of the community than the established law of the land. Nevertheless, an editorial in the Irish Times, observed that once the anomaly of their existence is accepted, the growth of the Sinn Féin courts is ‘not the most menacing phase of the republican movement’. The paper has acknowledged that they appear to be acting in an impartial manner and delivering justice...In some cases they have restored stolen goods to the proper owners and have inflicted “sentences” which seem to have been well-deserved’.
Speaking of one phase of the work of the British Army of Occupation in Ireland which he calls “a campaign of intimidation against Irish merchants and Irish business firms”, Major Erskine Childers wrote in a recent issue of the London Daily News:
“Where the Castle cannot ruin they create an atmosphere of insecurity. This applies to every man and every business in the country. for every known republican risks his liberty and his livelihood. Observe in this connection the recent raids on big business firms, like that on Findlater’s great grocery warehouses, March 15 last. Nothing was found after twelve hours search, but a plain warning is implied to all substantial traders, to wealthy men that it does not pay to be on the popular side. At the other end of the social scale, labor, which is strongly republican outside northeast Ulster, is subjected to constant persecution; its central offices in Dublin periodically raided; its newspapers suppressed and its leaders, notably Alderman O’Brien and Mr. O’Shannon arrested. It is I repeat, the sabotage of a nation.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In England, where the housing shortage was even more severe than in the United States the following pointed comment appeared in a London daily newspaper: “It costs nearly £15,000,000 a year to keep the Army of Occupation in Ireland. This sum would provide at least 15,000 homes for the workers of Great Britain.”
"The brutal short-sightedness of the British policy in Ireland has led the English government into the same untenable position to which the stupidity of her tactics has so often brought her in the past. The policy of military oppression in Ireland has led England to a position from which she can only proceed to open massacre or make an entire and undignified reversal of her policies. A recent London dispatch says that Field Marshal Lord Haig has warned his government of its danger. He is said to have pointed out that the result will be civil war which will inevitably spread to England. The same dispatch states that the warning of Marshal Haig has been ignored. One of the most constructive steps in government and the administration of justice yet taken by the Irish Republic is the institution of a National Land Bank, with headquarters in Dublin under the management of Lionel Smith Gordon, an Irishman of great experience in the agricultural and economic problems of his country. The object of this organization is to finance the purchase of land and cooperate with the work of the Republican arbitration courts in resettling the people on the land, long confiscated from them by the British government."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Washington DC: Morning newspapers picked up on the previous day's invasion of the Senate by members of the American Women Pickets describing how they had upset the dignity of Capitol Hill. In addition, Daniel T. Connell, director of the Friends of Irish Freedom, swiftly released a statement denouncing the activity of the women and distancing the organisation from any association with them.
However, a more dramatic protest would take place in front of the United States Treasury Building in the Capital that afternoon.
Washington DC - American Women Pickets demonstration
The American Women Pickets next step was an early example of 'deliberate provocation', using an incident in American Revolutionary history in order to gain greater publicity for the Irish cause. Taking up positions in front of the United States Treasury Building on Pennsylvania Ave/15th Street, banners were unfurled denouncing the British actions in Ireland and calling for US Government loans to Britain to be recalled as American taxpayer money was being used by British forces to subjugate Ireland.
"Congress: You need not enact laws to pay the soldiers' bonus. Call the loans on England"
"Secretary Houston: England pays bonuses to soldiers fighting Ireland and India. Call the loans to England and pay our boys"
"England: Hands off our oil wells"
"Don't let England pull the wool over your eyes"
"Call the loans on England"
The pickets continued for an hour before press photographers arrived.
The American Women Pickets next step was an early example of 'deliberate provocation', using an incident in American Revolutionary history in order to gain greater publicity for the Irish cause. Taking up positions in front of the United States Treasury Building on Pennsylvania Ave/15th Street, banners were unfurled denouncing the British actions in Ireland and calling for US Government loans to Britain to be recalled as American taxpayer money was being used by British forces to subjugate Ireland.
"Congress: You need not enact laws to pay the soldiers' bonus. Call the loans on England"
"Secretary Houston: England pays bonuses to soldiers fighting Ireland and India. Call the loans to England and pay our boys"
"England: Hands off our oil wells"
"Don't let England pull the wool over your eyes"
"Call the loans on England"
The pickets continued for an hour before press photographers arrived.
Once the photographers had started work, members of the American Women Pickets took out, burned and tore apart the Union Jack in two separate incidents. Mary Keena, one of the participants was reported as kicking the embers of the flag saying “...just another little Boston tea party to remind the assassins not to go too far.”
3
The dockers strike was spreading and would remain in place until December 1920. General Macready was to comment in later years that the dockers strike had been ‘a serious setback to military actions during the best season of the year’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P181
Attempting to circumvent the Irish dockers refusal to handle any munitions or supplies for the British army, the Government attempted to land 200 tons of barbed wire in Cork port and addressed to the Ford Tractor Factory. ‘the Irish labourers were not so easily fooled however. Upon questioning the manager of the Ford factory they were informed that no such material had been ordered by him. Accordingly the barbed wire was allowed to remain on the wharf where it was deposited from the ship.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The only action possible against protesting dockers and railway workers was dismissal, and these now began.
Derry Corporation voted to remove Lord French from the roll of those given freedom of the city.
Ex-war hero, Colonel Gerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth was appointed Divisional Police Commissioner for Munster.
The dockers strike was spreading and would remain in place until December 1920. General Macready was to comment in later years that the dockers strike had been ‘a serious setback to military actions during the best season of the year’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P181
Attempting to circumvent the Irish dockers refusal to handle any munitions or supplies for the British army, the Government attempted to land 200 tons of barbed wire in Cork port and addressed to the Ford Tractor Factory. ‘the Irish labourers were not so easily fooled however. Upon questioning the manager of the Ford factory they were informed that no such material had been ordered by him. Accordingly the barbed wire was allowed to remain on the wharf where it was deposited from the ship.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The only action possible against protesting dockers and railway workers was dismissal, and these now began.
Derry Corporation voted to remove Lord French from the roll of those given freedom of the city.
Ex-war hero, Colonel Gerald Bryce Ferguson Smyth was appointed Divisional Police Commissioner for Munster.
4
The World War destroyed four empires, German, Austrian, Russian and Turkish, with the Treaty of Trianon signed on the 4th by the Hungarians completed the redrawing of pre-war Europe. Austria and Hungary became two separate nations. The new nation of Czechoslovakia was formed out of northern Austria-Hungary. Polish regions became part of independent Poland. Romanian areas to the east joined Romania and Slavic areas to the south joined Serbia to form the enlarged nation of Yugoslavia and some Austrian regions transferred to Italy. In addition, there were reparations and a promise to limit their armies. Whats more, Austria was also forbidden to join Germany in any alliance.
The US political comment paper, ‘Fortnightly Review’ published an article on Lloyd George and the Home Rule Bill by J.A.R.Marriott:
‘The new scheme is based upon the recognition of three governing facts:
Meanwhile, de Valera with Sean Nunan, Liam Mellows & Patrick McCartan arrived in Chicago.
“ ...de Valera, accompanied by a large entourage, descended on the Chicago Convention and began directing the Irish lobbying attempts personally. This had the effect of creating two distinct, rival camps.... de Valera (was) advised that it would be ‘improper for him and dangerous to intrude upon the Convention’. Bishop Gallagher of Detroit begged him to leave Chicago and allow Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom to press the Irish cause. Cohalan was a supporter of Senator Hiram Johnson and believed if Johnson became President with Borah as Secretary of State, then Ireland's cause would be greatly advanced. He felt that a demand for an Irish Republic would only make the US Republicans a target of attack from the Anglophile press and raise the spectre of war with England. “
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P179
A General Order of Oglaigh na hEireann was issued from General Headquarters, headed ‘Boycott of the RIC’ and signalled a deepening of the campaign to ostracise all members of the RIC, their families and any person associated with or supporting them. Lists were to be prepared of all persons fitting the criteria and held by each Company, Battalion and Brigade Commander.
The policy would be enforced throughout much of the country, through killings and intimidation. Inquest Courts were immediately affected with jurors refusing to attend and within months, even funeral corteges of police officers were shunned.
The World War destroyed four empires, German, Austrian, Russian and Turkish, with the Treaty of Trianon signed on the 4th by the Hungarians completed the redrawing of pre-war Europe. Austria and Hungary became two separate nations. The new nation of Czechoslovakia was formed out of northern Austria-Hungary. Polish regions became part of independent Poland. Romanian areas to the east joined Romania and Slavic areas to the south joined Serbia to form the enlarged nation of Yugoslavia and some Austrian regions transferred to Italy. In addition, there were reparations and a promise to limit their armies. Whats more, Austria was also forbidden to join Germany in any alliance.
The US political comment paper, ‘Fortnightly Review’ published an article on Lloyd George and the Home Rule Bill by J.A.R.Marriott:
‘The new scheme is based upon the recognition of three governing facts:
- that under no circumstances will Britain eprmit Ireland to cut herself adrift from the British Empire or even from the United Kingdom.
- That the hatred of Nationalist Ireland to British rule in Ireland is not to be appeased by economic prosperity; and
- That the claim of the six Protestant counties of Ulster to ‘self-determination’ within Ireland is not less valid that the claim of Ireland to ‘self-determination’ within the United Kingdom. ‘
Meanwhile, de Valera with Sean Nunan, Liam Mellows & Patrick McCartan arrived in Chicago.
“ ...de Valera, accompanied by a large entourage, descended on the Chicago Convention and began directing the Irish lobbying attempts personally. This had the effect of creating two distinct, rival camps.... de Valera (was) advised that it would be ‘improper for him and dangerous to intrude upon the Convention’. Bishop Gallagher of Detroit begged him to leave Chicago and allow Cohalan and the Friends of Irish Freedom to press the Irish cause. Cohalan was a supporter of Senator Hiram Johnson and believed if Johnson became President with Borah as Secretary of State, then Ireland's cause would be greatly advanced. He felt that a demand for an Irish Republic would only make the US Republicans a target of attack from the Anglophile press and raise the spectre of war with England. “
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P179
A General Order of Oglaigh na hEireann was issued from General Headquarters, headed ‘Boycott of the RIC’ and signalled a deepening of the campaign to ostracise all members of the RIC, their families and any person associated with or supporting them. Lists were to be prepared of all persons fitting the criteria and held by each Company, Battalion and Brigade Commander.
The policy would be enforced throughout much of the country, through killings and intimidation. Inquest Courts were immediately affected with jurors refusing to attend and within months, even funeral corteges of police officers were shunned.
5
New York: The Irish Press of Philadelphia published an editorial on the results of the Mason Bill of May 28th: “These sympathetic Congressional farces must be ended at once and for all time”
Tim Pat Coogan raises the subject of the rumours that abounded at the time and McCartan wondered just who was responsible for the farce: “ ..it was rumoured that de Valera himself had drafted this resolution. McCartan sought an explanation from de Valera, who ‘explicitly and emphatically denied this rumour’. However at the next meeting of the National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom , Cohalan claimed that de Valera had drafted the resolution. McCartan who was present, naturally denied that this was so. But he was ‘confounded ‘ when Cohalan produced ‘a manuscript of the resolution - the first part of which - and the only part I looked at - was beyond doubt in de Valera’s handwriting.’
McCartan then went to de Valera who explained:
“ ..that he had tried to draft a suitable resolution, and having failed, threw the paper on the table. He claimed that Cohalan must have finished the resolution ‘ a new prince cannot observe all those things whereby men are considered good’ Having sent to Dublin for authorisation to spend $1 million on securing ‘recognition’, de Valera did not wish to be associated with this tangible, embarrassingly personal, proof that he had given acquiescence to the fact that the Anglo-American relationship meant that he had no chance whatever of securing it.
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P177-178
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter reported ‘Another Victory for Ireland’ when the Mason resoloution,
‘ a substitute for the original bill, was favourably reported by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives … an effort is being made to discredit this substitute. Such criticism should be frowned down by the real friends of Ireland. It simply lends encouragement to those wishing dissension and revives a hope that the united forces acting under authorised direction may be divided. The criticism comes from a mere handful, mostly the women ‘pickets’, so called, who without authority caused commotion in both halls of Congress by remarks and actions which angered scores of members into statements that their intended support would be withdrawn…the mere fact that this group of women are usuing the course of ignoring the authority of the National Council and its accredited representatives, is sufficient proof of the lurking danger behind their acts, irrespective of the sincerity of their purposes. The substitute resolution was approved by President de Valera, Judge Cohalan and others of discerning judgement, yet the women ‘pickets’ sought to tell Congress the resolution was not wanted by Ireland … Ireland’s best friends are keeping up the fight for passage of the resolution, hopeful that the acts of the ‘pickets’ do not mean sufficient impairment of strenght to prevent an open vote by the House and Senate.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Diarmuid had marked out in red pencil the word ‘Pickets’ and paragraph in bold print.
Meanwhile the Republican Convention was to begin in Chicago on 9th June. Up for nomination were Senator Hiram Johnson, (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 ) and a compromise choice, Warren Harding. This 55 year old Senator, varyingly described as a “Lazy Senator” with one of the lowest attendance records, had an oratorical style described by Senator William McAdoo as “pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea”.
De Valera comments that perhaps Cohalan had an ulterior motive in supporting Johnson : ‘many thought if Johnson succeeded, Cohalan would be assured of office in his administration…and [ de Valera ] thought that the Judge had made some bargain with Johnson and his supporters ‘Of course’ he wrote [in a draft letter to Dail Eireann] the bargain was too sacred for me to be let into’. What Judge Cohalan had to barter was Irish sentiment in American and de Valera felt that Ireland had a claim on that.’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p108
De Valera therefore did not agree with Cohalan that both he and the Friends of Irish Freedom would co-operate to advocate the adoption of a plank (resolution) in the Republican platform recognising the Irish Republic.
Daniel T. O’Connell of the Irish National Bureau of Information in Washington commented later that:
‘ 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 on 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.374
The US Census showed that New York’s population was 5.6 Million and the largest city in the United States. Los Angeles was classed as the largest city on the West coast with 570,000. Overall population nationwide of 105 million.
A Cabinet meeting in Dail Eireann authorised Collins as Director of Finance that £500,000 of the $5,123,640 collected in the Dail Eireann Bonds Drive in the US be ‘sent over at once’. From this can be construed that neither Collins nor the Dail were being kept informed of progress in the US. At the same meeting, diplomatic agents were appointed for Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco and Boston.
The English Army Council called for re-enlistment of a limited number of discharged infantry soldiers ‘for service in the United Kingdom’.
The New York World newspaper commented on Sir Edward Carson in an editorial: ‘The Ulsterite chief is the kind of obstructionist, from principle or prejudice, who makes it his personal duty to block every hope of settlement and arouses fresh antagonism and ill will in every discussion in which he figures. In his recent attitude in the House of Commons he had been true to form. In his hostility of all measures of conciliation he is the consistent trouble maker…he had been throughout the most sinister influence in the Irish situation.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 49, June 5, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The decade of US anti-immigration laws begins. The Immigration Act is amended, allowing for deportation of anarchists and aliens advocating terrorism. It is the first of several acts and amendments passed during the decade to restrict immigration.
Robert Lynd, literary editor of the London Daily News, described the rule of Dublin Castle in a recent letter to his paper:
“One hears on excellent authority that what has happened in Dublin Castle is that a whole kennel of bull-dogs has gone mad. The dangerous feature of the situation is that these creatures, instead of being put under restraint, are employed and valued as watch-dogs and even as blood-hounds. A general anti-barking order prevails throughout Ireland, but the mad-dogs of Dublin Castle are given free run of the country. They are suffering, it is said, from a special form of rabies known as Rabies Teutonica, and apparently it is hoped that if they are allowed to bite enough people, the Irish will sink into a general stupor marked by a loss of appetite for liberty and loss of memory of nation hood.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
"In the very shadow of alarm and sudden death with which the British Army of Occupation continually threatens Ireland, the Irish Republic has entered upon a new phase of its tremendous task. From the wreckage of the structure of British rule in Ireland made top-heavy by its own uncurbed ruthlessness, the Republic is busy constructing another and more permanent edifice of government. As a correspondent of the Chicago Tribune pointed out in a recent dispatch, “the Irish national movement now successfully is building up a legal and economic system to take the place of the British system destroyed.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
6
The Sunday Independent carried this paragraph:
‘It would be difficult to excel in the sphere of pompous farce the debate which spread over a few evenings of last week in Westminster. The faithful vote recorders of the coalition and their mentors, the Ulster Unionist members sat solemnly for hours discussing the rights and powers and restrictions of the Parliaments which it is proposed to set up for the ‘two nations; within Ireland. Meanwhile the Irish people, voting freely under a system of proportional representation designed to give the fullest chance to the minorities to make themselves heard, was quietly placed tremendous Sinn Fein majorities throughout her whole organisation of local councils, and giving no thought at all to the empty dishonesty of the Westminster performance.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
RIC Sergeant Timothy Holland (37) and Constable Gerard Rasdale were seriously wounded when shot at a Sinn Fein march at Cullyhanna, Co Armagh. Holland later dying of wounds on June 9th. The police returned fire killing Peter Charles McCreesh. Rasdale eventually recovered, left the RIC and joined Customs and Excise.
The presence at the meeting of General Tudor hints at who was really behind the orders. General Tudor was a close friend of Churchill and had been appointed by him as Chief of Police. At first it was generally thought that Tudor was doing a good job but as Keith Jeffery writes* 'the good impression did not last very long, as it became clear that Tudor (with Lloyd George’s backing) was happy to condone, or at least turn a blind eye to, police reprisals against presumed Sinn Feiners.
Lord Riddell met General Tudor over dinner with Lloyd George in June 1920. Following Tudor’s graphic description of the difficulties of police-work in Ireland, the Prime Minister ‘was very emphatic upon the necessity for strong measures. He said, “When caught flagrante delicto you must shoot the rebels down. That is the only way.
McEwan, The Riddell Diaries. p314
The Sunday Independent carried this paragraph:
‘It would be difficult to excel in the sphere of pompous farce the debate which spread over a few evenings of last week in Westminster. The faithful vote recorders of the coalition and their mentors, the Ulster Unionist members sat solemnly for hours discussing the rights and powers and restrictions of the Parliaments which it is proposed to set up for the ‘two nations; within Ireland. Meanwhile the Irish people, voting freely under a system of proportional representation designed to give the fullest chance to the minorities to make themselves heard, was quietly placed tremendous Sinn Fein majorities throughout her whole organisation of local councils, and giving no thought at all to the empty dishonesty of the Westminster performance.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
RIC Sergeant Timothy Holland (37) and Constable Gerard Rasdale were seriously wounded when shot at a Sinn Fein march at Cullyhanna, Co Armagh. Holland later dying of wounds on June 9th. The police returned fire killing Peter Charles McCreesh. Rasdale eventually recovered, left the RIC and joined Customs and Excise.
The presence at the meeting of General Tudor hints at who was really behind the orders. General Tudor was a close friend of Churchill and had been appointed by him as Chief of Police. At first it was generally thought that Tudor was doing a good job but as Keith Jeffery writes* 'the good impression did not last very long, as it became clear that Tudor (with Lloyd George’s backing) was happy to condone, or at least turn a blind eye to, police reprisals against presumed Sinn Feiners.
Lord Riddell met General Tudor over dinner with Lloyd George in June 1920. Following Tudor’s graphic description of the difficulties of police-work in Ireland, the Prime Minister ‘was very emphatic upon the necessity for strong measures. He said, “When caught flagrante delicto you must shoot the rebels down. That is the only way.
McEwan, The Riddell Diaries. p314
7
Judge Cohalan and members of the Friends of Irish Freedom drafted the plank for inclusion in the Republican Convention platform. (The actual wording of the plank was to be: “That the Republican Convention desires to place on record its sympathy with all oppressed peoples and its recognition of the principles that the people of Ireland have the right to determine freely, without dictation from outside, their own governmental institutions and their own international relations with other states and peoples” )
Source: Declaration on the Political Situation in Ireland - Friends of Irish Freedom March 28, 1922. Lynch Family Archives
Meanwhile De Valera’s plank called for recognition of the Irish Republic.
De Valera alleged that Cohalan did not want the Irish cause raised at the convention, citing John Milholland’s article ‘Inside Story of the Republican National Convention’ published in the Irish Press (Philadelphia) October 1921 giving ‘ a plausible explanation of the motives of Judge Cohalan. He had supported Johnson for the presidential nomination so strongly that Jonson had been in danger of being identified with the Irish cause. Irish support was being counterbalanced by English propaganda against him, as a result, Johnson asked Cohalan to moderate his own support for the Irish cause, not to press it at the convention, but trust him, if he became President of the United States, to do his best for Ireland. Despite the resolution of the Friends of Irish Freedom, Cohalan was intent on fulfilling his promise to Johnson…’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p110
For the fifth consecutive time the Republicans convened in Chicago, and Mayor Thompson urged all Chicagoans to salute the honor by flying American flags from their homes and businesses while the convention met. For the first time women were elected as delegates in large numbers, due to the pending passage of the 19th amendment granting women's suffrage--a great deal of campaigning for women's equal representation and participation marked the convention proceedings. One early front-runner was Illinois Governor Frank Lowden, son-in-law of Mrs. George M. Pullman... On the day before the convention opened, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favour of both the 18th amendment (for prohibition) and the Volstead Act; William Jennings Bryan, being recorded on film, was cut off abruptly when he expressed to the camera his enthusiastic support of the "dry" ruling...
In Ireland, the opening sessions of the County Courts under British jurisdiction produced no litigants. All had sought hearing under the Sinn Fein courts.
Judge Cohalan and members of the Friends of Irish Freedom drafted the plank for inclusion in the Republican Convention platform. (The actual wording of the plank was to be: “That the Republican Convention desires to place on record its sympathy with all oppressed peoples and its recognition of the principles that the people of Ireland have the right to determine freely, without dictation from outside, their own governmental institutions and their own international relations with other states and peoples” )
Source: Declaration on the Political Situation in Ireland - Friends of Irish Freedom March 28, 1922. Lynch Family Archives
Meanwhile De Valera’s plank called for recognition of the Irish Republic.
De Valera alleged that Cohalan did not want the Irish cause raised at the convention, citing John Milholland’s article ‘Inside Story of the Republican National Convention’ published in the Irish Press (Philadelphia) October 1921 giving ‘ a plausible explanation of the motives of Judge Cohalan. He had supported Johnson for the presidential nomination so strongly that Jonson had been in danger of being identified with the Irish cause. Irish support was being counterbalanced by English propaganda against him, as a result, Johnson asked Cohalan to moderate his own support for the Irish cause, not to press it at the convention, but trust him, if he became President of the United States, to do his best for Ireland. Despite the resolution of the Friends of Irish Freedom, Cohalan was intent on fulfilling his promise to Johnson…’
Longford & O’Neill. “Eamon de Valera “ Hutchinson, London.1970. p110
For the fifth consecutive time the Republicans convened in Chicago, and Mayor Thompson urged all Chicagoans to salute the honor by flying American flags from their homes and businesses while the convention met. For the first time women were elected as delegates in large numbers, due to the pending passage of the 19th amendment granting women's suffrage--a great deal of campaigning for women's equal representation and participation marked the convention proceedings. One early front-runner was Illinois Governor Frank Lowden, son-in-law of Mrs. George M. Pullman... On the day before the convention opened, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favour of both the 18th amendment (for prohibition) and the Volstead Act; William Jennings Bryan, being recorded on film, was cut off abruptly when he expressed to the camera his enthusiastic support of the "dry" ruling...
In Ireland, the opening sessions of the County Courts under British jurisdiction produced no litigants. All had sought hearing under the Sinn Fein courts.
8
Ireland: The County Council elections resulted in a ‘crushing victory’ for Sinn Fein, winning majorities in 29 of the 33 councils. These included Fermanagh and Tyrone ‘wrested from the Unionist for the first time’.
With more than half of the seats uncontested, the dominance of Sinn Féin in most of the new councils was assured. Where contests had taken place, with the exception of Ulster, it appeared that almost all local government bodies were to be controlled by Republicans. Results in Ulster were more varied. The new county council in Derry, comprised 11 unionists, four IPP candidates and four Sinn Féin. In neighbouring Donegal, 11 Sinn Féin, four nationalists and three unionists were returned. Surprisingly, Sinn Féin also found some success in traditional strongholds of Carsonism. In North Antrim, Louis Walsh, topped the poll for the county council. He claimed that the result showed that the Protestants of North Antrim, whom he described as the most tolerant people in Ulster, were his friends.
The success of Sinn Féin in these local elections followed a strong performance in January’s municipal elections and came just a year and a half after its historic performance in the 1918 general election.
The English liberal newspaper ‘The Nation’ commented: ‘with this extension of its fighting front, a new phase of the struggle is entered upon, with many subtle complexeties and far reaching ramifications. It is not a situation in which the army and fleet can be of much assistance’. The London Daily news was impressed by the magnitude of the victory ‘without firing a shot the Republican forces have got control of all the effective machinery of Government in the entire area of the proposed Southern Parliament and in a greater part of the proposed Northern Parliament. The Dail Government could rightly claim that the voters had endorsed its policies’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P126.
The London Daily Herald in an article titled ‘Labour and Munitions’ commented: ‘The Empire is embarking with unlimited force upon the reconquest of Ireland. It is an adventure over which the most imperial of patriots might pause. We are turning America, the only other first class naval power of the world, to opposition, at the criticial hour of the Presidential election. We are locking up the army in Ireland at the moment when Field Marshall Wilson bids us to get ready for the next war. The Empire may find the Spain of it’s Napoleonic period in Ireland. But that is not the real case for action. The first check administered by labour to the transport of munitions begins the end of war and force in the world.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol. 11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter commented:
"The news of the Sinn Fein victory in Ulster in the county and district elections is borne out by the following word from the Irish correspondent of The Nation (London). “The split in the camp of Ulster Unionism suggests that it is none too pleased with the dug-out which the Irish Bill gave them. The Bill from its inception has been controlled by the Belfast oligarchy. In concert with the Cabinet they consider it vital to the maintenance of their power that no more and no less than six counties should be arbitrarily cut off from Ireland. Six counties only should man the life-boat. For this they have thrown over their professed principles, their Unionist colleagues in the other three counties and their Southern allies. They will soon realize that they have overshot their mark. In setting up a six-county legislature they have abandoned the Union; in shutting themselves up from the other Ulster counties and the rest of Ireland they have effectively destroyed all chance of resurrecting the religious bogey. They have cleared the field in the six counties for a straight fight between labor and capital, and in that fight the oligarchy will soon go down. Already, too, vehement protests are raised from the moneyed interests of Belfast against the Imperial tribute. In a little while the educational process will be complete and the British connection will have lost its last ally.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Ireland: The County Council elections resulted in a ‘crushing victory’ for Sinn Fein, winning majorities in 29 of the 33 councils. These included Fermanagh and Tyrone ‘wrested from the Unionist for the first time’.
With more than half of the seats uncontested, the dominance of Sinn Féin in most of the new councils was assured. Where contests had taken place, with the exception of Ulster, it appeared that almost all local government bodies were to be controlled by Republicans. Results in Ulster were more varied. The new county council in Derry, comprised 11 unionists, four IPP candidates and four Sinn Féin. In neighbouring Donegal, 11 Sinn Féin, four nationalists and three unionists were returned. Surprisingly, Sinn Féin also found some success in traditional strongholds of Carsonism. In North Antrim, Louis Walsh, topped the poll for the county council. He claimed that the result showed that the Protestants of North Antrim, whom he described as the most tolerant people in Ulster, were his friends.
The success of Sinn Féin in these local elections followed a strong performance in January’s municipal elections and came just a year and a half after its historic performance in the 1918 general election.
The English liberal newspaper ‘The Nation’ commented: ‘with this extension of its fighting front, a new phase of the struggle is entered upon, with many subtle complexeties and far reaching ramifications. It is not a situation in which the army and fleet can be of much assistance’. The London Daily news was impressed by the magnitude of the victory ‘without firing a shot the Republican forces have got control of all the effective machinery of Government in the entire area of the proposed Southern Parliament and in a greater part of the proposed Northern Parliament. The Dail Government could rightly claim that the voters had endorsed its policies’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P126.
The London Daily Herald in an article titled ‘Labour and Munitions’ commented: ‘The Empire is embarking with unlimited force upon the reconquest of Ireland. It is an adventure over which the most imperial of patriots might pause. We are turning America, the only other first class naval power of the world, to opposition, at the criticial hour of the Presidential election. We are locking up the army in Ireland at the moment when Field Marshall Wilson bids us to get ready for the next war. The Empire may find the Spain of it’s Napoleonic period in Ireland. But that is not the real case for action. The first check administered by labour to the transport of munitions begins the end of war and force in the world.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol. 11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter commented:
"The news of the Sinn Fein victory in Ulster in the county and district elections is borne out by the following word from the Irish correspondent of The Nation (London). “The split in the camp of Ulster Unionism suggests that it is none too pleased with the dug-out which the Irish Bill gave them. The Bill from its inception has been controlled by the Belfast oligarchy. In concert with the Cabinet they consider it vital to the maintenance of their power that no more and no less than six counties should be arbitrarily cut off from Ireland. Six counties only should man the life-boat. For this they have thrown over their professed principles, their Unionist colleagues in the other three counties and their Southern allies. They will soon realize that they have overshot their mark. In setting up a six-county legislature they have abandoned the Union; in shutting themselves up from the other Ulster counties and the rest of Ireland they have effectively destroyed all chance of resurrecting the religious bogey. They have cleared the field in the six counties for a straight fight between labor and capital, and in that fight the oligarchy will soon go down. Already, too, vehement protests are raised from the moneyed interests of Belfast against the Imperial tribute. In a little while the educational process will be complete and the British connection will have lost its last ally.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Republican Party Convention, Chicago
At the Chicago Coliseum, the Republican Convention chairman's gavel (hewn from a rafter in Philadelphia's Freedom Hall) opened proceedings as 300 policemen and 425 sergeants-at-arms maintained order.
AFL president Samuel Gompers once more appealed labor's cause, specifically opposing immigration and a proposed "strike court"; Ohio Congressman Nick Longworth proposed a bi-party plank "...for the abolition of the political handshake," complaining of numb fingers "...and I'm not a candidate for anything"; popular mystery novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart endorsed Governor Lowden; vice presidential hopeful Harry W. Anderson of Virginia received by cable the good wishes of Roumania's Queen Marie.
(Anderson had been Chief Commissioner of the American Red Cross in Eastern Europe.)
Other Convention Week doings in the city: forecasting prohibition, visiting bands twice interrupted City Council with marching renditions of How Dry I Am; City Council approved the adoption of daylight saving time for Chicago; a monumental celebration marked the 75th jubilee of Chicago's Catholic Archdiocese, along with Cardinal Mundelein's 25th year in the priesthood.
“..de Valera proceeded to indulge in the razzmatazz as if he were a presidential candidate himself. Headquarters were taken ‘with huge circus posters outside’, a daily paper was published. The Irish were continuously in and out of Republican headquarters. Leaflets were distributed. Arms were twisted...a torchlight procession was held ‘with bands and banners’ ..de Valera addressed the marchers telling them that “ The Republicans must promise to recognise the Irish republic...all of Chicago wants this.. I know the entire country wants this. I have been all over the country and I know.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P179
Present with de Valera were Mellows, Nunan and McCartan. Later in the Auditorium, de Valera gave a press conference outlining his reasons for being present at the Convention: ‘at all times, we have known that the American people were sympathetic with the Irish struggle for freedom. My mission in this country is to get action in accordance with that sympathy. If I do not get action, I will consider that I have not attained the object of my mission’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.375
Daniel O’Connell of the Irish National Bureau of Information wrote of the tactics used by De Valera:
‘the nature of the plank which President De Valera proposed to introduce was not disclosed to Judge Cohalan until Tuesday, June 8...President De Valera wished, and had been encourage to believe, he, personally, could argue before the Committee on Resolutions for the adoption of his plank....Senator Watson said...it was wholly preposterous to think it possible to have the executive...argue before an American political convention committee in support of or opposition to a subject affecting the country’s foreign relations. Justice Cohalan, realising that the De Valera -Walsh resolution would be overwhelmingly defeated, and conscious that such a result would injure Ireland’s cause, cordially approved...that President De Valera be urged to make such changes in the form of the resolution...as would permit it having some chance to secure adoption.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.376
Judge Cohalan agreed that he should not attend the proposed meeting with De Valera as ‘so much antagonism was directed against him’ and approved a mediation group composed of Mayor Grace of Charleston, Texas; Mahoney of Chicago; Judge Crowe of Chicago, J.A. Murphy of Buffalo and O’Mahony of Indianopolis. However meeting later that day with De Valera, they found the President was not prepared to change the wording or withdraw his plank in favour of the Irish-American proposal.
The proposed de Valera plank wording had in the last paragraph: ‘We pledge our party to the policy of according to the elected Government of the Republic of Ireland full, formal and official recognition by the Government of the United States, thus vindicating the principle for which our soldiers offered up their lives.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.375
John A Murphy, who was a member of the mediation group, commented later on the uncompromising attitude of De Valera with reference to the wording of his plank:
"The President submitted to us the plank he insisted should be adopted without change of any sort. But the one presented by Frank P. Walsh next day to the Committee on Resolutions was much shorter; it was much milder in tone than the one we were told could not be changed in the least. Had discussion or compromise in the wording of the plank been invited or allowed, or unity sought, I am satisfied that it could have been obtained. Our committee were not at all set in the manner of phrasing the plank and would have accepted any reasonable wording in keeping with what WE knew must be the general form and tenor of a political plank."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.376-377
Tansill further comments: "It was a great pity as far as Irish-American unity was concerned that De Valera did not go home immediately after the Chicago convention. He had no conception of political realities in America, and his insistence upon his plank revealed a stubborn, unperceptive quality that boded ill for the future"
At the Chicago Coliseum, the Republican Convention chairman's gavel (hewn from a rafter in Philadelphia's Freedom Hall) opened proceedings as 300 policemen and 425 sergeants-at-arms maintained order.
AFL president Samuel Gompers once more appealed labor's cause, specifically opposing immigration and a proposed "strike court"; Ohio Congressman Nick Longworth proposed a bi-party plank "...for the abolition of the political handshake," complaining of numb fingers "...and I'm not a candidate for anything"; popular mystery novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart endorsed Governor Lowden; vice presidential hopeful Harry W. Anderson of Virginia received by cable the good wishes of Roumania's Queen Marie.
(Anderson had been Chief Commissioner of the American Red Cross in Eastern Europe.)
Other Convention Week doings in the city: forecasting prohibition, visiting bands twice interrupted City Council with marching renditions of How Dry I Am; City Council approved the adoption of daylight saving time for Chicago; a monumental celebration marked the 75th jubilee of Chicago's Catholic Archdiocese, along with Cardinal Mundelein's 25th year in the priesthood.
“..de Valera proceeded to indulge in the razzmatazz as if he were a presidential candidate himself. Headquarters were taken ‘with huge circus posters outside’, a daily paper was published. The Irish were continuously in and out of Republican headquarters. Leaflets were distributed. Arms were twisted...a torchlight procession was held ‘with bands and banners’ ..de Valera addressed the marchers telling them that “ The Republicans must promise to recognise the Irish republic...all of Chicago wants this.. I know the entire country wants this. I have been all over the country and I know.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P179
Present with de Valera were Mellows, Nunan and McCartan. Later in the Auditorium, de Valera gave a press conference outlining his reasons for being present at the Convention: ‘at all times, we have known that the American people were sympathetic with the Irish struggle for freedom. My mission in this country is to get action in accordance with that sympathy. If I do not get action, I will consider that I have not attained the object of my mission’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.375
Daniel O’Connell of the Irish National Bureau of Information wrote of the tactics used by De Valera:
‘the nature of the plank which President De Valera proposed to introduce was not disclosed to Judge Cohalan until Tuesday, June 8...President De Valera wished, and had been encourage to believe, he, personally, could argue before the Committee on Resolutions for the adoption of his plank....Senator Watson said...it was wholly preposterous to think it possible to have the executive...argue before an American political convention committee in support of or opposition to a subject affecting the country’s foreign relations. Justice Cohalan, realising that the De Valera -Walsh resolution would be overwhelmingly defeated, and conscious that such a result would injure Ireland’s cause, cordially approved...that President De Valera be urged to make such changes in the form of the resolution...as would permit it having some chance to secure adoption.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.376
Judge Cohalan agreed that he should not attend the proposed meeting with De Valera as ‘so much antagonism was directed against him’ and approved a mediation group composed of Mayor Grace of Charleston, Texas; Mahoney of Chicago; Judge Crowe of Chicago, J.A. Murphy of Buffalo and O’Mahony of Indianopolis. However meeting later that day with De Valera, they found the President was not prepared to change the wording or withdraw his plank in favour of the Irish-American proposal.
The proposed de Valera plank wording had in the last paragraph: ‘We pledge our party to the policy of according to the elected Government of the Republic of Ireland full, formal and official recognition by the Government of the United States, thus vindicating the principle for which our soldiers offered up their lives.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.375
John A Murphy, who was a member of the mediation group, commented later on the uncompromising attitude of De Valera with reference to the wording of his plank:
"The President submitted to us the plank he insisted should be adopted without change of any sort. But the one presented by Frank P. Walsh next day to the Committee on Resolutions was much shorter; it was much milder in tone than the one we were told could not be changed in the least. Had discussion or compromise in the wording of the plank been invited or allowed, or unity sought, I am satisfied that it could have been obtained. Our committee were not at all set in the manner of phrasing the plank and would have accepted any reasonable wording in keeping with what WE knew must be the general form and tenor of a political plank."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.376-377
Tansill further comments: "It was a great pity as far as Irish-American unity was concerned that De Valera did not go home immediately after the Chicago convention. He had no conception of political realities in America, and his insistence upon his plank revealed a stubborn, unperceptive quality that boded ill for the future"
9
Dublin:
The Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress pledged its support for workers in Dublin who were refusing to handle munitions of war. A statement issued by the party on 9 June – signed by leaders Thomas Farren, J.C. O’Connor, William O’Brien, Thomas Johnson – claimed that the ‘men who work in the transport industries have laid it down emphatically that they will not be parties to the attempted reconquest of Ireland by British military forces. Railwaymen, dock workers, and carters are quite fixed in this resolve and they will be supported by the organised workers in every other industry.’
The statement adds that it is the ‘imperative duty of every man and woman in Ireland to rally to the support’ of the more than 400 men who have been ‘locked-out of their work for nearly three weeks’ owing to their refusal to handle war material. It also calls on trades councils throughout Ireland to create local committees to organise collections in support of the workers and their families.
The Labour Party states that the British government has said, in effect, that ‘Irish dock workers and railwaymen...MUST do as they are bid, even though in the doing they become traitors to their own nation. The Irish workers answer: Not all the armies of your Empire can compel us to act the renegade. We refuse to assist you in your war. We are MEN, not part of an inanimate machine.’
North Wall, in the Dublin docklands, had been the epicentre of the dispute, but there were also instances of Kildare railwaymen refusing to work on trains carrying troops. The strike has not affected the transport of food, agricultural machinery and merchandise.
The munitions strike exposed divisions between trade unionists in Ireland and their counterparts in Britain. It is notable that the British labour leaders, including executives of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), have been unwilling to support the strike to date, the Belfast Newsletter speculating that to do so would risk splitting the labour movement in Britain ‘from top to bottom’.
Chicago
The De Valera plank calling for recognition of the Irish Republic came before the resolutions sub-committee and was defeated 11 to 1, with Senator Borah the only one voting in its favour. The Cohalan Plank came before the same sub-committee an hour or so later and was approved 7 to 6, but only after a lengthy debate on the merits of foreign involvement by an already growing isolationist majority.
Dublin:
The Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress pledged its support for workers in Dublin who were refusing to handle munitions of war. A statement issued by the party on 9 June – signed by leaders Thomas Farren, J.C. O’Connor, William O’Brien, Thomas Johnson – claimed that the ‘men who work in the transport industries have laid it down emphatically that they will not be parties to the attempted reconquest of Ireland by British military forces. Railwaymen, dock workers, and carters are quite fixed in this resolve and they will be supported by the organised workers in every other industry.’
The statement adds that it is the ‘imperative duty of every man and woman in Ireland to rally to the support’ of the more than 400 men who have been ‘locked-out of their work for nearly three weeks’ owing to their refusal to handle war material. It also calls on trades councils throughout Ireland to create local committees to organise collections in support of the workers and their families.
The Labour Party states that the British government has said, in effect, that ‘Irish dock workers and railwaymen...MUST do as they are bid, even though in the doing they become traitors to their own nation. The Irish workers answer: Not all the armies of your Empire can compel us to act the renegade. We refuse to assist you in your war. We are MEN, not part of an inanimate machine.’
North Wall, in the Dublin docklands, had been the epicentre of the dispute, but there were also instances of Kildare railwaymen refusing to work on trains carrying troops. The strike has not affected the transport of food, agricultural machinery and merchandise.
The munitions strike exposed divisions between trade unionists in Ireland and their counterparts in Britain. It is notable that the British labour leaders, including executives of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), have been unwilling to support the strike to date, the Belfast Newsletter speculating that to do so would risk splitting the labour movement in Britain ‘from top to bottom’.
Chicago
The De Valera plank calling for recognition of the Irish Republic came before the resolutions sub-committee and was defeated 11 to 1, with Senator Borah the only one voting in its favour. The Cohalan Plank came before the same sub-committee an hour or so later and was approved 7 to 6, but only after a lengthy debate on the merits of foreign involvement by an already growing isolationist majority.
10
400 dockworkers and railwaymen in Ireland were dismissed for refusal to load or transport British military supplies. Within a month, over 1000 were dismissed.
The Chicago Tribune published a tentative draft of the platform as approved by the sub-committee on resolutions, containing the Cohalan plank. De Valera announced his opposition to it, which resulted in it’s withdrawal from the convention.
“ ..De Valera's all or nothing attitude had got him - nothing, this was the price of his victory at the Park Avenue Hotel. He could not allow Cohalan's resolution to get through and his to fail, thereby proving Cohalan's charge that he was ignorant of American politics. He afterwards attempted to justify his behaviour by claiming that the Cohalan plank was too vague. He said it “ ..was positively harmful to our interests that a resolution misrepresenting Ireland's claim by understating it should have been presented’”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P180-181
Bishop Gallagher of Detroit, publically commented on the debacle a year later:
"...The most terrible mistake President de Valera has made in America and the most disastrous for Ireland was his rushing to Chicago (although he knew Justice Cohalan had been appointed by the Executive of the Friends of Irish Freedom, as Chairman of a Committee to look after the Irish plank in the Republican platform) and insisting that a plank drawn by himself should be adopted pledging the recognition of die Irish Republic and that nothing else would be accepted. The leaders of the Friends of Irish Freedom knew, as men experienced in American Conventions, that this plank . . . could not be forced through at that time. . . . The Friends of Irish Freedom leaders had tried for a whole year to get an implicit recognition bill the Mason bill through Congress and failed. . . . The Irish-American leaders, therefore, felt that under these circumstances it would be sheer folly to demand a recognition plank in express terms. . . .
Accordingly, they negotiated and secured the adoption of the so-called Cohalan plank, in the sub-committee, by a vote of seven to six. . .
If this plank had been allowed to stand the Democrats would have had to adopt as good a one, and the result would be that the Irish cause would have been raised to a level hitherto unthought-of of in the minds of the whole American people. . . . But De Valera's offering one plank and the "Friends'* another, subsequently, gave politicians a chance to say that the Irish did not know what they wanted. . . . De Valera denounced this plank [the Cohalan plank] as unacceptable, and had Milholland 'phone Senator Watson, the Chairman of the Resolutions Committee, that the plank was not wanted. The result was that Watson, in disgust, changed his vote over night, leaving the vote of the sub-committee six to six, which meant the defeat of the Cohalan plank and the dropping of all reference to Ireland in the Republican platform..."
One of the better descriptions of the entire ‘Republican Convention Plank Saga’ is that of the British ambassador in Washington, Sir Auckland Geddes in a letter to Earl Curzon of Keddleston on 16th June 1920:
“Cohalan drafted the plank in the first instance and made it a mild document, expressing the sympathy of small nationalities in general and of Ireland in particular. De Valera then got hold of the resolution and modified it so as to make it advocate material American assistance towards the realisation of Irish aspirations....it was rejected by 12 votes to 1.
Cohalan then set to work again and largely if not mainly through the assistance of Senator McCormick of Illinois, had his own milder plank resubmitted to the committee, who accepted it by 7 votes to 6, though there was a great fight on the subject, it being pointed out that in a platform the general tendency of which was aversion from foreign entanglements, such a plank would be grotesquely incongruous and expose the party to strong criticism.
At this point, de Valera again appeared on the scene and, disavowing Cohalan's draft, advocated the adoption of his own stronger plank. Upon this the committee replied that as the Irish leaders were quarrelling and did not seem to know themselves what they wanted, they would leave Ireland out altogether; and at the last moment the plank was removed altogether from the platform. From an Irish point of view, the incident illustrates in an interesting manner, the immense influence Irishmen can exert on American politicians if they proceed wisely; and how ready American politicians are to withdraw themselves from that influence if they can find some colourable pretext for doing so.”
Ambassador Auckland Geddes to Earl Curzon of Keddleston.
400 dockworkers and railwaymen in Ireland were dismissed for refusal to load or transport British military supplies. Within a month, over 1000 were dismissed.
The Chicago Tribune published a tentative draft of the platform as approved by the sub-committee on resolutions, containing the Cohalan plank. De Valera announced his opposition to it, which resulted in it’s withdrawal from the convention.
“ ..De Valera's all or nothing attitude had got him - nothing, this was the price of his victory at the Park Avenue Hotel. He could not allow Cohalan's resolution to get through and his to fail, thereby proving Cohalan's charge that he was ignorant of American politics. He afterwards attempted to justify his behaviour by claiming that the Cohalan plank was too vague. He said it “ ..was positively harmful to our interests that a resolution misrepresenting Ireland's claim by understating it should have been presented’”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. P180-181
Bishop Gallagher of Detroit, publically commented on the debacle a year later:
"...The most terrible mistake President de Valera has made in America and the most disastrous for Ireland was his rushing to Chicago (although he knew Justice Cohalan had been appointed by the Executive of the Friends of Irish Freedom, as Chairman of a Committee to look after the Irish plank in the Republican platform) and insisting that a plank drawn by himself should be adopted pledging the recognition of die Irish Republic and that nothing else would be accepted. The leaders of the Friends of Irish Freedom knew, as men experienced in American Conventions, that this plank . . . could not be forced through at that time. . . . The Friends of Irish Freedom leaders had tried for a whole year to get an implicit recognition bill the Mason bill through Congress and failed. . . . The Irish-American leaders, therefore, felt that under these circumstances it would be sheer folly to demand a recognition plank in express terms. . . .
Accordingly, they negotiated and secured the adoption of the so-called Cohalan plank, in the sub-committee, by a vote of seven to six. . .
If this plank had been allowed to stand the Democrats would have had to adopt as good a one, and the result would be that the Irish cause would have been raised to a level hitherto unthought-of of in the minds of the whole American people. . . . But De Valera's offering one plank and the "Friends'* another, subsequently, gave politicians a chance to say that the Irish did not know what they wanted. . . . De Valera denounced this plank [the Cohalan plank] as unacceptable, and had Milholland 'phone Senator Watson, the Chairman of the Resolutions Committee, that the plank was not wanted. The result was that Watson, in disgust, changed his vote over night, leaving the vote of the sub-committee six to six, which meant the defeat of the Cohalan plank and the dropping of all reference to Ireland in the Republican platform..."
One of the better descriptions of the entire ‘Republican Convention Plank Saga’ is that of the British ambassador in Washington, Sir Auckland Geddes in a letter to Earl Curzon of Keddleston on 16th June 1920:
“Cohalan drafted the plank in the first instance and made it a mild document, expressing the sympathy of small nationalities in general and of Ireland in particular. De Valera then got hold of the resolution and modified it so as to make it advocate material American assistance towards the realisation of Irish aspirations....it was rejected by 12 votes to 1.
Cohalan then set to work again and largely if not mainly through the assistance of Senator McCormick of Illinois, had his own milder plank resubmitted to the committee, who accepted it by 7 votes to 6, though there was a great fight on the subject, it being pointed out that in a platform the general tendency of which was aversion from foreign entanglements, such a plank would be grotesquely incongruous and expose the party to strong criticism.
At this point, de Valera again appeared on the scene and, disavowing Cohalan's draft, advocated the adoption of his own stronger plank. Upon this the committee replied that as the Irish leaders were quarrelling and did not seem to know themselves what they wanted, they would leave Ireland out altogether; and at the last moment the plank was removed altogether from the platform. From an Irish point of view, the incident illustrates in an interesting manner, the immense influence Irishmen can exert on American politicians if they proceed wisely; and how ready American politicians are to withdraw themselves from that influence if they can find some colourable pretext for doing so.”
Ambassador Auckland Geddes to Earl Curzon of Keddleston.
11
The results of the Irish county council elections from Dublin were carried by the syndicated news services throughout the US.
However, in many newsrooms, the last paragraph was deleted and not printed:
‘Sinn Fein’s peaceful capture of administrative institutions in Ireland is forcing itself to public attention, a record just published claims that Sinn Fein have assumed police and judicial functions in 57 cases since April 15. Irish lawyers declare their practice is dwindling, as the people are submitting their cases to the Sinn Fein courts and binding themselves to abide by the results’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
12
Chicago: At the Republican Convention, Warren Harding was nominated as presidential candidate with Governor Coolidge of Massachusets as his running-mate.
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter in it’s June 19th 1920 headline ‘THE CHICAGO CONVENTION’ condemned directly ‘those who went to Chicago’ and attempted to push through a plank ‘that never had even a remote chance of adoption.’.
The failure of the Republican National Convention to adopt a plank favourable to the Irish Republic was due directly to these individuals who ‘sought without consultation with ( and in direct opposition to ) the representatives of the National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom , to force favourable consideration of a plank…’Take this or give us nothing’ was their ultimatum. The answer was, they got nothing.’
The article states that Judge Cohalan’s and associate’s plank would have been successful, were it not for ‘the brass band’, dictatorial and unwarranted metholds of those who, usurping the power to speak for the Friends of Irish Freedom, refused to be guided, advised or led by leaders of proved experience, influence and ability and fully authorised to speak for the Friends of Irish Freedom.’
The Editor continued to state that American policies, tradition and leadership had been put in the balance by the actions of the opposing Irish group, ‘it was no time to exhibit weakness…if these extremists had remained away from Chicago, a clear majority of the Committee would have adopted the official plank and the Republican Party would have officially been pledged to aid Ireland secure liberty. Those who brought to Chicago without rightful authority the ‘women pickets’ and others, and with amateurish, ridiculous methods, sought to accomplish the purpose of forcing a big convention to bow to the will of a small group, made a collasal blunder…’
The root cause of the entire fiasco was, as the editor put it, was due to those who did not understand the workings, attempted to operate the party political machine. ‘American activities in behalf of Ireland must be directed by American brains, and the brains of those vested by the Friends of Irish Freedom to represent the 20,000,000 Americans of Irish blood. Much was done in Chicago in the name of the Friends of Irish Freedom that was not authorised or approved by the Friends…’
The Newsletter went on to warn ‘The Chicago experience must not be repeated. Those who believe in extreme metholds, such as the ‘pickets’ blocked the passge of the Mason Bill, now they have blocked help from the Republican Convention’ and more strong words were to follow: ‘The time has arrived when they must no longer be permitted to misrepresent those whom they do not rightfully represent. The Americans who founded the Friends of Irish Freedom and gave it life and a powerful voice in American affairs are first, last and always, Americans.’ And if that wasn’t clear enough, the colours were now nailed to the mast with: ‘American leadership only will they follow in shaping American activities in behalf on the people of Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Results of the June 1 Irish Local Government elections were published. Of the 33 County Councils in Ireland, the Republicans secured 29, Unionists 4 (Derry, Antrim, Armagh, Down). Of the 206 Rural District Councils, the Republicans secured 172
( 83.5%) with only 19 voting to retain the connection with England. In the nine Ulster counties, there were 55 Rural District Councils, of these only 19 returned a Unionist majority. The result was that every Board of Guardians, County & Rural District Councils in Munster, Leinster & Connaught ( and 31 councils in Ulster ) gave allegiance to the Republic. The immediate reaction from Parliament was to stop the grants paid out of Irish taxes and administered to local councils for the institutions of the sick, destitute and insane. People continued to pay their rates to local Republican councils.
Overall, these first six months of 1920 saw the gradual erosion of British Government within the country. The courts, local Government and police functions were effectively removed from the jurisdiction of the Crown and taken over by the defacto Government, never to be returned. With the Local Government elections secured by Sinn Fein and the very obvious removal of British power and influence, the situation was to change radically.
Meanwhile the Cabinet approved a new and revised ‘Get Tough’ policy.
Katherine Hughes, Secretary of the Irish National Bureau of Information since its inception in the spring of 1919, resigned and moved to Canada.
Attempts by the US to break the Japanese diplomatic code were finally successful when the first complete translation of a message from Tokyo to Washington was decoded.
Constable John Carroll (38) was killed in the Railway Hotel, Limerick. Newly transferred to Limerick for detective duties.
Constable Thomas King (26) was killed while on leave near Glengarriff, Co Cork. although wounded in the attack Constable King managed to make it to a house but was dragged out by his attackers and shot dead. The inquest into King’s death had to be postponed as no jury could be found for the inquest. King served in the Royal Navy during WW1.
The American Federation of Labor
The Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter in it’s June 19th 1920 headline ‘THE CHICAGO CONVENTION’ condemned directly ‘those who went to Chicago’ and attempted to push through a plank ‘that never had even a remote chance of adoption.’.
The failure of the Republican National Convention to adopt a plank favourable to the Irish Republic was due directly to these individuals who ‘sought without consultation with ( and in direct opposition to ) the representatives of the National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom , to force favourable consideration of a plank…’Take this or give us nothing’ was their ultimatum. The answer was, they got nothing.’
The article states that Judge Cohalan’s and associate’s plank would have been successful, were it not for ‘the brass band’, dictatorial and unwarranted metholds of those who, usurping the power to speak for the Friends of Irish Freedom, refused to be guided, advised or led by leaders of proved experience, influence and ability and fully authorised to speak for the Friends of Irish Freedom.’
The Editor continued to state that American policies, tradition and leadership had been put in the balance by the actions of the opposing Irish group, ‘it was no time to exhibit weakness…if these extremists had remained away from Chicago, a clear majority of the Committee would have adopted the official plank and the Republican Party would have officially been pledged to aid Ireland secure liberty. Those who brought to Chicago without rightful authority the ‘women pickets’ and others, and with amateurish, ridiculous methods, sought to accomplish the purpose of forcing a big convention to bow to the will of a small group, made a collasal blunder…’
The root cause of the entire fiasco was, as the editor put it, was due to those who did not understand the workings, attempted to operate the party political machine. ‘American activities in behalf of Ireland must be directed by American brains, and the brains of those vested by the Friends of Irish Freedom to represent the 20,000,000 Americans of Irish blood. Much was done in Chicago in the name of the Friends of Irish Freedom that was not authorised or approved by the Friends…’
The Newsletter went on to warn ‘The Chicago experience must not be repeated. Those who believe in extreme metholds, such as the ‘pickets’ blocked the passge of the Mason Bill, now they have blocked help from the Republican Convention’ and more strong words were to follow: ‘The time has arrived when they must no longer be permitted to misrepresent those whom they do not rightfully represent. The Americans who founded the Friends of Irish Freedom and gave it life and a powerful voice in American affairs are first, last and always, Americans.’ And if that wasn’t clear enough, the colours were now nailed to the mast with: ‘American leadership only will they follow in shaping American activities in behalf on the people of Ireland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Results of the June 1 Irish Local Government elections were published. Of the 33 County Councils in Ireland, the Republicans secured 29, Unionists 4 (Derry, Antrim, Armagh, Down). Of the 206 Rural District Councils, the Republicans secured 172
( 83.5%) with only 19 voting to retain the connection with England. In the nine Ulster counties, there were 55 Rural District Councils, of these only 19 returned a Unionist majority. The result was that every Board of Guardians, County & Rural District Councils in Munster, Leinster & Connaught ( and 31 councils in Ulster ) gave allegiance to the Republic. The immediate reaction from Parliament was to stop the grants paid out of Irish taxes and administered to local councils for the institutions of the sick, destitute and insane. People continued to pay their rates to local Republican councils.
Overall, these first six months of 1920 saw the gradual erosion of British Government within the country. The courts, local Government and police functions were effectively removed from the jurisdiction of the Crown and taken over by the defacto Government, never to be returned. With the Local Government elections secured by Sinn Fein and the very obvious removal of British power and influence, the situation was to change radically.
Meanwhile the Cabinet approved a new and revised ‘Get Tough’ policy.
Katherine Hughes, Secretary of the Irish National Bureau of Information since its inception in the spring of 1919, resigned and moved to Canada.
Attempts by the US to break the Japanese diplomatic code were finally successful when the first complete translation of a message from Tokyo to Washington was decoded.
Constable John Carroll (38) was killed in the Railway Hotel, Limerick. Newly transferred to Limerick for detective duties.
Constable Thomas King (26) was killed while on leave near Glengarriff, Co Cork. although wounded in the attack Constable King managed to make it to a house but was dragged out by his attackers and shot dead. The inquest into King’s death had to be postponed as no jury could be found for the inquest. King served in the Royal Navy during WW1.
The American Federation of Labor
"The American Federation of Labor at its Montreal Convention reaffirmed its stand for recognition of the Irish Republic amid demonstrations of approval and adopted resolutions urging that the ‘‘military forces of occupation in Ire land be withdrawn,” and that the Irish people be accorded the “right of self determination”.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
National Union of Railway Men
Meanwhile in Bristol, England, a resolution reproving the government for its Irish policy was adopted by the executive committee of the National Union of Railway Men. “The present murders and outrages in Ireland are the inevitable result of the Government’s policy in not governing Ireland in accordance with the wishes of the people”, says the resolution. “We condemn such outrages, and appeal to the Irish people themselves to protect human life and property, and equally, to the Government to prevent provocation by not sending munitions to Ireland.”
National Unionist Association, Birmingham
However in Birmingham, a discussion on Ireland at a conference of the National Unionist Association concluded with calls from the crowd of: ‘We want another Cromwell!’ The conference heard testimony from an unionist from the ‘south of Ireland’, who wished not to be named publicly, who told of the perilous plight of loyalists outside of Ulster and the failure of Dublin Castle to provide them with protection. Whenever they brought their concerns to the authorities, they were told ‘we cannot protect ourselves, let alone you.’ This disclosure was greeted with cries of ‘Shame!’ in the hall.
The speaker added that they were ‘unsuccessfully fighting 1,500,000 people who were practically in arms against them’. Another unnamed delegate from Ireland stated that people in Ireland were living in a ‘harvest of blood’, a remark that led an English delegate to suggest that the Liberal section of the coalition government be sent to Ireland and placed ‘in the position of the Royal Irish Constabulary’. According to the Press Association it was this suggestion that led to cheers and shouts of ‘We want another Cromwell’. The meeting then passed a resolution which urged, in light of the ‘imminent peril of loyalists in Ireland’ and the ‘paralysis of law there’, that ‘effective steps be taken to avert what would be ‘disastrous consequences’ for Ireland, Britain and the Empire."
Reviewing the events in Birmingham, the Belfast Newsletter said that it illustrated the growing levels of impatience that unionist supporters of the government have with its failure to suppress the Sinn Féin-inspired opposition to British rule in Ireland.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
National Union of Railway Men
Meanwhile in Bristol, England, a resolution reproving the government for its Irish policy was adopted by the executive committee of the National Union of Railway Men. “The present murders and outrages in Ireland are the inevitable result of the Government’s policy in not governing Ireland in accordance with the wishes of the people”, says the resolution. “We condemn such outrages, and appeal to the Irish people themselves to protect human life and property, and equally, to the Government to prevent provocation by not sending munitions to Ireland.”
National Unionist Association, Birmingham
However in Birmingham, a discussion on Ireland at a conference of the National Unionist Association concluded with calls from the crowd of: ‘We want another Cromwell!’ The conference heard testimony from an unionist from the ‘south of Ireland’, who wished not to be named publicly, who told of the perilous plight of loyalists outside of Ulster and the failure of Dublin Castle to provide them with protection. Whenever they brought their concerns to the authorities, they were told ‘we cannot protect ourselves, let alone you.’ This disclosure was greeted with cries of ‘Shame!’ in the hall.
The speaker added that they were ‘unsuccessfully fighting 1,500,000 people who were practically in arms against them’. Another unnamed delegate from Ireland stated that people in Ireland were living in a ‘harvest of blood’, a remark that led an English delegate to suggest that the Liberal section of the coalition government be sent to Ireland and placed ‘in the position of the Royal Irish Constabulary’. According to the Press Association it was this suggestion that led to cheers and shouts of ‘We want another Cromwell’. The meeting then passed a resolution which urged, in light of the ‘imminent peril of loyalists in Ireland’ and the ‘paralysis of law there’, that ‘effective steps be taken to avert what would be ‘disastrous consequences’ for Ireland, Britain and the Empire."
Reviewing the events in Birmingham, the Belfast Newsletter said that it illustrated the growing levels of impatience that unionist supporters of the government have with its failure to suppress the Sinn Féin-inspired opposition to British rule in Ireland.
MASON RESOLUTION IS NOT DEAD Those who schemed to prevent definite action by Congress on the Mason resolution have succeeded, and now it is in order that they should accept the responsibility. In the closing days of Congress, the coterie of Republican leaders who were fearful to go on record, or allow about fifty timid colleagues to be recorded, prevailed on Speaker Gillett to shoulder the odium of refusing recognition to Congressman Mason or Kennedy, (Reps.) or Congressmen Flood, Smith of N. Y., Sabbath of Ill., Stedman of N. C., Linthicum of Maryland, and other Democratic members who are seeking to force action. Gillett, as official party boss, is properly deserving of criticism for allowing himself to be the cat's-paw of a group of party leaders, so lacking in judgment as to invite severe condemnation of their party. The real responsibility rests on Chairman Porter. There was no occasion for all the ridiculous delays, and political manoeuvring. The object was obvious. Against great odds, and in the face of deliberate political opposition, Chairman Porter and those whose appeals for delay he heeded were obliged to make a report. Messrs. Mason, Kennedy (R. I.) and Brown (Wis.), though staunch Republicans, refused to be parties to delays. They and a goodly number of other Republican members, aided in compelling action. The Republican House leaders knew the resolution would pass if it came to a vote. The scattering opposition from timid Republicans, and timid Democrats like Connally of Texas, Goodwin of Arkansas and Middleton of Alabama has landed in a weak minority. There was one other feature of the closing days not to be overlooked. The action of the women “pickets,” who interrupted the proceedings of Congress, gave a plausible excuse to those members who were playing politics. Some of these women boldly asked for defeat of the legislation. Their acts and words gave encouragement to the enemy. The sweeping condemnation that followed their conduct was difficult to meet. The Mason resolution is not dead. It is still on the Calendar, and when Congress reconvenes, definite action will be had. Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives |
13
Sir Hamar Greenwood speaking to a London audience said ‘I believe the vast majority of the Irish people hate and loathe the campaign of terror and murder now carried out in certain parts of their country ( cheers )’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P207
Dublin Castle began publishing it’s ‘Weekly Summary of Outrages’ which was circulated to the R.I.C, Army, Auxilliaries, Black and Tans as well as distributed to branches of the Comrades of the Great War ( the British equivalent of the American Legion ) and the Press. Through this early propaganda format, the R.I.C were portrayed as helping to save the Irish from the Republican terror-gang that were bent on control and with possible Bolshevik links. However, shootings of civilians by the R.I.C and Army increased.
The Sinn Fein press bureau in Dublin issued a statement on these weekly summaries, describing them as the ‘latest methold the British Government has discovered of attacking our claim to independence. These lists are garbled and childishly dishonest. But they will be used in every part of the world to besmirch Sinn Fein. Our best answer to them is that each day it should more clearly be shown that in these districts in which they can do so the Irish people can rule themselves, protest property, develop resources, maintain order and give equal rights to all citizens, no matter what their political and religious beliefs. The answer is already being given in many parts of Ireland…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne was charged in a US newspaper that he had refused to show ‘proper respect to the American national anthem when it was played in his presence.’ This charge was strongly refuted by the cleric and taken up by the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter.
Sir Hamar Greenwood speaking to a London audience said ‘I believe the vast majority of the Irish people hate and loathe the campaign of terror and murder now carried out in certain parts of their country ( cheers )’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P207
Dublin Castle began publishing it’s ‘Weekly Summary of Outrages’ which was circulated to the R.I.C, Army, Auxilliaries, Black and Tans as well as distributed to branches of the Comrades of the Great War ( the British equivalent of the American Legion ) and the Press. Through this early propaganda format, the R.I.C were portrayed as helping to save the Irish from the Republican terror-gang that were bent on control and with possible Bolshevik links. However, shootings of civilians by the R.I.C and Army increased.
The Sinn Fein press bureau in Dublin issued a statement on these weekly summaries, describing them as the ‘latest methold the British Government has discovered of attacking our claim to independence. These lists are garbled and childishly dishonest. But they will be used in every part of the world to besmirch Sinn Fein. Our best answer to them is that each day it should more clearly be shown that in these districts in which they can do so the Irish people can rule themselves, protest property, develop resources, maintain order and give equal rights to all citizens, no matter what their political and religious beliefs. The answer is already being given in many parts of Ireland…’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Archbishop Mannix of Melbourne was charged in a US newspaper that he had refused to show ‘proper respect to the American national anthem when it was played in his presence.’ This charge was strongly refuted by the cleric and taken up by the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter.
14
Mount Shannon, the largest house in Co. Limerick burned down by the IRA.
Mount Shannon, the largest house in Co. Limerick burned down by the IRA.
15
Daniel T O’Connell, The Bureau of Irish Information chief in Washington commented on the ‘Sympathy’ resolution in Chicago:
‘..those attacking Judge Cohalan for having offered a ‘sympathy ‘ resolution at Chicago, which is regarded as the cause of the present controversy, did not know that the Mason ‘sympathy’ resolution before Congress was drafted by President De Valera. The shafts of attack were intended to fall mainly on Judge Cohalan. Following the practice, which we did not deviate from until, in self-defence, the present controversy required a truthful, straightforward presentation of facts, neither Judge Cohalan nor the writer sought to avoid attacks on themselves, by making these extreme critics publicly realise they were actually attacking President De Valera. The President remained silent and allowed the attacks to continue.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.358
The US Consul in Dublin, F.T.F. Dumont, advised the Secretary of State in Washington of the effect the Chicago Convention had on Irish leaders: ‘the news that the Republican platform contained no plank favouring Irish freedom came as a shock to Sinn Feiners in Ireland. They had confidently counted upon Mr De Valera influence to have such a plank inserted.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.404
Constable Pierce Doogue (42) was killed during rioting at a fair day in Belmullet, Co.Mayo.
Daniel T O’Connell, The Bureau of Irish Information chief in Washington commented on the ‘Sympathy’ resolution in Chicago:
‘..those attacking Judge Cohalan for having offered a ‘sympathy ‘ resolution at Chicago, which is regarded as the cause of the present controversy, did not know that the Mason ‘sympathy’ resolution before Congress was drafted by President De Valera. The shafts of attack were intended to fall mainly on Judge Cohalan. Following the practice, which we did not deviate from until, in self-defence, the present controversy required a truthful, straightforward presentation of facts, neither Judge Cohalan nor the writer sought to avoid attacks on themselves, by making these extreme critics publicly realise they were actually attacking President De Valera. The President remained silent and allowed the attacks to continue.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.358
The US Consul in Dublin, F.T.F. Dumont, advised the Secretary of State in Washington of the effect the Chicago Convention had on Irish leaders: ‘the news that the Republican platform contained no plank favouring Irish freedom came as a shock to Sinn Feiners in Ireland. They had confidently counted upon Mr De Valera influence to have such a plank inserted.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.404
Constable Pierce Doogue (42) was killed during rioting at a fair day in Belmullet, Co.Mayo.
an occasional historical aside
The IRA & a long lost Caravaggio How the mistreatment of Tom Clarke following his arrest in April 1916 led to an IRA assassination, the commissioning of a remarkable stained glass window by Harry Clarke, a lifetime of medical service and the discovery of a long lost masterpiece. The story of Percival Lea-Wilson and his wife, Monica. |
On June 15, 1920, Percival Lea-Wilson, a District Inspector in the RIC, stationed at Gorey, Co. Wexford was shot dead by the IRA outside his home on the orders of Michael Collins.
Born to a solidly middle class household in Brompton, Kent in April 1887, Percival 'Val' Lea-Wilson was educated at Winchester College – a leading public school noted for its solid grounding in the Classics and the spartan lifestyle of its inmates – and New College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1909. In 1910 he enrolled as a cadet in the Royal Irish Constabulary, and in 1911 was appointed a District Inspector; he served successively at Charleville, Co. Cork, Woodford, Co. Galway, and Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath.
While in Charleville he fell in love with Marie Monique Eugenie (“Monica”) Ryan, the daughter of a local (Catholic) solicitor, Patrick Ryan of “The Turrets”. On being posted to Dunshaughlin he wrote her a series of letters expressing his undying love, regretting the hostility of her father, and grumbling about his job. The following – written from the Fingall Arms Hotel on 13 October 1913 – is typical:
"This place is horrid, dirty, miserable. I went to bed after going out to see a patrol miserable. I got up this morning worse. Your letter from Cork was very cheering. I have since been out and – they have raised some ink – inspected two stations, where an extraordinary state of inefficiency prevails, which once more reduced me to misery, and the car is wrong. I got your two letters from Charleville … Your second letter made some explanation: what sort of a truce? I suspect truces: just the sort of thing that won’t work. I think probably the letter was extracted from you at the end of the rod or some other threat. I have to take the car to Dublin for repairs this afternoon.
I have another letter from your father. I can’t read one word of it but it appears to be about horses.
I am very worried about you.
Your loving Val."
Overcoming the disapproval of her parents, the couple were married in the Catholic church at Charleville on 27 January 1914. Two years later Monica’s sister Adeline married the fourth Baron Muskerry, who was thirty-three years her senior – another "mixed marriage" - highly unusual for the era.
During the World War, Lea-Wilson was an officer in the Royal Irish Rifles as a musketry instructor in France and was promoted Captain. Wounded in action, according to the RIC Magazine, he had re-joined the police by March 1916 and at the outbreak of the Easter Rising, was on temporary duty in Dublin (“What a terrible time of anxiety you must have been passing through,” his mother wrote to Monica. “How merciful that Val was no longer at Ashbourne!”) – he was placed in charge of Republican prisoners following the surrender.
However, a notorious incident that effectively signed his death warrant took place at the Rotunda Gardens on Saturday, April 29, 1916.
There, without shelter, sanitation, water or food, most of the exhausted garrisons of the GPO and Four Courts that had surrendered were held. Under heavy military guard, Lea-Wilson, apparently drunk and out of control, abused and humiliated Republican prisoners in his charge. Among those singled out were Sean McDiarmada, Edward Daly and Tom Clarke. At 59, Clarke was the oldest man to have taken an active part in the Rising and the first of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic. Lea-Wilson forced Clarke & Daly to strip naked on the steps of the hospital in front of the other prisoners (who included Michael Collins and Liam Tobin) and the female nursing staff. Clarke was then loudly jeered by Lea-Wilson: “That old bastard is Commander-in-Chief. He keeps a tobacco shop across the Street. Nice general for your fucking army.”.
Below: excerpt from "Those of Us Who Must Die: Execution, Exile and Revival after the Easter Rising". Derek Molyneaux & Darren Kelly:
Born to a solidly middle class household in Brompton, Kent in April 1887, Percival 'Val' Lea-Wilson was educated at Winchester College – a leading public school noted for its solid grounding in the Classics and the spartan lifestyle of its inmates – and New College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1909. In 1910 he enrolled as a cadet in the Royal Irish Constabulary, and in 1911 was appointed a District Inspector; he served successively at Charleville, Co. Cork, Woodford, Co. Galway, and Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath.
While in Charleville he fell in love with Marie Monique Eugenie (“Monica”) Ryan, the daughter of a local (Catholic) solicitor, Patrick Ryan of “The Turrets”. On being posted to Dunshaughlin he wrote her a series of letters expressing his undying love, regretting the hostility of her father, and grumbling about his job. The following – written from the Fingall Arms Hotel on 13 October 1913 – is typical:
"This place is horrid, dirty, miserable. I went to bed after going out to see a patrol miserable. I got up this morning worse. Your letter from Cork was very cheering. I have since been out and – they have raised some ink – inspected two stations, where an extraordinary state of inefficiency prevails, which once more reduced me to misery, and the car is wrong. I got your two letters from Charleville … Your second letter made some explanation: what sort of a truce? I suspect truces: just the sort of thing that won’t work. I think probably the letter was extracted from you at the end of the rod or some other threat. I have to take the car to Dublin for repairs this afternoon.
I have another letter from your father. I can’t read one word of it but it appears to be about horses.
I am very worried about you.
Your loving Val."
Overcoming the disapproval of her parents, the couple were married in the Catholic church at Charleville on 27 January 1914. Two years later Monica’s sister Adeline married the fourth Baron Muskerry, who was thirty-three years her senior – another "mixed marriage" - highly unusual for the era.
During the World War, Lea-Wilson was an officer in the Royal Irish Rifles as a musketry instructor in France and was promoted Captain. Wounded in action, according to the RIC Magazine, he had re-joined the police by March 1916 and at the outbreak of the Easter Rising, was on temporary duty in Dublin (“What a terrible time of anxiety you must have been passing through,” his mother wrote to Monica. “How merciful that Val was no longer at Ashbourne!”) – he was placed in charge of Republican prisoners following the surrender.
However, a notorious incident that effectively signed his death warrant took place at the Rotunda Gardens on Saturday, April 29, 1916.
There, without shelter, sanitation, water or food, most of the exhausted garrisons of the GPO and Four Courts that had surrendered were held. Under heavy military guard, Lea-Wilson, apparently drunk and out of control, abused and humiliated Republican prisoners in his charge. Among those singled out were Sean McDiarmada, Edward Daly and Tom Clarke. At 59, Clarke was the oldest man to have taken an active part in the Rising and the first of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic. Lea-Wilson forced Clarke & Daly to strip naked on the steps of the hospital in front of the other prisoners (who included Michael Collins and Liam Tobin) and the female nursing staff. Clarke was then loudly jeered by Lea-Wilson: “That old bastard is Commander-in-Chief. He keeps a tobacco shop across the Street. Nice general for your fucking army.”.
Below: excerpt from "Those of Us Who Must Die: Execution, Exile and Revival after the Easter Rising". Derek Molyneaux & Darren Kelly:
Bureau of Military History Witness Statements from Liam Tobin, Frank Henderson, Liam Morkan support allegations of mistreatment of prisoners by Lea-Wilson in April 1916. Click on each image to access the relevant deposition.
Other witness statements include Frank Burke (click here).
Lea-Wilson again served in France in 1917 and the flow of letters to his wife then resumes until his return to Ireland, when he was appointed District Inspector at Gorey, Co. Wexford.
At this time, an aunt of Monica's, who had travelled to Russia as a Governess before the Revolution, was declared missing during the upheaval that followed. Despite some high level Foreign Office diplomatic inquiries, no trace was found of the missing woman.
In 1920 Gorey was a quiet village, untroubled by the violence erupting elsewhere in the country and a town where Lea-Wilson was reportedly greatly respected. However, Bureau of Military History statements clearly indicate the opposite:
"Reports had been received in Enniscorthy of Lea Wilson's aggressive attitude towards people who were forced to remain on the street even under rain when frequent and unnecessary raids were carried out for the sake of upsetting the household."
Edward Balfe. Acting O/C Wexford Brigade 1920. Witness statement here.
However, Major General Patrick O'Daly, at the time the officer commanding the Squad and Active Service Unit considered that Lea-Wilson was killed because of his senior position within the RIC and not because of the treatment of prisoners in 1916:
"Captain Lea-Wilson was not shot because he had ill-treated Sean McDermott and other prisoners in 1916, because there were other British officers just as bad as he had been and no attempt was ever made to shoot them. I believe he was shot on account of the position he held at the time of his execution, and for no other reason."
(view the Bureau of Military History statement here):
On the morning of Tuesday 15 June he bought the daily newspaper at a local shop and was walking back to his home reading it, paying little heed to a group of men standing disconsolately round a car that had apparently broken down. These were five armed IRA men sent to assassinate him on the direct orders of Michael Collins; Frank Thornton, Liam Tobin, both of whom travelled from Dublin, Jack Whelan, Joe McMahon, and Michael McGrath. A sixth man, Michael Sinnott, waited close by in a stolen car. How many guns were used or who fired them is not clear but the thirty-three year old Lea-Wilson was shot dead.
jack Whelan later recalled:
‘When the Inspector fell dead, about fifteen or twenty yards from our car, he must have been hit at least a dozen times, but just to make sure we hit him again as he lay stretched full length on the footpath. We left him, his mails and gun to show it was an execution and not a hold-up.’
Whelan kindly notes that the final newspaper Lea-Wilson read was the Irish Independent.
Percival’s widow, Marie, arranged for his body returned to England and buried with his father in Putney Vale cemetery.
Lea-Wilson again served in France in 1917 and the flow of letters to his wife then resumes until his return to Ireland, when he was appointed District Inspector at Gorey, Co. Wexford.
At this time, an aunt of Monica's, who had travelled to Russia as a Governess before the Revolution, was declared missing during the upheaval that followed. Despite some high level Foreign Office diplomatic inquiries, no trace was found of the missing woman.
In 1920 Gorey was a quiet village, untroubled by the violence erupting elsewhere in the country and a town where Lea-Wilson was reportedly greatly respected. However, Bureau of Military History statements clearly indicate the opposite:
"Reports had been received in Enniscorthy of Lea Wilson's aggressive attitude towards people who were forced to remain on the street even under rain when frequent and unnecessary raids were carried out for the sake of upsetting the household."
Edward Balfe. Acting O/C Wexford Brigade 1920. Witness statement here.
However, Major General Patrick O'Daly, at the time the officer commanding the Squad and Active Service Unit considered that Lea-Wilson was killed because of his senior position within the RIC and not because of the treatment of prisoners in 1916:
"Captain Lea-Wilson was not shot because he had ill-treated Sean McDermott and other prisoners in 1916, because there were other British officers just as bad as he had been and no attempt was ever made to shoot them. I believe he was shot on account of the position he held at the time of his execution, and for no other reason."
(view the Bureau of Military History statement here):
On the morning of Tuesday 15 June he bought the daily newspaper at a local shop and was walking back to his home reading it, paying little heed to a group of men standing disconsolately round a car that had apparently broken down. These were five armed IRA men sent to assassinate him on the direct orders of Michael Collins; Frank Thornton, Liam Tobin, both of whom travelled from Dublin, Jack Whelan, Joe McMahon, and Michael McGrath. A sixth man, Michael Sinnott, waited close by in a stolen car. How many guns were used or who fired them is not clear but the thirty-three year old Lea-Wilson was shot dead.
jack Whelan later recalled:
‘When the Inspector fell dead, about fifteen or twenty yards from our car, he must have been hit at least a dozen times, but just to make sure we hit him again as he lay stretched full length on the footpath. We left him, his mails and gun to show it was an execution and not a hold-up.’
Whelan kindly notes that the final newspaper Lea-Wilson read was the Irish Independent.
Percival’s widow, Marie, arranged for his body returned to England and buried with his father in Putney Vale cemetery.
A letter written to his widow Monica by a former comrade of her husband reflects the bitterness felt by former RIC men in the aftermath of the Treaty. On 4 April 1922 Frank Smyth, about to embark with his unit for Palestine, wrote from Devonport:
"It will be a change Mrs Lea-Wilson from Ireland. One can walk round here without fear of being shot in the back. I think any RIC man who ever done his duty in Ireland will have a poor chance of living in it. … When we get to Palestine we can talk of old days (fond remembrance I don’t think). I see the Shinners are going to have a war on their own. It’s a pity it didn’t happen long ago." Monica Lea-Wilson commemorated her husband by commissioning a remarkable stained-glass window for the Christchurch, Church of Ireland parish church in Gorey. (opposite) Designed by Harry Clarke, and a family friend (W. Sullivan) wrote to her on 24 February 1922: “I have just been up to Clarke’s to see the window. I think it is really beautiful and everyone who has seen it is loud in its praise. I hope you will like it. It will certainly put the existing windows in the church in the shade.” The window was dedicated on 17 December 1922. Clarke attended the ceremony, writing to Monica a few days before: “If I pass your house at a reasonable time I shall call in the hope of having somebody near me who will not misunderstand my not understanding perhaps all the rituals of the Church.” The subject, appropriately from Monica’s point of view, was the Martyrdom of St Stephen, the caption being the saint’s last words: “Lay not this sin to their charge”. (In the following year Clarke contributed two further windows to this church.) (An excellent article on the Lea-Wilson window in Christchurch, Church of Ireland, Gorey is available from the Roaringwater Journal here.) As a widow, Monica Lea-Wilson lived at Clonattin near Gorey. In her grief she sought consolation from the Roman-Catholic Church, being comforted in particular by the well-known Jesuit Father Thomas Finlay. She never remarried but the girl from Charleville did decide to stay in Ireland and three or four years after Percival’s death, when she was in her late thirties, took the bold step of deciding to enrol in Trinity College as a medical student. She graduated in 1928 at the age of 41 one of only three women in the class. She became a noted paediatrician at Sir Patrick Duns Hospital, Harcourt Street. The photograph below, from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland archives, shows Dr Lea-Wilson and other medical specialists on Harcourt Street circa 1929. Described as somewhat stern, she attended Mass daily before work and was devoted to her four dachshunds. |
In 1921, while on a visit to Scotland, Monica Lea-Wilson bought in an estate sale a late 16th century religious painting, a depiction in oils of the Betrayal of Christ, which had been acquired by Scottish art collector William Hamilton Nisbet during a “Grand Tour” of Italy in the early 19th century. In 1924, she had the work restored and frame repaired by James Hicks of Dublin for £20.
In 1931, Dr. Lea-Wilson presented the art work to Father Finlay and the Jesuits who hung it in their Leeson Street dining room where it stayed for the next 60 years, literally as part of the furniture, and certainly not the object of especial scrutiny.
Dr. Lea-Wilson practiced as a paediatrician & lived in Dublin at 19 Fitzwilliam Place for the remainder of her life. A friend of (the arch-conservative cleric) Dr John Charles McQuaid during his time as President of Blackrock College and of the French art historian and Catholic activist Paul Biver (1886-1952). She retired from the hospital aged 83 in 1970 after fifty years of service to the medical profession and children of Ireland. Dr. Monica Lea-Wilson died on July 20, 1971 and buried in Dean’s Grange after a funeral in St Andrew’s Church, Westland Row.
For over sixty years, the Jesuit community in Lower Leeson Street never realised that the large artwork which dominated their dining room was nothing less than a priceless, unrecognised masterpiece.
Previous owners believed the artwork was not by Caravaggio but by a Dutch disciple of the Italian master. The work was commissioned c. 1599 by the prolific collector and patron Ciriaco Mattei, a Roman nobleman who died in 1614. The painting remained in the family’s Roman palazzo until the early 1800’s when, down on their luck, they sold it to William Hamilton Nisbet, an obscure British politician who displayed it in his Edinburgh home.
This is a large picture, 1.3 by 1.7 metres, and perhaps it is the size that makes it too much trouble to move once it has been hung. It had stayed on the Mattei’s wall for two hundred years and it hung undisturbed in Edinburgh for almost 120 before it was briefly in the possession of Marie Lea-Wilson. The Jesuit’s too showed little inclination to move the massive masterpiece once it had been nailed up. Benedetti had it cleaned and authenticated as the long lost Caravaggio masterpiece.
For over two centuries, art historians believed the Caravaggio masterpiece, was lost. Then Sergio Benedetti, a leading member of the National Gallerys restoration and conservation team, was called to the Jesuit House on Leeson Street in central Dublin in 1990.
According to Father Noel Barber, the Superior of the local Jesuit community, the house was being renovated and I thought if we were doing up the walls and carpets, we should also take a look at cleaning up the paintings in the house. Benedetti, an expert in 17th century Italian painting, was more than a little interested by the large dark painting that had hung over priests taking their dinner in the house for more than 60 years.
But Benedettis sense that this painting might be the long-lost Caravaggio wasnt easy to prove. After a thick layer of varnish and soot was cleaned off the picture, intense research was carried out and numerous Caravaggio experts were called in from abroad. Eventually, tell-tale signs of Caravaggios distinct method of working and the dramatic chiaroscuro style (bright highlights set off against heavy dark areas)associated with the master led to agreement on all sides that this painting was indeed The Taking of Christ. The immediate question was what to do with it?
When the painting was finally rediscovered, Father Barber had no doubts about where it should go. Once I heard that the painting was actually an original Caravaggio, my reaction was to make sure it should at all costs stay in Ireland, and that its home should be the Irish National Gallery. If the painting had been sold, it would almost certainly have gone out of the country and Ireland would have lost a priceless treasure. The option of selling it was never seriously considered.
It was a generous move indeed for the Jesuits to give the painting to National Gallery on indefinite loan. Experts put the paintings value at £25 to £30 million. In a final twist, when Father Barber officially presented the painting to the National Gallery, he gave it to its Board Chairperson, Dr. William Finlay – the grand nephew of Father Thomas Finlay, who Marie Lea Wilson originally gave the painting to.
The artwork is now the pride of the Irish National Gallery, prized just as much for its backstory as for its intrinsic merits as a work of art which is just as well; Tom Clarke had to suffer public humiliation, Lea-Wilson to lose his life and his widow to endure a lifetime’s grief before the chain of chance that brought ‘The Taking of Christ’ from Rome to Dublin was complete.
Credits: Thanks to Wikipedia, National Gallery of Ireland, Fonsie Mealy Actioneers, Dublin, Elaine Walsh, the Irish Times and a fascinating (if macabre) Blog site 'The London Dead' - click images to access.
16
Dublin: The propaganda war over the depiction of events in Ireland stepped up after Dail Éireann’s official publication, the Irish Bulletin, called out the Dublin Castle authorities for misrepresenting news about Ireland. Dublin Castle earlier in the week published an official list detailing attacks on people and property associated with British rule in Ireland, including the burning of the courthouse in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny; assaults on Ballingeary and Kilmurry RIC barracks, both in Co. Cork; the burning of Gaulstown Mansion, Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath; the burning of Curraboola House, Co. Longford; and the burning of Wynne’s Castle, Co. Kerry. At about the same time as Kilmurry Police Barracks was being destroyed by fire, Oakgrove House, the former Cork home of the Bowen-Colthurst family, was burned to the ground. (Captain Bowen-Colthurst was responsible for the murder of journalists Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Patrick McIntyre and Thomas Dixon in Portobello Barracks during the Easter Rising in 1916. Since Easter 1920, 407 RIC barracks have been destroyed by fire.
The Irish Bulletin took the Castle to task over these figures and claimed that many of the so-called outrages were actually the result of the actions of crown forces, including the deaths of 15 people over the last four months. ‘Most of these false reports’, the Bulletin says, ‘are issued through British news-distributing agencies, which, while supposedly private companies for the impartial dissemination of news are actually the chief channels of British imperial propaganda. The zeal shown by these news agencies in circulating false official reports is only equalled by the zeal shown by them in suppressing the true version afterwards exposed in public inquiries.’
The Irish Independent, agrees with the Bulletin and has accused Dublin Castle of attempting to blacken the name of Ireland by attributing outrages to Irish people that rightly belong with the armed forces of the crown. Those armed forces have been bolstered by the arrival of more troops and munitions on the south and west coasts – 3,500 in Queenstown in a single week.
The Virginia State Federation of Labor representing the Trades Unions of Virginia at their Annual Convention passed a number of resolutions supporting Self Determination for Ireland:
"The Virginia State Federation of Labor, in annual convention, today adopted resolutions indorsing the Mason resolution, declaring for self determination for the people of Ireland and expressing sympathy for the Irish in their fight to obtain recognition from the nations of the world for the Irish Republic"
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
"As a result of the utter collapse of the British Government in Ireland and its retreat to what the Freeman's Journal calls a policy of “blockades, block "houses and blockheads”, even the so-called “Loyalists” have nowadays dropped their catch-word “law and order” and are clamouring for a crusade “to reconquer the island.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Says the fearless New Statesman of London:
“The Government can maintain order in Ireland with its present forces there if it is prepared to kill, as Gen. Dyer killed in Amritzar and as the Germans killed in Belgium. If it is not prepared to do that, then though it sends a million men, it will be helpless against a very simple and obvious dilemma, but the Government does not appear as yet to have grasped it—still less its implications.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 50, June 12, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Westminster: The government announced that the new Home Rule bill will include clauses providing for an oath of allegiance for each of the proposed Irish parliaments. Walter Long, the First Lord of the Admiralty, has indicated that a candidate at an election in either jurisdiction shall be required to swear an oath of loyalty to the crown and failure to do so shall result in the disqualification of the candidate.
Another new clause states that, if the number of members of either Irish parliament who take the oath is less than half the total number of that house, the king will be empowered to order its dissolution, with control of the administration reverting to the Lord Lieutenant and other ministers that the King may appoint.
The government of Ireland bill was then at committee stage where a series of amendments were being considered. Sir Edward Carson has, for instance, moved for the control of Irish railways and the military in Ireland to be retained by Westminster, but has argued for local control of the police force.
17
Dublin Castle was not about to allow the Sinn Fein courts and police and made the first moves against these groups by intercepting Republican police who had prisoners in their charge. These prisoners were released and the Republican police shot.
Erskine Childers in a comparison published by the London Daily News of acts of aggression committed by the British military and police with the contents of the official lists of ‘Outrages attributed to Sinn Fein’ wrote that between May 1916 and March 1920 ‘twenty coroners inquests brought in verdicts of murder or verdicts equivalent to murder or manslaughter against police and soldiers. No one has been prosecuted. The most notorious acts of organised terrorism pass without public inquiry or redress. The Castle’s rule is absolute; it admits nothing, deplores nothing, and, so far as it can, imposes silence on the whole of this black side of the military regime. The system is perfectly logical. War propaganda imperatively demands it.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Listowel R.I.C. Mutiny.
What became known as the Listowel RIC Mutiny had repercussions far beyond the confines of north Kerry. This became one of the most significant events of the War of Independence and was the dilemma in which most of the R.I.C. found themselves. As hostilities intensified they had to regard as their enemies most of the people from whom they had come from. Consequently, within three months of this highly-publicised event, some 1,100 men resigned from the force. This was a crippling blow to the R.I.C. and was followed by a great influx of military, none of whom had the local knowledge or information which was all-important in trying to contain the Republican's growing grip on the countryside.
It had stated inoccusouly enough. The RIC police in Listowel were ordered to hand over their barracks to the British military and most of them were transferred to different stations in the district where they were to act as scouts for the troops. The affected constables held a meeting and decided not to obey these orders
Dublin Castle was not about to allow the Sinn Fein courts and police and made the first moves against these groups by intercepting Republican police who had prisoners in their charge. These prisoners were released and the Republican police shot.
Erskine Childers in a comparison published by the London Daily News of acts of aggression committed by the British military and police with the contents of the official lists of ‘Outrages attributed to Sinn Fein’ wrote that between May 1916 and March 1920 ‘twenty coroners inquests brought in verdicts of murder or verdicts equivalent to murder or manslaughter against police and soldiers. No one has been prosecuted. The most notorious acts of organised terrorism pass without public inquiry or redress. The Castle’s rule is absolute; it admits nothing, deplores nothing, and, so far as it can, imposes silence on the whole of this black side of the military regime. The system is perfectly logical. War propaganda imperatively demands it.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Listowel R.I.C. Mutiny.
What became known as the Listowel RIC Mutiny had repercussions far beyond the confines of north Kerry. This became one of the most significant events of the War of Independence and was the dilemma in which most of the R.I.C. found themselves. As hostilities intensified they had to regard as their enemies most of the people from whom they had come from. Consequently, within three months of this highly-publicised event, some 1,100 men resigned from the force. This was a crippling blow to the R.I.C. and was followed by a great influx of military, none of whom had the local knowledge or information which was all-important in trying to contain the Republican's growing grip on the countryside.
It had stated inoccusouly enough. The RIC police in Listowel were ordered to hand over their barracks to the British military and most of them were transferred to different stations in the district where they were to act as scouts for the troops. The affected constables held a meeting and decided not to obey these orders
18
Lloyd George announced that the Military and Black and Tans were in Ireland for ‘the protection of the civil population’.
The Kerry RIC Inspector, Poer O'Shee, came to Listowel and when he tried to force the men to obey the previous days order. Fourteen constables immediately threatened to resign.
An RIC circular advised that men who were due leave but unable to take it due to the possibility of assassination, were offered the costs of return transportation to Britain.
Dublin: Irish business leaders have taken the view that the new government of Ireland bill, if passed, would adversely affect the country’s agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors. At the Conference of the Irish Chambers of Commerce (ICC), resolutions were passed that unanimously disapproved of the government of Ireland bill and dismissed it as route to a settlement of the Irish question. The chambers of commerce that were represented included Armagh, Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Limerick and Newry.
The Cork Examiner considers their intervention into the partition debate significant given the political moderation of the businessmen concerned. ‘It is to be presumed that representative Irish businessmen should be in a position to form a fairly accurate estimate of the value, or otherwise, of the government’s proposals and their views...would, in any constitutionally governed community, carry weight.’
The resolutions of the ICC as a collective follows previous criticisms of the proposed legislation by the chambers of commerce in Cork and Dublin.
Lloyd George announced that the Military and Black and Tans were in Ireland for ‘the protection of the civil population’.
The Kerry RIC Inspector, Poer O'Shee, came to Listowel and when he tried to force the men to obey the previous days order. Fourteen constables immediately threatened to resign.
An RIC circular advised that men who were due leave but unable to take it due to the possibility of assassination, were offered the costs of return transportation to Britain.
Dublin: Irish business leaders have taken the view that the new government of Ireland bill, if passed, would adversely affect the country’s agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors. At the Conference of the Irish Chambers of Commerce (ICC), resolutions were passed that unanimously disapproved of the government of Ireland bill and dismissed it as route to a settlement of the Irish question. The chambers of commerce that were represented included Armagh, Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Limerick and Newry.
The Cork Examiner considers their intervention into the partition debate significant given the political moderation of the businessmen concerned. ‘It is to be presumed that representative Irish businessmen should be in a position to form a fairly accurate estimate of the value, or otherwise, of the government’s proposals and their views...would, in any constitutionally governed community, carry weight.’
The resolutions of the ICC as a collective follows previous criticisms of the proposed legislation by the chambers of commerce in Cork and Dublin.
19
The Listowel Police Mutiny
The Listowel Police Mutiny
Newly appointed Police Divisional Commisioner for Munster, Colonel Smyth arrived at Listowel barracks. He was accompanied by the inspector general, General Tudor, a commissioner of police from Dublin Castle, Major Letham, the county inspector, Poer O'Shea, the O.C. of the military stationed at Ballinruddery, Captain Chadwick, and Assistant County Inspector Dobbyn, and it was obvious that the purpose of his visit was to deal with insubordination on June 17.
When the police had been assembled in the barrack-room he addressed them:
“Well men, I have something of interest to tell you, something that I am sure you would not wish your wives to hear. I am going to lay all my cards on the table; I may reserve one card for myself.
Now, men, Sinn Féin have had all the sport up to the present, and we are going to have the sport now. The police are not in sufficient strength to do anything to hold their barracks. This is not enough for as long as we remain on the defensive, so long will Sinn Féin have the whip hand. We must take the offensive and beat Sinn Féin at its own tactics. Martial law, applying to all Ireland is to come into operation immediately, as a matter of fact we are to have our scheme of amalgamation complete on June 21st. I am promised as many troops from England as I require, thousands are coming daily. I am getting seven thousand police from England.
Now men what I wish to explain to you is that we are to strengthen your comrades in the country stations. The military must be quartered in the large towns for the following reasons:
"First, they must be convenient to railway stations to enable them to move rapidly from place to place as occasion demands.
"Second, unlike police, soldiers cannot act individually and independently but only in large numbers under a good officer, and he must be a good officer, otherwise I shall break him for inefficiency.
"Third, if a police barracks is burned or if the barracks already occupied is not suitable, then the best house in the locality is to be commandeered, the occupants thrown into the gutter. Let them die there — the more the merrier.
"Fourth, police and military will patrol the country at least five nights a week. They are not to confine themselves to main roads, but to make across the country, lie in ambush and when civilians are seen approaching shout ‘Hands up.’
"Fifth, should the order ‘Hands Up’ not be immediately obeyed, shoot and shoot with effect. If the persons approaching a patrol carry their hands in their pockets, or are in any way suspicious looking, shoot them down. You may make mistakes occasionally and innocent persons may be shot, but that cannot be helped, and you are bound to get the right parties some time. The more you shoot, the better I will like you, and I assure you no policeman will get into trouble for shooting any man.
"Sixth, hunger-strikers will be allowed to die in jail, the more the merrier. Some of them have died already and a damn bad job they were not all allowed to die. As a matter of fact some of them have already been dealt with in a manner their friends will never hear about. An emigrant ship left an Irish port for a foreign port lately with lots of Sinn Feiners on board, I assure you men it will never land
"That is nearly all I have to say to you. General Tudor and myself, want your assistance in carrying out this scheme and wiping out Sinn Féin. Any man who is prepared to be a hindrance rather than a help to us, had better leave the job at once.”
Pat Purcell Papers. A typed copy of the notice for “I.R.B. Dissemination” issued 24 June 1920.
Mark Sturgis in Dublin Castle, later made a special note of the event, but in particular one sentence:
‘You may make mistakes occasionally and innocent persons may be shot but that cannot be helped, and you are bound to get the right parties some time’
The Last Days of Dublin Castle – The Diaries of Mark Sturgis. Irish Academic Press Dublin & Oregon 1999. p240-notes
The American Commission on Conditions in Ireland sumarised the Smyth directives:
“ (1) I am getting 7,000 police from England. (2) If a police barracks is burned, the best house in the locality is to be comandeered. (3) The police are to lie in ambush and to shoot suspects (4) The more you shoot, the better I will like you …. No policeman will get into trouble for shooting any man. (5) Hunger strikers will be allowed to die in jail – the more the merrier. (6) We want you assistance in carrying out this scheme and wiping out Sinn Fein.”
American Commission on Conditions in Ireland. Report, 1921. P1057. Lynch Family Archives.
Then came the first of a number of dramatic incidents. He approached the constable who stood at the top of the police line and pointing to him asked, 'Are you prepared to co-operate with me?' There was a tense moment or two as the constable, a Protestant from the north of Ireland, paused before replying that Constable Mee would speak for him. Thereupon Constable Jeremiah Mee startled Smyth, by saying, 'By your accent I take it you are an Englishman. You forget you are addressing Irishmen.' Then taking off his cap, belt and bayonet and laying them on the table, he continued: 'These too are English. Take them as a present from me, and to hell with you, you murderer.' Smyth immediately ordered Mee to be arrested. As two army officers moved to take Mee away the rest of the police, prompted by Constable Thomas Hughes, crowded round them and refused to let them move. After a few tense minutes Smyth ordered the officers to desist and together with all the visiting officers entered another room, adjoining the barrack day-room, in order to discuss the situation.
At this point Mee, on behalf of the police, wrote a note, which all signed, in which the entire group assumed responsibility for Mee's words and actions and indicated that they would resist Mee's arrest even to the point of bloodshed. Then ignoring Smyth, one of them handed the note to the Inspector general. Another tense period followed while the officers considered this note. After about fifteen minutes the inspector general emerged from the adjoining room, shook hands with all the policemen and left with the visitors. The police who no longer felt safe in the barracks, held a meeting in the public-house then known as 'T.D. Sullivans' (now John B. Keane's Pub) and, of the twenty-five of them who had been involved in the incident, fourteen, who were single, decided to resign. However, two of these, John McNamara and Michael Kelly, were asked by Michael Collins who was taking a personal interest in the entire matter, to stay on and carry out merely ordinary police duties. Both agreed.
Ruth Wheeler comments "The presence at the meeting of General Tudor hints at who was really behind the orders. General Tudor was a close friend of Churchill and had been appointed by him as Chief of Police. At first it was generally thought that Tudor was doing a good job but as Keith Jeffery writes* 'the good impression did not last very long, as it became clear that Tudor (with Lloyd George’s backing) was happy to condone, or at least turn a blind eye to, police reprisals against presumed Sinn Feiners."
Chicago
DeValera issued a statement explaining his position as spokesman of the Irish People and criticising both Cohalan and John Devoy: ‘I am here as a counsel of my nation to point out that is being wronged by the American nation and to seek a redress of that wrong. The definite wrong is that recognition of the British Government in Ireland by the American Government is a condonation of British agression in Ireland and support of the British Government in Ireland… I believe it was positively harmful to our interests that a resoloution misrepresenting Ireland’s just claim by understating it should have been presented. It is not of me to say that the Irish people would be satisfied with something which it was obvious they could not have been satisified with…there is no purpose so urgen as that of securing recognition…America is asked to do in the case of Ireland nothing that she had not done before in the case of other nations….I believe that the people of Ireland will be thoroughlt disapointed with the action of those of the friends of Ireland in America who were guilty of the metholds which were used in Chicago to prevent their chosen representative from fulfilling his mission in Chicago.’
When the police had been assembled in the barrack-room he addressed them:
“Well men, I have something of interest to tell you, something that I am sure you would not wish your wives to hear. I am going to lay all my cards on the table; I may reserve one card for myself.
Now, men, Sinn Féin have had all the sport up to the present, and we are going to have the sport now. The police are not in sufficient strength to do anything to hold their barracks. This is not enough for as long as we remain on the defensive, so long will Sinn Féin have the whip hand. We must take the offensive and beat Sinn Féin at its own tactics. Martial law, applying to all Ireland is to come into operation immediately, as a matter of fact we are to have our scheme of amalgamation complete on June 21st. I am promised as many troops from England as I require, thousands are coming daily. I am getting seven thousand police from England.
Now men what I wish to explain to you is that we are to strengthen your comrades in the country stations. The military must be quartered in the large towns for the following reasons:
"First, they must be convenient to railway stations to enable them to move rapidly from place to place as occasion demands.
"Second, unlike police, soldiers cannot act individually and independently but only in large numbers under a good officer, and he must be a good officer, otherwise I shall break him for inefficiency.
"Third, if a police barracks is burned or if the barracks already occupied is not suitable, then the best house in the locality is to be commandeered, the occupants thrown into the gutter. Let them die there — the more the merrier.
"Fourth, police and military will patrol the country at least five nights a week. They are not to confine themselves to main roads, but to make across the country, lie in ambush and when civilians are seen approaching shout ‘Hands up.’
"Fifth, should the order ‘Hands Up’ not be immediately obeyed, shoot and shoot with effect. If the persons approaching a patrol carry their hands in their pockets, or are in any way suspicious looking, shoot them down. You may make mistakes occasionally and innocent persons may be shot, but that cannot be helped, and you are bound to get the right parties some time. The more you shoot, the better I will like you, and I assure you no policeman will get into trouble for shooting any man.
"Sixth, hunger-strikers will be allowed to die in jail, the more the merrier. Some of them have died already and a damn bad job they were not all allowed to die. As a matter of fact some of them have already been dealt with in a manner their friends will never hear about. An emigrant ship left an Irish port for a foreign port lately with lots of Sinn Feiners on board, I assure you men it will never land
"That is nearly all I have to say to you. General Tudor and myself, want your assistance in carrying out this scheme and wiping out Sinn Féin. Any man who is prepared to be a hindrance rather than a help to us, had better leave the job at once.”
Pat Purcell Papers. A typed copy of the notice for “I.R.B. Dissemination” issued 24 June 1920.
Mark Sturgis in Dublin Castle, later made a special note of the event, but in particular one sentence:
‘You may make mistakes occasionally and innocent persons may be shot but that cannot be helped, and you are bound to get the right parties some time’
The Last Days of Dublin Castle – The Diaries of Mark Sturgis. Irish Academic Press Dublin & Oregon 1999. p240-notes
The American Commission on Conditions in Ireland sumarised the Smyth directives:
“ (1) I am getting 7,000 police from England. (2) If a police barracks is burned, the best house in the locality is to be comandeered. (3) The police are to lie in ambush and to shoot suspects (4) The more you shoot, the better I will like you …. No policeman will get into trouble for shooting any man. (5) Hunger strikers will be allowed to die in jail – the more the merrier. (6) We want you assistance in carrying out this scheme and wiping out Sinn Fein.”
American Commission on Conditions in Ireland. Report, 1921. P1057. Lynch Family Archives.
Then came the first of a number of dramatic incidents. He approached the constable who stood at the top of the police line and pointing to him asked, 'Are you prepared to co-operate with me?' There was a tense moment or two as the constable, a Protestant from the north of Ireland, paused before replying that Constable Mee would speak for him. Thereupon Constable Jeremiah Mee startled Smyth, by saying, 'By your accent I take it you are an Englishman. You forget you are addressing Irishmen.' Then taking off his cap, belt and bayonet and laying them on the table, he continued: 'These too are English. Take them as a present from me, and to hell with you, you murderer.' Smyth immediately ordered Mee to be arrested. As two army officers moved to take Mee away the rest of the police, prompted by Constable Thomas Hughes, crowded round them and refused to let them move. After a few tense minutes Smyth ordered the officers to desist and together with all the visiting officers entered another room, adjoining the barrack day-room, in order to discuss the situation.
At this point Mee, on behalf of the police, wrote a note, which all signed, in which the entire group assumed responsibility for Mee's words and actions and indicated that they would resist Mee's arrest even to the point of bloodshed. Then ignoring Smyth, one of them handed the note to the Inspector general. Another tense period followed while the officers considered this note. After about fifteen minutes the inspector general emerged from the adjoining room, shook hands with all the policemen and left with the visitors. The police who no longer felt safe in the barracks, held a meeting in the public-house then known as 'T.D. Sullivans' (now John B. Keane's Pub) and, of the twenty-five of them who had been involved in the incident, fourteen, who were single, decided to resign. However, two of these, John McNamara and Michael Kelly, were asked by Michael Collins who was taking a personal interest in the entire matter, to stay on and carry out merely ordinary police duties. Both agreed.
Ruth Wheeler comments "The presence at the meeting of General Tudor hints at who was really behind the orders. General Tudor was a close friend of Churchill and had been appointed by him as Chief of Police. At first it was generally thought that Tudor was doing a good job but as Keith Jeffery writes* 'the good impression did not last very long, as it became clear that Tudor (with Lloyd George’s backing) was happy to condone, or at least turn a blind eye to, police reprisals against presumed Sinn Feiners."
Chicago
DeValera issued a statement explaining his position as spokesman of the Irish People and criticising both Cohalan and John Devoy: ‘I am here as a counsel of my nation to point out that is being wronged by the American nation and to seek a redress of that wrong. The definite wrong is that recognition of the British Government in Ireland by the American Government is a condonation of British agression in Ireland and support of the British Government in Ireland… I believe it was positively harmful to our interests that a resoloution misrepresenting Ireland’s just claim by understating it should have been presented. It is not of me to say that the Irish people would be satisfied with something which it was obvious they could not have been satisified with…there is no purpose so urgen as that of securing recognition…America is asked to do in the case of Ireland nothing that she had not done before in the case of other nations….I believe that the people of Ireland will be thoroughlt disapointed with the action of those of the friends of Ireland in America who were guilty of the metholds which were used in Chicago to prevent their chosen representative from fulfilling his mission in Chicago.’
THE CHICAGO CONVENTION
The refusal of the Republican National Convention to adopt a plank favorable to the principles upon which Americans of Irish blood base their hopes in aiding Ireland to win recognition of independence, is due primarily to the ill-advised acts of those who went to Chicago, and sought without consultation with (and in direct opposition to) the representatives of the National Council of the Friends of Irish Freedom, to force favorable consideration of a plank that never had even a remote chance of adoption. “Take this or give us nothing,” was their ultimatum. The answer was, they got nothing. Unfortunately, however, the answer that went to this handful of unauthorized friends of Ireland had a more far-reaching effect. It has been greatly misinterpreted by the press. The plank put forward by Justice Daniel F. Cohalan and representatives of the National Council, would have been adopted, were it not for the “brass band” dictatorial and unwarranted methods of those who, usurping the power to speak for the Friends of Irish Freedom, refused to be guided, advised or led by leaders of proved experience, influence and ability and fully authorized to speak for the Friends of Irish Freedom. American policies, American traditions, American leadership were put in the balance. It was no time to exhibit weakness, and all the sensible leaders of American-Irish thought at Chicago for the Convention week made clear that the Friends of Irish Freedom could not afford to be placed in a position of sponsoring the universal ultimatum. The plank they urged Judge Cohalan to permit to be presented was lost by one vote, the committee standing 6 to 6. The drastic plank of the group of unauthorized advocates was defeat- |
-ed 12 to 1. If these extremists had remained away from Chicago, a clear majority of the Committee would have adopted the official plank and the Republican Party would have officially been pledged to aid Ireland secure liberty. Those who brought to Chicago without rightful authority the “women pickets,” and others, and with amateurish, ridiculous methods, sought to accomplish the purpose of forcing a big convention to bow to the will of a small group, made a colossal blunder, that may seriously embarrass thousands of voters. American activities in behalf of Ireland must be directed by American brains, and the brains of those vested by the Friends of Irish Freedom to represent the 20,000,000 Americans of Irish blood.
Much was done at Chicago in the name of the Friends of Irish Freedom that was not authorized or approved by the Friends of Irish Freedom. The latter acts, as does any great body, through duly delegated representatives. It has scored great triumphs because of its effectiveness' as an organization, acting by and through representatives of ability, authorized fully and publicly to speak in its behalf. The Chicago experience must not be repeated. Those who believe in extreme methods, such as the “pickets,” blocked the passage of the Mason bill; now they have blocked help from the Republican Convention. The time has arrived when they must no longer be permitted to misrepresent those whom they do not rightfully represent.
The Americans who founded the Friends of Irish Freedom and gave it life and a powerful voice in American affairs are first, last and always, Americans. American leadership only will they follow in shaping American activities in behalf of the people of Ireland."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
New York: With the Democratic Party set to hold its convention in the coming weeks, the question of the United States’ relationship with the outside world was placed centre stage by Woodrow Wilson. The president challenged Senator Harding, the Republican candidate, to hold a referendum on the attitude of the United States to the League of Nations. This challenge was enthusiastically received by Senator Harding who said: ‘I am sure the Republican Party will gladly welcome a referendum on the question of the foreign relationship of this republic and that the Republican attitude in preserving our nationality will be overwhelmingly endorsed.’
For Democratic supporters, Wilson’s laying down of the gauntlet to Senator Harding raised the prospect that the president would be seeking what would be an unprecedented third term. Not all were enamoured by the prospect. While there was some confidence in the Democrats’ ability to defeat Harding, there was a concern that Wilson is not the best candidate to do it, with some arguing that he is weak, in poor health and that the country is tired of him.
Much was done at Chicago in the name of the Friends of Irish Freedom that was not authorized or approved by the Friends of Irish Freedom. The latter acts, as does any great body, through duly delegated representatives. It has scored great triumphs because of its effectiveness' as an organization, acting by and through representatives of ability, authorized fully and publicly to speak in its behalf. The Chicago experience must not be repeated. Those who believe in extreme methods, such as the “pickets,” blocked the passage of the Mason bill; now they have blocked help from the Republican Convention. The time has arrived when they must no longer be permitted to misrepresent those whom they do not rightfully represent.
The Americans who founded the Friends of Irish Freedom and gave it life and a powerful voice in American affairs are first, last and always, Americans. American leadership only will they follow in shaping American activities in behalf of the people of Ireland."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
New York: With the Democratic Party set to hold its convention in the coming weeks, the question of the United States’ relationship with the outside world was placed centre stage by Woodrow Wilson. The president challenged Senator Harding, the Republican candidate, to hold a referendum on the attitude of the United States to the League of Nations. This challenge was enthusiastically received by Senator Harding who said: ‘I am sure the Republican Party will gladly welcome a referendum on the question of the foreign relationship of this republic and that the Republican attitude in preserving our nationality will be overwhelmingly endorsed.’
For Democratic supporters, Wilson’s laying down of the gauntlet to Senator Harding raised the prospect that the president would be seeking what would be an unprecedented third term. Not all were enamoured by the prospect. While there was some confidence in the Democrats’ ability to defeat Harding, there was a concern that Wilson is not the best candidate to do it, with some arguing that he is weak, in poor health and that the country is tired of him.
A recent issue of The Nation, (London) made the following interesting editorial observations in regard to the mandate system policy popular with the British Empire:
“There is a new development in the politics of oil apart from Baku. We have got the ‘mandate’ for Mesopotamia, including, as Mr. Lloyd George has stated, Mosul. The next step is to arrange for the exploitation of this rich oil-field. Negotiations are going on, the Times states, to convert the “Shell’ company into a purely British concern. If this transformation of a big Cosmopolitan Trust can be effected, then, it is argued, the “Shell’ combination would be the suitable concern to exploit Mesopotamia. The bearing of this argument on the theory (it is hard not to write ‘cant”) of mandates is interesting, We profess in accepting a mandate to be disinterested. The backward country is to be developed in trust for its inhabitants. None the less, when it turns out the country has great resources, it is found that only a purely British concern is fit to reap the profits.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
“There is a new development in the politics of oil apart from Baku. We have got the ‘mandate’ for Mesopotamia, including, as Mr. Lloyd George has stated, Mosul. The next step is to arrange for the exploitation of this rich oil-field. Negotiations are going on, the Times states, to convert the “Shell’ company into a purely British concern. If this transformation of a big Cosmopolitan Trust can be effected, then, it is argued, the “Shell’ combination would be the suitable concern to exploit Mesopotamia. The bearing of this argument on the theory (it is hard not to write ‘cant”) of mandates is interesting, We profess in accepting a mandate to be disinterested. The backward country is to be developed in trust for its inhabitants. None the less, when it turns out the country has great resources, it is found that only a purely British concern is fit to reap the profits.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 51, June 19, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
20
Tuam, Co Galway was ‘subjected to a fierce attack by crown forces’.
Five died in fierce rioting in Ulster.
Despite a blanket ban by British Authorities, the annual Wolfe Tone Bodenstown march took place. The address was given by Sean O’Hurley TD who said ‘that the patriot’s dream of an Irish Republic had at ast come to pass and that the burden now rested with the Irish people to maintain that government.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.3 July 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In Listowel, the RIC constables who had resigned were summoned to appear before a court-martial, which was done and where they demanded a civil trial instead. They were advised that this would be considered and were confined to barracks.
Tuam, Co Galway was ‘subjected to a fierce attack by crown forces’.
Five died in fierce rioting in Ulster.
Despite a blanket ban by British Authorities, the annual Wolfe Tone Bodenstown march took place. The address was given by Sean O’Hurley TD who said ‘that the patriot’s dream of an Irish Republic had at ast come to pass and that the burden now rested with the Irish people to maintain that government.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.3 July 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In Listowel, the RIC constables who had resigned were summoned to appear before a court-martial, which was done and where they demanded a civil trial instead. They were advised that this would be considered and were confined to barracks.
21
In Listowel, a high-ranking military officer arrived at the barracks, advised the RIC constables that they had been dismissed and ordered them to leave the barracks at once. At this stage there was a key development. John McNamara went to James Crowley, V.S., who later that year became the Sinn Féin representative for north Kerry, and gave him a detailed account of what had happened and a statement, signed by the fourteen constables who resigned, describing the remarks of Colonel Smyth and requesting an official investigation into the incident. Crowley had the entire story printed by Robert I. (Bob) Cuthbertson and motored to Dublin in with it that afternoon, and the full story appeared in the first edition of the Freeman's Journal on the following morning. However, the authorities refused to allow the content to be printed suppressed the report. Subsequently it appeared in the Freeman's Journal of 10 July 1920 and also in the American Commission on Conditions in Ireland 1921.
Mee's claims were denied by Smyth plus Major General Henry Hugh Tudor and Inspector John M Regan who were both present at the occasion. Smyth was summoned to London to brief Prime Minister David Lloyd George and his own written account of his remarks was read to Parliament and debated;"I wish to make the present situation clear to all ranks. A policeman is perfectly justified in shooting any person seen with arms (guns) who does not immediately throw up his hands when ordered. A policeman is perfectly justified in shooting any man who he has good reason to believe is carrying arms (guns) and who does not immediately throw up his arms when ordered. Every proper precaution will be taken at police inquests that no information will be given to Sinn Fein as to the identity of any individual or the movements of the police. I wish to make it perfectly clear to all ranks that I will not tolerate reprisals. They bring discredit on the police and I will deal most severely with any officer or man concerned in them."
Colonel Smyth's speech marked him for attention from the IRA. Less than a month later, Smyth was assassinated in Cork.
The Galway Express, writing of the attack on Tuam commented: ‘when they throw petrol on a Sinn Feiners house, they are merely pouring parafin on the flames of Irish nationality.’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p84
Writing to Judge Cohalan, Judge Joseph Lawless of Virginia commented that the situation following the Republican Convention in Chicago was ‘ very serious and one calling for some dignified but positive action on the part of the National Council [of the Friends of Irish Freedom]. It appears to me that the President [De Valera] has acted not only unwisely but with the obduracy characteristic of the wrecker of the Democratic Party and that his usefulness in this country is greatly impaired and probably at an end’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.379
Cohalan responding to DeValera’s press statement of the 20th, denied strongly that there was any ‘division and dissenion in the ranks of American’s interested in the independence of Ireland…I am in this work as an American whose first and only loyalty is to my own country, and as one who of many years has made a close study of our governmental machinery and our political metholds and institutions. I shall continue to work as I have done in the past, with all who strive to bring about the independence of Ireland.’
In another dispatch from the US Consul in Dublin, the US Secretary of State was advised of information received from Major Wilson, the Chief Intelligence Officer on the General Staff, Dublin District, that a:
‘new policy in regard to the Irish situation had just been decided upon by the British Government...he states that the conciliatory policy of the Irish administration is considered by the Government to be looked upon by Sinn Fein leaders as a sign of fright and weakness on the part of the Government ... the Government at London proposes to have the Irish administration take up actively the search and prosecution of persons suspected of creating disorders in defiance of the Government of Ireland’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.404-405
The I.R.A re-issued its earlier boyoctt order against the RIC, and extended to anyone who associated with the force. ‘ business people must take their choice of the custom of their neighbours or the cowardly ruffians of the RIC. A sensible business man will be able to judge which pays best in the long run.’
Constable James Brett (50) was killed during an ambush of an RIC patrol at Clonee Wood near Bantry, Co. Cork. A hearse was refused for the funeral and an inquest was not held as only three of the twelve jurors who was summoned, attended.
In Listowel, a high-ranking military officer arrived at the barracks, advised the RIC constables that they had been dismissed and ordered them to leave the barracks at once. At this stage there was a key development. John McNamara went to James Crowley, V.S., who later that year became the Sinn Féin representative for north Kerry, and gave him a detailed account of what had happened and a statement, signed by the fourteen constables who resigned, describing the remarks of Colonel Smyth and requesting an official investigation into the incident. Crowley had the entire story printed by Robert I. (Bob) Cuthbertson and motored to Dublin in with it that afternoon, and the full story appeared in the first edition of the Freeman's Journal on the following morning. However, the authorities refused to allow the content to be printed suppressed the report. Subsequently it appeared in the Freeman's Journal of 10 July 1920 and also in the American Commission on Conditions in Ireland 1921.
Mee's claims were denied by Smyth plus Major General Henry Hugh Tudor and Inspector John M Regan who were both present at the occasion. Smyth was summoned to London to brief Prime Minister David Lloyd George and his own written account of his remarks was read to Parliament and debated;"I wish to make the present situation clear to all ranks. A policeman is perfectly justified in shooting any person seen with arms (guns) who does not immediately throw up his hands when ordered. A policeman is perfectly justified in shooting any man who he has good reason to believe is carrying arms (guns) and who does not immediately throw up his arms when ordered. Every proper precaution will be taken at police inquests that no information will be given to Sinn Fein as to the identity of any individual or the movements of the police. I wish to make it perfectly clear to all ranks that I will not tolerate reprisals. They bring discredit on the police and I will deal most severely with any officer or man concerned in them."
Colonel Smyth's speech marked him for attention from the IRA. Less than a month later, Smyth was assassinated in Cork.
The Galway Express, writing of the attack on Tuam commented: ‘when they throw petrol on a Sinn Feiners house, they are merely pouring parafin on the flames of Irish nationality.’
Michael Hopkinson ’The Irish War of Independence’ Gill & MacMillan, Dublin 2002. p84
Writing to Judge Cohalan, Judge Joseph Lawless of Virginia commented that the situation following the Republican Convention in Chicago was ‘ very serious and one calling for some dignified but positive action on the part of the National Council [of the Friends of Irish Freedom]. It appears to me that the President [De Valera] has acted not only unwisely but with the obduracy characteristic of the wrecker of the Democratic Party and that his usefulness in this country is greatly impaired and probably at an end’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.379
Cohalan responding to DeValera’s press statement of the 20th, denied strongly that there was any ‘division and dissenion in the ranks of American’s interested in the independence of Ireland…I am in this work as an American whose first and only loyalty is to my own country, and as one who of many years has made a close study of our governmental machinery and our political metholds and institutions. I shall continue to work as I have done in the past, with all who strive to bring about the independence of Ireland.’
In another dispatch from the US Consul in Dublin, the US Secretary of State was advised of information received from Major Wilson, the Chief Intelligence Officer on the General Staff, Dublin District, that a:
‘new policy in regard to the Irish situation had just been decided upon by the British Government...he states that the conciliatory policy of the Irish administration is considered by the Government to be looked upon by Sinn Fein leaders as a sign of fright and weakness on the part of the Government ... the Government at London proposes to have the Irish administration take up actively the search and prosecution of persons suspected of creating disorders in defiance of the Government of Ireland’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.404-405
The I.R.A re-issued its earlier boyoctt order against the RIC, and extended to anyone who associated with the force. ‘ business people must take their choice of the custom of their neighbours or the cowardly ruffians of the RIC. A sensible business man will be able to judge which pays best in the long run.’
Constable James Brett (50) was killed during an ambush of an RIC patrol at Clonee Wood near Bantry, Co. Cork. A hearse was refused for the funeral and an inquest was not held as only three of the twelve jurors who was summoned, attended.
22
Micahel Collins in a disucssion with the Sinn Fein London Representative, Art O’Briain said of the Devoy-Cohalan group ‘those who ought to be our friends are not faithful to the Republic’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P197
The British Attorney-General for Ireland, Denis Henry, said that the British troops in Ireland had been instructed to behave as if on a battlefield.
Lord Hugh Cecil began to publicly speak of an Anglo-Irish Treaty. As the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented, this was more the result of Government talk of ‘passing a bill which Ireland is expected to accept.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Allies fixed German war reparations at £12,500 Million.
Dublin: The Assistant Inspector General of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), Albert Roberts, was shot and wounded in a daring attack. When the attack took place, Mr Roberts was in a motor car on Beresford Place, accompanied by detectives, and was making his way from Amiens Street train station to his office at Dublin Castle. His car was riddled with bullets, fired by a number of men concealed under the pillars of the railway bridge. Witnesses, many of whom rushed for cover when the attack began, estimate that as many as 50 shots were fired. As Mr Roberts’ driver, Constable Pathe, sped away from the scene, one of the attackers came into the middle of the road and continued firing an automatic pistol as the car sped around the corner. This gunman then ran up to Butt Bridge and, putting the pistol in his pocket, walked up to Eden Quay.
On arrival at Dublin Castle, Mr Roberts was found to have been shot in the head and had lost a lot of blood; and Constable Pathe had bullet wounds in both legs and was on the point of collapse. According to official updates, however, neither men’s injuries are thought to be life threatening. Mr Roberts is the most senior member of the Dublin Castle establishment to be attacked since the attempt on the life of the Lord Lieutenant, Sir John French near Ashtown last December.
British public opinion was becoming aware of the military attempts at retaining control in Ireland. The ‘Irish self-determination League’ and ‘Peace with Ireland Council’ came out denouncing the British role in the country. Such notables as Hilaire Beloc, George Bernard Shaw and G.K.Chesterton wrote frequently and strongly against military policy, methods and the Lloyd George Government. The ‘Peace with Ireland Council’ also had Oswald Mosley, the future British Fascist leader as Secretary.
Micahel Collins in a disucssion with the Sinn Fein London Representative, Art O’Briain said of the Devoy-Cohalan group ‘those who ought to be our friends are not faithful to the Republic’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revoloutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P197
The British Attorney-General for Ireland, Denis Henry, said that the British troops in Ireland had been instructed to behave as if on a battlefield.
Lord Hugh Cecil began to publicly speak of an Anglo-Irish Treaty. As the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter commented, this was more the result of Government talk of ‘passing a bill which Ireland is expected to accept.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Allies fixed German war reparations at £12,500 Million.
Dublin: The Assistant Inspector General of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), Albert Roberts, was shot and wounded in a daring attack. When the attack took place, Mr Roberts was in a motor car on Beresford Place, accompanied by detectives, and was making his way from Amiens Street train station to his office at Dublin Castle. His car was riddled with bullets, fired by a number of men concealed under the pillars of the railway bridge. Witnesses, many of whom rushed for cover when the attack began, estimate that as many as 50 shots were fired. As Mr Roberts’ driver, Constable Pathe, sped away from the scene, one of the attackers came into the middle of the road and continued firing an automatic pistol as the car sped around the corner. This gunman then ran up to Butt Bridge and, putting the pistol in his pocket, walked up to Eden Quay.
On arrival at Dublin Castle, Mr Roberts was found to have been shot in the head and had lost a lot of blood; and Constable Pathe had bullet wounds in both legs and was on the point of collapse. According to official updates, however, neither men’s injuries are thought to be life threatening. Mr Roberts is the most senior member of the Dublin Castle establishment to be attacked since the attempt on the life of the Lord Lieutenant, Sir John French near Ashtown last December.
British public opinion was becoming aware of the military attempts at retaining control in Ireland. The ‘Irish self-determination League’ and ‘Peace with Ireland Council’ came out denouncing the British role in the country. Such notables as Hilaire Beloc, George Bernard Shaw and G.K.Chesterton wrote frequently and strongly against military policy, methods and the Lloyd George Government. The ‘Peace with Ireland Council’ also had Oswald Mosley, the future British Fascist leader as Secretary.
23
Arthur Griffith sent a message from the Dail to Devoy & Cohalan urging them to ‘give your loyal support to our President in his great work’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P194
Griffith in a statement issued in Dublin showed that recent rioting in Derry had been ‘planned and directed by Unionist leaders in collusion with persons of eminence in England and servants of the English Government in Ireland. Mr Griffith proved that arms and money had been provided for Unionist rioters whom the English attorney-general in Ireland has given the absurd name of ‘a civil guard’.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter commented that ‘it is unbelievable that the great English military force in Ireland is unable to maintain law and order in as small a city as Derry if their object is to preserve peaceful conditions and not themselves to incite to violence.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Manchester Guardian placed a large part of the blame on the ‘Londonderry Disturbances’ on Sir Edward Carson. It admitted that the whole ‘bad business’ had undoubtedly ‘lost nothing in the telling’ in the British press and in an editorial comment, laid the blame on the ‘wholehearted lawlessness which Sir Edward Carson and others saw fit to approve and advise in 1914. We do not know exactly what breaches of law besides riot have occurred in Derry, but we remember Sir Edward Carson’s promise..’to break every law that was possible’ in Ireland. When loyal people objected to the law breaking of the kind he proposed was treason. Sir Edward Carson had the reply ‘I do not care a two pence whether it is treason or not’.
The Newsletter stated ‘as long as the British Government can find Orangemen who it is possible to incite to factional disturbances, just so long will rioting continue to appear in Ulster.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.3 July 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Friends of Irish Freedom were under continued US Military Inteligence surveilance:
“ …One of the principal informers on "Negro subversion" for the Military Intelligence Division (MID) alleged that Garvey and the Friends of Irish Freedom were linked. MID disclosed in its confidential "Weekly Situation Survey" of 23 June 1920 that its informer, R. D. Jonas, had publicly declared that "the Friends of Irish Freedom had aided in establishing the Black Star (negro) Steamship Line which would ultimately carry arms to Africa."
Garvey's statement inaugurating a "$2,000,000 Convention Fund" has a further significance. "We think the time has come for the Negro to find a universal leader," Garvey declared, adding, "if Germany is to follow the Kaiser, if England is to follow George V . . . and Ireland is to follow De Valera, then the time has come for four hundred million Negroes to follow a Negro elected by themselves."
Robert A Hill. “The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project “ UCLA ( Via Internet Site June 1997 )
JThe terrible situation in Ireland led Shane Leslie to write to Secretary Colby : "I spent six months in an Ulster County with a Sinn Fein majority, which enjoyed perfect peace until the Government initiated raids which provoked reprisals. I have been in London vainly trying to get Dominion Home Rule put into action to which I am satisfied the majority of all Irishmen would not be opposed. However the Government have initiated a policy which leaves Sinn Fein the only refuge for moderates. This policy ... is now deliberately fostering mutual massacre with a view to an ultimate appeal to the English voter."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.405
Arthur Griffith sent a message from the Dail to Devoy & Cohalan urging them to ‘give your loyal support to our President in his great work’
Arthur Mitchell ‘Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-22’ Gill& McMillan 1995. P194
Griffith in a statement issued in Dublin showed that recent rioting in Derry had been ‘planned and directed by Unionist leaders in collusion with persons of eminence in England and servants of the English Government in Ireland. Mr Griffith proved that arms and money had been provided for Unionist rioters whom the English attorney-general in Ireland has given the absurd name of ‘a civil guard’.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Newsletter commented that ‘it is unbelievable that the great English military force in Ireland is unable to maintain law and order in as small a city as Derry if their object is to preserve peaceful conditions and not themselves to incite to violence.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Manchester Guardian placed a large part of the blame on the ‘Londonderry Disturbances’ on Sir Edward Carson. It admitted that the whole ‘bad business’ had undoubtedly ‘lost nothing in the telling’ in the British press and in an editorial comment, laid the blame on the ‘wholehearted lawlessness which Sir Edward Carson and others saw fit to approve and advise in 1914. We do not know exactly what breaches of law besides riot have occurred in Derry, but we remember Sir Edward Carson’s promise..’to break every law that was possible’ in Ireland. When loyal people objected to the law breaking of the kind he proposed was treason. Sir Edward Carson had the reply ‘I do not care a two pence whether it is treason or not’.
The Newsletter stated ‘as long as the British Government can find Orangemen who it is possible to incite to factional disturbances, just so long will rioting continue to appear in Ulster.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.3 July 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Friends of Irish Freedom were under continued US Military Inteligence surveilance:
“ …One of the principal informers on "Negro subversion" for the Military Intelligence Division (MID) alleged that Garvey and the Friends of Irish Freedom were linked. MID disclosed in its confidential "Weekly Situation Survey" of 23 June 1920 that its informer, R. D. Jonas, had publicly declared that "the Friends of Irish Freedom had aided in establishing the Black Star (negro) Steamship Line which would ultimately carry arms to Africa."
Garvey's statement inaugurating a "$2,000,000 Convention Fund" has a further significance. "We think the time has come for the Negro to find a universal leader," Garvey declared, adding, "if Germany is to follow the Kaiser, if England is to follow George V . . . and Ireland is to follow De Valera, then the time has come for four hundred million Negroes to follow a Negro elected by themselves."
Robert A Hill. “The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project “ UCLA ( Via Internet Site June 1997 )
JThe terrible situation in Ireland led Shane Leslie to write to Secretary Colby : "I spent six months in an Ulster County with a Sinn Fein majority, which enjoyed perfect peace until the Government initiated raids which provoked reprisals. I have been in London vainly trying to get Dominion Home Rule put into action to which I am satisfied the majority of all Irishmen would not be opposed. However the Government have initiated a policy which leaves Sinn Fein the only refuge for moderates. This policy ... is now deliberately fostering mutual massacre with a view to an ultimate appeal to the English voter."
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.405
24
Ordered into Derry were extra troops, including the South Wales Borderers, Northumberland Fusiliers and the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Rioting during June had claimed 17 lives and hundreds injured.
Political requirements were instituted in some large firms in Ulster for all employees – both Protestant and Catholic. Such requirements included signing a declaration of loyalty to the British Government and ‘ the principles of the Union Jack’ before being given employment or promotion.
A boycott of Belfast Manufactured goods in many other counties resulted during the summer.
The British Labour Party met in Scarborough where the presiding officer, W.H.Hutchinson of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers commented that ‘in Ireland our brutality is only equalled by our folly; we are relying upon purely military rule…Ireland must have the form of Government she desires and if it is an independent Republic, Labour cannot deny that right. Whatever she chooses she must choose freely for herself and proper conditions for that should be withdrawal – complete and unconditional – of all British forces.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Ordered into Derry were extra troops, including the South Wales Borderers, Northumberland Fusiliers and the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Rioting during June had claimed 17 lives and hundreds injured.
Political requirements were instituted in some large firms in Ulster for all employees – both Protestant and Catholic. Such requirements included signing a declaration of loyalty to the British Government and ‘ the principles of the Union Jack’ before being given employment or promotion.
A boycott of Belfast Manufactured goods in many other counties resulted during the summer.
The British Labour Party met in Scarborough where the presiding officer, W.H.Hutchinson of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers commented that ‘in Ireland our brutality is only equalled by our folly; we are relying upon purely military rule…Ireland must have the form of Government she desires and if it is an independent Republic, Labour cannot deny that right. Whatever she chooses she must choose freely for herself and proper conditions for that should be withdrawal – complete and unconditional – of all British forces.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
25
Sir Hamar Greenwood denied in Parliament that the Irish Republican Government was operating courts successfully throughout the country. The Newsletter commented ‘…nearly every newspaper has for more than one month been carrying circumstantial accounts of the work of these courts and of the Republican volunteer police force. There was obviously no thought that England would believe Sir Hamar’s statement..’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: The disruption to the Irish railways was set to continue after the national executive of the Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress reiterated the commitment of railwaymen to continue their refusal to work trains which carry munitions of war or armed soldiers or policemen in any numbers. A statement issued by the Labour Party claimed that railway companies are not justified, in the present violent state of the country, in making workers or the public travel in trains carrying military or munitions and to do so is, ‘in effect, to use civilians as hostages.’
Each railway worker will continue to work as usual provided that neither troops nor munitions are being carried, and the dismissal or suspension of a colleague will not be viewed as legitimate grounds for refusing to work. Substantial subscriptions have been pledged to a fund for the strikers or for the 50-60 men who have been reported as being dismissed or suspended so far. In some districts steps are being taken to conserve food supplies, in case a general strike is called. The actions of the railwaymen has caused widespread disruption to the Irish railway network.
As it stands, four of the principal lines in the country are affected, most seriously the Great Southern and Western Railway and the Midland Great Western Railway. In recent days the Dublin and South Eastern Railway has been blocked at Greystones and a goods train carrying guns on the Great Northern Railway line was held up for 12 hours at Amiens Street, Dublin. In the south of the country, large numbers of travellers had to journey through the night in order to reach Queenstown to take the passage on the White Star liner for New York.
The Belfast Newsletter has editorialised that the situation will become intolerable if it continues much longer. Placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of ‘rebel engine-drivers, firemen and guards’, the unionist-aligned newspaper added that ‘If only the Sinn Féiners and their sympathisers suffered, no one would have a right to object, as they would be getting what they deserve, but the innocent are punished with the guilty.’
Washington DC: Daniel O’Connell, the Bureau of Irish Information Chief in Washington announced that the Friends of Irish Freedom would not play any major role in the Democratic Convention due to be held in San Francisco. The experience in Chicago would not be repeated and signalled the Friends would not offer any competition against de Valera.
As to the Democratic Convention, De Valera expected ‘significant assistance’ from the Irish-American members such as Charles F. Murphy, George E. Brennan and Thomas Taggart, commonly called ‘The Bosses’. The New York Tribune reported that some feared the ‘Irish Bosses’ might control the San Francisco Convention. Murphy claimed he controlled 310 votes in the convention with Taggart and Brennan holding equally large blocs.
However by this stage, the Democratic Platform had been finalised since March 1920 and there was no reference to Irish self-determination.
The Friends of Irish Freedom National President, Rev. Peter Magennis, resigned. This was viewed by De Valera as a perfect opportunity to gain control of the Friends. The meeting to discuss the resignation and elect a new President was set for July 30.
The Nation Newspaper in New York carried the second of two articles on the situation in Ireland by its Dublin correspondent, William McDonald: ‘America whose interest in Irish freedom is a thorn in the flesh to the British need not be surprised if martial law and guerilla warfare soon spread its destructive wings over the whole of Ireland. Meantime Sinn Fein is in the saddle. Its rule in Ireland is the only one generally observed. Its arbitration courts in land cases are operating successfully, and it has proved its ability to ferret out and punish criminals. With the local elections of the first week in June, it will control practically the entire local administration outside of Ulster. It will presently refuse to sanction rates for British purposes and will levy its own rates, collect them through its own collectors and held them in the hands of its own treasurer. It has an army and its executive officers are ready for the tasks or else are actually performing them. This is the unseen Government which Britain in its stupidity hopes to destroy by military force. This is the people for whose subjection British is willing to sacrifice every principle of English liberty and justice if so be that the tumbling Empire may be a little longer preserved.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Constable Michael Horan (38) was shot dead in Tipperary.
Sir Hamar Greenwood denied in Parliament that the Irish Republican Government was operating courts successfully throughout the country. The Newsletter commented ‘…nearly every newspaper has for more than one month been carrying circumstantial accounts of the work of these courts and of the Republican volunteer police force. There was obviously no thought that England would believe Sir Hamar’s statement..’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Dublin: The disruption to the Irish railways was set to continue after the national executive of the Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress reiterated the commitment of railwaymen to continue their refusal to work trains which carry munitions of war or armed soldiers or policemen in any numbers. A statement issued by the Labour Party claimed that railway companies are not justified, in the present violent state of the country, in making workers or the public travel in trains carrying military or munitions and to do so is, ‘in effect, to use civilians as hostages.’
Each railway worker will continue to work as usual provided that neither troops nor munitions are being carried, and the dismissal or suspension of a colleague will not be viewed as legitimate grounds for refusing to work. Substantial subscriptions have been pledged to a fund for the strikers or for the 50-60 men who have been reported as being dismissed or suspended so far. In some districts steps are being taken to conserve food supplies, in case a general strike is called. The actions of the railwaymen has caused widespread disruption to the Irish railway network.
As it stands, four of the principal lines in the country are affected, most seriously the Great Southern and Western Railway and the Midland Great Western Railway. In recent days the Dublin and South Eastern Railway has been blocked at Greystones and a goods train carrying guns on the Great Northern Railway line was held up for 12 hours at Amiens Street, Dublin. In the south of the country, large numbers of travellers had to journey through the night in order to reach Queenstown to take the passage on the White Star liner for New York.
The Belfast Newsletter has editorialised that the situation will become intolerable if it continues much longer. Placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of ‘rebel engine-drivers, firemen and guards’, the unionist-aligned newspaper added that ‘If only the Sinn Féiners and their sympathisers suffered, no one would have a right to object, as they would be getting what they deserve, but the innocent are punished with the guilty.’
Washington DC: Daniel O’Connell, the Bureau of Irish Information Chief in Washington announced that the Friends of Irish Freedom would not play any major role in the Democratic Convention due to be held in San Francisco. The experience in Chicago would not be repeated and signalled the Friends would not offer any competition against de Valera.
As to the Democratic Convention, De Valera expected ‘significant assistance’ from the Irish-American members such as Charles F. Murphy, George E. Brennan and Thomas Taggart, commonly called ‘The Bosses’. The New York Tribune reported that some feared the ‘Irish Bosses’ might control the San Francisco Convention. Murphy claimed he controlled 310 votes in the convention with Taggart and Brennan holding equally large blocs.
However by this stage, the Democratic Platform had been finalised since March 1920 and there was no reference to Irish self-determination.
The Friends of Irish Freedom National President, Rev. Peter Magennis, resigned. This was viewed by De Valera as a perfect opportunity to gain control of the Friends. The meeting to discuss the resignation and elect a new President was set for July 30.
The Nation Newspaper in New York carried the second of two articles on the situation in Ireland by its Dublin correspondent, William McDonald: ‘America whose interest in Irish freedom is a thorn in the flesh to the British need not be surprised if martial law and guerilla warfare soon spread its destructive wings over the whole of Ireland. Meantime Sinn Fein is in the saddle. Its rule in Ireland is the only one generally observed. Its arbitration courts in land cases are operating successfully, and it has proved its ability to ferret out and punish criminals. With the local elections of the first week in June, it will control practically the entire local administration outside of Ulster. It will presently refuse to sanction rates for British purposes and will levy its own rates, collect them through its own collectors and held them in the hands of its own treasurer. It has an army and its executive officers are ready for the tasks or else are actually performing them. This is the unseen Government which Britain in its stupidity hopes to destroy by military force. This is the people for whose subjection British is willing to sacrifice every principle of English liberty and justice if so be that the tumbling Empire may be a little longer preserved.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Constable Michael Horan (38) was shot dead in Tipperary.
26
An IRA attack on the RIC Barracks at Borrisokane invloved some 200 men led by Brigadier O/C Frank McGrath and after 2½ hours fighting, the IRA withdrew leaving two wounded men behind. McGrath later cited that safety was uppermost in his mind for the withdrawal but another in his Bureau of Military History submission commented that McGrath feared reprisal on his commercial interests. McGrath apparently was compromised by his dependence on local business Frank Maloney who had fallen out with Sinn Fein over a by-election nomination
The Canadian Friends of Irish Freedom - Irish Race Convention was held in Montreal.
The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter was now one year old:
"This Bureau believes that the first fifty-two issues have accomplished at least some part of the purpose for which they were intended. Its circulation is steadily growing. It now reaches not only thousands of Americans in both hemispheres but is read on the other side of the Atlantic. Letters of encouragement reach this Bureau from friends both at home and abroad and the NEWS LETTER will begin its second year conscious of the responsibilities of the task yet before it but confident in the encouragement if its friends."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Issue 52 of the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter carried the headline ‘England’s War’ and described how she was determined to force a retaliation in Ireland that would allow military action. It cited the recent sectarian fighting in Derry as:
‘but one move in the British campaign to provoke disorders in Ireland which will be used to excuse the extirpation of a race which refuses to accept alien domination on any lesser terms.’
"England is determined upon a war of extirpation. She seeks only the excuse. Her desperate effort is to force some action in Ireland which will precipitate the reprisal under cover of which she may prosecute her campaign of destruction and, with relentless hand, she is attempting to push events toward the culmination she desires. She has failed to produce the desired reaction in her treatment of the patriotic workers who have refused to assist in the transportation of British munitions in Ireland. This week’s news dispatches have strikingly exhibited how she has returned to the ancient game of inciting factional disturbances to provide the starting-point for her campaign of blood. American publications have been flooded with stories of rioting in Londonderry. For two or three days the newspapers were filled with gruesome reports of the murders and outrages, which, it was asserted, had followed a revival of religious and political factionism in the North of Ireland. However, the English news agencies fortunately did not have the field entirely to themselves and, from independent sources American readers have been able to read the true story. The rioting in Londonderry was the result of a carefully planned attack by Orangemen fully armed and equipped for battle. The British military and police did not interfere in the Orange attack upon the Republican sections of the city until they saw that the Orangemen were beginning to suffer.."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The London Morning Star Newspaper commenting on the refusal of Irish labour to ship British munitions, was surprised to find that there was no dispute as to wages or conditions but that ‘the Irish Labour Party is frankly up against the British Government’. This was after a statement by Thomas Farren, Chairman of the Irish Trades Union Congress that the dispute was ‘not to be a fight by railway men and dockers alone but a fight by the whole working people of Ireland to put an end to the brutalities of British militarism.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish labour leader, Tom Johnson in a press statement made the dispute quite clear ‘Our men are instructed to refuse to handle munitions or armed men. We have no objections to carrying unarmed soldiers or police. If the workers are discharged, we take care of them. Our comrades are instructed on no account to go on a sympathetic strike.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol. 11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Plans were also put in place by the Republican Government to provide transportation of food and supplies in the event of a British closure of the rail system or a general lock out of workers.
The American Federation of Labour at its Montreal Convention reaffirmed its stand for the recognition of the Irish Republic, urging that ‘military forces of occupation in Ireland be withdrawn’ and that the Irish people be accorded the ‘right of self-determination’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
After numerous scathing comments on Sir John Ervine by the Newsletter, some middle-ground was finally reached when he described Sir Edward Carson as being the ‘most notable of the small band of Bedadderers and Bejabberers left in the world; the final comic irishman, leaping on to the music hall stage or the political platform, twirling a blackthorn stick and shouting at the top of a thick, broguey voice……no one on earth is so clearly the ‘typical irishman’ (that is to say, the irishman of the muddy imagination) as Sir Edward Carson is.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
To put this into context, Ervine's remarks on Carson were written in 1915 and not more recently as implied by the Newsletter:
“Sir Edward Carson is the last of the Broths of a Boy. He has a touch of Samuel Lover’s ‘Handy Andy” in him. He is the most notable of the small band of Bedadderers and Bejabberers left in the world; the final Comic Irishman, leaping on to the music-hall stage or the political platform, twirling a blackthorn stick and shouting at the top of a thick, broguey voice (carefully preserved and cultivated for the benefit of English audiences): ‘Bedad, bejabers and begorra, is there e'er a man in all the town dare tread on the tail of my coat, bedad, bejabers and begorral” No other Irishman speaks with so deliberate a brogue or says “What’so obviously ‘Phwat!’ No one on earth is so clearly the “typical Irishman’ (that is to say, the Irishman of the muddy imagination) as Sir Edward Carson is.” In his new book “The Economic Case for Irish Independence,” published by Maunsel, Dublin, Mr. Darrell Figgis has produced a brilliantly clever little volume which deserves a big circulation. Its tables of comparative statistics are a quite notable feature. The following sentences will illustrate the point of view of the author concerning his main thesis: “It would be necessary to turn to the fantastic practices of barbarity to find a parallel for the studied enmity of which Ireland has for centuries been the victim. "Other nations have been cruelly oppressed. Other nations have seen their political existence partly or wholly destroyed...But of no nation in Europe is it true, as it is true of Ireland, that it has been, and is now, oppressed with a view to its extinction as an economic factor in the world.”
The London Morning Post, aligned with the Conservative Party described the complete break-down of British government & administration in Ireland, and invariably proceeded to draw a frightful picture of terrorism which lay behind the Irish regime that followed the period of British domination. The Nation (London), however, was fair-minded enough to respond to the Morning Post to point out that: “it is not all terrorism. Let me give an example. I have on my desk a letter from a distinguished writer, a landlord and not a politician. The account it gives of Sinn Fein law is not of a cruel or undiscriminating power. It describes how some walls were thrown down on a neighboring estate, because the land they enclosed was coveted, but in a day or two they were quietly built up again by a number of Sinn Feiners. In another case, a demand was made for a division of grass-lands and there were threats of driving off the cattle. The Sinn Fein Committee stopped it, on the ground that they would help land less men to get land, but not through cattle-driving or violence. Again, a land lord, a Protestant, a Unionist and a magistrate, who has had trouble, some of his land having been demanded, is taking his case before a Sinn Fein court which sits in a neighboring town.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The R.I.C began to suffer from widespread resignations of officers and constables. More stations were abandoned as forces concentrated in compounds in the larger towns and cities. The Newsletter commented on one county’s experience, that of Limerick: ‘There were 51 resignations from the police in this county last month, but hundreds of englishmen, ex-officers and soldeirs are joining up and now they appear in the streets only in parties of 5 to 7. They wear guns strapped to their shoulders and carry automatic pistols. They keep on both sides of ther street in sight of each other, that means 5 or 7 on each side.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
At a special conference, the Miner’s Federation of Great Britain adopted the resolution that ‘This conference protests against British military domination in Ireland and condemns the ruthless attacks on the liberty of the Irish people. It demands the immediate withdrawal of troops from Ireland and urges the parliamentary committee of the Trades Union Congress to expedite the calling of a special Trades Union Congress in order that Labour may determine its attitude towards the producing and handling of munitions of war destined for Ireland and Poland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
An IRA attack on the RIC Barracks at Borrisokane invloved some 200 men led by Brigadier O/C Frank McGrath and after 2½ hours fighting, the IRA withdrew leaving two wounded men behind. McGrath later cited that safety was uppermost in his mind for the withdrawal but another in his Bureau of Military History submission commented that McGrath feared reprisal on his commercial interests. McGrath apparently was compromised by his dependence on local business Frank Maloney who had fallen out with Sinn Fein over a by-election nomination
The Canadian Friends of Irish Freedom - Irish Race Convention was held in Montreal.
The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter was now one year old:
"This Bureau believes that the first fifty-two issues have accomplished at least some part of the purpose for which they were intended. Its circulation is steadily growing. It now reaches not only thousands of Americans in both hemispheres but is read on the other side of the Atlantic. Letters of encouragement reach this Bureau from friends both at home and abroad and the NEWS LETTER will begin its second year conscious of the responsibilities of the task yet before it but confident in the encouragement if its friends."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Issue 52 of the Irish National Bureau of Information Newsletter carried the headline ‘England’s War’ and described how she was determined to force a retaliation in Ireland that would allow military action. It cited the recent sectarian fighting in Derry as:
‘but one move in the British campaign to provoke disorders in Ireland which will be used to excuse the extirpation of a race which refuses to accept alien domination on any lesser terms.’
"England is determined upon a war of extirpation. She seeks only the excuse. Her desperate effort is to force some action in Ireland which will precipitate the reprisal under cover of which she may prosecute her campaign of destruction and, with relentless hand, she is attempting to push events toward the culmination she desires. She has failed to produce the desired reaction in her treatment of the patriotic workers who have refused to assist in the transportation of British munitions in Ireland. This week’s news dispatches have strikingly exhibited how she has returned to the ancient game of inciting factional disturbances to provide the starting-point for her campaign of blood. American publications have been flooded with stories of rioting in Londonderry. For two or three days the newspapers were filled with gruesome reports of the murders and outrages, which, it was asserted, had followed a revival of religious and political factionism in the North of Ireland. However, the English news agencies fortunately did not have the field entirely to themselves and, from independent sources American readers have been able to read the true story. The rioting in Londonderry was the result of a carefully planned attack by Orangemen fully armed and equipped for battle. The British military and police did not interfere in the Orange attack upon the Republican sections of the city until they saw that the Orangemen were beginning to suffer.."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The London Morning Star Newspaper commenting on the refusal of Irish labour to ship British munitions, was surprised to find that there was no dispute as to wages or conditions but that ‘the Irish Labour Party is frankly up against the British Government’. This was after a statement by Thomas Farren, Chairman of the Irish Trades Union Congress that the dispute was ‘not to be a fight by railway men and dockers alone but a fight by the whole working people of Ireland to put an end to the brutalities of British militarism.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The Irish labour leader, Tom Johnson in a press statement made the dispute quite clear ‘Our men are instructed to refuse to handle munitions or armed men. We have no objections to carrying unarmed soldiers or police. If the workers are discharged, we take care of them. Our comrades are instructed on no account to go on a sympathetic strike.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol. 11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Plans were also put in place by the Republican Government to provide transportation of food and supplies in the event of a British closure of the rail system or a general lock out of workers.
The American Federation of Labour at its Montreal Convention reaffirmed its stand for the recognition of the Irish Republic, urging that ‘military forces of occupation in Ireland be withdrawn’ and that the Irish people be accorded the ‘right of self-determination’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
After numerous scathing comments on Sir John Ervine by the Newsletter, some middle-ground was finally reached when he described Sir Edward Carson as being the ‘most notable of the small band of Bedadderers and Bejabberers left in the world; the final comic irishman, leaping on to the music hall stage or the political platform, twirling a blackthorn stick and shouting at the top of a thick, broguey voice……no one on earth is so clearly the ‘typical irishman’ (that is to say, the irishman of the muddy imagination) as Sir Edward Carson is.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
To put this into context, Ervine's remarks on Carson were written in 1915 and not more recently as implied by the Newsletter:
“Sir Edward Carson is the last of the Broths of a Boy. He has a touch of Samuel Lover’s ‘Handy Andy” in him. He is the most notable of the small band of Bedadderers and Bejabberers left in the world; the final Comic Irishman, leaping on to the music-hall stage or the political platform, twirling a blackthorn stick and shouting at the top of a thick, broguey voice (carefully preserved and cultivated for the benefit of English audiences): ‘Bedad, bejabers and begorra, is there e'er a man in all the town dare tread on the tail of my coat, bedad, bejabers and begorral” No other Irishman speaks with so deliberate a brogue or says “What’so obviously ‘Phwat!’ No one on earth is so clearly the “typical Irishman’ (that is to say, the Irishman of the muddy imagination) as Sir Edward Carson is.” In his new book “The Economic Case for Irish Independence,” published by Maunsel, Dublin, Mr. Darrell Figgis has produced a brilliantly clever little volume which deserves a big circulation. Its tables of comparative statistics are a quite notable feature. The following sentences will illustrate the point of view of the author concerning his main thesis: “It would be necessary to turn to the fantastic practices of barbarity to find a parallel for the studied enmity of which Ireland has for centuries been the victim. "Other nations have been cruelly oppressed. Other nations have seen their political existence partly or wholly destroyed...But of no nation in Europe is it true, as it is true of Ireland, that it has been, and is now, oppressed with a view to its extinction as an economic factor in the world.”
The London Morning Post, aligned with the Conservative Party described the complete break-down of British government & administration in Ireland, and invariably proceeded to draw a frightful picture of terrorism which lay behind the Irish regime that followed the period of British domination. The Nation (London), however, was fair-minded enough to respond to the Morning Post to point out that: “it is not all terrorism. Let me give an example. I have on my desk a letter from a distinguished writer, a landlord and not a politician. The account it gives of Sinn Fein law is not of a cruel or undiscriminating power. It describes how some walls were thrown down on a neighboring estate, because the land they enclosed was coveted, but in a day or two they were quietly built up again by a number of Sinn Feiners. In another case, a demand was made for a division of grass-lands and there were threats of driving off the cattle. The Sinn Fein Committee stopped it, on the ground that they would help land less men to get land, but not through cattle-driving or violence. Again, a land lord, a Protestant, a Unionist and a magistrate, who has had trouble, some of his land having been demanded, is taking his case before a Sinn Fein court which sits in a neighboring town.”
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
The R.I.C began to suffer from widespread resignations of officers and constables. More stations were abandoned as forces concentrated in compounds in the larger towns and cities. The Newsletter commented on one county’s experience, that of Limerick: ‘There were 51 resignations from the police in this county last month, but hundreds of englishmen, ex-officers and soldeirs are joining up and now they appear in the streets only in parties of 5 to 7. They wear guns strapped to their shoulders and carry automatic pistols. They keep on both sides of ther street in sight of each other, that means 5 or 7 on each side.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – No. 52, June 26, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
At a special conference, the Miner’s Federation of Great Britain adopted the resolution that ‘This conference protests against British military domination in Ireland and condemns the ruthless attacks on the liberty of the Irish people. It demands the immediate withdrawal of troops from Ireland and urges the parliamentary committee of the Trades Union Congress to expedite the calling of a special Trades Union Congress in order that Labour may determine its attitude towards the producing and handling of munitions of war destined for Ireland and Poland.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Connemara: Rachel Ward, née Gurney, the Countess of Dudley, died in a drowning accident near Screebe House, the family’s summer residence in Connemara. Ward was known for her philanthropy work and the wife of William Ward who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland between 1902 and 1905.
Lady Dudley took an interest in medical welfare. In Ireland, in 1903, she set up the Lady Dudley Nurses scheme to serve isolated rural communities in counties Connemara, Mayo, Donegal, and Kerry. In Australia, in 1908, she set up a similar scheme which was a forerunner of the Flying Doctor service. On the outbreak of World War I Lady Dudley established the Australian Voluntary Hospital. Lady Dudley's husband, William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley (1867 – 1932), was a British aristocrat, politician, and military officer who served as the fourth Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1908 to 1911 |
He was previously Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1902 to 1905, and also a government minister under Lord Salisbury.
Through his years in Ireland, Ward displayed great extravagance but also some political and administrative ability. The 1903 Irish Land Act and his cooperation with George Wyndham on a devolution scheme to deal with the Home Rule question were among important milestones. He is immortalized in Joyce's description of his Vice-Regal progress through Dublin in Ulysses.
In part due to the urging of King Edward VII, a longtime acquaintance, Dudley was appointed Governor-General of Australia in 1908. His extravagance and pomposity made him unpopular among the general public, and his attempts to interfere in political matters rankled both prime ministers he worked with (Andrew Fisher and Alfred Deakin). Deakin regarded him as doing "nothing really important, nothing thoroughly, nothing consistently [...] very ineffective and not very popular". He was recalled to England after less than three years in office.
Through his years in Ireland, Ward displayed great extravagance but also some political and administrative ability. The 1903 Irish Land Act and his cooperation with George Wyndham on a devolution scheme to deal with the Home Rule question were among important milestones. He is immortalized in Joyce's description of his Vice-Regal progress through Dublin in Ulysses.
In part due to the urging of King Edward VII, a longtime acquaintance, Dudley was appointed Governor-General of Australia in 1908. His extravagance and pomposity made him unpopular among the general public, and his attempts to interfere in political matters rankled both prime ministers he worked with (Andrew Fisher and Alfred Deakin). Deakin regarded him as doing "nothing really important, nothing thoroughly, nothing consistently [...] very ineffective and not very popular". He was recalled to England after less than three years in office.
Opposite: The Sun & New York Herald reporting on the high level of German 'floating debt' (short-term debt renewed and refinanced constantly to fund national capital needs) at 117 billion Marks ($29.3 billion in 1920 dollars or valued at roughly the equivalent of $376 billion a century later).
The Treaty of Versailles (signed in 1919) required Germany to pay 132 billion gold marks (US$33 billion) in reparations to cover civilian damage caused during the war. However, The Treaty of Versailles stated that a Reparation Commission would be established in 1921 to fully consider the resources available to Germany and her capacity to pay, provide the German Government with an opportunity to be heard on the subject, and decide then on the final reparation figure that Germany would be required to pay. In the interim, Germany was required to pay an equivalent of 20 billion gold marks (US$5 billion) in gold, commodities, ships, securities, or other forms. The money would be used to pay Allied occupation costs and to buy food and raw materials for Germany. Numerous historians have pointed out, inflation after the war could have been managed had the international climate been less acrimonious, the burden of reparations less severe, or the German leaders not pursued a policy of non-fulfillment. The mark, after all, stabilised against the dollar in late 1920 and early 1921, and inflation briefly reached an annual level of just 2 percent by April 1921. Some suggest that in crucial ways, reparations were “ultimately responsible for inflation,” or that they served as a powerful “disincentive to stabilise.” Other historians argue that Germany could have paid these high reparations without destroying its economy: its debt burden in 1921 as a percentage of GDP was actually slightly lower than Great Britain’s. Instead, to appease the domestic critics of the Treaty of Versailles, German leaders on both ends of the political spectrum pursued a deliberate policy of fiscal deficits to induce the Entente powers to dismantle the reparations system. |
Due to the lack of reparation payments by Germany, France occupied the Ruhr in 1923 to enforce payments, causing an international crisis that resulted in the implementation of the Dawes Plan in 1924. This plan outlined a new payment method and raised international loans to help Germany to meet its reparation commitments. Despite this, by 1928 Germany called for a new payment plan, resulting in the Young Plan that established the German reparation requirements at 112 billion marks (US$26.3 billion) and created a schedule of payments that would see Germany complete payments by 1988. With the collapse of the German economy in 1931, reparations were suspended for a year and in 1932 during the Lausanne Conference they were cancelled altogether. Between 1919 and 1932, Germany paid less than 21 billion marks in reparations.
The German people saw reparations as a national humiliation; the German Government worked to undermine the validity of the Treaty of Versailles and the requirement to pay. British economist John Maynard Keynes called the treaty a Carthaginian peace that would economically destroy Germany. His arguments had a profound effect on historians, politicians, and the public at large. Despite Keynes' arguments and those by later historians supporting or reinforcing Keynes' views, the consensus of contemporary historians is that reparations were not as intolerable as the Germans or Keynes had suggested and were within Germany's capacity to pay had there been the political will to do so.
Following the Second World War, West Germany took up payments. The 1953 London Agreement on German External Debts resulted in an agreement to pay 50 per cent of the remaining balance. The final payment was made on 3 October 2010, settling German loan debts in regard to reparations.
The German people saw reparations as a national humiliation; the German Government worked to undermine the validity of the Treaty of Versailles and the requirement to pay. British economist John Maynard Keynes called the treaty a Carthaginian peace that would economically destroy Germany. His arguments had a profound effect on historians, politicians, and the public at large. Despite Keynes' arguments and those by later historians supporting or reinforcing Keynes' views, the consensus of contemporary historians is that reparations were not as intolerable as the Germans or Keynes had suggested and were within Germany's capacity to pay had there been the political will to do so.
Following the Second World War, West Germany took up payments. The 1953 London Agreement on German External Debts resulted in an agreement to pay 50 per cent of the remaining balance. The final payment was made on 3 October 2010, settling German loan debts in regard to reparations.
An Occasional Historic Aside
Between May and July 1920, some 140 British Military personnel were captured by the IRA in various parts of Ireland, all of whom were disarmed and released...except for one. The exception was the most senior British military officer captured during the War of Independence, Brigadier-General Lucas. His capture and weeks with an IRA unit was to become one of the more intriguing episodes of the war. |
Major-General Cuthbert Henry Tindall Lucas CB CMG DSO (1879-1958) Lucas was a career British Army officer educated at Marlborough College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Royal Berkshire Regiment in May 1898, he served with the Regiment in the Boer War, and was present during operations in the Cape Colony, including the actions at Colesberg in January 1900; in the Orange Free State, March to May 1900; in the Orange River Colony, May to July 1900; and in the Transvaal, July to November 1900, including the action at Zilikats Nek. Promoted Lieutenant in August 1900, he was next employed with the West African Frontier Force from December 1900 to June 1901, and subsequently with the Egyptian Army and Sudan Civil Service, April 1905 to April 1909. Promoted to Captain, April 1909, he served during the Great War in a number of staff jobs on both the Western Front from the 9th August 1914, and at Gallipoli from the 25th April 1915, including as Brigade Commander of the 87th Infantry Brigade, and Divisional Commander, 4th Division, British Armies in France. For his service during the Great War he was eight times Mentioned in Despatches, appointed a Companion of both the Order of St. Michael and St. George and the Distinguished Service Order; awarded the Brevets of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Colonel; and received the French Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre |
Brigadier-General Lucas in Ireland 1919-20
The General's involvement with Ireland began in October 1919 when he was promoted to Brigadier-General (later re-titled Major-General) and appointed as Commander of 16th Infantry Brigade & of the large military garrison barracks in Fermoy. At a stroke Lucas became the most senior British military figure in a province about to erupt into widespread disorder and guerrilla warfare.
The British garrison in Fermoy had recently experienced the first major first concerted attack on the British Army since 1916. Led by Liam Lynch, Officer Commanding, Cork No 2 Brigade, Irish Republican Army, a group had held up an armed detachment of 15 British soldiers gathering to attend church intending to take their rifles & small arms. In the fracas that followed, one soldier was killed and three wounded. The first reprisals of the War of Independence followed as parts of Fermoy were sacked and houses burned.
By early summer 1920 as North Cork was relatively quiet compared with the west of the county, General Lucas and visiting senior military officers were regularly fishing along the River Blackwater and it's tributaries. Their frequent expeditions accompanied by an armed military escort had not gone unnoticed by members of the Cork No. 2 Brigade IRA and a kidnapping plan evolved. Liam Lynch decided to capture a number of these British officers, hold them in a variety of safe houses in Munster and use them, if necessary, in any potential negotiation with the British administration in Ireland. Essentially, these officers were in theory at any rate to become live & rather valuable collateral as hostages.
The General's involvement with Ireland began in October 1919 when he was promoted to Brigadier-General (later re-titled Major-General) and appointed as Commander of 16th Infantry Brigade & of the large military garrison barracks in Fermoy. At a stroke Lucas became the most senior British military figure in a province about to erupt into widespread disorder and guerrilla warfare.
The British garrison in Fermoy had recently experienced the first major first concerted attack on the British Army since 1916. Led by Liam Lynch, Officer Commanding, Cork No 2 Brigade, Irish Republican Army, a group had held up an armed detachment of 15 British soldiers gathering to attend church intending to take their rifles & small arms. In the fracas that followed, one soldier was killed and three wounded. The first reprisals of the War of Independence followed as parts of Fermoy were sacked and houses burned.
By early summer 1920 as North Cork was relatively quiet compared with the west of the county, General Lucas and visiting senior military officers were regularly fishing along the River Blackwater and it's tributaries. Their frequent expeditions accompanied by an armed military escort had not gone unnoticed by members of the Cork No. 2 Brigade IRA and a kidnapping plan evolved. Liam Lynch decided to capture a number of these British officers, hold them in a variety of safe houses in Munster and use them, if necessary, in any potential negotiation with the British administration in Ireland. Essentially, these officers were in theory at any rate to become live & rather valuable collateral as hostages.
On June 26, General Lucas along with Colonel Dunford of the Royal Artillery and Colonel Tyrell of the Royal Engineers (visiting from Clonmel Barracks) had spent the day fishing the North Bride River near Kilbarry as guests of Careysville House. That evening, as they were returning, all were arrested and disarmed by a volunteer unit of the Cork No. 2 Brigade led by Lynch and including Sean Moylan, Paddy Clancy and George Power. One of the Volunteers, George Power in his Bureau of Military History witness statement recalled that when challenged by the armed IRA team, Lucas “hesitated for a moment but, dropping his fishing rod, he complied. He allowed himself to be disarmed and marched back to the lodge”.
Power recalled: “It was now necessary to remove the captured officers well away from the Fermoy area without delay, as it was realised that the reactions to this incident might be swift and far reaching. It was decided to use, as well as the Ford car in which we had travelled, the British officers’ large touring car, for which a volunteer driver was quickly found . . . Seán Moylan and I would drive with Col Tyrrell in the Ford car, and Liam Lynch with Paddy Clancy would accompany Gen Lucas and Dunford in the other…For a time all went well . . . We were approaching the main Fermoy-Cork road near the village of Rathcormac and the Ford had temporarily lost contact with the second car.”
Fearing the worst as captives of the IRA, Lucas and Dunford while covered with revolvers in the back of the touring car, held a brief conversation in Arabic, and, at a prearranged signal between them, sprang on both Lynch and Clancy. In the melee the driver lost control of the car and crashed into the ditch, losing consciousness. The struggle between Lynch and Lucas was particularly severe, as both were strongly built, tall and well-trained men. Lucas had managed to pin Lynch to the back seat of the car, frantically trying to wrench the gun away. He had all but succeeded when the door of the car buckled and gave way. They rolled out onto the road, still struggling, until Lynch finally wore down his opponent and the General finally muttered, “I surrender.” Meanwhile nearby, Dunford and Clancy were still fighting when Lynch shouted to the British officer, “Surrender, or I shoot.” Ignoring the order, Lynch shot Dunford at cose range, wounding the officer.
When Power and Moylan arrived at the scene in the second car, Power continues the story. “…we saw the big touring car lying almost in the ditch, with the driver still unconscious at the wheel. Nearby, on the grass verge, Col Dunford was lying in a pool of blood, with Gen Lucas bending over, giving him first aid, while Lynch was attending to Paddy Clancy.” Lynch decided to release Col. Tyrrell to assist the wounded Dunford, and the volunteer driver was dispatched to nearby Rathcormac for a doctor.
Power, along with Lynch, Moylan and Clancy, continued in the Ford with Lucas. Within hours, using back roads and avoiding British Military or RIC patrols, they travelled to Glantane and from there to Lombardstown before travelling 70 miles due west to the Casteisland area to another 'safe house' where the General was handed over to the West Limerick Brigade IRA led by Michael Brennan. (Brennan had earlier been imprisoned in Dundalk Jail, 1918 with Terence McSwiney, Diarmuid Lynch and others).
As soon as Tyrell reported events to his military HQ in Fermoy, a huge search of North Cork, Waterford, Tipperary and Limerick by the British military began, using ground troops and aircraft from the Fermoy RAF Aerodrome to scour the countryside for any trace of Lucas and his captors.
Irish, British and American press widely reported the capture/kidnapping of the General:
Power recalled: “It was now necessary to remove the captured officers well away from the Fermoy area without delay, as it was realised that the reactions to this incident might be swift and far reaching. It was decided to use, as well as the Ford car in which we had travelled, the British officers’ large touring car, for which a volunteer driver was quickly found . . . Seán Moylan and I would drive with Col Tyrrell in the Ford car, and Liam Lynch with Paddy Clancy would accompany Gen Lucas and Dunford in the other…For a time all went well . . . We were approaching the main Fermoy-Cork road near the village of Rathcormac and the Ford had temporarily lost contact with the second car.”
Fearing the worst as captives of the IRA, Lucas and Dunford while covered with revolvers in the back of the touring car, held a brief conversation in Arabic, and, at a prearranged signal between them, sprang on both Lynch and Clancy. In the melee the driver lost control of the car and crashed into the ditch, losing consciousness. The struggle between Lynch and Lucas was particularly severe, as both were strongly built, tall and well-trained men. Lucas had managed to pin Lynch to the back seat of the car, frantically trying to wrench the gun away. He had all but succeeded when the door of the car buckled and gave way. They rolled out onto the road, still struggling, until Lynch finally wore down his opponent and the General finally muttered, “I surrender.” Meanwhile nearby, Dunford and Clancy were still fighting when Lynch shouted to the British officer, “Surrender, or I shoot.” Ignoring the order, Lynch shot Dunford at cose range, wounding the officer.
When Power and Moylan arrived at the scene in the second car, Power continues the story. “…we saw the big touring car lying almost in the ditch, with the driver still unconscious at the wheel. Nearby, on the grass verge, Col Dunford was lying in a pool of blood, with Gen Lucas bending over, giving him first aid, while Lynch was attending to Paddy Clancy.” Lynch decided to release Col. Tyrrell to assist the wounded Dunford, and the volunteer driver was dispatched to nearby Rathcormac for a doctor.
Power, along with Lynch, Moylan and Clancy, continued in the Ford with Lucas. Within hours, using back roads and avoiding British Military or RIC patrols, they travelled to Glantane and from there to Lombardstown before travelling 70 miles due west to the Casteisland area to another 'safe house' where the General was handed over to the West Limerick Brigade IRA led by Michael Brennan. (Brennan had earlier been imprisoned in Dundalk Jail, 1918 with Terence McSwiney, Diarmuid Lynch and others).
As soon as Tyrell reported events to his military HQ in Fermoy, a huge search of North Cork, Waterford, Tipperary and Limerick by the British military began, using ground troops and aircraft from the Fermoy RAF Aerodrome to scour the countryside for any trace of Lucas and his captors.
Irish, British and American press widely reported the capture/kidnapping of the General:
Cork No. 2 Brigade Irish Republican Army volunteers involved in the General Lucas incident
Liam Lynch (1893 - 1923) was an officer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the commanding general of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish Civil War. Lynch was a highly significant figure during both the War of Independence where he served as Commander of the 1st Southern Division and later during the Civil War when he was the Chief of Staff of the IRA forces opposing the Anglo-Irish Treaty until his death in April 1923 following fighting with Free State forces. More information here. |
Seán Moylan (1888 – 1957) was a Commandant of the Irish Republican Army and Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Agriculture from May 1957 to November 1957, Minister for Education from 1951 to 1954, Minister for Lands from 1943 to 1948, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance from February 1943 to June 1943 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1937 to 1943. He served as a Senator from May 1957 to November 1957 and also served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1921 to 1923 and from 1932 to 1957.
More information here. |
Patrick Clancy (1887-1920) from Cush near Kilfinnane, worked as the Creamery Manager at Allens Bridge near Newmarket and held senior positions with the East Limerick Brigade and also with the North Cork Brigade, IRA. Clancy organised the escape of the Knocklong Rescue party in May 1919. In April and May 1920 he participated in the Ballylanders and Kilmallock Barrack attacks. In June 1920 he along with Donnchadha O'Hannigan was responsible for setting up the first Flying Column of the War of Independence, in East Limerick. Following an ambush near Banteer on August 14, 1920, Clancy along with Jack O'Connell, the Vice O/C Kanturk Battalion IRA were killed in a shootout with the Kanturk based Machine Gun Corps. |
General Lucas Capture: British Military Reaction
In reprisal for Lucas's capture by the IRA, on June 28th, British troops from the 16th Infantry Brigade & East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) at Fermoy attacked and burned houses and looted shops in the north Cork town. Here also the local Sinn Féin hall was wrecked and overall damage done to the town was estimated at several thousand pounds. During the following days and weeks, with still no trace of Lucas, these British reprisals of arrests, burnings of private homes and businesses were extended to the surrounding villages of North-West Cork and into County Limerick and County Waterford. Liam Lynch shortly after the capture, wrote to General’s Deputy, explaining that intercepted mails had disclosed General Lucas held responsibility for a military administration over a wide area and therefore was a legitimate prisoner of war. Constantly on the move from safe house to safe house, the relationship between Lucas and his captors gradually changed. |
Olive Carey, who conducted interviews with relatives of Lucas's captors for the Shannon Social History Project in 2012 said: "There was a genuine feeling that he was well-liked by all of the guards. He was a very affable sort of man who was easy to get on with. They played cards with him. He was particularly good at poker. He also played bridge and they taught him to play forty-fives. He also liked his whiskey and had plenty of help drinking it."
British Secretary of State of War, Winston Churchill was livid that General Lucas had been captured by the IRA while, of all things, fishing. General Macready, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief British Forces in Ireland, while defending General Lucas from the wrath of Churchill, tacitly agreed with the politician in that 'it was certainly thoughtless on the part of the officer to while away the monotony of existence by indulging in sport'
Questions were asked in the House of Commons as reported by Hansard on the afternoon of 28 June 1920:
British Secretary of State of War, Winston Churchill was livid that General Lucas had been captured by the IRA while, of all things, fishing. General Macready, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief British Forces in Ireland, while defending General Lucas from the wrath of Churchill, tacitly agreed with the politician in that 'it was certainly thoughtless on the part of the officer to while away the monotony of existence by indulging in sport'
Questions were asked in the House of Commons as reported by Hansard on the afternoon of 28 June 1920:
Michael Hopkinson in 'the Irish War of Independence: the definitive account of the Anglo-Irish war of 1919-21' commented that the 6th Division British Army record shows that the Lucas affair became a regular staple for British music-hall comedians in a parody sung to the tune of 'The Blarney Roses':
Michael Hopkinson in 'the Irish War of Independence: the definitive account of the Anglo-Irish war of 1919-21' commented that the 6th Division British Army record shows that the Lucas affair became a regular staple for British music-hall comedians in a parody sung to the tune of 'The Blarney Roses':
'Twas over in Rathcormack near the town of sweet Fermoy
They captured General Lucas and away with him did fly;
They said. "You are our prisoner, and this you've got to know
You can't do Greenwood's dirty work where the Blarney Roses grow.
CHORUS
Can anybody tell me where did General Lucas go
He may be down in Mitchelstown or over in Mallow,
He's somewhere in. the Co. Cork, but this I want to know,
Can anybody tell me where did General Lucas go?
'Twas on a Sunday morning out a-fishing he did go,
And when he had his fishing done he was caught by Who You Know!
They said "You'll have to come with us, or else down you will go,
For that's the way we'll treat you where the Blarney Roses grow."
There's good men down in Galway and the same in Co. Clare,
But the likes of those young Cork men you won't find anywhere;
They treated me so kindly, and if they'd only let me go
I'd promise to stop reprisals where the Blarney Roses grow."
Now to conclude and finish, I hope it won't be long
Till we see old Ireland free again and the R.I.C. men gone,
And when they free our prisoners and tell them they may go
We'll do the same for Lucas where the Blarney roses grow.
By June 29, the New York Tribune was reporting on "Sinn Fein's latest and most audacious coup' that General Lucas ‘has been permitted to write to friends and can receive letters. He writes that he is being treated with perfect consideration as a prisoner of war and is allowed have an orderly and very possible comfort commensurate with his imprisonment. General Lucas believes he will be detained a few weeks, at least, sufficient time for his Sinn Fein captors to demonstrate the inability of the military authorities to effect his rescue. Then he believes that he will be released. Has asked that £10 in money and some clothing be sent to him, and he has given directions how he can be reached by mail.”
These personal letters written in captivity by General Lucas to his wife became known almost a century later through the BBC TV programme ‘Antiques Roadshow’. In 2018, their Grand-daughter Ruth Wheeler shared some of the letters contents. In one, Lucas describes how he is being "well looked after and well treated, but very bored".
"There were croquet matches, tennis lessons, salmon poaching and, on my grandfather's request, he went out in the fields and 'helped save the hay'....He hated to sit around and do nothing and needed his 'healthy exercise'…The rapport between the IRA men and my grandfather, whilst each side keep to their roles, was amazing… They played cards into the early hours, which my grandfather tried to conceal from my grandmother in his letters, as she wouldn't approve." Ruth Wheeler - interviewed on The Antiques Roadshow 2018. Their Grand-daughter revealed that the General's wife Joan - also known as Poppy or Pip - was pregnant at the time of his capture, and family members attempted to hide the news from her. Mrs Wheeler recalling some family history, said : "She was staying with her in-laws and, when they got news that her husband had been kidnapped, they sent her to London (& unaware he had been captured)….One morning she was feeling ill, so she called for the nurse who came with a bowl, and underneath the bowl was a newspaper with the headline 'General Lucas kidnapped'….She went into premature labour and their baby was born." |
A telegram from his wife, announcing the birth of their child, and addressed simply "Major-General Lucas, c/o the Sinn Feiners, IRA, Cork", was subsequently delivered to him.
UPDATE: 21 June 2020: A fascinating insight into the personal life of General Lucas can be found in this newly launched centenary blog project by Ruth Wheeler & family. Click on the image below to access.
UPDATE: 21 June 2020: A fascinating insight into the personal life of General Lucas can be found in this newly launched centenary blog project by Ruth Wheeler & family. Click on the image below to access.
July 1920
General Lucas led a peripatetic existence for much of July. Research by Chris Ryan and published in 'The Old Limerick Journal' winter 2016 shows just how frequently he was moved from house to house. Once handed over to the West Limerick Brigade IRA, General Lucas was taken to the Sheehan farmhouse at Barna,Templeglantine, Co. Limerick. In the early hours of July 1, a fatal motorcycle accident nearby drew some unwanted attention to the area and Lucas was now taken to an unoccupied house in Ballyhahill owned by a local priest, Fr. McCarthy and after a few hours moved again to Dore's in Balliston, near Shanagolden. On July 2nd, Lucas was taken across the River Shannon from Maiden Rock in Co. Limerick to Co. Clare. There he was kept initially at Hogan's of Moyhill near Bunratty and on July 4th, moved by boat to Corbett's at Bunratty House.
Around 6 July, the General was taken to Clonmoney, Bunratty to be the guest of 72 year old Mr Brennan, his wife and twelve children. After just two days there, on July 8th, avoiding roads and military/police patrols, Lucas was taken down the River Shannon to the Hastings' farmhouse at Tullyvarriga. Another two days later he was returned to the Brennan home on July 10th.
Perhaps to alleviate the boredom, General Lucas had demanded and duly received - an officer's prisoner-of-war allowance of a bottle of whiskey per day. Also, despite the fact that he was being hidden and moved between safe houses by the IRA, he was given permission to indulge in various supervised outdoor activities.
The Brennan's home was considered to be reasonably safe to lodge a kidnapped General and he remained there until 14th July. (The photo below was taken during his soujourn at the Brennans.)
General Lucas led a peripatetic existence for much of July. Research by Chris Ryan and published in 'The Old Limerick Journal' winter 2016 shows just how frequently he was moved from house to house. Once handed over to the West Limerick Brigade IRA, General Lucas was taken to the Sheehan farmhouse at Barna,Templeglantine, Co. Limerick. In the early hours of July 1, a fatal motorcycle accident nearby drew some unwanted attention to the area and Lucas was now taken to an unoccupied house in Ballyhahill owned by a local priest, Fr. McCarthy and after a few hours moved again to Dore's in Balliston, near Shanagolden. On July 2nd, Lucas was taken across the River Shannon from Maiden Rock in Co. Limerick to Co. Clare. There he was kept initially at Hogan's of Moyhill near Bunratty and on July 4th, moved by boat to Corbett's at Bunratty House.
Around 6 July, the General was taken to Clonmoney, Bunratty to be the guest of 72 year old Mr Brennan, his wife and twelve children. After just two days there, on July 8th, avoiding roads and military/police patrols, Lucas was taken down the River Shannon to the Hastings' farmhouse at Tullyvarriga. Another two days later he was returned to the Brennan home on July 10th.
Perhaps to alleviate the boredom, General Lucas had demanded and duly received - an officer's prisoner-of-war allowance of a bottle of whiskey per day. Also, despite the fact that he was being hidden and moved between safe houses by the IRA, he was given permission to indulge in various supervised outdoor activities.
The Brennan's home was considered to be reasonably safe to lodge a kidnapped General and he remained there until 14th July. (The photo below was taken during his soujourn at the Brennans.)
Michael Brennan in his deposition to the Bureau of Military History in January 1955, commented on his unexpected 'guest' during July 1920:
July 14th and Lucas was moved from Brennan's via car and pony & trap to Waterpark House, Castleconnell owned by the Hartigan family. Conditions seemed to be getting more relaxed as Lucas was their 'guest' for a week. On July 21st, the General and his entourage took over a temporaily vacant home at Corby in Caherconlish as it's owner, Dr. Conboy was on his annual holidays in Kilkee.
A few days at Dr. Conboy's and he was on the move again by pony & trap to the McCarthy's in Cahercorney, some five miles from Caheronlish
IRA Volunteer Joseph Good, in his Bureau of Military History statement made in May 1950 recalled events of thirty years earlier:
General Lucas - a "Guest of the Nation"
'Guests of the Nation' a 1931 short story by the Cork author, Frank O'Connor has a fictional plot line broadly similar to the reality of Lucas and his captors. Written in a sparse and a seemingly simple style, it's the story of two British soldiers captured and held as hostages by an IRA unit during the War of Independence. Over time, both captors and captives become quite friendly, in much the same manner as Lucas and his West Clare jailers. However, the bitter truth of conflicts everywhere becomes apparent in the short story when the unit receives instructions to kill their captives in retaliation for the execution of four IRA members; 'if you get to know someone, it becomes hard to kill them'
However, Major General Lucas as a 'Guest of the Nation' with his Clare & Limerick IRA captors was more in danger of being a drain on IRA resources and limiting offensive operations rather than facing summary execution at a moments notice. Historian Tim Pat Coogan believes that the local IRA unit holding him wanted to be rid of Lucas because of both the expense and personnel needed to supervise their captive. "They'd already had the publicity from the kidnapping, and during the kidnapping very little else [in the way of IRA operations] could go on in the areas where he was held'
It would also appear that General Lucas’ engaging and entertaining personality in addition to his senior officer status, "facility at cards and his capacity for alcohol may have played a part in the IRA's decision to let him go unharmed" according to Coogan. "They facilitated his escape because he was too good a man …The IRA got him in Cork and transferred him to Clare and looked after him. The only problem was the whiskey. The [IRA] commander got browned off by the bottle each day."
In the United States, The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter wrote on the capture of General Lucas:
‘If the Sinn Feiners had taken revenge for every one of their leaders captured by the British, as British soldiers revenged themselves for the capture of General Lucas on the civilian population of Fermoy, more than 30,000 English towns would have been wrecked in the last four years.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.4 July 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
'Guests of the Nation' a 1931 short story by the Cork author, Frank O'Connor has a fictional plot line broadly similar to the reality of Lucas and his captors. Written in a sparse and a seemingly simple style, it's the story of two British soldiers captured and held as hostages by an IRA unit during the War of Independence. Over time, both captors and captives become quite friendly, in much the same manner as Lucas and his West Clare jailers. However, the bitter truth of conflicts everywhere becomes apparent in the short story when the unit receives instructions to kill their captives in retaliation for the execution of four IRA members; 'if you get to know someone, it becomes hard to kill them'
However, Major General Lucas as a 'Guest of the Nation' with his Clare & Limerick IRA captors was more in danger of being a drain on IRA resources and limiting offensive operations rather than facing summary execution at a moments notice. Historian Tim Pat Coogan believes that the local IRA unit holding him wanted to be rid of Lucas because of both the expense and personnel needed to supervise their captive. "They'd already had the publicity from the kidnapping, and during the kidnapping very little else [in the way of IRA operations] could go on in the areas where he was held'
It would also appear that General Lucas’ engaging and entertaining personality in addition to his senior officer status, "facility at cards and his capacity for alcohol may have played a part in the IRA's decision to let him go unharmed" according to Coogan. "They facilitated his escape because he was too good a man …The IRA got him in Cork and transferred him to Clare and looked after him. The only problem was the whiskey. The [IRA] commander got browned off by the bottle each day."
In the United States, The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter wrote on the capture of General Lucas:
‘If the Sinn Feiners had taken revenge for every one of their leaders captured by the British, as British soldiers revenged themselves for the capture of General Lucas on the civilian population of Fermoy, more than 30,000 English towns would have been wrecked in the last four years.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.4 July 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
"Too nice to execute" - General Lucas escapes.
With the decision made to release Lucas unharmed, the IRA now moved him again from West Clare to Cahercooney near Herbertstown, Co. Limerick from where Lucas duly "escaped" some days later around 1am on July 30, 1920. Through heavy rain and darkness, Lucas made his way eight miles across fields, ditches and hedges until around 7am when various sources confirm that he was either intercepted by an armed and wary R.I.C. patrol near Pallas, Co. Limerick or he reached the barracks at Pallas. Either way, Lucas managed to convince the somewhat dubious constables of his identity and was quickly escorted to the barracks in Pallas where he had a bath, breakfast and changed into fresh clothes and shoes. From there it was decided that he would be moved from the Police barracks to the Military barracks in Tipperary town as the General indicated that he wished to return to his command in Fermoy. The quickest way to do this would be to join the daily British military mail convoy which travelled from Limerick to Cork via Tipperary town and Fermoy.
Incident at Oola
The routine military mail Crossley Tender lorry passing the Pallas R.I.C. station was flagged down at 10:15hrs by the police and the General placed aboard. Manned by eight members of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the Crossley was preceeded by a motorbike outrider.
With the decision made to release Lucas unharmed, the IRA now moved him again from West Clare to Cahercooney near Herbertstown, Co. Limerick from where Lucas duly "escaped" some days later around 1am on July 30, 1920. Through heavy rain and darkness, Lucas made his way eight miles across fields, ditches and hedges until around 7am when various sources confirm that he was either intercepted by an armed and wary R.I.C. patrol near Pallas, Co. Limerick or he reached the barracks at Pallas. Either way, Lucas managed to convince the somewhat dubious constables of his identity and was quickly escorted to the barracks in Pallas where he had a bath, breakfast and changed into fresh clothes and shoes. From there it was decided that he would be moved from the Police barracks to the Military barracks in Tipperary town as the General indicated that he wished to return to his command in Fermoy. The quickest way to do this would be to join the daily British military mail convoy which travelled from Limerick to Cork via Tipperary town and Fermoy.
Incident at Oola
The routine military mail Crossley Tender lorry passing the Pallas R.I.C. station was flagged down at 10:15hrs by the police and the General placed aboard. Manned by eight members of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the Crossley was preceeded by a motorbike outrider.
At about 10:45hrs, July 30th, turning a sharp bend on the Tipperary side of Oola, the advance motorbike outrider was halted by a barricade of 'two country carts and a ladder' and ambushed by an IRA Flying Column unit from Solohead. The outrider, Lance Corporal George Bowles Parker was killed outright and shortly afterwards the Crossley with the Major-General and the eight soldiers arrived and also came under fire. General Lucas took command and as fire was returned, 18 year old Private Daniel Bayliss was killed, two other soldiers were wounded and Lucas received a flesh-wound from a bullet that grazed his temple & nose. The exchange ended after some 30 minutes with the unexpected arrival of another military lorry with 2 soldiers and 6 armed police which forced the IRA unit to withdraw.
|
The British military believed that the attack had been mounted by the IRA in an attempt to recapture the General but Bureau of Military History statements in the 1940s and 50s indicate that the attack was set up to capture the military mail aboard the Crossley and the IRA unit from Solohead were unaware of the presence of the General.
The Bureau of Military History archives provide a great deal of information on the Oola Ambush:
James Kilmartin (W.S. 881) from Monard was Captain of the Solohead Company:
An episode which I should, have mentioned earlier was the Oola ambush which, in fact, took place before the starting of the column. This was the time when General Lucas had escaped and when we ambushed the military party which had picked him up on the road. This was a purely Company activity. It was the Solohead Company which organised and carried out this ambush. When I say that the Oola ambush was organised and carried out by the Solohead Company, I mean that it was chiefly the Solohead Company which was involved. There were a few men from Dunohill with us, as well as Breen, Treacy and the Battalion Commander, Ned Reilly. We had all discussed and arranged the matter beforehand and as far as I remember it was Treacy who had suggested that there was a despatch rider whom we should hold up and capture there. We hardly expected any large force to appear. When, therefore, a small lorry arrived on the scene of the ambush - it was, in fact, the lorry carrying General Lucas - we opened fire on it.
We had arranged for a cart with a ladder mounted on it to be pulled across the road when this despatch rider would be due to arrive and when, actually, this small lorry appeared, the cart was pulled across the road. I was in a position close to this barricade and when the lorry pulled up I stood up and called on them to surrender, which they did at once. Unfortunately, however, there was nobody else near me to take the surrender and some others of our men, who were further away and perhaps not in full view of what was happening, opened fire so that the soldiers in the lorries jumped down and fled for cover. I remember well that morning when Ned Reilly placed us in position he said very seriously to us that we should remain exactly where we were placed, and that he would shoot the first man who left his position. Consequently, when we called on the soldiers in the lorry to surrender and some few shots had been fired, they put their hands up and said they would surrender but the firing continued from our side from men in other positions and there was only one other man near me so we could do nothing before the soldiers had all cleared off to the side of the road. I did not know at this time where Ned Reilly, Treacy or Breen were but, as it transpired afterwards, they were at the other side of the road. These men were not in a position to see what was happening or whether the soldiers had indicated their willingness to surrender, so they opened fire on them and kept it up. The soldiers standing with their hands up had no alternative but to run for cover.
The next thing was that two more lorries full of British military arrived on the scene and they began to take part in the action. I went to the gate of the field where we were looking for Ned Reilly but could see no sign of him or anyone else, but I could see a policeman from Oola - an R.I.C. man who was above us at a gate - firing down towards where we were. I could see no sign of any more of our men and I decided that they must have left us to shift for ourselves. I came back and told my men that we had better get out of this position as best we could and, in order to do this, we had to cross the road, in the course of which we were fired at all the time by the policemen above us. The two lorries of military which I mentioned as having arrived did not get into action until we were across the road but they then turned a very heavy fire from machine guns and rifles on the lower position held by our me and made it very difficult for them to get away because the military fire raked all the ditches and cover around. However, our men all succeeded in making their escape from the position and we withdrew, considering ourselves lucky to have got away from a rather ugly position without casualties. I believe there were some casualties on the British side and it was only a good while afterwards that we learned that the first small lorry that we had held up had carried General Lucas. The ambush at Oola took place, I believe, on the 30th July, 1920, and the newspapers gave the military casualties as two soldiers killed and three wounded.
Tadhg Crowe (W.S. 1658) from Solohead took part in the Soloheadbeg Ambush and the Oola Ambush on 30 July 1920:
That ambush at Oola took place on 30th July 1920. It arose from a report by the Solohead Company that a lorry of military carrying mails and preceded by a motor cyclist passed regularly along the Tipperary-Limerick road, and Sean Treacy decided to ambush it. Jim O'Gorman and Michael Fitzgerald called to Quinn's for me after the ambush and told me what happened. The motor cyclist did not pass and the lorry, when it came, was fired on by the main party. This lorry was closely followed by a second lorry of military who dismounted and took part in the fight. After the first volley it was found that the ejectors of the Martini rifles which the main party were using failed to eject the empty cases from the breech, due perhaps to incorrect ammunition being used. There was then no option but to break off the engagement and Treacy, they said,. saved the day, as he kept the soldiers pinned down on the road with rapid fire from his parabellum whilst the main party were withdrawn, Later, we learned that two British soldiers were killed and three wounded and that General Lucas, who had escaped from I.R.A. custody on the previous night, was in the lorry, having been picked up by the military at Pallas.
Following treatment in Tipperary, Lucas was moved under heavy armed guard to Dublin, sailed to Britain and debriefed before returning to his family on August 6, 1920.
The Bureau of Military History archives provide a great deal of information on the Oola Ambush:
James Kilmartin (W.S. 881) from Monard was Captain of the Solohead Company:
An episode which I should, have mentioned earlier was the Oola ambush which, in fact, took place before the starting of the column. This was the time when General Lucas had escaped and when we ambushed the military party which had picked him up on the road. This was a purely Company activity. It was the Solohead Company which organised and carried out this ambush. When I say that the Oola ambush was organised and carried out by the Solohead Company, I mean that it was chiefly the Solohead Company which was involved. There were a few men from Dunohill with us, as well as Breen, Treacy and the Battalion Commander, Ned Reilly. We had all discussed and arranged the matter beforehand and as far as I remember it was Treacy who had suggested that there was a despatch rider whom we should hold up and capture there. We hardly expected any large force to appear. When, therefore, a small lorry arrived on the scene of the ambush - it was, in fact, the lorry carrying General Lucas - we opened fire on it.
We had arranged for a cart with a ladder mounted on it to be pulled across the road when this despatch rider would be due to arrive and when, actually, this small lorry appeared, the cart was pulled across the road. I was in a position close to this barricade and when the lorry pulled up I stood up and called on them to surrender, which they did at once. Unfortunately, however, there was nobody else near me to take the surrender and some others of our men, who were further away and perhaps not in full view of what was happening, opened fire so that the soldiers in the lorries jumped down and fled for cover. I remember well that morning when Ned Reilly placed us in position he said very seriously to us that we should remain exactly where we were placed, and that he would shoot the first man who left his position. Consequently, when we called on the soldiers in the lorry to surrender and some few shots had been fired, they put their hands up and said they would surrender but the firing continued from our side from men in other positions and there was only one other man near me so we could do nothing before the soldiers had all cleared off to the side of the road. I did not know at this time where Ned Reilly, Treacy or Breen were but, as it transpired afterwards, they were at the other side of the road. These men were not in a position to see what was happening or whether the soldiers had indicated their willingness to surrender, so they opened fire on them and kept it up. The soldiers standing with their hands up had no alternative but to run for cover.
The next thing was that two more lorries full of British military arrived on the scene and they began to take part in the action. I went to the gate of the field where we were looking for Ned Reilly but could see no sign of him or anyone else, but I could see a policeman from Oola - an R.I.C. man who was above us at a gate - firing down towards where we were. I could see no sign of any more of our men and I decided that they must have left us to shift for ourselves. I came back and told my men that we had better get out of this position as best we could and, in order to do this, we had to cross the road, in the course of which we were fired at all the time by the policemen above us. The two lorries of military which I mentioned as having arrived did not get into action until we were across the road but they then turned a very heavy fire from machine guns and rifles on the lower position held by our me and made it very difficult for them to get away because the military fire raked all the ditches and cover around. However, our men all succeeded in making their escape from the position and we withdrew, considering ourselves lucky to have got away from a rather ugly position without casualties. I believe there were some casualties on the British side and it was only a good while afterwards that we learned that the first small lorry that we had held up had carried General Lucas. The ambush at Oola took place, I believe, on the 30th July, 1920, and the newspapers gave the military casualties as two soldiers killed and three wounded.
Tadhg Crowe (W.S. 1658) from Solohead took part in the Soloheadbeg Ambush and the Oola Ambush on 30 July 1920:
That ambush at Oola took place on 30th July 1920. It arose from a report by the Solohead Company that a lorry of military carrying mails and preceded by a motor cyclist passed regularly along the Tipperary-Limerick road, and Sean Treacy decided to ambush it. Jim O'Gorman and Michael Fitzgerald called to Quinn's for me after the ambush and told me what happened. The motor cyclist did not pass and the lorry, when it came, was fired on by the main party. This lorry was closely followed by a second lorry of military who dismounted and took part in the fight. After the first volley it was found that the ejectors of the Martini rifles which the main party were using failed to eject the empty cases from the breech, due perhaps to incorrect ammunition being used. There was then no option but to break off the engagement and Treacy, they said,. saved the day, as he kept the soldiers pinned down on the road with rapid fire from his parabellum whilst the main party were withdrawn, Later, we learned that two British soldiers were killed and three wounded and that General Lucas, who had escaped from I.R.A. custody on the previous night, was in the lorry, having been picked up by the military at Pallas.
Following treatment in Tipperary, Lucas was moved under heavy armed guard to Dublin, sailed to Britain and debriefed before returning to his family on August 6, 1920.
In interviews to the press after his escape, Lucas told how he was treated as "a gentleman by gentlemen" and, in a later sardonic address to his troops, he said that the outrages and atrocities carried out by them during his captivity represented "an over-zealous display of loyalty".
The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter some months after the 'escape' of General Lucas casts some further information regarding a subsequent Court of Inquiry on the Lucas affair:
‘The English Government could be trusted to provide an amusing sequel to the capture of one of the generals if it’s Army of Occupation in Ireland and his subsequent release on parole, it is rumoured, to the Republican Army. …the English press carried inconspicious notices reporting that the Court of Inquiry, which had investigated the circumstances of General Lucas’s capture by the Irish Republican Army, had ‘absolved him from blame in the matter’. It is further reported that ‘for military reasons, General Lucas will not return to his brigade at Fermoy. He is to be given a command of equal importance elsewhere.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No 11 September 11, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Lucas went on to become the Assistant Adjutant-General at the Aldershot Command in 1924 and served with the staff at General Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine from 1927 before he retired to Stevenage in 1932. He acted as Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and served as a Justice of the Peace. He died in April, 1958, aged 79.
He summed up his sojourn at the hands of the IRA in Ireland in the summer of 1920 in a simple audit. He was, he considered, “treated as a gentleman by gentlemen”.
Thomas Toomey, author of The War of Independence in Limerick, 1912-1921, said he believed there could have been some sort of deal between Lucas and the Limerick & Clare IRA as he did not appear to have revealed any of the 12 or so homes in which he was held. "The odd thing about it is that General Lucas knew every house he stayed in, but none of the homes were ever raided. I believe there was a pact. They got to like him…over my 20 years researching Lucas, I never heard one bad word said against him."
"If you didn't know it was true, you wouldn't believe it."
The Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter some months after the 'escape' of General Lucas casts some further information regarding a subsequent Court of Inquiry on the Lucas affair:
‘The English Government could be trusted to provide an amusing sequel to the capture of one of the generals if it’s Army of Occupation in Ireland and his subsequent release on parole, it is rumoured, to the Republican Army. …the English press carried inconspicious notices reporting that the Court of Inquiry, which had investigated the circumstances of General Lucas’s capture by the Irish Republican Army, had ‘absolved him from blame in the matter’. It is further reported that ‘for military reasons, General Lucas will not return to his brigade at Fermoy. He is to be given a command of equal importance elsewhere.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No 11 September 11, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Lucas went on to become the Assistant Adjutant-General at the Aldershot Command in 1924 and served with the staff at General Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine from 1927 before he retired to Stevenage in 1932. He acted as Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and served as a Justice of the Peace. He died in April, 1958, aged 79.
He summed up his sojourn at the hands of the IRA in Ireland in the summer of 1920 in a simple audit. He was, he considered, “treated as a gentleman by gentlemen”.
Thomas Toomey, author of The War of Independence in Limerick, 1912-1921, said he believed there could have been some sort of deal between Lucas and the Limerick & Clare IRA as he did not appear to have revealed any of the 12 or so homes in which he was held. "The odd thing about it is that General Lucas knew every house he stayed in, but none of the homes were ever raided. I believe there was a pact. They got to like him…over my 20 years researching Lucas, I never heard one bad word said against him."
"If you didn't know it was true, you wouldn't believe it."
Below: Major-General Lucas' medals appeared at auction in 2016. Sold at Sprink USA, New York on 27 January 2016.
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Below: General Lucas' pipe from National Treasures.ie
National Treasures is a campaign to crowd-source everyday objects that explore the history of the island of Ireland over the past 100 years. In association with RTÉ, the National Museum of Ireland and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, this is the creation of a digital archive of historical objects. More details at: www.nationaltreasures.ie
National Treasures is a campaign to crowd-source everyday objects that explore the history of the island of Ireland over the past 100 years. In association with RTÉ, the National Museum of Ireland and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, this is the creation of a digital archive of historical objects. More details at: www.nationaltreasures.ie
Sources: Thanks to Aideen Carroll 'Sean Moylan, Rebel Leader' Mercier Press 2010, Chris Ryan & 'The Old Limerick Journal, Winter Edition 1916', Barbara Scully, Ruth Wheeler, Thomas Toomey, The Irish Times, An Phoblacht, BBC Television & BBC News, Wikipedia, Sprink USA, www.thecairogang.com, nationaltreasures.ie & the Bureau of Military History Archives.
27
Dublin 28: Harry Boland, Sinn Féin TD for South Roscommon, returned to Ireland from the United States where he was assisting party president Éamon de Valera since May 1919.
In a lengthy interview with the Freeman’s Journal, Mr Boland expressed his satisfaction with the results of the American mission in raising awareness of the Irish demand for self-determination: ‘One outstanding result of President de Valera’s activities in America is the defeat of British propaganda...No American will gainsay Ireland’s right to independence.’ Continuing, Mr Boland said: ‘Speaking for President de Valera, I must say that everything depends upon ourselves at home. The magnificent work being done here is redirected in America and all over the world. The Irish race is really proud of the homeland. That pride is grounded on the fact that Ireland is no longer a supplicant, that she stands proudly erect demanding the only status worthy of a sovereign people.’
Boland’s return to Ireland comes as reports indicate a rupture in the relationship between Éamon de Valera and two of the towering figures in Irish-American political life, the ex-Fenian John Devoy and Judge Daniel Cohalan. The Freeman's Journal commented that Devoy & Cohalan have accused de Valera of using $50,000 ‘taken from money subscribed to the Irish Republican Fund’ for the purposes of influencing the Republican Party Convention in Chicago. Devoy and Cohalan claim the money was raised for the purposes of use in Ireland alone but had been used to send delegates to Chicago in an effort to secure support for Ireland’s cause from the Republicans. The publication of the charges by Mr Devoy, editor of the Gaelic-American, marks the first public split between the President of the Irish Republic and the Friends of Irish Freedom, of which Devoy is a key member.
28
Lloyd George in the House of Commons declared that the Irish were impossible in their present mood but he did not despair of their accepting in the end, the only measure of self-government which the people of Great Britain could concede.
MP Lt. Commander Kenworthy asked in the House on the continuing imprisonment of West Wicklow MP, Robert Barton: ‘Why does the Government makes this distinction between the honourable member from West Wicklow and the honourable member from Duncairn”. The member from Duncairn was Sir Edward Carson.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Fermoy attacked again by police and military forces following the capture of General Lucas by the IRA.
John Devoy writing to Judge Cohalan said that he was ‘quite satisfied with the Chicago fracas. We have left him [De Valera] a clear field and he can't put his defeat on us. Attempt to put defeat on your action in Chicago will strike every sensible man as absurd. Walsh has come out plainly enough to show his teeth. I am commenting editorially and putting responsibility on him, leaving D.V. [De Valera ] out.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.379
Tansill commented on Devoy's response: 'Because of his deep solicitude for Irish-American unity, John Devoy was trying to spare De Valera as much as he could, but the temperamental President of the Irish Republic would not stay in the dignified category in which Devoy wished to place him. He seemed determined to impose his unwanted leadership upon Irish-Americans at times when it led straight to disaster. At San Francisco he repeated his blunders at Chicago.'
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.379
The FOIF Newsletter commented on the first Republican Government Tribunal to deal with land cases in the Dublin area.
"The first tribunal....sat in the County Council offices during the last week in June. A former English barrister presided. The litigants were respresented by professional lawyers. As a result of the successful and rapid growth of the civil courts established under the Department of Justice of Dail Eireann, the official bulletin of the Irish Republic, has recently made public a brief summary of the constitution of these courts. Both civil and criminal courts are divided into two classes; those of the parish and those of the district. The area in which they operate elects three men to preside at the parish courts. The dis trict judges number five and are elected by all the members of the parish courts in the districts. On appointment all judges and court officers take the oath of allegiance to the Irish Republic and Dail Eireann. Women and clergymen are eligible to these appointments. The parish civil courts have jurisdiction in claims up to £10, but no title case can be decided by them. Cases of title and ... those which involve an amount exceeding £10 must be decided by a district court. Appeal is possible within four days from the parish to the district court, and from the district court to the appeal judges appointed by the Republican Minister of Justice."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.4 July 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In the Punjab, India, men of the 1st Battalion of the Connaught Rangers stationed at Jullunger, hearing the news of military repression in Ireland, laid down their arms and refused to ‘soldier for England’ any longer. 350 were involved in the protest and arrested. 62 court-martialled, 14 sentenced to death but only James Daly of Tyrellspass was executed for mutiny and 42 others jailed for prison terms ranging from 2 to 20 years. The first official news was carried by Reuters on July 2nd.
Gavan Duffy wrote from Paris that the news from India ‘sent a thrill of joy through all our friends here’ and proposed that a campaign be mounted for the honorary discharge of all Irishmen in the British armed services who wished to leave. ‘Although this incident was embarrasing to the British Government, this was the only protest among the many thousands of Irishmen in the British military.’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P206
Sir Henry Wilson was pragmatic about the entire Irish situation and summed it up rather accurately: ‘I really believe that we shall be kicked out’.
Sir Henry Wilson. Quoted by Macardle. ’ The Irish Republic’ Irish Press. Dublin 1957. p377.
The National Labor Conference of Chile held in Santiago adopted a resolution declaring it’s ‘complete sympathy with Ireland’s struggle for national independence.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.3 July 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Lloyd George in the House of Commons declared that the Irish were impossible in their present mood but he did not despair of their accepting in the end, the only measure of self-government which the people of Great Britain could concede.
MP Lt. Commander Kenworthy asked in the House on the continuing imprisonment of West Wicklow MP, Robert Barton: ‘Why does the Government makes this distinction between the honourable member from West Wicklow and the honourable member from Duncairn”. The member from Duncairn was Sir Edward Carson.
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Fermoy attacked again by police and military forces following the capture of General Lucas by the IRA.
John Devoy writing to Judge Cohalan said that he was ‘quite satisfied with the Chicago fracas. We have left him [De Valera] a clear field and he can't put his defeat on us. Attempt to put defeat on your action in Chicago will strike every sensible man as absurd. Walsh has come out plainly enough to show his teeth. I am commenting editorially and putting responsibility on him, leaving D.V. [De Valera ] out.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.379
Tansill commented on Devoy's response: 'Because of his deep solicitude for Irish-American unity, John Devoy was trying to spare De Valera as much as he could, but the temperamental President of the Irish Republic would not stay in the dignified category in which Devoy wished to place him. He seemed determined to impose his unwanted leadership upon Irish-Americans at times when it led straight to disaster. At San Francisco he repeated his blunders at Chicago.'
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.379
The FOIF Newsletter commented on the first Republican Government Tribunal to deal with land cases in the Dublin area.
"The first tribunal....sat in the County Council offices during the last week in June. A former English barrister presided. The litigants were respresented by professional lawyers. As a result of the successful and rapid growth of the civil courts established under the Department of Justice of Dail Eireann, the official bulletin of the Irish Republic, has recently made public a brief summary of the constitution of these courts. Both civil and criminal courts are divided into two classes; those of the parish and those of the district. The area in which they operate elects three men to preside at the parish courts. The dis trict judges number five and are elected by all the members of the parish courts in the districts. On appointment all judges and court officers take the oath of allegiance to the Irish Republic and Dail Eireann. Women and clergymen are eligible to these appointments. The parish civil courts have jurisdiction in claims up to £10, but no title case can be decided by them. Cases of title and ... those which involve an amount exceeding £10 must be decided by a district court. Appeal is possible within four days from the parish to the district court, and from the district court to the appeal judges appointed by the Republican Minister of Justice."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.4 July 24, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
In the Punjab, India, men of the 1st Battalion of the Connaught Rangers stationed at Jullunger, hearing the news of military repression in Ireland, laid down their arms and refused to ‘soldier for England’ any longer. 350 were involved in the protest and arrested. 62 court-martialled, 14 sentenced to death but only James Daly of Tyrellspass was executed for mutiny and 42 others jailed for prison terms ranging from 2 to 20 years. The first official news was carried by Reuters on July 2nd.
Gavan Duffy wrote from Paris that the news from India ‘sent a thrill of joy through all our friends here’ and proposed that a campaign be mounted for the honorary discharge of all Irishmen in the British armed services who wished to leave. ‘Although this incident was embarrasing to the British Government, this was the only protest among the many thousands of Irishmen in the British military.’
Arthur Mitchell. “Revolutionary Government in Ireland – Dail Eireann 1919-1922.” Gill & Mcmillan 1995. P206
Sir Henry Wilson was pragmatic about the entire Irish situation and summed it up rather accurately: ‘I really believe that we shall be kicked out’.
Sir Henry Wilson. Quoted by Macardle. ’ The Irish Republic’ Irish Press. Dublin 1957. p377.
The National Labor Conference of Chile held in Santiago adopted a resolution declaring it’s ‘complete sympathy with Ireland’s struggle for national independence.’
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.3 July 17, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
29
The 7th Session of Dail Eireann was held secretly in Fleming’s Hotel, Dublin and was attended by 46 members.
Collins, Griffith and the Dail agreed to De Valera's request of 25th March for additional funding in relation to the US elections in November 1920:
“ ..the Dail voted de Valera both a “sum not exceeding $500,000 as he may require in connection with the election campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America” and a further sum “ not exceeding $1,000,000 to obtain the recognition of the Irish Republic by the Government of the United States”. None of this last was to be spent unless “the recognition was assured”.
One can take the vote either as a measure of the Dail's confidence in de Valera or as an indication that Sinn Fein considered it cost more to win American votes than to kill British forces, for the Dail only voted (the equivalent of) $1 million to the Ministry of Defence actually to fight the war (of independence).
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p17
Only 46 deputies were able to attend, nearly all of them whom the R.I.C and Army were searching the country for. At the same meeting, an Income Tax Department was set up and the current issue of the Internal Loan was closed. This loan of £250,000 was oversubscribed by £40,000. Courts of Justice and Equity were also set up with Austin Stack as Minister for Justice. He appointed Judges and established Republican Courts throughout the country. By August these would be operating in 27 counties including 5 counties in Ulster. In addition, the Dail unanimously approved of the sending of a diplomatic mission to the Russian Socialistic Federal Government with the purpose of establishing diplomatic relations. (It was on the basis of this resolution that the Republic of Ireland established diplomatic relations with the USSR in 1974 ).
Dublin: Count George Noble Plunket, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Dail Eireann condemned Judge Cohalan and John Devoy in his report to the Dail and written into the Dail Records (until deleted by resolution of the Dáil on 25 January 1921).
Arthur Griffith as the Acting President of the Dail moved that the following message be sent to the President:--
"Dail Eireann assembled in full session in Dublin to-day unanimously re-affirms the allegiance of the citizens of Ireland to your policy, expresses complete satisfaction with the work you have performed and relies with confidence upon the Great American Nation to accord recognition to the Republic of Ireland now in fact and in law established."
Collins, Griffith and the Dail agreed to De Valera's request of 25th March for additional funding in relation to the US elections in November 1920:
“ ..the Dail voted de Valera both a “sum not exceeding $500,000 as he may require in connection with the election campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America” and a further sum “ not exceeding $1,000,000 to obtain the recognition of the Irish Republic by the Government of the United States”. None of this last was to be spent unless “the recognition was assured”.
One can take the vote either as a measure of the Dail's confidence in de Valera or as an indication that Sinn Fein considered it cost more to win American votes than to kill British forces, for the Dail only voted (the equivalent of) $1 million to the Ministry of Defence actually to fight the war (of independence).
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p17
Only 46 deputies were able to attend, nearly all of them whom the R.I.C and Army were searching the country for. At the same meeting, an Income Tax Department was set up and the current issue of the Internal Loan was closed. This loan of £250,000 was oversubscribed by £40,000. Courts of Justice and Equity were also set up with Austin Stack as Minister for Justice. He appointed Judges and established Republican Courts throughout the country. By August these would be operating in 27 counties including 5 counties in Ulster. In addition, the Dail unanimously approved of the sending of a diplomatic mission to the Russian Socialistic Federal Government with the purpose of establishing diplomatic relations. (It was on the basis of this resolution that the Republic of Ireland established diplomatic relations with the USSR in 1974 ).
Dublin: Count George Noble Plunket, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Dail Eireann condemned Judge Cohalan and John Devoy in his report to the Dail and written into the Dail Records (until deleted by resolution of the Dáil on 25 January 1921).
Arthur Griffith as the Acting President of the Dail moved that the following message be sent to the President:--
"Dail Eireann assembled in full session in Dublin to-day unanimously re-affirms the allegiance of the citizens of Ireland to your policy, expresses complete satisfaction with the work you have performed and relies with confidence upon the Great American Nation to accord recognition to the Republic of Ireland now in fact and in law established."
Count George Noble Plunket, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Dail Eireann condemned Judge Cohalan and John Devoy in his report to the Dail and written into the Dail Records (until deleted by resolution of the Dáil on 25 January 1921).
This portion of my Report would be incomplete if it did not refer to the attitude of Supreme Court Judge Daniel F. Cohalan and John Devoy towards the President and his mission. The Ministry learn that these men have never given their whole-hearted support to the President in his campaign. At the very outset, they used their utmost endeavour to prevent the launching of the Bond Drive, and they attempted to force the President into the position of accepting their dictation in all matters of policy connected with his mission. The President has definitely refused to allow his judgement or his actions to be dictated by these men, and the success of his tour and of the Bond Drive are a proof of his wisdom in this matter.
Documents on Irish Foreign Policy No. 37 NAI DE 4/1/3
Count Plunkett's report in full:
The work of the Department of Foreign Affairs does not lend itself easily to the presentation of a detailed report. The following is however a brief summary of the most important of its activities since last session and any further information which members may desire will be given verbally.
Paris:
The work of the delegation in Paris has for the most part consisted of propaganda work amongst the French Press and People. The strongest force in France at present is the fear of Germany, and although England's actions in connection with the Treaty of Versailles and the negotiations following upon the Armistice have aroused distrust of her in the French mind, the fear of Germany is so great that France is very anxious not to break with England. Hence official France is not prepared to take the side of Ireland in her present struggle. The Paris Press is for the most part governed in its outlook by the prevailing official view-point and is accordingly very guarded in its expressions on Irish questions. In the provinces, the Press exercises enormous influence; the views of the peasantry are largely derived from their paper. Generally speaking the French Peasant knows very little about Ireland. Your delegation has been engaged by means of special articles, by the supply of items of news-interest, the correction of false reports by English propagandists, interviews with journalists and editors etc, in an endeavour to induce the French Press to adopt a friendly tone in dealing with Ireland. Their efforts have so far been attended with considerable success. A number of influential Paris and provincial papers have from time to time been induced to publish articles of a very useful and informative character and the general tendency to accept British slanders as correct is rapidly decreasing. To meet the international situation and to supplement the work of the Paris mission, arrangements have been made to supply needed information and to attack the source of English mis-representations by getting directly at the representatives of the Foreign Press in London. This activity comes however more properly under the head of Propaganda. An ambitious scheme of establishing a press bureau in Paris in connection with the French delegation was suggested by Mr. Duffy, but it has not been found practicable to undertake this - mainly owing to the difficulty of securing suitable French assistance for the purpose.
It was reported to the Dail at its last session that the President was anxious that both Mr. Sean T. O'Kelly and Mr. Gavan Duffy should remain on at Paris. It was also reported that both were anxious to get home. The Ministry had agreed to Mr. Sean T. O'Kelly's return about the end of November last, but he became very ill about this time. Shortly after his convalescence he proceeded to Rome intending to spend a short period there and then to return to Ireland. Unfortunately he was again taken very ill while in Rome and, while he has somewhat recovered, he is still in very poor health. I regret to have to report that Mr. Duffy has also been very ill of late, but he is now convalescent. I fear that the strain of the last year and a half is telling upon them, and it may be necessary for them both to take an extended holiday.
Italy:
Mr. D. Hales, the Consul in Italy, has done a very large amount of propagandist work in the Italian Press. The tone of the Press of Italy is very friendly, and the papers are very willing to publish material about Ireland, but there as in France, false statements about our Cause are introduced under cover of 'news' and are contested daily by Mr. Hales. On the occasion of the beatification of Blessed Oliver Plunkett, a delegation consisting of Count O'Byrne, Professor Stockley and Art O'Brien and I as a member of the Ministry went to Rome on behalf of the Dail to represent the Government of the Republic at the beatification ceremonies. Sean T. O'Kelly and Mr. D. Hales also took part in the delegation. The effect of this official visit was very useful and was of great assistance in counteracting a very strong British campaign which was for some time being carried on in Vatican circles. Members will already have realised from the British Press that high hopes had been based upon this campaign, and that very great disappointment has been felt by the enemy at its failure. I was also received by the Pope in private audience, and His Holiness showed an acute and lively interest in the affairs of Ireland.
Other European Countries:
So far beyond an endeavour to secure a favourable press for Ireland which has been more or less successful in Switzerland, Spain and other Countries, no great progress has been made. The position in Germany has hitherto been such that it is very difficult to make much headway. A number of our most suitable pamphlets have been translated into German for the purpose of circulation in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and in the other German-speaking Countries.
The Ministry are of opinion that the time is now ripe for appointing Consuls and diplomatic agents in various European Countries with a view to preparing the way for the presentation of a formal demand for recognition, and acting on the advice of the President, they will ask you to select a number of suitable persons for such posts, and to make the necessary appropriations for the appointment of such agents in Russia, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland. The President is very anxious that the Delegation should proceed at once to Russia, and a proposal in connection with this matter will be laid before the House.
United States:
The President as the members are aware, is still in the United States. He has made a tour of practically the entire country and has been received everywhere with great enthusiasm. In addition to his tours, and to the launching of the Bond Drive, he has busied himself in keeping the Irish Claim before the Congress of the United States. The Presidential election campaign is now in full swing and is claiming his attention. He attended the Republican Convention held in Chicago a few weeks ago, and laid before them the Irish demand.
He will also present the claim of Ireland to the Democratic Party Convention and will endeavour to secure the adoption of a plank in the platform of that party to bind them to the recognition of the Republican Government of Ireland. The result of his appearance at the Republican Convention has not yet been officially communicated to us, but it is clear that so far that party are not prepared to declare themselves definitely for recognition.
This portion of my Report would be incomplete if it did not refer to the attitude of Supreme Court Judge Daniel F. Cohalan and John Devoy towards the President and his mission. The Ministry learn that these men have never given their whole-hearted support to the President in his campaign. At the very outset, they used their utmost endeavour to prevent the launching of the Bond Drive, and they attempted to force the President into the position of accepting their dictation in all matters of policy connected with his mission. The President has definitely refused to allow his judgement or his actions to be dictated by these men, and the success of his tour and of the Bond Drive are a proof of his wisdom in this matter.1
The stand taken by the President is that the policy and action of the Irish People must be decided in Ireland.
The co-ordination of Irish opinion in the United States as well as in Canada and Australia has received attention from the President, and certain proposals in this connection will be put before you. You will also be asked to take certain steps in connection with the campaign for Recognition of the Republic in the United States.
Your representative in the Argentine Republic was, shortly after his arrival, conscripted under the Military Service Acts of that country. He has now, however, been released from service and is endeavouring to organise Irish opinion there. He is much handicapped by the want of a suitable paper to educate public opinion. He has laid before the Ministry a proposal for the establishment of a Review to be printed in Spanish for this purpose. The Ministry are in communication with the President regarding this project.
In conclusion I wish to say that the President has expressed himself as extremely satisfied with the manner in which the fight has been carried on in Ireland during his absence. The constructive side of the activities of the Dail and the ever increasing extent to which they are assuming the functions of a de facto government is one of the greatest arguments for Recognition. So far a formal demand has not been presented to any country, but the opportunity for this may occur very shortly. The numerous resolutions of local public bodies pledging their allegiance to the Dail will be of great value in support of such a demand.
Documents on Irish Foreign Policy No. 37 NAI DE 4/1/3
Documents on Irish Foreign Policy is a project of the Royal Irish Academy, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the National Archives of Ireland and was established in 1997. The project publishes essential source material for anyone interested in the development of Irish foreign policy since 1919. a project of the Royal Irish Academy, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the National Archives of Ireland and was established in 1997. The project publishes essential source material for anyone interested in the development of Irish foreign policy since 1919.
US: Disorder marked the Democratic Conventions debates on prohibition and Ireland in San Francisco.
The same day, De Valera and Walsh appeared before the committee and argued for recognition. Senator Phelan gave some support by Senator Connally of Texas opposed them strongly. The proposed De Valera plank was defeated 31 to 17.
“..’.McCartan writes “ de Valera now hastened there and the spectacle of another fight with the Cohalan faction was staged for the American public’ ..A de Valera favoured resolution on Ireland sponsored by the Californian oil magnate, Edward L Doheny * was defeated. The Chicago & San Francisco debacles make it understandable why an Irish - American historian would write “..by at lest 1920 a substantial body of organised anti-Irish opinion had developed as a reaction against the nationalist clamour. Indeed, it was a commentary on the exceptional vigour of the Irish-American community that the nationalist movement succeeded under these circumstances.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p170
* Doheny was later jailed for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal.
Daniel T. O’Connell revealed the tactics pursued by de Valera in San Francisco in a press release:
‘It is now intimated that Mr. Walsh and President de Valera did not approve of the withdrawal of the ‘recognition’ section . Mr Walsh was in continuous attendance and consultation with the party leaders and delegates who were fighting for him, and President de Valera was in a hotel almost across the street from the Convention.
They had plenty of time, for hours before the vote was taken, to express disapproval or repudiation. Neither course was followed, and the delegates voted under the direction of a ‘steering committee’ of fifty organised by Mr. Walsh…the facts as recited are beyond contradiction. The withdrawal of the recognition plank was equivalent to an acknowledgement that Justice Cohalan was right when, viewing the two conventions with experienced, far sighted vision, he foresaw defeat for such an extreme course.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.382
The same day, De Valera and Walsh appeared before the committee and argued for recognition. Senator Phelan gave some support by Senator Connally of Texas opposed them strongly. The proposed De Valera plank was defeated 31 to 17.
“..’.McCartan writes “ de Valera now hastened there and the spectacle of another fight with the Cohalan faction was staged for the American public’ ..A de Valera favoured resolution on Ireland sponsored by the Californian oil magnate, Edward L Doheny * was defeated. The Chicago & San Francisco debacles make it understandable why an Irish - American historian would write “..by at lest 1920 a substantial body of organised anti-Irish opinion had developed as a reaction against the nationalist clamour. Indeed, it was a commentary on the exceptional vigour of the Irish-American community that the nationalist movement succeeded under these circumstances.”
Tim Pat Coogan “De Valera, Long Fellow, Long Shadow” Hutchinson, London. 1993. p170
* Doheny was later jailed for his role in the Teapot Dome scandal.
Daniel T. O’Connell revealed the tactics pursued by de Valera in San Francisco in a press release:
‘It is now intimated that Mr. Walsh and President de Valera did not approve of the withdrawal of the ‘recognition’ section . Mr Walsh was in continuous attendance and consultation with the party leaders and delegates who were fighting for him, and President de Valera was in a hotel almost across the street from the Convention.
They had plenty of time, for hours before the vote was taken, to express disapproval or repudiation. Neither course was followed, and the delegates voted under the direction of a ‘steering committee’ of fifty organised by Mr. Walsh…the facts as recited are beyond contradiction. The withdrawal of the recognition plank was equivalent to an acknowledgement that Justice Cohalan was right when, viewing the two conventions with experienced, far sighted vision, he foresaw defeat for such an extreme course.’
Tansill. ‘America and the fight for Irish Freedom 1866-1922’. Devin-Adair. New York 1957. P.382
30
By the end of June, Dublin had become an military camp of British troops in steel helmets and fixed bayonets, armed R.I.C & DMP patrols, military cordons throughout the city with barbed wire, lorries and armoured cars. At night, searchlights and rumbling lorries went out on missions to search homes and premises for suspected Republicans. Those arrested were more often than not ‘shot while attempting to escape’ and homes looted. Cork was almost as heavily garrisoned as Dublin.
In the House of Commons it was stated that between January 1 and May 31, 1920, 3,094 raids had been made on private houses in Ireland by police and military. In only 167 cases, arms were found.
The I.R.A in the first 6 months of 1920 had destroyed 424 empty & 16 occupied RIC barracks, 47 courthouses and damaged 29 occupied RIC barracks.
Dublin: Dail Eireann formally expressed satisfaction with de Valera's work in the United States.
Diarmuid Lynch, commenting on this in his draft history of the Friends of Irish Freedom in the 1930's noted:
By the end of June, Dublin had become an military camp of British troops in steel helmets and fixed bayonets, armed R.I.C & DMP patrols, military cordons throughout the city with barbed wire, lorries and armoured cars. At night, searchlights and rumbling lorries went out on missions to search homes and premises for suspected Republicans. Those arrested were more often than not ‘shot while attempting to escape’ and homes looted. Cork was almost as heavily garrisoned as Dublin.
In the House of Commons it was stated that between January 1 and May 31, 1920, 3,094 raids had been made on private houses in Ireland by police and military. In only 167 cases, arms were found.
The I.R.A in the first 6 months of 1920 had destroyed 424 empty & 16 occupied RIC barracks, 47 courthouses and damaged 29 occupied RIC barracks.
Dublin: Dail Eireann formally expressed satisfaction with de Valera's work in the United States.
Diarmuid Lynch, commenting on this in his draft history of the Friends of Irish Freedom in the 1930's noted:
"On the strength of Boland's report on the situation in America, Dail Eireann on June 30 formally expressed 'complete satisfaction with the work you [de Valera] have performed and relies with confidence upon the great American nation to accord recognition in the 'Republic of Ireland'. Commenting on this, Beaslai (a member of Dail Eireann wrote:
"We in Ireland, engaged in a fierce and bloody struggle were not in a position to study the niceties of American politics. We could only see in the whole controversy an attempt to undermine the influence of the man we had chosen as our representative. In any case it was obviously impossible for us, in the face of the enemy, to 'let down' the man we had elected as President....yet, on his return from America, Mr. De Valera told Dail Eireann that there had never been any hope of getting the United States Government to recognise..."