Last updated: 9 October 2022
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National Bureau of Information - Friends of Irish Freedom Publications
Print media was a vital factor in the Friends of Irish Freedom strategy c.1916-1929 to promote self-determination, recognition of the Irish Republic and counter anti-Irish bias, discrimination and disinformation within the United States. The F.O.I.F. took over the National Bureau of Information based in Washington D.C. in October 1919 and directed by U.S. Army Captain & attorney Daniel T. O'Connell, it rapidly grew to become an early example of an efficient, focused media and publicity organisation. The National Bureau distributed a weekly Newsletter and countless publications, pamphlets and leaflets to thousands of prominent Americans, political leaders and opinion-formers. Newsletters, flyers and pamphlets form an invaluable resource for Irish American & Irish history research but have generally been only available at various US libraries and institutions. As many original documents and manuscripts are now being digitised by institutions, a small listing of what's known to be available may be of interest and of use. Buttons opposite contain links to a selection of online publications for these years via resources such as the Hathi Trust, Villanvova University and other sources. Black buttons link to active pages with information. Greyed buttons are pending uploads & links. This section is a work in progress and is updated from time to time. These links are a selection of items only and not a full listing of all available publications. |
For much of 1919 & 1920, the National Bureau of Information-Friends of Irish Freedom team in Washington D.C. were just three brilliantly eclectic and skilled journalists, writers and personalities. Leading the organisation was attorney and journalist Daniel T. O'Connell (1878-1964) as Director with teacher, writer & archivist, Katherine Hughes (1876-1925) as Secretary and journalist Willard de Lue (1890-1989) as Chief of the Section of Information.
All three were native born North Americans with Irish backgrounds and all produced numerous writings, articles, commentaries, pamphlets and books relating to the current Irish and Irish-American issues and history. Many of these publications, letters and press releases survive in various archives throughout the United States and Ireland and various examples are included here.
The Irish American split of 1920 also affected the National Bureau, with Hughes moving (at de Valera's request) to Canada and later Australia & New Zealand to mobilise public opinion for the recognition of the Irish Republic. De Lue moved to join the newly founded rival AARIR. (Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic). O'Connell remained with the National Bureau, The FOIF and a skeleton staff until the foundation of the Irish Free State and later closure of the office in c. late 1922.
Below are some brief outlines of the National Bureau of Information team during 1919-22:
All three were native born North Americans with Irish backgrounds and all produced numerous writings, articles, commentaries, pamphlets and books relating to the current Irish and Irish-American issues and history. Many of these publications, letters and press releases survive in various archives throughout the United States and Ireland and various examples are included here.
The Irish American split of 1920 also affected the National Bureau, with Hughes moving (at de Valera's request) to Canada and later Australia & New Zealand to mobilise public opinion for the recognition of the Irish Republic. De Lue moved to join the newly founded rival AARIR. (Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic). O'Connell remained with the National Bureau, The FOIF and a skeleton staff until the foundation of the Irish Free State and later closure of the office in c. late 1922.
Below are some brief outlines of the National Bureau of Information team during 1919-22:
Daniel T. O'Connell (1878-1964) Lawyer, Journalist, member of Clan na Gael, Massachusetts Superior Court Judge and Judge at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.
O'Connell was director of the National Bureau of Information Friends of Irish Freedom, 1920-1922. Born in Boston, attended Harvard and qualified with a Doctor of Laws degree in 1912. Before starting his legal practice, he was the political editor of the Boston Post and had secretly joined Clann na Gael. During World War I, O'Connell was a Captain in the Judge Advocate General's department of the U.S. Army (the legal arm of the Army) and was also involved in other U.S. government work. After the war he was a major in the Judge Advocate General's division of the Army Reserve. O'Connell served as the Director of the National Bureau of Information-Friends of Irish Freedom, Washington D.C. 1919-22 and returned to Boston c.1923 to practice law with his brother, Joseph F. O'Connell. In 1928, O'Connell was appointed to the bench of the Massachusetts Superior Court and served as a Judge in the court until retirement in 1958. He also sat as a judge during the war crimes trials in Nuremberg, Germany, specifically on the Military Tribunal 1947-48 to try 14 Nazi officials of RuSHA (Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt), the "Main Race & Resettlement Office" |
RuSHA was the central organisation in the implementation of racial programs of the Third Reich. All tried were charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and membership of a criminal organisation (the SS - trial details here). All but one (who was acquitted on the two more serious charges) were found guilty and sentenced to between three and 25 years imprisonment.
In 1958, O'Connell received the annual Gold Medal Award of the Eire Society of Boston. He was the author of a book, “Special Studies into the Life of James Otis. the Patriot.”
O'Connell died March 12, 1964. His grave is located in Saint Joseph Cemetery, West Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
Sources: NY Times, Transcript of the judgement Military Tribunal trial of RuSHA 1947 here.
In 1958, O'Connell received the annual Gold Medal Award of the Eire Society of Boston. He was the author of a book, “Special Studies into the Life of James Otis. the Patriot.”
O'Connell died March 12, 1964. His grave is located in Saint Joseph Cemetery, West Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
Sources: NY Times, Transcript of the judgement Military Tribunal trial of RuSHA 1947 here.
Hughes, Katherine (Caitlín Ní Aodha) (1876-1925)
Teacher, journalist, public servant, archivist, author and an Irish international political organiser & activist. After a number of years of mission work with North American native peoples in Canada, Hughes became a journalist with the Montreal Daily Star (1903-06) and a founding member of the Canadian Women’s Press Club. Appointed as the first provincial archivist of Alberta in May 1908, she set about developing the State Bureau of Archives. Recognising her organisational talents, Hughes was quickly seconded in 1909 to the State Premier’s office, she served as private secretary to Alexander Cameron Rutherford and to his successor, Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton. A successful political insider in the era before women’s suffrage, she was promoted to London in 1913 to take up a position as Assistant and Secretary in the office of the Agent General for Alberta. Although she had displayed no interest in Irish affairs previously, in London she made the acquaintance of prominent figures in the Irish cultural revival and political separatist movement including Padraic O'Conaire. By 1918, Hughes had become a committed supporter of Irish cultural renewal and of Irish separation from Britain. Now based in Washington, D.C., she established on behalf of the Irish Progressive League an organisation to disseminate infor- |
mation and lobby politicians in support of Irish self-determination. With her immense experience as an administrator and valuable knowledge of the political process, she played an important role within the Friends of Irish Freedom in creating the blueprint with the Irish National Bureau which gradually transformed amateurish propaganda efforts into a professional publicity campaign. Hughes spent late 1919 and early 1920 touring the southern states, preparing for the arrival of Eamon de Valera until resigning from the Irish National Bureau in May 1920 at de Valera's request and returned to Canada to successfully mobilise public opinion on behalf of the Irish Republic.
Later in 1921, Hughes was successfully mobilising opinion in Australia and New Zealand followed by a short period in Paris. Returning to the United States in 1923, Hughes died in New York, April 1925 aged just 48.
For a more detailed biography, click below and go to entry for June 1, 1919: http://diarmuidlynch.weebly.com/1919-april-june.html
Willard de Lue (1890-1989)
Willard de Lue born in Dorchester, Massachusetts 1890 and as a young journalist worked with the Irish National Bureau 1919-1920 as a writer, researcher and as Chief of the Section of Information. In mid 1920, At de Valera's request, de Lue moved to the AARIR (Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic) set up in opposition to the Friends of Irish Freedom. De Lue later worked for the Boston Daily Globe for sixty years as a reporter, travel writer, historian, radio broadcaster, Sunday editor and the newspaper's first night managing editor. He began writing travelogues for the Boston Globe in 1946 and travelled extensively in Europe and the US. Active outside of the Boston Globe, he served as President of the Eire Society of Boston and the Veteran Journalists Society, director of the Massachusetts Cooperative Bank of Dorchester, honorary member of the Boston Society of Architects and the Franklin Typographical Society, member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Globe Quarter Century Club, and Grady Camp of the Spanish War Veterans, the Haverhill Whittier Society, and Dorchester Lower Mills Council of the Knights of Columbus, Cedar Grove Civic Association and St. Gregory's Holy Name Society. Willard de Lue died aged 99 in 1989 and is interred in Holyhood Cemetery, Brookline, Boston. |
Few available records provided information on other members of the National Bureau Staff during 1919-22. However, a little snippet was recently discovered in the Friends of Irish Freedom Newsletter of July 3, 1920 which named the five male members of staff (excluding writers and female members of the Bureau). The sub-text of the snippet strongly highlights the military service of the male staff to counter perceived deficiencies of American patriotism in active campaigners for Irish freedom in the United States:
It probably will interest readers of the NEWS LETTER, also critics of Americans of Irish blood to know that of the five male members of the National Bureau staff, four wore the United States uniform during the World War, and the fifth, when the war began, was but sixteen years old.
Daniel T. O’Connell, Director of the Bureau, served as Captain in the Division of the Judge Advocate General; Wright McCormick, Managing Editor, Publication Division, was an Infantry Intelligence Sergeant and took part in the engagements at Bethune and the Vosges; Robert E. Lynch was a chief yeoman in the Navy and served overseas. He was also attached to the Peace Conference Naval Staff. Jesse Ross served in France as a Sergeant in the Signal Corps. Edmund Sullivan, though only sixteen years of age tried unsuccessfully to enlist in the Marine Corps, the Navy and every corps of the U. S. Army, also in the French, but was rejected in each instance because of his youthfulness.
Those who are prone to criticize active American workers in the cause of Ireland as deficient in American patriotism can profitably study the war service record of the Bureau staff. It may be added that the women members of the staff were all engaged in active war work such as commanded the patriotic service of American women."
Newsletter of the Friends of Irish Freedom National Bureau of Information - Washington D.C – Vol.11, No.1 July 3, 1920. Lynch Family Archives
Some research into the backgrounds of the National Bureau team produced the following:
Wright McCormick (1893-1922)
From an established Washington D.C. family, Wright McCormick studied at Harvard receiving a BA in 1915 and started as a reporter with the New York Times. In 1917 at the U.S. Declaration of War, he enlisted in the US Army (306th Infantry Regiment, 77th Division), shipped to France, made Sergeant and saw action in the Bacarat sector and in the Vosges mountains. Following the Armistice in 1918, McCormick was transferred to the 8th Army Corps HQ, returned to the US and discharged from the Army in July 1919. Returning to journalism, McCormick became involved in campaigning for Irish freedom, joined the Friends of Irish Freedom Washington bureau where he was Managing Editor of Publications and wrote a number of pamphlets including: Irish Republican Arbitration Courts: Their Work in Combating Land and Emigration Evils. Pamphlet no. 17. Washington, DC:, June 1920; Ireland Under English Intrigue: British Responsibilities for Ulster Disturbances (Friends of Irish Freedom, Pamphlet 25, September 1920. While with the FOIF, McCormick was romantically linked to Mary Switzer (1900-71) from a self described blue collar, militant Irish nationalist Boston background. Switzer was later to become better known as a progressive & influential American public administrator and social reformer in the 1950s. McCormick later became Acting Director of the Bureau before leaving Washington in January 1922 to join the University of Texas as Professor of English. While visiting Mexico, he died while climbing Mount Ajusco near Mexico City on August 28, 1922 aged 29. Further research ongoing |
Publication Sources:
Haithi Trust Digital Library: a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering an online collection of millions of titles digitised from libraries around the world.
Villanova University: currently houses the McGarrity Papers -a valuable resource for Irish-American history 1880-1940 particularly the period of 1916-22.