Série XXIII. - Communists

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All of the records created during the episcopate of Archbishop John Charles McQuaid were stored in the archives of Archbishop House for their continued administrative use. Shortly after his death in August 1973 they were transferred to the Dublin Diocesan Archive, as required by the Code of Canon Law.

Under Canon Law, there are four distinct types of archives within a Diocesan system:

1. Curial Archives (code 486) – These archives should include the ordinations register; documents recording the dedication or blessing of churches and cemeteries; and if convenient, copies of title deeds and other documents establishing the rights of the church. After 100 years the contents of the Curial Archives are transferred to the Historical Archives.
2. Secret Archives (code 489) – These archives contain documents of criminal cases (church cases processed through church courts); register of secret marriages; preliminary investigations (pre trial documents); documents concerning canonical warnings or corrections. These documents are never transferred to the Historical Archives.
3. Historical Archives (code 491) – Papers of the various Archbishops of the Archdiocese; lay associations and organisations; administration of the curia.
4. Parish Archives – These should include parish registers; marriage papers; other documents and Episcopal letters of note; documents generated by the parish; inventory of temporal goods of the parish; documents recording the dedication of the church. It is becoming more common for parish registers and other parish archives to make their way to the Historical Archives.

On the death of Archbishop John Charles McQuaid all of his documents were transferred to the Dublin Diocesan Archive as required by the Code of Canon Law (can .381.2, can. 491.2, can. 486).

Archbishop McQuaid viewed Communism and Socialism among the great evils of the 20th Century, and energetically set about to counter and limit their influences in Dublin. The Vigilance Committee was established for this purpose. The contents of the files are mainly in the form of minutes of meetings, reports, letters and memos, with a small number of newspaper articles and photographs. They deal with such varied subjects and persons as:
trade unions – Matt Merrigan, Des Brannigan, Jim Larkin, Donal Nevin; Sinn Fein (IRA) – Sean Russell, Neil Gould; objectionable literature; ‘teddy-boys’ – C. Gallagher; tenant associations (ACRA); Communism and the Irish Workers’ League – Michael O’Riordan, Peadar O’Donnell, Peadar Cowan, George Jeffares, Sam Mooney; left-wing literature and newspapers – The Irish Democrat, The Plough; a guild for Catholic Journalists; Scientology – L.R.Hubbard, Dr. Morris, Msgr. Kappes; the Anti-Nuclear Campaign; unemployment – Mr. Nightengale, Mr. Murphy; Irish Housewives’ Association – Hilda Tweedy; the Press – G.A. Hutt, Mr. Sweetman, Mr. Kirwan; Garda – Philip MacMahon, Detective/Sergeant Martin Lanigan.

These documents are of vital interest to students of Irish society in the mid 20th century as they reflect the thinking and attitudes of a Church that helped shape the ethos of the country. The response of the laity is correspondingly intriguing. The quote “I am a member of the (Labour Party, etc.) but my first loyalty is to the Catholic Church” is reflected in a sizeable number of documents.

All records have been retained.

On the death of Archbishop McQuaid his entire collection of documents was transferred to the Dublin Diocesan Archive. Accordingly, there will be no accruals.

The archive has been arranged and listed according to the order in which the collection was delivered to the Dublin Diocesan Archive. For the purpose of this catalogue files have been listed under the following headings:

1. The ‘V’ (Vigilance) Committee;
2. Garda Reports;
3. Communist Party of Ireland (CPI);
4. Reports from Informants;
5. Communism - General

The Archives are open to all bona fide researchers. Access to the Archives is by appointment only. All researchers must fill out a form and produce a letter of introduction from their college or have a valid form of photographic ID. Family historians must write to the Archivist in advance of their visit, outlining what they are seeking and why. No researcher will be accommodated without an appointment.

Researchers are given a copy of the Rules for using the Archives. The Reading Room must be supervised at all times and researchers are made aware that CCTV is in operation for security purposes only.

As this section on Communists is catalogued it is available to researchers. There are, however, items deemed to be of a ‘confidential’ nature in the section and accordingly have restricted access. An item is restricted if it is deemed to cause offence to any person still living or recently deceased or contains information on aspects of work of a sensitive nature which may be ongoing. The review date for such files and items is 2042.

Researchers who wish to reproduce materials from the Archives must first write to the Archivist requesting permission, explaining where it will be published. The Archivist will then write to the Archbishop with her/his recommendations and await his reply. On receiving this, the researcher will be informed of the decision in writing.

On receiving permission to publish material from the Archives the author must agree to the following terms;
• Acknowledge the Archives as the source of the materials
• Accept that the Archives retains the right to publish these materials and grant permission to others to do so
• Be responsible for publishing the materials in accordance with all relevant Legislation of the Republic of Ireland, including the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000, and the Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003.
• A copy of the publication should, out of courtesy, be sent to the Archives.

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The McQuaid catalogue is available in the reading room.

The Archbishop John Charles McQuaid collection is held in the Dublin Diocesan Archive, Archbishop House, Drumcondra, Dublin.

On the completion of the new strong room for diocesan archives in the mid 1950s Archbishop McQuaid turned his attention “to the question of exploiting the contents on the diocesan archives for historical purposes.” A Diocesan Historical Committee was established in 1954 and a year later published the first issue of Reportorium Novum. The aim of this journal was to make more generally known the sources of Dublin diocesan and parochial history. Archbishop McQuaid wanted ecclesiastical history promoted in order to ensure that the Church’s role was fully acknowledged in the history of the nation.

The editors of Reportorium Novum envisaged it as a “source-book, reproducing, or summarising, or editing unpublished records or those not easily accessible, compiling and cataloguing lists of surviving records, noting records or MSS as they come to light.” Unfortunately, the journal only survived until 1971 and as this time coincided with the McQuaid episcopate nothing was written or published on the Archbishop.

The Record Society, St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth first published Archivium Hibernicum in 1912. Its articles covered the whole of Ireland, and from 1981 to 2000 catalogued the Archbishop Murray Papers (1823 – 1852). No further catalogues from the Dublin Diocesan Archives have been published either by it or any other journal. David Sheehy contributed an article titled “Records in archives in Ireland” in Records of the Irish Catholic Church (Ed. Mary A. Lyons) outlining the collections in the diocesan archives. He also contributed an article, “The preservation and management of the archives of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, 1850 – 2005” in Archives and Archivists (Eds. Ailsa C. Holland & Kate Manning) with Marianne Cosgrave.

The majority of those who visit the Dublin Diocesan Archive to research the Archbishop McQuaid collection are historians and researchers in the social sciences. This is due to his influence in Irish politics, social development, education, trade union affairs, medical matters, the arts, youth affairs and of course religious matters. The following is a sample of authors (with their book titles) who used the Archives while researching their books:

Bradshaw, B. and Keogh, D. (2002). Christianity in Ireland: Revisiting the Story. Dublin: The Columba Press.

Browne, Noel. (1986). Against the Tide. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.

Coogan, T.P. (2003). Ireland in the Twentieth Century. London: Hutchinson.

Cooney, John. (1999). John Charles McQuaid, Ruler of Catholic Ireland. Dublin: The O’Brien

Press.
Corish, P. (1995). Maynooth College 1795 – 1995. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.

Corish, P. and Sheehy (2001). Records of the Irish Catholic Church. Dublin: Irish Academic

Press.

Dunn, J. (1994). No Lions in the Hierarchy. Dublin: The Columbia Press
.
Dunn, J. (1996). No Vipers in the Vatican. Dublin: The Columbia Press.

Kelly, J. and Keogh, D. (2002). History of the Catholic Diocese of Dublin. Dublin: Four Court

Press.
Kenny, M. (2000). Goodbye to Catholic Ireland. Dublin: New Island Books.

Keogh, D. (2002). Jews in Twentieth Century Ireland. Cork: Cork University Press.

Ferriter, D. (1999). A Nation of Extremes. Dublin: Irish Academic Press.

Garvin, T. (2009). Judging Lemass. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy.

Holland, A.C. and Manning, K. (2006). Archives and Archivists. Dublin: Four Courts Press.

Horgan, J. (2000). Noel Browne: Passionate Outsider. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan

Meehan, F. (1995). St. Vincent’s Hospital. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.

Nevin, D. (1998). James Larkin: Lion of the Fold. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.

Milotte, M. (1997). Banished Babies. Dublin: New Island Books.

Tobin, F. (1984). The Best of Decades: Ireland in the 1960’s. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.

White, J.H. (1980). Church and State in Modern Ireland 1923 – 1979. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.

This description follows guidelines provided by UWA Department of Information Studies based on ISAD(G) 2ND edition, 2000.

For the purposes of this catalogue the following abbreviations are used:

• = Archbishop

CIE = Corus Iompair Eireann
CP = Communist Party
FF = Fianna Fail
Fr. = Father
IABA = Irish Amateur Boxing Association
ICTU = Irish Congress of Trade Unions
ICWA = Irish Country Women’s Association
IHA = Irish Housewives’ Association
IRA = Irish Republican Army
IUS = Irish Union of Students
ITGWU = Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union
IWL = Irish Workers’ League
MPGWU = Marine Port & General Workers’ Union
KO = Kindred Organisations
NATO = National Association of Tenant Organisations
NUJ = National Union of Journalists
RIC = Royal Irish Constabulary
RTE = Radio Telefis Eireann
RUC = Royal Ulster Constabulary
SF = Sinn Fein
SRN = State Registered Nurse
TCD = Trinity College Dublin
TD = Teachta Dala (Member of the Dail or Parliament)
VG = Vicar General
UCC = University College Cork
UCD = University College Dublin
USI = Union of Students of Ireland
WUI = Workers’ Union of Ireland

This description was completed in May 2010.

This description was compiled by Peter Sobolewski. The following sources were used in compiling this finding aid:

Boylan, Henry (Ed). (1998). A Dictionary of Irish Biography. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.

Burke-Savage, Roland. The Church in Dublin: 1940 – 1965, Studies, liv (1965)

Canning, B.J. (1987). Bishops of Ireland 1870-1987. Ballyshannon [Ireland]: Donegal

Democrat.

Coogan, T.P. (2003). Ireland in the Twentieth Century. London: Hutchinson.

Cooney, John. (1999). John Charles McQuaid, Ruler of Catholic Ireland. Dublin: The O’Brien
Press.

Cornwall, John. (1999). Hitler’s Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII. London: Viking.

Dunn, J. (1994). No Lions in the Hierarchy: an anthology of sorts. Dublin: Columbia Press.

Joll, James (1976). Europe Since 1870. Harmonsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.

Kelly, James, & Keogh, Daire. (Eds.). (1999). History of the Catholic Diocese of Dublin. Dublin:

Four Courts Press.

Keogh, Dermot. (1995). Ireland and the Vatican: the Politics and Diplomacy of Church-State
Relations 1922 – 1960. Cork: Cork University Press.

Keogh, Dermot. (19). Towards a biography of an Archbishop. Studies, Vol.87 (348).

Keogh, D. (2005). Twentieth Century Ireland. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan Ltd.

McGuire, J. & Quinn, J. (Eds). (2009). Dictionary of Irish Biography. (Vol.6). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

O’Glaisne, R. (1959). Communism in Ireland. Focus, November.

White, J.H. (1984). Church and State in Modern Ireland 1923-1979 (2nd ed.). Dublin: Gill &

Macmillan Ltd.