Drumcondra Constituted 27 March 1953 from Glasnevin
Letter from John F. Gribben, Hon. Secretary, Our Lady’s Shrine, to +McQuaid thanking him for his permission to erect a statue in honour of Our Lady at Tolka Bridge, Drumcondra. 1 item
Letter from Fr. Wm. J. Fitzpatrick to +McQuaid regarding the difficulties he saw in fitting in St. Joseph’s, Drumcondra, into a satisfactory scheme for Blind Welfare.
Glasnevin (including Ballygall & Drumcondra)
Czira, Sidney, Strand Road, Merrion, Dublin. Asks if it would be possible for people in Ireland to give some public expression to our feelings of sympathy with His Holiness during these dreadful days. D 4A/1. 17 February 1949 Dack, Michael, St. Ignatius Road, Drumcondra. He is deeply shocked by the news from Hungary and what is happening to Cardinal Mindszenty. Asks + McQuaid to support a movement to the spread of the Rosary.
Daly, Hugh, Lower Drumcondra Road, Dublin, inviting +McQuaid to the Annual Congress of ‘Regnum Christi.’
-4 April 1949 Daly, Hugh W., Lr. Drumcondra Road. Correspondence to + McQuaid relating to the Guilds of Regnum Christi.
O’Doherty, Madge, 8 Grace Park Gardens, Drumcondra. Thanks the Archbishop for his kindness to her.
Typed minutes of ‘V’ Committee meeting. A full list of the ICTU Executive Committee submitted. Messrs Kerrigan and Phipps of WUI had called to Drumcondra and explained how they are trying to offset the efforts of some of the left-wingers in the WUI.
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.