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War of Independence (1919 - 1921) Capuchin Papers relating to the Irish Revolution
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1916 Rising and War of Independence

A collection of pamphlets and reports covering the national movement principally from c.1915-1921. The sub-series comprises printed ephemera such as fliers, handbills, and other publications.

Diary of Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap.

‘Charles Letts’s Small Octavo Diary and Note Book’. A daily record diary of Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap., Church Street, Dublin. Routine entries record the ministries and day-to-day activities of various Capuchin friars. The diary also chronicles the detention and trial of Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. An entry on 5 Jan. 1921 reads: ‘Fr. Dominic OSFC notified today in Kilmainham Prison of his approaching Court Martial and told to see his solicitor’. Other entries in the diary refer to the activities of British military forces in the wake of an upsurge in Republican attacks. On 16 Jan. Fr. Stanislaus wrote ‘The front portion of our Church and whole street closed with barbed wire. … This was done in early hours of morning. Many unable to go to Mass to day. House to house search by military. Show’s the respect of the English government for the Lord’s day’. Fr. Dominic’s transfer ‘under heavy escort’ to Kingstown for the boat to take him to Wormwood Scrubs Prison was recorded on 31 Jan. 1921. On 13 February, Fr. Stanislaus noted that the Capuchin Friary in Kilkenny was ‘raided by the Black and Tans in their usual rough fashion’. A loose page in the file summarizes some key events in 1921. Reference is made to the court martial in Kilmainham Jail of Fr. Dominic O’Connor OFM Cap. Other events mentioned in the 1921 summary include military raids in Kilkenny (13 February), the imposition of a curfew order (4 March), the executions of the Irish Volunteers (Thomas Bryan, Frank Flood, Bernard Ryan, Patrick Doyle, Patrick Moran and Thomas Whelan) in Mountjoy Jail on 14 March, the death of Archbishop William Walsh (9 April), and the burning of the Custom House in Dublin following an attack by the Irish Republican Army (25 May).

Kavanagh, Stanislaus, 1876-1965, Capuchin priest

Irish Bulletin

The 'Irish Bulletin' was the official daily gazette of the government of the Irish Republic. The first edition of the 'Bulletin' appeared on 11 Nov. 1919 shortly after the suppression of the entire republican press. The purpose of the 'Bulletin' was succinctly stated in the edition of 11 Nov. 1920 (Vol. 6 No. 17). ‘When it became certain that the majority party in Ireland was not to be proclaimed “illegal” the "Bulletin" had of necessity to be published secretly. It was designed to circulate principally not in Ireland but among the publicists in England and on the Continent. At its inception less than fifty copies were printed. To-day it reaches almost every country in the world and is reprinted in four European languages. It is received by the press, public men, and the leading political and other organisations of many nations’. The 'Bulletin' was published daily but weekly editions containing summaries of ‘acts of aggression committed in Ireland by the military and police of the usurping English government’ were also routinely circulated. These weekly summaries were not assigned volume or issue numbers. Daily issues consisted mainly of sometimes detailed lists of raids by British security forces and the arrests of republican suspects. Extracts from foreign publications and sometimes sympathetic English sources were also published in the 'Bulletin'. Accounts of the activities of Dáil Courts were likewise included. It was produced by the republican publicity department during the War of Independence, and its offices were located at 6 Harcourt Street, Dublin. On 26 Mar. 1921, after sixteen months of publication, the offices of the 'Bulletin' were raided. Later, forged issues of the journal were produced with printing machinery and paper captured in the offices. These fabricated issues were sent to all the usual addresses on the list of recipients, a copy of which had also been seized. Issues of these forged 'Bulletins' were subsequently circulated for over a month. The paper’s first editor was Desmond Fitzgerald, until his arrest and replacement by Robert Erskine Childers. The collection includes a chronological record of peace overtures which would eventually lead to the Treaty negotiations. The issue of 7 Dec. 1921 (Vol. 6, No. 35) carried an ‘advance copy’ of the articles of agreement between Great Britain and Ireland, more commonly known as ‘The Treaty’. Many of the issues of the 'Irish Bulletin' are stamped ‘Official Copy’.