A photographic postcard print of a prize-winning republican pipe band from Cork in 1919. The print is captioned 'Irish Republican Army Prize Pipe Band, Cork - Oireachtas Prize Winners, 1918-1919'. The Cork Volunteers’ Pipe band was founded by Tomás MacCurtain in February 1914.
A copy print of a group of republican prisoners in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin. A manuscript annotation on the reverse reads ‘Irish republican prisoners / Hunger strike / Mountjoy Jail, October 1919 / second from right top row is Pádraig Ó Caoimh’.
Six uniform handbills in the Republican interest, starting with: The Till of the people …. 2 copies The Irish Free State brands Irishmen who refuse to be slaves. 2 copies Make the war-mongers pay for the war ... If England ordered the war don't you think England ought to pay for it? 2 copies Merciless tigers in their dealings with unarmed Republican prisoners. Spineless worms in their dealings with English ministers. That's what O'Higgins and Mulcahy are. 2 copies. 620,283 Irish voters went to the Polls on June 16th, 1922. Not a solitary one of these 620, 283 voters wanted war. But one English voter, Winston Churchill, wanted war and he had his way. That is what is meant by "The Will of the People". 5 copies The two policies. The policy of Sinn Fein gives you ... a fearless nation. The other policy gives you ... a craven state. 2 copies. Do you believe that while there is a single hungry child in Ireland, the sum of £37,865 per year of the Irish Peoples’ money should be expended on Tim Healy? 2 copies. Address to the Dublin Brigade by the Officer Commanding, signed by Oscar Traynor.
Uniform handbills in the Republican interest, starting with: The Murder Members. The following are the names of the members of the partition parliament who voted for the murder bill. Note: 2 copies; 1 leaf. 31 cm Seven Steps towards the Republic; 1 p. 19 cm. On the proper shoulders. At head of text: extracts from the Official Report of proceedings in the English House of Commons (Hansard, June 26th, 1922, Vol. 155, no. 84). 5 copies; [6] pp.; 22 cm. The new terror ... homes raided in the dead of night; women and children terrorised ... These are some fruits of the Treaty. We will break this new terror as we broke the old. Make no doubt about it. Note: 1 p. 21 cm. Conspiracy to murder. The Provisional Government has sent an agent to the south to assassinate Eamonn de Valera. The name of the agent is known. Is this done by the will of the Irish people? Note: 1 p. 17 cm. Violation of Padraig Pearse's Home. Mrs. Pearse's words to the Free State soldiers; Note: 1 p. 26 cm. To the Free State Soldiers. Anti-Treaty handbill (black typescript on buff coloured paper), urging Free State soldiers to lay down their arms. Urging the soldiers of the Provisional Government, which includes Arthur Griffith, not to take up arms and/or demean soldiers of the Irish Republic during the Irish Civil War. 1 p. 26 cm. Murdered. On the murder of Harry Boland. Note: 2 pp; 26 cm. Provisional Government Offer Valuable Prizes for the Best Answers to the following eighteen questions. Note: 2 copies; 1 leaf; 33 cm. The Mountjoy “Hotel”. Note. 1 p. 27 cm. Appeal to the People and Volunteers of Tirconaill. Note: 1 p.; 33 cm. Resolutions adopted by Padraic Pearse Council A.A.R.I.R., Chicago, Illinois, published by the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic. 14 Oct. 1922. Note: Printed, 4 pp. Do you know Joe Clark? A leaflet, including the statement of Joseph Clark, on the crimes committed against him by the Free State authorities, dated 13 Nov. 1922. Note: 1 p.; 33 cm.
A letter and notes from Conor A. Maguire re his article titled ‘Republican Courts’ in 'The Capuchin Annual' (1969). Maguire provides some additional detail in relation to the photographic of the Republican Court sitting in Westport in 1920 (p. 383). The note reads: ‘I recognise John Kelly, later County Registrar, and J.C. Garvey, Solicitor, Castlebar, from whom I received the photograph after the Truce. He told me that he had arranged to have it taken and had kept it hidden behind the shutters in his office. Noticeable at the back are two of the IRA Police, easily identifiable, as they stand at attention with their caps on. One, I understand, was Seán Gibbons’
A series of republican cartoons by Constance Markievicz published during the Civil War attacking various prominent Free State figures including Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins. Two of the cartoons are titled ‘Midnight Assassins’ and refer to supposed threats to the lives of Ėamon de Valera and Erskine Childers. Another affirms that Griffith and Collins are ‘marching heads up into the Empire over the bodies of their murdered Comrades’ whilst another suggests a comparison between James Craig and Michael Collins in terms of their treatment of Republicans. The cartoons may have been published in the Anti-Treaty publication 'The Fenian' (See IE CA IR-1-8-3-5).
A Republic of Ireland Bond Certificate (for $10) issued by Éamon de Valera during his American tour. This bond was issued to Hannah Ritchie and is dated 21 January 1920. The printed signature of Éamon de Valera has the unusual spelling of ‘de Bhailéara’.
Annual reports of the Catholic Boys’ Brigade, Dublin. The reports mainly refer to the history and work of the organisation, the numbers of enrolments and to the on-going need for subscriptions from benefactors. The annual report for the year ending 1899 noted that ‘with regret we have had to refuse situations to well-deserving members, who through poverty or neglect, never enjoyed the advantage of being taught their letters. This terrible drawback … set us thinking as to how we might devise a plan, which would enable us to do something for these poor illiterate lads, and afford them an opportunity of at least a sound rudimentary education. It was with great therefore, that we saw our long-cherished wishes realised on the 10th October when we were able to open a much-needed "Night School" in connection with the Catholic Boys’ Brigade’.
Report by Fr. Albert Bibby OSFC on temperance missions from Oct.-Dec. 1906. The report includes the location of the mission, information on the success (or otherwise) of the preaching including the numbers taking the pledge and the general state of the temperance cause in the locality. The locations include Ballyforan, Ballygar, Louisburgh and Clare Island. The report on Ballygar, County Galway (where a mission was held from 2-16 Dec 1906) reads as follows: ‘Nearly all the heads of families took a pledge not to give intoxicating drinks at funerals or wakes or American wakes (held on night previous to some member of family going to America) whilst all others promised not to accept drink on these occasions’. The ‘American Wake’, sometimes referred to as the ‘Live Wake’, was a unique leave-taking ceremony for rural Irish people travelling to the United States. ‘American Wakes’ took place prior to the Great Famine, but most of the documentary evidence survives from the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was most commonly practiced in counties along the western seaboard where traditional customs remained most potent. Usually held on the evening prior to an emigrant's departure, the ‘American Wake’ resembled its ceremonial model, the traditional wake for the dead. It represented a permanent breaking of earthly ties for people who regarded emigration as death’s equivalent.