A soft-bound volume containing the the following pamphlets referring to the Irish Question: • Report of the Labour commission to Ireland. A pamphlet publishing the findings of British Labour Party-sponsored commission on the Irish troubles. The chairman of the commission was Arthur Henderson, MP (1863-1935). Physical description: iv, 119, [1] pp : illus. (incl. plan, facsims.) ; 25 cm. • The American Commission on conditions in Ireland: interim report. A pamphlet reporting the findings of an American Commission investigating the Irish troubles. The commission held public hearings in Washington, D.C., on 19-20 November, 9-23 December 1920 and on 13,14,19 and 21 January 1921. The chairman was noted as L. Hollingsworth. Published in London by Harding and Moore in 1921. Physical description: 72 pp. • Who burnt Cork City? a tale of arson, loot, and murder; the evidence of over seventy witnesses. 1921. A pamphlet published by the Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress in January 1921. The work drew upon eye-witness evidence assembled by Seamus Fitzgerald which argued that the fires which had devastated Cork city on the night of 11 December 1920 had been deliberately set by British forces. Members of the fire service testified that their attempts to contain the blaze were hampered by soldiers who fired on them and cut their hoses with bayonets. Physical description: 68 p. illus.
Sinn Féin. Tuairisc na Rúnaithe: Árd-Fheis, 1921. Includes Secretaries’ report and note on the accounts of the party. Printed in Dublin by Sinn Féin. Physical description: 10 pp; tables; 26 cm; With typescript report of the Hon. Treasurer at the Árd-Fheis, 27 Oct. 1921. The report notes that ‘in presenting the balance sheet of the most abnormal year the Sinn Fein Organisation has yet experienced, it is a matter for congratulation that thro’ all the stress and pressure of the greater portion of the time covered by the present balance sheet the Organisation continued to work steadily by keeping in touch with all its Comhairle Ceanntair …’. Includes a table titled ‘Receipts and disbursements from 1st October 1920 to 8 Oct. 1921’. Typescript signature of Siobhan Bean an Phaoraigh, Hon. Secretary.
Handbill in the republican interest attacking the Irish Free State's alleged policy of ‘iron rule’. Printed in Manchester by Whiteley & Wright. Titled ‘No. 2’ in a series of handbills.
A pamphlet in the republican interest by Frank Gallagher who worked alongside Erskine Childers on the republican publicity staff. During this period Gallagher and Robert Brennan were significant contributors to the 'Irish Bulletin'. Gallagher served long stints in prison due to his IRA involvement and went on many hunger strikes (the shortest lasting three days, the longest 41 days).
Circular letter from Seosamh Mac Donnchadha (Joseph MacDonagh), Minister for Labour, Dáil Ėireann, to the Superiors of all Religious Houses in Ireland, enclosing a copy statement, written by a Belfast priest, detailing ‘the Orange atrocities committed on Catholic workers and others last July and August’. MacDonagh asks the Religious Superiors to use ‘their wide influence to assist in the rigid enforcement and maintenance of the Belfast Trade Boycott’. MacDonagh was elected unopposed as a Sinn Féin MP for the Tipperary North constituency at the 1918 general election. He was Director of the ‘Belfast Boycott’, an attempt in 1920–21 to boycott goods from Ulster that were being imported into the south of Ireland. With a printed flier titled ‘Black list, Belfast Economic Boycott’ listing the principal firms acting as distributors for ‘Belfast goods’ in Dublin and in other parts of Ireland.
A collection of street ballad leaflets assembled by Fr. Stanislaus Kavanagh OFM Cap. (1876-1965), a Capuchin friar, in 1921. The handbills relate to events in the War of Independence from 1919-21. This contentious period produced its share of controversial literature mainly in the form of leaflets, handbills, ballads and other forms of popular street literature. The treatment of prisoners during the War of Independence was the subject of political and social outrage and was reflected in popular ballads celebrating the lives of Kevin Barry, Patrick Moran, Thomas Traynor and other republican prisoners executed in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin and in other locations following courts martial from 1920-1. Most of the ballads recounted popular stories told in simple metre, and set to (mostly) traditional airs. The ballad titles include: 'Kevin Barry' 'The Bould Black & Tan' 'God Save the Peelers' 'Commandant McKeown' 'My Little Grey Home in Mountjoy' 'Thomas Traynor / Died for Ireland / Mountjoy Prison / April 26 '21' 'Brave sons of Granuaile' 'The Standard of Green, White & Gold / A Song of Truce' 'Latest Hit / If you're Irish We're goin' to Suppress you'
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.
An Anti-Treaty handbill. The text reads: ‘It has been said that the Irish people are guilty of the blood shed by the firing squads, because the executions were carried out in their name ... This is not true ... when the time comes, they will repudiate the responsibility for the blood. Guiltiness and The shame, by turning down the men who falsely used their name as a cover for these horrible deeds. Printed in Manchester by Whiteley & Wright. Titled ‘No. 1’ in a series.
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.
