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 censored edition of the 'Catholic Bulletin', Vol. VI, no. 5-6, May-June 1916. On pp 250-253 there is a blank space with the title ‘Dublin – May 1916’ over a signature, probably referring to a poem by Gobnait Ní Bhruadair which was censored. Similarly, ‘Matters of the Moment’ has also been left purposely blank (pp 261-3). An annotation in pen on the front cover reads ‘Specimens of censorship. No editorial. No notes on Matters of Moment. Part of Msgr. O’Riordan’s Sermon, p. 267’.
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).
A short sketch of Denis Lacy’s life by Liam Healy. Dennis Lacey (1890-1923) was an IRA soldier during the War of Independence and an Anti-Treaty republican during the Civil War. Lacey was born in 1890 in a village called Attybrack, near Annacarty in County Tipperary. He joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and was sworn in to the secretive Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1914. During the War of Independence he commanded an IRA flying column of the 3rd Tipperary Brigade. In July 1920, this guerrilla unit mounted two successful ambushes of British forces – killing six British soldiers at Thomastown near Golden, County Tipperary, and four Royal Irish Constabulary men at Lisnagaul in the Glen of Aherlow. Lacey opposed the Treaty and most of his men followed suit. He later commanded the Anti-Treaty IRA’s Second Southern Division. In the ensuing conflict, he organised guerrilla activity in north Tipperary against Free State forces. He was killed in an action with National Army troops at Ballydavid, near Bansha in the Glen of Aherlow on 18 Feb. 1923. The pamphlet was printed in Waterford by The News Printing Works.
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.
A pamphlet reporting a speech made by the Most Rev. Edward Thomas O’Dwyer, Bishop of Limerick. The speech provides his opinion on current political events. The pamphlet is titled ‘No.3’ in a series.
A postcard print commemorating Bishop Edward O'Dwyer with reference to his speech on accepting the freedom of Limerick city in September 1916. The text reads 'Ireland will never be content as a province. God has made Ireland a nation, and while grass grows and water runs, there will be men willing to dare and die for her'.
A republican ballad Sheet: 'Ballad for Kevin Barry', and 'Ballad of Biddy O'Loughlin / Air: "The Night before Larry was stretched"' by Michael Scott. The sheets are folded and printed on one side only.
An election handbill quoting a letter from the Most Rev. William J. Archbishop of Dublin criticising the stance of the Irish Parliamentary Party. It reads: ‘For years past I have never had a moment’s doubt that the Irish Home Rule cause in Parliament was being led along a line that could only bring it to disaster. …’. The handbill concludes with a call to vote for W.T. Cosgrave in the Kilkenny by-election.
