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 authored by Francis Sheehy-Skeffington (1878-1916) and Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington (1877-1946) referring to the struggle for Irish Independence and the country’s role in the First World War.
A pamphlet by William O’Brien (1852-1928) regarding the Irish Convention, an assembly which sat in Dublin, from July 1917 until March 1918, which sought to address the Irish Question and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland. Includes an ‘Authorized report of speech delivered on May 21, 1917, in the House of Commons, in the debate on Mr. Lloyd George’s Irish proposals’.
A Sinn Féin leaflet criticising the British financial system in Ireland which operates as a ‘form of industrial exploitation’. The handbill is numbered ‘59’.
A book written by Darrell Figgis (1882-1925) referring to the imprisonment of Irish republicans for political crimes and offences. Published in Dublin by The Talbot Press.
The Report of the Royal Commission on the Rebellion in Ireland in 1916. A Royal Commission of Inquiry was established under Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst (1858-1944) to investigate the causes of the Rising. The commission commenced its work on 18 May 1916 and it heard evidence over nine days from key figures including Augustine Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland (1905-1916), and Neville Chamberlain, the Inspector General of the Royal Irish Constabulary. The report of the commission was published on 26 June 1916. The report outlined conclusions drawn from the commission of inquiry. It criticized the administrative and intelligence systems in place in Ireland. It reached the general conclusion that the main cause of the rebellion, ‘appears to be that lawlessness was allowed to grow up unchecked, and that Ireland for several years past has been administered on the principle that it was safer and more expedient to leave the law in abeyance if collision with any faction of the Irish people could thereby be avoided'.
A pamphlet in the republican interest referring to the economic aspects of Ireland’s struggle for independence. Published by the ‘Irish Financial Relations Committee’, Mansion House, Dublin.
A prayer sheet titled 'An Offering for Ireland ... For the early release of our imprisoned Leaders and fellow-countrymen and women'. Printed by the Gaelic Press, Dublin.
A pamphlet by William Joseph Marie Alois Maloney (b. 1881), ‘M.D., Late Captain of the British Army’, referring to the Irish Question. Published in New York by The American Press.
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.
