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.
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'
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.
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 handbill using a quotation from President Wilson’s address to the Senate of the United States on 22nd January 1917. The text encourages American recognition of the Irish Republic. Published by the Irish Nation League, 27 Dawson Street, Dublin.
Letter from William Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin, to Cardinal William Henry O’Connell, Archbishop of Boston. The printed letter refers to the former’s donation of £105 to the Irish National Fund inaugurated by the First Dáil.
Walsh, William Joseph, 1841-1921, Roman Catholic Archbishop of 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.
A proof copy of a petition (with signatures) to present Ireland’s claims before an ‘impartial non-British Tribunal’ of nations. The accompanying letter stresses the need to present such claims immediately as ‘if such reference were postponed to a date after the end of the war it would be too late to avert the dangers that are now imminent’. With a copy of names of individuals (with professions and addresses) endorsing such a presentment to an international tribunal.
