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'
Letter from a General Staff Officer, National Army Headquarters, Portobello Barracks, to the editor of the 'Evening Herald', returning a copy (enclosed) of a republican publicity feature titled 'Mr. Kevin Higgins' attacks on President De Valera'. The National Army officer affirms that the publication of this feature has not been permitted.
A flier with the text of a manifesto signed off on by IRA prisoners Michael Kilroy and Michael MacGiollaruaidh, then on hunger strike in Mountjoy Jail. The text refers to the death of Terence MacSwiney in 1920.
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).
