A programme for a concert organised by Cumann na mBan in Bray, County Wicklow. The date is not given but an accompanying note elsewhere in the volume suggests that the event was held just a few weeks before the 1916 Rising. Many of the performers in the concert were participants in the Rising. Douglas ffrench-Mullen (1892-1943) was a younger brother of Madeleine ffrench-Mullen, the well-known republican, feminist, and labour activist. He served in the South Dublin Union under Éamonn Ceannt during the Rising. He was wounded during the fighting and was detained initially in Richmond Barracks and later at Frongoch Camp in Wales. Ffrench-Mullen was released in September 1916. His fellow accompanist at the Bray concert was the Carlow-born Cathal Mac Dubhghaill (d. 1926). A talented musician and composer, he arranged the music for Peadar Kearney ‘A Soldier’s Song’ in its published form. He participated in the Rising and was afterwards interned at Frongoch Camp, where he illustrated several well-known sketchbooks. Gerard Crofts (1888-1934) was a poet and operatic singer. During the Rising, he served with Commandant William James Brennan-Whitmore in the General Post Office and in the final retreat to Moore Street. He was court-martialled and sentenced to ten years imprisonment but was released under the terms of a general amnesty in June 1917. Seosamh MacCathmhaoil (Joseph Campbell) was born in Belfast in 1879 and emerged as an influential poet and Irish music lyricist. He supported the Rising and was active as a non-combatant during Easter Week, performing rescue and first-aid work. In 1917, he published a translation from Irish of the short stories of Patrick Pearse. He died in County Wicklow in June 1944. (Volume page 190).
A clipping of an article by Daniel Corkery referring to the life and career of William Frederick Paul Stockley. The article was published in ‘The Standard’ (6 August 1943). (Volume page 227).
A flier seeking support for the Fianna Fáil party at the forthcoming general election. The flier has a printed signature of Éamon de Valera. (Volume page 226).
The title page of anti-Treaty publication ‘Freedom’ (24 September 1922). The cover has a satirical portrait of General Richard Mulcahy, Commander-in-Chief of the Provisional Government’s forces. The cartoon’s title reads ‘When Mulcahy wore the collar of gold which he won from the proud invader’. (Volume page 47).
A bound volume with a manuscript title on the spine which reads ‘Irish history’. The content of the volume is varied and includes newspaper clippings, photographs, printed fliers, and original ephemera relating primarily to the Irish Revolution. The volume pages are not paginated. The volume includes clippings, documents, photographs, ephemera, and references to the following: • Letters from Piaras Béaslaí and Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha (‘An Seabhac’). • Clippings relating to the 1916 Rising and War of Independence. • The funeral of Thomas Ashe. • Photographic print of the visit of King Edward VII to the Phoenix Park racecourse, Dublin (April 1904). • Michael Davitt. • Wilfrid Scawen Blunt. • Erskine Childers. • Patrick Holohan. • Archbishop John D’Alton. • The Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. • Numerous original fliers, leaflets and handbills relating to the War of Independence and later the anti-Treaty interest during the Civil War. • A flier titled ‘Funeral Procession of the “Freeman’s Journal”’ (1924). • Numerous republican street ballad fliers and leaflets. • Publicity material and original printed ephemera relating to Thomas Ashe. • An original United Irish League national convention meeting ticket signed by Joseph Devlin (23 April 1912). • A flier for a patriotic concert to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Robert Emmet, held in the Rotunda Rooms in Dublin (4 March 1915). • Dublin by-election flier (1915). • Signed Constance Markievicz postcard print (1918). • The funeral of Hermann Görtz (May 1947). • Obituaries for Tomás S. Cuffe (1949). • Clippings towards the end of the volume relate to later commemorations (and obituary notices) for prominent Irish nationalists. • Photographs placed at the end of the volume show several actors in traditional Gaelic clothing for a theatrical performance (most likely a Saint Patrick pageant).
A satirical republican flier celebrating the demise of the pro-Treaty ‘Freeman’s Journal’ newspaper in 1924. The flier promotes a ‘funeral procession’ and notes that the newspaper ceased publication ‘from an acute attack of Clerical Intimidation, Softening of the Back-bone, and other painful disorders’. Reference is made to the former proprietors of the ‘Freeman’s Journal’, Francis Higgins (c.1745-1802), probably better known as the ‘Sham Squire’, and Sir John Gray (1815-1875).
A postcard print image of a large crowd assembled on O’Connell Bridge in Dublin. The caption to the original postcard image (printed by Chancellor Photographic Studio) reads ‘Irish Language Procession, September 19, 1909’. In the background of the print, the statue of William Smith O’Brien (1803-1864), a nationalist politician and Irish language activist, stands in its original position near the junction of O’Connell Bridge with Westmoreland Street and D’Olier Street. It was moved to its present location on O’Connell Street in 1929.
