Next up in our postgraduate bursary winner blog series is Emma Dewhirst (Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool) on her BAIS funded visit to archives in Dublin.

‘If we were only left alone we could show that Irishwomen can work together tolerantly on matters which do not affect the bedrock principles of nationality, and on these we are all – Sinn Féiners and Constitutionalists – at one’

Agnes O’Farrelly, National Volunteer, 21/11/1913, Vol 1 No 6. National Library of Ireland.

This admission that nationalist women could work in unity was a response to an article written in the National Volunteer newspaper in which it accused Cumann na mBan (Irishwomen’s Council) of ‘taking sides’ and aligning themselves with the ‘extreme’ Sinn Féin volunteers. The split which caused this, interactions, and the making and breaking of such networks are of central interest to my thesis which examines relationships, kinship ties, the processes of radicalism, gender, and political identity. The funding granted generously by the British Association of Irish Studies allowed me to spend a week in Dublin, Ireland researching the networks between the various republican and nationalist organisations of the Irish Revolutionary period of 1912-1923. I visited four archives: Kilmainham Goal Archives, University College Dublin Archives, National Library of Ireland, and the Irish Labour History Society Archives with the aim of furthering my understanding of networks within the republican ‘movement’ and finding sites at which such groups came together.

My first stop was the Kilmainham Archives with the primary aim of exploring the uncatalogued papers of John Hanratty (a prominent member of the Irish Citizen Army). The lists of names, addresses, and ‘active’ service period of members proved useful and will allow me to have a better understanding of which people were part of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) after 1916. Another exciting find was the Souvenir Booklet of the Burial of eminent Fenian, O’Donovan Rossa. How funerals were used as a site of recruitment is going to make up a chapter of my thesis and the souvenir booklet supported my initial observation that it did prove to be a point of unity for many nationalist and republican volunteer organisations. This propaganda booklet contained pieces written by several prominent republicans detailing the republican credentials of Rossa as well as recruitments columns by the Irish Volunteers, Na Fianna Éireann (Irish Nationalist Boy Scouts) and Cumann na mBan. Along with this was a report of the actual procession where it records that a substantial amount of different organisations took part, including the National Volunteers. Interestingly, later research at the National Library revealed that Maurice Moore, one of the leaders of the National Volunteers, actually wrote to the O’Donovan Rossa Funeral Committee and requested that the National Volunteers be allowed to take part in the proceedings.

Whilst it is was initially presumed that most of the National Volunteers served in the First World War important work has recently emerged detailing the activities of the ‘Redmondite’ Volunteers. I went on to view the newspaper organ of the larger volunteer group, the National Volunteer, in the National Library later in the week. It revealed that initially the National Volunteers did have a somewhat tenuous relationship with its more radical former counterpart, the Irish Volunteers, and repeatedly dubbed them Sinn Féin -Larkinites in its passages. Therefore, attempting to slander the Irish Volunteers by aligning it both to the infamous trade union leader and socialist, James Larkin, and to Sinn Féin.

I found further useful material in the National Library within the Irish National Aid Association papers, in Frank Robbins ‘Under the Starry Plough’, and in various minute books. I consulted more personal papers at the University College Dublin Archives including the Terence MacSwiney, Eoin MacNeill, Maire Comerford, and Mary MacSwiney papers. The Mary MacSwiney papers will be particularly useful in adding to the debate in regard to how Irish feminists balanced their political identities of feminism and nationalism.

Later in the week at the Irish Labour History Society Archives I consulted the ICA Minute Book. This proved to be a very rich and useful source. The minute book holds the ICA Council minutes from 1919 to 1920 and I found a lot of information which allowed me to understand more about the inner workings of the council as well as the state of the organisation after 1916. For example, it revealed that the ICA after the Rising had an obsession with drilling and whereas it was central to the republican movement before 1916, afterwards, it appears from the minute books as if they did not take any part in the War of Independence as fighting, in any form, was not mentioned.

Overall, I had a successful research trip. A lot of the material I have located will help me in understanding how republican groups interacted at this time. I learnt a lot during my time in Dublin, including that microfilms and I do not get along; thanks goes to all the archivists I met during this trip, but especially to those at UCD for patiently dealing with my ineptness with those horrible devices. I had a very enjoyable time in Dublin and will look forward to my next research trip to the city.