by Dermot Keogh
Nicholas Mansergh has written that de Valera was:
at heart something of a Gandhian looking back in his case to the hard, independent country life of his childhood at Bruree, freed from foreign influences, its indigenous character reinforced by the use of the indigenous tongue, as the source of national virtue and the ideal of national regeneration.
Owen Dudley Edwards is more inclined to see de Valera as a Nehru. I am also reluctantly inclined to agree with Owen Dudley Edwards’ judgement:
He was Jeremiah. He was Jonah. Above all, he was Pilate.95
1 See Dwane, David T., Early Life of Eamon de Valera, Talbot Press, Dublin, 1927, for an example of a very reverential and pious work. One highly interesting study is Ó Faoláin, Seán, The Life Story of Eamon de Valera, Talbot Press, Dublin and Cork, 1933. Subsequently disowned by its author, this book proved to be an embarrassment given the very positive evaluation of its subject contained therein. McCartan, Patrick, With de Valera in America, Brentano, New York, 1932 is a useful but uncritical account of the author’s time in the United States in the company of de Valera. MacManus, M. J., Eamon de Valera, Talbot Press, Dublin and Cork, 1944 was very severely reviewed by Ó Faoláin in The Bell; see Ó Faoláin, Seán, ‘Eamon De Valera’, The Bell, vol. 10, no. 1, April 1945. A central text is Macardle, Dorothy [with a preface by de Valera], The Irish Republic: a Documented Chronicle of the Anglo-Irish Conflict and the Partitioning of Ireland, with a Detailed Account of the Period 1916–1923, Irish Press edition, Dublin, 1951. This is as close to an official account of the early life of de Valera as came to be written before the publication of the Longford/O’Neill biography. It is a very useful work as it provides access to a wide range of documentary sources. Bromage, Mary C., De Valera and the March of a Nation, New English, London, 1956 was written with a little assistance from de Valera who tended to be shy in helping his many biographers; it is, however, an interesting account of his life. Browne, Kevin J., Eamon de Valera and the Banner County, Glendale, Dublin, 1982 provides some useful information on de Valera’s local career in Clare politics.
2 Ó Faoláin, Seán, The Life Story of Eamon de Valera, pp. 94–5.
3 Ó Faoláin, Seán, De Valera, Penguin, London, 1939, pp. 105–6.
4 MacManus, Eamon de Valera, p. 229.
5 ibid, pp. 228–9.
6 The critical works abound and contemporary accounts tend to be increasingly more critical of de Valera. See Gwynn, Denis, De Valera, Jarrolds, London, 1933. This is a relatively gentle but critical account of de Valera’s life. Ryan, Desmond, Unique Dictator – a study of Eamon de Valera, Arthur Barker, London, 1936, is the work of a left-wing journalist and political activist who reveals his disappointment with de Valera in power. Ó Faoláin, Séan, De Valera, provides a radically revised view of de Valera – written after experiencing Fianna Fáil in power since 1932. See also O’Faoláin, ‘Eamon De Valera’, The Bell, op. cit., for a very severe review of the MacManus biography. The title of Ireland, Denis, Eamon de Valera Doesn’t See it Through: a Study of Irish Politics in the Machine Age, Forum Press, Cork, 1941 speaks for itself. Younger, Calton, A State of Disunion: Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, James Craig, Eamon de Valera, Fontana, London, 1972, provides a useful comparative sketch of de Valera. Regarding McInearney, Michael (ed.), Eamon de Valera 1882–1975, Irish Times, Dublin, 1976, like Desmond Ryan, the writer provides a critique of de Valera from the perspective of the republican left. It is a book of some insight. Coogan, Tim Pat, De Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow, Arrow Books, London, 1995. This book is the most critical to date. It is unrelentingly hostile to de Valera. But it is based on considerable research in archives in Ireland and abroad. Dwyer, T. Ryle, Eamon de Valera, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1980; Dwyer, T. Ryle, De Valera: the Man and the Myths, Poolbeg, Dublin, 1992; Dwyer, T. Ryle, Big Fellow, Long Fellow: a Joint Biography of Collins and De Valera, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1999. This author has provided a range of studies based on work in Irish archives and abroad, in particular the United States.
7 Coogan, Tim Pat, De Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow, p. 300.
8 ibid.
9 ibid., p. 305.
10 ibid., p. 315.
11 ibid., p. 311.
12 ibid., p. 314.
13 ibid.
14 ibid., pp. 312, 313 and 316.
15 A number of studies of de Valera, or of an aspect of his life, do not fit in either of the two extreme categories. See in particular, Dudley Edwards, Owen, Eamon de Valera, GPC, Cardiff, 1987. This work provides a very strong analysis of de Valera’s career and seeks to set in wider historical context the role played by him in the struggle for Irish independence and the development of the Irish state. Also McCartney, Donal, The National University of Ireland and Eamon de Valera, University Press of Ireland, Dublin, 1983; this work treats of a very important aspect but usually neglected part of de Valera life. Farragher, Seán P., Dev and his Alma Mater –Eamon de Valera’s Lifelong Association with Blackrock College, 1898–1975, Paraclete Press, Dublin 1984; his work is of major historical significance. It has opened up many avenues of research yet to be undertaken by other historians. McMahon, Deirdre, Eamon de Valera and the Irish Americans, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, 1986; this work ought to be read together with her excellent monograph, Republicans and Imperialists – Anglo Irish Relations in the 1930s, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1984. Bowman, John, De Valera and the Ulster Question, 1917–1973, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1989; this work is a critical but fair analysis of the partition policies of de Valera; O’Carroll, J. P. & Murphy, John A. (eds), De Valera and his Times, Cork University Press, Cork, 1984; this edited volume provides a good review of different aspects of de Valera’s life; Brennan, Paul, et al, Eamon De Valera, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III, Paris, 1986; a satisfactory collection of essays. Travers, Pauric, Eamon de Valera, Historical Association of Ireland, Dundalgan Press, Dundalk, 1994, offers a good short summary of de Valera’s life. Lee, J. J., Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989; this volume is among the most detailed accounts of the life and times of de Valera, containing a portrait that is the distilled analysis of years of work in archives.
16 Anon., Correspondence of Mr Eamon de Valera and Others, Alex. Thom, Dublin, 1922.
17 Anon., The Hundred Best Sayings of Eamon de Valera, Dublin and Cork, 1924, National Library of Ireland P2027. See footnote reference to this pamphlet in Murphy, John A., ‘The Achievement of Eamon de Valera’ in O’Carroll, J. P. & Murphy, John A. (eds), De Valera and his Times, p. 16. The editor of this pamphlet may have been Frank Gallagher, a veteran of the period 1916–1923, an author, a future editor of the Irish Press and a member of the Irish Government Information Service. Robert Brennan, another veteran of those years and a future Irish ambassador to the United States, may also have been involved in its production.
18 Anon., Peace and War: Speeches by Mr de Valera on International Affairs, Gill & Son, Dublin, 1944.
19 Anon., Ireland’s Stand: Being a Selection of the Speeches of Eamon De Valera During the War (1939–1945), M. H. Gill, Dublin, 1946.
20 Moynihan, Maurice (ed.), Speeches and Statements by Eamon de Valera, 1917–73, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1980.
21 Mac Aonghusa, Proinsias, Eamon de Valera: na Blianta Réabhlóideacha, Clóchomhar, Baile Átha Cliath, 1982; Mac Aonghusa, Proinsias, Quotations from Eamon de Valera, Mercier Press, Cork, 1983.
22 Earl of Longford & O’Neill, T. P., Eamon de Valera, Hutchinson, London, 1970, Acknowledgements, xv–xvi.
23 See Bowman, John, ‘Eamon de Valera: Seven Lives’ in O’Carroll, J. P. & Murphy, John A. (eds.), De Valera and his Times, p. 191.
24 O’Neill, Thomas P. & Ó Fiannachta, Pádraig, De Valera, 2 vols, Cló Morainn, Baile Átha Cliath, 1970.
25 Earl of Longford & O’Neill, T. P., Eamon de Valera, p. 185.
26 ibid., pp. 187–8.
27 ibid., p. 211.
28
29
The opening of the de Valera papers was a most important event for the historical profession with a specialist interest in the twentieth century, in the development of Irish nationalism and in the establishment of the Irish state. The Franciscan community, in whose possession the papers resided for many years, worked heroically to open up the collection to bona fide scholars. Without any warning to the Irish scholarly community, the de Valera papers were transferred to University College Dublin. Most of the collection had been closed indefinitely while the entire archive was being catalogued again. Scholars should congratulate the Franciscans, and Fr Ignatius Fennessy in particular, for the manner in which such an extensive collection was opened for research while under their jurisdiction. UCD are to be congratulated for the manner in which the archives have now been catalogued and opened.
30 Dáil Éireann (private sessions), 14 December 1921, cols 110–111.
31 De Valera to John Hagan, 13 January 1922, Hagan papers, Irish College, Rome.
32 Moynihan, Maurice (ed.), Speeches and Statements by Eamon de Valera, pp. 94–117.
33 ibid., p. 98.
34 ibid., pp. 99–101.
35 Coogan, Tim Pat, De Valera: Long Fellow, Long Shadow, p. 313.
36–1926, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1966, pp. 127–8.
37 O’Faoláin, Seán, The Life Story of Eamon de Valera, pp. 93–4.
38 Brennan, Robert, Allegiance, Browne and Nolan, Dublin, 1950, p. 343.
39 Moynihan, Maurice (ed.), Speeches and Statements by Eamon de Valera, p. 107.
40 Bromage, Mary C., De Valera and the March of a Nation, p. 179.
41 De Valera papers, 205/3 (see also note 29).
42 T. P. O’Neill minute, de Valera papers, 205/3.
43 Bromage, Mary C., De Valera and the March of a Nation, p. 183.
44 De Valera diary, 11 August 1922, de Valera papers, 2122.
45 Bromage, Mary C., De Valera and the March of a Nation, pp. 182–3.
46 De Valera diary, 12 August 1922, de Valera papers, 2122.
47 Bromage, Mary C., De Valera and the March of a Nation, p. 183.
48 De Valera diary, 13 August 1922, de Valera papers, 2122.
49 ibid. 14 August 1922, de Valera papers, 2122.
50 T. P. O’Neill minute, de Valera papers, 205/3.
51 MacArdle, Dorothy, The Irish Republic: a Documented Chronicle of the Anglo-Irish Conflict and the Partitioning of Ireland, with a Detailed Account of the Period 1916–1923, pp. 711–2.
52 ibid. p. 712.
53 O’Kelly to Hagan, 26 August 1922, Hagan papers, Irish College, Rome.
54 ibid.
55 Mulcahy to Hagan, 11 September 1922, Hagan papers, Irish College, Rome.
56 De Valera to Ms Ryan, 21 September 1922, Hagan papers, Irish College, Rome.
57 Earnan Ó Maille to de Valera, 3 September 1922, de Valera papers, 215.
58 Keogh, Dermot, The Vatican, the Bishops and Irish Politics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986, p. 96.
59 Moynihan, Maurice, Speeches and Statements by Eamon de Valera, p. 108; see also de Valera papers, 1452.
60 Thomas O’Doherty to Hagan, 11 November 1922, Hagan papers, Irish College, Rome.
61 He had been caught in possession of a pistol which had been given to him as a gift by Michael Collins. On the morning Childers stood trial at Portobello Barracks, 17 November, four men who had been caught in Dublin in possession of weapons were executed.
62 The first death sentences under the new legislation had been handed down in Kerry but they had not been carried out.
63 Dáil Éireann Debates, 28 November 1922, cols 2356–74; 29 November, cols 2387–431, 2445–60.
64 Patrick O’Donnell to Hagan, 25 November 1922, Hagan papers, Irish College, Rome.
65 Keogh, Dermot, The Vatican, the Bishops and Irish Politics, p. 97.
66 Keogh, Dermot, Twentieth Century Ireland, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1994, p. 14.
67 Davitt, Cahir, Memoir (unpublished), p. 51.
68 ibid., pp. 50–54.
69 Keogh, Dermot, The Vatican, the Bishops and Irish Politics, p. 98.
70 ibid., p. 97.
71 Madge Hales to Donal Hales, 9 June 1923, Hales papers, Cork Archives Institute.
72 Cork Examiner, 11 December 1924, clipping kept in Hales papers, Cork Archives Institute.
73 Davitt, Cahir, Memoir, pp. 75–6.
74 Cronin, Seán, The McGarrity Papers, Anvil Books, Tralee, 1972, pp. 132–5.
75 Interview with John Moher, former Fianna Fáil TD for North Cork and close friend of Seán Moylan.
76 Diary of Lieutenant Patrick Quinlan, 13 December 1922, copy in author’s possession.
77 Davitt, Cahir, Memoir, pp. 58–9.
78 Andrews, C. S., Dublin Made Me: An Autobiography, vol. 1, Mercier Press, Cork, 1979, pp. 243–4.
79 Cronin, Seán, The McGarrity Papers, p. 133.
80 This was said by Cosgrave in the course of an interview to representatives of neutral IRA men on 27 February 1923, NAI, DT S8139.
81 The last executions took place on 30 May l923 when two men, Michael Murphy and Joseph O’Rourke, were shot dead for the armed robbery on 24 May of the Munster and Leinster Bank in Athenry.
82 Donegal Vindicator, 17 March 1923; reference kindly supplied by Tom Cannon, Drumcondra, Dublin.
83 Daly to Fr Brennan, PP of Castlemaine, 7 February l923. Daly papers, in possession of Tony and Aine Meade, Cork.
84 Daly to his father, 14 March 1923, Daly papers.
85 McMullen to Fr Brennan, 21 March 1923, Daly papers. In the same letter, Fr McMullen wrote that ‘Charlie did not ask me to write to the Bishop [O’Sullivan of Kerry]. I fancy he considered himself more or less in disfavour with his Lordship.’ In fact, Charlie Daly’s father’s grandmother and the father of Dr O’Sullivan were brother and sister. His father had gone to see ‘his big Cousin’ in mid-February about his son’s predicament. He had not found the bishop ‘in very good humour’ but he was ‘prepared for him’ and they talked about old times; ‘so we had a long shanachee so I got him into the humour I wanted him.’ He found he had enough ‘of the Old Nature’ in him and concluded that ‘he is a good Old Fellow after all – Oh by the way he asked a good deal about you’; Letter from Daly’s father, 19 February 1932, Daly papers. Daly replied to his father on 25 February stating that he had been told about his visit to ‘your old school chum, big cousin as you call him’. The purpose ‘I can only guess but I don’t for a moment imagine that it was for the sake of “influence” in the vulgar sense of that word. Even in a case like this you, no more than I, would dream of seeking such “influence”. Nobody can object to intervention though where neither principle or honour are involved.’ He also pointed out that he had heard that his father had been surrounded by ‘Job’s comfortors’ who said that his teaching had been responsible for the situation in which his sons had found themselves. (His two brothers were also jailed anti-Treatyites.)
86 Keogh, Dermot, The Vatican, the Bishops and Irish Politics, p. 258.
87 See Donegal Vindicator, 24 March 1923. The house at Kilraine belonged at that time to the bishop’s brother. Bonnyglen House, Inver, was also burned down by armed men who were not even disguised. They told the caretaker that they were burning the place as a reprisal for the executions at Drumboe. The house was owned by the British Consul General in Philadelphia, W. H. M. Sinclair. The house of the father of Commandant Joseph Cunningham near Carrick was also burned down. He was OC Killybegs barracks. The house of Captain O’Boyle, Adjt. 46th Batt. Mallinmore, Killybegs was also destroyed by fire around the same time. The Donegal Vindicator, 24 March 1923 recorded the events which followed in the wake of the Drumboe executions and commented in an editorial: ‘Dead Irishmen are Ireland’s loss.’ I am very grateful to Dr James M. McCloskey, and to many other people in Glenties who helped me to research this incident. The family and relatives of Cardinal O’Donnell kindly showed me the home and papers in their possession. Mary Campbell of Glentie
s gave me a valuable taped interview of a number of elderly people from the area which I used as background. I am also grateful to Tom Cannon who gave me research notes.