A few years before my Dad, Richard (Kevin) Connolly died, he wrote a fairly lengthy reply to my cousin Eamonn regarding the family history. I had known for a long time that my maternal Grandfather James (Jim) Harpur was heavily involved in the Irish Civil War, fighting on the pro-treaty side under Michael Collins, but I didn’t know the level of involvement on my paternal grandfather’s side in this and the Irish War of Independence. Eamonn had written to Dad to ask him for further details about this period, and the details below are his reply. All questions/comments etc. are welcome at familyhistory@peteconnolly.co.uk

People:

Dick Connolly – (Richard Kevin Connolly) – my Dad, the author of this article.

Eithne Connolly – born Eithne Harpur – my mother, daughter of James (Jim) Harpur in the article below

Richard Connolly – My paternal grandad, the subject of most of the article.

Jim Harpur – my maternal grandfather. His notes to the National Archives of Ireland are here.
Jack Harpur – Jim Harpur’s brother. Expert piano player, gambler, all round good guy

Josie Harpur – sister of Jim, Jack, Mary and Kittie Harpur

Mary Harpur – sister of Jim, Jack, Josie and Kittie Harpur

Kittie Harpur – sister of Jim, Jack, Josie and Mary Harpur.

SUMMARY OF IRISH HISTORICAL EVENTS 1900 – 1925

Richard Connolly

My father, Richard Connolly, was born in 1883, the eldest of a family of 7 on a farm in West Cork, and at age 16 he passed the Junior Civil Service Examination for the Post Office and went to work in London.

To get a picture of the national mood and the political situation in Ireland at the turn of the century it is necessary to consider how the people felt after the total downfall of Parnell. A Protestant landowner from County Wicklow Charles Stewart Parnell (1845 – 1891) was accurately called the ‘Uncrowned King of Ireland’. By his political mastery of the House of Commons and leadership of the Nationalist MPs in the 1880s he succeeded in forcing Gladstone (The Prime Minister) to contemplate granting Home Rule to Ireland, against ferocious opposition from the Tories and the Orange Order. Then the trapdoor of the O’Shea divorce scandal destroyed him and the hopes of the majority of the Irish people for independence without bloodshed – within a year Parnell was dead and with him probably the only leader of that era who could have united North and South, by agreement.

In 1900 what emerged in Dublin and London was a bitter division between the Parliamentary Nationalists and the physical force revolutionaries (IRB) successors of the Fenian Brotherhood, of the 19^th century. This was the background to my father’s arrival in London, capital of the British Empire – a vast city with thousands of Irish, working at jobs not available to them at home. The new generation of middle-class Irish who came to the UK at that time could broadly be divided into two groups (A) non-political Irish who kept aloof from ex-Fenians and the Republican Brotherhood and pursued economic well-being and (B) those who saw Parnell’s downfall as a justification for pursuing armed rebellion at home rather than debating independence in Westminster.

My father – for better or worse – belonged to the latter persuasion and so at 18 was enrolled into the IRB by Tom Clarke (from the 1867 Fenian Rising  which failed through faulty intelligence work). There were many more like him in the UK and back home who felt that the Parnell Debacle was masterminded by the Government. This was not so. If any group connived at his ruin it was the Irish clergy and the hypocrites in his own party. In the years that followed my father met many like-minded friends. Sam Maguire – a Protestant Senior Civil Servant from West cork (1876 – 1927), Sean McDermott (1875 -1916) and Michael Collins (1890 – 1922). McDermott was on the Supreme Council of the IRB and later one of the seven signatories of the Declaration of the Republic (Easter 1916). During the first decade of the new century life on the surface proceeded normally but underneath the various political and para-military groups were pursuing their own agendas. Collins at 20 was a giant of a man physically, mentally, intellectually, with a short temper and an abrasive tongue. But loyal to a fault.

In 1912 when it became obvious to Asquith and the British Government that trouble with Germany was going to arise sooner than later it was decided to resurrect the Home Rule Bill for Ireland. This produced an adverse reaction from Unionists and the Orange Order in Belfast, London and Liverpool and the military establishment and cranked up the temperature in Ireland and in the UK. The stage was set for a show down.

I will digress, for a very important reason. In April 1912 my mother Brigid Mac Crossan arrived in Liverpool at age 22 to teach in Birkenhead. On a visit to her brother in London in 1913 she met my father and they got married in 1915. She often said that Mick Collins had Christmas dinner with them that year, just before he left for Dublin to take part in the Easter Rising. Here is a case of people being controlled by events not of their making. Collins gave up a very good job in an American Bank. Most of my Dad’s friends had – like him and Maguire – worked for the British Government yet they had this loyalty to the cause of Irish freedom which to the average Brit was crazy and potential treason, to an objective analyst a strange contradiction and to an Irishman total patriotism. This dilemma surfaced in 1914 at the start of the World War when rampant jingoism swept Britain at the same time as stirrings of revolution were being orchestrated in Dublin by Pearse, Clarke and Connolly and in London by the IRB.

My father – at that time  was on the Supreme Council of the IRB with Maguire and McDermott – left for Dublin. Two groups had formed in the capital (a) The Irish Volunteers formed by a school teacher Patrick Pearse (1879 – 1916), Tom Clarke (1852 – 1916), Cathal Brugha (1874 – 1922) and Eamonn De Valera (1882 – 1975) plus (b) The Irish Citizen Army by James Connolly (1870 -1916), an extreme Socialist and Labour Union Leader. These groups had nothing in common except a conviction that revolution was needed to break the domination of Britain over Ireland. Pearse was a visionary who felt that a blood sacrifice  a supreme gesture was necessary to wake up the Irish nation from apathy. Connolly a hard-headed socialist trade union leader was appalled by the grinding poverty in Ireland and the condition of the working class in Dublin. Clarke, an old Fenian and head of the IRB was the common link. Connolly’s view that an armed uprising was necessary followed on the 9 months lock-out of workers by Irish employers in 1913, which was the last strain. The major problem was the shortage of arms and equipment. The outbreak of war in 1914 was the touchstone for action.

In London meanwhile my parents were living in Kilburn unaware that their lives were shortly to be changed forever. My father’s brother Neilus had earlier been sworn into the IRB ,  had come to the attention of the police (RIC) in County Cork. He was under surveillance for political recruiting and armed training. In late 1915 my father came to Dublin for the meeting to decide on the date for the Rising. Six months later an informer in the Civil Service – presumably Irish – fingered him and 20 others and they were summarily dismissed. My parents left London for Cork in Autumn 1916.

In Dublin the Rising took place at Easter 1916, in various locations principally in the G.P.O. area. The rebels were outnumbered and outgunned. After one week it ended with considerable damage and casualties. Pearse had got his blood-sacrifice. He and the other ringleaders were all tried in secret and executed – one each day per week over a period of weeks and their bodies buried in quicklime – all except De Valera who was born in New York City in 1882. Amongst the non-political majority of Dubliners and rural Irish the Rising was unpopular as approximately 250,000 Irishmen had joined the British Army and the pay for their families helped them survive. The callous and stupid treatment of the rebels changed the national attitude to the revolt and a resurgence of the National Movement occurred.

Sinn Fein – a Political Party founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith (1874 – 1922) a moderate Nationalist who more or less languished in the pre-war years when the Volunteers and the citizen Army were making the running – now came to the forefront. It was a major force against the Westminster Nationalists led by John Redmond, Parnell’s successor. Redmond had secured a form of Home Rule for Ireland to be given after the war. He became an enthusiastic recruiting officer for the army. He viewed with disgust the ‘treachery’ of the Rising but was silent on the thousands of Irish killed in 2 days on the Somme. Sinn Fein announced that it would contest the 1918 General Election nation-wide against the Redmondites.

My father became Manager of the ‘Southern Star’ – a small country newspaper in Skibbereen, Co. Cork and was Election Manager for West Munster in the General Election. In 1917 Collins, with the others, was released from a prison camp in Wales. No one knows how it happened but within a year he had taken over effective leadership of the War of Independence, although by far the youngest of the rebel leaders. In the Election Sinn Fein destroyed the Redmondites and set up a native Parliament (Dail) in Dublin in 1919 with De Valera as President and Collins as Minister for Finance. An armed wing of the new movement was set up by him as The Irish Republican Army (IRA) and soon got many recruits but the perennial problem was adequate munitions. Thus at the start of 1919 there was a Parliament, a Cabinet, IRA, IRB and Sinn Fein versus Dublin Castle, the British Government and army and a repulsive group known as Black and Tans, from the uniform. Most of whom had been released from British jails and sent here to subdue the locals at the special behest of Lloyd George, the Prime Minister who was under pressure to get the right results. As for Collins he had all the strings in his fingers and was determined that what was to come would not be bothered by faulty intelligence work. He appointed I.O.’s (Intelligence Officials) for every county in the island. My father became I.O. for Mid and West Cork. Dublin and Cork were the most intensive areas in the struggle. Collins was fanatical in his determination to smash the British Intelligence system here run by Dublin Castle and operated by the Military, RIC and ‘Castle Catholics’. This he accomplished by a better system of his own. He worked his agents without respite until he had an almost total and ongoing knowledge of the enemy’s activities at various levels in every area of Ireland. He was a very severe taskmaster with a sarcastic turn of phrase who did not suffer fools gladly but led by his prodigious example.

The year 1917 – 1921 represented a great era in Irish history for unity of purpose in the struggle for Independence  in the IRA, Fianna Eireann (Youth), The Women’s Association of the IRA with genuine idealism. The IRA had many recruits  including the Harpur Family  Jim (Eithne’s father), Jack his brother and three sisters – Josie, Mary and Kitty. All at an early age. Jim was in the H.Q. Dublin Brigade and later in the specialist Active Service Unit (A.S.U.) who were used b Collins in guerrilla war in the city against the British military and later fighting a particularly repellent foe – the Black and Tans – parliamentary units of UK jails, similar to the Nazi SS – which were used nation-wide to wipe out the rebels and subdue the population. Neilus, Commandant of the West Cork IRA Brigade came into conflict with them many times. Their motto was ‘The only Good Shinner (IRA) is a dead one’. The war was at its worst in Dublin and Cork. Lloyd George in the House of Commons exulted ‘We’ve got murder by the throat’  to justify repression and terror countrywide. Reprisals and shootings, arrests and abductions were commonplace. The country was living on its nerves, rebels, Black and Tans and the general populace (enclosed is a copy of extract from Jim Harpur’s statement on the organisation of the ASU). The most celebrated (?) execution – by hanging – at that time was in November 1920 of Kevin Barry (1902 – 1920) of the Dublin Brigade of the IRA  as an example to the rebels. It had the reverse effect and the campaign intensified.

The year 1920 ended with De Valera in the U.S. having failed to get recognition for the Irish Cabinet and Parliament, but otherwise a great personal success with Irish-American groups. At home the hunt for Collins intensified with the authorities putting a price of £10,000 on his head. Resentment towards him was growing amongst his political and military colleagues Brugha, Griffin, Stack etc., partly due to his impatient volatile personality and his ubiquitous roles head of the IRA, IRB, Intelligence Chief, Minister for Finance and decision-maker. Collins disregarded this – his principal concerns were the ongoing lack of guns and equipment for the IRA Brigades, neutralising the RIC and informers and trying to get De Valera back from the U.S. When Dev did return he had the brilliant idea (to him) of pitched battles between British forces and IRA brigades. To Collins – who believed that the only realistic method of prosecuting the struggle was guerrilla war – this was suicidally disastrous but he was overruled by the Cabinet. And in May 1921 the H.Q. Dublin IRA attacked the Custom House. It was a fortified strongpoint. The attack failed with many casualties and Brigade troops captured – including Jim Harpur – and lodged in Kilmainham Jail where treatment was very harsh. However the event got wide publicity and in Westminster Lloyd George was in trouble at his inability to crush the rebels  as his advisors including the Chief of Staff, Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson had assured him. He started to make soundings for talks through Dublin Castle with De Valera and others. The outcome of this was the Truce signed on July 11^th 1921, a momentous day in Irish history. The Irish Independence Movement – in which the eminent historical Prof. Joe Lee estimates that there were no more than 900 – 1000 men and women directly involved – had fought the might of Britain to a standstill.

Arrangements were agreed between Lloyd George and De Valera to commence negotiations on a Treaty which it was hoped would bring peace to Ireland. Talks commenced in 10 Downing Street early October 1921.

To help you to make sense of the events that followed these are the groups (and vocal personalities) and their agendas as of October 1921.

• Sinn Fein – still led by Arthur Griffith whose personal objective was Home Rule within the Commonwealth. But which included:-

• De Valera – President of an unofficial and unrecognised Republic – great prestige from 1916 Rising. Objectives unclear but coated in mysticism.

• Cathal Brugha – Sinn Fein and ex Volunteer – fanatical Republican and disciple of Patrick Pearse R.I.P.. His followers included the hard liners who believed that the Irish Republic founded Easter 1916 existed.

• IRB – controlled by Collins, who had their allegiance personally. Objective was  what was realistically available.

• The Brigades – wanted the best possible settlement but whose commandants knew resources were very limited at any given time.

• A group comprising relatives of 1916 leaders whose objectives similar to Brugha’s fanatics.

• Ex Citizen Army veterans (Socialists) who had more in common with their British Labour colleagues who helped them in the 1913 lock-out.

The Irish Cabinet selected Griffith, Collins and two others to meet the UK delegation. A question – why did De Valera not attend the negotiations? fear of failure? a referral point? or minding the Store? No one knows  but Collins was the worst possible choice for the job – after 6 years of mental and physical activity he was near exhaustion and his cover was blown. As far as the British were concerned the British delegation was impressive. In addition to Lloyd George were Churchill, Birkenhead and Chamberlain, a formidable team. The negotiations dragged on for 7 weeks with the Irish group returning to Dublin at weekends. The dice was loaded from the start. The Government of Lloyd George was under pressure to concede nothing more than a limited form of self-government, but with the Oath of Allegiance mandatory and Ulster as copperfastened by the Government of Ireland Act of 1920: the die-hards at home wanted an Independent Republic cutting all ties with Britain. Griffith’s views were well known to all. The other two delegates were De Valera’s men reporting back. Collins was unfortunately for him ‘The Pie in the Middle’  On the one hand was Griffith; on the other the IRB (which he led) dedicated to Republican Independence and the Die-hards similar views. De Valera, the sideline critic. Weekend Cabinet meetings in Dublin were sterile and argumentative at length. In early December Lloyd George – looking at the resurgent conservatives and the new Labour Party in the wings – issued an ultimatum to the Irish delegation: ‘Sign or face an immediate and terrible war’. Collins realised that resources to prosecute a guerrilla war any further were exhausted, agreed to sign and the Irish Free State (26 counties) came into existence with an agreement to get a Boundary Commission to examine the 6 counties of Northern Ireland to ascertain if there was a majority for joining the new State.

Given the circumstances of the time it was an amazing achievement – independence for most of the island after 700 years of struggle. Back home the reaction was mixed 50/50 for and against the Treaty. De Valera denounced it, as did Brugha and the Die-hards, some of whom said Collins was a traitor. The IRB supported Collins – ‘what’s good enough for Mick Collins is good enough for me’. The IRA Brigades were split, but a majority like Jim Harpur and Neilus supported it, others were violently against it. In the Dail the debate on the Treaty was bitter, abusive and discouraging but eventually it was carried by 63 votes to 57 and the State was founded in January 1922 with Arthur Griffith President.

Collins became Chairman of the Provisional Government with William Cosgrave as Deputy and Dick Mulcahy (formerly Chief of Staff of the IRA) as Minister of Defence, Kevin O’Higgins (Minister for Justice). The Anti-Treaty group were formidable – De Valera, Brugha, Boland, O’Connor, Lynch, etc. Months of turmoil followed. But some positive events occurred. The Irish Civil Service took over running of the State. The National Army was established in January 1922 (Jim Harpur was its first Commissioned Officer). Recognition for the new State came from Europe and the U.S. Then a disastrous event happened in June. Field-Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff was shot dead in London. There are many versions of the background to this. It is said that Collins had ordered his execution two years earlier but had never cancelled the order to Maguire, head of the London IRA. Maguire had nominated two IRA men, Dunne and O’Sullivan to carry it out and then forgot it. In late 1921 British intelligence closed in on Maguire who left London and became a fugitive making his way back eventually to Ireland. In July 1922 rebels seized key buildings in Dublin, fortified them and called for the cancellation of the Treaty. The Civil War got under way. Collins became C-in-C of the Army which prosecuted the war with bitterness and thoroughness. But the cost was great. Ex-comrades shot by their former friends and divisions among families grew. Brugha, Boland and Lynch shot. Griffith the President died suddenly – a completely selfless man and genuine patriot worn out by the strife of visionaries. Worse follows.  On an inspection tour in Cork, Collins was shot on august 22^nd. His loss to Ireland was irreparable. From then until May 1923 Cosgrave, Mulcahy and O’Higgins prosecuted the war with vigour as did their opponents -  with viciousness and vengeance.  77 executions, 3 summary reprisals, 1 judicial murder (Childers,  for having a revolver given to him by Collins). In all of this De Valera kept quiet but was stirring things by speeches, until Cosgrave put him in Jail in 1923.

Regarding my father’s situation in West Cork. He continued to manage the ‘Southern Star’. Collins’ death was a national tragedy to him as it was to 70% of the Irish nation. Collins’ successors were not up to the job of healing the nation’s wounds. My father-in-law in January became the first commissioned Officer of the National Army and took over Beggars Bush Barracks from the British. He idolised Collins as did most of the IRA Brigades and told me that he was numb with grief and disbelief for months. In 1925 my parents came to Dublin and he resumed his Civil Service career with a reasonably good job. But deserved much better. His prospects were not improved by the Maguire Case. Cosgrave regarded Maguire as a non-person, a pariah responsible for Wilson’s murder, others saw it differently. If the Treaty negotiations had failed, Lloyd George’s warning of a ‘terrible war’ would have Wilson C-in-C in Ireland,  so the word was. Therefore Wilson was a legitimate target. This Cosgrave rejected out of hand. Maguire penniless and broken, died at age 51 in 1927. My father was embittered by the bad treatment of Maguire, a fellow IRB man and a friend and made no secrecy of his feelings.

One of the saddest features of the Cosgrave regime (1923 – 1932) was the unworthy treatment of many who had done the most to secure independence in their own different ways. Some had chosen the anti-treaty way after the State was founded. Others like my father and Neilus believed in Collins and what he stood for. One example is Col. Jim Harpur (Eithne’s Dad). He was totally committed from the start. He had a long and distinguished army career and should have ended his service as a Major-General if justice and fairness had prevailed. However, he and many others with similar records and effectiveness were passed over in appointments not by De Valera’s Government but by Cosgrave’s obsession with giving positions in the Civil and Military Services to Northerners who flooded down south in the 1920s. He, Jim Harpur, was an idealist whose loyalties were to the State and not to his ambitions. Perhaps the most bizarre top appointment was that of Tim Healy, an old time Parnellite M.P. whose chief claim to fame was a smart-assed question to Parnell at the moment of his downfall. Parnell: ‘I am still the Master of this Party’. Healy: ‘And who is the Mistress?’ Healy was made Governor General of the Irish Free State!!  Cosgrave destroyed the IRB and as a pious Catholic replaced it with the Knights of St. Columbanus (Catholic Free Masonery) in 1925.

Well Eamon the foregoing mixture of recollections and viewpoints I cobbled together over 50 years ago. My father was a very good man in many ways, a bit overpreoccupied with the past events and in later life somewhat ‘cranky’. He was very fortunate that my mother was always there to soften the harsh edges of the world for him in later life. The tragic death of my brother Sean at age 14 – from drowning – scarred them for the rest of their lives. He died in April 1963 my mother having predeceased him in January 1962.

I hope you will find this summary interesting. At least it’s intended to focus on an era quite unique in our history.

Dick Connolly