The Irish tangle and a way out

Contents

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INTRODUCTORY 9

Reasons for writing. — A talk in the South, which led to others elsewhere. — A word from the late Colonel Roosevelt.

CHAPTER I.— From New York to Ireland in War-time 13

Distinguished passengers. — Life on board ship. — Army officers and men. — A submarine scare. — At Liverpool. — War-marks, and the British spirit. — Holyhead to Dublin. — England and Ireland — A contrast.

CHAPTER II.— Early Events of Great Importance 22

Ireland invaded. — Folk-lore, legend, and authentic history. — Troubles at home. — Finn MacCool. — Saint Patrick, and other Saints and Missionaries. Art and literature. — Classes of society. — The Brehon Law. — The Danish invasion. — Malacki and Brian. — Internal strife. — Roderick O'Connor, Supreme King.

CHAPTER III. — Later Invasion and Rebellion 40

Dermot MacMurragh and his Foreign Allies. — Archbishop O'Toole, the peacemaker. — Henry II. distributes Ireland among his followers. — King Richard. — King John and the Irish factions. — The "English Pale." — The Bruces in Ireland. — "Statute of Kilkenny." — Richard II. tries to stop rebellion. — Parliament, 1449, and 1466. — The Imposter 5

CONTENTS

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Simnel and German aid. "Poyning's Law." —

Policy of Henry VIII.— Edward VI.— Mary and Elizabeth. — The Geraldine Rebellion. — Foreign expeditions.— Desmond despoiled. — Rebellion under Hugh O'Neill, assisted by Spain. — Lord Mountjoy's Victory. — The Plantation of Ulster. — Charles I. and Wentworth.— The Rebellion of 1641.— Royalist Ireland and Cromwell. — James II. and William of Orange. — Repeal of all offensive laws by James. James defeated at Old Bridge. — Repressive Laws. — Laws injurious to Irish trade.

CHAPTER IV.— The Union and Some of Its Results 60

Distinguished leaders. — Various societies formed. — The Volunteers, and the 1783 Parliament. — Coercion.— Enfranchisement of Roman Catholics. — Wolf Tone and the 1798 Rebellion.— Northern Orangemen. — The Union. — Efforts to Repeal. — Daniel O'Connell enters Parliament. — National education.— Various reforms. — The "Young Ireland Party." — John Mitchell and independence. — The Famine, 1845-7, and American aid. — The Church of Ireland dis-established.

CHAPTER V. — Remedial Measures of Importance. . 78

Progressive legislation. — The Land Acts, between 1870 and 1909, and their results.— Sir Horace Plunkett's Co-operative plans. — The Irish Agricultural Society. — Congested Districts' Board. — Laborers' cottages. — The Recess Committee. — Local Government, 1908, and its working. — Irish Universities.— Secondary education. — Gaelic League.

CHAPTER VI.— Home Rule and the 1916 Rebellion 99

"Home Rule" and Parnell. — The Gladstone Bills, and Opposition. — House of Lords disciplined. — The Asquith Bill, 1910, and Ulster's Pledge.— Sinn Fein's Volunteers. — Ulster Volunteers. — Sinn

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Fein's beginning; and attitude toward the Home Rule bill. — Sinn Fein and the War. — Sir Roger Casement and Germany. — Destruction Wrought by 1916 Rebellion. — Redmond's Volunteers. — Mr. Asquith's visit, and payment for damage. — The Effect of the Rebellion in the Empire; in Ireland; and in Germany and Austria. — Arguments for Home Rule, and the appeal to President Wilson. — The Ulster rejoinder, and arguments against Home Rule.

CHAPTER VH. — Attitude in the War and the Irish Convention 122

Army unprepared. — The Navy and Admiral Sims. — Volunteers. — Ireland's first aid to the Kingdom.— Her contribution. — Reasons for later aloofness.— Mr. Bonar Law's "Monroe Doctrine" — Conscription, and England's Labor Unions. — Anti-conscription in Ireland, and the loyal support of many. — Cork Red Cross Work. — WTiat Americans in Ireland did. — The Irish Convention's task. — Personnel. — Failure to agree. — Reports. — Sinn Fein and the General Election. — Note by two members of the Irish Convention.

CHAPTER VIIL— The Irish Recruiting Council. . . 147

Patriotic effort to ward off conscription. — Arduous work of the Council. — Newspaper accounts of two meetings in the Sligo Area.— Reasons for the failure of the Council to attain their goal. — Bishop Dowse on Ireland's Lost Opportunity.

CHAPTER IX.— A Solution 172

Present state: Prosperous, but unsettled — Exports and Imports. — Bank deposits. — Fishing returns. — Changing conditions. — Sergeant Sullivan, K. C, on lawlessness, and his appeal against crime. — Settlement desirable. — Unionists and Partition. — The

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Centre Party. — Irish Reconstruction Association. — Summary. — Proposed solution : Improvement of national education. — No religious education during school hours. — Unity, the most desirable asset. — Railway improvement. — Government co-operation to be given generously. — A Port in the West. — A Federal Parliament, for England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, with suitable safeguards for the Irish Provinces, the best plan today. — General Gough on conciliation. — The New Bill.

APPENDIX.— War Time Addresses 188

Addresses by the author and distinguished Irishmen, on the War and Ireland's duty, at Schull. — The Palace Theatre, Cork. — Mallow. — Tullamore. — The Mansion House, Dublin. — Ballymena. — Rathfriland. — Sligo and Ballymote. — The Recruiting Council's acknowledgment.

INTRODUCTORY

Reasons for writing.— A talk in the South, which led to others elsewhere. — A word from the late Colonel Roosevelt.

|HORTLY before leaving Ireland, where I had spent several months, chiefly in going throughout the land telling the people of America's part in the great war, a friend suggested that, considering I had traveled in all quarters of the country and had met leading men in almost every walk of life, of all kinds of political affiliation and religious belief, as far apart as the Lord Mayor of Belfast and the Lord Mayor of Cork, and the Archbishop of Dublin and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Cork, and had heard their views and aspirations, man to man, my impressions of Ireland and the War should be put in print and placed on the market. The suggestion took me by surprise, as the idea of writing on so fascinating a subject had never occurred to my mind; but, after some consideration, I decided to accede to my friend's request, in the hope that my effort may help Ireland toward her destiny, and also help some people to a better understanding of Ireland.

It may not be amiss to state here that, my visit to Ireland was not the outcome of a desire for a holiday in foreign parts during the war. Every loyal American abstained, as far as possible, from holiday-making during the time the country was bending her efforts toward bringing the war to a speedy and successful end. In view of the public lectures that I gave, to gatherings as small as sixty and as large as five thousand, some of which were generously reported in the Irish newspapers, and some in the English newspapers also, it may not be amiss to state that I did not go to Ireland as a propagandist, nor had I official relations with either the American or the British Government. Personal reasons, which would be of no interest to the reader, were entirely responsible; and I shall always feel grateful to all my friends who helped to make the way easy for me, and to the good people of Ireland for their kindly welcome and unfailing courtesy during my stay among them.

After deciding to go to Ireland, I thought it would be well to take over some views on war preparation in America, to be used when telling my friends here and there in Ireland of America's part in the War. Through the kindness of the Reverend George B. Fairbrother, M.A., Rector of Schull, a lecture was given in that town soon after my arrival in Ireland, which was listened to with great attention by a large gathering of people of various political leanings. This meeting led to others in different parts of the country; and, no matter where I spoke in public, the people showed a deep interest in what I told them and voiced their approval unmistakably. In the appendix will be found accounts of several meetings, as they appeared in the daily press. I add, at this point, a letter that was sent to me in Ireland by a man who was much interested in Ireland's welfare and whom I had the honor of knowing personally, our great American, the late Theodore Roosevelt. This letter was read at many meetings, and appeared in several newspapers in Ireland and England:

"New York, April 12, 1918.

My Dear Dr. Johnson:

I trust that you will have a most useful as well as a most pleasant trip in Ireland. There is an old and long standing friendship between the people of Ireland and the people of the United States. I hope you will set before them the fact that the United States has entered this war, partly of course because of intolerable grievances of our own against Germany, but also as part of the great fight for justice and liberty against the most brutal militaristic despotism of modem times. America entered the war very late and I sincerely wish that she had undertaken her task two years before she did. But our people are now waked up and are beginning to bend with efficiency their enormous energy and power to the task before them: and they will never give in. I hope you will say to the people of Ireland whom you may meet, that America's one desire is for peace and for a good understanding between nations and for securing the right of every well-behaved people, great or small, to live unmolested by others, so long as it does not molest others; and the test of our friendship in the future for any nation should be that nation's attitude in this war.

Faithfully yours,

Theodore Roosevelt.

Rev. Thomas C. Johnson, Church of the Holy Spirit, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, N. Y."

CHAPTER I From New York to Ireland in War-Time

Distinguished passengers. — Life on board ship. — Armyofficers and men. — A submarine scare. — At Liverpool. — War-marks, and the British spirit. — Holyhead to Dublin. — England and Ireland. — A contrast.

|ANY distinguished people were on board the S.S. Cedric, Captain Carter, on which the writer traveled, including about one hundred officers and three thousand men of the United States Army, the Archbishop of York and his chaplain. Sir Ernest Shackleton, an English Labor Commission — comprising Charles Duncan, M.P., and Messrs. Appleton, Mosses and Butterworth — who made life on board so pleasant and interesting that the thirteen days occupied in the voyage passed by quickly. Precaution and vigilance obtained all the way. Before leaving port the military left the promenade decks, and remained inside until the ship had got well out to sea. After sunset all port holes were closed and remained so until sunrise. Lights were not visible from the outside; and a large guard was constantly on duty.

The usual ship-games were played during the day, and at night those on board were treated frequently to a concert or lecture. In the Regiment and the

Machine Gun Company were many able musicians, who generously contributed of their talents and time to various concerts and entertainments. The Archbishop of York, who had done so much during his all-too-short tour of America, toward strengthening the bond of unity between the British Empire and America, gave a very impressive lecture on the war, the part that America would have an opportunity to take, and the importance of the standards which those who were then going to France should set for their fellows who were to come later. On Sunday his Grace preached on the text, "Keep that which is committed to thy trust," to a large gathering of men who crowded round to hear his helpful words of encouragement and advice. His Grace, who was very popular among the passengers, seemed highly pleased with the speed and determination with which America was preparing to render further assistance in the war; but he felt somewhat perturbed that he should have to remain so long on board ship without any information from the front, at a time when "the destinies of the Empire were in the balance." A lecture was given by Sir Ernest Shackleton on his Trans- Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1916, in connection with which he showed a book of photographs illustrating various incidents of the undertaking. The lecturer was loud in his praise of the men who had accompanied him, many of whom were Irish, and paid special tribute to their unswerving loyalty and dauntless courage. He also told how he had offered his ship and men to the

Government at the outbreak of the war, and of their declination of his offer, preferring that he should go on with the expedition.

The two colonels in charge of the Regiment and the Gun Company, the other officers, and the men under their command were of the finest calibre, of whom America had every reason to be proud. During the day the officers had schools of instruction in military tactics and strategy, and all seemed anxious to become more proficient and to improve the time afforded by the voyage. The Regimental Colonel showed decided interest in the welfare of his men, and paid daily visits to all parts of the ship to see that they were as comfortably cared for as possible. Needless to say that he was fully appreciated by those under him; and that he held the confidence, respect and affection of all. The Colonel in charge of the Gun Company was extremely popular with his men, a teacher and leader of the first order, whose face and bearing were an index to his sterling character. No wonder that the American soldier loves his leaders and is willing to do anything for them, when they are made of such material. The Medical Officers, too, were men who never spared themselves throughout the voyage. Medical inspection took place every day; but this did not end the work of those consecrated gentlemen, who were always on duty, and took a much deeper interest in the men's welfare than that which is called "official."

Boat drill was an everyday occurrence. When the whistle blew, officers, men and civilians marched to their boat stations, each one with his life preserver ready to man his allotted boat or raft. Throughout the voyage life preservers were worn; and while it took a few days to get accustomed to these awkward safeguards, yet, before the end of the trip they were easily carried and seemed to cause little discomfort. The twelve ships in the convoy, which carried thirty thousand troops, were carefully escorted. In the submarine zone British destroyers did splendid work, dashing hither and thither and thoroughly scouring a vast area as the ships moved along. The results of destruction wrought by submarines appeared on the ocean as we neared our destination; and on one occasion a submarine caused some excitement among those in the convoy. Two destroyers went to investigate, and in due time returned with a reassuring report. Apart from this affair the journey was rather uneventful; and, as the weather was good, only slight inconvenience was experienced by the rather lengthy crossing.

Liverpool was reached on Sunday morning, April 28th. The first sight that the writer beheld was an American ambulance, and the second sight was a German ship in Allied war paint flying the American flag. This ship had brought a large number of American troops over, and was preparing to return and continue in that useful service. The American ambulance, and the German ship as an American transport, impressed on all the fact already known, that

America was going on with the business of the war in a thorough-going fashion. The men disembarked, and the civilians made the acquaintance of the British Immigration Authorities — who were most courteous in their duties — and passed on to the Custom House Officials, who did their part in record time.

In Liverpool the writer had twelve hours to wait for a train to Holyhead, from which port the Kingstown boat sailed. In those twelve hours he secured a great deal of enlightenment on the war and its effects. The streets were filled with wounded and disabled soldiers, and any men on the streets, not wearing service or hospital uniforms, were obviously too old for military service or else wore the "honorably discharged" badge. The whole atmosphere was sombre; and all, men and women alike, showed unmistakable signs of a long strain and a severe regimen. A soldier passed by wearing a new kind of badge, and, upon inquiring its meaning the writer was informed that he was one of England's "Contemptibles" — one of those noble fellows who rushed to service at the opening of the war — whom the German Emperor characterized as "Contemptible." He should rather have called that army, if he had had any prophetic vision, "Immortal," for they have surely won that title by their patriotism, courage, and selfsacrifice. They, truly, "saved the day." The shops of course were closed; but the windows displayed large signs of "Controlled" goods — and they were "Controlled." In one of the large hotels where he went for luncheon, the writer was requested to produce his meat card, his sugar card, and his butter card, of which he knew nothing. A luncheon without these luxuries was however served, and Avhile making the acquaintance of the "war bread," different from anything previously seen or imagined, the advice often given by the diligent steward, Mac, on board ship occurred to his mind. As the good steward served the hot rolls daily he was wont to remark, "eat plenty of these now, for you won't see white bread again until you make the return journey.'' Mac was right; even in Ireland real old-time white bread was not offered in the hotel fare. Those hours Spent in Liverpool revealed what war really meant; and the writer felt impressed with the hardships and sorrows which it entailed. It is all right to talk of war from afar, to read in the news of the deaths and other casualties, to note the restrictions in living and to feel for the sufferers; but it is quite a different thing to feel the oppressive atmosphere of war, to see its deadly ravages and disabling results, to become amenable to its restrictions, and to listen to the words of the bereaved. In America, although nearly all thought that they were carrying a great part of the burden of the war in every sense, in reality they knew little about it, nor did they experience the anguish and realize its meaning until their own men had paid the great price, and the casualty lists had appeared, and the ships had brought home to their shores the sick and the disabled. "The British Empire and the

Allies," as the Archbishop of York put it in his sermon on board ship, "had been fighting for their existence for four years, and they were tired." They were tired, but not discouraged; they were suffering, but not desirous of ceasing until they could proclaim victory to the world. Among all the returned troops from the front, the wounded and the disabled, as well as the whole, with whom the writer talked in England and Ireland, he never met one who did not desire to return, and give his life if necessary for the cause of freedom. In traveling from Belfast to Enniskillen one day he met a soldier who had been wounded five times. Three times he had been on leave in order to recuperate, and three times he had returned to the front. The last leave, as the result of a very badly crushed foot, was to him a great strain, because the doctor had informed him that his return to France was not probable. "I'm drawing a good pension," said he, "but I'd give it all for another day in the trenches. It isn't fair treatment, to keep me here." The journey from Liverpool to Holyhead and Kingstown was made without any particular incident, although the four hours spent crossing the Irish Sea were rather anxious ones, and as the night was bright and fine, most of those on board remained on deck holding or wearing life preservers. Some passengers, who had experienced the working of the drastic food laws in England, were surprised to find such a wonderful display of meats and food as appeared in the dining-room of the mail boat and lost no time in ordering whatever they desired, for food cards were not necessary there.

As soon as Ireland was reached, it was evident that the country was not affected by the war in the same way that England was. In Ireland, men were to be seen everywhere; strong, young, able-bodied men — the very opposite was true of England. In Ireland, food was plentiful, everything offered for sale as heretofore — except sugar, which could not be secured in large quantities, as each one was supposed to have only half-a-pound per week. In Ireland the people showed every sign of prosperity; in England the people seemed impoverished. In Ireland the fairs, races, market days, cattle shows and horse shows were kept; in England there was none of that. It is true, as appears elsewhere, that many in Ireland kept the meatless days and the wheatless days with England, and abstained from pleasure-making, and worked hard for the success of the war; but a vast majority seemed to have little interest in the war beyond buying and selling, and the prosperity it brought them. Judging from exterior conditions, and forgetting the war for a moment, it seemed as if England and Ireland had exchanged conditions. The Ireland of bygone years was certainly a pitiful sight; hungry, cold and naked, with little hope for better days, and struggling against most discouraging forces. The houses, were, generally speaking, of the poorest order, the lands were uncultivated for the most part, and uncared for, the cattle and horses were of inferior breeds, the schools were few and far between, and the landlords were very punctilious in exacting the pound of flesh. The Ireland of 1918 presented a very different appearance; a greater change in the external conditions of any people has never taken place within thirty years. The people were well fed, well clothed, and well housed. Tliey seemed self-satisfied and prosperous, and many of them were making large sums of money as a result of the war. Their farms were very productive and well-cared for, their cattle were of the best breeds, and their houses which were generally slated were comfortable and suitably furnished. Labor was well paid, though hard to secure; and many farmers had recently become owners of the land for which they had paid annual rent in bygone years. Instead of using the old-time means of conveyance, the average farmer usually drove to town in a pony trap or carriage of some sort. Yes, Ireland appeared exceedingly prosperous: and what wonder if, within the next year or two, the stream of immigration shall be turned in that direction. No longer can the aged laborer say in excuse for his poverty in Ireland, as one stated to the writer some years ago when asking assistance, "I've spent all my time working my life out to keep my life in." Prosperity is not peculiar to any particular part of Ireland to-day, but characterizes the whole land — North, South, East and West.

CHAPTER II Early Events of Great Importance

Ireland invaded. — Folk-lore, legend, and authentic history. — Troubles at home. — Finn MacCool. — Saint Patrick, and other Saints and Missionaries. — Art and literature. — Classes of society. — The Brehon Law. — The Danish invasion. — Malacki and Brian. — Internal strife. — Roderick O'Connor, Supreme King.

HE account of a conversation between two Irishmen in New York, seems to have a decided moral when applied to Ireland. The elder brother, who had been in America less than one year, when asked by the younger who had just arrived from the old sod, "Pat, how do you like this country of yours?" replied, "Well, this is a fine country, and it would be a lot better but for them foreigners!" Would it? Pat forgot that the foreigners had for many years been the mainstay of his adopted land, and that his old country had done much toward making the greatest democracy of the world what it is to-day. America is a land of foreigners, invaders, immigrants; and in this respect at least strongly resembles Ireland.

Foreigners have made America what it is, a nation gathered from all nations in the world ; and who dare controvert that, foreigners have made Ireland what it is. We know something of the ancient people of America, some of whose descendants are very much in evidence even in our own time; but of the ancient people of Ireland, if there were any, before the days of invasion or immigration we know nothing. We do know, however, that, from earliest accounts, Ireland has been an attractive land to many nations, and that expedition after expedition has arrived at her shores set upon no better intent than to invade, to plunder, and to conquer. Some of those early invaders and their descendants no doubt survived the oppression and tyranny of those who came after them as invaders, and through intermarriage with them became an integral part of the composite body known as the Irish. If the history of the Roman Empire has been characterized by a celebrated historian as that of a "Decline and Fall," surely it will not seem amiss to those who are at all familiar with the vicissitudes of Irish history to describe it as the history of "Foreign Invasion and Internal Strife."

Like most ancient nations, Ireland has an abundance of folk-lore, folk songs and annals which keep alive the ancient traditions and recall the great achievements of the past. From these an insight may be had into the early life and customs of a people who are so different from all others, and by these an understanding and appreciation may be obtained of the characteristics usually evidenced in the Irish people.

Legend states that in very ancient times Ireland was invaded or colonized, in rather rapid succession, by no less than five peoples. Parthalon of Greece led one thousand men thither, but at the end of three hundred years a plague set in that almost wiped out their descendants. Nemid of Scythia also came, and he too, and many of his followers, died of plague. Next came the Firbolgs, under the guidance of the sons of Dela, who divided the country into five parts — Ulster, Leinster, Connaught and the two Munsters. The Dedannans, who came next, decided to stay, and so burned their ships. No sooner had they landed than they set out to conquer the Firbolgs, who, like themselves, had come from Greece, and at the end of a four days' fight won a victory for which in later ages they were deified — and became the Shee or fairies so often mentioned in Irish story and song. The Milesians came from Scythia, and, after spending some time in Egypt and Europe, set sail from Spain; but their fleet suffered great loss as the result of violent storms off the Irish coast. A small number survived who gave battle to the Dedannans, and after securing victory their leaders divided Ireland into three parts among themselves.

We come next to a period which brings in what the Annals of Tigemack O'Breen state to be the beginning of authentic Irish history. The queen of the king of Ulster, three hundred years before Christ, built the palace of Emain, which for six hundred years remained the residence of the kings of Ulster. The place where this palace was built is now called

Navan Fort, two miles west of Armagh. Croghan Fort, in Roscommon, which also antedates Christianity, was built as a residence of the kings of Connaught. The discord in the different parts of Ireland soon became very great, and the leaders of the Milesians had no small trouble in keeping the descendants of those whom they had overcome in subjection. Tuathal, who ruled toward the end of the first century, believed that he had found a cure for all trouble and disaffection among the people, when he suggested a monarch for all Ireland, and proceeded to put his cure into effect by cutting a little off from each of the existing Provinces and creating from these parts a new Province, the Province of Meath, which should become the estate of the Supreme King of Ireland. It was a grand idea; but the people even in those days would not stay "put," and very soon Ireland was divided into two parts. A natural line of sandhills, from Dublin across to Galway, was decided on as the neutral ground between Conn, the king of the Northern part, and Mow, the king of the Southern part.

Cormac, the grandson of Conn, king of Northern Ireland, founded colleges for military science, history, literature and law. In his time the Feena, or Volunteers as we would call them today, came into prominence, and were commanded by the famous Finn MacCool, son-in-law of Cormac. The great deeds of Finn, as well as other Bardic Romances, are set forth by T. W. Rolleston, in his book — The High Deeds of Finn. The Feena rebelled in the next reign, but were defeated ignominiously. Much is written of the Niall or Neill family from the end of the fourth century onward in Irish history. The Scots of Ireland and their neighbors, the Picts of Scotland, whether from natural propensity or desire for plunder, were often in those days found on marauding expeditions to Britain and Gaul, and were greatly feared by the natives of those lands. The leader of the most daring of these invasions was Niall, who, among a number of other captives, brought St. Patrick to Ireland. Niall, however, was killed while on one of those famous invasions on the banks of the river Loire; but his successor — Dathi — the last king of pagan Ireland, carried on the invasion of foreign lands and was eventually killed by lightning near the Alps.