De Valera's Irelands (30 page)
Read De Valera's Irelands Online
Authors: Dermot Keogh,Keogh Doherty,Dermot Keogh
Tags: #General, #Europe, #Ireland, #Political Science, #History, #Political, #Biography & Autobiography, #Revolutionaries, #Statesmen
The four decades between 1921 and 1961 saw the founding and conÂsolidation of two new political states in Ireland. While both Northern IreÂland and the Irish Free State, later the Irish Republic, marked all four of the national holidays or days of commemoration examined here, the difÂference in the manner and extent of the celebrations tells us much about how each state and its citizens viewed its own identity and sense of hisÂtory. Undoubtedly for many involved, the subject of commemÂoration or celebration, such as Armistice Day or St Patrick's Day, had a personal and heartfelt meaning. At the same time, these occasions often took on a special significance, and were related to issues of identity and politics as they affected the broader community. Important changes occurred in how such special days were marked. Sometimes these changes were influenÂced by the desire of leaders to respond to pressures and divisions within their own group, while other times they were a response by a leader and a group to the actions and statements of their opponents. De Valera's opposition to Armistice Day may have been caused partly by a concern to keep republicans on his side and partly as a reaction to attempts by some in the 1920s to turn âthe 11th November into the 12th July'.
95
Craig's new links with Orangeism and a Protestant identity may have been the result partly of a concern to keep unionist unity, and partly as a response by southern politicians who âboasted of a Catholic state'.
96
Pre-1920, St Patrick's Day and Armistice Day enjoyed widespread support. Between 1920 and 1960, however, these occasions were increasÂingly dominated and endorsed by some sections of the community and rejected by others. St Patrick's Day was used by nationalists/republicans to help to boost an exclusive nationalist and Catholic view of Irish idenÂtity. Partly because of this, and partly because of a concern by some unionÂists to emphasise British links, many ProtestÂants came to disregard St PatÂrick's Day. Armistice Day was used by unionists to strengthen an exÂclusive unionist and Protestant view of British identity. As a result, and thanks also to an effort by some nationÂalists to ignore or reject this part of their recent history, Catholics and nationalists came to ignore ArmiÂstice day. In Northern Ireland the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne became institutionalised as an important historical event. In the Irish Free State the anniversary of the Easter Rising was an important hisÂtoriÂcal date, although different groups sought to claim it. In the case of Boyne commemorations in the south and Easter commemorations in the north, both majority communÂities showed little tolerance for the historical views of their minorities.
During this period of the early years of both states, political relations between north and south and between the different communities were dominated by religious divisions and conflict over constitutional issues. Some of the developments which we have seen here, however, helped to polarise these relations even further. Both St Patrick's Day and Armistice Day had the potential to remind people of a shared history, of common interests and suffering. Instead they were used to emphasise differences and to develop more exclusive versions of identity and history. 12 July and Easter Sunday represented events special to the histories of NorthÂern Ireland and the Irish Free State, respectively, but neither society showed any understanding of the history of the other nor allowed much opportunity for minorities to mark these events. It has been argued that the passion and confrontation aroused by the large number of commeÂmorations in the 1960s was one of the factors which helped to destabilise political society in Northern Ireland and to lead to the outbreak of the Troubles.
97
The widely held conflicting views of identity and history, fosÂtered in part by these commemorations of the previous forty years, helpÂed to create the atmosphere of distrust and misunderstanding which made these 1960s commemorations so divisive and harmful for politics.
1
Northern Ireland Parliament
, vol. ii, 15 July 1922; vol. vi, 19 May 1925.
2
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, CAB/4/125, no. 8, 20 October 1924; CAB/4/ 147, no. 2, 10 August 1925.
3
Northern Whig
, 13 July 1922.
4
ibid., 13 July 1923.
5
ibid., 14 July 1925.
6
ibid., 13 July 1926.
7
ibid., 13 July 1927.
8
McDonnell, A. D.,
The Life of Sir Denis Henry, Catholic Unionist
, Ulster Historical FounÂdation, Belfast, 2000.
9
Bardon, Jonathan,
A History of Ulster
, Blackstaff, Belfast, 1992, p. 511.
10
Jeffery, Keith, âParades, Police and Government in Northern Ireland, 1922â69' in Fraser, T. G. (ed.),
The Irish Parading Tradition: Following the Drum
, Macmillan, London, 2000, pp. 84â6.
11
Northern Whig
, 13 July 1933.
12
ibid., 13 July 1932.
13
ibid., 13 July 1939.
14
Portadown News
, 13 July 1940, 12 July 1941, 4 and 18 July 1942, 17 July 1943.
15
Northern Whig
, 13 July 1955, 14 July 1958.
16
ibid., 12 July 1960.
17
ibid., 13 July 1960 and 13 July 1961.
18
ibid., 13 July 1960.
19
Irish Times
, 12 November 1919.
20
Leonard, Jane,
The Culture of Commemoration: the Culture of War Commemoration
, np, Dublin, 1996, p. 20.
21
Irish News
, 12 November 1924.
22
Jeffery, Keith, âThe Great War in Modern Irish Memory' in Fraser, T. G. and Jeffery, Keith (eds),
Men, Women and War: Historical Studies XVIII
, Lilliput Press, Dublin, 1993, p. 151.
23
Leonard, Jane,
Culture of Commemoration
, p. 20.
24
Jeffery, Keith,
Ireland and the Great War
, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000, p. 133.
25
Jeffery, Keith, âThe Great War in Modern Irish Memory', p. 150.
26
ibid., pp. 150â1.
27
Belfast Telegraph
, 11 November 1930.
28
Belfast Newsletter
, 11 November 1937;
Londonderry Sentinel
, 13 November 1934.
29
Belfast Newsletter
, 11 November 1946, 13 November 1950
30
ibid., 11, 12 November 1955; 11, 12 November 1956;
Northern Whig
, 11, 12 November 1955, 11, 12 November 1956;
Irish News
, 11, 12 November 1955, 11, 12 November 1956.
31
Northern Whig
, 18 March 1930.
32
Cathcart, Rex,
The Most Contrary Region: the BBC in Northern Ireland, 1924â84
, Blackstaff, Belfast, 1984, p. 32.
33
Irish News
, 18 March 1932;
Belfast Newsletter
, 17 March 1932.
34
Northern Whig
, 18 March 1930.
35
Belfast Newsletter
, 18 March 1946, 18 March 1950, 17 March 1952.
36
Document is quoted in
Belfast Newsletter
, 1 January 1996.
37
Irish Independent
, 18 March 1954; for complaints about schools not closing see
Belfast NewsÂletter
, 16 March 1961.
38
ibid., 17 March 1961.
39
Belfast Telegraph
, 17 March 1956.
40
Belfast Newsletter
, 17 March 1961.
41
Irish Independent
, 19 March 1956;
Belfast Telegraph
, 10 March 1964.
42
Northern Ireland Parliament
, vol. ix, 15 May 1928.
43
ibid., vol. xiv, 22 March 1932.
44
See Jarman, Neil and Bryan, Dominic, âGreen Parades in an Orange State' in Fraser, T. G. (ed.),
The Irish Parading Tradition
, pp. 95â110.
45
Irish News
, 22 April 1935.
46
ibid., 17 April 1933.
47
ibid., 6 April 1942.
48
ibid., 10 April 1950.
49
Jarman, Neil and Bryan, Dominic, âGreen Parades in an Orange State', pp. 103â5 op cit.
50
Irish Independent
, 18 March 1926.
51
ibid., 16 March 1930.
52
ibid., 18 March 1931.
53
ibid., 18 March 1932, 19 March 1934.
54
See speech by Eamon de Valera in Moynihan, Maurice (ed.),
Speeches and Statements by Eamon de Valera
, Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1980, pp. 217â9.
55
Irish Independent
, 18 March 1935.
56
Northern Whig
, 18 March 1939.
57
Irish Independent
, 18 March 1939.
58
Moynihan, Maurice,
Speeches and Statements by Eamon de Valera
, p. 46.
59
Irish Independent
, 18 March 1950.
60
ibid., 18 March 1953.
61
ibid., 18 March 1955.
62
Capuchin Annual
, 1962, p. 218.
63
See Ryan, Rosemary, et al, âCommemorating 1916',
Retrospect
, 1984, pp. 59â62.
64
Fitzpatrick, David âCommemorating in the Irish Free State: a Chronicle of EmbarrassÂment' in McBride, Ian (ed.),
History and Memory in Modern Ireland
, Cambridge UniverÂsity Press, Cambridge, 2001, p. 196
65
Irish Independent
, 2 April 1934.
66
Fitzpatrick, David, âCommemorating in the Irish Free State', p. 197
67
Irish Independent
, 5 April 1935.
68
Hill, Judith,
Irish Public Sculpture
, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 1998, pp. 188â9.
69
Irish Independent
, 14 April 1941.
70
ibid., 19 April 1954.
71
Ryan, Rosemary, âCommemorating 1916', p. 61.
72
Leonard, Jane âThe Twinge of Memory: Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday in Dublin since 1919' in English, Richard and Walker, Graham (eds),
Unionism in Modern Ireland
, St Martin's Press, New York, 1996, p. 101.
73
ibid.
74
Hill, Judith,
Irish Public Sculpture
, pp. 189â90.
75
See Jeffery, Keith,
Ireland and the Great War
, pp. 107â23.
76
Irish News
, 12 November 1924.
77
Leonard, Jane, âThe Twinge of Memory: Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday in DubÂlin since 1919', p. 105.
78
Hanley, Brian, âPoppy Day in Dublin in the â20s and â30s',
History Ireland
, vol. 7, no. 1, Spring 1999, pp. 5â6.
79
Leonard, Jane, âThe Twinge of Memory: Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday in Dublin since 1919', p. 106.
80
Fitzpatrick, David, âCommemorating in the Irish Free State', p. 195
81
ibid., pp. 194-5
82
Girvin, Brian and Roberts, Geoffrey, âThe Forgotten Volunteers of World War II',
History Ireland
, vol. 6, no. 1, Spring 1998, pp. 46â51.
83
Belfast Newsletter
, 13 November 1950.
84
Leonard, Jane âFacing the “Finger of Scorn”: Veterans' Memories of Ireland after the Great War' in Evans, Martin and Lunn, Kenneth (eds),
War and Memory in the TwenÂtieth Century
, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997, pp. 59â72.
85
Northern Whig
, 13 July 1923.
86
ibid., 14 July 1925.
87
ibid., 14 July 1930.
88
Londonderry Sentinel
, 15 July 1930.
89
Northern Whig
, 14 July 1931.
90
ibid.;
Irish Independent
, 13 August 1931.
91
McClelland, Aiken âOrangeism in County Monaghan',
Clogher Record
, 1978, pp. 401â2.
92
Special meeting of the County Monaghan Grand Orange Lodge, 28 June 1932, recorded in minutes of the County Monaghan Grand Orange Lodge, May 1932âMay 1943 (in private possession).
93
Recorded in above minutes.
94
Belfast Newsletter
, 11 July 1936.
95
Jeffery, Keith,
Ireland and the Great War
, p.107. This comment about 11 November was made by General Sir William Hickie.
96
See Craig's comments in 1934 and 1938, Kennedy, Dennis,
The Widening Gulf: Northern Attitudes to the Independent Irish State, 1919â49
, Blackstaff, Belfast, 1988, pp. 166, 173â4.
97
Arthur, Paul,
Government and Politics of Northern Ireland
, Longman, London, 1980, p. 92; Bloomfield, Kenneth,
Stormont in Crisis: a Memoir
, Blackstaff, Belfast, 1994.