Irish Nationalist Organisations in the North East of England, 1890–1925
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Northumbria Research Link Citation: Shannon, Stephen (2013) Irish Nationalist Organisations in the North East of England, 1890 – 1925. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University. This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/16050/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html Irish Nationalist Organisations in the North East of England, 1890 – 1925 Stephen Desmond Shannon PhD Thesis 2013 Irish Nationalist Organisations in the North East of England, 1890 – 1925 Stephen Desmond Shannon A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Research undertaken in the School of History June 2013 Abstract This thesis is the first major study of organised Irish nationalism in the North East of England, set against the wider context of events in Britain and Ireland, from the division that followed Parnell’s fall in 1890 until shortly after the foundation of the Irish Free State and the Irish Civil War. It is a significant contribution to our understanding of the history of the largest ethnic group in Britain before the Second World War – the Irish. It is also an important regional study, revealing the vitality and diversity of the North East’s expression of Irish nationalism that was probably not equalled anywhere else in England and Wales, other than in London. That vitality was manifested in the raising of the Tyneside Irish Brigade for the British Army in 1914. The Tyneside Irish was the crowning achievement of the pre-1918 Irish nationalist organisations in the North East, and arguably in Britain, demonstrating the organisations’ commitment both to John Redmond and to the region, where so many Irish migrants had settled. Irish nationalism’s diversity in the North East was embodied in the Irish Labour Party, which, alone in England, took root on Tyneside, and sought to blend class and ethnic issues at a time of national crisis in Ireland. This organisation casts light on the complex issue of the transference of working-class Irish Catholic allegiance from nationalism to the labour movement in Britain, and, therefore, in the assimilation of that community into the wider British community. Though none of these nationalist organisations has left any extensive archive, this thesis utilises Irish and English manuscript sources, and a wide array of Catholic, labour, and regional newspapers, to demonstrate that these organisations were not only an important part of the history of the Irish in the North East, but also of the North East itself. Contents List of Tables ii Abbreviations iii Acknowledgements iv Declaration v Introduction 1 Chapter 1 ‘Durham was painted green’: Irish Nationalist Organisations in the North East, 1890-1914. 26 Chapter 2 ‘Irishmen to Arms’: Irish Nationalist Organisations in the North East, 1914-1916. 84 Chapter 3 ‘God rest John Redmond’s soul. And God save Ireland’: Irish Nationalist Organisations in the North East, 1916-1918. 128 Chapter 4 ‘An Irish garrison in England’: The Irish Self-Determination League in the North East, 1919-1925. 147 Chapter 5 ‘Enthusiastic Workers’: The Irish Labour Party on Tyneside, 1918-1925. 199 Conclusion 239 Appendices 248 Bibliography 265 i List of Tables 1.1 Irish recruits from the North East, August 1914 to January 1915. 125 1.2 Irish recruits from RC parishes on Tyneside, August 1914 to March 1915. 125 2.1 The decline in ISDL affiliated membership by District, March to December 1921. 185 2.2 ISDL affiliated membership in the Mid-Durham District, March to December 1921. 186 2.3 ISDL affiliated membership in the Teesside District, March to December 1921. 186 ii Abbreviations ACC Auckland and County LHASC Labour History Archive and Chronicle and Stanley News Study Centre, Manchester BMH Bureau of Military History, LL Labour Leader Ireland NBSP National Brotherhood of St. BN Blyth News Patrick BNW Blyth News and Wansbeck NDC Newcastle Daily Chronicle Telegraph NDJ Newcastle Daily Journal CH Catholic Herald NE Northern Echo CSG Catholic Social Guild NEC Newcastle Evening Chronicle CTCO Catholic Times and Catholic Opinion NEDG North East Daily Gazette DC Durham Chronicle NIC Newcastle Illustrated Chronicle DCRO Durham County Record Office NLI The National Library of Ireland FJ Freeman’s Journal NLLGB National Land League of Great Britain GDL Gateshead and District Labour News NM North Mail GH Gateshead Herald NWC Newcastle Weekly Courant GLP&TC Gateshead Labour Party and PA Parliamentary Archives, Trades Council Houses of Parliament GLPC Gateshead Labour Party and RIC Royal Irish Constabulary Trades Council Monthly RORO Report on Revolutionary Circular Organisations in the United HRCGB Home Rule Confederation of Kingdom, Home Office Great Britain Directorate of Intelligence IE The Irish Exile SDG Shields Daily Gazette II Irish Independent SII Sunday Independent ILP Independent Labour Party SS Southern Star ILP&TUC Irish Labour Party and Trade TCN Tyneside Catholic News Union Congress TI Tyneside Irish Brigade INA The National Archives of TN The Nation Ireland TNA The National Archives, Kew INLGB Irish National League of Great Britain TSCN Teesside Catholic News IPP Irish Parliamentary Party TT The Times IRA Irish Republican Army TWA Tyne and Wear Archives IRB Irish Republican Brotherhood TWCN Tyneside and Wearside Catholic News IrLP Irish Labour Party UILGB United Irish League of Great ISDL Irish Self-Determination Britain League of Great Britain UVF Ulster Volunteer Force IT Irish Tribune VOL Irish Opinion: The Voice of IV Irish Volunteers Labour IV The Irish Volunteer WCN Wearside Catholic News LCH London Catholic Herald iii Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been completed without the friendly guidance, generous advice, positive encouragement, and necessary cajoling of my principal supervisor, Professor Don MacRaild, whose extensive knowledge of the Irish in Britain enabled me to see deeper into the subject. My sincere thanks must also go to Dr James McConnel, my second supervisor, for his invaluable assistance and, especially, for his detailed, constructive criticism of my draft thesis. Without these two, this thesis would have remained unwritten. I must also acknowledge the professionalism and expertise of the staff of the University Libraries of Northumbria, Durham, and Sunderland; The National Library of Ireland; Durham Clayport Library; Gateshead Central Library; Newcastle City Library; The National Archives, Kew; The National Archives of Ireland; Durham County Record Office; Tyne and Wear Archives; Labour History Archive, Manchester; Beamish Museum; and, especially, the staff of the British Library’s Newspaper Reading Room at Colindale. Three individuals also require special thanks: the owner of Jarrow’s ISDL Minute Book; Kevin Davies, who shared his detailed knowledge of the Irish in Northumberland; and especially John Sheen, author of Tyneside Irish. I have known John for many years, and he generously allowed me to tap into his unparalleled knowledge of the Tyneside Irish Brigade. Finally, I must thank my long-suffering wife, Janet, who probably expected her husband to spend his retirement pottering in the garden. Thanks for everything. iv Declaration I declare that the work contained in this thesis has not been submitted for any other award and that it is all my own work. I also confirm that this work fully acknowledges opinions, ideas, and contributions from the work of others. Name: Signature: Date: v Introduction In August 1922, following the deaths of the Irish Free State’s leaders, Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins, requiem masses were said in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne.1 Not since the magnificent church was consecrated has it held so many people within its walls. The congregation overflowed through the porch onto the street… The catafalque in the sanctuary was draped with the Irish national flag and stood between rows of flaming torches… The great majority of those in the congregation wore the tricolour bound in crepe as a rosette. The fervour of a great grief was in the sacred building… women wept and men exhibited emotion.2 Amongst the packed congregations attending these two masses were the leaders of the old and the new Irish nationalist organisations on Tyneside – the United Irish League of Great Britain, Irish National Club, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Irish National Foresters, Tyneside Irish Brigade Committee, Irish Labour Party, Tyneside Pro-Treaty Committee, Irish Republican Brotherhood, and Irish Republican Army. Some of these men, and women, had been, or remained, members of more than one nationalist organisation. Some had undertaken the political journey from the confident expectation of Home Rule in 1914, to the republican anger of 1920 and 1921, to the desire for peace in 1922. Only the leaders of one Irish nationalist organisation on Tyneside were not present in the cathedral, the republican rump of the Irish Self-Determination League, and their absence was subsequently highlighted in a letter to the Evening Chronicle from Theresa Mason that angrily denied that the ISDL had been ‘officially represented’ at the requiem for Michael Collins, or had sent any floral tribute.3 To this list of active or recently decommissioned nationalist organisations in 1 Newcastle Evening Chronicle (NEC), 17, 19, and 28 August 1922.