The Devlinite Irish News, Northern Ireland's "Trapped" Nationalist Minority, and the Irish Boundary Question, 1921-1925
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WITHOUT A "DOG'S CHANCE:" THE DEVLINITE IRISH NEWS, NORTHERN IRELAND'S "TRAPPED" NATIONALIST MINORITY, AND THE IRISH BOUNDARY QUESTION, 1921-1925 by James A. Cousins Master ofArts, Acadia University 2000 Bachelor ofArts, Acadia University 1997 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Department ofHistory © James A. Cousins 2008 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2008 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission ofthe author. APPROVAL Name: James A. Cousins Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title ofProject: Without a "Dog's Chance:" The Devlinite Irish News, Northern Ireland's "Trapped" Nationalist Minority, and the Irish Boundary Question, 1921-1925 Examining Committee: Chair Dr. Alexander Dawson, Associate Professor Department ofHistory Dr. John Stubbs, Professor Senior Supervisor Department ofHistory Dr. Wil1een Keough, Assistant Professor Supervisor Department ofHistory Dr. Leith Davis, Professor Supervisor Department ofEnglish Dr. John Craig, Professor Internal Examiner Department ofHistory Dr. Peter Hart, Professor External Examiner Department ofHistory, Memorial University of Newfoundland Date Approved: 11 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the public at the "Institutional Repository" link of the SFU Library website <www.lib.sfu.ca> at: <http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/112>) and, without changing the content, to translate the thesis/project or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. While licensing SFU to permit the above uses, the author retains copyright in the thesis, project or extended essays, including the right to change the work for subsequent purposes, including editing and publishing the work in whole or in part, and licensing other parties, as the author may desire. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Revised: Fall 2007 ABSTRACT Between 1920 and 1922 Ireland was partitioned and two new polities emerged: the overwhelmingly Catholic and nationalist Irish Free State, and Northern Ireland, which was largely Protestant and unionist. These polities were not homogeneous, however, and the existence of a small unionist minority in the Free State and a more significant nationalist minority in Northern Ireland necessitated the establishment of a Boundary Commission in order to redraw the border. This thesis is a study of Northern Ireland's divided nationalist minority and their relationship with Southern nationalists during the period between the onset of partition and the collapse of the Boundary Commission in 1925. While my focus on the relationship between Northern and Southern nationalism is itself unique, "Without· a 'Dog's Chance'" breaks new ground by demonstrating how Northern Ireland's nationalist minority represented an example of what Israeli anthropologist Dan Rabinowitz has called a "trapped minority." My use of the hitherto ignored poetry that appeared in Northern Ireland's nationalist press also sets this work apart from the existing historiography. Whereas the trapped minority model provides a way of conceptualizing Northern nationalism as a component of the wider Irish nationalist movement, incorporating poetry into the discussion of the relations between the trapped Northern minority and the Irish "mother nation" reveals a new dimension to the feelings of angst, betrayal, and victimization that were embedded in the politics of Northern nationalism. Although this project concentrates on the constitutionally-minded supporters of West Belfast MP Joseph Devlin and the Devlinite Irish News, their border-dwelling Sinn Fein competitors are by no means ignored. While Free. State strong-man Kevin O'Higgins was unequivocally correct when he suggested that tensions between the Devlinites and the Sinn Feiners were exacerbated because the former did not have "a dog's chance of getting out of the Boundary area" and the latter did, this thesis argues that individuals belonging to both political traditions witnessed the diminishment oftheir nationalist credentials after partition. Feeling under-valued, abandoned, and exploited by their peers in the South, the nationalists of Northern Ireland were also marginalized within a host state that regarded them with fear and suspicion. Keywords: Ulster nationalism; Devlinism; Irish partition; newspapers; trapped minority; literary nationalism III DEDICATION For Arilea IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am profoundly grateful to the many people who have helped with the research and writing of this dissertation. First and foremost, I would like to thank my senior supervisor Dr. John Stubbs for his guidance and encouragement throughout the long process of writing this dissertation, and for his patience when the chapters did not come as quickly as they should have. A special word of thanks also goes to Dr. Willeen Keough, Dr. Leith Davis, and the late Dr. Ian Dyck who served on my supervisory committee. My work has benefitted immensely from their comments and criticisms, and I am personally grateful to have had their encouragement and support. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the remaining members of my examining committee. The Chair of my defense was Dr. Alexander Dawson, my internal examiner was Dr. John Craig, and Dr. Peter Hart, of Memorial University of Newfoundland, was my external examiner. I am grateful to each ofthem for their insights, suggestions, and constructive criticisms. Compiling the source material for this dissertation required me to visit a number of record repositories in Ireland where I was given privileged access to various manuscript collections. I would like to thank the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, and the donors ofthe Cahir Healy Papers, the J. H. Collins Papers, and the 1. J. McCarroll Papers for permission to quote from these valuable sources. I am grateful to the Board of Trinity College Dublin for allowing me to cite materials from the E. M. Stephens Papers and the John Dillon Papers. The University College Dublin Archives has kindly permitted me to quote from the Eoin MacNeill Papers and the Ernest Blythe Papers, while I have used material from the Papers of the Irish Boundary Commission with the permission of the Board of the National Library ofIreland. This thesis contains a number of photographs and I would like to thank the institutions that have allowed me to use these images. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the Deputy Keeper of the Records, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, for allowing me to reproduce figures 3, and 14. Figures 4, 9, and 24 were made available courtesy of the Irish News. I would like to thank the Belfast Telegraph for permitting me to reproduce figures 11-13, and figures 1-2, 6, 16-23, 27, 29, and 31 were made available courtesy of the National Library of Ireland. The Telegraph Media Group Limited has given me permission to use figure 32, and I would also like to thank genealogist Patricia Hamilton ofNorway, for allowing me to reproduce figure 10. I deeply appreciate the assistance that was given to me by the staff-members ofall ofthe institutions that I visited, and I would like to offer a special word of thanks to the Interlibrary Loans division of the Bennett Library for tracking down so many ofthe rare printed material that I requested. I am also grateful to the numerous individuals who were kind enough to answer my emails, and were willing to share information with me. These include A. C. Hepburn, University of Sunderland; Richard Kirkland, King's College London; Mark O'Brien, Dublin City University; Marianne Elliott, University of Liverpool; Heather Stanley, PRONI; Aideen Ireland of the National Archives of Ireland; Mrs. Ebrahim, of the British Library; newspaper historian Hugh Oram; Irish News Librarian Kathleen Bell; Darren Farnan of the Derry Journal; and Kris Brown of the Linen Hall Library. I am also indebted to Laura Sparrow for her help with the formatting ofthis dissertation. On a personal note, I would like acknowledge my friend Dr. Theresa Mulligan who permitted me to benefit from her experiences as she finished her own doctoral dissertation, and my parents, Roy and Helen Cousins, and Reg and Mary Sill who have always been encouraging and supportive. Finally, I want to thank my wife Arilea Margaret Sill for reading every word I wrote, offering suggestions that made this thesis better, for never asking how much longer it would take to finish, and for supporting me in all that I have ever tried to do. I dedicate this work to her with love and appreciation.