Border States: Destroying Partition and Defending the Realm, 1949-1961 Author: James P. Rynne Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:108818 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2020 Copyright is held by the author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Border States: Destroying Partition and Defending the Realm, 1949-1961 James P. Rynne A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Boston College Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Graduate School April 2020 © Copyright 2020 James P. Rynne BORDER STATES: DESTROYING PARTITION AND DEFENDING THE REALM, 1949-1961 James P. Rynne Advisors: Oliver P. Rafferty, S.J., D.Phil., Robert J. Savage, Ph.D. Irish Republicans found themselves at a crisis moment in 1949. Legislation enacted by each state on the island affirmed the political reality of Ireland’s partition. The Southern state declared an Irish Republic while the Northern state affirmed the continued integration of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. The partition of island between these two governments was reinforced by the Irish border in the 1950s as it had been for the previous three decades. The Irish Republican Army remained committed to ending the separation through force while the Northern Ireland security apparatus steadfastly safeguarded the realm against any foreign incursion or domestic insurrection. Irish Republicanism reorganized and the IRA launched a disastrously planned and under- resourced Border Campaign between 1956 and 1962. The IRA was fully repelled by the Northern security forces: the Royal Ulster Constabulary supported by the Special Constabulary with security assistance from the governments in Belfast, London and, eventually, Dublin. The militant aspect was accompanied by political measures that reaped electoral gains and signs of public support peaking in the mid-1950s before a clear repudiation of the movement by the end of the decade. By the start of the 1960s, the IRA had been defeated and Irish Republicanism was reeling, unsure of its future political vitality and social relevance. Northern Ireland and the Irish border was more secure than at any point in its previous 40 years of existing, ruled by a strong, confident British Unionist hegemony. For Irish Republicans living on the frontier of the Northern Ireland state, new modes of political thinking and confrontational actions with the state had been attempted and ultimately abandoned. This project examines the main dynamics at play along the Irish border between 1949 and 1961. Focus will be on the Sinn Féin, the IRA and Liam Kelly’s Republican splinter group Saor Uladh, the RUC, B-Specials and militant-political Unionism, and the role of governments in Belfast, Dublin and London during the costly decade of the 1950s. TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. vi Nomenclature ........................................................................................................................ viii Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 State of the field ........................................................................................................................ 6 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 17 1.0 Chapter 1: The Southern state: Republican threats to the border ........... 19 1.1 The border divides Republicans, 1919-1925 ............................................................ 23 1.1.1 Irish Republicanism: The view from the South .............................................................. 24 1.1.2 Irish Republicanism: The view from the North . ............................................................. 26 1.2 Republicans during transition years, 1926-1945 .................................................... 29 1.2.1 Republicanism: Defections and defeats, 1926-1939 .................................................... 30 1.2.2 Republicanism: Deficits and self-destruction, 1939-1945 . ....................................... 33 1.3 Wolfe Tone commemorations ......................................................................................... 36 1.3.1 Republicans regroup: 1944-1951 ........................................................................................ 38 1.3.2 Commemoration amidst the conflict: 1951-1959 ......................................................... 48 1.3.3 Republican commemorations in comparison ................................................................. 54 1.4 Conclusion: Republicanism revived and rebuked ................................................... 60 2.0 Chapter 2: The Northern state: The security forces defend the border .. 63 2.1 Ulster’s Exceptionalism, 1800-1919 .............................................................................. 68 2.2 Northern Ireland state formation ................................................................................... 71 2.2.1 A state of conflict: 1919-1925 ............................................................................................... 72 2.2.2 The borderland and security: 1920-1925 ................................................................. 75 2.3 The RUC in a state of vigilance and preparedness ................................................... 79 2.3.1 Stabilizing state: security force culture ............................................................................. 84 2.3.2 Stabilizing state: 1930s and 1940s political developments ...................................... 86 2.4 Northern Ireland: state solidification in the 1950s ................................................. 91 2.4.1 The culture clash: 1950-1954 ................................................................................................ 93 2.4.2 The IRA’s Border Campaign: 1956-1962 ........................................................................ 100 2.5 Conclusion: state survived, state strengthened ...................................................... 106 3.0 Chapter 3: An alternate state: to free Ulster? ................................................. 108 3.1 Political developments, north and south .................................................................. 112 3.1.1 Republicanism in Mid-Ulster, 1920-1940 ...................................................................... 113 3.1.2 Republicanism in Mid-Ulster, 1940-1959 ...................................................................... 118 3.2 Liam Kelly’s politics .......................................................................................................... 121 iv 3.2.1 Political foundation, maintained militancy ................................................................... 129 3.2.2 Fianna Uladh party and policy, 1953-1958 .................................................................... 138 3.3 Soar Uladh and Fianna Uladh: border and political campaigns ........................ 143 3.3.1 Decade ending decline: the Border Campaign flounders ........................................ 147 3.3.2 Fianna Uladh party and policy, 1953-1958 .................................................................... 151 3.4 Fallout and emigration .................................................................................................... 155 3.5 Conclusions, continuity and change ............................................................................ 159 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 163 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 168 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would foremost like to thank my thesis advisors, Oliver P. Rafferty and Robert J. Savage, for their essential guidance and invaluable advice with this project. Both have directed me to consider topics, explore sources, discuss, write and review during the past two years. Additional advice and feedback was given throughout the many stages of this topic exploration and thesis formation: Fearghal McGarry, Peter Gray, Brian Hanley and Ruán O’Donnell were excellent resources and thought partners. A number of people at Boston College were indispensable in my research and writing, Brittany Lehman and Joseph Nugent in particular. I would like to thank the staff at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, the Linen Hall Library, the Belfast Central Library, the National Archive of Ireland, and UCD Archives whose assistance was crucial to this project. My passion for history has been shaped by numerous excellent teachers from my formative experiences at Most Holy Redeemer, my discernment process at Brother Rice High School and my discovery of an innate drive for life-long learning at Marquette University. I am fortunate to have a world-class support system, and I have needed it at times during this process. Timothy McMahon and Patrick McCarthy are friends