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Art Ó Briain Papers Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann National Library of Ireland Collection List No. 150 Art Ó Briain Papers (MSS 2141, 2154-2157, 5105, 8417-61) Accession No. 1410 The papers of Art Ó Briain (c.1900-c.1945) including records and correspondence of the London Office of Dáil Eireann (1919-22), papers of the Irish Self-Determination League of Great Britain (1919-25), the Gaelic League of London (1896-1944) and Sinn Féin (1918-25). The collection includes correspondence with many leading figures in the Irish revolution, material on the truce and treaty negotiations and the cases of political prisoners (including Terence MacSwiney). Compiled by Owen McGee, 2009 1 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 4 I. The Gaelic League of London (1896-1944) ............................................................... 10 II. Ó Briain’s earliest political associations (1901-16) ................................................. 23 III. Ó Briain’s work for Irish political prisoners (1916-21)........................................ 28 III.i. Irish National Aid Association and Volunteer Dependants Fund......................... 28 III.ii. The Irish National Relief Fund and The Irish National Aid (Central Defense Fund)............................................................................................................................. 30 III.iii. The hunger-strike and death of Terence MacSwiney......................................... 42 IV. Ó Briain’s work as the Dáil’s envoy in London (Mar.1919-Jul.1921)................. 49 IV.i. Ó Briain and the Irish Self-Determination League of Great Britain (includes some material relating to Sinn Féin) ...................................................................................... 50 IV.ii. Communications with representatives of Dáil Eireann....................................... 67 IV.ii.1. Michael Collins ............................................................................................ 67 IV.ii.2. Ernest Blythe ................................................................................................ 75 IV.ii.3. Diarmuid O’Hegarty, Arthur Griffith and Austin Stack .............................. 76 IV.ii.4. Desmond Fitzgerald, Robert Brennan and Erskine Childers........................ 78 IV.ii.5. Sean T. O’Kelly and George Gavan Duffy .................................................. 80 IV.ii.6. Representatives in Austria, Germany and Switzerland ................................ 84 IV.ii.7. Representatives in Italy, Scandinavia and Spain.......................................... 86 V. Towards the Truce and the Treaty........................................................................... 89 V.i. Ó Briain, the Irish White Cross and preparations for the World Conference of the Irish Race ...................................................................................................................... 89 V.ii. Ó Briain and the Irish Peace Delegations in London............................................ 92 VI. Ó Briain’s relationship with the Provisional Government and Irish Free State (1922).............................................................................................................................. 101 VI.i. Michael Collins and the dispute over the London Office accounts (including the case of ‘O Coileain vs. Ó Briain’) .............................................................................. 101 VI.ii. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the termination of Ó Briain’s London Office by the Irish Free State...................................................................................... 107 VII. Ó Briain and the Anti-Treaty movement............................................................ 113 VII.i. The beginnings of an Anti-Treaty Party............................................................ 113 VII.ii. DeValera’s underground administration.......................................................... 121 VII.iii. The Irish Self-Determination League ............................................................. 132 VIII. Irish Political Prisoners....................................................................................... 146 VIII.i. Papers regarding Irish political prisoners in Britain (1922-25) ....................... 146 VIII.ii. The deportation, legal appeal and imprisonment of Art Ó Briain (Mar.1923-Jul. 1924) – see also ‘Newspapers’ ................................................................................... 150 VIII.iii. The Irish Deportees Association and the Irish Deportees (Compensation) Tribunal....................................................................................................................... 160 IX. Ó Briain’s years in the political wilderness.......................................................... 165 IX.i. General activities (includes the case of ‘O Brien vs. Diamond’), 1924-32........ 165 IX.ii. Ó Briain, Fianna Fáil and the closure of the Dáil funds dispute 1932-35......... 169 X. Ó Briain’s Final Years............................................................................................. 172 X.i. Ó Briain as Irish Minister Plenipotentiary to France and Belgium, 1935-38 ...... 172 2 X.ii. Ó Briain’s involvement in cases of application for Military Service pensions 1935-46 ....................................................................................................................... 173 X.iii. Post-retirement activities 1938-49..................................................................... 174 XI. Newspapers ............................................................................................................. 177 XI.i. British press reports on the Irish troubles 1921-24............................................. 177 XI.ii. Anti-Treaty publications 1922-24 ..................................................................... 183 3 INTRODUCTION Art Ó Briain: a biography Arthur Patrick O’Brien was born in London on 25 September 1872. His father John Francis O’Brien was a native of Co. Cork, who had served as a major in the British army, lived for a time in Turkey and after retiring from the army became a businessman in London. In 1877, partly with the help of his own father (a civil servant), John Francis O’Brien founded the highly-successful Music Trades Review, which was reputedly the first mail-order firm in the world for musical instruments. Arthur’s mother, Henrietta Myles, was a native of Surrey, England. Arthur was to grow particularly close to her and to his one sibling, Geraldine, who was a well-educated woman who worked as a translator and earned the reputation of being a very elegant hostess. The O’Briens were a prosperous and rising family: a close relative, Ignatius O’Brien (Art’s cousin), rose to become the Attorney General and subsequently Lord Chancellor for Ireland (1913-18), during which time he was made a baronet (1916) and a member of the House of Lords (1918). Art himself was educated by a private tutor in France and at St. Charles College, a prestigious Catholic private school that had recently been founded by Cardinal Manning in London. Art also studied civil engineering in Paris and electrical engineering in London. Up until 1918 he worked for engineering companies, mostly in England but also for five years in Spain (1893-98) and for a short time in France, often earning as much as £700 a year. He first became interested in Irish nationalism after joining the Gaelic League of London in 1899. Within a few years he became its honorary secretary, gaelicised his name to ‘Art Ó Briain’ and befriended many notable London- Irish figures in the league, including Lord Ashbourne (William Gibson), W.P. Ryan and many others. His artistic temperament and wealth allowed him to become a patron of many London-Irish cultural events, while his linguistic and musical skills allowed the Gaelic League of London to become a pioneer in the publication of Irish language material, especially songs. He co-authored a book on Irish dancing in 1902 which would be reprinted six times. Although he knew some members of the Irish Parliamentary Party and had expressed a passing interest in Sinn Féin, Ó Briain did not become active in politics until after the outbreak of the First World War when he sided with the (reputedly pro-German) nationalist wings of the Irish Volunteers and the Gaelic League of London, of which he now became president (a position he would hold until 1935). It was probably at this time that he joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), becoming a close confidant of local leaders such as Sean MacGrath, Fintan Murphy and Michael Collins, with whom he reputedly designed a model for a counter-intelligence system as early as 1915. In the wake of the 1916 Rising, Art founded the Irish National Relief Fund in London to provide assistance to the families of Irish rebels imprisoned in England, and also organised a well-publicised, albeit unsuccessful, appeal for commuting the death sentence of Roger Casement. This enhanced his public profile and helped him to become the leader of the small Sinn Féin organisation in Britain. In early 1919, partly on Collins’ suggestion, Ó Briain was appointed the envoy of Dáil Eireann in Britain, founding its 4 ‘London Office’ which he practically co-ran over the next few years with Fintan Murphy and later Charles Betrand Dutton, an old business associate who was also a prominent Gaelic Leaguer. Ó Briain also played a
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