SEPT 2012

Comóradh ISSUE 1 A Newsletter for the Irish Abroad in the Decade of Commemorations

“Over the coming years, this Government will be working at home and abroad to commemorate these events and to honour those who were part of them.”

Dear friend, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan launched 2012 is the first year in a decade of very a new permanent exhibition in the In this issue... important anniversaries. The years from National Museum including a fully 1912 – 1922 saw a series of momentous restored , the yacht piloted by events in Ireland, and beyond, which Erskine Childers in the Howth gun- changed the course of Irish history and running of 1914. led to the foundation of the state. Over the coming years, this Government There will be other anniversaries too. will be working at home and abroad Next year, the 50th anniversary of to commemorate these events and to the visit to Ireland by President John honour those who were part of them. F. Kennedy will be an opportunity to celebrate more recent links between 1912 saw the introduction in Ireland and America. Westminster of the Third Home Rule Bill, which set the stage for the conflict Over the coming decade, of the following years. It also saw at home and abroad will remember our the mass mobilisation against Home shared history. We will look back on Rule in Ulster, led by Edward Carson, the events which shaped us, from the James Connolly culminating in the signing of the Ulster 1913 Lockout to the First World War, Covenant. And, of course, it was also and to the 1916 Rising and beyond. We Tánaiste launches Connolly the year of the most famous maritime will remember those times not just in Commemorative Committee in disaster in history, the sinking of the exhibitions, books and lectures but also New York 2 Titanic, built in the Belfast shipyards. through art, music and storytelling. Minister Deenihan launches In marking these centenaries, I invited It is important that commemoration of Bureau of Military History Website 2 Northern Ireland First Minister Peter the past is something which engages Robinson to earlier this year, the global Irish family, around the world. Minister of State McGinley opens where he delivered the Edward This is the first in a series of regular exhibition on the Ulster Covenant Carson Lecture, reflecting on the newsletters intended to highlight in Donegal 2 future direction of Irish Unionism. In some of the events taking place in the September, my Department supported course of the decade. Embassies and Asgard exhibition launched in exhibitions in the Donegal, Cavan and Consulates will also provide additional National Museum 3 Monaghan County Museums, looking information on any local events. at the backgrounds of those ordinary I hope that you will be able to be Northern Ireland First Minister men and women from the border Peter Robinson delivers The counties who signed the Covenant part of this exciting journey over and associated Declaration. President the coming years. Edward Carson Lecture in Dublin 3 Higgins attended a solemn service in Letter from Minister for Arts, Cobh, Co. Cork, in April, marking the final stop on the journey of the Titanic Heritage and the Gaeltacht, before it sank in the North Atlantic. Jimmy Deenihan T.D. 4 T.D. But these are not the only events Tánaiste and Minister for Easter Rising Commemorations remembered this year. In August, Foreign Affairs and Trade in Dublin 4

1 of 4 It also includes audio recordings of key The archive is available at figures from the period, including Maud www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie. Tánaiste launches Gonne McBride, labour leader William commemorative initiative O’Brien and Áine Ceannt, widow of for 2013 in New York 1916 leader Eamon Ceannt. Minister of State McGinley In September 2012, the Tánaiste Eamon Speaking at the launch, Minister opens exhibition on the Gilmore launched a new initiative Deenihan said: “Our Archives are Ulster Covenant in Donegal in New York with the leaders of the essential in the preservation of primary labour movement to commemorate the sources for study by future generations. On 15 September, Minister of State at close ties between the U.S. and Irish This launch is the culmination of the Department of Arts, Heritage and labour movements as we approach the years of work by the Military and the Gaeltacht, Dinny McGinley T.D. centenary of formative events for both. National Archives. The records held opened an exhibition on the signatories within this collection cover almost of the Ulster Covenant in Donegal, A series of special events in the US to the entire duration of the Decade of at the Donegal County Museum in be held in 2013 will be directed by Commemorations, providing primary Letterkenny. the new Connolly Commemorations source material for the revolutionary Committee, chaired by John Sweeney, period in Ireland from 1913 to 1921. The exhibition is part of a wider former President of the AFL-CIO. initiative in Donegal, Cavan, and “The Bureau of Military History Monaghan to commemorate the website will make a significant centenary of the Ulster Covenant, which contribution to the goals of the was signed on 28th September 1912. Minister Deenihan launches Public lectures and exhibitions have Decade of Commemorations by Bureau of Military History been organised in all three counties, encouraging scholarly and original Website to explore the history and legacy of the research on the momentous events 35,000 people in those counties who In August, the Minister for Arts, of this period in our history both signed the Ulster Covenant – 17,000 Heritage and the Gaeltacht launched nationally and internationally. In in Donegal alone. the Bureau of Military History website at funding and developing this Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin. Support provided for the exhibition by project, the State is paying tribute the Department of Foreign Affairs and This project, which was undertaken by to the sacrifices of the past and Trade’s Reconciliation Fund forms part the Defence Forces Military Archives celebrating the achievements of a of the Government’s commemorative in collaboration with the National revolutionary decade. programme for 2012. Archives (Department of Arts, Heritage Speaking before the event, Minister and the Gaeltacht), involves the “The Military Bureau’s official brief McGinley said: digitisation of over 35,000 pages, 42 was ‘to assemble and co-ordinate sets of photographs and 13 voice material to form the basis for the recordings from primary sources “The events of the decade 1912 compilation of the history of the covering the revolutionary period in – 1922 changed the course of Ireland from 1913 to 1921. The Bureau movement for Independence from history in Ireland. The signing of collection is among the most important the formation of the the Ulster Covenant 100 years ago primary sources of information on the on 25th November 1913, to the was a defining moment in that revolutionary period, and was made 11th July 1921’. Anyone who sees period and its consequences have available to the public in 2003. these collections online will have to impacted on every person on this The new website allows users to search agree that they accomplished this island in the decades that followed. by name or other criteria against all goal with distinction”. It is important that we remember witness statements and other items. the ordinary men and women in every corner of Ulster who signed the Covenant in their hundreds of thousands, to better understand their hopes and aspirations for the society in which they lived. It is only right that we reflect on its causes and legacy.

The Reconciliation Fund is supporting commemorative activities and also wider community initiatives to ensure that voices from the past are heard, but also to contribute to increased Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Ralph James, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the understanding of how to move Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan TD, Ms. Catríona Crowe, National Archives and Cmdt Padraic forward together in a spirit of Kennedy with “Sliabh na mBan, the recently restored armoured car associated with Michael mutual respect and understanding.” Collins and the Beál na mBláth

2 of 4 The launch of this exhibition Asgard exhibition launched presents an opportunity to reflect in National Museum on the complexities of the time and to remember Erskine Childers On 8 August, Minister for Arts, Heritage in the range of identities and roles and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan - as a writer and sailor, as a soldier launched a new permanent exhibition at of the Empire who became an Irish the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Nationalist, and as a Republican Barracks entitled “Asgard: The 1914 that could not be reconciled to the Howth Gun Running Vessel Conserved”. outcome of the struggle, even as a The yacht Asgard, an iconic item of member of the Treaty delegation. Irish heritage and history, was formerly owned by the Irish nationalist and writer “I hope that through scholarship Erskine Childers and his wife Molly. and research in the coming years Asgard was built in 1905 by one of Norway’s most famous boat designers we will enhance our knowledge to the specifications of the newly of the revolutionary age. I would married couple. like to acknowledge all that has been done to prepare this Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore TD, Asgard’s most famous voyage in 1914 special exhibition and to thank all First Minister Peter Robinson MLA was part of a gun-running expedition. and Deputy First Minister Martin those involved. I will encourage Childers, his wife and a small crew McGuinness at Iveagh House in advance of the Edward Carson Lecture made the channel crossing into Howth everyone to come to see Asgard harbour just north of Dublin, laden with and the associated exhibition that a hold full of rifles from Germany to arm tells her story and acknowledges The lecture was preceded by a panel the Irish Volunteers. This gun-running the achievement of Erskine and discussion on the legacy of Edward expedition had been undertaken in Molly Childers and the other crew Carson, between Professor Michael response to the arming of the Ulster members of May, 1914.” Laffan (University College Dublin) and Volunteers by the Larne gun-running in Professor Paul Bew (Queen’s University April of that year. Belfast) moderated by Dr. John Bowman. The exhibition is the culmination of Northern Ireland First a five year project of restoration and Minister Peter Robinson In his introductory remarks, the conservation carried out by a small Tánaiste noted the potential held in team of dedicated shipwrights at a delivers The Edward commemorations for building a future studio in the Museum. Carson Lecture in Dublin society, stating:

Commenting at the launch, On 29 March, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore “I invited Peter to speak in the Minister Deenihan said: welcomed Northern Ireland First conviction that this decade of Minister Peter Robinson to Dublin to commemorations is as much “Asgard links us directly to the deliver The Edward Carson Lecture, about looking forward as about tumultuous times, a hundred years subtitled ‘Reflections on Irish Unionism’. looking back. ago, when the futures of Ireland, The lecture was the first in a series of events supported by the Department the and Europe of Foreign Affairs and Trade to mark Like the decade we are were about to change. the centenary of the Home Rule Crisis remembering, this decade is an in 1912. opportunity to re imagine the The lecture took place in the ballroom Ireland that we want to leave to of Iveagh House, headquarters of the our children and grandchildren. Department of Foreign Affairs and How will they remember us when Trade. Iveagh House is located just a anniversaries are recalled?“ few hundred feet from the birthplace of Unionist leader, Edward Carson, The First Minister, in his address, on 4 Harcourt Street. reflected on the apparent paradoxes in the figure of Carson who, he said, It was delivered to an invited “would not be what in today’s terms audience of writers and academics, could be considered a stereotypical and prominent political figures unionist. Though he became the including Deputy First Minister leader of Ulster Unionism his origins Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland are, of course, in Dublin. He defined Executive Ministers Carál Ní Chuillín himself as a “liberal” unionist. He had and Arlene Foster, Minister for Justice, a thick Dublin brogue. He had leading Equality and Defence, , nationalists among his close friends. Secretary of State Owen Paterson, Though leading the cause of Ulster he SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell and was proud to call himself Irish”. >> Launch of the Asgard exhibition, National Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks

3 of 4 (Edward Carson lecture contd.) movement in Ireland and the campaigns for a more fair and equal society. In concluding, the First Minister argued Easter Rising that figure of Edward Carson could be The growth in national consciousness Commemorations in Dublin adopted as a model for unionism in which occurred from 1912 and the moves the future. towards autonomy will be examined A ceremony to mark the 96th through both the political events of the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising period and the development of our “Edward Carson may now be took place outside the GPO, O’Connell artistic, cultural and sporting traditions. Street, Dublin, on Easter Sunday, 8 April consigned to the pages of history, The first phase of our commemorative 2012. but he still speaks to us today. programme will culminate in 2016 with If this generation of unionists the proclamation of the Irish Republic. The event, led by President Michael D. is listening then let us work to Higgins, was attended by approximately These anniversaries provide a broaden support for his vision for 3,000 people, including relatives of remarkable opportunity for us all, at the 1916 leaders, the Enda Northern Ireland’s future. home and abroad, to acknowledge the Kenny, Minister for Justice and Defence, achievements of a heroic generation. In Alan Shatter, Minister for Arts, Heritage That vision of unionism, threatening this process, we will have the opportunity and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, to no one, open to all, living to examine historical records and deepen Ministers of State Joe Costello and our understanding of this time of change peacefully and in co-operation with Paul Kehoe and Lord Mayor of Dublin and challenge. Our commemorative our neighbours, will truly honour Andrew Montague. the bravery, the ideals, the sacrifice, programme will contribute towards a the memory and the legacy of deeper appreciation of the aims and Members of the Defence Forces, aspirations of all traditions. those who were counted when the including the Air Corps and Naval Service participated in the ceremony, challenge came all those years ago.” I have been greatly impressed by where the 1916 Proclamation was the goodwill and commitment of all read aloud by Captain Shane Keogh. towards the respectful and inclusive The President then laid a wreath to commemoration of a shared heritage. commemorate those who died during Note from Minister for Arts, Opening the narrative of those times, I the Rising. This was followed by a fly- Heritage and the Gaeltacht, acknowledged the achievement of John past by Air Corps aircraft. Jimmy Deenihan T.D. Redmond and the Irish parliamentary Party with Memorial lectures in Earlier that morning, Minister Deenihan Waterford and subsequently a major laid wreaths in Glasnevin Cemetary exhibition of contemporary portraits in at the graves of Edward Hollywood, Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane, a a member of the delegation which travelling library exhibit shown at several brought the first Tricolour from venues and a series of talks and lectures to Ireland in 1843, and Peader Kearney, on the Home Rule debate. For all these who wrote the words of the National events and the others described in this Anthem Amhrán na bhFiann. With the centenary in April 2012 of the newsletter, we have been working in introduction of the Third Home Rule close partnership in Britain and Ireland Bill to parliament at Westminster, we at Government level and with diverse have now embarked upon a decade institutions and community groups. Updates on forthcoming of anniversaries relating to the most commemorative initiatives and I hope that the commemorations turbulent, tumultuous, and formative era future issues of this newsletter brought forward by Government will of our modern history – the decade from will be posted on the website of 1912 to 1922. be complemented by the initiatives of local authorities, universities, cultural your local Embassy or Consulate, Recognising the significance of this institutions, ex service organisations, and on the website of the Decade of Centenary anniversaries, history and community groups, and Department of Foreign Affairs the Government decided that a special the national cultural and sporting and Trade. commemorations programme would organisations. I hope that everyone be appropriate. I am very pleased to will participate in this commemorative Useful links: have been assigned the responsibility, programme and explore a remarkable Department of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Government, for the decade that shaped our modern society. and Trade development of the comprehensive www.dfa.ie and inclusive programme to be brought Through this newsletter, I extend an forward in the coming years. invitation to all to contact me with their views, advice and suggestions for the Department of Arts, In the coming years we will follow the development of the programme. Heritage and the Gaeltacht timeline of history to explore our journey www.ahg.gov.ie from the Home Rule campaign, through the Dublin Lockouts, the First World Commemorations Unit War and the Easter Rising, and on to the Anglo-Irish Division years of seismic change that followed Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade the war. Jimmy Deenihan T.D. Minister for Arts, Heritage 80 St. Stephens Green Commemorating these events will also and the Gaeltacht Dublin 2 give us the opportunity to reflect on the Chairman of the All-Party Working Group Tel: (+353) 1 408 2635 development of the organised labour on Commemorations

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