‘FEW SUPPORTERS AND NO ORGANISATION’? CUMANN NA NGAEDHEAL ORGANISATION AND POLICY, 1923-33. By MEL FARRELL THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH Head of Department: Professor Marian Lyons Supervisor of Research: Dr. Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses July 2011 Contents …………………………………………………………………………………….…i Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………....…iv Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………….…vi Introduction……………………………………………………………………………...vii Broad outline of Cumann na nGaedheal, 1923-33...............................................ix Existing literature....................................................................................................xiii Primary sources........................................................................................................xx Structure of the thesis............................................................................................xxii Part I....................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1- The Origins of Cumann na nGaedheal........................................................ 2 The Treaty.................................................................................................................. 8 The disintegration of Sinn Féin................................................................................ 14 Emergence of ‘sub parties’........................................................................................16 Civil War breaks out, 28 June 1922..........................................................................23 A new ‘National Party’ emerges...............................................................................26 Organising Cumann na nGaedheal............................................................................33 Chapter 2- The Cumann na nGaedheal organisation: an overview.............................40 Cumann na nGaedheal’s first election...................................................................... 42 The legacy of the 1923 election.................................................................................50 Strain, mutiny and by-elections.................................................................................51 Cumann na nGaedheal’s organisational apex?..........................................................59 Attitude to local elections..........................................................................................65 Two contrasting elections..........................................................................................66 Organisational growth halts......................................................................................74 Party newspapers and social functions......................................................................75 Holding its own as Depression hits...........................................................................77 Government party to opposition party......................................................................79 Chapter 3- Cumann na nGaedheal organisation in Clare............................................83 Establishment of Cumann na nGaedheal in Clare.....................................................86 Post-election difficulties in Clare..............................................................................91 i Reorganising effort spring 1925: Purcell to the rescue.........................................93 Cumann na nGaedheal prepares for electioneering...............................................98 Promoting an unpopular government...................................................................102 Another slump in Clare activism..........................................................................108 Reorganising in 1931...........................................................................................109 February 1932 general election............................................................................114 Party of opposition..............................................................................................117 Chapter 4- Longford/Westmeath Cumann na nGaedheal......................................122 Branch formation in Longford/Westmeath.........................................................126 Seán Scanlon arrives in Longford.......................................................................130 Westmeath reorganised: 1925..............................................................................135 Cumann na nGaedheal’s zenith in microcosm.....................................................138 Mixed fortunes in two general elections.............................................................141 Post-election blues...............................................................................................146 President Cosgrave tours the midlands...............................................................149 The Longford/Westmeath by-election................................................................151 Party of power to party of protest.......................................................................156 Chapter 5- Cumann na nGaedheal in Dublin North...............................................162 Politics as pastime...............................................................................................167 March 1925 by-election.......................................................................................172 Dublin North social club......................................................................................182 The 1932 election in Dublin North......................................................................186 Part II...........................................................................................................................194 Chapter 6-Cumann na nGaedheal: Isolated instance or part of a European phenomenon?..............................................................................................................196 Europe before and during the Great War............................................................197 Consequences of the War....................................................................................200 Post-War Europe and democratisation................................................................203 Reaction against the new democratic order in Europe........................................209 Europe in the maelstrom of Depression..............................................................220 Chapter 7- Cumann na nGaedheal policy in government, 1923-28.......................225 Financing the Free State......................................................................................228 Limited industrial development...........................................................................235 ii Competing in a world market.............................................................................240 Financial orthodoxy............................................................................................246 Legitimacy and stability......................................................................................248 External affairs....................................................................................................249 More retrenchment and a second national loan...................................................255 Chapter 8- Free State government policy, 1929-32 .................................................258 The last Cumann na nGaedheal administration...................................................260 Department of Finance........................................................................................268 Economic Committee..........................................................................................269 Eve of election retrenchment 1931......................................................................273 The 1932 election: political, economic and social change?................................278 Fianna Fáil in government..................................................................................281 Conclusion...................................................................................................................288 Party organisation...............................................................................................288 Wider trends.......................................................................................................294 Political realignment in Ireland: domestic or international causes?...................298 Bibliography...............................................................................................................301 iii Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible through the generous contribution of a considerable number of people and institutions. Firstly, I wish to thank all of the staff at the Department of History NUI Maynooth for their unfailing support since 2004 through both my degree and subsequent Ph.D. In particular I want to thank Professor R. V. Comerford, to whom I will be forever grateful, for his enthusiastic encouragement of this research project from the beginning and his continued interest in my work since his retirement. I also thank his successor as head of the Department, Professor Marian Lyons, for her advice and constant support over the past year. In particular, I thank Professor Lyons for being so generous with her time in the weeks before this thesis was submitted. Both Ann Donoghue