Ireland’s Faithful Servant: Alexander Martin Sullivan and Constitutional Nationalism in Post-Famine Ireland, 1855 – 1870 by Douglas C. Kenny A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL May, 2018 Copyright 2018 by Douglas C. Kenny ii Ireland's Faithful Servant: Alexander Martin Sullivan and Constitutional Nationalism in Post-Famine Ireland 1855- 1870 by Douglas C. Kenny This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. Douglas Kanter, Department of History, and has been approved by the members of his supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Do glas Kanter, Ph.D. Thesis Advisor Patricia Kollander, Ph.D. Lo~. Chair, Department of History Michael?~ J. Hweii,~ Ph.D. (L Dean,· Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts d Letters Diane E. Alperin, Ph. Interim Dean, Graduate College 111 Acknowledgements I must extend my most heartfelt and honest gratitude to the faculty of Florida Atlantic University’s Department of History, whose earnest dedication to their fields has imparted on me a respect for academia that can only be learned. This project would not exist without the inspiration that I gained from the many hours I spent engaged in discussion during their seminars, or without their guidance and dedication to their students. My pursuit of history was first inspired by Dr. Hanne, whose lively approach to teaching and pragmatic view of the discipline was both memorable and greatly appreciated. I would like to thank Dr. Engle for “showing me the ropes” in his rigorous introductory course, and always being a pleasure to cross paths with in the halls of the department. I am also grateful to Dr. Lowe and Dr. Kollander, my committee members, for their time and efforts in providing a careful review of my work, and for their high spirits, which were always uplifting. I thank the staff at the National Library of Ireland for their kindness in assisting me during my research, and never failing to engage me in some brilliant and enthusiastic tale of local history. I must also, in no small way, thank Dr. Kanter for his care and enthusiasm in helping me discover a passion for Irish history, and assisting me in discovering a topic for this study. This thesis would not be what it is without his astute reviews of my writing. I also want to thank my parents for their unending support and genuine interest in my studies, which always served as a source of inspiration. Without them my academic pursuits would not be possible. A “thank you” is also extended to my family in Ireland, iv Willie and Betty, who provided room and board (free of charge) during my research in Ireland, and were a constant source of Irish humor. Finally, I am ever grateful to my close friends for their frequent words of encouragement. v Abstract Author: Douglas C. Kenny Title: Ireland’s Faithful Servant: Alexander Martin Sullivan and Constitutional Nationalism in Post-Famine Ireland, 1855-1870 Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Douglas Kanter Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2018 This thesis reappraises the significance of Alexander Martin Sullivan, the Irish constitutional nationalist and owner-editor of the Nation, by examining his role in carrying Young Ireland’s moderate nationalist program through the lull in popular politics between the 1840s and 1870s. Sullivan has been routinely marginalized as an important historical figure in post-Famine popular politics, yet his campaign of propping up nationalist heroes and attempts at forming nationalist organizations, primarily through the Nation, ultimately helped to revitalize nationalist politics. Although his efforts were often threatened, and even thwarted at times, by James Stephens and other advanced nationalists, Sullivan managed to preserve constitutional nationalism until the emergence of Isaac Butt as leader of the home rule movement in the 1870s. vi For my parents, Robert and Nancy, and for Kelli. Ireland’s Faithful Servant: Alexander Martin Sullivan and Constitutional Nationalism in Post-Famine Ireland, 1855 – 1870 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter One: Before the Nation: Early Life and Influences, 1829 – 1855………………..7 Chapter Two: Taking the Reins of the Revived Nation, 1855 – 1858…………………...28 Chapter Three: Awkward Footing: Dealing with James Stephens and the Phoenix Society, 1858 – 1861……………………………………………………………..50 Chapter Four: The Two Lamps of His Soul: Uniting Nationalism and Catholicism, 1858 – 1870………………………………………….…………….83 Conclusion: Ireland’s Faithful Servant, 1870…...……………………………………...111 viii Introduction Alexander Martin Sullivan, a twenty-four-year-old Catholic and moderate nationalist from Bantry in western Cork, arrived in Dublin in early 1853, determined to find employment as a journalist. During his formative years in Bantry he became involved, to varying extents, in the temperance and repeal movements, William Smith O’Brien’s tour of Cork and the subsequent Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848, and was strongly affected by the impression left upon him by the Famine. All these experiences Sullivan carried to Dublin, and they ultimately molded his view of Ireland and the Irish people; a view that is strongly evident in all of Sullivan’s writings. Sullivan eventually garnered the respect of Charles Gavan Duffy, a Young Irelander and the proprietor and editor of Dublin’s premier nationalist newspaper, the Nation, which he eventually purchased and managed from 1855 until 1876 when he left the paper to his older brother. During Sullivan’s proprietorship he promoted both the political ideals of Young Ireland and attempted, many a time, to establish a constitutional organization to press for an independent Ireland. In doing so, he found himself hotly contesting the fate of Ireland’s political future with secret advanced nationalist societies, primarily lead by James Stephens, who held a personal vendetta against Sullivan for his denunciation of their organizations. Sullivan was unable to achieve his goal of founding a durable association until, with Isaac Butt, he helped to establish the Home Government Association. Sullivan, soon after, retired from journalism and lent his support to the home rule movement as M.P. for Louth, and later Meath, until his death in 1884. 1 Sullivan has most often been remembered for his encounter with Stephens, and it is when he has, almost exclusively, made his brief and predictable appearance in post- Famine Irish history. Despite Sullivan’s position as the sole proprietor and editor of Ireland’s then premier nationalist newspaper, the Nation, he has been neglected as a significant historical figure. Sullivan was one of post­Famine Ireland’s most prominent constitutional nationalist figures, yet he has not been accorded a sufficient position in the historiography. His ethos was predominantly shaped by some of nineteenth-century Ireland’s most memorable figures and events as a child and young adult, and he conformed largely to the Young Ireland school of thought: regeneration of Ireland through constitutional means and expression. The Nation, under Sullivan’s direction, towed this party line. The study of Sullivan’s life began almost immediately after his death in 1884. The following year, his brother T.D. Sullivan published A.M. Sullivan: A Memoir. T.D. was sympathetic to his brother, and regarded him as a significant figure in post-Famine politics, although he was not too liberal in his praise, and typically gave Sullivan only as much credit as he was due. Unfortunately, T.D.’s account failed to confirm Sullivan’s reputation amongst the myriad political figures in post-Famine Ireland, and when a rigorous and sophisticated post-Famine Irish historiography began to develop between the 1950s and the 1970s, Sullivan was treated as a relatively minor figure, whose most active years coincided with the nadir of nationalist fortunes. This low appraisal can be seen, for example, in the major surveys of the period written by P.S. O’Hegarty, Lawrence McCaffrey, and F.S.L. Lyons. O’Hegarty, in his A History of Ireland Under the Union, 1801-1922, asserted that the Nation under Sullivan’s editorship “failed to 2 leave any lasting impression on public opinion,” and simply included Sullivan in the constitutional nationalist cohort, while McCaffrey and Lyons identified Sullivan merely as Stephens’ infamous “felon-setter” for his article denouncing secret societies.1 Of the scholars who have approached the subject of A.M. Sullivan’s role in nineteenth-century Irish history, Francis Martin and Ray Moran have provided the most definitive accounts thus far. Martin’s thesis, A.M. Sullivan, 1829-1884, was the first academic biography of Sullivan to appear, almost 100 years after T.D. Sullivan published the memoir of his brother. Martin went to great lengths to flesh out some of the finer details missing from T.D.’s original biography, for example, Sullivan’s childhood in Bantry, and thus provided a more modern and well-researched account of Sullivan from birth to death.2 Moran’s thesis, Alexander Martin Sullivan (1829•1884) and Irish Cultural Nationalism, remains the only other biography of Sullivan. Moran, working largely off of the efforts of Martin, has argued that Sullivan’s significance lies in his role as an ideologue in post-Famine politics, and has further asserted that Sullivan’s lack of charisma and ruthlessness ensured his role in post•Famine Irish history was a limited one.3 But Moran has failed to recognize the press as a form of popular political activism. The distinguished Irish historian, Richard Vincent Comerford, has incorporated Sullivan into several of his works, but Comerford has perpetuated the idea that Sullivan was a 1 Patrick Sarsfield O’Hegarty, A History of Ireland Under the Union, 1801-1922 (London: Methuen, 1952), 411; Lawrence J.