Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann National Library of Ireland Collection List No. 44 Piaras Béaslaí Papers (MSS 33,911-33,987; MSS 49,546-49,547) (Accession No. 2541 & 2584) Personal and professional papers of Piaras Béaslaí (1881-1965), Irish revolutionary, Gaelic League activist, author and journalist. Compiled by Marie Coleman, Ph.D. (Holder of the Studentship in Irish History provided by the National Library of Ireland in association with the Irish Committee of Historical Sciences, 1998-1999). 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Biographical note on Piaras Béaslaí (1881-1965)........................................................... 5 Principal writings of Piaras Béaslaí ................................................................................ 8 Group Description ............................................................................................................ 9 I. Irish Revolution ........................................................................................................... 10 I.i. An tÓglach............................................................................................................... 10 I.ii. Sinn Féin, Dáil Éireann, and IRA........................................................................... 12 I.iii. Civil War and censorship ...................................................................................... 32 I.iv. Michael Collins Papers.......................................................................................... 40 I.v. Correspondence ...................................................................................................... 48 I.vi. Newspaper reports................................................................................................. 69 I.vii. Photographs.......................................................................................................... 74 II. Writings ...................................................................................................................... 77 II.i. Michael Collins biographies .................................................................................. 77 II.i.1. Michael Collins and the Making of a New Ireland: handwritten drafts.....77 II.i.2. Michael Collins and the Making of a New Ireland: typed drafts...............79 II.i.3. Michael Collins and the Making of a New Ireland: proofs and synopses .81 II.i.4. Michael Collins and the Making of a New Ireland: drafts and notes.........82 II.i.5. Michael Collins biographies: correspondence, principal correspondents..83 II.i.6. Michael Collins biographies: correspondence, minor correspondents ......84 II.i.7. Reviews, serialisation extracts, and material re Michael Collins...............86 II.ii. Writings: correspondence ..................................................................................... 87 II.ii.1.Writings correspondence: principal correspondents..................................87 II.ii.2. Writings correspondence: minor correspondents......................................89 II.iii. Articles, lectures, broadcasts.............................................................................. 103 II.iv. Literary work...................................................................................................... 109 II.v. Notes.................................................................................................................... 113 III. Organisations.......................................................................................................... 116 III.i. Old IRA............................................................................................................... 116 III.i.1. Association of the Old Dublin Brigade (AODB)....................................116 III.i.2. 1916-21 Club ..........................................................................................120 III.i.3. Old IRA organisations and members......................................................120 III.i.4. Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen (ONE) ...................................123 III.i.5. Military Service Pensions (MSP) ...........................................................123 III.i.6. An tÓglach (Old IRA journal) ................................................................128 III.ii. Conradh na Gaeilge/Gaelic League and other Irish language organisations..... 129 III.ii.1. Conradh na Gaeilge: correspondence, principal correspondents...........129 III.ii.2. Conradh na Gaeilge: correspondence: minor correspondents ...............130 III.ii.3. Conradh na Gaeilge/Gaelic League documents.....................................137 III.ii.4. An Fáinne...............................................................................................138 III.ii.5. Na hAisteoirí/Gaelic Players and An Comhar Dramaíochta .................139 III.ii.6. Miscellaneous Irish language organisations and Irish language issues.140 III.iii. Literary and miscellaneous organisations......................................................... 144 3 IV. Personal material.................................................................................................... 147 IV.i. Diaries................................................................................................................. 147 IV.ii. Additional Diaries ............................................................................................. 153 IV.iii. Personal correspondence .................................................................................. 156 IV.iii.1. Personal correspondence: principal correspondents.............................157 IV.iii.2. Personal correspondence: minor correspondents .................................165 IV.iii.3. Personal correspondence: principal correspondents, no surname ........198 IV.iii.4. Personal correspondence: minor correspondence, incomplete names .199 IV.iii.5. Personal correspondence: letters from Béaslaí’s parents .....................205 IV.iii.6. Personal correspondence: letters written by Piaras Béaslaí .................212 IV.iii.7. Personal correspondence: miscellaneous letters...................................217 IV.iii.8. Letters to others....................................................................................218 IV.iii.9. Personal correspondence: post-cards and Christmas cards ..................219 IV.iv. Personal material .............................................................................................. 225 IV.iv.1. Theatre programmes, financial documents, personal documents.........225 IV.iv.2. Envelopes and folders...........................................................................229 IV.iv.3. Newspaper cuttings and periodicals .....................................................230 IV.v. Photographs ....................................................................................................... 233 IV.vi. Other material................................................................................................... 234 Index............................................................................................................................... 235 4 Biographical note on Piaras Béaslaí (1881-1965) Early Life Percy Frederick Beazley was born 15 February 1881, in Liverpool, where his father, Patrick Langford Beazley, a native of County Kerry, was editor of the Catholic Times. His mother, Nannie Hickey, was originally from Newcastlewest, County Limerick. Following his education in St. Xavier’s Jesuit College, Liverpool, Percy entered his father’s profession, working as a freelance journalist and with the local provincial newspaper, Wallasey News. After failing to establish himself as a journalist in London, he moved to Dublin in 1906. Following a year working as a freelance contributor to the Irish Peasant, Irish Independent, Freeman’s Journal and Express, he was offered a permanent position with Independent Newspapers, as assistant leader writer and special reporter for the Evening Telegraph and contributor of a daily half- column in Irish for the Freeman’s Journal. Gaelic League About this time he began to use the Irish form of his name, using various spellings before settling on the form which he was to use for the rest of his life, Piaras Béaslaí. Béaslaí’s interest in the Irish language was aroused while he was still a schoolboy in Liverpool. He was an active member of the O’Shea Branch of the Gaelic League in that city, and during his short sojourn in London much of his time was devoted to the Gaelic League. Soon after his arrival in Dublin he joined the Keating branch of the league, a club in which the influence of the IRB was particularly strong. A fellow member of the Keating branch, Cathal Brugha, invited Béaslaí to join that revolutionary organisation. He was sworn into the circle known as the ‘Teeling Club’, which also counted among its members Pat McCartan and Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh. Béaslaí first made the acquaintance of Michael Collins in the Keating branch early in 1916. Involvement in the language movement gave Béaslaí an opportunity to indulge in many of his interests. He wrote for the Irish language journals, Banba, the short- lived periodical of the Keating Branch, and the Gaelic Journal. His life-long interest in the theatre was channelled into the formation in 1912 of a group of Gaelic players, Na hAisteoiri. Among this troupe were fellow Keating branch and IRB members, Fionán Lynch, Gearóid O’Sullivan and Diarmuid O’Hegarty, all of whom were to become senior figures in the revolutionary movement. During this time