Judging W.T. Cosgrave

Michael Laffan

Description

W. T. Cosgrave has been neglected in comparison with other prominent twentieth century Irish leaders. This biography, which uses sources not consulted by other historians, examines his career as local politician, rebel, minister, head of government for nearly ten years, and opposition leader. In particular it assesses his role as a state-builder and a key figure in the Irish democratic tradition.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique
• Ireland
• Stephen Ireland

Informations

• Publié par: Royal Irish Academy
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781908996695
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 12 Mo

Extrait

Detail from Irish Fun , May 1922, p. 4, caricature of Cosgrave.
Judging
W.T. COSGRAVE
THE FOUNDATION OF THE IRISH STATE
MICHAEL LAFFAN
Judging W.T. Cosgrave
First e-published 2014
by Prism Prism is an imprint of the Royal Irish Academy 19 Dawson Street Dublin 2 www.ria.ie
The author and publisher are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce documents, photographs and illustrations in this book: Liam Cosgrave; British Path ; the Bureau of Military History; Chicago History Museum; Corbis; Cork City and County Archives; Dublin Diocesan Archives; the ESB Archive; Colm Gallagher; Gallery Oldham; George Mason University Special Collections and Archives; Getty Images; Mark Humphrys; the Irish Architectural Archive; the Irish Film Institute; the Irish Visual Artists Rights Organisation; the family of Se n Keating; the Board of the National Archives of Ireland, the National Archives,London; the Board of the National Library of Ireland; Punch Magazine Ltd; the RT Stills Archive; the Royal Mint; John Stafford-Langan; the Board of Trinity College Dublin; UCD Archives, School of History and Archives; John Weedy; and the Wolfsonian Florida International University.
During the production process some documents, photographs and illustrations have been retouched or tinted for aesthetic purposes. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of these items and to ensure the accuracy of their captions. See Photo Credits.
Text copyright 2014 Michael Laffan
The author has asserted his moral rights.
ISBN 978-1-908996-69-5
All rights reserved. The material in this publication is protected by copyright law. Except as may be permitted by law, no part of the material may be reproduced (including by storage in a retrieval system) or transmitted in any form or by any means; adapted; rented or lent without the written permission of the copyright owners.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Editor: Helena King Design: Fidelma Slattery Index: Aisling Flood
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Elizabeth, David, Angela and Maura
Detail from cover of Dublin Opinion , Holiday Issue, August 1935, vol.14, no.162; from back left: John Marcus O Sullivan; James Ryan (examining horse); Patrick McGilligan (waving); Frank Aiken; Eamon de Valera and Se n T. O Kelly; Cosgrave; Se n McEntee (collecting money); Alfie Byrne shaking the hoof of Cosgrave s horse; and Eoin O Duffy in the distance on his own merry-go-round.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
1. THE PRESIDENT
2. BECOMING A POLITICIAN, 1880-1913
3. FIGHTING FOR INDEPENDENCE, 1913-21
4. DEFENDING THE TREATY, 1921-3
5. BUILDING THE FREE STATE, 1923-7
6. CONFRONTING FIANNA F IL, 1927-32
7. LEADING THE OPPOSITION, 1932-44
8. THE ELDER STATESMAN, 1944-65
ENDNOTES
PICTURE CREDITS
Pencil sketch of Cosgrave by Paul Henry, late 1922/early 1923.
P REFACE
The suggestion that I might write a biography of W.T. Cosgrave, and that I would have access to his surviving papers, has resulted in a project that involved several years of research. It has provided challenges and it has provoked occasional frustration, but it has been an overwhelmingly stimulating and satisfying experience. I have struggled with faded microfilm and with Cosgrave s difficult handwriting; I have ploughed through vast files and have found insights and evidence in unlikely places; and I have benefitted from the kindness and expertise of others. I appreciate their assistance deeply, and it is a pleasure to acknowledge those who have helped me.
Above all I am grateful to Liam Cosgrave, who urged me to undertake this biography, who lent me his father s papers and who was a source of constant information and encouragement, but who never tried to influence or control what I wrote.
The book has been supported and published by the Royal Irish Academy, and I would like to express my appreciation to Nicholas Canny and Luke Drury, the Academy presidents who commissioned it. Patrick F. Wallace, an Academy member, acted as a facilitator. Ruth Hegarty has been a patient, supportive and creative editor, and she made helpful comments on an early draft. Alice Butler, the research assistant on the project, acquired much of the illustrative material. Helena King has copy-edited the volume, and Fidelma Slattery has designed it. I am most appreciative of their work, which has resulted in a handsome production.
I am particularly indebted to my old friends Ciaran Brady and Tom Garvin, who read a draft of the book with great care, made many constructive proposals, and saved me from solecism and error. The two anonymous readers for the RIA have also made numerous informed and thoughtful suggestions. Additional material has been added to the text since the draft encountered by these four readers; they bear no responsibility for any mistakes that remain. Frank Bouchier-Hayes was exceptionally generous in sharing his vast fund of information.
Librarians and archivists have given me invaluable help-in particular the enormously knowledgeable Mary Broderick of the National Library in Dublin and Paul Ryan of the Killaloe Diocesan Archive in Ennis. Their assistance has gone far beyond the call of duty.
I am also indebted to Seamus Helferty, Kate Manning and Orna Somerville of UCD Archives, who have been friendly and helpful as always; Julia Barrett, Anne Conway and Monica Cullinan of the UCD Library; Mary Clark of the Dublin City Library; Catriona Crowe, Aideen Ireland and Patrick Sarsfield of the National Archives; Lisa Dolan of the Military Archives; Noelle Dowling of the Dublin Diocesan Archives; Marie L outre and Gerry Long of the National Library; Aisling Lockhart of the Manuscripts and Archives Research Room, Trinity College; and Brian McGee of Cork City and County Archives.
Others have assisted me in various ways, and I am grateful to Gary Agnew, Johnny Bambury, Frank Barry, Joe Brady, Maurice Bric, the late Patrick Buckley, the late Jim Cantwell, John Coolahan, Peter Costello, Ian d Alton, David Dickson, Tom Dunne, Lindsey Earner-Byrne, Bryan Fanning, Diarmaid Ferriter, Colm Gallagher, Patrick Geoghegan, Daire Hogan, Edward James, Finola Kennedy, Michael Kennedy, Dympna Kiernan, Felix Larkin, Charles Lysaght, Bill McCormack, Deirdre McMahon, Robert Marshall, Ciara Meehan, Conor Mulvagh, Brian Murphy, Will Murphy, na Newell, Willie Nolan, imear O Connor, John O Dowd, Eamon O Flaherty, Cormac Gr da, Clare O Halloran, Eunan O Halpin, Mary O Hegarty, Margaret h gartaigh, Susannah Riordan, Paul Rouse and Mary Ruane.

We got him out to put him in , Sinn F in election poster for Cosgrave, 1918.
Cosgrave and his son M ce l at the inauguration of the Ardnacrusha hydro-electric station on the River Shannon, July 1929.

the art and science of nation-building
- THE PRESIDENT -

THE beginnings were prosaic. There were no celebrations, no bands played, and no crowds sang in the streets. The Irish Free State, the end product of the Irish revolution, was inaugurated in a subdued and businesslike manner. On 6 December 1922 members of the Irish parliament took an oath of fidelity to King George V, as was required by the treaty with Britain that had been signed exactly a year earlier, and they elected a head of government. The new president of the executive council , W. T. Cosgrave, informed Governor-General Tim Healy of his election by the D il and he received the three-word reply I appoint you . 1 Cosgrave then nominated his cabinet. Apart from journalists, no members of the public were present. Newspapers described the proceedings as decorous and dull, without pomp or panoply and devoid of spectacular interest . 2
There were good reasons for this lack of ceremony. The creation of the new Irish state was bitterly controversial, and Cosgrave s government was, from the outset, fighting for its existence against opponents determined to destroy it. Ruthless provocation was soon followed by ruthless retaliation. The French consul in Dublin began his report to Paris on 9 December by declaring that the Free State had been born in blood. 3 The circumstances could hardly have been less auspicious.
Yet the structure that was completed in December 1922 proved resilient and enduring; a stable and democratic political system took root after the storms of insurrection, guerrilla conflict and civil war. Much of the credit for this achievement lies with the man who led the government throughout its early years, but after he retired from public life he remained for decades one of the forgotten figures of Irish history.
Cosgrave did not deserve such neglect. He headed the first fully independent Irish administration, and he presided over a slow but steady expansion of the freedom provided by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. He led the victorious side in a brutal civil war, and once the fighting had ended he ruled with moderation and humanity. Although sometimes authoritarian he was nonetheless a committed democrat in a period when many newly-independent states lapsed into dictatorship. His party won three successive general elections, and with a single exception (in Luxembourg) his was the longest unbroken term of office of any democratic head of government in Europe between the wars. During his decade in power there were five changes of prime minister in Britain and ten in France. For most of the time he presided with little apparent effort over a talented cabinet, some of whose members had more dominant personalities or who outshone him intellectually. In this respect he resembles three successful British prime ministers during his lifetime, Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Stanley Baldwin and Clement Attlee. To draw another foreign parallel, he might bear comparison with the US president Harry Truman, of whom little was expected when he succeeded the dominant and charismatic Franklin D. Roosevelt but who later proved himself in office.
According to one observer C