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‘Ireland in his heart north and south’1 the contribution of Ernest Blythe to the partition question

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Daithí Ó Corráin
Daithí Ó Corráin*
Affiliation:
Centre for Contemporary Irish History, Trinity College Dublin
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Extract

Ulster Protestant, farmer’s son, journalist, I.R.B. member, Irish Volunteer organiser, hunger-striker, Sinn Féin T.D. and Minister for Trade and Commerce, advocate of the Anglo-Irish treaty, Cumann na nGaedheal Minister for Local Government, Finance and Posts and Telegraphs, Vice-President of the Executive Council, Blueshirt intellectual (but no fascist): these successive designations capture the varied early career of Ernest Blythe. Far less is known of his interests and writing after his retirement from political life: the Irish language, theatre and, in particular, the partition question.

Type
Research Article
Information
Irish Historical Studies , Volume 35 , Issue 137 , May 2006 , pp. 61 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd 2006

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Footnotes

1

Matt Coughlan to Blythe, 19 Jan. 1965 (U.C.D.A., Blythe papers, P24/1638).

References

2 It should be noted that Blythe also used the Irish form of his name — Earnán de Blaghd. He published a three-part biography in Irish covering his life up to 1919: Trasna na Bóinne (Dublin, 1957), Slán le hUltaibh (Dublin, 1970) and Gaeil á múscailt (Dublin, 1973). On his involvement with the Blueshirt movement see Cronin, Mike, The Blueshirts and Irish politics (Dublin, 1997), p. 65Google Scholar; and Regan, John M., The Irish counter-revolution 1921–1936 (Dublin, 1999), chs 14, 15Google Scholar.

3 Gadhra, Nollaig Ó, ‘Earnán de Blaghd, 1880–1975’ in Éire–Ireland, xi (1976), pp 93–4Google Scholar. Ó Gadhra’s article provides an interesting overview of Blythe and the Irish language.

4 Gallagher, Frank, The indivisible island: the history of the partition of Ireland (London, 1957)Google Scholar.

5 Sheehy, Michael, Divided we stand: a study of partition (London, 1955)Google Scholar.

6 Dónal Barrington, ‘Uniting Ireland’ in Studies (winter 1957), pp 379–402; it appeared as a pamphlet in 1959.

7 Ibid., pp 381–2.

8 Ibid., p. 379.

9 Blaghd, Earnán de, Briseadh na teorann (Dublin, 1955)Google Scholar.

10 Ibid., pp 19, 52.

11 Ibid., p. 7 (‘If it is not possible to persuade a few hundred thousand Protestants in the North that they should vote for the reunification of Ireland, there will never be an end to the border’).

12 See Whyte, J.H., Interpreting Northern Ireland (Oxford, 1990), p. 120Google Scholar; Barrington, ‘Uniting Ireland’, p. 382.

13 Regan, Irish counter-revolution, p. 92.

14 Dáil Éireann deb., iii, 194 (3 Jan. 1922).

15 Memorandum with regard to policy on north-east Ulster, 9 Aug. 1922 (copy) (U.C.D.A., P24/70).

16 ‘Appeal to leaders of nationalist opinion in the north’, c. end 1956 – early 1957, p. 2 (U.C.D.A., P24/1775).

17 Memorandum with regard to policy on north-east Ulster, 9 Aug. 1922 (copy) (U.C.D.A., P24/70).

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

20 Dáil Éireann deb., xxii, 1645 (22 Mar. 1928).

21 Barrington, ‘Uniting Ireland’, p. 395.

22 P. S. O’Hegarty to Blythe (‘private’), 27 Jan. 1933 (U.C.D.A., P24/1043).

23 Lennox Robinson to Blythe, Sat. [1933] (ibid., P24/1049).

24 P. J. Connolly to Blythe, 31 Mar. 1936 (ibid., P24/1261a).

25 ‘Stalemate in the north’, [1936] (typescript), pp 1–2 (ibid., P24/1261b).

26 Ibid., pp 4, 6–7.

27 Text of address to the Belfast branch of the Irish Association: ‘Unity within the framework of partition’, c. Sept. 1959, pp 4—5 (ibid., P24/1874). On his childhood see de Blaghd, Briseadh na teorann, p. 9.

28 Blythe to Hector Legge (editor, Sunday Independent), 6 Dec. 1949 (U.C.D.A., P24/1216).

29 Letter enclosing ‘Towards a six county dominion’, 29 Aug. 1949 (ibid., P24/1331).

30 Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh (Sáirséal & Dill) to de Blaghd, 28 Apr. 1955 (ibid., P24/1427).

31 Basil Clancy to Blythe, 11 June 1961 (ibid., P24/1437).

32 Irish Times, 19 July 1951.

33 De Valera to Blythe (‘secret’), 3 May 1958 (U.C.D.A., P24/1163); Blythe to de Valera, 5 May 1958 (copy) (ibid., P24/1165).

34 Leon Ó Broin to Blythe, 25 May 1960 (ibid., P24/1175).

35 Irish Times, 28 Oct. 1950, editorial.

36 Blythe to P. F. McGill, 31 Jan. 1953 (U.C.D.A., P24/1327(l)).

37 Maurice Gorham to Blythe, 13 Feb. 1953 (ibid., P24/1328(3)). Lennon entered the Northern Ireland Senate in 1944 and from 1965 to 1971 was Nationalist leader in the house.

38 Belfast News-Letter, 30 Sept. 1959.

39 For example Belfast Telegraph, Irish News, 30 Sept. 1959.

40 Blythe to Gorham, 5 Feb. 1953 (U.C.D.A., P24/1328(l)).

41 Dáil Éireann deb., cxv, 785–6 (10 May 1949).

42 Stewart, A.T.Q., The narrow ground: aspects of Ulster, 1609–1969 (London, 1977), p. 157Google Scholar.

43 De Blaghd, Briseadh na teorann, p. 7 (‘Partition exists because the Protestants of the country demanded it, particularly the Protestants of the North’).

44 ‘Notes on the Pomeroy, Armagh and Omagh incidents’, Oct. 1954, p. 15 (U.C.D.A., P24/1773b).

45 Memorandum on religion and partition, n.d., p. 1 (ibid., P24/1844).

46 Ciarán Ó Nualláin to Blythe, 19 Dec. 1956 (ibid., P24/1244). (‘the blame on England to the extent that it deserves’).

47 Thomas Johnson to Blythe, 8 Oct. 1949 (copy) (ibid., P24/1345).

48 John J. Horgan to Blythe, 10 Nov. 1954 (ibid., P24/1303).

49 I am grateful to Professor John Horgan for assistance on this point.

50 Memorandum, ‘Anti-partition agitation’, c. 1948, p. 2 (U.C.D.A., P24/1825).

51 See MacDermott, Eithne, Clann na Poblachta (Cork, 1998), p. 135Google Scholar; Lee, J.J., Ireland 1912–1985: politics and society (Cambridge, 1989), p. 301Google Scholar.

52 On this policy see McCullagh, David, A makeshift majority: the first inter-party government, 1948–51 (Dublin, 1998), pp 133–5Google Scholar.

53 Memorandum, ‘Anti-partition agitation’, c. 1948 (U.C.D.A., P24/1825). On this point see Kennedy, Michael and O’Halpin, Eunan, Ireland and the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 2000), pp 43, 46, 66–7Google Scholar.

54 Memorandum, ‘The partition of Ireland and Germany’, n.d. (U.C.D.A., P24/1856). Blythe made a similar comment with regard to both Germany and Cyprus in ‘References to partition’, n.d. (ibid., P24/1859).

55 ‘References to partition,’ n.d. (ibid., P24/1859).

56 Gerry Boland to Blythe, 29 Aug. 1949 (ibid., P24/1340); memorandum on partition and America, n.d., p. 4 (ibid., P24/1829).

57 John J. Horgan to Blythe, 3 Nov. 1950 (ibid., P24/1294).

58 Barrington, ‘Uniting Ireland’, pp 386–7.

59 ‘Notes on the Pomeroy, Armagh and Omagh incidents’, Oct. 1954, p. 14 (U.C.D.A., P24/1773b).

60 This point is forcefully made by Blythe in ‘Thoughtful people and partition’ in The Leader, 3 Mar, 1951, p. 11.

61 Bowman, John, De Valera and the Ulster question, 1917–1973 (Oxford, 1982), p. 276Google Scholar.

62 ‘Towards a six county dominion’, 8 Aug. 1949, p. 41 (U.C.D.A., P24/1769).

63 This was mooted in ‘Thoughtful people and partition’.

64 Supplementary note to ‘The problem of partition. Suggestions for a commission of inquiry or a consultative council’, n.d. (U.C.D.A., P24/1772).

65 ‘The problem of partition. Suggestions for a commission of inquiry or a consultative council’, c. June–July 1954 (ibid., P24/1771); memorandum on anti-partition policy, n.d (ibid., P24/1843). For an interesting account of Seán Lester see Gageby, Douglas, The last secretary-general: Seán Lester and the League of Nations (Dublin, 1999)Google Scholar.

66 Blythe to Hector Legge (‘confidential and personal’), 16 June 1954 (U.C.D.A., P24/1217b).

67 Blythe to Liam Cosgrave, 16 June 1954 (ibid., P24/1361).

68 Lemass to Blythe, 9 July 1954 (ibid., P24/1363).

69 De Valera to Blythe, 9 July 1954 (ibid., P24/1364) (‘Since the reunification of the country is a political objective of every party, Fianna Fáil will naturally help with any policy presented once they believe there is a reasonable chance that the policy will succeed’).

70 Note for debate with Senator Lennon, c. 1953–4, p. 7 (ibid., P24/1871).

71 ‘Protestants and Catholics in Ireland’, n.d., pp 4–5 (ibid., P24/1852).

72 Ibid., p. 5.

73 Blythe to Cardinal D’Alton, 2 Jan. 1950 (copy) (ibid., P24/1347).

74 Memorandum, ‘Northern newspaper correspondents’, 3 Sept. 1962, p. 2 (ibid., P24/1821).

75 Patrick Lynch to Maurice Moynihan, 6 May 1957 (N.A.I., DT S9361G).

76 Memorandum, ‘Illegal military organisations’, n.d., p. 13 (U.C.D.A., P24/1833).

77 Bowman, De Valera & the Ulster question, p. 287.

78 ‘The Minister for External Affairs and partition’, 1954–7, p. 8 (U.C.D.A., P24/1819).

79 Blythe to Seán MacEntee, 1 Feb. 1955 (ibid., P24/1384).

80 ‘Notes on the Pomeroy, Armagh and Omagh incidents’, Oct. 1954, p. 10 (ibid., P24/1773b). For an excellent history of north-south co-operation in these areas see Kennedy, Michael, Division and consensus: the politics of cross-border relations in Ireland, 1925–1969 (Dublin, 2000)Google Scholar.

81 De Blaghd, Briseadh na teorann, pp 31–3 (‘Accepting the Six Counties as an administrative and political unit — an evident and undisputable fact — it should be conceded that the Stormont Government is a sovereign and properly elected Government … it is pointless for us to be looking for excuses to deny or ignore that fact’).

82 Sheehy, Divided we stand, p. 19.

83 See McCullagh, A makeshift majority, pp 124–6.

84 Eddie McAteer to Seán MacBride, 5 Mar. 1949 (N.A.I., DT S6390A).

85 ‘Northern nationalists in Leinster House’, n.d., p. 2 (U.C.D.A., P24/1836a); see also de Blaghd, Briseadh na teorann, pp 159–60 on this point.

86 Taoiseach’s reply to a Dáil question from Noël Browne, 5 July 1951 (N.A.I., DT S6390B). Blythe made the same point in an editorial ‘The northern M.P.s’ in The Leader, 25 Feb. 1950, p. 6.

87 Belfast News-Letter, 30 Sept. 1959.

88 This point was raised in 1936 in ‘Stalemate in the north’ and in several subsequent contributions such as Briseadh na teorann, p. 166.

89 Horgan, John, Seán Lemass: the enigmatic patriot (Dublin, 1997), p. 256Google Scholar.

90 Ibid., p. 257; memorandum, ‘Northern newspaper correspondents,’ 3 Sept. 1962, p. 10 (U.C.D.A., P24/1821). This appeared as an article in Hibernia, Oct. 1962, pp 7–8.

91 Hibernia, Oct. 1962, pp 7–8; Northern Whig, 5 Oct. 1962.

92 James Dillon to Blythe, 1 Nov. 1963 (U.C.D.A., P24/1422).

93 Lemass to Blythe, 7 Dec. 1962 (ibid., P24/1421).

94 Ibid.

95 ‘Appeal to leaders of nationalist opinion in the north’, c. end 1956 – early 1957, p. 6 (ibid., P24/1175).

96 De Blaghd, Briseadh na teorann, pp 168–71.

97 ‘Armagh debate’, c. 1954, p. 10 (U.C.D.A., P24/1815); see also Earnán de Blaghd, ‘Flags in the six counties’ in The Leader, 8 May 1954, pp 9–12.

98 ‘Notes on the Pomeroy, Armagh and Omagh incidents’, Oct. 1954, pp 7–8 (U.C.D.A., P24/1773b).

99 De Blaghd, Briseadh na teorann, p. 91 (‘The cause and execution of gerrymandering and partition are the same, and if we succeed in doing anything to remedy partition, gerrymandering will be eliminated effortlessly’).

100 Barrington, ‘Uniting Ireland’, pp 394—5; Gallagher, Indivisible island, chs 14, 15.

101 Untitled memorandum by Healy, n.d. (P.R.O.N.I., Cahir Healy papers, D/2991/B/50/14). For a recent overview of Healy’s career see Phoenix, Eamon, ‘Cahir Healy (1877–1970), Northern Nationalist leader’ in Clogher Rec., xviii (2003), pp 33–52Google Scholar.

102 Lemass to Blythe, 7 Dec. 1962 (U.C.D.A., P24/1421).

103 ‘Appeal to leaders of nationalist opinion in the north’, c. end 1956 – early 1957, p. 8 (ibid., P24/1175).

104 Memorandum, ‘Northern newspaper correspondents’, 3 Sept. 1962, p. 10 (ibid., P24/1821).

105 Sunday Independent, 31 Aug. 1958.

106 Barrington, ‘Uniting Ireland’, p. 396.

107 Denis Ireland to Blythe, 21 June 1959 (U.C.D.A., P24/1411).

108 Denis P. Barritt to Blythe, 18 June 1959 (ibid., P24/1406). With Charles Carter, Barritt subsequently published The Northern Ireland problem: a study in group relations (London, 1962).

109 ‘Religious segregation in Ireland’, c. 1964, p. 15 (U.C.D.A., P24/1845).

110 Ibid., p. 19.

111 This is referred to in several memoranda and articles, e.g. ‘Appeal to leaders of nationalist opinion in the north’, c. end 1956 – early 1957, p. 18 (U.C.D.A., P24/1175); Hibernia, Oct. 1962, pp 7–8.

112 De Blaghd, Briseadh na teorann, p. 112 (‘Every step we took towards Anglicisation was a step for Ireland towards Anglicisation and a step for Ireland towards Partition’).

113 ‘Appeal to leaders of nationalist opinion in the north’, c. end 1956 – early 1957, p. 27 (U.C.D.A., P24/1175).

114 Memorandum, ‘Peaceful persuasion’, c. 1950, p. 5 (ibid., P24/1826).

115 Barrington, ‘Uniting Ireland’, pp 382–3.

116 Memorandum, ‘National reunion by persuasion’, n.d., p. 9 (U.C.D.A., P24/1830).

117 Blythe to James Slevin, 24 Feb. 1954 (copy) (ibid., P24/1330(4)).

118 De Blaghd, Briseadh na teorann, p. 17 (‘Both Conservative and Liberal English politicians, agreed, against their will, on partition as a compromise, as did the Irish’).

119 Theodore Moody to Blythe, 8 Nov. 1964 (U.C.D.A., P/24/1319).

120 Moody to Blythe, 31 Jan. 1955 (ibid., P24/1377).

121 Irish Press, 31 Jan. 1953.

122 Earnán de Blaghd, ‘Partition: a reply’ in The Leader, 11 Sept. 1954, p. 14.

123 See Barrington, ‘Uniting Ireland’, pp 398–9.

124 Stewart, Narrow ground, p. 155.

125 Earnán de Blaghd, ‘The basis of partition is religious’ in The Leader, 21 Oct. 1950, pp 29–32; Irish Times, 28 Oct. 1950.

126 Blythe acknowledged this in ‘The basis of partition is religious’, p. 31.

127 Thomas Johnson to Blythe, 8 Oct. 1949 (copy) (U.C.D.A., P24/1345).

128 ‘Protestants and Catholics in Ireland’, n.d. (ibid., P24/1852).

129 Memorandum, ‘Illegal military organisations’, n.d., p. 11 (ibid., P/24/1833).

130 Lemass to Blythe, 7 Dec. 1962 (ibid., P24/1421).

131 Irish Times, 20, 21 Mar. 1967.

132 Irish Independent, 15 Feb. 1965.

133 ‘Comments on Capt. O’Neill’s speech and Committee on the Constitution’, n.d., p. 2 (U.C.D.A., P24/1847). Blythe made this point in his article in the jubilee issue of The Leader.

134 Report of the Committee on the Constitution, Pr 9817.

135 ‘Comments on Capt. O’Neill’s speech and Committee on the Constitution’, n.d., p. 3 (U.C.D.A., P24/1847); Report of the Committee on the Constitution, pp 5–6.

136 ‘Politicians and the Ulster question’, late 1960s, p. 10 (U.C.D.A., P24/1881).

137 Belfast Telegraph, 22 Sept. 1956.

138 Whyte, Interpreting Northern Ireland, p. 133.

139 See Barrington, ‘Uniting Ireland’, pp 391—4.

140 Irish Times, 24 Feb. 1975.

141 I am grateful to Aoife Curran, Máire Ní Iarlaithe and Professor Eunan O’Halpin for reading earlier versions of this article.