REVIEW: A personal take on the first faltering steps of a fledgling Irish State

Review: Tina Neylon

In 1922, Michael Collins sent a delegation representing the Provisional Government to the USA.

Author Dr Anne Good Forrestal is the granddaughter of Sean Mac-Caoilte, one of the three delegates; the other two were James O’ Mara and Piaras Beaslai.

The delegation had been urgently organised in reaction to rumours about possible civil war expressed by John Devoy, head of the leading Irish American organisation, Friends of Irish Freedom.

The aim of the American tour by MacCaoilte and his companions was to convince American supporters that acceptance of the Treaty was the correct decision given the circumstances. The tour visited 20 states over six weeks.

On board the ship, Aquitania, as they crossed the Atlantic, was another delegation “composed of two former comrades … vehement opponents of the Provisional government”. While MacCaoilte was initially concerned that their strategy might work, he comes to the conclusion that “the technical details of the Treaty negotiations and the specific differences between a Free State and a Republic were of little interest to many Irish Americans”. They are, however, deeply concerned about news of a civil war breaking out.

The author describes her book as a novel, drawing on both her search in documents of the period and her recollections of conversations with her grandmother, Delia, who lived until 1969.

Delia is the narrator and, writing in 1968, she says: “When I read in the papers about the trouble reemerging in Northern Ireland, I can see the mistakes which were made in 1922 are still having an impact, perhaps because temporary compromises made then were subsequently allowed to become rigid and final.”

The narrative moves between Sean’s experiences on the tour and Delia’s in Dublin.

Pregnant with her fifth child, Delia confesses what she calls her “ungenerous envy” that she couldn’t have gone in his place, as “other women from Sinn Féin” had been as involved as men in representing their aims overseas.

She and Sean MacCaoilte had first noticed each other at a Gaelic League meeting in 1908. Delia expresses well the tension between wanting to be involved in politics and love of family, that perennial challenge faced in particular by women.

In the US, MacCaoilte and his companions meet Archbishop Hayes, the major Catholic leader, who speaks at, rather than with, them. The Archbishop’s recent Christmas Pastoral letter had condemned both birth control and divorce; he had also campaigned against emerging social and political movements, including Mother Jones, aimed at “creating better lives for poorer people”.

Sean is opposed to those views; before going to the US, he had been working on improving housing for the poor. He’s also concerned about sectarianism, and worried that “the new State was likely to become too dominated by our Church’s most conservative hierarchy”.

There is much of interest in the book about the delegation, its experiences, and in particular the feelings and beliefs expressed by Sean. There are descriptions of the poverty in Dublin at the time and in particular of the terrible curse of TB. Delia gives a very moving account of the terror of the disease, and the tragedy it brings to her family.

In her introduction, the author argues that the period between the Treaty and the outbreak of civil war has not been well researched, and that “the Treaty splits precipitated a series of bitter contestations whose outcomes coalesced to create a Free State, then later a Republic, which bore little resemblance to that for which so many had fought, Sean and Delia among them.”

Her book is well worth reading.

Mark Holan's Irish-American Blog

Guest post: Pro-Treaty delegation in Pittsburgh, May 1922

Dr. Anne Good Forrestal is a former lecturer in Sociology at Trinity College Dublin. Her 2021 historical novel, ‘Fierce Tears, Frail Deeds’, is based on the experiences of her grandparents, Seán and Delia MacCaoilte, in the first half of 1922; between the January Dáil Éireann vote to ratify the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and the June outbreak of the Irish Civil War. MacCaoilte was part of the pro-Treaty delegation that visited America that spring, including a stop in Pittsburgh. This story is based on one of his actual letters from the city. Dr. Forrestal’s novel is available from seaweedmillpress.com.

One hundred years ago, Seán MacCaoilte, Sinn Féin leader on the Dublin Corporation (or city council) visited Pittsburgh as part of the delegation sent by Michael Collins to argue the case for the Anglo-Irish Treaty in America. Seán was joined by Dáil Éireann member Piaras Beaslai, and James O’Meara, a prominent businessman.

The mission had been urgently organized in response to concerns expressed by John Devoy, head of the Friends of Irish Freedom (FOIF) and editor of the Gaelic American newspaper. Devoy, who reluctantly supported the Treaty, warned the Provisional Government in Dublin of the consternation produced among Irish Americans by press rumors of possible civil war in Ireland. The mission’s task was to convince America that the Dáil’s ratification of the Treaty had been the correct decision in the prevailing circumstances. In Ireland, Treaty supporters and opponents prepared to face Irish voters in a critical election set for June. Both Seán and Beaslai were due to stand for Sinn Féin in the election.

The trio arrived in New York in mid-March, having crossed the Atlantic on the same ship as a rival delegation opposed to the Treaty. That evidence of disunity and rancor within the formerly united Sinn Féin movement caused dismay and even derision in America.

The pro-Treaty mission began with private meetings in New York City and then proceeded to Boston. The delegation visited dozens of American cities and towns over subsequent weeks and reached Pittsburgh on May 6, near the end of their tour. Pittsburgh press reports noted the arrival of the “three distinguished Irishmen.”

While in Pittsburgh, Seán, 37, wrote to his wife, Delia, who remained in Dublin with their four, soon to be five, children. His letter describes the delegation’s work and comments on his impressions of Pittsburgh itself. The letter, written on stationary from the William Penn Hotel, is held in a private collection of Seán’s surviving papers at the National Archives in Dublin.

Irish Pittsburgh’s views on Treaty

From Pittsburgh, Seán’s letter offered an optimistic assessment of the delegation’s work. He was convinced the trio could return to Ireland as planned on May 16, since, in his view, their job was largely done. He wrote:

We hear here that the A.A.R.I.R. has gone to pieces. They had the best Council in the States in Pittsburgh but as usual it depended on the work of a few persons. Tomorrow a Miss (Margaret) McQuaide the vital force in the Council lunches with us and we are told is altogether with us.

The meetings in Pittsburgh bolstered his view that Irish America was now with Collins and the Provisional Government. Any anti-Treaty efforts to convey a different impression were, in Seán’s view, deceptive and dishonest.  He continued:

We have heard no reports yet from the Washington (D.C.) Convention (of the A.A.R.I.R.). It will, we understand, be a sorry affair in comparison with previous conventions …the great majority of the members have already fallen away considering the work for which it was started done. It will be sought to represent their actions however as the actions of the old-time association though the membership has fallen by 80 or 90%. Many of the States have dissolved automatically through non-renewal of membership subscriptions and will not of course be represented at the Convention.

Subsequent developments confirmed Seán’s assessment. Newspapers in Ireland reported several cables sent to Collins declared that most Irish American organizations backed the Provisional Government. “Supporters of Irish cause in Pittsburgh desire an early decision of the Irish people on the treaty, and depreciate intimidation,” said one letter signed by Margaret McQuade and others.

Ideas for the new Ireland

Seán was a forward-thinking young man with a growing family, whose prospects he hoped would be improved by independence. On Dublin Corporation, he represented a deprived area of the city and was especially interested in a new public housing program. For these reasons he regularly punctuated his political comments with descriptions of what he was learning about America and what lessons he drew for improving the lives of the Irish people. In Pittsburgh, his thoughts were focused on possible new industrialization in the Free State.

Seán was interested in potential employment opportunities for Irish working people in industries that might be established or expanded through American investment. In April, the delegation had visited the Ford Motor Company headquarters in Michigan. They heard about plans for the Ford plant in Cork, which opened a few years earlier. Ford employed almost 2,000 Irish workers from hitherto impoverished parts of the city, where the British military had notoriously attacked civilians and burned buildings in December 1920.

However, as Seán was driven around Pittsburgh, he reflected on the somewhat worrying impact of the city’s large-scale industry. He wrote to Delia:

We have had a ride around Pittsburgh today in a car owned by a Mr. Collette. The centre of the town is a maze of great Chimney stacks. The mills are not all working yet and so the air is somewhat cleaner than usual. This is a great iron and steel manufacturing centre. Here is where the Ohio river starts from the confluence of two others. The mills extend for miles down the river and in themselves are a tribute to the value of waterpower for manufacturing industry.

As a man who had been raised in a quiet rural area of Co. Offaly, Seán also had concerns about the negative impact of such industrialization, which he could see in Pittsburgh: “I’m afraid however I should not like to see the beautiful valleys of Ireland filled with such huge smoke-belching stacks as crowd this erstwhile beautiful valley of the Ohio.”

After Pittsburgh

This was not Seán’s final reflection about Pittsburgh. When the delegation reached Washington, D.C, his thoughts turned back to the Pennsylvania city, to the pros and cons of large-scale industrialization for Ireland. His view was characteristically practical and pragmatic. He wrote again to Delia:

Washington is certainly a beautiful place. It has all the airs and dignity of a capital. After Pittsburgh it is a restful experience to drift in here. But I suppose only for places like Pittsburgh you would scarcely have Washington!

Seán returned to Ireland a few weeks later. But his health deteriorated that summer, having already been weakened from months in prison during 1920 and 1921, stress from the American tour, witnessing horrors of the civil war, and grief over the August 1922 assassination of Collins. Seán died a month later.

Treaty factions set sail for the U.S. in a bid to woo American opinion

From RTE website - Century Ireland - For an account of the pro-treaty delegation see our book fierce Tears Frail Deeds written by the granddaughter of Sean MacCaoilte.

London, 15 March 1922 – Rival pro- and anti-treaty representatives have embarked for the United States in an effort to explain their position to American audiences.

On behalf of the Irish Provisional Government Piaras Béaslaí, James O’Mara and Seán Mac Caoilte departed from Waterloo Station for Southampton on 11 March, and sailed to New York on the Cunard liner, Aquitania. ‘We are going to America for the purpose of explaining to the American people the attitude of those who support the treaty between Ireland and England, and the policy of the provisional government, particularly to those in the United States of Irish birth or descent.’

Taking the exact same journey on the same day were Austin Stack and J.J. O’Kelly, envoys of the anti-treaty faction. Mr. Stack has said that he and Mr. O’Kelly are crossing the Atlantic at the invitation of the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic and that they are expected to attend several functions. It is known that Mr. Stack is scheduled to attend an event in Boston, Massachusetts, on 19 March, while Mr. O’Kelly attends another event in Connecticut on the same day. Their lecture tour will take them across the mid-western states of the U.S. and will end in San Francisco.

In a related development, it has been announced that Professor T.A. Smiddy of Cork University has been appointed by the Provisional Government as its Envoy Extraordinary to the United States. He replaces the anti-treaty TD Harry Boland.

Press Release by Seaweed Mill Press
Issued 3 March 2022

In early March 1922, as the Treaty began to be implemented, Michael Collins sent a Delegation to tour the USA on behalf of the new Provisional Government. 

The delegation had been urgently organised in response to grave concerns expressed directly to Collins by John Devoy, head of the leading Irish American organisation, the Friends of Irish Freedom (FOIF). Devoy warned the Provisional Government of the consternation produced among Irish Americans by rumours, reported in their press, of possible civil war in Ireland. 

Collins’ chosen delegates were Piaras Beaslai, James O Mara and Sean MacCaoilte. The task given to the Mission was to convince America that acceptance of the Treaty was the correct decision in the prevailing circumstances. The delegation arrived in New York to begin their work on St Patrick’s Day 1922. They held meetings in dozens of American towns and cities during the course of their tour which lasted from March to May. 

The American tour not only bolstered American support for the provisional government, but also became the precursor of formal Free State diplomacy in the USA and eventual full Irish membership of the League of Nations. To date the story of this Tour has remained a forgotten aspect of the creation of the Free State and its establishment of its own foreign policy.

Now a new perspective on this event has been given by Sean MacCaoilte’s granddaughter, Dr Anne Forrestal Good, who recently published a book recounting his personal experiences of the Mission.  Fierce Tears, Frail Deeds, published by Seaweed Mill Press, throws new light on this aspect of the early days of post Treaty Ireland. 

The family of Sean MacCaoilte, in Ireland and the USA, hope that this publication will lead not only to inclusion of the American story in the 1922 centenary commemorations but furthermore to new understandings of the development of Ireland’s role in the world in subsequent years.

For further information:
Contact Dr Anne Good Forrestal at 0861277455
Or seaweedmillpress@gmail.com

The fight for Irish Independence portrayed in new historical novel penned in Tuosist

KERRYMAN - December 14 2021 - Sinead Kelleher

The beauty and calmness of Tuosist helped author Dr Anne Good Forrestal to write her first novel during COVID.

‘Fierce Tears, Frail Deeds’ is an historical novel based on the experiences of the author’s grandparents, Sean and Delia Mac Caoilte, during the turbulent period in 1922 between the Dáil vote on the Treaty and the outbreak of the Civil War.

In March 1922, Sean was asked by Michael Collins to go to the USA as a member of the first official delegation there from the provisional government. He was then a Sinn Féin member and leader of the Sinn Féin group of Dublin Corporation. Along with Sean, the delegation to America consisted of Piaras Béaslaí and James O’ Meara. Mr Béaslaí also had strong connections with Tuosist, which he visited every summer while a boy in order to learn Irish and stay with his uncle, who was Parish Priest there. He later worked as a journalist for The Kerryman and wrote a biography of Michael Collins. At the same time, an anti-Treaty delegation also travelled to America, and both members were from Kerry: Austin Stack and James O’Kelly.

‘Fierce tears, frail deeds’ published

KENMARE NEWS - November 15 2021

Seaweed Mill Press in Tuosist is the publisher of ‘Seaweed Mill Press’, by Dr Anne Good Forrestal, a Tuosist based writer.

The official Decade of Commemorations will draw to a close next year and has led to an outpouring of new accounts and new understandings of Ireland’s War of Independence. This new book, to be launched in Kenmare in December, adds to those shifting perspectives by telling the story of a family which was actively involved in many aspects of the changing Ireland most especially during 1922. This historical novel, set in the period between the signing of the Treaty (1921) and the outbreak of Civil War (1922), tells the story of the author’s grandparents both in Ireland and in America.

While researching for the book, the author, now based fulltime in Tuosist, discovered a number of intriguing Kerry connections and the book asks what lessons can we still learn from that period of chaos and conflict and from those unintended consequences of the Treaty compromise which still impact on Ireland today.

Fierce tears, frail deeds is available now through Kenmare Bookshop, LettertecBookStore.com and seaweedmillpress@gmail.com.

‘Fierce tears, frail deeds’ BOOK LAUNCH

KENMARE NEWS - January 2022

The book launch of ‘Fierce tears, frail deeds’ took place before Christmas in the Butter Market, Kenmare. The event was well attended and all at the Butter market did a great job in setting out the hall, respecting the need for social distancing and yet creating a festive ambience. Councillor Patrick Connor Scarteen launched the book, saying how much he had enjoyed reading it and was interested in the light it shone on an as yet not very well known piece of Irish history. He encouraged people to be aware of their own family histories and to look out for possible treasure trove hidden away in their own attics.

Dr Good spoke of growing up listening to stories from her grandmother about the historical events in which her grandparents had participated, these stories along with the many writings left behind by her grandfather are what provided the basic source material for this book. The book is available from Kenmare Bookshop and other local bookshops at a cost of €15, and online at www.seaweedmillpress.com