On April 1st 1919 the second session of the First Dail Eireann met privately in Dublin. Sinn Fein’s President. Eamon de Valera, who had recently been sprung from Lincoln Prison was elected “Priomh-Aire” or First Minister but this was translated as President (of Dail Eireann0,
He appointed Ministers for Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs,Defence, Labour, Industry. Local Government, Finance and Agriculture. Laurence Ginnell was appointed Director of Propaganda.
The British suppressed newspapers under the Defence of the Realm Act, together with countless cultural, sporting, educational, and commercial activities. They suppressed genuine and published fake news.
Ginell, on behalf of Dail Eireann established THE IRISH BULLETIN in mid 1919 as a summary of acts of aggression by Crown Forces, first as a fortnightly, then as a weekly, and, from November 19i9 until December 1921 as a daily newsletter..
A galaxy of writers was involved with it, and its story was best told by Frank Gallagher under the pen-name David Hogan in “The Four Glorious Years.” Robert Brennan recalled his association with it in “Allegiance.” Desmond Fitzgerald and Erskine Childers were part of that Galaxy but hundreds were involved in its production.
THE IRISH BULLETIN breached the “paper wall” that surrounded Ireland, identified by Arthur Griffith decades before. It was a key factor in sustaining the struggle of a virtually unarmed people against the world’s greatest power and that power’s offer of a truce in July 1921.
Garret Fitzgerald’s Autobiography “All in a Life” rightly identifies the importance of THE IRISH BULLETIN and is justifiably proud of Desmond Fitzgerald, his father’s, role in THE IRISH BULLETIN.
I may be mistaken but I think Garret somewhat “over eggs the pudding.”
Garret says –
“His insistence that nothing be published that could not be stood over in every detail infuriated many of his colleagues who were less meticulous in their concern for the truth. Virtue was rewarded, however, because within months journalists, finding the Irish Bulletin to be reliable, in contrast to the British propaganda machine, made increasing use of its material throughout the world.”
I don’t think anybody could have stood over Garret’s statement when it was written, as no names are mentioned and no statements appearing in the paper before Desmond FitzGerald’s involvement have been cited in Garret’s Story.
Garret tells of himself canvassing with the young Maurice Manning who later chaired the Government’s Committee of experts on the Decade of Commemorations.
One might expect that Manning or his Experts would have recognised the key role of THE IRISH BULLETIN to an understanding of its time, and the pride which the founders of the parties on either side of the 1922 split continued to have in their common and honourable endeavour.
But NO! Irish Government Agencies , embassies, media and academia have been recycling the lies put out by Whitehall and Dublin Castle in 1920 and THE IRISH BULLETIN, if mentioned at all, is dismissed with a sneer.
And Laurence Ginnell, a moral and political giant has been written out of history.
Comments are closed.