Mabel FitzGerald Correspondence

Transcription

1 Mabel FitzGerald Correspondence Desmond and Mabel FitzGerald Papers, UCD Archives School of History and Archives, University College Dublin School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. 1

2 Mabel FitzGerald Correspondence: December 1914 & November 1923 Desmond and Mabel FitzGerald Papers, UCD Archives, P80/1552, P80/1554 & P80/ Mabel McConnell, born in 1884, was the daughter of a Belfast Presbyterian. Having met Desmond FitzGerald at Gaelic League classes, they married in 1911 and subsequently had four sons. The youngest future Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald was born in Drawing on his mother s religious background when he announced his Constitutional Crusade an attempt to create a more pluralist Ireland in the 1980s, he claimed to understand the northern unionist community because he belonged to them and he was brought up with them. Both Desmond and Mabel FitzGerald were in the GPO during the 1916 Rising. In his memoir, Desmond FitzGerald recalled approaching the imposing building on Dublin s O Connell Street as the flag of the Irish republic was being hoisted above the roof. This is worth being wiped out for, he commented to his wife. In the subsequent independence struggle, he was director of publicity. When the Treaty was signed, he supported the settlement. Mabel FitzGerald, however, was opposed. 1 The Desmond and Mabel FitzGerald Papers The papers of Desmond and his wife, Mabel, FitzGerald are contained in one collection at UCD Archives, which also includes an extensive photographic collection relating largely to the Civil War. The papers provide observers of Irish history and politics an opportunity of examining in detail the Revolutionary period, followed by the birth and development of the Irish Free State. They provide a rich source of information on the activities of the Irish Volunteers, efforts to promote the Free State abroad through the League of Nations and various other duties undertaken by the Department of External Affairs, Anglo-Irish relations, and the formation and development of Cumann na ngaedheal / Fine Gael. There is extensive correspondence between Desmond and Mabel FitzGerald. The papers are thus particularly useful for understanding some of the early influences that would later shape the thinking of Dr Garret FitzGerald. School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. 2

3 Reproduced below are letters written to Mabel FitzGerald from George Bernard Shaw, for whom she had worked as a secretary, and Ernie O Malley. They offer an insight into the environment in which the woman who so strongly influenced Garret FitzGerald lived. For example, Shaw wrote in 1914 As an Ulster woman, you must be aware that if you bring your son up to hate anyone except a Papist, you will go to hell. His correspondence also offers an insight into Irish attitudes towards World War One and the question of recruitment to the British army, as well as pro-german propaganda and the possible implications for Home Rule (which had been shelved for the duration of the War). Shaw was particularly wary of Sinn Féin s intentions, and criticised Mabel FitzGerald for playing at being a peasant. The letter from Ernie O Malley, an anti-treaty IRA commander who was on hunger strike, reveals Mabel FitzGerald s continued association after the birth of the Free State with those who opposed the Treaty. It is noteworthy that O Malley was writing to her from the detention ward of St Bricín s Hospital at a time when her husband was Minister for External Affairs in the Free State government. In his letter, he detailed the deterioration of his health and the conditions in Mountjoy prison for those coming off hunger strike. Reproduced below is just one example of several letters that O Malley wrote to her between January 1923 and February School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. 3

4 P180/1552: George Bernard Shaw to Mabel FitzGerald, 1 December 1914 School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. 4

5 School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. 5

6 P80/1554: George Bernard Shaw to Mabel FitzGerald, 12 December 1914 School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. 6

7 School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. 7

8 P80/1649: Ernie O Malley to Mabel FitzGerald, 24 November 1923 School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. 8

9 School of History and Archives, University College Dublin. 9