Harry Boland returns to Ireland as unity of Irish-America cracks
Dublin 28 June 1920 - Harry Boland, Sinn Féin TD for South Roscommon, has returned to Ireland from the United States where he was assisting party president Éamon de Valera since May 1919.
In a lengthy interview with the Freeman’s Journal, Mr Boland expressed his satisfaction with the results of the American mission in raising awareness of the Irish demand for self-determination: ‘One outstanding result of President de Valera’s activities in America is the defeat of British propaganda...No American will gainsay Ireland’s right to independence.’
Continuing, Mr Boland said: ‘Speaking for President de Valera, I must say that everything depends upon ourselves at home. The magnificent work being done here is redirected in America and all over the world. The Irish race is really proud of the homeland. That pride is grounded on the fact that Ireland is no longer a supplicant, that she stands proudly erect demanding the only status worthy of a sovereign people.’
Eamon De Valera in Boston in 1919 as part of his tour of the United States via British Pathé.
However, the American mission has not been without controversy.
Boland’s return to Ireland comes as reports indicate a rupture in the relationship between Éamon de Valera and two of the towering figures in Irish-American political life, the ex-Fenian John Devoy and Judge Daniel Cohalan.
They have accused de Valera of using $50,000 ‘taken from money subscribed to the Irish Republican Fund’ for the purposes of influencing the Republican Party Convention in Chicago. Devoy and Cohalan claim the money was raised for the purposes of use in Ireland alone but had been used to send delegates to Chicago in an effort to secure support for Ireland’s cause from the Republicans.
The publication of the charges by Mr Devoy, editor of the Gaelic-American, marks the first public split between the President of the Irish Republic and the Friends of Irish Freedom, of which Devoy is a key member.
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
