RT Photographs
T1 Desmond FitzGerald Photographs
A1 University College, Dublin. Archives Department
A1 FitzGerald, Desmond, 1888-1947
A1 Ailsa Holland
PB UCD Archives, University College Dublin
PP Ireland
NO Scope and Content: This fine collection of photographic prints forms part of the papers of Desmond FitzGerald (P80). Although it has been catalogued separately, its relationship with its parent collection should not be overlooked. Desmond FitzGerald was responsible for propaganda during the War of Independence. As Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Provisional Government and Minister for External Affairs in the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, he was responsible for the work of their propaganda branch, the Publicity Department. Its director was Sean Lester. These photographs are to a very large extent related to the work of the Publicity Department. They must be viewed in relation to its work and in the context of a substantial amount of material in the FitzGerald papers, notably P80/14-P80/381.
NO Provenance: Desmond FitzGerald
NO Biographical History: Desmond FitzGerald, christened Thomas Joseph, was born in London in 1888 of Irish emigrant parents. As a young man, an ardent interest in Ireland was reflected in his admiration for the poetry of W.B. Yeats and his learning the Irish language at the Gaelic League class in London, where he met his future wife Mabel Washington McConnell.
NO Mabel was born in Belfast on 4 July 1884. Her interest in politics and Irish nationalism, demonstrated initially as a student in Queen’s University Belfast, was reflected in her joining the Gaelic League while working as a secretary in London. Desmond and Mabel were married in 1911.
NO In 1913, Desmond and Mabel FitzGerald moved to Irish-speaking west Kerry, where their knowledge of the Irish language was extended further and political links were established with figures such as Ernest Blythe and The O’Rahilly. In January 1915, Desmond was expelled from county Kerry, having convinced the Royal Irish Constabulary that he was signalling to German submarines from his home on the western peninsula. His consequent move to Bray, county Wicklow, and the organisation of a branch of the Irish Volunteers was curtailed by his arrest and sentence to six month’s imprisonment for a speech discouraging recruitment to the British army. Desmond was released three weeks before the Easter Rising and was present in the General Post Office as a non-combatant. Imprisonment followed until mid-1917.
NO After his release from a further term of imprisonment in 1919, Desmond was appointed Director of Publicity for the Dáil Government. The Irish Bulletin was launched by him in November 1919 in order to offset the official British accounts of the political situation in Ireland. His editorial work resulted in yet another term of imprisonment, but release enabled him to participate in the Treaty negotiations.
NO With the resignation of the anti-Treaty members of government in January 1922, and the emergence of the Irish Free State, Desmond became Minister for External Affairs and represented Ireland at the Imperial Conferences and at the League of Nations throughout much of this period. He was appointed Minister for Defence in 1927, a post he held until the defeat of the government in the general election of 1932 and the coming of de Valera to power. After 1932, Desmond served as Opposition Deputy and Senator until 1943. He died in April 1947.
AN uri:info:fedora/ucdlib:30685
DO doi:doi:10.7925/drs1.ucdlib_30685
LK //digital.ucd.ie/?getObject=ucdlib:30685
SL UCD Library, University College Dublin
LL Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland