Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Joseph P. Walshe (Holy See)

My dear Ambassador,
Things have been a nightmare since you left. An unconscionable number of things seemed to pile in on top of us all at once. We are only just beginning to get our heads above water.

We were glad to hear that you arrived safely, but the news about the house was a great disappointment. I cannot imagine how Kiernan could have been so enthusiastic about so unsuitable a place. I hope you will succeed in finding a suitable Embassy soon while Fairweather is still there.¹ The delay must be an awful upset to your plans.

There is a great deal of gloom and concern here about the hunger-strikes.² There were hopes that Fleming would change his mind, but I see by this morning's papers that he has finally decided to keep on. It rather looks now as if the hunger-strikes are part of an effort to form a Labour-IRA political combination to contest elections to the Dáil. Insofar as this means the abandonment by the IRA of forcible methods, and its acceptance of constitutionalism, it is perhaps all to the good. What I don't like about the whole thing is the evidence that the movement here is closely co-ordinated with revived activity on the part of the Clan na Gael and other similar organisations in the United States, as well as with the work of the so-called 'Friends of Ireland' group in the British House of Commons,³ the Leftist Republican movement in Belfast represented by Mr. Diamond, M.P.,⁴ and the organisation among Irish workers in Great Britain which runs the 'Irish Democrat'. To my mind, this indicates something more than mere Irish organising ability, and the prominence of people like James Larkin, junior,⁵ here in Dublin, and Michael Quill⁶ in New York, does nothing to dispel these suspicions. The uneasiness I feel about this is not altogether shared by the T., I think, but even he admits that, if Russia were intent on keeping America and Britain apart and using Irish opinion in the United States to that end, the thing would show itself in just the sort of developments which are taking place here at present. It is appalling to see the way in which that man, Michael Quill, who is nothing better than a Communist, is gaining power and influence for himself among the Irish in New York by using the 'Release the Political Prisoners' slogan, and the idea of people like him and James Larkin, who were the worst opponents of our neutrality during the war, being now hitched up with the extreme nationalists of the IRA in an attack on the present Government is really too sickening for words.

Archbishop David Matthew⁷ is here at the moment. I dined with him at the Nunciature last night. The Nuncio came down to dinner, and Harold Quinlan⁸ tells me that he has made good progress. He will be able to say Mass on Sunday for the first time for weeks.

Archbishop Matthew hopes to be in Rome on the 31st May or the 1st June. He will be getting in touch with you. The purpose of his visit here is to have talks with the various religious Orders who have missions within the jurisdiction of the Delegation. He hopes also to choose an Irish secretary while he is here, and the Nuncio is racking his brains for a suitable man to suggest to him. Archbishop Matthew's principal headache is to know what to do with all the German missions in British East Africa. The British Colonial Secretary has more or less left their fate in his hands.

The Air Agreement with France was signed yesterday, and the services between Dublin and Paris are expected to begin on the 17th June. We hope to sign with Sweden on Monday. At this rate, it will be no time until there are services running between Dublin and Rome.

Seán Leydon is off to Montreal for three weeks on Monday. He seems to spend most of his time away these days.

Leo and Con are now in harness and helping enormously to relieve the pressure. Neither is too pleased to be home, but I think they will both come to see the advantages in time.

We will look forward to hearing from you. It is a terrible pity about the house. I expect that, until the matter is fixed, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for you to give your mind wholly to anything else. Please God you will find a good place soon.