Letter from Gerard Woods to Seán Kennan (Dublin)
(A.101/8.FOR/ED)

Please refer to the Department’s teleprint No. 327 of 30th January,¹ dealing with the passport application to enable a child to be brought to the United States for the purpose of legal adoption there. I am afraid that we are not quite too clear about the general regulations in cases like this and I should be very glad if you could clarify them for me further. The teleprint would appear to indicate that we have received instructions in this matter but the only papers I can trace are Horan’s semi-official letter (345/96/157) of 16th January, 1952,² to Jack Molloy and two subsequent teleprints. The enclosure to Horan’s teleprint no. 186 of 18th January, 1952,³ gives a list of requirements but it would hardly seem practicable for the Embassy to obtain some of these statements.

I notice from Horan’s semi-official letter, which I have referred to above, that the Department was at that time endeavouring to get Catholic orphanages to adopt the measures which at that time were being taken by St. Patrick’s Guild in Abbey Street.

In the present case, regarding the (matter redacted)⁴ child, the requirements mentioned were not, apparently, fully met as it was not practicable, e.g., a statement was not obtained [from] the Catholic Charities Organisation in the United States but was got from the Catholic Charities in this country.

Cases of this kind which we get here are likely to be from members of the United States Forces serving in this country who are transferred from this country. It seems probable that in every case the requirements will already have been met before the child is surrendered by the orphanage in Ireland. In the present case this had been done but on receipt of the Department’s teleprint No. 248,⁵ we contacted the people concerned and informed them that the documents referred to in that teleprint would have to be obtained. This would have been impossible as Mr. and Mrs. (name redacted) were under orders to travel within a few days. The Department inadvertently, apparently, omitted to inform us that contact was being made with the orphanage in Ireland.

We shall obviously have to consider every case of this kind very carefully indeed and perhaps you may think it desirable that each case should be referred to the Department. However, I should be glad if you would kindly clarify the general position to me. I wonder if it might be considered worthwhile contacting the various orphanages with a view to having them inform people concerned that if the child is being removed from Ireland or, subsequently, from Britain for the purpose of legal adoption in the United States, that it would be necessary that the child should be in possession of an Irish passport. United States Forces personnel appear to be transferred at very short notice and it might be quite embarrassing if, in some case, a child had to be left in this country owing to the impossibility of issuing a passport in time.

Incidentally, we have no information at all on the requirements in the case of non-Catholic children.

Perhaps, then, at your convenience, you would be good enough to let me have a general direction on the whole matter.