Report from Edward Brennan to Seán Murphy (Dublin)

I have the honour to refer to your cable No. 1 of 1957,¹ requesting a report as to the extent of the feelings of sympathy prevalent among Irish-American circles towards ‘Irish Republican Army’ acts of violence in the Six Counties.

Since receipt of your minute of December 24, 1956, (305/14/263/2B)² I have avoided discussions of the Partition problem in any contacts which I have had with members of the Irish and Irish-American community in this city. Your instruction forbade me to discuss the Partition issue in any public statement. In my efforts to carry out this instruction, I have, therefore, refrained from touching upon this question in my conversations with persons outside this office. I cannot, therefore, given an indication of what way sentiment has been going since the end of December last. The following observations relate to my experiences prior to that date.

I have found that the older Irish, and some Irish-Americans of the same age group, and notably those of both classes who are sufficiently conscious of their nationality to join Irish organizations, often favour acts of violence insasmuch as it seems to them that the result will be that the British will be forced to evacuate the Six Counties. By a curious form of logic they then reason that the segment opposed to union will automatically throw in its lot with us.

My experiences here and in the mid-west indicate that the persons who rely on such arguments are generally of the older generation, are violently anti-British and anti-Unionist, and believe that a resort to violence is the only solution for the problem. Such persons usually criticise the Government of Ireland for inactivity. They are, therefore, in sympathy with such illegal organisations as seem to offer a quick solution, even though the use of force be the central feature. Mr. Patrick Brady, who is in this city promoting sales of Irish Whiskey, has reported to me that, in the course of his visits around the city, he has found persons of Irish descent who entertain such irrational views. Mr. Brady has further reported that such persons are not open to rational persuasion. They will adhere to their fundamental premise and their convictions will remain unshaken. I, myself, had a similar experience in Detroit several years ago when I conversed with a group of older Irish. None of the men with whom I spoke would acknowledge that resort to force would merely harden the Unionists in their determination not to integrate with us. I mention this latter incident, although it refers to a city outside this Consular area, in order to show that this orientation seems to be part of a general pattern among the older Irish in several American cities.

During a visit which I paid to Los Angeles over a year ago, I had occasion to converse with members of the AOH. I was informed that there is in Los Angeles an organization called the Peter Murray Republic Club, which sympathises very actively with the IRA. To what extent this sympathy has taken concrete form I have been unable to determine. No doubt it at least furnishes monetary aid as do some members of the Irish organizations in this city. On March 10, 1955, the late Consul³ furnished a report showing that the GAA, the Knights of the Red Branch, The Ulster Society, among others, were furnishing aid to the ‘Republic Prisoners’ Aid Committee’. In the same minute, the Consul reported that ‘many Irish and Irish-American people here are persistent in the view that the only way to expel the English from Ireland is by force.’ In my minute of December 20, 1956,⁴ I reported that the Ulster Celtic Benevolent Association intended to hold a benefit dance, the proceeds of which, the Association stated, ‘will be used to do a great deal to help penetrate the Irish iron curtain’. The above facts, therefore, show there exists among the older Irish and Irish-Americans and, I should add, to some extent among the younger Irish, a tendency to favour the IRA and its programme of violence. A very important question is how strong these persons are numerically. It is very difficult to answer this question. Many of the younger immigrants take a more rational view of the situation. Indeed, many of the younger immigrants do not bother joining the Irish Societies. It seems to me that many of the younger men find little in common with the older generation. The older generation left Ireland at a time when the question of independence for the whole country was a live issue and anti-British feeling was strong. The younger man comes from a different political and, in view of the economic changes which have been occurring, from a different social environment. The older men are more keenly conscious of the Partition issue, the younger tend to be far less so.

By a curious coincidence, shortly after I had dictated the above, a lady of rather advanced years, from whom one would expect some maturity of thought, came into the office to pay a courtesy call. She said she was from Portland, Oregon, and described herself as a close friend of Ireland. She then proceeded to expound the philosophy that the IRA was composed of a group of super-patriots and that resort to violence was the only solution for the Partition problem. When she found that I did not agree with this philosophy she accused me of having fallen under British influence and of being unfit to represent Ireland in this city. She reiterated these views to another member of the public who came into the office while I was listening to her. Her bitter talk is perhaps typical of the more extremist Irish-Americans. They are not open to reason and accuse anybody who disagrees with them of not being patriots and of being subject to the wrong influences.