The weather was bad when Joseph Hutchinson arrived in Tullamore. For 22 years Hutchinson had dedicated himself to the Irish National Foresters and as a result a small mutual aid society founded by 18 men in Dublin, had spread across the globe and recruited over 20,000 members in Ireland. On Sunday 9 April 1899, Hutchinson had come to the midlands to recruit some more members and establish the first INF branch in King’s County. His visit that day would have profound repercussions for Tullamore, but it had its roots in the north of England.
The death of Ger Connolly at Droimnin Nursing Home, Stradbally on 25th January 2024 marks the end of an era in the political life of County Offaly.
Aged 86 Gerard C (Ger) Connolly was a former Fianna Fáil councillor, TD and Minister of State who might best be described as the great survivor of Offaly politics, with an unbroken record as TD from 1969 until his retirement in 1997. He was witness to and an important figure in some of the most turbulent times in Irish politics, as a devoted supporter of Charles J Haughey during the Eighties.
His entry onto the national stage and his electoral record mark him out as one of the most significant figures in a five seat constituency with no shortage of political titans including a former Taoiseach and three former cabinet ministers.
Colourful, engaging and often provocative in political debates Ger Connolly was hugely popular throughout the constituency, securing first preference across traditional party boundaries, especially in North Offaly. He loved the cut and thrust of politics and his one liners and bot mots, delivered with theatrical flair, often enlivened debates in Offaly County Council and Dáil Eireann.
He was also a diligent constituency worker and as Minister of State made a significant contribution to the implementation of new policies on urban renewal and inner city development.
Strongly supportive of the construction industry and a firm believer in encouraging private sector development he relished his role as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment. He had a reputation as a decisive Minister of State and enjoyed good relations with civil servants, often surprising those who might have initially mistaken his mischievous smile and faux distain for detail.
There is a popular saying in politics sometimes attributed to Ronald Reagan ‘When you’re explaining, you’re losing
History often involves explaining, but in recent times I’ve regularly watched people’s eyes glaze over as I described my latest research project.
Q: What’s it called.
A: ‘A Revolution in Profiles’.
Q: What’s it about.
A: Its about Offaly in the Revolutionary Decade.
Q: Okay. How many words in it?
A: Over 60,000, but it’s divided into profiles, each about 600 words long
Q: Is it a book?
A: No, it’s a website with over 100 different profiles of people from the period.
Q: So, it’s a blog?
A: Not really, it’s modelled on the RIA’s Dictionary of Biography.
Q: How much are you charging for It?
A: No, there’s no charge. Access is completely free. The RIA provided a bursary to build the website as part of the Decade of Centenaries programme, but anyone can view the profiles and there’s no fee.
At this stage the questioner runs the entire gamut of emotions from confusion, disbelief, pity and finally suspicion. ‘If its free there must be a catch’.
If we’re lucky the conversation shifts to the height of the Shannon or which senior clubs are still looking for a hurling manager, if not it peters out into a prolonged awkward silence.
‘I’ll tell what it’s not’
The site is not a definitive history of Offaly in the revolutionary period. That will come later, written by others more qualified to do so. It is a reference tool designed to educate on and simulate interest in Offaly’s revolutionary story. In time perhaps it may provide other researchers with a foundation from which a deeper understanding of the era might be developed. One of the ways it aims to do so is providing readers with the opportunity to compare and contrast different people from the period.
Don’t tell, show me!
Mark Twain reportedly once said ‘Don’t just say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream!’ Having struggled to explain the site, I usually take a leaf out of Twains book an give an example. Offaly History have been kind enough to host two profiles from the site dealing two elected officials.
The People’s Choice
Between 1918 until 1923 the constituencies of Kings County and Laois-Offaly were represented by Dr. Patrick McCartan. A leading member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood from Tyrone; McCartan spent most of those years on diplomatic missions to the United States and the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile Hugh Mahon from Killurn outside Tullamore sat as a Labor representative in the Australian Parliament until his expulsion in 1920. His ejection was carried out in response to Mahon’s public condemnation of the British Empire in the aftermath of the death of Terence MacSwiney on hunger strike in Brixton prison.
Mahon and McCartan’s biographies are among 30 extra profiles which will be added to the site over the next year, but for now the focus centres on two other parliamentary representatives from Offaly, representing two different traditions. Frank Bulfin and Sir Robert Woods.
Frank Bulfin
Frank Bulfin was born in 1874 at Derrinlough, where his parents William and Ellen Bulfin (nee Grogan) owned a large farm.
His uncle Patrick Bulfin acted as Lord Mayor of Dublin and a cousin General Edward. S. Bulfin served with distinction in the British Army during the Boer and Great Wars. In 1900 it was reported that Frank’s brother, J.V. Bulfin had died while serving with the Rimington Guides in the Boer War. Frank and his brother Joe (who was later associated with Clonony and Edenderry) were keen agriculturists. During the Ranch War both men were vocal advocates for small farmers and imprisoned for their involvement in cattle driving.
Frank’s uncle Fr. Vincent Grogan served as provincial of the Passionist order in Argentina. The South American connection was to have important ramifications for the family, as Frank’s older brother William emigrated to Argentina where he enjoyed considerable success and eventually became owner of the Southern Cross newspaper. On his return to Ireland, William Bulfin helped to stabilise the Derrinlough farms finances, wrote a popular nationalist travel book Rambles in Erin, promoted the Gaelic League and political movements of his friend Arthur Griffith. William died aged 45 in 1910.
William’s son Eamon attended St Enda’s school and fought under his former teacher Patrick Pearse in 1916 Rising.
Following the release of republican prisoners from internment in late 1916, Eamon and Frank were involved in establishing the republican movement in south Offaly. They were arrested as part of the German Plot in the Summer of 1918 and imprisoned in Durham Gaol. Eamon was later deported to Argentina where he acted as an emissary for the republic during the War of Independence.
On his release from prison Frank Bulfin returned to Derrinlough, where he was involved in sheltering Sean Treacy, Seamus Robinson, Sean Hogan and Dan Breen during the summer of 1920. The so called ‘Big Four’ were on the run following shootings at Soloheadbeg and Knocklong.
Nominated as one of four Sinn Féin candidates, Bulfin was elected unopposed in the Laois-Offaly constituency at the 1921 general election. Arrested and interned at the Curragh, he was released with other TDs in August following the arrangement of the Truce.
Bulfin did not take a high-profile stance during the Treaty Debates but voted to accept the agreement. He was re-elected in the pact election. His nephew Eamon opposed the treaty but took no part in the Civil War following his return from South America and Frank’s niece, Catalina ‘Kid’ Bulfin a member of Cumman na mBan went on to marry well known anti-treaty republican Sean MacBride.
In August of 1922, Frank Bulfin was one of the pall bearers who carried Arthur Griffith’s coffin.
Although he rarely spoke in the Dáil, Bulfin continued to vote with the Cosgrave Government throughout the Civil War. In a statement to the Bureau of Military History Ernest Blythe suggested that because of republican intimidation, Bulfin attempted to resign his seat, but after the intercession of armed Free State Intelligence officers was convinced…
‘It might be more dangerous to resign from the dail than stay in it’. (1)
The veracity of Blythe’s story is difficult to authenticate.
Addressing an election meeting in July 1923 Bulfin commented…
‘Many unpleasant things we have had to do —many very distasteful decisions had to bemade, but we never sought popularity at the expense of the real interests of the nation’. (2)
After his re-election, rifts appeared in Cumann na nGaedheal. Bulfin did not support the Army Munity of 1924. Nevertheless, he was understanding of those who left the party at that time to establish the National Group and critical of some in the cabinet whom he felt were self-important and drifting too far from the party’s roots in Sinn Féin commenting …
‘Let these people not get their heads swelled. Greater men than they, Griffith and Collins, had to be done without.’ (3)
At local level his electoral machine was considered ineffective, and he lost his seat in 1927.
In the 1930’s Bulfin moved to Barrysbrook, Croghan close to his mother’s birthplace and farmed there until his death in 1951. He was buried at Rhode cemetery.
Sir Robert Henry Woods
Robert Henry Woods was born at Tullamore in 1865. His father Christopher and mother Dorothea (Lowe) operated a shop and held property in the town.
Sir Robert Woods
Educated at Wesley College and Trinity, he qualified as a doctor. An expert on the ear, nose and throat; Woods was considered a world leading physician. President of the Royal College of Surgeons he was knighted for his services to medicine in 1913.
His son Thornley died in 1916 while serving with British Army in Flanders.
In 1918 general election Woods was elected to Westminster for the National University constituency, a seat held until 1917 by Edward Carson.
Elected as an Independent Unionist, Woods was a moderate in personality and politics. He did not take up his seat at the first meeting of the Dail in January 1919. However, unlike other unionist MPs he did send a formal reply to decline his invitation to attend.
In July 1921 he was part of a delegation of southern Unionists who met with Eamon de Valera in the Mansion House Conference which facilitated the announcement of the Truce.
A rare contributor at Westminster, he made his last speech there in the aftermath of the signing of the Treaty when he told the House of Commons…
‘I hope the Prime Minister will permit me to offer him my congratulations on having brought this Conference to so successful a conclusion. If I may say so without offence, he has done a big thing, and he has done it in a big way. The Unionists in the South of Ireland have received the news of this agreement with feelings of satisfaction that can only be appreciated by those who have lived there in recent years, and perhaps by those who have got imagination to visualise what would have happened had these negotiations fallen through. I think I am correct in saying that the majority of Southern Unionists have for a long time seen that there was no other possibility of settlement of the age-long struggle, and the healing of this Irish sore, except through a Conference… I believe that the end of this Agreement will be an accession of strength, not only to Ireland herself, but to the peace and the prosperity of the world at large, and particularly of that great community of nations of which Ireland will, in the future, herself form an integral part.’ (4)
His last political intervention was an unsuccessful run for the Senate in 1925.
A collector of antique furniture, he was also musical enthusiast, president of the Dublin Zoological Society he donated several animals to the Zoo following trips to Asia.
Robert Woods died at his home in Marino in September 1938 and was buried at Deansgrange Cemetery. At his own request the funeral service was private and attended only by his immediate family and household staff.
On his death the Irish Independent commented…
‘Although a Unionist, his liberal and free-minded attitude on all Irish questions was very marked. Rather abrupt and unconventional in manner, the late Sir Robert was a man with a big heart. He was charming in private conversation and his humour was never hurtful, while his wit was always kind. He was extremely popular with his professional colleagues and was ever helpful to the young men attending’ his school. Physically a splendid type of Irishman, he was a familiar figure in Dublin, his broad shoulders, well-shaped head and rugged- features arresting attention.’ (5)
In the last blog we noted that the August 1923 General Election in Laois-Offaly was remarkably peaceful given that the civil war had only ended in May. Offaly was still strong in support for the Republicans as was clear from the fact they gained two seats, but, of course, were committed to not entering the Dáil. Labour’s William Davin continued to have a strong vote but not nearly so much as in June 1922. Tullamore’ Patrick Egan gained a seat on Labour transfers. Egan polled only 9 per cent of the first preferences.[1] In Laois-Offaly the Republicans outpolled Cumann na nGaedheal, but the latter won the by-election of 1926 created by the disqualification of Republican John or Séan McGuinness.[2] Overall Cumann na nGaedheal secured 38.9 per cent of the 1923 vote as to anti-Treaty Sinn Féin’s 27.4 per cent.[3] The Sinn Féin vote was secured in difficult circumstances with many still in prison or in hiding. As Joe Lee recorded the outcome was a resounding success for anti-Treaty Sinn Féin and a loss for Labour. Cumann na nGaedheal secured 63 seats, but that was a gain of only five in a Dáil enlarged from 128 to 153 seats. This was the election in which the franchise was extended to all women over the age of 21, thereby expanding the electorate from 1.37 million in 1918 to 1.72 million in 1923.
The news that the Laois-Offaly constituency is to come to an end at the next general election, following the recommendations of the Electoral Commission, is an occasion to reflect on its long history.
Under the Government of Ireland Act of 1920, the constituency was established as King’s County-Queen’s County, a four-member constituency for the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, as it was then known to the British authorities.
It was first used in the 1921 election for the second Dáil. [ There was no actual polling as all 128 candidates were returned unopposed.] At various stages the constituency name was spelt as Leix-Offaly, Laoighis-Offaly until Laois-Offaly became official.
Laois Offaly is again to be divided into two three-seat constituencies according to the just announced electoral commission report. ‘This would be the first time that the Offaly constituency would fully align with its county boundary.’ For the 2016 General Election Laois and Offaly were divided and to the Offaly constituency was added 24 electoral divisions from North Tipperary. Laois-Offaly was adopted again for the 2020 general election. Now what was it like in the first Free State election in 1923 just 100 years ago? It was remarkable that the 1923 general election held on Monday 27 August 1923 was in general peaceful. It was only in early July 1923 that Ministers Milroy and Blythe spoke at a Cumann na nGaedheal (CnG) meeting in Tullamore in what was described by the Chronicle as scenes of an unprecedented character in the history of public meetings in Tullamore. The ‘supporters of Mr de Valera’ had posted anti-government posters about the town recalling the executions of Byrne and Geraghty, and also the three young men shot in Birr on a charge of armed robbery. On the office of the state solicitor, James Rogers, in High Street, Tullamore was pasted the words ‘Come inside and see the executioners’. Rogers would have been known both sides in the civil war as someone who defended Sinn Féin prisoners in the 1917–21 period. The newly appointed civic guards kept the peace between Cumann na Gaedheal supporters and supporters of the Republican IRA.[1]
One hundred and thirty five years ago on Christmas eve 1887, one of the two ‘Heroes of Tullamore’, John Mandeville was released from Tullamore Gaol in wretched physical condition. Mandeville who farmed two hundred acres and was chairman of Mitchelstown Board of Guardians and his fellow Irish National Land League member William O’Brien, born in Mallow, and MP for northeast Cork were imprisoned first at Cork gaol on 31 October and two days later were transferred by train and incarcerated at Tullamore gaol. Earlier on 9 September, after an 8,000-strong demonstration led by John Dillon MP, three estate tenants were shot dead (John Shinnick, Michael Lonergan and John Casey) by police at the town’s courthouse where O’Brien had been brought for trial with Mandeville on charges of incitement at the Kingston Estate under a new Coercion Act. This event became known as the Mitchelstown Massacre. Mandeville, a tall burly man was singled out on instruction for particularly callous and brutal treatment at Tullamore gaol. He died six months after his release and an inquest held to establish the cause of his death concluded it was as a result of his maltreatments at Tullamore gaol. Before he died, he described the gaol conditions in letters to his wife and friend Sydney Halifax.
Contributed by Offaly History to mark the Decade of Centenaries
We saw in previous articles in this series the lead up to the civil war notwithstanding the outcome of the general election in June in which the vote was substantially in favour of supporting the acceptance of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. In Laois-Offaly all four pro-Treaty candidates were elected with Labour, who preferred to look at the social rather than the Treaty question securing almost fifty percent of the vote. But among the soldiers of the IRA, particularly in Offaly, there was a reluctance to accept the Treaty outcome. Some were of the view that the people would follow where the military led.
The burning of Tullamore courthouse, jail and the former military barracks (in Barrack Street, now Patrick Street) on 20 July 1922 was one of those momentous historic occasions the impact of which had an almost a numbing effect on the people of Tullamore and the county. The completion of these buildings in 1716, 1830 and 1835 were all major steps in the progress of Tullamore. Now all were destroyed in one night for no tangible military benefit by the departing Republican IRA.
The split in the IRA over acceptance of the treaty had been simmering since January 1922. The outcome of the Dáil vote and the June elections (58 seats to pro-treatyites and 36 to anti-treatyites, others 34) did little to dissuade those who believed they had taken an oath to secure a republic and that the stepping stone approach was unacceptable. De Valera and Harry Boland made this abundantly clear in their addresses to the electors in Tullamore in April 1922 (see the earlier blog in this series on 15 June 2022). De Valera had issued an Easter message to the Republic, in which he had asked the young men and women of Ireland to hold steadily on, and that the goal is in sight at last.[1] Tommy Dunne of Ballinagar and a member of the county council told the anti-treaty meeting in Tullamore that:
‘His chief reason for standing by the Republic movement was the construction he put upon his oath under which he felt justified in waging war against the hirelings and agents of the King of England. To recede from that position and take an oath of faithfulness to the country or King he had been waging war against, would be an admission of defeat. We have not been defeated in the fight which we have waged against England in this country for the last two years. . . . Take care that the acceptance of the Dominion Status by Ireland does not have a similar result [division] and that those who are seeking to make Ireland refuse to accept this Treaty do not find themselves opposed by their own country men (cheers).[2]
The 16th of June 2022 marks two important anniversaries. The first is the centenary of Ulysses, but the second was the all-important vote on the Treaty held on the same day. The outcome in Ireland of the latter event was eagerly awaited. This election was the first to be held in the new Free State, the first held under the PR electoral system, and the first to be contested by the parties which, in modified forms, were to dominate subsequent Irish politics at least up to 2011. The 1918 election has already been the subject of a blog on Offalyhistoryblog and was a clear win in Offaly and the country for Sinn Féin. This blog is part of our contribution to the #decade of centenaries. We plan more over the summer to include the departure of the British army from Offaly barracks, the lead up to the civil war in Offaly, bank robberies, the burning of the county courthouse, jail and barracks, noted personalities in Offaly in 1922. If you wish to help please email us with your suggestions/contribution. info@offalyhistory.com
The 1922 election was a fight out between the pro-treatyites and the Republicans led by de Valera, but the pact between Collins and de Valera came to grief before election day. Some had looked to the Labour Party to stand aside in 1922, as they had done in 1918, or to vote with the pro-treatyites. Nowhere was the wisdom of Labour going its own way better demonstrated that in the new Laois-Offaly four-seat constituency where William Davin came in as the big winner with more than two quotas. Given its performance in later general elections why did the anti-treatyites not field a candidate? Sean Robbins of Clara had topped the poll in the 1920 county council election and Sinn Féin’s ideologue in Offaly and organiser, T.M. Russell, had come second. Russell, to answer part of the question, had departed the local scene in October 1920 and was in favour of the Treaty. Sean McGuinness, the local IRA battalion commander, was another possible anti-treatyite candidate and he was elected in 1923, but declined to take his seat because of the oath of allegiance. He secured 5,572 votes in 1923.
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