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Articles
Irish Matters: “Churchill’s Final View”
- By RICHARD M. LANGWORTH
- | May 4, 2016
- Category: Churchill and Europe Truths and Heresies
The Irish, a people conversant with history, admire Gladstone, the 19th century prime minister and supporter of Irish Home Rule. Fewer will cite the governments led by H.H. Asquith and David Lloyd George, which advanced Home Rule and, after World War I, pushed through the Irish Treaty, leading to Ireland’s independence. Winston Churchill is unfairly dismissed as an steadfast foe of Irish liberty. Yet he was in both those governments. He fought hard for compromise, supporting Home Rule before the war, and the Irish Treaty afterward.
Discussing Churchill’s final views on Ireland, Professor Paul Addison (author of Churchill on the Home Front) refers us to an astonishing passage Churchill wrote in The Aftermath, his fourth volume of The World Crisis, in his chapter on the 1922 Irish Treaty. One could hardly get higher praise from Churchill than this:
No one can expect that the hatred and prejudices of centuries will pass away in the passage of our short lives. But that they will pass away in the merciful oblivion of time and in the recuperative fruitfulness of nature seems to be a good and fair hope. Fifty years of peaceful association and new growth must bring the study of common interests increasingly into prominence. In the undying words of Henry Grattan: “The Channel forbids union; the Ocean forbids separation.” Two ancient races, founders in great measure of the British Empire and of the United States, intermingled in a thousand ways across the world, and with the old cause of quarrel ended, must gradually try to help and not to harm each other.
Admiration for the Irish
Professor Addison was “struck by the admiration Churchill expresses for the Irish of all kinds and his high hopes of the Irish Free State, later dashed of course. He must have detested de Valera for undoing the Free State, in which he clearly took a paternal pride.” (The Free State, a Dominion under the British Crown, was repudiated by Ireland’s executive council president Éamon de Valera’s 1936 External Relations Act, which transferred the Crown’s functions to the Irish government.)
Addison’s is an astute observation. Ireland excited Churchill’s passions, which in the end were positive. His remark in The Aftermath suggests thoughts that may be taking place in our own time. To Churchill, Ireland like Britain was part of the larger Atlantic Community. This he regarded as of paramount importance to Britain.
Churchill always respected Irish patriots and heroes, like Michael Collins, the IRA leader turned negotiator in the Free State talks. He particularly admired the Irish who fought alongside the British in both World Wars.
In World War II Paddy Finucane, an Irish volunteer RAF pilot, destroyed thirty-two German aircraft before being shot down over France. After the war Churchill said, “the hands of heroes like Finucane seem to stretch out to soothe [any bitterness] away.”
“No one knows what they are…”
In “The Dream,” his imaginary conversation with the ghost of his father in 1947, Churchill penned a wistful coda to his long Irish experiences. Lord Randolph is grilling his son on world events since his own death in 1895:
“What happened to Ireland? Did they get Home Rule?”
“The South got it,” Winston replies, “but Ulster stayed with us.”
“Are the South a republic?”
“No one knows what they are. They are neither in nor out of the Empire. But they are much more friendly to us than they used to be. They have built up a cultured Roman Catholic system in the South. There has been no anarchy or confusion. They are getting more happy and prosperous. The bitter past is fading.”
“Every blessing…”
Churchill could not have been happy when Dublin formally proclaimed a republic. (Republic of Ireland Act 1948, effective 18 April 1949). But his spirit of magnanimity prevailed in Britain. The UK’s response was the 1949 Ireland Act, recognizing that the Irish Republic had left the Commonwealth, while providing that Irish citizens would not be treated as aliens under British law—virtually the same status as Commonwealth citizens.
On the day Ireland formally became a republic, 18 April 1949, King George VI sent the following message to Irish President Seán T. O’Kelly:
I send you my sincere good wishes on this day, being well aware of the neighbourly links which hold the people of the Republic of Ireland in close association with my subjects of the United Kingdom. We hold in most grateful memory the services and sacrifices of the men and women of your country who rendered gallant assistance to our cause in the recent war and who made a notable contribution to our victories. I pray that every blessing may be with you today and in the future. —George R.
Featured Image: Lloyd George, Lord Birkenhead and Churchill leaving 10 Downing Street for negotiations over the Irish Treaty, 1921.
Further Reading
Winston S. Churchill, “The Irish Treaty,” in Thoughts and Adventures (Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books, 2009).
Winston S. Churchill, The World Crisis, vol. 4, The Aftermath, chapters 14-16, “The Irish Spectre,” “The Irish Settlement,” “The Rise of the Irish Free State,” (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015).
Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, vol. 4, World in Torment 1916-1922, chapter 37-40, (Hillsdale College Press, 2008).
Paul Bew’s new book on Churchill and Ireland has just been published in the U.K. and will be out in the U.S. later this month.
http://www.amazon.com/Churchill-Ireland-Paul-Bew/dp/019875521X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462807619&sr=8-1&keywords=paul+bew
Reviewed by Andrew Roberts in the Literary Review: https://literaryreview.co.uk/emerald-guile
Numerous thoughtful papers from the 2008 Churchill Conference on Ireland, from a variety of perspectives, were published in Finest Hour #142-45, which can be accessed and downloaded at http://bit.ly/24I2PK3
Technically Ireland was neutral, but had provided more help to Britain in World War II than de Valera preferred to acknowledge, given his politics and vengeful declaration of neutrality at the outset. See Warren F. Kimball, “That Neutral Island,” Finest Hour 145, Winter 2009-10, 54-61—a thorough account of Irish contributions to the Allied war effort. These included significant intelligence cooperation, and acceptance of American defense collaboration (The Republic itself was ill-prepared militarily to fight a war). Churchill knew about these things, despite what he called Dev’s “frolic” with the Germans, and denial of the old Treaty Ports (which became more and more unimportant as the war wore on). Yet the Taoiseach never considered siding with Hitler. As Kimball writes, the question most Irish tended to ask was, “Who are we neutral AGAINST?” The answer was resoundingly “Germany.”
King George VI was kept well informed by Churchill, and must have known of this when he wrote Seán O’Kelly. The King’s allusion to Irishmen’s “gallant assistance to our cause” referred to numerous Irish volunteers like Paddy Finucane (mentioned by Churchill above) who risked or gave their lives for the defeat of Germany. Churchill said once, “I must confess to some sentiment about Old Ireland, in spite of the ugly mask she tries to wear.” De Valera wore that mask, but most of his countrymen, and most of the British, did not.
My colleague David Freeman records a comment by Denis Kelly, one of Churchill’s literary assistants, on one of Churchill’s favorite stories, which “he used to adore telling”: A British bomber is over Berlin, caught in the searchlights, the flak coming up, one engine on fire, the rear-gunner wounded. Desperately trying to fly the plane out of danger, the Irish pilot mutters: “Thank God Dev kept us out of this bloody war.”
Please [continue] to educate me. I find King George VI comments in 1949 regarding the establishment of the Republic of Ireland quite surprising in that Ireland held its neutrality throughout WWII.
Technically Ireland was neutral, but had provided more help to Britain in World War II than de Valera preferred to acknowledge, given his politics and vengeful declaration of neutrality at the outset. See Warren F. Kimball, “That Neutral Island,” a thorough account of Irish contributions to the Allied war effort. These included significant intelligence cooperation, and acceptance of American defense collaboration (The Republic was ill-prepared militarily to fight a war). Churchill knew about these things, despite what he called Dev’s “frolic” with the Germans, and denial of the old Treaty Ports (which became more and more unimportant as the war wore on). Yet the Taoiseach never considered siding with Hitler. As Kimball writes, the question most Irish tended to ask was, “Who are we neutral AGAINST?” The answer was resoundingly “Germany.”
King George VI was kept well informed by Churchill, and must have known of this when he wrote Seán O’Kelly. The King’s allusion to Irishmen’s “gallant assistance to our cause” referred to numerous Irish volunteers like Paddy Finucane (mentioned by Churchill above) who risked or gave their lives for the defeat of Germany. Churchill said once, “I must confess to some sentiment about Old Ireland, in spite of the ugly mask she tries to wear.” De Valera wore that mask, but most of his countrymen, and most of the British, did not.
My colleague David Freeman records a comment by Denis Kelly, one of Churchill’s literary assistants, on one of Churchill’s favorite stories, which “he used to adore telling”: A British bomber is over Berlin, caught in the searchlights, the flak coming up, one engine on fire, the rear-gunner wounded. Desperately trying to fly the plane out of danger, the Irish pilot mutters: “Thank God Dev kept us out of this bloody war.”
Excellent as always; thank you.
You write: “(The Free State, a Dominion under the British Crown, was repudiated by Eire’s executive council president Éamon de Valera’s 1936 External Relations Act, which transferred the Crown’s functions to the President of Eire.)”. I’m afraid this statement isn’t entirely correct. The External Relations Act you mention was passed before there was a country called ‘Eire’, as you choose to call it, or a president of such a country.
While on the topic of what you choose to call the country in question, let’s consider what Churchill himself said about this word ‘Eire’: “it is not customary to quote a term in a foreign language, a capital town, a geographical place, when there exists a perfectly well-known English equivalent. It is usual to say “Paris” —not “Paree.” (Churchill speaking in Parliament in 1938). The word ‘Eire’ is of course a misspelling of a word in the Irish language that means ‘Ireland’. I’d encourage you to take a leaf out of Churchill’s approach to English, if not his approach to political nomenclature.
You go on in the piece to remark that “Churchill always respected Irish patriots and heroes…”. I can’t go along with that at all. Churchill, of course, is a man who refused to repatriate the remains of Sir Roger Casement for burial in Ireland. Despite personal appeals from de Valera, Churchill insisted they must remain in the grounds of Pentonville Prison.
You refer to the heroic deeds of a British soldier from Ireland who Churchill heaped praise upon. That Churchill heaps praise on such a noble British soldier hardly suggests he is any less a foe of Irish freedom! He loved the Irish when they are brave foot soldiers of the Crown, it seems.
Churchill, in his imaginary exchanges with his own father which you describe, appreciated that the constitutional position of Ireland was complex. He felt that all he could say of Ireland was that “[n]o one knows what they are. They are neither in nor out of the Empire.” Dismissing any complexities, you conclude that Ireland “formally became a republic, 18 April 1949”. That’s how United Kingdom law purports to describe the position; Irish law does not accept that at all. The Irish position is that Ireland had been a republic for years before that; something Churchill himself clearly had some sort of appreciation for.
Richard Langworth replies:
1) Thank-you for your thoughtful comments. Several readers have pointed out to me the inappropriateness of the word “Eire” in this context, and I have eliminated it from my text. You are also right that there was not yet an Irish President when The External Relations Act of 1936 was passed. The first President of Ireland, Douglas Ross Hyde, took office in 1938. The Act however did remove the functions of the Crown: “The executive power of the State in or in connection with its external relations shall […] be exercised by or on the authority of the Government.” I have amended my text accordingly.
2) Churchill and de Valera met in September 1953. According to the historian John Ramsden: “When de Valera asked about the return of the body of Sir Roger Casement, dishonourably buried in an English jail since his execution in 1916 but regarded by Ireland as a martyr, Churchill was a little more hopeful, but said that he must consult legal opinion and referred again to the problem of opinion in Ulster. In due course he wrote to tell de Valera that his Government would not sanction the return of Casement’s bones, and when de Valera wrote to protest further he did not reply…. De Valera astounded his host, however, by explaining that if he had remained Prime Minister through the later 1940s he would not have taken Ireland out of the Commonwealth as the Costello Government had done, a matter on which Churchill had been sharply critical at the time. As de Valera left, Churchill apparently ‘waved a cheerful au revoir as the car moved off’; while one Irish paper offered as ‘the opinion in informed circles’ the view that ‘the meeting has been very useful and it may well be that a new chapter in Anglo-Irish relations is about to begin.’” This does not sound very hateful; on Casement, Churchill did not bluntly refuse; he looked into the matter, and did as he was advised.
3) Paddy Finucane was an RAF pilot, not a soldier. Churchill routinely admired the courage or skill of adversaries, from the Dervish warriors of 1898 to Michael Collins to Erwin Rommel. None of these were foot soldiers of the Crown. It seems a little harsh to consider someone who played a key role the Irish Treaty, which liberated Ireland and kept the peace for forty years, an enemy of Irish freedom.
4) I am not sure how uncomplex it is to state that Ireland formally became a republic on 18 April 1949. That was when the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 (Irish not UK law) officially declared Ireland a republic. Of course many Irish had long considered their country a republic. So did, no doubt, many Slovaks; but likewise, Slovakia officially became a republic on 1 January 1993. The operative word is “formally.”
Dear Richard, many thanks. It is most kind of you to take the time for exchanges with me. Thank you also for correcting my shoddy description of Paddy Finucane. Two of my father’s first cousins were RAF pilots killed during the War. I expect they’d turn in their graves if they heard me refer to them as soldiers.
1. You say that “the Free State was repudiated by Ireland’s executive council president…” The Irish Free State, not Ireland, had an executive council president. But, even if we take it that that’s already understood, one must remember that the Irish Free State existed immediately before the External Relations Act was adopted and it continued to exist for over a year afterwards. I don’t quite see how the Irish Free State repudiated itself yet continued on. This statement doesn’t make sense to me.
2. Where you say that the External Relations Act “transferred the Crown’s functions to the Irish government” I’m afraid I don’t believe that’s correct. It was Amendment No. 27 to the Irish Free State Constitution that did that, albeit imperfectly*. When that Amendment became law, the Crown’s functions were eliminated. So the External Relations Act did not transfer functions of the King to the Irish government as the King had none that could be transferred. Rather, the External Relations Act conferred functions on the King.
*I say imperfectly because it was later found that further legislation was needed to fully abolish the office of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State.
3. In refusing to repatriate the remains of Sir Roger Casement to Ireland, Churchill did indeed inform de Valera that his decision was based on legal advice. De Valera did not accept the explanation at all and responded to Churchill concerning his refusal in the following terms: “So long as Roger Casement’s remains remain within British prison walls, when he himself expressed the wish that it should be transferred to his native land, so long there will be public resentment here at what must appear to be, at least, the unseemly obduracy of the British Government.” I tend to find de Valera’s description of Churchill’s position as “unseemly” rather more persuasive than your description of Churchill as a man who “always respected Irish patriots”. But that, of course, is a matter of personal judgement. Others can judge for themselves. I would note that about a decade later Churchill’s successor seemed to overcome these supposedly insurmountable legal difficulties readily enough!
4. In your piece and your response to me you suggest that Churchill was not an enemy of Irish freedom; that Churchill played a key role in the Treaty which supposedly “liberated Ireland and kept the peace for forty years” no less. As to forty years of peace, the Treaty caused a nasty civil war whose reverberations were felt in Ireland for far more than forty years. As to liberation, the home rule legislation and subsequent Treaty partitioned the rather ancient former Ireland into two; it also subjugated the new Irish state to a Crown its electorate had most clearly rejected. Few advocates of Irish freedom would thank Churchill for that. If the Treaty led to Irish freedom, that was certainly not something Churchill ever championed. One need only consider his many statements concerning Ireland both before, during and after WWII. But this is probably far too wide a topic for me to really take on! Moreover, by “Irish freedom” you may well have in mind freedom of the Irish to serve British King and Country, and if that’s what you mean, I certainly can’t disagree with you.
5. Where you say “Ireland formally became a republic on 18 April 1949” and you go on to attribute that development to the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, I’m afraid I don’t believe that’s a correct statement of Irish law. The Republic of Ireland Act is one of the shortest statutes ever passed by the Irish parliament. Nowhere in that statute does it provide that Ireland is becoming a republic or declaring itself a republic or any such thing. As a matter of Irish law, Ireland was already formally a republic; since long before that statute became law. This has nothing to do with emotion or national sentiment but rather Irish law. It’s presumably on the basis of this misapprehension as to Irish law that you also refer to de Valera as having supposedly said to Churchill that he would not have “taken Ireland out of the Commonwealth”. De Valera was indeed inclined to retain an association with the Commonwealth, what de Valera called ‘external association’ as a republic outside the Commonwealth but associated with it as a matter of its foreign policy. Central to that association was the External Relations Act which was repealed by the Republic of Ireland Act. Again, going by his imaginary exchanges with his own father which you describe, Churchill appears to have had some appreciation for all of this!