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Full Title	Irish Press, Vol. 1, No. 1, March 23, 1918.
Contributor	McGarrity, Joseph, 1874-1940.
Date Added	15 March 2017
Format	Newspaper
Language	English
Publish Date	1918-03-23
Publisher	Philadelphia: The Celtic Press
Source	Joseph McGarrity Newspaper Collection
Topic	Irish > United States > Newspapers. Irish Americans > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia > Newspapers.
About	More Details Permanent Link
Disclaimers	Disclaimer of Liability Disclaimer of Endorsement

OCR VOL. I, NO.1 A Journal of Irish News, Irish Opinions and Irish Literature, Published in the Interest of ‘An Independent Ireland. THE IRISH PRESS—Philadelphia, March 23, 1918. PRICE, FIVE CENTS Great Irish Martyrs’ Meeting | at Academy of Music REV. THOMAS J..HURTON, PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION, PRESIDES * Emmet, Pearce and the men who died for Ireland, signally hon- ored The Tricolor of Green, White and Orange which waved! over Dublin in 1916 gets place of honor with Stars and Stripes. Mrs, Skeffington delivers a splendid address. any sentimental purposes,” “Meeting not for says speaker, “but to see that Ireland is recognized as one of the small nations in whose behalf America is “fighting in this war.” admirer of Robert Emmet.” Ireland’s Independence.” Quotes President and says: “Not treason,” “Tf it were,” “He is a warm she says, “to advocate she states, “President Wilson would not have received the Petition presented to him in favor of a Free Ireland.” Raps the near-Irish, who want to keep their sympathy for Ireland locked up m their hearts until the war is over, when, it will be safe on a Patrick’s Day to be Irish once more. Compares Poland and Alsace Lorraine to Ireland. Says EnNand will be allowed to tale her place among the other small nations after the war. One Hundred and Fifty Thousand British troops hold Ireland at the point of the Bayonet. Rev.:.Thos. A. McGinnis, of the Carmalite Order, delivers a notable srieech. Ireland to take her place among the Nations of the earth. Considers it a duty to speak out for Ireland’s Independence. One of the most notable meetings ever held in the Academy of Music was the Emmet, Pearse and Irish Martyrs’ celebration of Thursday evening, March 7. The Clan-na-Gael, the Friends of Irish Freedom and St. Enda’s Gailic School took part in meking the meeting such a notable success. While the daily press gave little if any advance notice of the meeting, practically every seat in the house was sold in advance. Rev. Thomas J. Hurton presided and paid a glowing tribute to the men of Easter week, and to President Wilson. He said: “The President is now being attacked by the same forces who tried to imprison the Irish of New York, when they attempted to state the case of Ireland before the public.” He stated ‘that the Wifish people were in no mood to be trifled with or sold by leaders or politicians.” He told his audience that the man of + our race who would accept less m the way of national rights than the Chi- nese, the Serbian, the Montenegran, or the Russian is unworthy to bear and Irish names He paid a tribute to the late Bishop O’Dwyer, to Bishop Fogherty and to Cardinal Logue, and very clearly explained how contrary to the reports in the allied press the cardinal was not opposed to Ireland’s independence, ‘but thought it was a good thing, a noble thing, d that fie fears were only of an unsuccessful rebellion. At the mention of, Bishop Mannix’s name three rousing cheers were given for the bishops, at the request of a Phinadeia Councilman who was in the audien Rev. ‘Thomas A. McGinnis, of the Carmelite Order, gave a splendid dis- urse and sl xd a very intimate knowledge of ‘American history. He told his audience that the pour had come for America to pay the great debt she owed to pene ath “Don’t. thank me for being here this even- ing,” he said. “Tt is my duty as an Ecclesiastic to preach inspiring words to men and women struggling for a noble cause.” He said: “That Jand was going to take her * lace among the nations of the earth, and that God would smile on the man who died for Ireland, no matter what his religion.” A number of prominent pastors and a larger number of the younger cler- gy were attentive listeners in the au- dience. The trish, ‘War Pipe Band in their picturesque’ Irish uniforms played stirring airs before and after the speaking. Many of Ireland’s sweet- est_songs were sung by the Misses McKeon and McMullen. Mr., A. Me: in. Sse green, white and orange, as the little Goddess of Irish Liberty, danced and fang, and was much applauded by the candience. A chorus opened with Star Spangled Banner and lose with God. Save Ireland. esolutions ‘expressing, deep sorrow at, the great loss, the city Of Phila Gelphia had sustained in the death of the Most Rev. Archbishop Prendergast were formally passed by a standing Yote before the business of the meet- ing was in Other resolutions on _-Ireland’s claims and demands for an Irish Race Convention were passe .. Also a resolution for the release of ‘Thomas J. Mooney, now imprisoned jn California, was carried unanimous- Tyn r | origan. to the race from which we helped to free this country. (Applause). fe are here Tonight to discuss the Irish question, not with reference to the past, not with reference to an- cient wrongs—and they’ were dark— but with refererice to present condi- tions. (Applau: ress agencies, watered with gold, are spreading in this country misrep- resentations as to the present status of the Irish question. (Applause). We erican citizens, having Knowledge of the Irish. question, and we are determined that our fellow- citizens shall know the truth about e Irish question. (Applause). We believe that, knowing the truth, and imbued with the love of liberty and the principles on which this Republic is founded, the American people will Insist th that, justice be done to Ireland instar ‘The propaganda of which I speak, tries to deceive our American public by saying that the Ivjsh question is merely a continuation of ancient hat- reds—that the Irish people are merely indulging their feelings. That is not true. The Irish people are & Chris- tian people and they do not hate; they forgive. The Irish people, as every- body knows who associates with them in any part of the world (and all lit- erature attests to the inet), are nat- urally a kindly and f people— as we say in Iveland: “kindly: trish of the Irish.” We have no hatred in deems us by a sacrifice." PATRICK H. PEARSE * Firet President of the Irish Republic “We are older than England and we are stronger than England, Inevery generation we have renewed the struggle, and £0 it sali be anto the end, thinks she bas trampled out our battle in blood, some brave man rises and rallies us again; when England thinks she has purchased ts with o bribe, some good man rev ‘When England The following Resolutions were of- fered: By MR. CLARK: “RESOLVED, that it is the sense of this meeting that before proceeding to business, we express our deep sor row at the great loss sustained by the City of Philadelphia in the death of that most distinguished and be- loved prelate and citizen, the Most Reverend Edmond F. Prendergast, D. D, Archbishop of Philadelphia.” REY. THOS. J. HURTON'S REMARKS Ladies and_ gentlemen, I feel that T have been signally honored in being selected to preside over this meeting | ™ of American citizens, mostly I take it, of Irish race, and in many ca: of Irish birth—and as American citi- zens there is nothing we are prouder of than the fact that we are of Trish (Applause). Our race does not have to hide its head in the Amer- ican Republic, It was asserted in the English Parliament that in the War for Independence, half of the soldiers of Washington’s army were Irishmen. In the same Parliament, Ireland got gredit for having wrested America from English domination. Civil War, men of our blood stood beneath the Stars ‘and Stripes and shed their blood for the principles of American independence. The same happened in the Spanish-American War; aid today, according to the best estimates, between one-fourth /and gne-third of the Americans who are fighting under the American flag, a of Irish birth or blood, (Applawse). ‘We are second to no race in our serv- ice to this country, and least of all our hearts for the English. When, however, a burglar comes into your house, takes possession, and covers a gun, you have to submit for the time eine. The burglar may be amusing, he may be even amiable ~which the English have not been in Treland—but you want your property back at the first opportunity! (Ap- plause). We want the American pub- Ke to know that this is the Irish ques- tion in a nutshell, and it is covered by the laws of the Decalogue: “Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not kill.” (Apel yplause). ow is the time when the principle of self-determination of people is ad- mitted all over the world. Our dis- tinguished President, that great Lib- cral—the greatest Liberal among the rulers of nations engaged in the war today, has entered the war to vindi- cate the right of nations, great and small, to say how they shall be gov- erned. (Applause). A nation with which we are asso- ciated in this war lisps the same senti- ments. hey are not hypocrites now, ag in the past, they will prove their sincerity by freeing the small nation that they have defrauded and robbed for seven and a half centuries. (Applause). We have no hatred of the English people or of the English Government uur flesh and blood are fighting on their side on the Continent now—but we want justice from them. (Ap- plause). Of the Russian, ‘the China- man, the half-civilized Montenegrin’ and ‘the Belgian, we are 9 taught that it is a glorious thing to give them independence. If that is true of them, (Continued on page Five) Ireland to Be Independent AND TO HAVE A PLACE AT THE PEACE CONFERENCE Massachusetts Legislature the First of the States of the Union to Declare for an Independent Ireland BOSTON, March 13, 1918.—After a public heating today the legislative Committee on Federdl Resolutions voted unanimously to report favorably a resolution calling on Congress to “pass such measures as may be necessary to provide that the right of Ireland to be a free and independent country shall be considered at any peace conference which may be held at the termination of the present war.” Hate for England Crops Out Once at St. Patrick’s Dinner Just once the feud between Ireland and, England evopped out, last night t the one hundved and thirty-fourth aniversany dinner of the Friendly is of St. Patrick, at the Hotel As- tor, and the speaker veferved. to it declared that the entrance of the United States into the war at Brit- ain’s side had obscured the quarrel in his mind. He was the Rev. John Cavanaugh, president of Notre Dame University, in Indiana, and until he had qualified his remarks he had his audienee gasping. hate England,” said he, coolly. “I hate English Prussianism as much as German Prussianism. A year aro today I rejoiced at every dispatch that told of a British setback. "But all that is changed. 1 Applause, broke ott “all over the room as he fini Ambassador to Berlin Appointed to Russians M. Joffe, Chairman of Peace Dele- gation at Brest- Litovsk, Is ae LONDON, March BM, Joffe, who was chairman of the Russian peace delegation at_ ‘Brest-Litovsk, has been appointed Russian Ambas- sador at Berlin, according to a Reu-| ter dispatch from Petrograd. ‘The correspondent adds that strong detachments of the Red Army, on Friday night, ‘arrested a regiment of a ead CUMANN SINN FEIN De Valera, the Irish Leader, Sends a Telling Letter to the Irisk Envoy,:Dr. McCartan.—The Irish to Be Fooled No Longer. 6 Harcourt St., Dublin. Feb, 7th, 1918. My Dear Dr. McCartan:— Please convey to the Ivish Pro- gressive League of Freedom the thanks of the Irish people for its ef- forts in placing before the free citi- zens of the United States the true position of Ireland in its relation with England and the British Empire, and, in urging on President Wilson the ne- cessity of seeing that his democratic principle, “Government by the con- sent of the governed,” be applied to Ireland and that her people be given the right of self-determivation. English ministers are hypocritically appealing to America to liberate peoples everywhere, whilst with “most cynical imperial- ism” they continue to force their own yoke on the oldest and most distinc- tive of the smaller nations and deny its, people the most elementary of rights, England rules in Ireland by mili- tary force alone, for seven centuries and a half she ‘has held it as Ger- many holds Belgium today by the right of the sword. Ireland is a forced member of:the British Empire—her union with England being that of the shark with its prey. England ever denies Ireland any share in her pros- perity, but very willingly shares with her her burdens, her crimes and her Were the question to be settled by ‘m}she became strong any treaty e oe enaration” and for the setting f Ireland as a Soverign Indenend- ent State with international eee tees. Only thus will she be pro: ous and happy—only thus wil he have a lasting peace—for so long as she vemains a subject nation so long will the best of her sons devote their intellect and their energies to the task of preparing for the day when circumstances will enable them to as- sert their rights in arms, The s¢ called “domestic solut are all illusory. England would any settlement she was forced make now as she treated in 1800 the Renunciation Act wrung from her by Grattan’s Volunteers whilst she was gueared in the unsuccessful war te keep America in subjection.: She would break’ with impunity ten was forced to make when she was weak and would find her Salisburys to. maintain that she was right in so 2 “Tt is not ‘necessary to point out to You that the attempts “‘to find a set- tlement” are all pretences. intended te throw dust in the eyes of the world —mere ruses to deceive outsiders and gain time until the need of hiding her Bypocrisy may become less urgent The Lloyd George convention was 2 farce from the beginning. The UL ster Unionist Council controled representatives, so that in the worde or Mir Lysaght they simply ste Upbe didn’t make the slightest contribution nor a single helpful suggestion to- wards a constructive scheme of any kind. Mr. Lysaght, seeing their ma- the-Priobrajinsky guards on suspic-| a plebiscite the vast majority of the| neuvre, has resigned. So has Georre ion of counter-vevolutionary designs. | people of this country would dectare | Russell (“A. E.”) ‘These men realize new what in the mouta Carsonite means. We knew relia freedom, Women of Ireland Appeal to President Wilson and the United States To the President and Houses of Congress of the United States of America. We, the undersigned, representing a large body of Irish Women whose President was condemned to death for her share in a struggle for the freedom of our country, make an appeal, first, on the generosity of the American Administration in all things’ affecting women’s lives and welfare, and secondly, on your recor many times extended, of the justice of Ireland’s demand for yr many amentable generations the women of Ireland have had appeal to you, a ase our to bring up their children in a country in a perpetual state ‘of economic and political disarray consequent on its being governed in the interest of another country. Your declaration concerning a war settlement which has called into being and endowed with hope the spirit of Democracy in every country, has made us feel that a new era is opening for us. Our appeal now is to remind you of a eause which should mot be overlooked when so many European nationalities are to be reconstructed in accord- ance with your declaration. Our country, having behind it twenty gen- evations of repression as, we believe, a profound claim upon those who have declared their will to make the world safe for Democracy. appeal to you to recognize the political independence of Ireland in the form of an Trish republic, nd encouraged by the knowledge that the States of Wyoming. Colorado, Utah, lisho, Washington, California, Arizona, Kansas, Nevada, Montana, Oregon and New York have granted full ‘suffrage’ to their women, Wwe feel that your generous sympathy will be extended to the awomen of our country in our demand before the world for the recogmition ‘of an Irish republic virtually in existence since April, 1916—the only republic which from its inauguration was prepared to give women their full place in the councils of their nation. Signed on behalf of Cumann na mBan (The Trishwomen’s Concil). Cvtzp Se Devhee Theans Cet. 7 OS pta Manne OfRaily Countess de Markieviez hee hi oe A, Je ek BC Ke Cons Elaabeth Bloxham Hack (6 E One saeiad oO Quy hip ne 8 poceyes Cumann na mBan, Ard Croib, Parnell Square N., Dublin, Ireland. Annie Kent Louise Gavan Dusty Noom Plunkett Jennie Wyse Power Mary S. Walsh What that meant all along, but these good-natured, honest men needed their convention experience to teach Tt was evident to us that with the “coercion - of - Ulster guarantes, the Unionists would sold. Ty maintain their original -position. Unless the Redmendites completely surrender to them, agreement is out of the question—and then, of course, the English Government ‘would pro- claim “the Irish were left to setile the question _ themselves—England would give them anything but ‘they won't agree.” You, of course. know that it is & lie pure and simple to say, as the English papers say. “England has handed over the settlement of the Inish question to the Irish them- selves”—a willful deliberate misrep- resentation. The Lloyd George con- vention was hand-picked by the Eng- lish Government, was by no means representative of Irish opinion and was bound hand and foot by the terms of reference (excluding the ‘only genuine solution—separation) by || the guarantee to Ulster and by the fact “that any agreement—if by 2 miracle it was arrived at—ha pass as an act through the Englise Houses of Parliament. Lloyd George made assurances doubly sure if ever a man T hope that Ireland's importance in connection with the freedom of the Seas is understood in the States, Sit uated as it is at the very focus of the trade routes between Hurope and America, so long as England holds Treland 0 long will she control the seas and dominate Europe. An inde- pendent Ireland would be the great- est safeguard for both Europe and America, With international guar- antees she would be a temptation to nobody, a menace to nobody, a surety for all. Ig President Wilson succeeds in carrying out his program for the en- suring of a lasting peace, and for the regeneration of the world in freedorm, his name will go down in history one of the world's greatest men.” He has the opportunity, Will he avail of it? Ireland anxiously awaits the answer. Hope you ‘are well. Had to write this hurriedly. ’m sure, can ou, see through the ‘calculated mistepre: sentations of the “Freeman's Journaj" and the Government press. South Armagh has not daunted us. Union- ists and Redmondites are now toreth-. er, but we will beat them both. Sinn” Fein is stronger than ever. the Volunteers. Mise, de chara san geuis. : E. DA VALERA,

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