6 April 2006 - Secret Dublin Castle intelligence files on Republican and Sinn Fein Suspects 1899-1921, Eneclann launches new publication of RIC Special Branch crimes files.

To coincide with the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, Eneclann, in conjunction with the National Archives London, have published the Dublin Castle RIC Special Branch intelligence files on individual Sinn Fein & Republican Suspects between 1899 and 1921. Also known as ‘the Personalities File’s, these files contain secret intelligence on over 450 individuals who were under surveillance during this period, including Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins, James Connolly, Roger Casement, Maud Gonne as well as many lesser-known individuals. Included with this publication is an in-depth introduction by Dr. Fearghal McGarry, Queen’s University Belfast.

These files provide a valuable insight into the British administration’s attempts to suppress the republican movement during the final years of the Union. They are particularly valuable for the light they shed on leading republicans detailing their movements and contacts, and for the light they shed on the security forces and Dublin Castle during these final years of revolutionary violence and administrative chaos. The value of this collection, however, is further enhanced by the fact that many of the files concern lesser-known political activists, individuals who never became household names but were crucial to the success of the republican movement.

The largest proportion of the files relate to public servants, demonstrating that teachers, clerks, telephonists, excise officers and even postmen were viewed by the regime as a potentially dangerous enemy within. There is the file on the mapping officer at the Ordinance Survey, Allen Michael Ashe, who was dismissed from his employment after being reported for making ‘a dangerous and disloyal speech at a meeting of the Loughrea branch of the Irish Volunteers’ he was reported to hold ‘strong Sinn Fein view’s and to be publicly expressing ‘anti-recruiting opinions’. There is the Strabane postman, Cornelius Boyle, who it was reported ‘on his travels…he is stirring up revolts in the minds of the young men on his walk everyday.’ And the case of the National School teacher from Spiddal Co. Galway, Michael Thornton, considered a ‘devilish ruffian’ who was dismissed from his post for ‘teaching disloyalty and sedition to the children in Furbough National School’. Not all the files concern suspected republican activities there are also files concerning the political activities of socialists, trades union activists, feminists, communists and agrarian radicals.

As the files progress through to 1921 they show the nature of the republican struggle changing. Fearghal McGarry points out that while the leaders of 1916 responded to defeat in an idealistic (or naïve) manner, defiantly admitting their actions and making little effort to evade capture and punishment. ‘By 1919 the rules had changed. Republicans found in possession of incriminating documents denied any knowledge of them…. Suspects rarely admitted the charges against them – no matter how strong the evidence – and exploited every legal (or illegal) loophole to avoid prosecution or dismissal.’

These files also bear witness to the radical changes that took place within the RIC during these years as they struggled to respond to the republican challenge. Before the First World War the RIC had the acceptance and respect of the communities they operated in. By 1919 these same men were under increasing pressure, as they became the subjects of a campaign of ostracization and assassination. In March 1920 the RIC was opened to non-Irish recruits, which brought in many demobilised British soldiers who came to be known as the Black and Tans. The time consuming gathering of evidence for civil prosecution seen in many of these files was bypassed in favour of an aggressive counter-insurgency campaign relying on martial law, internment and an increasingly dirty undercover war.

Dr Fearghal McGarry sums up the significance of these files.

They represent a rich source of information about the social unrest of the last decades of British rule in Ireland. They provide valuable and often vivid insights into the challenges facing the British administration and the background and activities of the young men and women who had fought Britain’s crown forces to a stalemate by the summer of 1921.

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