The Bureau of Military History in Ireland was established in January 1947 by Oscar Traynor TD , Minister for Defence and former Captain in the Irish Volunteers . The rationale for the establishment of the Bureau was to give individuals who played an active part in the events which brought about Irish Independence a chance to record their own experiences. Those who took part included members of groups such as the Irish Volunteers and subsequently the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Cumann na mBan , the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), Sinn Féin , the Irish Citizen Army , and relatives of deceased not associated with any organisation.
52-478: Robert Childers Barton (14 March 1881 – 10 August 1975) was an Anglo-Irish politician, Irish nationalist and farmer who participated in the negotiations leading up to the signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty . His father was Charles William Barton and his mother was Agnes Alexandra Frances Childers. His wife was Rachel Warren of Boston, daughter of Fiske Warren . His double first cousin and close friend
104-511: A Wellesley born in Dublin to the Earl of Mornington , head of a prominent Anglo-Irish family in Dublin; and in the 20th century Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke , Field Marshal Lord Alexander of Tunis , General Sir John Winthrop Hackett , Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson and Field Marshal Sir Garnet Wolseley . (see also Irish military diaspora ). Others were prominent officials and administrators in
156-400: A measure which a minority of this nation considers to be grossly oppressive. I am proud to consider myself a typical man of that minority. We against whom you have done this thing, are no petty people. We are one of the great stocks of Europe. We are the people of Burke ; we are the people of Grattan ; we are the people of Swift , the people of Emmet , the people of Parnell . We have created
208-501: A number of officers and soldiers of the Irish army. Also present were a number of historians and several children and grandchildren of witnesses. Bertie Ahern in his opening address said: "I am delighted to be here this evening in the historic setting of Cathal Brugha Barracks to mark an event of the utmost significance to the birth of our modern democracy." Commenting on the collection he continued "The Bureau of Military History collection
260-472: A political settlement with Irish nationalists. Anglo-Irish politicians such as Sir Horace Plunkett and Lord Monteagle became leading figures in finding a peaceful solution to the 'Irish question'. During the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921), many Anglo-Irish landlords left the country due to arson attacks on their family homes . The burnings continued and many sectarian murders were carried out by
312-596: A staunch Irish Republican , saw the Anglo-Irish as Ireland's leisure class and famously defined an Anglo-Irishman as "a Protestant with a horse". The Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer Elizabeth Bowen memorably described her experience as feeling "English in Ireland, Irish in England" and not accepted fully as belonging to either. Due to their prominence in the military and their conservative politics,
364-600: A strong civic sense did exist – but mainly amongst Protestants and especially Anglicans". Henry Ford , the American industrialist and business magnate , was half Anglo-Irish; his father William Ford was born in Cork to a family originally from Somerset , England. The Anglo-Irish, as a class, were mostly opposed to the notions of Irish independence and Home Rule . Most were supporters of continued political union with Great Britain , which existed between 1800 and 1922. This
416-413: A substantial portion of the materials were made available online. In the ten years subsequent to its establishment the project collected 1,773 witness statements totaling 35,000 pages, 334 sets of contemporary documents, 42 photographs, 12 voice recordings, 210 photographs of action sites of Easter Week, and a collection of press cuttings. The objective was then ‘to assemble and co-ordinate material to form
468-531: A wide range of political views, with some being outspoken Irish Nationalists , but most overall being Unionists . And while most of the Anglo-Irish originated in the English diaspora in Ireland, others were descended from families of the old Gaelic nobility of Ireland . The term "Anglo-Irish" is often applied to the members of the Church of Ireland who made up the professional and landed class in Ireland from
520-590: Is a genuine desire on the part of those who have long differed from us politically to welcome our co-operation. We should be wrong politically and religiously to reject such advances. In 1925, when the Irish Free State was poised to outlaw divorce , the Anglo-Irish poet W. B. Yeats delivered a famous eulogy for his class in the Irish Senate : I think it is tragic that within three years of this country gaining its independence we should be discussing
572-447: Is truly a treasure trove of the personal memories and reflections of the men and women who nursed this country into existence. It records an era of sacrifice, bravery and vision, by those who played an active part in the irresistible final momentum to our national independence." According to Margaret Mac Curtain, who comments on Professor F X. Martin, who "had glumly described the inaccessible Bureau of Military History as being cut off from
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#1732772400610624-908: The Irish Times , the Irish Railways, and the Guinness brewery , Ireland's largest employer. They also controlled financial companies such as the Bank of Ireland and Goodbody Stockbrokers . Prominent Anglo-Irish poets, writers, and playwrights include Oscar Wilde , Maria Edgeworth , Jonathan Swift , George Berkeley , Sheridan Le Fanu , Oliver Goldsmith , Laurence Sterne , George Darley , Lucy Knox , Bram Stoker , J. M. Synge , W. B. Yeats , Cecil Day-Lewis , Bernard Shaw , Augusta, Lady Gregory , Samuel Beckett , Giles Cooper , C. S. Lewis , Lord Longford , Elizabeth Bowen , William Trevor and William Allingham . The writer Lafcadio Hearn
676-757: The 1918 general election to the British House of Commons Barton was elected as the Sinn Féin member for Wicklow West . In common with all Sinn Féin members, he boycotted the Westminster parliament and sat instead in Dáil Éireann (the First Dáil ). Arrested in February 1919 for sedition , he escaped from Mountjoy Prison on St. Patrick's Day (leaving a note to the governor explaining that, owing to
728-517: The 1918 general election . Glendalough House, run by Barton for over 70 years until his death, is still considered one of Ireland 's most notable properties, alongside nearby Powerscourt Estate . The house was the center of numerous political meetings and gatherings from 1910 to 1922. It's also been featured as a location in many large Hollywood films including Excalibur , Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart . Barton's grandfather Thomas Johnston Barton, who acquired Glendalough House in 1838,
780-793: The Anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War . Considering the Irish State unable to protect them, many members of the Anglo-Irish class subsequently left Ireland forever, fearing that they would be subject to discriminatory legislation and social pressures. The Protestant proportion of the Irish population dropped from 10% (300,000) to 6% (180,000) in the Irish Free State in the twenty-five years following independence, with most resettling in Great Britain . In
832-685: The British Empire and as senior army and naval officers since the Kingdom of England and Great Britain were in a real union with the Kingdom of Ireland for over a century, before politically uniting into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. The term is not usually applied to Presbyterians in the province of Ulster , whose ancestry is mostly Lowland Scottish , rather than English or Irish, and who are sometimes identified as Ulster-Scots . The Anglo-Irish hold
884-612: The British Empire , such as: Frederick Matthew Darley , the Chief Justice of New South Wales; Henry Arthur Blake , Antony MacDonnell and Gavan Duffy . Others were involved in finding better ways of managing it, heading the Donoughmore Commission or the Moyne Commission . Sir John Winthrop Hackett emigrated to Australia where he became the proprietor and editor of many prominent newspapers. He
936-647: The Georgian Era , titles in the peerage of Ireland were often granted by the British monarch to Englishmen with little or no connection to Ireland, as a way of preventing such honours from inflating the membership of the British House of Lords. A number of Anglo-Irish peers have been appointed by Presidents of Ireland to serve on their advisory Council of State . Some were also considered possible candidates for presidents of Ireland, including: Pat : He
988-570: The Plantations of Ireland . The rights of Roman Catholics to inherit landed property were severely restricted. Those who converted to the Church of Ireland were usually able to keep or regain their lost property, as the issue was considered primarily one of allegiance. In the late 18th century, the Parliament of Ireland in Dublin won legislative independence, and the movement for the repeal of
1040-595: The Test Acts began. Not all Anglo-Irish people could trace their origins to the Protestant English settlers of the Cromwellian period; some were of Welsh stock, and others descended from Old English or even native Gaelic converts to Anglicanism. Members of this ruling class commonly identified themselves as Irish, while retaining English habits in politics, commerce, and culture. They participated in
1092-514: The 17th and 19th centuries (although enforced with varying degrees of severity), Roman Catholic recusants in Great Britain and Ireland were barred from holding public office, while in Ireland they were also barred from entry to Trinity College Dublin and from professions such as law, medicine, and the military . The lands of the recusant Roman Catholic landed gentry who refused to take the prescribed oaths were largely confiscated during
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#17327724006101144-562: The 17th century up to the time of Irish independence in the early 20th century. In the course of the 17th century , this Anglo-Irish landed class replaced the Gaelic Irish and Old English aristocracies as the ruling class in Ireland. They were also referred to as " New English " to distinguish them from the "Old English", who descended from the medieval Hiberno-Norman settlers. Under the Penal Laws , which were in force between
1196-655: The 20th century, scientists John Joly and Ernest Walton were also Anglo-Irish, as was the polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton . Medical experts included Sir William Wilde , Robert Graves , Thomas Wrigley Grimshaw , William Stokes , Robert Collis , Sir John Lumsden and William Babington . The geographer William Cooley was one of the first to describe the process of globalization . The Anglo-Irishmen Richard Brinsley Sheridan , Henry Grattan , Lord Castlereagh , George Canning , Lord Macartney , Thomas Spring Rice , Charles Stewart Parnell , and Edward Carson played major roles in British politics. Downing Street itself
1248-627: The Anglo-Irish class in particular, were by no means universally attached to the cause of continued political union with Great Britain. For instance, author Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), a clergyman in the Church of Ireland, vigorously denounced the plight of ordinary Irish Catholics under the rule of the landlords. Reformist politicians such as Henry Grattan (1746–1820), Wolfe Tone (1763–1798), Robert Emmet (1778–1803), Sir John Gray (1815–1875), and Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–1891), were also Protestant nationalists , and in large measure led and defined Irish nationalism. The Irish Rebellion of 1798
1300-494: The Anglo-Irish have been compared to the Prussian Junker class by, among others, Correlli Barnett . At the beginning of the 20th century, the Anglo-Irish owned many of the major indigenous businesses in Ireland, such as Jacob's Biscuits , Bewley's , Beamish and Crawford , Jameson's Whiskey , W. P. & R. Odlum , Cleeve's , R&H Hall , Maguire & Patterson , Dockrell's , Arnott's , Goulding Chemicals ,
1352-855: The British Isles – all factors which encouraged political support for unionism . Between the mid-nineteenth century and 1922, the Anglo-Irish comprised the bulk of the support for movements such as the Irish Unionist Alliance , especially in the southern three provinces of Ireland. During World War I , Irish nationalist MP Tom Kettle compared the Anglo-Irish landlord class to the Prussian Junkers , saying, "England goes to fight for liberty in Europe and for junkerdom in Ireland ." However, Protestants in Ireland, and
1404-745: The English victory in the Nine Years' War (1594–1603), the " Flight of the Earls " in 1607, the traditional Gaelic Irish nobility was displaced in Ireland, particularly in the Cromwellian period. By 1707, after further defeat in the Williamite War and the subsequent Union of England and Scotland, the aristocracy in Ireland was dominated by Anglican families who owed allegiance to the Crown. Some of these were Irish families who had chosen to conform to
1456-608: The archive was locked in the strongroom in Government Buildings, not to be released to researchers and the general public until after the death of the last recipient of the military-service pension that had testified to the Bureau. On 11 March 2003, the Bureau of Military History collection of Witness Statements was formally made available to the public. Beginning in 1999, under the direction of Commandant Victor Laing, four civilian archivists were involved in processing
1508-596: The basis for the compilation of the history of the movement for Independence from the formation of the Irish Volunteers on 25 November 1913, to 11 July 1921.’ When the Bureau members had completed their mission, they oversaw the placing of the witness statements into 83 steel boxes, together with 66 annexes to witness statements, 54 collections of records of people who did not contribute statements, 178 collections of press cuttings, 12 voice recordings, 246 photographs and 322 bundles of original documents. In March 1959,
1560-723: The collection. (During processing the collection itself remained closed to the public). Copies of the Statements (less the Contemporary Documents (CDs), still held at Cathal Brugha Barracks), were deposited at the National Archives of Ireland where they can now be examined by all. In attendance at the hand-over were the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD, Minister for Defence Michael Smith TD, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General C. Mangan, and
1612-683: The descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland , which was the established church of Ireland until 1871, or to a lesser extent one of the English dissenting churches, such as the Methodist church , though some were Roman Catholics . They often defined themselves as simply "British", and less frequently "Anglo-Irish", "Irish" or "English". Many became eminent as administrators in
Robert Barton - Misplaced Pages Continue
1664-570: The discomfort of his cell, the occupant felt compelled to leave, and requesting the governor to keep his luggage until he sent for it). He was appointed as Director of Agriculture in the Dáil Ministry in April 1919. He was recaptured in January 1920 and sentenced to three years' imprisonment, but was released under the general amnesty of July 1921. In May of that year, prior to his release, he
1716-742: The established Church of Ireland , keeping their lands and privileges, such as the Dukes of Leinster (whose surname is FitzGerald , and who descend from the Hiberno-Norman aristocracy), or the Gaelic Guinness family . Some were families of British or mixed-British ancestry who owed their status in Ireland to the Crown, such as the Earls of Cork (whose surname is Boyle and whose ancestral roots were in Herefordshire , England). Among
1768-562: The heavy-handed British government suppression of the revolt. He then joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood . Charles William Barton (father) was born on 13 July 1836. He married Agnes Alexandra Frances Childers, daughter of Rev. Canon Charles Childers, on 26 October 1876. He died on 3 October 1890, aged 54. Robert's two younger brothers, Erskine and Thomas, died in the British Army during World War I. At
1820-494: The most of the modern literature of this country. We have created the best of its political intelligence. Yet I do not altogether regret what has happened. I shall be able to find out, if not I, my children will be able to find out whether we have lost our stamina or not. You have defined our position and have given us a popular following. If we have not lost our stamina then your victory will be brief, and your defeat final, and when it comes this nation may be transformed. Following
1872-478: The popular English sports of the day, particularly racing and fox hunting , and intermarried with the ruling classes in Great Britain. Many of the more successful of them spent much of their careers either in Great Britain or in some part of the British Empire . Many constructed large country houses , which became known in Ireland as Big Houses , and these became symbolic of the class' dominance in Irish society. The Dublin working class playwright Brendan Behan ,
1924-797: The prominent Anglo-Irish peers are: Until the year 1800, the peers of Ireland were all entitled to a seat in the Irish House of Lords , the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland , in Dublin . After 1800, under the provisions of the Act of Union , the Parliament of Ireland was abolished and the Irish peers were entitled to elect twenty-eight of their number to sit in the British House of Lords , in London, as Irish representative peers . During
1976-469: The public by an ‘official iron curtain’ on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1916 Rising, states "the definitive history of the 1916 Rising has yet to be written; these statements will be indispensable for those who seek to write it." A substantial part of Bureau of Military History records have now been digitized and made available in searchable format. The online data, comprising 35 000 pages, 42 photographic collections and 12 voice recordings
2028-530: The whole of Ireland the percentage of Protestants was 26% (1.1 million). The reaction of the Anglo-Irish to the Anglo-Irish Treaty which envisaged the establishment of the Irish Free State was mixed. J. A. F. Gregg , the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin , stated in a sermon in December 1921 (the month the Treaty was signed): It concerns us all to offer the Irish Free State our loyalty. I believe there
2080-624: Was Erskine Childers . He was born in County Wicklow into a wealthy Irish Protestant land-owning family; namely of Glendalough House. Educated in England at Rugby and Oxford , he became an officer in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on the outbreak of World War I . He was stationed in Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising and came into contact with many of its imprisoned leaders in the aftermath while on duty at Richmond Barracks . He resigned his commission in protest at
2132-648: Was a secretary to the delegation. Barton reluctantly signed the Treaty on 6 December 1921, defending it "as the lesser of two outrages forced upon me and between which I had to choose". Although he had signed the Treaty and voted for it in the Dáil , he stood for election in June 1922 for Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin, the only TD who had voted for the Treaty to do so, and won a seat in the Third Dáil . In common with other Anti-Treaty TDs, he did not take his seat. In October 1922 he
Robert Barton - Misplaced Pages Continue
2184-723: Was a younger son of Hugh Barton, owner of the Langoa Barton and Léoville Barton vineyards in France and co-founder of the Bordeaux wine house of Barton & Guestier. The vineyards are now owned by Lilian Barton, a descendant of Hugh Barton’s eldest son, and she and her husband Michel Sartorius added Château Mauvesin Barton to these domaines in 2011. Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people ( Irish : Angla-Éireannach ) denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly
2236-688: Was also influential in the founding of the University of Western Australia and was its first chancellor. Prolific art music composers included Michael William Balfe , John Field , George Alexander Osborne , Thomas Roseingrave , Charles Villiers Stanford , John Andrew Stevenson , Robert Prescott Stewart , William Vincent Wallace , and Charles Wood . In the visual arts , sculptor John Henry Foley , art dealer Hugh Lane , artists Daniel Maclise , William Orpen and Jack Yeats ; ballerina Dame Ninette de Valois and designer-architect Eileen Gray were famous outside Ireland. William Desmond Taylor
2288-657: Was an Anglo-Irishman. Meg : In the name of God, what's that? Pat : A Protestant with a horse. Ropeen : Leadbetter. Pat : No, no, an ordinary Protestant like Leadbetter, the plumber in the back parlour next door, won't do, nor a Belfast orangeman , not if he was as black as your boot. Meg : Why not? Pat : Because they work. An Anglo-Irishman only works at riding horses, drinking whiskey, and reading double-meaning books in Irish at Trinity College . Bureau of Military History The materials were closed until 2003, when they were opened to public access. In 2012,
2340-502: Was an early and prolific maker of silent films in Hollywood . Scriptwriter Johanna Harwood penned several of the early James Bond films, among others. Philanthropists included Thomas Barnardo and Lord Iveagh . Confederate general Patrick Cleburne was of Anglo-Irish ancestry. Discussing what he considered the lack of Irish civic morality in 2011, former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald remarked that before 1922: "In Ireland
2392-661: Was appointed Minister for Economic Affairs in de Valera's "Emergency Government" , a shadow government in opposition to the Provisional Government and later to the Executive Council of the Irish Free State . Barton's memoir of this period was completed in 1954, and can be seen on the Bureau of Military History website. He was arrested and interned for most of the war at the Curragh Camp . Barton
2444-520: Was defeated at the 1923 general election , and retired from politics in favour of the law. He practiced as a barrister, and later became a judge. He was chairman of the Agricultural Credit Corporation from 1934 to 1954. Barton died at home in County Wicklow on 10 August 1975, at the age of 94, the last surviving signatory of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Éamon de Valera died only nineteen days later, on 29 August 1975. In 1969, RTÉ Television interviewed Barton, alongside Ernest Blythe and James Ryan , about
2496-425: Was elected as a Sinn Féin member for Kildare–Wicklow in the 1921 Irish election to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland . Once again all Sinn Féin members boycotted this parliament, sitting as the Second Dáil . In August 1921, he was appointed to cabinet as Secretary for Economic Affairs. Barton was one of the Irish plenipotentiaries to travel to London for the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. His cousin
2548-438: Was for many reasons, but most important were the economic benefits of union for the landowning class, the close personal and familial relations with the British establishment, and the political prominence held by the Anglo-Irish in Ireland under the union settlement. Many Anglo-Irish men served as officers in the British Army , were clergymen in the established Anglican Church of Ireland or had land (or business interests) across
2600-400: Was led by members of the Anglo-Irish and Ulster Scots class, some of whom feared the political implications of the impending union with Great Britain. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, however, Irish nationalism became increasingly tied to a Roman Catholic identity. By the beginning of the twentieth century, many Anglo-Irishmen in southern Ireland had become convinced of the need for
2652-427: Was named after Sir George Downing . In the Church, Bishop Richard Pococke contributed much to C18 travel writing. The Anglo-Irish were also represented among the senior officers of the British Army by men such as Field Marshal Earl Roberts , first honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards regiment, who spent most of his career in British India ; Field Marshal Viscount Gough , who served under Wellington , himself
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#17327724006102704-450: Was of Anglo-Irish descent on his father's side but was brought up as a Catholic by his great-aunt. In the 19th century, some of the most prominent mathematical and physical scientists of the British Isles, including Sir William Rowan Hamilton , Sir George Stokes , John Tyndall , George Johnstone Stoney , Thomas Romney Robinson , Edward Sabine , Thomas Andrews , Lord Rosse , George Salmon , and George FitzGerald , were Anglo-Irish. In
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