Come Here To Me!

The Lion and the Unicorn on display at the Custom House today (Dfallon)

While the bombing of iconic Dublin statues by militant republicans in the decades following independence is well documented, other attacks on the iconography of the city have largely been forgotten. Recently, I stumbled across an interesting file in National Archives dealing with the issue of the Royal Coat of Arms, which remained in place on many magnificent Dublin buildings in the years following independence. In the 1930s, following an explosion at Exchange Court targetting one such piece of symbolism, senior figures inside An Garda Síochanna called for the removal of the Royal Coat of Arms from public buildings in the interest of safety and security.

On November 11th 1937 militant republicans were responsible for an explosion at the building which was home to the Engineering Branch of the General Post Office, at Exchange Court. The premises had once been home to ‘G Division’ of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, and it was at Exchange Court that Peader Clancy, Conor Clune and Dick McKee were to lose their lives on Bloody Sunday in 1920.

At half-six on a quiet November morning in 1937, an explosion destroyed the plaster cast of the Royal Coat of Arms, with The Irish Times reporting that:

The force of the explosion broke the plaster cast of the lion and the unicorn into pieces, blew a large hole in the wall of the building, and shattered hundreds of panes of glass in surrounding houses, shops and offices. Bricks and mortar were hurled into rooms of the premises, smashing furniture and damaging official documents.

Windows were broken at the Olympia Theatre, and even on Parliament Street, by the force of the blast.

In the Garda report in the immediate aftermath of the explosion, Chief Superintendent Thomas Clarke noted that Garda intelligence believed republicans had been planning an attack on a symbolic target early in November of 1937, and that Gardaí were monitoring memorial statues, poppy depots and the Ex-Servicemen’s Park. Clarke would write that:

It is the practice to have a Garda in uniform detailed to patrol a special beat in the vicinity of Cork Hill but there was no member available on the night of the 10th/11th,instant, for duty at this point owing to the other demands made on the available strength for protection of Poppy depots, memorial statues, halls etc.

It was noted that Gardaí believed the IRA were likely to cause an explosion at the Ex-Servicemens’ Park, or at some other prominent centre, between the first and the eleventh of November, in the run up to Armistice Day. The Garda report would note that the removal of the Royal Escutcheon from buildings in the city under the control of the Board of Works should be considered, owing to the damage caused through such explosions and the risk to the civilian population. In May of 1937 the statue of King George II in Stephens’ Green had been blown to pieces, and such attacks were undoubtedly seen as a very real threat.

Discussion around the Royal Coat of Arms and its presence on Dublin buildings continued into the following year. In a 1938 Garda report it was noted that if the Royal Coat of Arms could be removed from places “…without attracting press notice”, such a policy should be considered.

The 1938 confidential Dublin Castle report, on the Suggested Removal of the Royal Crest from Courthouse at Kilmainham, noted that “the protection of the buildings on which it is displayed cannot very well be effectively carried out.”

Inspector P.Killeen noted that in the case of the Kilmainham Courts, which display the Royal Coat of Arms to this day:

In view of the attitude adopted by a section of the population of this country to such emblems as this, and inv iew of the damage caused on several occasions within the last few years to statues and monuments associated with the British regime here, I think it should be advisable to have the emblem removed, and I suggest that representations should be made to the Office of Public Works to have this done.

The removal of the object now may save a great deal of trouble to the Police later, and may also save the Rate Payers and perhaps lives of citizens.

The National Graves Association had spent some time calling on the ‘Lion and the Unicorn’ at Exchange Court to be replaced with a memorial plaque to the three republicans who lost their lives there on Bloody Sunday in 1920. Today, such a plaque exists right next to City Hall, where the Royal Coat of Arms had once gazed down on Dubliners.

The Royal Coat of Arms can still be seen in several locations across the city, not only at the Kilmainham Courthouse but also at College Green on the Bank of Ireland (the historic Irish Parliament), at the top of Henrietta Street at the Kings Inns and at the magnificent Custom House.

Sean Treacy is a character of great importance to the War of Independence period, indeed he was among the men of the Third Tipperary Brigade who fired the opening shots of that conflict at the Soloheadbeg ambush. Treacy would lose his life on October 14th 1920 on the streets of Dublin, owing to a shoot-out on Talbot Street that would also leave Gilbert Price of the British Secret Service lying dead on the street. A small plaque on Talbot Street today marks the spot where Treacy was killed. The incorrect spelling of his name should be noted, a common error.

The plaque was unveiled by the National Graves Association in 1937, with a huge crowd gathering for proceedings.

Image taken from the front of The Irish Press newspaper, September 13 1937.

Each time Tipperary reach an All Ireland Final, Tipperary fans gather at the spot on Talbot Street to remember Sean Treacy. The video below shows the 2011 commemoration at the site.

Following Irish independence, the renaming of streets became common place in Dublin. In March 2011 I posted a copy of a 1922 Dublin Corporation report which recommended a number of street name changes in the capital. That report proposed radical changes, including the re-naming of Beresford Place (home to Liberty Hall) as Connolly Place, and not all of its recommendations were implemented. Interestingly, absent from the list was the issue of Talbot Street. In the decades following independence, members of a wide variety of nationalist organisations would call for the renaming of that street to honour Sean Treacy.

Among the organisations demanding the changing of the name Talbot Street in the 1940s were Ailtirí na hAiséirghe, a fascist movement whose name translated into ‘Architects of the Resurrection’ and who were led by Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin. The movement produced the paper Aiséirghe, a copy of which was previously uploaded to this very blog. The politics of the movement very much fused European fascism with a deep sense of Irish Christianity and cultural nationalism. An impressive collection of election literature and propaganda from the group has been uploaded to the Irish Election Literature Blog, which provide interesting insight into the ideology of the group. In their 1943 General Election leaflet outlining principal points of policy, the organisation noted that: “Your duty to Ireland does not end with the casting of your vote. Serve Ireland always. Speak the language. Encourage others to speak the language. Help everything Irish and national and clean!”

An edition of Aiséirghe's newspaper.

On November 1st 1943, members of Ailtirí na hÁiseirghe created uproar at a meeting of Dublin Corporation, by shouting from the public galleries while the Corporation was sitting. At the time of the interruptions, the Corporation was discussing the planned removal of Queen Victoria’s statue from Leinster House. One man rose and shouted: “Get rid of all the symbols of slavery in the streets! We demand that Talbot Street be renamed Sean Treacy street. Young Ireland is awakening.”

It was reported that another member of the group shouted: “Honour Sean Treacy, despite the shopkeepers of Talbot Street. If you do not, you are not worthy of the name of Irishmen.”

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I’m far from finished exploring the street level plaques of Dublin, but recently it was suggested to me to move my search indoors. Hospitals, schools, churches and more besides all boast great historic plaques in this city, and some are real hidden gems. Church of Ireland churches can throw up interesting stuff in particular, for example often containing significant overlooked WWI memorials. St. Ann’s Church on Dawson Street contains the above plaque, to a man who took part in the defence of Trinity College Dublin during the 1916 Rising.

On Saturday August 5th 1916 a presentation was made in the Provost’s gardens of Trinity College Dublin to members of the Officers Training Corps (OTC) who had defended the university during the uprising, and used its vantage points to fire on rebels. The Sinn Féin Rebellion Handbook noted that:

To the prompt measures, defensive and offensive, organised by the Corps was due the preservation of valuable life and property in Grafton Street, Nassau Street, College Green, College Street, Dame Street and Westmoreland Street, including not only the historic buildings of the College itself, but the Bank of Ireland and many other of our finest buldings.

Interestingly, members of the OTC were joined by Canadian and Australian soldiers in the defence of the college. W.J Brennan-Whitmore wrote at length in his memoir of the rebellion of exchanging fire with a sniper at Trinity College Dublin, later meeting an Australian Sergeant and asking “Are you the so-and-so that was sniping at us out of the corner of Trinity College?” Indeed, the man was!

Appreciation for the efforts of the OTC materialised in a fund, exceeding £700, gathered via contributions from ratepayers in the area and citizens. Each member of the Corps was presented with small beautiful silver cup which marked their participation in the week, with the engraved inscription: ‘DEFENSE OF T.C.D – SINN FÉIN REBELLION – EASTER 1916’. One of these cups, pictured below, sold for €3000 at Adam’s last year.

Image from Adams Auctioneers. This cup was sold in 2011 for €3000.

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