Liam de Róiste Papers Descriptive List Ref. U271

Éamon de Valera. (U271/D/3/6a/4). Also present is a series of 1918 Election leaflets for De Róiste and JJ. Walsh (U271/D/8/D) and extensive ephemera concerning the East Clare by- election in 1917 (U271/D/4). Some correspondence is also present including a letter to de Róiste from Daniel Corkery in Aug 1918 with his opinion on the choice of Sinn Féin candidates for Cork City, '...we should strive to have in that party such a variety of mind as will...correspond with the variety of mind in a healthy nation'. Notes Ireland has a 'general dearth' of intellectuals, and Sinn Féin suffers more than any other party from this. It must appoint leaders 'the world will accept', to prevent the party from 'appearing in the eyes of the world as a collection of village notabilities'. (U271/D/8/E/002) Section E: Cork Industrial Development Association 1903-1922; De Róiste together with Diarmaid L. Fawsitt was the driving force behind the Cork IDA and at its establishment in 1903. Its stated purpose was to forward the interests of Irish manufactures and products, ’primarily intended to check the awful exodus of our people' through emigration (U271/E/1/1). Section F: Coláiste na Mumhan, Ballingeary 1904-1955. De Róiste was a key organiser and Secretary of the College and the section contains both administrative records and extensive memoirs in both Irish and English (U271/F/9). In the memoirs, he recalls personal reminiscences of local characters and visitors, including that of Terence MacSwiney staying at 'The Lodge' of the Cronin’s and a walk with MacSwiney in the hills to Tuiríndubh, 'Traolach and myself had been friends and associates since boyhood. The stress and the strain, the glory, and the tragedy of events to come were hidden in the womb of the future. The memory of that quiet evening in the hills may have come to mind when I knelt by his deathbed in Brixton Prison...'. (U271/F/9/1) Section G: Irish Volunteers Cork Corps 1913-21. De Róiste as a founder member and Secretary of the Cork Corps kept records from the early years of the Volunteers in Cork including a set of c1700 membership forms 1913-1914 (U271/G/003). Themes documented include the split in the Volunteers (U271/G/006/2), and the aftermath of the Easter Rising (U271/G/9/B). De Róiste remained a Dáil Éireann politician and was not a soldier during the War of Independence (his diaries and memoirs in Section A document that period in detail). However, present in Section G are a number of letters from IRA prisoners during the War of Independence, including Tadgh Barry (U271/010/D), and Sarah Duggan of Cumann na mBan (U271/G/010/E). Section H: Dáil Éireann 1919-1923. This is a substantial section which documents the First, Second and Third Dáils and de Róiste’s time as a T.D. The First Dáil sub section, Jan 1919- May 1921, documents its initial organisation and administration including a set of reports from various committees/departments to the Dáil on various topics including local government, trade and industry, propaganda, courts, fisheries, foreign affairs, finances, agriculture etc. (U271/H/1/A/002). A large file is also present concerning the administration of the first Dáil Loan 1919-1929 in Cork, which de Róiste may have been administering or