Liam de Róiste Papers Descriptive List Ref. U271

xvi

overseeing, including a register of subscribers for Cork City, (U271/H/1/A/006). All of de Róiste’s correspondence as a Sinn Féin TD for the period is included, mainly incoming material (U271/H/1/B); including significant files from JJ Walsh, Michael Collins, the Sinn Féin party, and one of Lord Mayor Tomás MacCurtain’s final letters dated 19 March 1920, hours before his death at home at the hands of crown forces (U271/H/1/B/2/C). The sub- section on the Second Dáil covers the period of transition from armed revolution to Truce, to the Anglo-Irish Treaty debate (U271/H/2/012) and Dáil ratification. De Róiste chaired some of the fractious Treaty debates in Dáil Éireann, having been, as stated in his later correspondence, the first TD to speak publicly in favour of the Treaty (See U271/J/001/004). The Third Dáil sub section covers the period from, and including, the June 1922 election, the Civil War, the establishment and first months of the Irish Free State. De Róiste actively campaigned for the acceptance of the Treaty but despaired at the bloodshed and destruction of the Civil War, “…I entered public life most unwillingly in 1918, feeling it was a duty placed upon me. I remained in public life since, during the period of English armed aggression, for the same reason. With fratricidal strife and a blood feud between former comrades, I can have nothing to do. I can give no approval to it on one side or the other. My duty in public life is therefore, ended and I have already decided to retire as a representative…” (U271/H/3/A/6). He took the stance of attempting to reconcile the two factions (U271/H/3/E) which would, as he wished, end his career in national politics. It is notable that the collection contains both pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty correspondence and ephemera (U271/H/3/G and H). De Róiste appears to have set out a claim to the Provisional Government for over £3,000,000 in reparations from the British for the destruction in Cork City in the period Jan 1919-Dec 1921 (U271/H/3/F/1). De Róiste also appears to have been involved in the drafting of the Irish Free State Constitution (U271/H/3/K) Section I: Local Government, 1915-1950. A limited amount of material mainly relating to Cork Corporation. This includes material relating to the 1920 Local Election where De Róiste was elected as a Councillor/Alderman of the City for the first time, such as registers of electors for 2 polling districts, compiled under the Representation of the People Act 1918, which incorporated women voters for the first time. (U271/I/A/2 and 3) Despite de Róiste being appointed a Cork Harbour Commissioner, very little material is present in the collection relating to this body (U271/I/4). Section J: Later Correspondence 1924-1954. This section comprises mainly political and non- private correspondence dating from after the end of De Róiste’s tenure as a T.D. but excluding his involvement with Cumann na Gaedheal (see section K). De Róiste did not stand in the August 1923 general election. This section includes a series of letters 1925 – 1948 from former colleague and friend, JJ Walsh, who remained a TD, and was appointed as the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs in the Irish Free State. (U271/J/001) De Róiste appears to have maintained some contact with governmental figures for example in relation to trade policy (U271/J/004/6) and was invited yearly by President Cosgrave to the Griffith-Collins anniversary memorials (U271/J/003). It is notable that little correspondence is present for