Political Activism 1907-14 Tadhg’s devotion to the revival of Irish culture was almost as great as his passion for Irish independence; to him, they were the same struggle. While in England, he had continued to support the separatist cause in any way he could; he became a shareholder in Arthur Griffith’s Sinn Féin Printing & Publishing Company. Upon his return to Cork in 1907, Tadhg joined the newly formed Cork National Council branch of Sinn Féin, which had been formed the previous year by three nationalist organisations – Inghinidhe na hÉireann, the Cork Celtic Literary Society and the Cork Young Ireland Society. Tadgh Ó Barraighe, as he now called himself, served an unhappy term as Sinn Féin’s first ever branch secretary in Cork. His friend and fellow Sinn Féiner Liam de Róiste recalled decades later that Tadhg was ‘often despondent’ because of the public’s indifference to the party. By 1911, the Cork National Council branch had fizzled out. William O’Brien and Arthur Griffith began to explore an alliance/amalgamation, which caused serious dissension within Sinn Féin. Tadhg supported an alliance with the AFIL despite Sinn Féin officially rejecting it. He campaigned for the AFIL in the two general elections of 1910 and joined the party the following year. He was elected to the Cork Board of Guardians (who administered the Poor Law and managed the Workhouse) as an O’Brienite in the 1911 local elections but lost his seat in 1914. He left the AFIL later that year, horrified by its support for Irish recruitment into the British army after the outbreak of the First World War.
(1880-1921) Tadhg Barry
Certificate of Tadhg Barry’s purchased shares in Arthur Griffith’s Sinn Féin Printing & Publishing Company, 1907. Note that his name is written as ‘Timothy Barry’ in it. (Courtesy of Donal Ó Drisceoil)
William O’Brien, leader of the All-for-Ireland League. Established in 1909, Tadhg Barry joined the party two years later. A journalist, agrarian agitator, newspaper publisher, author and member of parliament for Cork city, O’Brien was one of the outstanding Irish political figures of his generation. Previously called Great Britain Street, the street where the Cork City and County Archives is located was renamed in his honour in 1905. O’Brien died in 1928. (theirishstory.com)
The front cover of the minute book of the Cork National Council branch of Sinn Féin, 1907-1911, of which Tadhg Barry was the secretary. (Whyte’s Actioneers)
Tadhg did not restrict his activities to political parties. He was part of a new generation of young men who were rejuvenating the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) – a secret, oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to ending British rule – across Ireland. By the turn of the centenary, the Cork IRB had become moribund, consisting mainly of veterans from the 1867 Fenian Rising. But in 1907, young republicans reformed the Brotherhood in the city. They recruited only those who were as dedicated as themselves, carefully plucking members from the GAA, Gaelic League, Sinn Féin, AFIL and Cork IDA. Tadhg joined the IRB in 1910, one of only fifteen or so members in Cork. That year, activists in the O’Growney branch of the Gaelic League founded a ‘sluagh’ (branch) of Na Fianna Éireann, the republican boy
scouts’ organisation. Tadhg was one of Na Fianna’s main organisers and trainers in Cork and was chairman of the sluagh in 1914. Like the IRB, the Cork Fianna were centred in An Dún. Na Fianna’s activities included distributing seditious literature, opposing British army recruitment, camping, marching and learning map-reading and first aid. O’Growney branch members formed the nucleus of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (American Alliance), an IRB/Clan na Gael front organisation which provided a republican alternative to the solidly constitutional nationalist Ancient Order of Hibernians. Tadhg served as secretary of the AOH (American Alliance).
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