The Curious Case of the Mayo Librarian

The
Curious Case
of the
Mayo Librarian

Pat Walsh

MERCIER PRESS

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© Pat Walsh, 2009

ISBN: 978 1 85635 615 2

Epub ISBN: 978 1 85635 847 7

Mobi ISBN: 978 1 85635 864 4

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I would like to thank Shelley Healy, Ciara Jones, Fionnuala Carton, Patricia Byrne, Geraldine McHugh, Eithne Prout and all the staff of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Libraries for their help and patience while I've been researching this book. Rev. Dudley Levinstone Cooney and Rev. Robin Roddie of the Wesley Historical Society of Ireland, Alun Bevan of Comhairle Leabharlanna, Marian Keyes of the Library Association, Terry Wogan of Ballyfermot Library, the staff of the Military Archives and the staff of UCD Archives Department were also very generous with their time and effort. The National Library, the Director and staff of the National Archives and Mayo County Libraries should also be acknowledged.

Thanks also to Eoin Purcell, Wendy Logue and Patrick Crowley of Mercier Press.

By early afternoon on Saturday, 27 December 1930, a large and boisterous crowd had gathered in the public gallery of the council chamber of Castlebar courthouse. They had come to attend a special meeting of Mayo County Council. Much controversy had been stirred up in Mayo in the previous weeks over the issue of who was to be appointed the next county librarian. Despite the scheduling of the meeting in the middle of the Christmas holiday period, the sizeable gathering was determined to show its concern.

In many ways the atmosphere was similar to that at a football match. As the correspondent of the
Roscommon Herald
put it, ‘How humorously inconsistent is this latest “crisis” then, for it originated in the act of a deceased Scotch millionaire, old Andrew Carnegie, who, when he conceived the benevolent idea of presenting free libraries in these countries, never dreamt that he would provoke a free fight in County Mayo.'
1

Miss Letitia Dunbar Harrison was a graduate of Trinity College and a Protestant. In July 1930 she had been successful at interview for the vacant post of Mayo county librarian. Mayo County Council's library committee refused to endorse her appointment and subsequently a full meeting of the council also rejected her. The reason they gave was that she did not have sufficient knowledge of the Irish language.

The Cumann na nGaedheal government, led by the President of the Executive Council, William T. Cosgrave (the equivalent of the present-day taoiseach), and the Minister for Local Government, Richard Mulcahy, or General Mulcahy as he was widely known at the time even though he was no longer a member of the army, insisted that the recommendation of the Local Appointments Commission (LAC) be enforced and that Miss Dunbar Harrison be employed. The County Council maintained their resistance. A tense stand-off ensued, with each side waiting to see if the other would be the first to back down.

News of ‘the Mayo library row', as it became popularly known, was not confined to the county. Not only did it make headlines in Ireland, but it also caught the attention of newspapers in places as far away as Boston and London, mainly among the immigrant Irish population.
2
The assembled multitude in Castlebar were aware of the background to the crisis and that the special meeting had been convened with Mayo County Council under threat of abolition. For many this aspect of local politics was merely a spectator sport. As the
Roscommon Herald
put it, ‘Even if they could not observe the peace and goodwill part of the Christmas tradition towards “Dick Mulcahy”, as they called the Minister for Local Government and those who supported his “brow-beating”, still they were not going to let that spoil the festive side of the season.'
3

The
Irish Independent
reported that ‘the proceedings and the discussion, which was throughout lively and occasionally acrimonious, was keenly followed by a crowded and at times noisy gallery, the occupants of which sent up spirals of pipe and cigarette smoke which at times seemed to challenge the illuminative power of the Shannon [electricity] in the chamber.'
4

Outside, an orchestra of optimistic Wren Boys from Ballina tried in vain to make themselves heard above the rumblings of a howling gale. Local amusements at this time of year were scarce so the crowd was in a festive mood. According to the
Roscommon Herald
, the entertainment provided by the Wren Boys, who were grotesquely costumed and had a limited repertoire, held the crowd's interest for only ‘a short period at any time, but when it is kept up for a week it is small wonder that any other little diversion is welcome.'
5

Inside the courthouse the crowd were in high spirits. Forecasts of the result of the voting, which proved to be ‘remarkably accurate' according to the
Irish Independent
, were passed around during the debate along with ‘clever Limericks', many of them ‘amusingly explanatory of the attitude of certain persons towards the appointment of Miss Dunbar.'
6

The
Roscommon Herald
gave its account of events under the headline, ‘Drama and Comedy at Mayo County Council Meeting'. The paper asserted that ‘if the oratory of Mayo's elected representatives, which we listened to for three hours in the council chamber in Castlebar on Saturday, be a true index of local sentiment, the people of that part of Connaught are ardent disciples of “Ourselves Alone”.'
7

The meeting began promptly at 1 p.m. under the chairmanship of Pat Higgins. He stood in for the County Council chairman, Michael Davis, also a TD for Mayo North and a senior member of the Cumann na nGaedheal Party, who had refused to attend. In fact Michael Davis had declined to have anything to do with the meeting. Out of a possible thirty-eight councillors, twenty-seven were in attendance. The majority of the absentee councillors were of the Cumann na nGaedheal persuasion.

The office of Mayo county librarian was hardly a crucial post. It was normally little more than a routine appointment, yet its filling had escalated into a conflict that had national consequences. It had pitted church against state, county council against government department and even members of the same political party against each other. Most of Cumann na nGaedheal's local politicians were very unhappy with what they saw as their own party's obdurate stance on the issue.

The crisis began with a dispute over the filling of a minor post, but the quarrel spread so rapidly that it now called into the question the continued existence of Mayo County Council. Such was the heat generated by the dispute and so fundamental were the issues it raised, particularly in the area of church-state relations, that it could even have brought down the Cumann na nGaedheal government. And all over one small job in Mayo.

Investigating the background to the squabble uncovers many of the fault-lines of the newly formed Free State. Examining the anatomy of the crisis lays bare the tensions of society in 1930s Ireland as it moved away from colonial rule. These tensions were all the more obvious given that the dispute was over a relatively trivial local appointment.

Notes

1.
Roscommon Herald
, 3 January 1931, p.4.

2.
Ibid.

3.
Ibid.

4.
Irish Independent
, 29 December 1930, p.5.

5.
Roscommon Herald
, 3 January 1931, p.4.

6.
Irish Independent
, 28 December 1930, p.5.

7.
Roscommon Herald
, 3 January 1931, p.4.

The first inklings of trouble came to light on 1 November 1930. In a short article in
The
C
onnaught Telegraph
it was reported that, at a meeting held in Castlebar courthouse, the County Council's library committee had rejected the recommendation of the Local Appointments Commission to appoint Miss Dunbar Harrison as Mayo county librarian, on the grounds that she did not have the requisite knowledge of Irish. The proceedings were held in private with the newspaper merely reporting the outcome in a few succinct paragraphs.
1
The Local Appointments Commission was the independent body set up by the Cumann na nGaedheal government to oversee the recruitment of senior posts in the local authorities.

When the library committee's decision was brought up before the full meeting of the council, a letter from the Department of Local Government was read aloud. It stated that the council had no choice but to appoint Miss Dunbar Harrison. The county secretary, M.J. Egan, suggested that it be referred back to the library committee without further discussion. Councillor Waldron objected, stating that he had been against the library all along due to the cost. Michael Davis, the chairman of the council, called him to order, but Councillor Waldron persisted. ‘Chuck the library and you will require no librarian,' he proposed.
2
Eventually it was agreed to accept Mr Egan's suggestion and the matter was referred back to the library committee for further consideration.

Rev. Naughton, Bishop of Killala, presided over the next meeting of the Mayo County Council library committee, which was held in Castlebar courthouse on Monday, 30 November. The sole matter on the agenda was to consider both the recommendation of the Local Appointments Commission to appoint Miss Dunbar Harrison and the subsequent letter from the Department of Local Government calling on them to endorse the recommendation.

Due to the widespread local interest in the matter, on the proposal of Councillor Moclair the meeting was, for the first time, held in public. Councillor Moclair's initiative also ensured that the debate was widely covered in the local and national press.

Attending the meeting were:

Rev. Dr Naughton, Bishop of Killala, chair of the meeting

Archdeacon Fallon, Castlebar

Canon Hegarty, Belmullet

Dean D'Alton, Ballinrobe

Rev. Higgins, Bohola

Brother Kelly, Westport

Rev. Prendergast, Castlebar

Rev. Jackson (Rector), Castlebar

Dr Anthony McBride

Councillor T.S. Moclair

Councillor Bernard Joyce

Councillor Pat Higgins

As is obvious from this list, the committee was very much dominated by the clergy. A head (or collar) count shows that it was made up of one bishop, five priests, one Christian Brother, one Protestant rector and four laymen. This would not have been all that unusual at the time, as men of the cloth were regarded as having an occupational interest in libraries. Book selection was something that had to be monitored carefully. If one was not careful, libraries could easily become occasions of sin.

Mayo library committee had a much larger potential attendance of thirty-eight members. However, many of these were infrequent attendees. The clergy were generally the most diligent members. It was an all-male committee, which was again not uncommon at the time. Mayo County Council was also an all-male assembly. On the other hand, many women were avid readers and a significant proportion of county librarians were female. Librarianship was seen as a genteel profession, a suitable occupation for a woman.

Mr M.J. Egan, the county secretary, and Mr A. Hamrock, acting librarian, were also in attendance in an advisory capacity. Mr Egan conducted the proceedings and read the minutes of the previous meeting, which had been forwarded to the ministry and submitted to a full meeting of the County Council. Mr Egan then read into the minutes of the meeting the letter from the Department of Local Government. The contents of this letter were to the effect that the appointment of Miss Dunbar Harrison would be insisted upon.

‘That is now the situation,' Mr Egan concluded.

Dean Edward D'Alton, PP, Ballinrobe, rose and proposed that they simply adhere to the resolution passed on the previous occasion. ‘First of all Miss Dunbar is not fully qualified,' he claimed, before adding, ‘They have taken very good care not to give us the names of the candidates who presented themselves or the marks given. In Ballinrobe some years ago we had a girl who taught commercial subjects, but because she could not teach through the medium of Irish she could not be sanctioned. [Yet] if she used Irish she would have no students as they couldn't follow the instruction in Irish. For every single position it was the same – nurses, doctors, and even mid-wives had to know Irish. I believe if a carpenter looks for a job he must know it and if a farrier looks for the shoeing of horses he must know it too. It's a wonder they do not require the horse to know it.'
3

Laughter greeted his remark.

‘That is the case and now we are asked to turn around and appoint a girl who knows no Irish. The County Mayo is scheduled in the Gaeltacht, but it is ridiculous to say everyone in it speaks Irish. It is equally ridiculous that in the districts where the people speak nothing but Irish that no effort should be made to help them, so that it is obvious that the person appointed should have Irish.'

‘I would like to know,' Dean D'Alton continued, ‘what chance a Catholic girl would have if she went to Belfast to get a position like this? The proportion of Catholics in Belfast is not as great as in this county, but I suppose quarter of the population of Belfast is Catholic. North of the Boyne, there is a Protestant ascendancy and a most aggressive, impudent ascendancy they are. We are asked to set up a Protestant ascendancy in Mayo, a hundred years after Catholic Emancipation and every vestige of the Penal Laws wiped out. We are not appointing a washerwoman or a mechanic where religion would not come in, but an educated girl who should be able to estimate the value of the books to be put into the hands of the boys and girls of Mayo.'
4

Dean D'Alton then mentioned the recently concluded Lambeth Conference, a congress of the Anglican church that had debated such issues as birth control and trial marriages. It had given conditional approval for the use of contraceptives in certain cases. This was, of course, anathema to the Catholic church.

‘Is it fair,' asked Dean D'Alton, ‘that a girl, a non-Catholic not in sympathy with Catholic views but those of the Protestant clergy, should be appointed librarian to County Mayo? The minister can enforce this appointment. It is evident he intends to force the girl on us. It would be a curious thing to do. I think he will have public opinion strongly against him. I think he will find it a pyrrhic victory, but it will be a great deal better for him to take defeat. He will have to face the electors. I will oppose the appointment in as far as I can, as I do not think her a fit and proper person to be appointed and if there is only myself here I will continue the opposition as far as I can.'
5

As Dean D'Alton took his seat, Councillor Bernard Joyce and Canon Hegarty rose simultaneously. Councillor Joyce having made the first utterance, Canon Hegarty sat back down. Councillor Joyce proceeded. He said he wished to second the proposition but not for the same reasons that Dean D'Alton had outlined.

‘Personally,' he declared, ‘I do not approve of the system of appointments now in vogue. It is not a recommendation in the strict sense of the word but rather a mandate to be obeyed. As I understand it, it is more in the line of dictation than a recommendation to the representatives of the county.'

Councillor Joyce went on to mention a disagreement that had arisen between the County Council and the Department of Local Government over the appointment of a county medical officer. ‘Now I think the council has cleared the air very much in that respect,' he said, ‘and the people of Mayo should stand a little more together with regard to local affairs in their own county … The Dean pointed out that only the name of a non-Catholic was mentioned. He did not wish to hurt the feelings of anyone. Neither do I, but it stands to reason that it is not a recommendation but a mandate. The young lady suggested may be all right, but I do not think her appointment would mean the success of the library in Mayo and I have pleasure in seconding the proposition that she be not appointed. If appointed by us, I can assure you that she will not be accepted by the County Council.'
6

Canon Hegarty then got his chance to speak. He rose to support the proposition. ‘I intend to develop the arguments put forward,' he said. ‘Our religion was persecuted because our politics were Irish and national, and the politics of Mayo are today national and Irish and it is extraordinary that it rests with an Irish national government to select a West Briton to cater for the political, the literary, the economic, the religious and the moral interests of the people of Mayo and for the 99 per cent who are Catholic. Now it rests with an Irish national government to send us a young lady for whom I have not the slightest blame. She is looking for a position. I cannot blame her. But undoubtedly the people who have assigned her to Catholic and nationalist Mayo have made a very serious mistake. The business of government is to promote the good of the community, to fall in with the general idea of the country.

‘Cromwell came to this country and our ancestors had no option but to go “to Hell or to Connacht” to make room for a class that was not of our race or religion and now a national government has given the people the option of becoming West Britons or going into the mountains and glens again and leave knowledge aside in order to preserve what they hold most dear. A librarian is a teacher. She has to deal with books that are designed to give instruction, education and amusement. Therefore you will allow, whatever class they may be, they will leave a trace behind them.'
7

Canon Hegarty went on to refer to the previous county librarian and a disagreement that she'd had with the Department of Local Government. He added that he had received letters from other potential female candidates for the position, all of whom had ample Irish. He also questioned why the age qualification had been raised from twenty-one to twenty-five years of age.
8

Dr Anthony McBride, a brother of Major John McBride, who had been executed after the 1916 Rising, then spoke in favour of the appointment. ‘I propose that Miss Dunbar be appointed,' he said. ‘There is no law in the Constitution of the Irish Free State against Protestants or graduates of Trinity College or any citizens of the state being appointed to any position in it, provided they are qualified. Trinity College turned out some of the greatest Irishmen the world has seen. It is recognised the world over as an Irish university. I cannot assume or accept that the Local Appointments Commission were not honest in making the selection. We are bound to accept their decision.' He then pointed out that successful candidates who did not have Irish had three years in which to acquire a passable knowledge of it.

‘I think it would be an abominable thing,' Dr McBride continued, ‘if we did not carry out the Constitution made by Irishmen for Ireland and the Irish people, and that every Irish citizen, no matter of what colour, of what class, of what creed, should have equal chance in securing the appointments in it. The committee has no discretion on the matter, the system of appointment having been accepted. This young lady was found to be the best qualified, except that she did not have a full knowledge of Irish. It would be an awful thing to take the question of religion into consideration. We had religious persecution in former days and we should not continue that on our own side now. I need say no more. I stand by the Constitution on this question.'
9

Rev. Jackson seconded Dr McBride's proposal to support the Local Appointments Commission's recommendation. He was of the impression that the County Council had invited the LAC to do what was necessary to fill the post.

‘I think it would be a great acquisition to the county,' he said, ‘to have a young lady who is so well qualified as a librarian … Reference was made to sending her north of the Boyne. What an effect it would have on people north of the border if it went forth to the world that Mayo library committee had appointed a Protestant and a graduate of Trinity College to this responsible position. We want to unite the North and the South and what an effect it would have for broad-mindedness and tolerance in this part of the country if we here in Mayo appointed Miss Dunbar.'
10

Mr Egan, the county secretary, corrected Rev. Jackson's explanation of the role of the Local Appointments Commission. He pointed out that the implementation of the recommendations received was not optional, but in fact compulsory. The Local Appointments Commission had been set up by the government to oversee the filling of such positions as county librarian. Rev. Jackson accepted the correction. Councillor Moclair said that he was glad that the county secretary had corrected Rev. Jackson as it saved him from doing so. He then spoke up in favour of Dean D'Alton's motion.

‘The government are blowing hot and cold in regard to Irish,' he said. ‘One time they are going madly for it and another time madly against it. At the mental hospital they compelled the farm steward to have a knowledge of Irish so he could talk to the vegetables better and make the cows work overtime.'
11

Again laughter greeted his remark.

Brother Kelly was next to speak. In his opinion Miss Dunbar Harrison was not a fit subject to be appointed librarian in Mayo. He believed her mental outlook and constitution was the self-same outlook and mental constitution of Trinity College. He believed that this anti-Irish institution had an evil history as far as Ireland and the Irish people were concerned and there was no sign of this altering to any extent. The college had been endowed for 330 years by the government of England and, during that time, never ceased to regard itself as alien and hostile to Irish aspirations, culture and customs. He claimed that Trinity had in the past exterminated its tenants in Kerry and Donegal and battened on the life-blood of the nation.