Decoding the IRA (35 page)

In Philadelphia (where McGarrity was based) there were
‘seventeen men's Clubs [and] one ladies' Club'
. The members were mainly long-time ‘Fenians' with only a
‘few Army [IRA] men'
. Neenan talked to them about the IRA's policy and the
‘necessity for sending greater assistance home'
. Although the recruitment drive was going well, there were a
‘number of men in this area lenient towards Fianna Fáil'
. Other IRA veterans there were a
‘nuisance'
– they refused to join and complained that during the Anglo-Irish War
‘we never got money from [the] USA and had to pay for [our] own guns. I [Neenan] refuted this personally.'
⁵⁰

The situation in Boston was much less favourable; there was considerable support for de Valera and Fianna Fáil, and John O'Sullivan, who had been a district officer and member of the Clan executive was
‘definitely Fianna Fáil'
. The
‘officers are not overly energetic'
and they wouldn't help Neenan visit the clubs in the area.
⁵¹

The clubs in Connecticut were doing well and a 1916 Easter Rising commemoration raised
‘$300 for [the] Army'
. Other centres mentioned by Neenan included Detroit
‘in fair condition'
and California, which was as
‘good as ever'
.
⁵²

Twomey wrote to Neenan about
‘disquieting reports … of [the] activities of George Daly, organising [IRA] volunteers in Chicago in an organisation auxiliary to [the] AARIR. Put this down at once.'
⁵³
Neenan agreed:
‘George Daly started [an] Army club there to support Fianna Fáil.'
An IRA man, Thomas Loftus, was in charge of the men, who
‘misunderstood'
Daly's position. Neenan reported that he
‘instructed our people to stop him'
and added that he would also get Anthony Farrell of Mayo to write to Loftus to
‘clear up matters'
. Overall the situation
in Chicago was
‘fairly good'
. An important function of the Clan was to help members find employment through Irish-American networks and Neenan was able to report that in Chicago
‘employment for members [had been] successfully dealt with'.
⁵⁴

IRA headquarters also pushed Neenan to persuade veterans to subscribe to
An Phoblacht
, both as a means to keep them in touch with IRA policy and propaganda and as a modest source of income.
⁵⁵
Cooney wrote to Neenan's predecessor:
‘Spare no effort to increase the number of subscribers.'
⁵⁶
Neenan suggested that if there was an article devoted to America in the 1916 Easter Rising anniversary edition he could
‘easily'
sell one or two thousand copies and that the article should
‘emphasize the point as to the Clan being the only organisation who [
sic
] are now, as in the past, giving material assistance to the Republic'
.
⁵⁷
Neenan professed that:
‘[I] am doing everything possible for
An Phoblacht
. [I] got [a] special circular sent out, [and] also seek subscribers at each meeting I attend.'
⁵⁸
It's reasonable to surmise that
An Phoblacht
was primarily of interest only to recent IRA immigrants, rather than long-established Irish-Americans; however (despite Neenan's optimism), sales in the US were poor. In 1930 some 480 copies a week were sent to members of the Clan and by 1932 this had declined to only 100 subscribers in the entire US.
⁵⁹

The IRA and the GAA in New York

Complementary to his work in building up the Clan, Connie Neenan planned a covert IRA takeover of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in New York. In addition he used his influence within the GAA to arrange for the IRA to secretly benefit from the Kerry Gaelic football team's tour of the United States in 1927. By infiltrating and trying to manipulate cultural and sporting organisations Neenan was following in the long tradition of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

The GAA was arguably the most important Irish fraternal society of the twentieth century. Through its promotion of Gaelic games, primarily football and hurling, it brought the young men (and to a lesser extent the young women) of Ireland together. One of the distinguishing features of the Irish at home and in America has been their strong allegiance to their home county, and the GAA tradition of having teams drawn from individual
counties compete against each other played a significant role in the forging of this identity. Nowhere was it more so than in Kerry, which was to produce the greatest Gaelic football teams in the history of the GAA.

The GAA was founded in 1864 by a group of nationalists, some of whom were associated with the IRB. Though the GAA was used by the IRB and later the IRA as a recruiting ground, it became a broadly nationalist organisation without allegiance to any one political party or constituency.
⁶⁰

Most of the Irish in America gravitated towards the indigenous sports such as baseball, and the influence of the GAA was largely restricted to centres on the east coast. However, in the New York area the GAA retained a relatively strong following. There it was under the control of the Gaelic Athletic Association of Greater New York – the dominant GAA body in America.
⁶¹

There were several advantages for the IRA and Clan na Gael in having a strong presence within the GAA. First, IRA veterans and non-veterans alike could be recruited through the GAA. Second, IRA men holding elected office within the GAA acquired positions of influence and prestige among the Irish-American community. Third, gate receipts and other monies could be passed on to the IRA. This was either done covertly or occasionally a game could be advertised as being in aid of the IRA or Clan. As Neenan loftily put it, control of the GAA would result in
‘enormous gains'
, including
‘purification of [the] games, elevation of [the Irish] race and financial benefits'
.
⁶²
Neenan, a member of the New York GAA executive, used this connection as he recruited for the IRA clubs and he reported:
‘I am operating [recruiting] with success, using [the] Gaelic Athletic Association for its own and our benefit. [I'm] also paving the way for my appeal for funds.'
⁶³

Soon after his appointment as An Timthire, he reported:
‘I expect to have [a] favourable report of [the] Gaelic Athletic Association in a month or so. I have been working on it for some time.'
⁶⁴
In January 1927 at the annual convention of the GAA of New York, Neenan was able to make his move. Ninety delegates assembled for what was ‘the largest, most successful and most harmonious GAA convention ever held in New York'. Delegates represented their own counties and sports and Neenan attended
as a representative for the Cork senior hurlers. At the convention he must have been satisfied to hear that the financial report showed a balance of $3,770. The delegates elected the association's officers and the members of the executive committee.
⁶⁵
They chose wisely and Neenan reported:
‘We have got good representation on [the] governing body [of the] Gaelic [Athletic] Association here. We elected two of our men as: Treasurer [William Magner of Cork] and Vice-President [J. McGuinness of Leitrim] respectively. Had we the necessary material here we could nearly have controlled it. I am on [the] executive committee with a few others [from the IRA].'
He clarified:
‘Our policy is to purify the games, while using it as a source of revenue. We are trying to run a few field days [games] under different headings if possible for the Army [IRA] funds. With good organisation we should be able to dictate [or gain control] next year.'
⁶⁶
In another letter he added:
‘If some of our fellows were more energetic we could easily control it [the GAA].'
⁶⁷

Twomey was disappointed that not enough IRA and Clan na Gael members were participating in the GAA. He wrote to Neenan asking him if he could have it made official Clan policy that members must join the GAA:
‘A shame our men will not go into [the] GAA. Could you get their doing so made a policy by the Clan camps [clubs]?'
⁶⁸

By February Neenan had made considerable progress in increasing the IRA's influence within the GAA, and the IRA now had a majority among the groups that represented individual Irish counties:
‘We have made wonderful progress in [the] GAA and will be able to control it later. [I] have organised each county [group] to gain [an IRA] majority.'
He had applied to run several football games, the proceeds of which would benefit the IRA. This was largely done secretly, though one game was openly advertised as an IRA benefit. Neenan was confident that the IRA would succeed in taking control of the GAA –
‘we will succeed'
– and that at some stage the elected IRA officers and committee members should come out in the open as this would further enhance the respect for the IRA among the members.
⁶⁹

Neenan's enthusiasm was somewhat dampened the following month, when he reported:
‘We are gaining ground [in the GAA] daily … the tide is on the turn'
but
‘some of our fellows are painfully slow'
.
⁷⁰

The eastern division of the GAA in North America was inaugurated
in early 1927, though New York refused to participate. Naturally enough the new organisation attracted Connie Neenan's attention:
‘I am anxious we should be strongly represented on it.'
⁷¹

Figure 23. The first page of a three page report from Connie Neenan to Moss Twomey. This is a good example of the amount of cipher in some of the documents sent by the IRA's representatives in America. In the last paragraph Neenan wrote: We have got good representation on [the] governing body [of the] Gaelic [Athletic] Association here. We elected two of our men, as Treasurer and Vice-President respectively. Had we the necessary material here, we could nearly have controlled it. I am on [the] executive, with a few others.

Since Clan membership was secret and Neenan kept quiet about his activities, it's difficult to know the full extent of IRA influence within the GAA in America and for how long it continued. Interestingly, Neenan wrote to Moss Twomey six years later in 1933 about a proposed Kerry football team tour of the US, so he must have retained influence in the GAA at least up until then.
⁷²

The Kerry football tour of America

Connie Neenan put his influence in the GAA to use when he helped organise the Kerry football team's tour of the United States in 1927. This visit was as much the Kerry IRA on tour as it was the Kerry GAA football team.

The IRA had already planned to benefit from a visiting Irish team when in the summer of 1926 Tipperary, the all-Ireland hurling champions, toured the United States. On that occasion the IRA's representative made arrangements for Tipperary to play a team drawn from Cork immigrants at Celtic Park in New York with the proceeds going to the IRA. The IRA was able to ‘square' with the Cork team, though the majority of the players were reported to not be in ‘sympathy' with the organisation.
⁷³
However, the IRA's involvement in the Kerry tour was to be on a far larger scale.

During the Civil War a series of atrocities in Kerry left a legacy of bitterness unrivalled in the rest of Ireland. In the aftermath of the war, the GAA was one of the few institutions that could bring together men from the opposing sides and in this it played a vital role. In 1924 a Kerry team composed of players who had taken both pro- and anti-Treaty sides won the All-Ireland Football Championship. And in 1926 the team, captained by John Joe Sheehy, the commander of the IRA's Kerry Number 1 brigade, repeated this feat.

The Kerry GAA now planned an international tour to raise funds for sports facilities at home and to celebrate their victories. Initially there was talk of an Australian trip, but the venue was changed to America.

In October 1926, Neenan's predecessor, ‘Mr Jones' suggested to Moss Twomey that the Kerry team should tour the US and Clan na Gael would
‘promote the venture'
.
⁷⁴
However, whatever the source of Jones' information, the Clan's executive committee soon told him that they weren't in favour of supporting the tour. The IRA was now in it alone and ‘Jones' wrote to Twomey:
‘If you believe in it get busy. If you disagree [send a] cable [to me] calling it off.'
⁷⁵

In the meantime ‘Jones' resigned as An Timthire in favour of Neenan, who now tried to find a sponsor. Neenan initially proposed that all the profits of the tour would be handed over to the IRA, which may not have
been a very attractive business proposition for any intending sponsor:
‘We failed [to get a sponsor] and the best we can hope for, if they [the Kerry team] come, is to play one match for us.'
⁷⁶
He put the failure down to
‘negligence and circumstances'
.
⁷⁷