On This Day / June 26, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
June 26, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 26th June 1921, Lloyd George invited de Valera and Craig to London talks, while Dublin debated King William III’s statue. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Lloyd George Invitation | On This Day – 26th June 1921
MR LLOYD George fired another bombshell into the political arena on Saturday evening.
It will be remembered that Mr Eamon de Valera was arrested [by troops] in a house at Blackrock, County Dublin and released from custody next day.
On Saturday morning, Mr Lloyd George caused it to be announced that he had sent the following letter to Mr de Valera and a letter in identical terms to Colonel Sir James Craig:
’10 Downing Street. Sir, The British Government are deeply anxious that the King’s appeal for reconciliation in Ireland shall not have been made in vain. …
‘They feel it incumbent upon them to make a final appeal, in the spirit of the King’s words, for a Conference between themselves and the representatives of Southern and Northern Ireland. …
‘We make this invitation with a fervent desire to end the ruinous conflict which has for centuries divided Ireland and embittered the relations of the peoples of these two islands who want to live in neighbourly harmony…’
No statement whatever has been obtained from de Valera but the general belief is that he will consult his colleagues before taking action.
As a great number of Dail Eireann members are in custody, many serving sentences, the preliminaries may occupy some time.
Mr de Valera served Mass yesterday morning at Blackrock College where he was formerly a master.
King William’s Statue
SOME in Dublin suggested recently that the Corporation of that city might, as a friendly and grateful compliment, present the famous equestrian statue of King William III, now near College Green, to Belfast Corporation.
The monument is not the oldest statue in Ireland but its antiquity is quite respectable as it has been in Dame Street since the year 1701. It is a work of art with a history.
In the days when Orangeism and Ascendancy were aggressive and rampant in Dublin, ‘King Billy’ was profusely decorated on each successive 12th July.
An extraordinary genius named ‘Watty’ Cox, once notorious as a revolutionary publicist, had an irreconcilable enmity towards King Billy.
He managed to place and ignite a large quantity of gunpowder near the pedestal of the statue one night and the equestrian figure was displaced – only to be restored.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: LLOYD George lost no time in summoning de Valera and Craig to a conference in London ‘in the spirit of the King’s words’.
This was the background to the Truce, ending the violence, and preliminary talks between de Valera and the PM (minus Craig) on July 14, 1921.
Meanwhile there was speculation about the future of King Billy’s statue in Dublin’s College Green.)
On This Day – 26th June 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.