On This Day / August 7, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
August 7, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 7th August 1921, fears grew that the Truce could collapse over the continued imprisonment of Seán MacEoin TD. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Truce to End’ Crisis | On This Day – 7th August 1921
THE exclusion of Mr [Sean] McKeown, TD from the list of Dail members to be released to attend the Dail Conference on August 16 has caused deep indignation in Sinn Fein circles and may produce a crisis in the impending negotiations.
An alarming message was sent out last night by the Press Association that Sinn Fein will immediately terminate the truce which would mean the end of the negotiations.
Dublin Castle has announced that all members of Dail Eireann at present interned or undergoing sentences would be released forthwith and without conditions to enable them to attend the meeting of the Dail.
Mr J J McKeown, TD [Sean MacEoin], Longford and Westmeath, who, according to the Castle report, ‘has been convicted of murder’, is not to be released.
A statement issued from Dublin Castle states:
‘In keeping with the public undertaking given by the Prime Minister that His Majesty’s Government would facilitate the steps now being taken to promote peace in Ireland, it has been decided to release forthwith and without conditions all members of Dail Eireann who are at present interned [or imprisoned] to enable them to attend a meeting of Dail Eireann which has been summoned for August 16th.
[The government] has decided that one member, J J McKeown, who is convicted of murder, cannot be released.’
The Government’s decision has created a situation of grave anxiety and danger. The Dail Eireann Cabinet sat to the late hour last night and it was authoritatively stated that unless Mr McKeown is released, there is a possibility that Sinn Fein will almost immediately terminate the truce.
New Chief Justice for North
THE Royal Warrant officially appointing Mr Denis Henry, KC, MP to be Lord Chief Justice of Nl was issued yesterday afternoon.
???(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Nicknamed the ‘Blacksmith of Ballinalee’ as a result of his success in holding the Co Longford village against superior British forces, Sean MacEoin emerged as the leading IRA figure in the Midlands.
Badly wounded and captured in March 1921 he was courtmartialled and sentenced to death in June for the murder of an RIC district inspector.
While in prison MacEoin was elected to the Dail. After the Truce all imprisoned Deputies, save MacEoin, were released causing an early crisis in the peace process. He was finally released following an ultimatum from de Valera.
Meanwhile, Craig had selected Denis Henry (1864-1925), Attorney General for Ireland, as first Lord Chief Justice of Nl.
From a wealthy Catholic family in South Derry, Henry single-handedly created a separate Northern judiciary.)???
On This Day – 7th August 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.