Tom Clarke and The Wolfe Tone Memorial CommiteeAn extensive ...

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Tom Clarke and The Wolfe Tone Memorial Commitee
An extensive File (in two parts, circa 60 documents, 1906-1913), concerning the affairs of the Committee set up with IRB support to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Theobald Wolfe Tone and the 1798 Rising.
The initial purpose of the Committee was to erect a monument to mark the actual centenary in 1898, but when this was not possible, the Committee continued in existence for a further 15 years or so, organising concerts, football matches, 'pilgrimages' to Bodenstown etc., collecting funds, printing posters and so on. Its purpose was not finally fulfilled until the 1960s, when a fine statue by Edward Delaney was erected at a corner of St. Stephen's Green in Dublin.
There is little doubt that Tom Clarke and the IRB pulled the strings in relation to the Committee, but in keeping with its usual practice, it operated mainly through third parties. Tom Clarke's name occurs here and there in the documents, but most of the letters are signed by others, including P.F. O'Loughlin, Seaghan O hUadhaigh, Peadar de Faoite etc. A document in Clarke's tidy hand, signed, on his business paper, dated Feb. 14 1913 (blue file), includes an account featuring 9 tickets at 3/- assigned to Seaghan MacDermott (Clarke's 1916 colleague); sheets appended give a long list of names and addresses for persons allocated tickets. A manuscript report at the end of this file, `marked '1905', states that substantial sums are outstanding to the Committee which it has proved impossible to collect. A letter from Waterford (red file, 1910), says 'It is almost impossible to get money here for any National purpose'.
An interesting collection, reflecting a period of low support for militant Republicanism. It includes many names and addresses of subscribers and supporters, and would repay more detailed study. (2)