Arthur Griffith Plans a Turkish Bath Griffith (Arthur).  An...

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Arthur Griffith Plans a Turkish Bath

Griffith (Arthur).  An interesting though often cryptic correspondence with the Donal O’Connor, circa 1901-10, throwing some light on Griffith’s personal life. There are about a dozen signed notes, letters and telegrams, some written in evident haste, some undated, some on scraps of paper. Some concern the affairs of Sinn Fein or its publications, one asks for advice about a (named) business seeking extra capital; others suggest meeting for a swim or for a Turkish bath, one says he [Griffith] will be in the Bailey [public house] that evening. There is also a receipt for a loan of £33-15-0 (then a substantial sum) to Arthur Griffith from the Sinn Fein Co-Operative People’s Bank, November 1910, countersigned by O’Connor; also documents concerning Sinn Fein’s launch of a daily paper (1905), etc.; and a letter to O’Connor from Griffith’s widow Maud, 1933, commiserating on the death of his (second) wife.

Donal O’Connor [1872-1935] was evidently a personal friend of Griffith, and also an advisor and accountant to his business ventures; He was at times Secretary of the Gaelic League and auditor to the G.A.A, and was generally a person of influence in national affairs in the early years of the 20th century, often behind the scenes. A chartered accountant with his own company, he was a lecturer in accountancy at the National University from about 1912, and was accountant to Dail Eireann 1919-21. He is not listed in DNB (first edn.), which is certainly an oversight, but see Breathnach & Ní Mhurchú, Beathaisnéis a Ceathair, 106.

There were several establishments offering Turkish baths in Dublin around the turn of the century; one such is mentioned in Joyce’s Ulysses (as is Griffith, under the title of ‘the Citizen’).
As a collection, w.a.f. (1)