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Creator
Walsh, Joseph Cyrillus, 1870-1955
Call number
MssCol 3212
Physical description
1.3 linear feet (3 boxes, 1 v.)
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Joseph Cyrillus Walsh papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Joseph Cyrillus Walsh (1870-1955) was an American editor and journalist who was actively involved in Irish affairs. He was born in Ontario, Canada, where he became managing editor of the Montreal Herald. He went to New York City at the beginning of World War I as editor of Ireland, a weekly newspaper supporting self-government in Ireland. He attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 as a member of the press corps. In 1921 he served as director of organization of the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic. Collection consists of letters received by Walsh and miscellaneous papers related to Walsh's involvement in Irish affairs. Letters, 1913-1947, concern Irish-American and Irish-Canadian matters, the publication of the weekly Ireland, and Walsh's directorship of the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic. Miscellaneous papers include Walsh's reminiscence of the Irish revolutionary movement, genealogical papers of the O'Dunne and Walsh families, and memorabilia from the 1919 Paris Peace Conference.

Biographical/historical information

Joseph Cyrillus Walsh was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada in 1870 and he died at his home in Yonkers, New York in August of 1955. He seems to have started his career in newspaper work rising to the managing editorship of The Montreal Herald. He arrived in New York about the time of the beginning of the First World War and at the urging of Irish patriots such as John Edward Redmond, and with the aid of affluent Americans of Irish descent, he began the publication of the weekly Ireland. This paper which ran from January 1916 until April 1917 supported the Irish Parliamentary arty and the cause of Home Rule. In the spring of 1914 he travelled to London to report on the Irish Home Rule situation for the Toronto Star. In 1919 he returned to Europe to attend the Paris Peace Conference as a member of the press corps. In 1921 he served as director of organization of the American Association of the Recognition of the Irish Republic. For most of his life Walsh seems to have been actively concerned with Irish affairs, and he seems to have known many if not most of the Irish political figures of his times. In his later years he was apparently associated with the law offices of Martin Conbey who was U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

He married Frances Kormonn who was also born in Ontario. They had two sons, Maurice and Arthur, and three daughters, Mary, Madeleine, and Patricia (Mrs. Alfred H. Dehle). His wife died on April 3, 1947.

Walsh wrote two books: The Invincible Ireland; and The Lament for John MacWalter Walsh with notes on the history of the family Walsh from 1170 to 1690... (N. Y.), Kelmscott Press, 1925).

Scope and arrangement

The Joseph Cyrillus Walsh papers are arranged in two series:

  • Letters

    The Letters series consists mainly of letters received by Walsh in the period 1913-1947 from persons of Irish heritage relating to Irish-American and Irish- Canadian affairs, and on miscellaneous subjects. These letters are arranged alphabetically. The inventory lists the member of letters present for each file and its date range. Included are letters from such notables as Robert Brennan, Padriac Colum, Eamon De Valera, Lady Gregory, Shane Leslie, Sean Thomas O'Kelly, and John Edward Redmond. Letters in the early period (1916-17) are addressed to Walsh as editor of the weekly Ireland. A few letters to Shane Leslie who was associate editor are filed in the Leslie file. A few of the letters are addressed to Walsh as an official of American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic.

    The largest files are Robert Brennan, 60 items; Shane Leslie, 49 items; Charles Murphy, 38 items; and Michael O'Flannagan, 88 items. Most of the other files contain only a few items of correspondence. Walsh's correspondence with Father O'Flannagan, a Catholic priest, is genealogical, and relates to the latter's searches in Ireland for a legal heir to the estate of Mrs. Ida E. Wood of New York, The Brennan file contains letters on Irish affairs while Brennan was chief of the Irish Legation in Washington, D. C. The Shane Leslie file contains letters to Walsh reflecting their editorial collaboration on Ireland, and Leslie's views on political events in Ireland such as the Easter Rebellion, conscription and the Home Rule controversy. The letters by Charles Murphy a Member of the Canadian Parliament, relate to Irish-Canadian affairs. The four letters by John Edward Redmond contain his view on the establishment of the weekly Ireland. Present in the Millie Figgis file is a letter to Walsh co-signed by the Irish patriot Maud Gonne MacBride as honorary treasurer of the Dublin Relief Committee.

  • Miscellaneous Papers

    The Miscellaneous Papers series include Walsh's reminiscences of the Irish revolutionary movement from 1914 when he went to London to report on Irish Home Rule. This Manuscript is written in ink in a fine legible hand in a 1931 desk diary. Recorded are Walsh's impressions of the principal figures of the Irish revolutionary movement in the late 'teens and 1920s including Daniel Boyle, Eamon De Valera, Sean Nunan, and James O'Mara, and also his editorial collaborator, Shane Leslie. The Paris Peace Conference is covered with considerable detail as well as the Chicago Convention of the Republican Party in 1920 and the Irish Republican Bond campaigns in Illinois and in Wisconsin.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Joseph C. Walsh Papers came to the Library as a gift in 1948 and 1949 from Mr. Walsh.

Processing information

jds, January 1981

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328

Alternative form available

Reminiscence of the Irish revolutionary movement available on microfilm; New York Public Library