Parnell Summer School visits Wexford to honour Redmond
VISITING GROUP LAY A WREATH AT THE FAMILY MAUSOLEUM OF THE FAMOUS MP
THE 28th annual Parnell Summer School came to Wexford to mark the centenary of the death of one of the county’s most famous figures John Redmond with a wreath-laying ceremony at the family mausoleum in St John’s Graveyard.
A graveside oration was given by president of the Parnell Society Donal McCartney, who laid a wreath at Redmond’s resting place. The ceremony was also attended by the summer school academic director Dr Martin O’Donoghue, a renowned historian who has written extensively about the Irish Party and its legacy to Irish democracy.
John Redmond, a native of Wexford, was a successor to Parnell and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1910 until his death in March 1918, four years after the passing of the Irish Home Rule Act.
Earlier this year, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins led a day of celebrations in Wexford to commemmorate the centenary of his passing.
The Parnell Summer School is held annually in August at Avondale House in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow, and this year its scheduled events included the graveside ceremony in John Street with members of the Parnell Society and summer school guests travelling to Wexford for the occasion, joining local dignitaries including the Mayor of Wexford Cllr. Tony Dempsey, District Manager Angela Laffan, Cllr
Jim Moore and president of Wexford Historical Society Jarlath Glynn.
Dr O’Donoghue wrote the following article to mark the occasion:
On October 4, 1914, and just over a month after the passage of a home rule act for Ireland in Westminster, Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond addressed a crowd of supporters in Wexford town. Receiving numerous congratulations and many cheers, he declared if it was not for the dark and menacing cloud of the war in Europe, he would say it was the happiest day of his life.
Although home rule legislation was suspended for the duration of the war, with provision for a specific arrangement concerning Ulster unionist opposition, Redmond appeared on the verge of his crowning glory: home rule for Ireland.
As unlikely as it appeared on that day, a new generation of Irish nationalists would soon take centre stage as the Easter Rising transformed public opinion, exacerbating the political difficulties facing Redmond since 1912.
However, when the party leader passed away on March 6, 1918, he was still remembered fondly by many loyal followers. Nowhere was this was more obvious than in his native Wexford where his funeral was a sombre and wide scale affair with windows were draped in black and huge crowds in attendance.
Hailing from a prominent Wexford family, Redmond was the third generation of the family to represent par- liament. He became a devoted follower of Charles Stewart Parnell, served time in jail as part of the Irish Party’s support for land agitation and represented Irish nationalism on tours of Australia and the United States.
After Parnell’s passing, Redmond led the Parnellite minority before becoming chairman of the reunited Irish Party in 1900.
By 1912, this party had won a measure of home rule from the Liberal government, although Redmond had to wait two years for it to become reality as the House of Lords delayed the bill.
In the intervening time, unionists and nationalists both formed volunteer forces as divisions over home rule hardened.
Nationalist fears, however, were eased somewhat with the passing of the home rule bill onto the statute book on September 18, 1914.
Even Redmond’s move two days later at Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow, to commit Irishmen to join the British army in the war seemed to do little to affect his standing initially either in his native county or nationally.
The split in the Irish Volunteers saw an overwhelming majority support Redmond while only around 12,000 remained with Eoin Mac Neill.
Although neither of the Wexford MPs (Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde and Peter Ffrench) were prominent recruiters, both persistently supported the Redmondite Volunteers.
As in most counties, Redmond could also count on the support of the almost universally pro-home rule local government boards.
It is true that even in Wexford some were dissatisfied with Redmond and the War— the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was small but active and in Enniscorthy, the Echo, edited by William Sears, was considered an extreme publication by the British authorities.
At Easter 1916, Volunteers gathered in Enniscorthy, mobilising on Thursday, April 27, and occupying the Athenaeum theatre before the surrender of the rebels in Dublin left them with no option but to follow suit on April 30.
Already vulnerable to the threat of partition and the deaths of Irishmen on the battlefields of Europe, the aftermath of the Rising proved devastating for the Irish Party.
The executions of the leaders provoked an outpouring of grief while the collapse of home rule negotiations that summer damaged Redmond and his party still further.
Ever the conciliator, Redmond sought another settlement in the Irish Convention bringing together nationalists and unionists. Yet the convention, boycotted by the resurgent Sinn Féin party, failed to reach an agreement as the Irish Party lost ground.
Redmond’s health was failing by this time and he resigned the chairmanship of the party to have surgery before passing away on March 6, 1918.
Amid fears of hostility in Dublin, Redmond’s remains were brought back to the warm embrace of his native Wexford for his funeral.
Nine months later, the Irish Party was decisively defeated in a general election. Although the party polled strongly in Wexford (French was defeated by less than 600 votes), as elsewhere, Sinn Féin emerged victorious.
Only in Ulster and in John Redmond’s old constituency seat of Waterford where his son Captain William took his seat, was his party able to stem the tide.
Devotion to Redmond and the home rule tradition persisted, however, especially in Waterford and Wexford.
There was a large attendeance at amemorial to Redmond on the anniversary of his death in 1919, while in 1924 and 1925 there were major national commemorations with crowds of around 20,000 people coming to the south east to pay tribute to Redmond’s memory.
Even in later years, Wexford did not forget its most famous political son. On the centenary of Redmond’s birth in September 1956, a major symposium on his life was held in Wexford town. Attended by historians such as FSL Lyons, Mary Donovan O’Sullivan and Denis Gwynn as well as Éamon de Valera, the event attracted much coverage in the local and national press.
A special commemorative stamp was also released — an honour repeated in 2018.