The Curious Case of the Mayo Librarian (2 page)

‘I cannot believe,' he said, ‘for it is impossible to believe, that Miss Harrison or Dunbar would serve Ireland as I would like to see Ireland served, as I believe Ireland deserves to be served. Her past has not been an Irish past and I very much doubt that her future will be an Irish future. Dr McBride has told us that Trinity College has produced some of the greatest Irishmen. True, and heaven has produced some of the greatest devils in hell. [Hear, hear.]'
12

Councillor Higgins contended that the letter from the department was misleading. ‘The word “recommend”,' he said, ‘would lead one to believe that we would have some say in the matter but in the next line they say they will compel us to appoint her.'
13

The vote on Dr McBride's amendment to support Miss Dunbar Harrison was defeated by a vote of ten against and two for. Dean D'Alton's motion was then carried by the same margin of ten for and two against. Both votes saw Rev. Jackson and Dr McBride in the minority.

Notes

1.
The Connaught Telegraph
, 1 November 1930, p.4.

2.
Ibid., 29 November 1930, p.3.

3.
Ibid., 6 December 1930, p.8.

4.
Ibid.

5.
Ibid.

6.
Ibid.

7.
Ibid.

8.
Mayo News
, 6 December 1930, p.5.

9.
The Connaught Telegraph
, 6 December 1930, p.8.

10.
Ibid.

11.
Mayo News
, 6 December 1930, p.5.

12.
Ibid.

13.
The Connaught Telegraph
, 6 December 1930, p.8.

Within days the debate had spread from the local to the national stage. On 3 December 1930
The Irish Times
devoted a strong lead editorial to the issue
.

Our recognition of the Free State government's failings has not blinded us to its virtues. Protestants have not been penalised for their religion; in the allotment of the state's honours and prizes no discrimination has been made against them. We think that insistence on the Irish language as a test of fitness for the public services is an economic and educational folly; but it carries no taint of sectarianism, since it is imposed impartially on citizens of every creed.

The establishment of the Appointments Commission abolished at one stroke an Augean stable of intrigue and jobbery. To-day a candidate for municipal office must have the commissioners' recommendation, and they have the power and the will to deal firmly with revolt.

On Monday, for the second time, the [Mayo] library committee refused to ratify the commissioners' choice. Its first objection – Miss Dunbar's inadequate knowledge of Irish – failed, because all successful candidates for such appointments are entitled to opportunities for further study; the second, and more important, objection was revealed at Monday's meeting.

Ten members of the committee, as against two, have declared that Protestantism, and a Dublin University degree are absolute disqualifications for public office in County Mayo. Protestantism, according to these leaders of western opinion, is an anti-national creed and Trinity College is an anti-national institution.

In its refusal to appoint Miss Dunbar the library committee has defied a specific instruction from the Local Government Department. Of course, the matter can have only one end. On many occasions –
especially where medical offices are concerned – local bodies, desiring their local favourites, have rejected the commissioners' recommendations. Always the commissioners have insisted on their own choice and always they have carried the day. They are the mouthpiece of the
Local Government Department, which has effective ways and means to
impose its will on municipal bodies. So it must be in this case.

The government will put Miss Dunbar in office as county librarian of Mayo, and will furnish her with all necessary safeguards against local bigotry or prejudice. We believe that such action will have a beneficent influence throughout the whole country. Educated Roman Catholics will rejoice that a mainly Roman Catholic government has been so loyal to the letter and spirit of its pledges.

The wholesome significance of this affair will not be ignored in Northern Ireland. Within the Free State, Protestant minorities will feel that a certain anxiety has been lifted from their minds … Next week the electors of County Dublin will have an opportunity to weaken Mr Cosgrave's authority and prestige. They will be astonishingly foolish if they take advantage of it …
1

The Irish Times
was referring to an upcoming by-election in South County Dublin.

Next week's election will be a very different matter; it will be a contest between order and anarchy, between a tried system of government and a call to the maddest and most ruinous sort of political adventure. The Fianna Fáil Party, although its present speeches try to obscure the fact, is wholly impenitent. If it takes charge of the Free State's affairs, it will repudiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty, will undo all the solid work of the last eight years, and will kick the country's best customer [England] – indeed, her only customer – out of doors.

A Fianna Fáil victory in County Dublin would be a grave misfortune, since it would hearten all the forces of chaos for a frontal attack at next year's general election. We hope that, for the country's sake and their own sake, the ex-unionists of County Dublin will do their best to secure the return of Mr T.A. Finlay, K.C., who not only represents the cause of order and progress, but has personal claims to be a worthy successor of the late Major Cooper.

The case of the Mayo library committee reminds minorities in County Dublin and elsewhere that, though they may have some complaints against Mr Cosgrave's government, they have deep obligations to it.

The Irish Times
was clearly not mincing its words when it came to this issue, though perhaps its blatant support of the Cumann na nGaedheal government with regard to the by-election was bound to raise the hackles of Fianna Fáil.

In its 5 December issue,
The Church of Ireland Gazette
ran an editorial which echoed that of
The Irish Times
though its tone was more measured.
The
Gazette
argued that ‘the action of the Mayo library committee … must inevitably increase the apprehensions which are felt by many as to the treatment which Protestants are likely to receive if certain elements in the Free State get their way.' The paper went on to absolve the Cumann na nGaedheal Party of any culpability in the matter.

The government is in no way to blame … the particular matter may turn out to be a storm in a teacup. The disquieting feature is the reasons given for the opposition. The first was that the candidate was not well acquainted with Irish; that has now been abandoned. The main objections are that she is a Protestant and was educated at Trinity College and therefore is unfitted for a responsible post in an Irish and Roman Catholic county like Mayo.

These objections were made frankly and openly by a dean and other leading priests in a meeting presided over by the Roman Catholic bishop of Killala. We cannot help asking whether they are a spokesman of a definite policy on the part of their church.

We know, of course, that certain Roman Catholic papers have now for some years been urging the exclusion of Protestants from public positions of all kinds. It gives rise to great apprehension.
2

However, the Mayo clergy were not resting on their achievements. Not content with winning the library committee's vote, Archdeacon Fallon and Dean D'Alton set about winning over public opinion. They showed no reluctance in taking their argument to the country. The letters pages of the newspapers, both local and national, were transformed into a battleground.

Archdeacon Fallon was particularly active. He defended his views in a letter which
The Irish Times
captioned ‘The Unsuitable Protestant'. Canon Chamberlain of Dún Laoghaire echoed the fears expressed in
The Irish Times
editorial. ‘We have a signal vindication,' he said, ‘of the feeling of nervous apprehension on the part of Protestants that in the Free State they would be penalised because of their religion.' He received the following reply:

Sir, I have just read in your issue of yesterday Canon Chamberlain's comments on the proceedings of Mayo library committee at their last meeting. By the way, Chamberlain is a very un-Irish name, and possibly he does not understand our Irish ‘cussedness'. As I am a member of the committee, and was present on the occasion and voted against the appointment of Miss Dunbar, I would like your readers to hear our side.

I am in favour of religious tolerance. The courteous and efficient head manager of our local bacon factory is not a Catholic, and although 99% of those who transact business with him are Catholics there is always harmony and goodwill. There are Protestant doctors and solicitors in Mayo who live in peace in their community and are respected in their respective professions.

I admit that toleration in general is desirable, but when Catholic fundamental principles are invaded, toleration would be a weakness, if not a crime. Miss Dunbar, I have reason to understand, is a very cultured lady, but, with all her accomplishments I maintain that as a Protestant she is absolutely unsuited for the position of librarian in the 99% Catholic population of the County Mayo … Our librarian has [in practice] the selection and the distribution of the books throughout the county. Would a Catholic librarian be appointed for a community 99% Protestant?

… The Appointments Commission and the responsible minister were guilty of a grave error of judgement in recommending a Protestant for this position. It is not the first time they have ignored the local circumstances and sentiments of the people and I will be very surprised if the people will submit to this dictation much longer.
3

Canon Chamberlain replied that, despite his Huguenot name, he fully understood Archdeacon Fallon's position though he still dissented from it. ‘It is perfectly clear,' he said, ‘that, if the position he has taken up be admitted, it will effectively close the door of every public library in the Free State to Protestants.'

Over the following weeks the letters pages of the local and national papers became a forum for the debate. Some determined opposition emerged. Dr T. Hennessy, a medical secretary of South Frederick Street, Dublin, wrote:

The action of the Mayo library committee in refusing to appoint Miss Dunbar to take charge of the local library because she is a Protestant and graduate of Dublin University has attracted a good deal of notice outside Ireland. Catholics who earn their livelihood in Protestant Britain are becoming anxious, as they fear retaliation. In fact, I am informed that in Liverpool and other centres reprisals have been advocated and that they should be extended to all Irish Catholic workers.

Although such cases as in Mayo are few, yet they are sufficient to stimulate the ‘conscientious bigot' who can only see red where Catholics are concerned. More than 80 per cent of the graduates (including those holding degrees in agriculture), of the National University have to seek a living in Protestant England and in the Protestant dominions.

In the circumstances we, who live in ease and comfort in this country, should show some consideration, without sacrifice of principle, for our co-religionists who make a living in Protestant countries, and not to make such headlines as ‘Where Rome Rules' for the Ku Klux Klan in America and elsewhere.

Moreover, in the present instance, with such an influential, enlightened and religiously authoritative body as the Mayo library committee, if it functions conscientiously, there should be no fear from the librarian, whether he or she may be a Protestant or a capricious Catholic.
4

If this was an appeal to national self-interest, Dean D'Alton was having none of it. Within days he was back in print in the
Irish Independent
in response to Dr Hennessy's letter outlining the potential international ramifications of the dispute.

‘Catholic doctors in England,' Dean D'Alton wrote, ‘who do their work, have little to fear from honest Protestants, and can ignore the threats of an isolated bigot, who has not much influence in modern England. He would surely be an unreasoning bigot who expected that for such a position as librarian, and in a county almost wholly Catholic, no Catholic need apply, and this is what has happened in Mayo. In the old days every decent Irishman despised the “Castle Cawtholic”. Well sir, the Castle is gone but the Cawtholic is with us still.'
5

Dr Hennessy proved undaunted by such accusations. ‘Dean D'Alton,' he countered, ‘suggests I am a survivor of the despised Castle Cawtholic and apparently considers that studied retort a hushing and finishing argument. In this respect the Dean seems to overlook the little factor that not a few of his “decent” Irishmen who so loftily despised the Castle Cawtholic owed their affected sturdiness to the fact that they were green with jealousy of what they looked upon as the glittering social success of the Cawtholic.'
6

Five days later Dean D'Alton replied. ‘I am quite ready to admit,' he said, ‘that the doctor is of ancient descent, and indeed, he may be, for all I know, a direct descendant of Fionn MacCumhaill …
The Irish Times
and the baser kind of Protestants have sought to brand the library committee as unwilling to allow any Protestant to be appointed to any position in Mayo. This is certainly not the case, and if the post to be filled were that of commercial instructress, or something similar, there would have been no opposition. The position of librarian, however, stands on a different footing, especially in an almost exclusively Catholic county. Much of the ordinary man's knowledge is acquired after leaving school, and from books, perhaps borrowed from a public library. In selecting these books he could get no assistance from Miss Dunbar, except, perhaps what might be harmful, and this through no fault of her own, but because of her education and outlook, which could not be expected to be national or Catholic.'
7

Dean D'Alton had his share of supporters on the letters pages. Thomas Concannon of Dorset Street, Dublin, was of the opinion that when the Local Appointments Commissioners came up against such men as Dean D'Alton they were ‘biting on granite'.
8

Other scribes joined in the debate with Dr Hennessy. Mr Concannon was of the opinion that Dr Hennessy was ‘windy'. His letter was ‘so well written, even for a doctor, that one instinctively asks – who is backing him?' He then went on to suggest an answer to his own question. ‘Perhaps Dr Hennessy will be invited to drink the toast to the “Pious, Glorious and Immortal Memory of King Billy”, who saved us from popes and popery. Contrary to what Dr Hennessy says, and speaking with intimate knowledge of the subject, I reiterate that Catholics – I refer more particularly to Irish Catholics – do not get, and they consider it futile to seek, higher official positions in Protestant countries. Let Dr Hennessy produce his facts and avoid generalities. It is not deniable that Catholics do occasionally pick up minor official positions, not much sought for, where the emoluments just about cover the expenses. I see Dr Hennessy is engaged in the export business. If we continue to export our brains (assuming that doctors have brains) and likewise our capital, we shall certainly progress.'
9