The Treaty Split and the Paris Irish Race Convention, 1922

The Irish Race Convention, held in Paris at the end of January 1922, has received very little attention from historians of the period. Yet it was a notable event attended by delegates representing Irish immigrant communities in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Britain and South America. From Ireland came a pro-Treaty delegation led by Eoin Mac Neill, and an anti-Treaty delegation led by Eamon de Valera. There was an element of tragi-comedy in this rather volatile arrangement. Fortunately, both de Valera and Mac Neill soon realized that Paris was not the place to air domestic Irish political grievances. The unity of the Irish Race Convention was preserved. But not the unity of the nationalist movement which was subsequently broken by the seizure of the Four Courts and the Civil War.The Irish Race Convention, held in Paris at the end of January 1922, has received very little attention from historians of the period. Yet it was a notable event attended by delegates representing Irish immigrant communities in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Britain and South America. From Ireland came a pro-Treaty delegation led by Eoin Mac Neill, and an anti-Treaty delegation led by Eamon de Valera. There was an element of tragi-comedy in this rather volatile arrangement. Fortunately, both de Valera and Mac Neill soon realized that Paris was not the place to air domestic Irish political grievances. The unity of the Irish Race Convention was preserved. But not the unity of the nationalist movement which was subsequently broken by the seizure of the Four Courts and the Civil War.Keogh Dermot. The Treaty Split and the Paris Irish Race Convention, 1922. In: Études irlandaises, n°12-2, 1987. pp. 165-170