Letter from Frank P. Walsh to William Bourke Cockran, 19 December 1919

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Frank P. Walsh to William Bourke Cockran, 19 December 1919

1 American Commission on Irish Independence
Frank P. Walsh Chairman 411 Fifth Avenue
New York December Eighteenth
Nineteen Nineteen Hon. W. Bourke Cockran,
100 Broadway
New York, N.Y. Dear Mr. Cockran:- I am sending you 500 printed copies of
President De Valera's Manual of Instructions for the use of
your City Chairmen, Treasurer, and other officers and, where
desired, campaign workers. It is probable that each campaign
worker who is interested would feel complimented by having one
of these manuals for his own reference and guidance. I hardly need add that the sooner these documents
are in the hands of those, for whose use they are intended, the
better, especially in view of the shortness of the campaign. Wishing you a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year, I am Yours very truly, Frank P Walsh
Chairman

Frank P. Walsh (1864-1939), was an American lawyer and political reformer. He was one of the chief architects of the legislative struggle against industrial exploitation of children and an advocate of Irish and anti-imperialist causes. He also fought for civil liberties and was a labour partisan and staunch New Dealer. Walsh was a member of the Irish-American delegation (along with Michael J. Ryan and Edward F. Dunne) who were appointed to represent Ireland at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. On 10 April 1919 the delegation arrived in Paris. The men returned to America in July 1919 where Walsh began working with the Dail External Loan (Bond Drive). William Burke Cockran (1854-1922) was born in Sligo. He completed his education in Summerhill college, Sligo and the Marist College in Lille, France. In 1871 Cockran immigrated to America. While working as a teacher he studied law at night. In 1876 he passed the bar; he practiced in Mount Vernon for two years before moving to New York to practice law. His legal career was constrained by an interest in politics. In 1903, Cockran returned to Ireland and was made a freeman of the borough of Sligo, at this time he was a vigorous supporter of Home Rule. Cockran protested against the execution of the leaders of the 1916 Rising, and also condemned the introduction of martial law in Ireland in 1919. In December 1919, while working on the Dail Eireann Bond Certificates and Bond Drive he called for formal American recognition of the Irish Republican Government. In this letter, Walsh was sending 500 printed copies of deValera's instructions regarding the bond drive to Cockran. This material was to be distributed to city chairmen, treasurer and other officers as well as campaign workers. These manuals were to be used for both reference and guidance in the selling of bond certificates.

Frank P. Walsh
William Bourke Cockran
1919-12-19
Politics Industry and Public Administration

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__6706.html)