Laurence Ginnell
Encyclopedia
Laurence Ginnell was an Irish
nationalist
politician, lawyer
and Member of Parliament
(MP) of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party
for Westmeath North
at the 1906 UK general election
, from 1910 he sat as an Independent Nationalist. At the 1918 general election he was elected for Sinn Féin
.
, County Westmeath
in 1852. He was self-educated and was called to the Irish bar
as well as the England bar. In his youth he was involved with the Land War
and acted as private secretary to John Dillon
.
The last great social and agrarian campaign of the home rule movement – the Ranch War (1906 and 1909), was largely led and organised by Ginnell from the central office of the United Irish League
. On being elected an MP stated the following, on 14 October 1906 at Downs, County Westmeath.
Ginnell's cattle-drives began to tail off after the summer of 1908, and the agitation was finally dissolved with the passage of a land reform by the Liberal Chief Secretary Augustine Birrell
, hailed by the national movement as an historic victory. In reality, the Ranch War involved an implosion within sectors of the Irish Party, as its leadership had not facilitated the working of the Wyndham Land Purchase Act in the first place, because John Dillon
and his like wanted conflict above victory.
In 1909 Ginnell was expelled from the Irish Parliamentary Party
(IPP) for the offence of asking to see the party accounts, after which he sat as an Independent Nationalist
. During this time he was addressed frequently as "The MP for Ireland. " In Westminster
he was highly critical of the British Government for holding executions of certain participants in the Easter Rising
of 1916. On 9 May he accused the British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith
, of "Murder", and was forcibly ejected from the assembly. He visited many of the prisoners who were interned in various prisons in Wales and England and smuggled out correspondence for them.
in the Roscommon North
by-election in which he defeated the IPP candidate on an abstentionist platform. Following the victory of Éamon de Valera
in East Clare
, while standing for Sinn Féin
, on 10 July 1917, Ginnell resigned his seat in the House of Commons and joined Sinn Féin. At the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis
that year, at which the party was re-constituted as a Republican party with de Valera as President, Ginnell and W. T. Cosgrave were elected Honorary Treasurers. In the 1918 general election, he was elected as a Sinn Féin MP for the Westmeath constituency
, comfortably defeating his IPP challenger, and attended the proceedings of the First Dáil
. He and James O'Mara
were the only Teachtaí Dála (TDs) ever before to sit in a parliament. He was one of the few people to have served in the House of Commons and in the Oireachtas
. Ginnell was appointed Director of Propaganda
in the Second Ministry of the Irish Republic
.
After spending a year as a Republican campaigner in Chicago
, he was appointed the Representative of the Irish Republic in Argentina
and South America
by de Valera. He carried out his propaganda work here to distribute copies of the Irish Bulletin
and to provide the Sinn Féin version of the conflict during the War of Independence
. On the 16 August 1921 he returned home to attend the first meeting of the Second Dáil
. He travelled back to Argentina some months later to serve as the Representative of the Republic there.
that was ratified by the Dáil in January 1922, and was elected as an anti-Treaty Sinn Féin TD at the 1922 general election
on the eve of the Irish Civil War
.
On 9 September 1922, Ginnell was the only anti-Treaty TD to attend the inaugural meeting of the Provisional Parliament or Third Dáil
. Before signing the roll Ginnell said: "I want some explanation before I sign. I have been elected in pursuance of a decree by Dáil Éireann, which decree embodies the decree of May 20th, 1922. I have heard nothing read in reference to that decree, nothing but an Act of a foreign Parliament. I have been elected as a member of Dáil Éireann. I have not been elected to attend any such Parliament. Will anyone tell me with authority whether it is …". He was at this point interrupted but resumed saying he would sign the roll and take his seat in the Assembly if the Assembly was Dáil Éireann
. He was informed he was not allowed raise any such question until a Ceann Comhairle
had been elected. He continued to ask questions regardless to which he got no answer including his question: "Will any member of the Six Counties be allowed to sit in this Dáil?". W. T. Cosgrave moved at this point that he be excluded from the House, Ginnell protested, and he was dragged out by force. His lawyerly sophistry was not appreciated, given that hundreds of people had already been killed in the civil war.
De Valera later appointed him a member of his "Council of State", a 12 member body set up to advise him on the deteriorating situation in the civil war.
He returned to the United States soon after this to serve as the Republic’s envoy in the country. He ordered Robert Briscoe
and some of his friends to take possession of the Consular Offices in Nassau Street in New York City
, then in the hands of the Free State
Government, so as to obtain the list of the subscribers to the bond drive in the United States to help the struggle in the War of Independence. At the time a court case was ongoing to decide on who had the right to the funds, the newly installed Provisional Government or de Valera, as one of the three trustees and those who opposed the Treaty. Laurence Ginnell died in the United States on 17 April 1923 aged 71 years, still campaigning against the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
politician, lawyer
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
for Westmeath North
North Westmeath (UK Parliament constituency)
North Westmeath was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1918.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 and after the dissolution of Parliament in 1918 the area was part of the Westmeath constituency....
at the 1906 UK general election
United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, from 1910 he sat as an Independent Nationalist. At the 1918 general election he was elected for Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
.
Early life
Ginnell was born in DelvinDelvin
Delvin is a small town in east County Westmeath, Ireland located on the N52 road at a junction with the N51 to Navan. The town is from Mullingar and is the setting of the book Valley of the Squinting Windows by Delvin native Brinsley MacNamara, described under the fictitious name of "Garradrimna"...
, County Westmeath
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...
in 1852. He was self-educated and was called to the Irish bar
King's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...
as well as the England bar. In his youth he was involved with the Land War
Land War
The Land War in Irish history was a period of agrarian agitation in rural Ireland in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. The agitation was led by the Irish National Land League and was dedicated to bettering the position of tenant farmers and ultimately to a redistribution of land to tenants from...
and acted as private secretary to John Dillon
John Dillon
John Dillon was an Irish land reform agitator from Dublin, an Irish Home Rule activist, a nationalist politician, a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party....
.
The last great social and agrarian campaign of the home rule movement – the Ranch War (1906 and 1909), was largely led and organised by Ginnell from the central office of the United Irish League
United Irish League
The United Irish League was a nationalist political party in Ireland, launched 23 January 1898 with the motto "The Land for the People" . Its objective to be achieved through agrarian agitation and land reform, compelling larger grazier farmers to surrender their lands for redistribution amongst...
. On being elected an MP stated the following, on 14 October 1906 at Downs, County Westmeath.
The purpose of the war was to bring relief to the large numbers of landless and smallholders, particularly in the West, who were relatively untouched by the Wyndham Land Purchase ActIrish Land ActsThe Land Acts were a series of measures to deal with the question of peasant proprietorship of land in Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Five such acts were introduced by the government of the United Kingdom between 1870 and 1909...
(1903) and by the larger policy of purchase. The strategy that Ginnell pursued was the Down’s Policy, or cattle driving, a proceeding designed to harass the prosperous grazier interests, whose ‘ranches’ occupied large, under populated and under worked tracts. The 'Down’s Policy' was also meant to draw public attention to the scandalous inequalities that survived in the Irish countryside. The conservatives within the Home ruleHome ruleHome rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
leadership were understandably suspicious about the revival of agrarian disturbances, but the mood of the party organisation was hardening in the aftermath of a disappointing devolution bill in May 1907, from the new LiberalLiberal Party (UK)The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
government, so that it seemed logical to turn to the traditional mechanism for reactivating the national question: agrarian agitation.
Ginnell's cattle-drives began to tail off after the summer of 1908, and the agitation was finally dissolved with the passage of a land reform by the Liberal Chief Secretary Augustine Birrell
Augustine Birrell
Augustine Birrell PC, KC was an English politician, barrister, academic and author. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1907 to 1916, resigning in the immediate aftermath of the Easter Rising.-Early life:...
, hailed by the national movement as an historic victory. In reality, the Ranch War involved an implosion within sectors of the Irish Party, as its leadership had not facilitated the working of the Wyndham Land Purchase Act in the first place, because John Dillon
John Dillon
John Dillon was an Irish land reform agitator from Dublin, an Irish Home Rule activist, a nationalist politician, a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party....
and his like wanted conflict above victory.
In 1909 Ginnell was expelled from the Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
(IPP) for the offence of asking to see the party accounts, after which he sat as an Independent Nationalist
Independent Nationalist
Independent Nationalist was a political title frequently used by Irish nationalists when contesting elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland not as members of the Irish Parliamentary Party, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.In the...
. During this time he was addressed frequently as "The MP for Ireland. " In Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
he was highly critical of the British Government for holding executions of certain participants in the Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
of 1916. On 9 May he accused the British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith
H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC, KC served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916...
, of "Murder", and was forcibly ejected from the assembly. He visited many of the prisoners who were interned in various prisons in Wales and England and smuggled out correspondence for them.
Sinn Féin
In 1917 he campaigned to try to ensure the election of Count PlunkettGeorge Noble Plunkett
George Noble Plunkett or Count Plunkett was a biographer and Irish nationalist, and father of Joseph Mary Plunkett, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916....
in the Roscommon North
North Roscommon (UK Parliament constituency)
North Roscommon was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Roscommon constituency...
by-election in which he defeated the IPP candidate on an abstentionist platform. Following the victory of Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
in East Clare
East Clare (UK Parliament constituency)
East Clare was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Clare constituency...
, while standing for Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
, on 10 July 1917, Ginnell resigned his seat in the House of Commons and joined Sinn Féin. At the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis
Ard Fheis
Ardfheis or Ard Fheis is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for its annual convention....
that year, at which the party was re-constituted as a Republican party with de Valera as President, Ginnell and W. T. Cosgrave were elected Honorary Treasurers. In the 1918 general election, he was elected as a Sinn Féin MP for the Westmeath constituency
Westmeath (UK Parliament constituency)
Westmeath is a former UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament 1801–1885 and one in 1918–1922.-Boundaries:This constituency comprised the whole of County Westmeath, except for the Parliamentary borough of Athlone 1801–1885....
, comfortably defeating his IPP challenger, and attended the proceedings of the First Dáil
First Dáil
The First Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. In 1919 candidates who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled as a unicameral, revolutionary parliament called "Dáil Éireann"...
. He and James O'Mara
James O'Mara
James O'Mara was an Irish bacon merchant and politician who became a nationalist leader and key member of the revolutionary First Dáil. As an MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, he introduced the bill which made Saint Patrick's Day a national holiday in Ireland in 1903...
were the only Teachtaí Dála (TDs) ever before to sit in a parliament. He was one of the few people to have served in the House of Commons and in the Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
. Ginnell was appointed Director of Propaganda
Minister for Publicity (Ireland)
The Minister for Publicity was the name of a government department in the Government of the Irish Republic, the self-declared state which was established in 1919 by Dáil Éireann, the parliamentary assembly made up of the majority of Irish MPs elected in the 1918 general election.-History:In April...
in the Second Ministry of the Irish Republic
Irish Republic
The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...
.
After spending a year as a Republican campaigner in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, he was appointed the Representative of the Irish Republic in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
by de Valera. He carried out his propaganda work here to distribute copies of the Irish Bulletin
Irish Bulletin
The Irish Bulletin was the official gazette of the government of the Irish Republic. It was produced by the Department of Propaganda during the Irish War of Independence. and its offices were originally located at No. 6 Harcourt Street, Dublin. The paper's first editor was Desmond FitzGerald,...
and to provide the Sinn Féin version of the conflict during the War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
. On the 16 August 1921 he returned home to attend the first meeting of the Second Dáil
Second Dáil
The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919–1922 Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected in 1921...
. He travelled back to Argentina some months later to serve as the Representative of the Republic there.
Anti-Treaty opinion
He opposed the Anglo-Irish TreatyAnglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
that was ratified by the Dáil in January 1922, and was elected as an anti-Treaty Sinn Féin TD at the 1922 general election
Irish general election, 1922
The Irish general election of 1922 took place in Southern Ireland on 16 June 1922, under the provisions of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty to elect a constituent assembly paving the way for the formal establishment of the Irish Free State...
on the eve of the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
.
On 9 September 1922, Ginnell was the only anti-Treaty TD to attend the inaugural meeting of the Provisional Parliament or Third Dáil
Third Dáil
The Third Dáil, also known as the Provisional Parliament or the Constituent Assembly, was:*the "provisional parliament" or "constituent assembly" of Southern Ireland from 9 August 1922 until 6 December 1922; and...
. Before signing the roll Ginnell said: "I want some explanation before I sign. I have been elected in pursuance of a decree by Dáil Éireann, which decree embodies the decree of May 20th, 1922. I have heard nothing read in reference to that decree, nothing but an Act of a foreign Parliament. I have been elected as a member of Dáil Éireann. I have not been elected to attend any such Parliament. Will anyone tell me with authority whether it is …". He was at this point interrupted but resumed saying he would sign the roll and take his seat in the Assembly if the Assembly was Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
. He was informed he was not allowed raise any such question until a Ceann Comhairle
Ceann Comhairle
The Ceann Comhairle is the chairman of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the Dáil from among their number in the first session after each general election...
had been elected. He continued to ask questions regardless to which he got no answer including his question: "Will any member of the Six Counties be allowed to sit in this Dáil?". W. T. Cosgrave moved at this point that he be excluded from the House, Ginnell protested, and he was dragged out by force. His lawyerly sophistry was not appreciated, given that hundreds of people had already been killed in the civil war.
De Valera later appointed him a member of his "Council of State", a 12 member body set up to advise him on the deteriorating situation in the civil war.
He returned to the United States soon after this to serve as the Republic’s envoy in the country. He ordered Robert Briscoe
Robert Briscoe (politician)
Robert Briscoe , known as Bob Briscoe was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála in the Oireachtas from 1927 to 1965.- Family :...
and some of his friends to take possession of the Consular Offices in Nassau Street in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, then in the hands of the Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
Government, so as to obtain the list of the subscribers to the bond drive in the United States to help the struggle in the War of Independence. At the time a court case was ongoing to decide on who had the right to the funds, the newly installed Provisional Government or de Valera, as one of the three trustees and those who opposed the Treaty. Laurence Ginnell died in the United States on 17 April 1923 aged 71 years, still campaigning against the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Sources
- Dorothy Macardle (1937) The Irish Republic.
- Robert Briscoe (1958) For the Life of Me.
- Frank Gallagher The Four Glorious Years, 2005 edition.
- Laurence Ginnell – 'The Member for Ireland'
- The Irish Republic. Why? Official statement prepared for submission to the Peace Conference ([1919?]) Author: Ginnell, Laurence http://www.archive.org/details/irishrepublicwhy00ginnuoft
- Ginnell, Laurence Brehon Laws: A Legal Handbook : 1993 : ISBN 978-0-8377-2213-9