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Mount St. Benedict-related correspondence, 1922-1977

 File — Box: 3, Folder: 41

Scope and Contents

From the Series:

Series includes extensive research files related to Maire Comerford's life as an Irish republican and nationalist. Materials primarily contain newspaper clippings, as well as artifacts, correspondence, notes, photographs, and printed material and other ephemera. Notable topics include the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Civil War, nationalism, the Northern Ireland conflict, and the fight for political prisoners' rights. Also important to Comerford were women's rights, Irish agriculture, and education.

Republican correspondents include Molly Childers, Joe Clarke, Éamon De Valera, Dorothy Macardle, Maude Gonne MacBride, and more. There is also correspondence from prisoners in Kilmainham Jail, Long Kesh Detention Centre, Mountjoy Prison, and Portlaoise Prison. Many of these letters were redacted and are missing portions of the pages. Printed materials and ephemera include broadsides and posters produced by organizations such as Sinn Féin and Cumann na mBan, as well as records of activist groups like Prisoners Aid Committee and the Irish Anti-Partition Association. Artifacts include an early tricolor flag, artwork from Long Kesh prisoners, and a political rally posterboard and pin-back button.

Dates

  • Creation: 1922-1977

Creator

Language of Materials

From the Collection:

Materials predominantly in English with some Irish.

Access Note

Collection is open for research.

Historical note

Mount St. Benedict was an estate in County Wexford bought by the Sweetman family and given to Benedictine monks. John Francis Sweetman (a monk and Irish nationalist) ran a school there. The school educated the children of several 1916 Rising leaders and was a haven for republicans after the War of Independence.

Full Extent

From the Series: 25.52 Linear Feet (21 containers)

Repository Details

Part of the John J. Burns Library Repository

Contact:
John J. Burns Library
Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill MA 02467 USA
617-552-4861