The American Catholic Press and the Easter Rebellion

Abstract

THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC PRESS AND THE EASTER REBELLION BY Thomas J. Rowland* From the onset of European hostilities in the summer of 1914, the maintenance of American neutrality had proven a serious challenge to the American Catholic press. This was particularly the case in the many papers and periodicals with a distinctive Irish-American flavor. While ethnic, cultural, and religious prejudices vied for the sympathies of all Americans, the American Catholic press steadfastly clung to the government's position of unequivocal neutrality and admonished the Wilson administration for any departure from that stance. The outbreak and subsequent suppression of the Easter Rebellion in Ireland in the spring of 1916, however, tested the mettle and capacity of IrishAmerican Catholics to adhere to established policy. Representing scores ofdiocesan news organs, the American Catholic press had emerged at the turn of the century as both a reflector and molder ofits community's attitudes, aspirations, and biases. Circulation had risen dramatically in the years leading up to World War I. Because these papers reported on a wide range ofpolitical, social, and religious events, they provided a telling and panoramic view of the divisive issues affecting the community.1 No issues were more turbulent, yet more germane, to the Irish-American community than the progress of Irish Home Rule and the maintenance of American neutrality. For a variety of reasons, Irish-America rallied strongly in defense of the Administration's declaration of neutrality in 1914. Ardent supporters of Irish nationalism, particularly the New York-based Clan-na- *Mr. Rowland teaches history in the Continuing Education Department of Georgetown University and serves as a health care management consultant.¦Research for this essay included a review of over twenty diocesan newspapers and Catholic periodicals. Research focused on the English-speaking press, nearly all ofwhich was controlled by Irish-Americans. It should be noted that in several American cities Catholic papers were edited and managed by German-Americans. For insight into the increase in both circulation and influence of the Catholic press by World War I, see Donna Merwick, Boston Priests: A Study ofSocial andIntellectual Change (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1973), p. 189, and Aaron I. Abell, American Catholicism and Social Action: A Searchfor SocialJustice, 1865-1950 (Garden City, New York, I960), p. 289. 67 68THE AMERICAN CATHOUC PRESS AND THE EASlTR REBELLION Gael, though supportive of German war aims as a means of liberating Ireland, labored passionately to hold the government accountable to its pledge. They doubled their efforts in times when they perceived that American favor was veering toward the Allies. Although others were outspoken in their preference for the Allies, the vast majority of Irish-Americans cooled their ardor for Irish nationalism and insisted on neutrality as a way of taming the potentially inflammatory ethnic allegiances ofAmerican Catholicism. Such restraint also had the benefit of trumpeting Catholic patriotism and loyalty at the same time. The parameters of this struggle remained relatively fixed through numerous crises and permutations in public opinion leading up to April, 1916. Then, the issues of Irish liberation and American neutrality emerged in such a convulsive way as to undermine the fragile balance which had been respected by most in the Irish-American community. The Easter Rebellion in Dublin served as both the catharsis and catalyst in reshaping the definition of the status quo.2 The outbreak ofwar in August, 1914, had placed the entire progress of Irish freedom in abeyance. The British Empire's war effort had wrought a co-operation between the Conservatives and Liberals which effectively robbed John Redmond's Irish party of the political maneuverability necessary to enact the Home Rule measure. Eroding hopes for a Home Rule settlement even further was the promotion of its most implacable foe—Sir Edward Carson of Ulster—to a post within the London coalition government. Redmond's vigorous support of the British Empire appeared to have his countrymen's blessing. However, by April, 1916, with Irish casualties mounting, and with the specter of conscription looming larger, a heightened sense of apprehension and unrest had been woven into the national fabric. Yet, despite these adverse circumstances, the vast majority of Irishmen were opposed to fomenting open rebellion.3 While John Redmond labored to establish...