104 Years On: The Anglo-Irish Treaty notebook with a handwritten note from Michael Collins on display in Mayo museum
This week marks the 104th anniversary of a pivotal moment in Irish history, as on January 7, 1922, Dáil Éireann voted to ratify the Anglo-Irish Treaty, a decision that would shape the nation for decades to come.
For history enthusiasts and locals alike, the Jackie Clarke Museum in Ballina provides a unique opportunity to connect with that defining historic moment.
Among the museum's 100,000-item collection spanning over 400 years of history is the Treaty Notebook, a remarkable artefact that witnessed history firsthand, with the Dáil vote count recorded on its back pages.
Written on one of the pages in Michael Collins’ own handwriting are the words: “Let the Irish nation judge us now and for future years.”
The notebook also features shorthand notes.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty had been signed at Downing Street on December 6, 1921, following eight weeks of negotiations.
Éamon de Valera did not travel to London, leaving an Irish delegation of Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith, Robert Barton, Éamonn Duggan, Charles Gavan Duffy, Erskine Childers, and John Chartres to represent the government.
Before ratification, the treaty terms were debated over fifteen days in the Second Dáil, from December 14, 1921, to January 7, 1922 - the vote passed by a narrow margin of 64 in favour and 57 against.
Just two days later, on January 9, 1922, Éamon de Valera resigned as President of the Republic. His re-election bid was narrowly defeated by 60 votes to 58.
In protest, anti-Treaty TDs walked out of the Dáil, and Arthur Griffith assumed the presidency.
While the Treaty paved the way for the creation of the Irish Free State, it also laid the foundations for the Irish Civil War, which lasted from June 1922 until May 1923.
“The acceptance of the Anglo-Irish Treaty by the Dáil Éireann had far-reaching consequences for Ireland. While it paved the way for the establishment of the Irish Free State, it also sparked a bitter and divisive civil war that would tear the country apart,
“The wounds inflicted by this conflict would take decades to heal, leaving a lasting impact on Irish society and politics,” the Jackie Clarke Collection noted.
The Jackie Clarke Museum is home to the late Jackie Clarke’s personal collection of historical artefacts that he amassed over his lifetime.
Born in Ballina in 1927, Mr Clarke was a passionate collector of Irish historical material and a proud republican. Before his death in 2000, he pledged the entire collection to his hometown.
In 2005, his wife honoured that wish, gifting the collection to Mayo County Council, and in 2013 it became publicly accessible in the restored old Provincial Bank on Pearse Street.
Visitors to the museum can explore other treasures of Ireland’s past, including an original copy of the 1916 Irish Proclamation, kept inside a bank vault within the museum, and a cockade badge once worn by Theobald Wolfe Tone.
The collection also features letters from Michael Collins, Douglas Hyde, Michael Davitt, and O’Donovan Rossa, alongside rare books, proclamations, posters, political cartoons, pamphlets, handbills, works by Sir John Lavery, maps, materials relating to hunger strikes, and personal items belonging to leaders of the 1916 Rising.
The Treaty Notebook and thousands of other artefacts of Irish history are on display at the Jackie Clarke Collection in Ballina. The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and admission is free.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.