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Irish Bond Litigation, 1919-1929, 1935

In the late 1910s and early 1920s, bonds were sold in the United States to support the Irish Republic in its struggle against British rule. Subscribers received a certificate that would be exchangeable for one gold bond of the Republic of Ireland after the international recognition of the Republic, i.e., independence. Suit was brought by the Irish Free State (after its creation by the British Parliament in 1921) to gain access to the bond funds amounting to approximately $6 million. Finerty acted as legal counsel for Eamon de Valera and Stephen O'Mara, who were trustees of the bond funds. The defendants' arguments were 1) that the Irish Republic had not been formally dissolved by the people of Ireland, and 2) that since the funds had been collected for a specific purpose--to aid the cause of the Irish Republic--turning the money over to the Free State would be a breach of trust.

The lawsuit dragged on for several years as a result of injunctions filed by both sides. The case was finally settled in 1927 when the New York Supreme Court decided that neither the Republic nor the Free State was entitled to the funds, but instead what was left after le gal fees should be returned to the subscribers. Finerty made two trips to Ireland in 1923 to take depositions for the case. These trips are fairly well documented in the series. The correspondence between Finerty and the other defense attorneys, Martin Conboy and Frank P. Walsh, is extensive, as is correspondence with other attorneys who were interested in the case. There are numerous contacts with Eamon de Valera, Sean T. O'Ceallaigh, Stephen O'Mara, and others in Ireland. As late as 1935 people tried to make claims against the bond funds.

Incoming and outgoing correspondence is interfiled in chronological order, along with clippings and some court documents. There are additional files of affidavits, briefs, and pleadings toward the end of the series.

John Frederick Finerty Irish Papers, 1921-1960
Collection

John Frederick Finerty Irish Papers, 1921-1960

4 Linear Feet (8 manuscript boxes)

John Frederick Finerty was an Irish-American lawyer who served as legal counsel for Pres. Eamon de Valera in the Irish Republican bond litigation, was active in various organizations in support of Irish independence, and served in defense of various causes and clients, including Sacco and Venzetti and the Rosenbergs.The Papers deal primarily with the Irish bond issue.

The Finerty Irish Papers reflect John F. Finerty's long-standing interest in and involvement with Irish political events and social movements, particularly during the 1920s when the Irish Free State was created by the British Parliament. Finerty supported the Irish cause in the United States on both a professional and personal level. He was strongly pro-Republican and his early associations with various Irish government officials resulted in close friendships that lasted for decades. Among the primary correspondents are Eamon de Valera, prime minister and president of Ireland, and Sean T. O'Ceallaigh, co-founder of the Sinn Fein organization and later president of Ireland. Finerty served as de Valera's legal counsel in the Irish bond litigation in the 1920s, records of which comprise a large portion of the papers (see Series I). He was also active with the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic (AARIR), serving as president in 1922-23.

There is a fair amount of personal correspondence, most of which is filed in the Irish General Correspondence series and the Miscellaneous Subject series. Scattered issues of the Irish Bulletin and the Daily Bulletin, and single issues of magazines and newspapers that were of interest to Finerty are also present, in addition to published proceedings of the Dail Eireann, 1919-22 (3 vols.).

The papers include a variety of types of material--correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, legal documents and briefs, court transcripts, pamphlets, photographs, receipts, Congressional bills and resolutions, and newspaper clippings. Of special note are the matchbox and codes Finerty used to smuggle messages to de Valera when the latter was incarcerated in Ireland in 1923. The main concentration of materials in the 40-year span of the collection date from the 1920s and the 1950s. The intervening years are sparsely represented. The papers have been divided into four series: I. Irish Bond Litigation, 1919- 1935; II. American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic, 1920- 1923; III. Irish General Correspondence, 1921-1966; and IV. Miscellaneous Subject Files, 1921-1957. For the most part, the organization and folder titles used by Mr. Finerty have been retained, as has his chronological arrangement. Access to an individual correspondent's name is available through an alphabetical list.

The Finerty Irish Papers reflect only Finerty's professional involvement with de Valera and the Irish bond litigation, and on a personal level, his interest in Ireland and matters of Irish concern in this country. Other famous court cases in which he played a role are not documented in this collection. His American Papers are at the University of Oregon.

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