Ailtirí na hAiséirghe (, meaning "Architects of the Resurrection") was a fascist political party in Ireland, founded by Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin in March 1942.British Spies and Irish Rebels , Paul McMahon The party sought to form a totalitarian Irish Christian corporatist state and its sympathies were with the Axis powers in World War II. It was one of a wave of far-right parties in 1940s Ireland, like the Irish Monetary Reform Association, that failed to achieve mainstream success.
History
Background
The group was founded out of a branch of Conradh na Gaeilge established by Ó Cuinneagáin in 1940. He had left a job in the civil service, and moved to County Donegal in order to become fluent in Irish. Having been a member of several underground pro-Axis organisations but become disillusioned with their limited vision of seeing a German victory as an end in itself rather than an opportunity to transform Irish society, he established Craobh na hAiséirghe (Branch of the Resurrection) as a militant and active wing of Conradh to form "a Hitler Youth Movement under the guise of an Irish class."Architects of Resurrection: Ailtiri na hAiseirghe and the fascist 'new order' in Ireland by R. M. Douglas (pg 69) The branch grew rapidly, holding public events as well as organising Irish language classes, and Ó Cuinneagáin was elected to Conradh na Gaelige's executive.O'Driscoll, Mervyn. Ireland, Germany and the Nazis: Politics and Diplomacy 1919–1939. Four Courts Press, 2004, p. 218. "Ó Cuinneagáin used his position to promote nationalist and corporatist ideals while fostering Irish language revival through cultural events." At the time, many ideas of the far right, especially corporatism, were fashionable in Ireland, even with ministers of the democratically elected Irish government, and seemed to chime well with Catholic social teaching.Garvin, Tom. 1922: The Birth of Irish Democracy. Gill & Macmillan, 1996, p. 182. "Corporatist and authoritarian ideas found resonance with Catholic intellectuals and some government officials during the 1930s and 40s." These ideas were mixed with more traditional Irish nationalism and especially a hostility to the partition of Ireland.Keogh, Dermot. The Vatican, the Bishops and Irish Politics 1919–1939. Cambridge University Press, 1986, pp. 313–314. "Anti-partition sentiment, grounded in nationalist ideology, was frequently reinforced by corporatist rhetoric within Catholic political discourse."
By March 1942, though, Ó Cuinneagáin wished for a wider and more explicitly political organisation, motivated by his failure to be elected president of Conradh na Gaelige and conflicts with other members of its executive.That Neutral Island: A Cultural History of Ireland During the Second World War, Clair Willis, Faber and Faber, London 2007, , pp. 364 – 367Douglas (2009), p. 83 A two-hour speech made by Ó Cuinneagáin on Whit weekend announcing the establishment of Ailtirí na hAiséirghe as an openly fascist movement with the aim of establishing a totalitarian government in IrelandDouglas (2009), p. 85 and the publication of Aiséirghe 1942, devoted purely to Ó Cuinneagáin's political views, alienated many of their members.Douglas (2009), p. 87 A split developed which was resolved amicably between Ó Cuinneagáin and the culturalist Proinsias Mac an Bheatha, who agreed to assume Craobh na hAiséirghe's debts and changed the branch's name to Glún na Buaidhe (Generation of Victory).Douglas (2009), p. 90
Members and activities
The Department of Justice estimated the party's Dublin city membership after six months in existence to be about 30 or 40, with very few supporters outside Dublin. Due to the Dublin organisation squeezing local branches by taking a large amount of the profit from membership fees, propaganda and donations, along with fears of internment for membership of the party there existed a widespread culture among local organisations of maintaining a separate set of local membership records rather than forwarding completed application forms to Dublin, allowing the branches to retain the whole of their members' affiliation fees and count on a reliable flow of income from weekly in-house collections, and selling Aiséirghe badges as a token of de facto membership, allowing wearers to take part in activities on the same basis as those properly enrolled.Douglas (2009), p. 158 & 159
R.M. Douglas estimates that the party had around 2,000 self-identified members in the summer of 1945,Douglas (2009), p. 161 with the highest concentration of branches and active members being found in counties Cork, Tipperary and Wexford.Douglas (2009), p. 164 Despite the party's focus on the Irish language they gained few supporters in the Gaeltacht, while Aiséirghe's support in Northern Ireland was decimated after a crackdown by the Royal Ulster Constabulary following a failed publicity stunt by Ó Cuinneagáin in 1943.Douglas (2009), p. 190 A significant number of Aiséirghe members were women compared to other Irish political parties or European fascist parties, primarily motivated by concern over foreign cultural influence in Ireland and fear of being forced to emigrate, as Ireland had an unusually high rate of female emigration compared to most of Europe.Douglas (2009), p. 120 & 121
Aiséirghe began to arrange speeches where crowds of people might be found, such as pubs, cinemas, sporting events and churches, as well as to organise parades and Irish dancing.Douglas (2009), p. 178 Aiséirghe speakers would deliver a speech in Irish before switching to English, something which, according to Aindrias Ó Scolaidhe aroused the curiosity of crowds.Douglas (2009), p. 176 The party's members also engaged in extra-legal activities. Following an unsuccessful campaign to rename Talbot Street in Dublin to Seán Treacy Street, the party took matters into their own hands, defacing the official street-signs and attaching replacements of their own.Douglas (2009), p. 212 They beheaded the monument to Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough in the Phoenix Park and played a major part in sparking the VE Day riots in Dublin after Trinity College students raised the Union Jack and Soviet Union banners in celebration of the Allied victory in World War II.Douglas (2009), p. 213
Split and decline
Dissent began to grow in the party towards Ó Cuinneagáin's extremism and hostility to other political parties, and Aiséirghe's minor success in the 1945 local elections convinced many members that the party had potential for success under a more moderate leader willing to co-operate with mainstream parties and politicians.Douglas (2009), p. 234 Following internal disputes, a vote was held nominating Riobárd Breathnach to be the new party leader. Ó Cuinneagáin won the vote, but the entire Cork delegation resigned afterwards.Douglas (2009), p. 245 The split was catastrophic for Aiséirghe as it caused many members in the party's Munster heartland to leave the party.Douglas (2009), p. 248 The collapse of Aiséirghe left the path open for Clann na Poblachta, which shared some of its economic and cultural theories with the party but without the anti-democratic and anti-Semitic elements, to capitalise on political and economic disaffection towards the Fianna Fáil government. Many disillusioned Aiséirghe members defected to Clann na Poblachta.Douglas (2009), p. 254
On the morning of 14 May 1949, in an attempt to gain back the ground that was lost by the split and the rise of Clann na Poblachta, posters saying "Arm Now to Take the North." were put up by the party in Dublin and other large towns. The Gardaí responded by tearing down the posters. This only drew further attention to the spectacle which was reported on by newspapers throughout both Ireland and Britain.Douglas (2009), p. 262 & p. 264 The party's brief notoriety did not last, as Ó Cuinneagáin was unable to follow up on his call to action. Many of the new followers he had recruited by this tactic soon left.Douglas (2009), p. 265
Ailtirí na hAiséirghe held its last formal meeting in 1958, though the party newspaper, Aiséirghe, continued to appear until the early 1970s.
Ideology
The party wished to create a fascist one-party state ruled by a leader known as a 'Ceannaire' (meaning Leader in Irish). A National Council consisting of a hundred deputies would be created to elect the Ceannaire while the county councils would be abolished and replaced by four provincial assemblies elected every three years on a vocational electoral roll. Each province would have a provincial governor appointed by the Ceannaire. The province of Ulster would consist of all nine counties, ensuring a Catholic voting majority, and its provincial capital would be Dungannon, chosen due to its being the former seat of the O'Neill dynasty.Martin White, The Greenshirts: Fascism in the Irish Free State, 1935–45, p. 269
Aiséirghe promised full employment, an end to emigration (by making it a criminal offence to leave the country), discrimination against Jews and freemasons, and the reconquest of Northern Ireland by a massive conscript army. It also promised to make the use of the English language in public illegal after five years in power. The party frequently cited the Portuguese Estado Novo as an inspiration for their corporatist ideals.White (2004), p. 266 Despite their opposition to socialism, they occasionally praised the economic achievements of the Soviet Union and the communist rejection of liberal democracy.Douglas (2009), p. 93
The party intended for the state to stay out of World War II until the participants were worn out, after which Ó Cuinneagáin believed that Ireland, connecting Europe and America and having escaped the secular philosophies that had influenced other European nations after the French Revolution, would emerge as a spiritual leader to the world and re-Christianise Europe as it had after the fall of the Roman Empire, by showing that Christianity could be fully reconciled with the demands of a modern industrial society.Douglas (2009), p. 94 While a minority of party members agreed with Ó Cuinneagáin's geopolitical vision, most were more concerned with practical issues such as ending emigration and partition, regarding the idea of an Irish re-Christianisation of Europe as being merely grandiloquent rhetoric.Douglas (2009), p. 96
A central plank of Aiséirghe was its focus on the revival of the Irish language, viewing it as not only as an expression of cultural distinctiveness but also an instrument in which the party's ideals could be communicated to the Irish people.Douglas (2009), p. 112 From the day of the party's ascension to power, all official business was to be conducted in Irish and no civil servant under thirty retained who was not fluent with the language. Those making representations to the government were to be denied a hearing unless they pleaded their case in Irish. A register of Irish-speaking households was to be compiled, with members of such households accorded positive discrimination. A heavy stamp duty was to be imposed on all notices in English and all streets, towns and business names would be required to be in Irish. Though English was to be tolerated "for a reasonable time" in the case of the Catholic Church, even sermons, pastoral letters and other communications by the Church would soon be required to incorporate passages in Irish. In addition, all foreign monuments and memorials were to be destroyed, all names of Irish citizens were to be Gaelicised, and the use of titles associated with the British monarchy or aristocracy would be forbidden.Douglas (2009), p. 111