HISTORY & LITERATUE 13 MARCH 2016

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HISTORY & LITERATURE 13 MARCH 2016
363
1920 (March 1) A summons to the managers of
Dublin City Hibernian Bank branches to appear
in the Police Court.
A 2-page typewritten summons to appear at a
Preliminary Inquiry in the Police Court, The King
v. Persons unknown. “Whereas it has been sworn...
that on the said 31st day of October some persons
did unlawfully receive certain unlawful contribu-
tions for certain unlawful associations.” Signed
Alan Bell, the summoned Hibernian Bank manag-
ers listed with the addresses of their branches.
Provenance: Served on Thomas F. Read, one of the
five named Hibernian Bank managers.
Thence by descent.
In their search for bond monies in Dublin banks,
Dublin Castle recruited Resident Magistrate Alan
Bell, from Banagher, who had previous success in
locating Land League funds in Irish banks. By the
date of this summons he had successfully confis-
cated over £71,000 from Sinn Féin’s headquarters.
The preliminary enquiry he instigated in the Police
Court was to be the first step in seizing the pro-
ceeds of bond issues from Sinn Fein. The proceed-
ings, which were held in camera, came to nothing
as the bankers refused to reveal account details.
On 26 March 1920, three weeks after he signed
this summons, while travelling by tram to Dub-
lin from his home in Monkstown, Bell, who was
armed with a revolver, was dragged from the tram
at Sandymount Avenue and shot dead.
Estimate €200-€300 £156-£234
364
1920-21 Reports on the War of Independence
British Labour Party and American Commission
and Who Burnt Cork City?
The American Commission On Conditions in
Ireland 1921, Report Of The Labour Commission
To Ireland, 1921, also Who Burnt Cork City? pub-
lished by The Irish Labour Party and Trade Union
Congress, Dublin, 1921. (3)
Estimate €100-€150 £78-£117
365
1920 (25 May). Terence MacSwiney signed cheque.
1920 Munster + Leinster Bank paid cheque for £1 signed by Terence MacSwiney in Irish ‘Toirbhealbhach
mac Suibhne’ and dated at Cork 25.V.20, with blue embossed 2d. cheque duty stamp.
Terence James MacSwiney (Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne), 28 March 1879 – 25 October 1920, was a play-
wright, author, revolutionary and politician. He was elected as Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork during the
Irish War of Independence in 1920. He was arrested by the British on charges of sedition and imprisoned in
Brixton Prison in England. His death there in October 1920 after 74 days on hunger strike brought him and
the Irish struggle for independence to international attention.
Estimate €250-€350 £195-£273