Ireland’s Minister of External Affairs Desmond FitzGerald, left, welcomes John Devoy in July 1924.
John Devoy, Fenian exile and Gaelic American newspaper editor, returned to Ireland in July 1924, his first trip home in 45 years. The 82-year-old revolutionary had been a relentless fighter for Irish independence since the middle of the nineteenth century.
Devoy arrived two years after the creation of the 26-county Irish Free State. Personal and political divisions remained raw from the internecine violence in the Irish Civil War. Six counties of Ulster province had been partitioned in 1920 as Northern Ireland.
The visit received substantial coverage in the Irish press. Most mainstream U.S. papers carried wire service briefs or abbreviated reports from Irish or U.K. journals. Unsurprisingly, Devoy’s homecoming received the most attention in the weekly Gaelic American, which he founded in 1903. Front page coverage of his visit stretched over 14 issues from mid-July to mid-October 1924. The headlines below are linked to each of those issues, generously provided by Villanova University’s Digital Library.
July 19: “John Devoy Sails For Home On Saturday”
July 26: “John Devoy Speeds Back To Old Land: Veteran Irish Editor Ending 58 Year Exile Gets Rousing Sendoff” (The reference to “58 year exile” in the sub-headline is incorrect. Devoy was exiled in 1871. He made a short, surreptitious return to Ireland in 1879.)
Aug. 2: “John Devoy Greeted At Cobh”
Aug. 9: “John Devoy Sends Thanks To His Friends” July 23 shipboard cable from Devoy about his New York sendoff.
Aug. 16: “Whole Irish Nation Hails John Devoy: Striking Scenes At Cobh As Fenian Chief Arrives; Irish Troops Salute Him” Reprint of July 28 Freeman’s Journal story. Includes photo of Devoy aboard ship getting his first look at Ireland.
Aug. 23: “John Devoy Meets Notables; Visits Glasnevin And Scenes Of His Boyhood”
Aug. 30: “Unity Of All Ireland Seen By Fenian Veteran” Undated story from the Irish Independent. Includes photo of Devoy and others at the Independent’s offices. Also, “John Devoy In Ireland: A Tour Of Triumph”, dated Aug. 13.
Sept. 6: “Devoy Makes Unity Plea To Ulstermen” Three stories.
Sept. 13: “John Devoy Closes Irish Breaches” Report of Devoy’s final days in Ireland.
Sept. 20: “Different Groups Come Together To Honor John Devoy At Farewell Banquet In Dublin” Two stories, plus photo of Devoy at monument to fellow Fenian prisoner James Blaney Rice.
Sept. 27: “John Devoy’s Farewell Message to the People of Ireland” From the Sept. 5 Freeman’s Journal. Also, on page 4, “John Devoy’s Visit To Irish Prison Stirs Old Memories”
Oct. 4: “Dail Member Inspired By Devoy’s Advice” Alasdair McCabe’s letter to the Irish Independent. Also, “Irish World Again Maligns John Devoy” Story says the rival Irish World published three articles “abusing John Devoy.”
Oct. 11: “Devoy’s Plea For Unity Is Being Heeded”
Oct. 18: “John Devoy Sheds Light On Irish Trip” From the Sept. 27 Roscommon Heard. Devoy denies any effort to influence the membership of the Free State cabinet. “All that has been published in the Irish press in that regard, including what has been copied in the news columns of The Gaelic American, was pure guesswork.”
Devoy died four years later, in September 1928. His remains were returned to Ireland and interred in the “republican plot” at Glasnevin Cemetery.
Devoy’s grave at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.