‘Fascinating’ exhibit includes IRA letters from century ago

A new exhibition about Cavan during the War of Independence is set to be launched this Saturday in the Johnson Central Library in Cavan.

The exhibition features material gathered by Frank Dolphin, an IRA intelligence officer from Ballyconnell with the IRA in the late 1910s, and early 1920s. The material was donated to the museum by his son Frankie.

Resident historian at Cavan County Council, Brendan Scott, who compiled the exhibition, said it contains a vast amount of information on the time period never seen before in Cavan.

“Frank amassed a huge archive of observational reports of accounts of letters or different things.

“There’s no archive like it for Cavan, there’s an incredible depth and wealth of materials. It’s unprecedented.”

The exhibit contains documents that delivered important news during that time period, according to Mr Scott.

“There’s a telegram in there, which gave us the result of the Daíl vote on the treaty on January 7, 1922, which was 64-57,” revealed the historian. “The information on that telegram was what led eventually to the Civil War.”

He also says that the trove contains correspondence that offers a rare insight into how the IRA waged war with very few resources.

“The information shows just how amazingly efficient the IRA were. They had basically no money. There’s one brilliant letter where some of the battalions are on a training course and they need to get extra money because the plates and mugs are broken.”

Another letter lists the weapons held by the IRA in West Cavan. “It lists a very small number of guns. But then there’s a note on the bottom that says, ‘we have no ammunition for the guns’.

“They were facing the British Empire on a shoestring budget. I was amazed by how well organised they were how efficient they were, every time you look you can find something new each time. It’s fascinating.”

The exhibit also gives a window into day-to-day life in Cavan during the revolutionary period.

“It gives all sorts of information as to what’s going on in West Cavan during that period, what people the IRA need to keep an eye on, what the RIC are doing, what the Black and Tans are doing and all sorts of things like that. There are photographs, letters, maps, and all types of paperwork. You can see how much they’re paying for stuff, as well as reports on what happens to different people if they were attacked and memorial cards for people who got killed.”

Mr Scott spent over a year and a half putting the exhibit together.

“I’ve been working on it on and off for 18-20 months. It took a while to go through the material to see what was there. There’s a catalogue of some of the highlights as well so people who have to come and visit the exhibition, they can pick up the catalogue and it will also be made into an online exhibit. It will be available for viewing into the New Year.”

The exhibition will be launched at midday this Saturday.