Who were the ‘southern Irish loyalists’?

A fascinating and sometimes overlooked part of our history will be the subject matter for a talk by Dr Niamh Brennan, County Archivist, Donegal County Council, at 7pm tomorrow, Wednesday, May 24 in the County Museum, Letterkenny.

She will endeavour to answer the questions as to who were these ‘southern Irish loyalists’ - what happened to them during the Revolutionary years? What was the Irish Grants Committee and how did it assist refugees and why? Who were their supporters? The talk will also look at several of the applicants claiming compensation, including those from County Donegal.

In 1922 the Irish Distress Committee (IGC) later becoming the Irish Grants Committee in March 1923, was set up in London to provide assistance to refugees who had fled from Ireland to England, but later extended its activities to granting loans to persons having valid claims against either the British or Irish Governments. The IGC investigated compensation claims and compensated thousands of people.

Claims included those for personal and business property destruction or damage, personal injury and assault, in some cases murder or kidnapping of a family member, threats to family and property, confiscation of land, driving of cattle, injury to animals and boycott of businesses. Among those men and women from all over Ireland who sought compensation, there were landowners, small farmers, tenants on estates, those in business, former policemen, civil servants along with their families. Many, if not all the claimants would have regarded themselves as apolitical and did not see themselves as loyalists. The work of the IGC was wound up in 1928.

Dr Brennan is the author of the much-quoted Ph.D. thesis: ‘Compensating Southern Irish Loyalists after the Anglo-Irish Treaty, 1922 – 1932’. This talk forms part of Donegal’s Decade of Centenaries Commemorative Programme.

The talk is free admission and to book, contact Donegal County Museum at (074)) 9124613 or e-mail to museum@donegalcoco.ie