Ardclough Sedition Case
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Ardclough Sedition Case was a complaint and threat of prosecution leveled against “Nora J Murray” (1888–1955), an Irish
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
and school teacher, during the revolutionary period.


Complaint

Ms Murray’s teaching of history in
Ardclough Ardclough, officially Ardclogh (; ), is a village and community in the parish of Kill, County Kildare, Ireland. It is two miles (3 km) off the N7 national primary road. It is the burial place and probable birthplace of Arthur Guinness, wh ...
National School was the subject of a complaint from local Unionist landlord Bertram Hugh Barton (1858–1927) in 1916. Late in 1917 these allegations reappeared in the form of a complaint about “seditious teaching” filed to the National School commissioners in the name of Mrs Bourke, who said that her child had been discriminated against because he was the son of a British soldier.Records of the Commissioners of National Education, National Archives, ED9/2758o. Letter from Mrs Bourke to the Commissioners, C.O. 28469-I7 Mrs Bourke informed the Commissioners that the teacher “instructs the children always to hate the British and tells them when they grow up she hopes they will fight and die for an Irish Republic,” phrases uncannily similar to the complaints used by Bertram Barton. She alleged that Ms Murray taught children the nationalist poetry written by
Emily Lawless The Hon. Emily Lawless (17 June 184519 October 1913) was an Irish novelist, historian, entomologist, gardener, and poet from County Kildare. Her innovative approach to narrative and the psychological richness of her fiction have been identified ...
(1845–1913) who had been born in nearby
Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
and who was a granddaughter of United Irish leader
Valentine Lawless Baron Cloncurry, of Cloncurry in the County of Kildare, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 29 December 1789 for Sir Nicholas Lawless, 1st Baronet, who had earlier represented Lifford in the Irish House of Commons. He had a ...
2nd baron Cloncurry (1773–1853). She also alleged that Ms Murray had allowed songs composed by Thomas Davis and
Peadar Kearney Peadar Kearney ( ; 12 December 1883 – 24 November 1942) was an Irish republican and composer of numerous rebel songs. In 1907 he wrote the lyrics to "A Soldier's Song" (), now the Irish national anthem. He was the uncle of Irish writers Bren ...
to be sung in class. Influences of all three writers can be found in Murray’s own poetry.


Response

In October 1917 the Commissioners notified the manager of the school, John Donovan that the complaint had been received. He responded that, contrary to Mrs Bourke's accusations, that there had been no instances of seditious teaching in the history class, which had focused mainly on the Norman period, that the charge of victimisation of Bourke’s child was “absolutely false” and that the numbers attending the school had not, as alleged, fallen as a consequence of a loss of confidence in Miss Murray. Fr Donovan referred to “the celebrated tongue” Mrs Bourke had in the neighbourhood.” He claimed that the teacher was both efficient and popular, and that any songs that may have been sung in class were so widely known that “no-one attaches any significance to them.”


Enquiry

A sworn enquiry organised by Commissioners was postponed, pending a prosecution for
sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...
by the
Dublin Castle administration in Ireland Dublin Castle was the centre of the government of Ireland under English and later British rule. "Dublin Castle" is used metonymically to describe British rule in Ireland. The Castle held only the executive branch of government and the Privy Cou ...
. A defence fund was organised by local people and after considerable publicity no sedition proceedings were initiated. The only demand on Miss Murray from the Commissioners was that she was required in future to submit all songs to be sung in class for prior approval. Mrs Bourke’s children moved to a Protestant school run under the patronage of Barton in Straffan demesne.


Significance

The case was regarded as a turning point in the battle between the Colonial authorities and the
Irish National Teachers Organisation The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) (), founded in 1868, is the oldest and largest teachers' trade union in Ireland. It represents teachers at primary level in the Republic of Ireland, and at primary and post-primary level in Nor ...
and school managers for freedom of expression in the Irish classrooms at a time when teachers were instructed to force children to recite poems such as “a happy English child.


Notes

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References

*Gabriel Doherty: National Identity and the Study of Irish History in “The English Historical Review,” Vol. 111, No. 441 (April 1996), pp. 332–3 (Oxford University Press). *John Rooney: The poetry of Nora J Murray in Carrick on Shannon remembered p 57. (1996) *Nora J Murray: A Wind Upon the Heath (1918) *Eoghan Corry and Jim Tancred: Annals of Ardclough (1914) *Freeman’s Journal November 29, 1917. *Leinster Leader December 1, 1917, March 30, 1918, August 18, 1918, August 31, 1918, November 30, 1918. *Leitrim Observer December 1, 1917 1917 in Ireland History of education in Ireland