The section of the catalogue of Eamon de Valera’s extensive papers, covering his time as President of the Executive Council and his first period as Taoiseach (1932–1948), includes material on negotiations with the UK; the drafting, publication and approval of the 1937 Constitution; the Emergency; and Irish neutrality.

Among this rich documentation, is a file of personal correspondence between de Valera and Neville Chamberlain. The correspondence mostly covers the period from December 1938 to November 1940. Topics discussed partition; neutrality; letters from de Valera seeking clemency for the two IRA men, Peter Barnes and James Richards, condemned to death for participating in the 1939 Coventry bombing; Chamberlain’s illness and retirement from government in 1940. The file ends with a note recording Chamberlain’s death on 9 November 1940, de Valera’s message of condolence to Chamberlain’s wife, Anne, and further correspondence with her in 1947 concerning de Valera’s radio broadcast in reply to Winston Churchill, in which de Valera paid tribute to her husband.

An interesting correspondence evolves between them concerning partition and neutrality: Chamberlain offering the possibility of a united Ireland as a means to draw Ireland into the war effort on the side of the Allies, and de Valera insisting that a united Ireland would be a neutral country, which Chamberlain cannot accept.

Documents elsewhere in this section provide some context. Below is a statement to the Associated Press outlining Ireland’s policy of neutrality in the event of war.

UCDA P150/2561 Eamon de Valera’s statement to the Associated Press, 17 February, 1939

 “The desire of the Irish people, and the desire of the Irish Government is to keep our nation out of war. The aim of Government policy is to maintain and preserve our neutrality in the event of war.

“The best way, and the way to secure our aim, is to put ourselves in the best position possible to defend ourselves, so that no one can hope to attack us, or violate our territory, with impunity. We know, of course, that should an attack come from a Power other than Great Britain, Great Britain, in her own interests, must help us to repel it.”

Mr de Valera said also that the Irish Government had not entered into any commitments with Great Britain. His Government was free to follow any course that Irish interests might dictate.

Government Buildings,

Dublin, February 17^th, 1939

In a file of communications between de Valera and Eduard Hempel, representative of Nazi Germany in Ireland, a draft message from de Valera to Chamberlain outlines Hempel’s call to de Valera in 1939, assuring de Valera of Germany’s willingness to respect Ireland’s neutrality.

UCDA P150/2582 Draft message from Eamon de Valera to Neville Chamberlain, 31 August 1939

The German Minister, on behalf of his Government, called today officially on the Taoiseach. He expressed the desire of the German Government to remain on friendly terms with Ireland and conveyed the assurances of Germany’s intention in case of war to respect Ireland’s neutrality. The [Taoiseach] expressed his satisfaction at the attitude of the [German Government].*

In the file of correspondence between de Valera and Chamberlain, de Valera sent a letter of appreciation to Chamberlain following his replacement as Prime Minister by Winston Churchill:

‘I would like to testify that you did more than any former British Statesman to make a true friendship between the peoples of our two countries possible, and, if the task has not been completed, that it has not been for want of good will on your part’

Chamberlain’s reply thanking de Valera concludes:

‘I trust you will consider very seriously the danger of enemy landings from troop-carrying planes. The Germans do not respect neutrality and the rapidity and efficiency of their methods are terrifying’.

(15 May 1940)

UCDA P150/2548 Neville Chamberlain to Eamon de Valera, 18 May 1940

10 Downing Street,
Whitehall.

May 18 1940

My dear de Valera.

Your letter of the 15^th was as welcome as it was unexpected and I was deeply touched and gratified by your kind and generous words.

I have had to suffer many grievous disappointments in my political career and not the least has been the failure to establish the friendship between our peoples on a permanent basis. But I feel that the efforts you and I made were not without result. They did establish a firm basis of personal confidence in one another’s sincerity and good will—and that is valuable—and if they did not accomplish all we hoped I believe they removed a good many sources of discontent & bitterness and perhaps laid a foundation on which someone—if not we—may build.

At this time of poignant anxiety your sympathy and good wishes are very welcome and I thank you for them.

I trust you will consider very sincerely the danger of enemy landings from troop carrying planes. The Germans do not respect neutrality and the rapidity and efficiency of their methods are terrifying.

With best wishes for happier times. Believe me

Yours very sincerely
Neville Chamberlain

The file includes a proposal by the British Government presented to de Valera by Malcolm MacDonald, Minister for Health, on 26 June 1940, when MacDonald came to Dublin to make clear the conviction of the British Government that a German invasion of Ireland was imminent. 

The British Government proposed a six-point plan which offered to accept the principle of a united Ireland and to set up a joint body with representatives of the governments of Ireland (Éire) and Northern Ireland to work out the details of the union of Ireland in return for Ireland entering the war on the side of the UK and her allies.

Attached to the proposal is an annex captioned ‘Equipment to be supplied by United Kingdom Government in accordance with paragraph (vi) of the plan’ i.e. Army material, Air Force material and Civil Defence equipment. The document is annotated by Kathleen O’Connell: Brought over by Mr. Malcom MacDonald & Handed to Taoiseach on June 26th 1940.

UCDA P150/2548 Proposals by the British Government presented to de Valera by  Malcolm MacDonald on 26 June 1940

The United Kingdom Government would be glad to be informed what would be the attitude of the Government of Eire towards the following plan. If the plan is acceptable as a whole to the Government of Eire, the United Kingdom Government will at once seek to obtain the assent thereto of the Government of Northern Ireland, in so far as the plan affects Northern Ireland.

The following are the proposals which, taken together as a whole, constitute the plan referred to in the preceding paragraph.

(i) A declaration to be issued by the United Kingdom Government forthwith accepting the principle of a United Ireland.

(ii) A joint body including representatives of the Government of Eire and the Government of Northern Ireland to be set up at once to work out the constitutional and other practical details of the Union of Ireland. The United Kingdom Government to give such assistance towards the work of this body as might be desired.

(iii) A joint Defence Council representative of Eire and Northern Ireland to be set up immediately.

(iv) Eire to enter the war on the side of the United Kingdom and her allies forthwith, and, for the purposes of the Defence of Eire, the Government of Eire to invite British naval vessels to have the use of ports in Eire and British troops and aeroplanes to co-operate with the Eire forces and to be stationed in such positions in Eire as may be agreed between the two Governments.

(v) The Government of Eire to intern all German and Italian aliens in the country and to take any further steps necessary to suppress Fifth Column activities.

(vi) The United Kingdom Government to provide military equipment at once to the Government of Eire in accordance with the particulars given in the annex.

June, 1940.

De Valera’s reply of 4 July 1940, rejected this proposal:

‘We are unable to accept the plan outlined, which we note is purely tentative and has not been submitted to Lord Craigavon and his colleagues. The plan would involve our entry into the war. … The plan would commit us definitely to an immediate abandonment of our neutrality. On the other hand, it gives no guarantee that in the end we would have a united Ireland, unless indeed concessions were made to Lord Craigavon opposed to the sentiments and aspirations of the great majority of the Irish people.’ De Valera also argues that a unified, neutral Ireland would be a strategic good which would ‘mobilise the whole of the manpower of this country for the national defence.’

UCDA P150/2548 Eamon de Valera to Neville Chamberlain, 4 July 1940

July 4th, 1940

Dear Mr Chamberlain,

The memorandum handed to me by Mr. MacDonald, and your letter of June 29th, have been considered by my Government.

We are unable to accept the plan outlined, which we note is purely tentative and has not been submitted to Lord Craigavon and his colleagues. 

The plan would involve our entry into the war. That is a course for which we could not accept responsibility. Our people would be quite unprepared for it, and Dáil Éireann would certainly reject it.

We are, of course, aware that the policy of neutrality has its dangers, but, on the other hand, departure from it would involve us in dangers greater still. 

The plan would commit us definitely to an immediate abandonment of our neutrality. On the other hand, it gives no guarantee that in the end we would have a united Ireland, unless indeed concessions were made to Lord Craigavon opposed to the sentiments and aspirations of the great majority of the Irish people.

Our present Constitution represents the limit to which we believe our people are prepared to go to meet the sentiments of the Northern Unionists, but, on the plan proposed, Lord Craigavon and his colleagues could at any stage render the whole project nugatory and prevent the desired unification by demanding concessions to which the majority of the people could not agree. By such methods unity was prevented in the past, and it is obvious that under the plan outlined they could be used again. The only way in which the unity which is so needed can in our view be secured is, as I explained to Mr. MacDonald, by the immediate establishment of a single sovereign all-Ireland Parliament, free to decide all matters of national policy, internal and external—the Government which it would elect being responsible for taking the most effective measures for national defence.

It was in this connection that I suggested as a line to be explored the possibility of creating such a parliament by the entry into the parliament her of the present representatives in the parliament in Belfast.

I regret that my proposal that the unity of Ireland should be established on the basis of the whole country becoming neutral is unacceptable to your Government. On the basis of unity and neutrality we could mobilise the whole of the manpower of this country for the national defence. That, with the high morale which could thus be secured and the support of the Irish race throughout the world, would constitute the most effective bulwark against attack, and would provide the surest guarantee against any part of our territory being used as a base for operations against Britain.

The course suggested in your plan could only lead to internal weakness and eventual frustration.

Yours sincerely,
(Signed) Eamon de Valera

The Right Honourable Neville Chamberlain, M.P.,
Privy Council Office
Whitehall, S.W.

__________

* A copy of the message as sent to Chamberlain via John W. Dulanty may be found in Documents in Irish Foreign Policy, Vol. 5.

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This post was written by Kate Manning, Principal Archivist, UCD Archives