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6 September 1941
THE IRISH , LOYALTY AND OPTIMISM in WWII
During WWII all correspondence leaving Newfoundland and Labrador was intercepted by an official censor from the Office of the Commissioner for Justice and Defence that was under the direction of L.E. Emerson of the Newfoundland Department of Defence.
Most governments of the day argued that censorship was necessary to prevent valuable information getting into enemy hands and to maintain high morale on the home front.
In order to meet these goals every letter leaving the province was read to insure that individuals were not wittingly or unwittingly giving information to the enemy.
On September 20, 1941 Commissioner Emerson brought to the attention of Archbishop Roche, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. John’s, the contents of a letter that the censor board had intercepted that was written by a young Irish born teacher Brother E.P. O’Farrell on staff at St. Patrick’s Hall School, St. John’s. Emerson found the letter be very suspect. He described the views held by Brother O’Farrell to be “positively dangerous.”
The letter dated September 6, 1941 written by Brother O’Farrell to his parents in County Kerry, Ireland was considered dangerous on a number of grounds.
Brother O’Farrell in his letter applauded the fact that Ireland had declared itself neutral during the war. Neutrality was overwhelmingly supported by the population of Ireland; a minority of Irish Republicans sided with Germany, believing that a German victory might bring about a United Ireland.
Moreover, in a war in which the United Kingdom was involved, neutrality was perceived as the clearest expression of Irish sovereignty, something the Irish Prime Minister Éamon de Valera fervently sought.
In his letter Brother O’Farrell speculated that ‘I don’t think (President) Roosevelt will succeed in getting the States to fight and that all Catholics and all the Bishops are determined to stay out of the war.’
The ‘neutral’ position taken by the Irish lead many to be suspicious of the Irish and their intentions. Given that Brother O’Farrell was Irish born and a teacher Emerson insisted “raise considerable alarm”. He encouraged Archbishop Roche to insist that “Catholic teachers needed to maintain an atmosphere of loyalty and optimism in the schools”
Upon receipt of Emmerson’s letter Archbishop Roche sent for Brother Keane, Superior of Mount St. Francis, who was very distressed and disturbed over the unfortunate incident.
He thought that Brother O’Farrell’s letter was so disturbing that he considered suspending him from teaching, but reconsidered thinking that the “undesirable publicity might reflect on the other members of the teaching staff.”
For more information on this and other related subjects contact the Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese. www.stjohnsarchdiocese.nf.ca
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Larry Dohey
Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s
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St. John’s, NL
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