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Gifford Pinchot and Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett believe that Theodore Roosevelt should make a speech on the subject of his country life policy, believing it and conservation to be “really the two great parts of the supreme whole.” Pinchot thinks it would be best if Roosevelt could make the speech in the United Kingdom or Ireland.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-04-23
Sister Victoire Henihan asks Theodore Roosevelt to help contribute funds to build an extension of her abbey’s school in Ireland. The school serves a poor location and cannot expect help from the local area.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-08-21
President Roosevelt misspelled Rebecca W. Heney’s last name as “Heany” on a photograph he presented to her, and she would like a new one. Francis J. Heney has supported Roosevelt’s reformed spelling campaign, but fears his relations in Ireland would resent the reforms. Referring to Roosevelt’s imminent departure for Africa, Heney laments that the country will lose its “most valiant leader and fighter” at its “most critical period.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-12
Reverend Sole thanks President Roosevelt for his unexpected graciousness when Father Ketcham introduced them last October. He requests permission to repeat Roosevelt’s words from their meeting, and summarizes the points Roosevelt made about the treatment of Catholics. He was particularly heartened by Roosevelt’s antagonism towards the anti-Catholic American Protective Society. Sole assures Roosevelt that in the future, Catholics will be grateful for his policy decisions on “Catholic rights” issues.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-04
Ambassador Reid updates President Roosevelt on the political exploits of Winston Churchill, who is once again running a contested election, and whose comments on Ireland have caused problems in Parliament.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-01
Ambassador to France Henry White expresses regret that President Roosevelt was unable to secure funding from Congress for the construction of four battleships. He praises Roosevelt’s handling of the controversy surrounding German Emperor William II’s dislike of the new American Ambassador to Germany, David Jayne Hill. White also offers his assessment of H. H. Asquith, the new British Prime Minister, and updates Roosevelt on the Trevelyans, with whom he recently dined. Includes handwritten original and typed copy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-19
British Ambassador James Bryce introduces his former colleague Antony Patrick MacDonnell, current Under-Secretary for Ireland and former British official in India. MacDonnell performed excellently in all of his positions, and Bryce relied heavily on his judgement while working with him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-07
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Reid comments on Winston Churchill’s recent promotion to the Privy Council, noting that it acknowledges his rise in the party without giving him a seat in the Cabinet. Churchill is still not well liked. Reid relays the debates on Horace Curzon Plunkett in the House of Commons and reports on English newspaper coverage of Roosevelt’s speech at Jamestown. He comments on unease over labor relations in France, the planning of an event after the Colonial Premiers’ Conference, opposition to a proposed move for a limitation of armaments at the Hague Conference, and Lewis Harcourt’s proposed English Land Bill.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-01
Lady Gregory sends her book Saints & Wonders to President Roosevelt and discusses the challenges of isolating the Irish Christian literature from that of Rome and Judea. Gregory has heard of Roosevelt’s interest in old Irish literature. She remarks that the Irish are “more and more turning our back to England and our face to America” as so many Irish have gone to the “Land of Promise.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-12
Andrew Carnegie agrees with President Roosevelt on disarmament, although he recognizes that it will be difficult to formulate a satisfactory plan. Carnegie says Roosevelt’s declaration that the United States does not seek to increase the present Navy but only to maintain it will be the great force making for agreement. Carnegie criticizes the practice of failing to give previous notice of war before attacking, and presents the “League of Peace” idea as the easiest and best solution. He encourages Roosevelt to be the one to formally propose it, as the United States is the only great power “free from international jealousies.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-27
Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett praises President Roosevelt for his efforts to promote agriculture and rural life at a time when the population is gravitating towards cities.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-22
R. N. Reed thanks Maurice Francis Egan for the memorandum about Eugene O’Curry’s “Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish” and P. W. Joyce’s “Social History of Ancient Ireland.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-24
Ambassador Reid writes to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, describing three dinners he recently attended which were hosted by the Chinese Minister, the Pilgrim’s Society, and the Royal Geographical Society, respectively. Reid includes anecdotes about British politicians like Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Winston Churchill, Augustine Birrell, John Morley, and George Curzon. Reid also references issues associated with the education bill, the administration of India, “trouble” in Natal, and negotiations with Russia over Seistan. Reid felt that the details he included might be of interest to Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-12
John M. Farley writes to Patrick J. McNulty to discuss the Irish Industrial Exposition.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-01
John Byrne writes to Patrick J. McNulty to discuss the Irish Industrial Exposition. The two men hope to secure President Roosevelt as the speaker to open the exhibition.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-09-01
George Otto Trevelyan thanks President Roosevelt for his letter, which was praised by his son Charles Philips Trevelyan. Trevelyan has been following newspaper accounts of Roosevelt’s role in dealing with Russia, and laments the problems that beset the late British Prime Minister W. E. Gladstone. He is glad that Roosevelt does not have to deal with similar problems. Trevelyan sends Roosevelt a book about the 1857 mutiny in India.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-30
Michael Davitt writes to ask President Roosevelt to make a statement in favor of Irish independence from England. Noting that England very much admires Roosevelt and would listen to him, Davitt explains the reasons why Ireland needs to be allowed self-rule. He also offers data about the large number of American immigrants who have left Ireland, having a negative impact on Ireland.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-04
Francis M. Carroll examines Theodore Roosevelt’s opinions on the question of home rule for Ireland during World War I, and demonstrates how John Quinn, a prominent Irish-American, used arguments Roosevelt made in an August 1917 letter to George Russell in his book on the home rule question. Carroll examines the state of Irish-British relations during World War I and looks at Roosevelt’s correspondence with those involved in the home rule issue. The article reprints in side by side columns Roosevelt’s August 1917 letter to George Russell and portions of Quinn’s The Irish Home-Rule Convention, demonstrating that Quinn used much of Roosevelt’s language and arguments in his own work.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1980
H. C. G. Moule thanks Annie Augusta King Cole for her letter and the photograph he sent. He also thanks her for the book from Charles Kingsley’s library she sent him. He hopes she is well and can come visit.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-14
A newspaper article from The New Zealand Times recalling a sermon given by Right Reverend Monsignor Fowler in favor of Home Rule for Ireland. The article reports Theodore Roosevelt told King George V that the United States would not be an ally for England until they “did justice to Ireland.”