Sinn Féin Bank

The Sinn Féin Bank, formally the Sinn Féin Co-operative People's Bank, Ltd. (Irish: Coṁar-Ḃannc Sinn Féin, Teo.[1]) was a co-operative bank in Ireland associated with the Sinn Féin movement,[2] which operated from August 1908 to October 1921. The Sinn Féin Bank is sometimes confused with the National Land Bank, established as a friendly society in 1919 with Dáil backing and premises at 5 Harcourt Street.[3]

No. 6 Harcourt St, office of the Sinn Féin Bank 1910–21

Foundation

The bank was established in 1908 to "carry out the business of banker and bill discounter, and of Dealer in Stocks, Shares, Bonds, Debentures and other Securities to assist in the development of Irish industries".[4][5] Its founding council comprised George W. Russell, Arthur Griffith, and P. T. Daly.[1] In 1910 it purchased headquarters at 6 Harcourt Street for £575,[6] leasing the upper floors to the Sinn Féin party, from where the Sinn Féin newspaper was edited.[7] A contemporary wrote, "we do not envy the man who has the job of persuading [nationalists] that the new Sinn Fein bank (which we take it will be established without complying with the requirements of British law) is a secure nest for his savings as the Bank of Ireland".[8]

War of Independence

When the First Dáil proclaimed an Irish Republic in 1919, it opened a "Trustees of Dáil Éireann" account at the Sinn Féin Bank for a "Self Determination Fund" of donations from supporters.[9] The Department of Finance of the Dáil ministry under Michael Collins was also in 6 Harcourt Street in 1919.[10] Kathleen Kearney met her husband Stephen Behan while working at the Sinn Féin Bank.[11] Several times in 1919 and 1920, during the Irish War of Independence, the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) raided and ordered the closure of 6 Harcourt Street.[2][12][13] The bank's bookkeeping was deliberately complex, with proxy names for accounts held by republican leaders.[14][15] In 1923 it was claimed that the authorities "were unable to make head or tail out of" the books it had confiscated.[14]

On 29 November 1919, the martial law authorities ordered the bank to close, and on 2 January 1920, the DMP went to enforce this order.[16] Based on cheques recovered in a DMP raid on 6 Harcourt Street on 27 February 1920, the Attorney-General for Ireland on 2 March 1920 ordered Hibernian Bank and Munster and Leinster Bank to give evidence at a private inquiry into their relations with the Sinn Féin Bank.[17][18][19] The inquiry was led by Alan Bell, a resident magistrate, as part of his broader, mostly secret, search for Dáil funds.[19] The banks' officials were reluctant to co-operate.[20] On 26 March 1920, Bell was taken from a tram and shot by Collins' IRA "Squad".[21][22] The bank secured through the courts the return of £8000 confiscated in the raid.[23][24]

On 29 November 1920, the bank's office was damaged when the authorities took up the floorboards and blew open a secret underground safe.[25][26] On 14 March 1921, the bank's manager, David Kelly, brother of Sinn Féin TD Thomas Kelly, was killed by crossfire on Great Brunswick Street.[27] In the Second Dáil on 18 August 1921, Séamus Dwyer claimed "All the monies invested [in the Sinn Féin Bank] were in jeopardy".[28]

Liquidation

On 19 October 1921, the bank passed a resolution to wind up the company and appointing William O'Brien Hishon liquidator.[14] The confiscated books were returned to Hishon "in a sack" after the June 1921 truce ended the Anglo-Irish War, and he set about deciphering them.[14] Michael Collins told the Second Dáil on 26 April 1922 that the Sinn Féin Bank was "now in Liquidation"; of £201,944 8s. 4d. Trustees Accounts of Dáil funds, £1,660 7s. 5d. was in the Sinn Féin Bank and the rest in the London Office.[29] By December 1923, Hishon had received £3,501 in moneys due and paid out £2,685, leaving a balance of £815.[14] The provisional government established under the Anglo-Irish Treaty merged the institutions of the Irish Republic into those of the Dublin Castle administration into the new Irish Free State. On 16 April 1923, the Free State Chancery Division ordered the winding up of the Sinn Féin Bank company, appointing Donal O'Connor as liquidator.[30] In August 1923 the court authorised O'Connor to auction off the Harcourt Street premises, which were "almost derelict".[30] (In March 1966 they were bought by Conradh na Gaeilge.[31]) The court ruled in December 1923 that the 1921 winding-up resolution was invalid, and ordered Hishon to transfer the £815 balance to O'Connor.[14] The bank was dissolved by the High Court in March 1925 and its assets were liquidated.[32] In April 1926, Dublin County Council, presented with a demand for £113 for damage caused by the DMP raids in 1919–21, voted 13–1 not to pay.[33] The liquidation was completed by 1931 after proceedings costing £2,406 8s. 6d.[34] The republican Dáil had deposited money with the bank and the Irish Free State, as its legal successor, received £1,198 10s. 9d. at the standard writedown of 50%, forgoing its preferential claim under the Dáil Éireann Loans and Funds Act, 1924.[32][34] Other creditors received £2,620 7s. 0d. at the same rate.[34] In 1933, the Free State voted £2,045 in public funds to repay creditors for the shortfall.[32]

References

Sources
  • Evans, Gary (2012). "The raising of the first internal Dáil Éireann Loan and the British responses to it, 1919–1921". eTheses Archive. NUI Maynooth. Retrieved 19 October 2015.

Citations
  1. "1908 Sinn Fein Co-operative People's Bank prospectus and rules". Irish Volunteers.org. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  2. Hughes, Katherine (1920). "Sinister reason for bank raids". English atrocities in Ireland; a compilation of facts from court and press records. foreword by James D. Phelan. New York Friends of Irish Freedom. p. 21.
  3. Quinn, Peggy (1995). An Irish Banking Revolution: The Story of the National Land Bank Ltd., the National City Bank Ltd., Chase & Bank of Ireland (International) Ltd. Bank of Ireland.
  4. Allen, Nicholas (2003). George Russell (Æ) and the New Ireland, 1905–30. Four Courts Press. p. 43. ISBN 9781851826919.
  5. MacCába, Alasdair (1909). "The Extension of Co-operative Banking to Irish Towns". Irish year book and world directory. Kenny Press. p. 78.
  6. "Here's why you should go visit Uimhir 6 on Dublin's Harcourt Street". Newstalk. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  7. "Historic Dublin property sale". Irish Independent. 18 June 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  8. Boyce, David George (1988). The Revolution in Ireland, 1879–1923. Gill and Macmillan. p. 223.
  9. O’Donoghue, Daithi (26 March 1951). "Financing the First and Second Dail Eireann". generalmichaelcollins.com. Collins 22 Society. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  10. Evans 2012, pp.103–4
  11. Goulding, Cathal (1 May 1984). "Kathleen Behan; an appreciation". The Irish Times. p. 10. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  12. The Capuchin Annual. Capuchin Annual. 1970. p. 470.
  13. Yeates, Pádraig (28 September 2012). Dublin: A City in Turmoil: Dublin 1919 – 1921. Gill & Macmillan. pp. 85–86. ISBN 9780717154630. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  14. "Sinn Fein Bank; The Winding-up Matter". The Irish Times. 23 December 1921. p. 3. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. "Sinn Fein Bank (before Mr Justice Meredith)". The Irish Times. 30 June 1926. p. 3. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  16. "Police and Sinn Fein Bank; Closing order to be enforced". The Irish Times. 3 January 1920. p. 7. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  17. "The 'Curfew' Order; Military activity in Dublin". The Irish Times. 27 February 1927. p. 5. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  18. "Irish banks and Sinn Féin". The Irish Times. 8 March 1920. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  19. Evans 2012, pp.108–110
  20. Evans 2012, pp.124–6
  21. Carroll, Francis M. (2002). Money for Ireland: Finance, Diplomacy, Politics, and the First Dáil Éireann Loans, 1919–1936. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 10. ISBN 9780275977108. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  22. Evans 2012, pp.127–9
  23. "The Seizure at Sinn Fein Bank; Writ against executive". The Irish Times. 13 March 1920. p. 7. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  24. Foxton, David (11 April 2008). Revolutionary lawyers: Sinn Féin and the crown courts in Ireland and Britain, 1916–1923. Four Courts Press. p. 217. ISBN 9781846820687.
  25. John, Angela V. (31 March 2006). War, Journalism and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century: The Life and Times of Henry W. Nevinson. I.B.Tauris. p. 175. ISBN 9780857717832. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  26. "Sinn Fein Bank". Ashburton Guardian. Ashburton, New Zealand: National Library of New Zealand. 1 December 1920. Vol.XLI No.9381 p.5. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  27. Dorney, John (26 January 2015). "The Pearse Street Ambush, Dublin, March 14, 1921". The Irish Story. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  28. "Finance Department Report: Debate Resumed". Second Dáil Éireann debates. 18 August 1921. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  29. "Appendix to Report. — Department of Finance". Second Dáil proceedings. 26 April 1922. pp. No.4 p.10 c.242. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  30. "Sinn Fein Bank; Order for Sale on Premises". The Irish Times. 1 August 1923. p. 3. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  31. "Oireachtas entries extension". The Irish Times. 16 September 1966. p. 8. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  32. "In Committee on Finance. – Vote 74—Sinn Féin Bank". Dáil Éireann debates. 9 August 1933. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  33. "Dublin County Council". The Irish Times. 30 April 1926. p. 5. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  34. "Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. – Sinn Fein Bank". Dáil Éireann debates (in Irish and English). 7 May 1931. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
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