MA Senate Proposes a Resolution in Favor of Irish Independence on January 13, 1919

On January 13, 1919, Massachusetts State Senator George E. Curran of Roxbury entered a resolution to the state's Foreign Relations committee calling for Irish Independence.

George Edward Curran was a Boston democrat, born on January 28, 1873 in Roxbury. He was a member of the Charitable Irish Society, Theatrical Mechanics Association, and the Ward 18 Democratic Club. In the senate, Curran represented District No. 18—Ward 18, and served on several committees, including military affairs, federal relations (clerk) and taxation.

The resolution read in part:

No people are better deserving of the blessings of the right of self determination than the people of Ireland, the service of whose sons in the colonization of America, in the winning of its independence, in the founding of its institutions and the creation of its health and prosperity, has placed America and democratic government everywhere in its everlasting debt.

The proposed resolution was part of a larger effort by Irish-Americans in Massachusetts and across the country to pressure US President Woodrow Wilson to recognize Ireland's right to independence after World War I. The British government was opposed to giving Ireland its freedom.

In a Dail Eireann debate on April 11, 1919, Irish leader Eamonn deValera voiced support on principle for the new League of Nations under discussion, but demanded that "equality and right among nations is the foundation stone."

Formed to consider the rights of small nations in Europe,the League of Nations refused to hear Ireland's plea, thanks to British interference and the reluctance of President Wilson. See details here.

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