Thread by @RobertBohan

Thread: James Gralton (1886-1945) was the only Irishman ever to be deported from independent Ireland.

He was a Leitrim-man, patriot, small farmer, land rights campaigner, an activist & hero. The Irish Roman Catholic Church declared him to be the Anti-Christ.

Born, in Effrinagh nr Carrick-on-Shannon County Leitrim, into a poor family with a small farm he had few advantages in life. He was however lucky in his parents, his determination & inheriting a Leitrim tenacity to stand for what he believed in. (my landscape pics are of Leitrim)

Gralton’s mother, Alice, was a major influence on him as she ran a small lending library. His father was a keen CoOp activist & familiar with nationalist politics & informed his view of the poverty & struggle for small farmers & the working class in a conservative Ireland.

After working in the shop of a local grocer, who treated his staff badly, he committed himself to standing up for ordinary people. He joined the British Army in Dublin but was disciplined for refusing to serve in the Indian colony. (Dublin)

His first conflict with the all powerful Roman Catholic Church was when a priest tried to force him to go to India. To the priest’s disgust Gralton refused on the basis of not wishing to support British Imperial interests. He deserted & went to Britain where there was employment.

In Britain he worked at the docks in Liverpool & down the mines in Wales. He then became a stoker on a ship & saw much of the world. He made a trip home in 1907 but soon after, like many Leitrim people, he emigrated to the US.

In America he was exposed to the ironically conservative politics of the Irish nationalist movements. He became a socialist & so joined the American Communist Party. He befriended De Valera on his visit to the US & was famed for his fundraising to support poor workers.

He returned in 1921, the Truce at the time preventing him being arrested. He brought back money for the Old IRA (a different org to the modern form). He became active in the IRA but favoured argument rather than violence. He never sought to indoctrinate. theirishstory.com/2012/09/18/the…

The village hall had been burned down by the Black & Tans so Gralton built a new one. This was condemned by the clergy who were loathe to see a power centre that was not their’s. The hall had classes, concerts & dances. The ‘Mullahs’ denounced him from their altars.

The Hall came to be ironically nicknamed the Gowel Soviet as Gralton acted as an IRA judge in land claims due to the war. The legitimacy of his decision making was even upheld in State Court. That it was by a ‘Communist’ as one complainant argued, the Court found irrelevant.

The ‘Mullahs’ declared the Hall a ‘Communist’ centre & a danger to the Catholic faith & morals! They ordered a boycott & there was an accidental shooting by the Free State Army (who were guarding the Hall). Gralton, recognising the threat to his life, fled to Dublin.

In Dublin he hoodwinked the Metropolitan Police to stamp his papers & he was off to the US. He stayed until 1932, when he returned to look after his elderly parents & run the farm. He modernised the holding & was active in supporting his neighbours. (Ballinamore, 1932)

When the local priest heard that Gralton was returning, he went to the farm & informed Gralton’s sick father that he didn’t want his son in ‘his’ parish. Gralton ignored the ‘fatwa’ & reopened the Hall but only for dancing, due to local demand. (Dublin Dancehall, 1960s)

Church vitriol reached astonishing levels with Gralton described from altars as the Anti-Christ & a paid agent of Russia! Note was taken of every visitor to the Hall & a priest went round to blackmail them from attending. (Eucharistic Congress Dublin, 1932)

Gralton tried to defuse the bullying by offering the Chair of the Hall to the local priest. He refused & demanded the ownership instead! Soon the priest was at his altar insisting that all ‘Communists’ be deported. Some of Gralton’s erstwhile comrades turned on him (Dublin, 1932)

Gralton had to carry a revolver & sleep in his fields at night due to the ‘Christian’ actions of the clergy. Many of his former friends, to whom he had been inspirational & generous, deserted him under threat. One night at a dance in the Hall gunfire rained down on the roof.

Later a land mine was planted beneath the Hall but damage was minimal. On Christmas Eve 1932, the Hall was burnt down. The ‘Mullahs’ had had their way in refusing to countenance any perceived challenge to their rule. (Taoiseach De Valera & Bishop & Cardinal, 1930s)

Still angry, the clergy struck again. Gralton’s father died & they made it difficult as possible to bury him. After Gralton got back from the funeral he was immediately served with deportation papers! The Church had directed the Minister of Justice to sign them. (Dublin 1933)

When the local TD (MP) was challenged on the injustice he responded that the government based its policies on the encyclicals of Pope Leo XIII. The de facto theocracy was in charge. Priests led physical attacks on Gralton’s neighbours & supporters!

Gralton was not anti-religion, he was really a CoOp-socialist & he never sought to indoctrinate. His sister was even a nun! This was insufficient for the Princes of the Church. They would not forgive a man with his own conscience. They refused him a trial (Phoenix Park, 1932)

He was deported & forced to pay for his own ticket to America. He said ‘So long Boys, I’ll return to Ireland when we have a Worker’s Republic.’ He remained a worker’s activist in NYC & part of the Leitrim diaspora there. He spent much leisure time at his sister’s convent.

Gralton died of stomach cancer in 1945, having shortly before married a woman from Drumsna. He’s buried in Woodlawn in the Bronx. He was very much a man ahead of his time & a symbol of the individuality of Leitrim people (John McGahern was another)

On 3rd December 2016 Uachtarán na hÉireann (Irish President) declared the deportation as wrong, apologised to the Gralton family & unveiled a memorial to him which relates his efforts on behalf of working people. He is now a hero of the county.

If you’d like to support a contemporary artist, I courier deliver my artwork worldwide from Ireland - DM me for details 😃

If you’d like to learn more about Gralton there are two books & an English filmmaker made a film based on him (I haven’t seen it, so can’t tell you if it’s accurate or entertaining). Individual voices of enlightenment did exist in the de facto theocracy but were seen as a threat.