153:. Led by John Devoy, Clan-na-Gael orchestrated a wide range of schemes and programs designed to aid the Irish republican cause from across the ocean. The date of Cunningham’s affiliation is not known. Nevertheless, he quickly developed a close rapport with Devoy—according to a press account; “he never failed in any task assigned to him by Mr. Devoy, regardless of the personal risk or the intelligence required to complete it successfully”.
35:
207:. Cunningham served as Devoy’s personal escort throughout the 6-week tour, meeting with senior government officials and other notable personalities - among them Foreign Minister Desmond Fitzgerald and Mrs. Mary Collins Powell, sister of the deceased Michael Collins, who greeted them upon arrival in Cobh, Cork.
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The transaction was reported in the press, leaving many astounded that this historical artifact was destined for destruction. Upon learning the news, Holland’s son Joseph stated he would have purchased it himself, if only to give the vessel a proper burial at sea than to face demolition. Similarly, a
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in 1891 in
Montcharles, County Donegal, Ireland, to farmers John and Winifred Campbell Conaghan. As a young man, he anglicized his name to Cunningham. In 1909, he departed for the United States and settled in New York City; first in Manhattan, later in the Bronx. He became a naturalized US citizen in
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Prior to departure, Cunningham corresponded with Irish
President Cosgrave via the President’s aide-de-camp Col. Joseph Reilly regarding the purchase of the burial plot and other details of the funeral arrangements. On June 5, 1929, Cunningham—as leader of the American escort party—departed Hoboken,
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Harry and Teresa had three children: Catherine (who died in adolescence), John, and Alice. In 1916, at the height of the World War I German submarine scare, Teresa embarked with infant
Catherine for a visit to Ireland that would last 18 months, during which time she gave birth to John. Whether she
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Upon first arrival in New York, Cunningham worked as an ice delivery truck driver. Later, he worked as a real estate appraiser in the New York City Office of the
Comptroller. On April 2, 1913, he married Teresa McMahon (1886-1968), an immigrant from County Monaghan, Ireland. After the wedding, the
508:
Statement by
Witness Edward Maguire, Secretary of the Dublin Cemeteries Committee, on the Republican Burial Plot, Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, to the Bureau of Military History 1913-21, Document No. W.S. 1,055, dated 14 May 1953. National Archives, Republic of Ireland., also: Great Worker in Irish
194:
The real friends of
Ireland deplore the irreparable loss she has suffered in the slaying of Michael Collins, the fearless, courageous leader of the Irish people. Only madmen could have been guilty of such an outrage which has shocked the entire civilized world. But the cause for which Collins was
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Cunningham was a sports enthusiast, and served for a time as
President of the Irish-American Athletic Club. He also held executive positions in the Thomas J. Clarke club, the American Irish Historical Society, and the New York Philo-Celtic Society. He was an active member of the Irish Republican
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By
September 1928, Devoy—now 86 years old—was in failing health, and Cunningham brought him to Atlantic City for convalescence. On September 29, Devoy died in his hotel room in Cunningham’s presence. As executor of his estate, Cunningham prepared for a second trip to Ireland, this time to escort
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Suddenly, other buyers were interested, among them the
American Irish Historical Society, the Board of Directors of Celtic Park (Queens Co. NY), the Smithsonian Institution, and industrialist Henry Ford, who operated his own museum of industrial innovations and artifacts. Ford reportedly sent a
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to Edward A. Browne, an automobile dealer from
Paterson, NJ. The details of the transaction between Cunningham and Browne are not known. Browne donated the hull to the Paterson city parks commission as a memorial to John Holland who made so many engineering achievements in the city. Today, the
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NJ with the body of John Devoy, destined for Ireland. On June 16, Devoy was interred in Glasnevin Cemetery alongside other prominent figures of the Irish revolutionary period. He was afforded a state funeral with full honors. Cunningham funded the plot and the extant headstone at Glasnevin.
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newspaper from Holland’s hometown of Paterson, New Jersey—where Holland conducted his initial submarine trials on the Passaic River—called for the return of the submarine’s engine that had been built there. However, Cunningham moved first – on June 25, 1927 he purchased the
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activist. He held executive positions in several New York-based Irish-American cultural and political organizations, many of which were focused on mobilizing materiel support to the fight for an independent Irish republic. He was a close friend and confidant of
540:
Statement by Witness Edward Maguire, Secretary of the Dublin Cemeteries Committee, on the Republican Burial Plot, Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, to the Bureau of Military History 1913-21, Document No. W.S. 1,055, dated 14 May 1953. National Archives, Republic of
272:
Later, on June 25, Cunningham was the guest of honor at a luncheon hosted by President Cosgrave in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin. Several government ministers, members of Dáil Éireann (Irish parliament) and other senior officials were also in attendance.
518:
Memorandum from Colonel Joseph O’Reilly to William T. Cosgrave (Dublin) (Personal), dated 22 February 1929. No. 185 NAI DT S5858, Documents of Irish Foreign Policy, American Views of the Irish Free State, National Archives of Ireland,
203:, the Devoy-led organizations in the United States supported the Irish Free State government over the Anti-Treaty forces led by Eamon de Valera. Once the war ended, Devoy was invited to tour Ireland as the invited guest of President
228:. John Devoy and the Clan-na-Gael financed its construction in 1879-80, with the idea that it would sink British shipping during a future Irish uprising. The vessel never saw combat and ultimately became an exhibit on the campus of
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representative to Cunningham’s residence in the Bronx with a blank check hoping to make a quick purchase; however, Cunningham was away at the hospital, tending to his 12-year old daughter Catherine, then terminally ill.
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was carrying out an assignment on behalf of her husband, recovering from giving birth to John, or simply unable to secure timely safe passage back to America due to the wartime emergency, has not been determined.
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The August 1922 assassination of Michael Collins during the Irish Civil War was a shock to the Irish-American community. Cunningham, speaking in part on behalf of the FOIF, offered the following statement to the
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Births recorded in the District of Mountcharles, Union of Donegal, County of Donegal, Registrar’s Book page 01890957, signed 1 July 1891. Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Republic of Ireland,
169:, the FOIF was a large-scale, overt advocacy group designed to propagandize on behalf of Irish independence, and marshal the resources of the sizeable Irish-American population for the fight against
379:“Great Worker in Irish Cause Dies”, The Gaelic American, New York, 03 September 1938., page 1; also, “Collins Slayers Called Madmen By N.Y. Leaders”, New York Tribune, 24 August 1922, page. 3.
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organization, especially in Devoy’s later years as his health declined. Though active in many aspects of early 20th century New York Irish-American life, Cunningham is best known for saving
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developed the “Dáil bonds” program to raise money for the administration, FOIF mobilized over $ 5 million in American investment. Devoy’s Clan-na-Gael dominated FOIF executive positions.
472:“Devoy Tells Story of First Submarine: Holland Warship Purchased for Clan-na-Gael, The Original Owners, by Harry Cunningham”, The Gaelic American, New York, 09 July 1927., page 1.
445:“Devoy Tells Story of First Submarine: Holland Warship Purchased for Clan-na-Gael, The Original Owners, by Harry Cunningham”, The Gaelic American, New York, 09 July 1927., page 1.
149:, the Clan-na-Gael (Family of the Gaels) was a quasi-clandestine Irish republican organization that operated as a US-based adjunct to the Ireland-based underground
649:
388:“The Friends of Irish Freedom: A Case Study in Irish-American Nationalism, 1916-1921”, by Michael Doorley, History Ireland, vol. 16, no. 2 (March/April 2008),
436:
Golway, Terry, “Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America’s Fight for Ireland’s Freedom”, copyright 1998 by St. Martin’s Press, New York, pages 85, 95, 147-148.
490:“Special Meeting of Park Board on the Fenian Ram: Browne Makes Formal Application for a Location in Westside Park”, The Paterson News, 16 September 1927.
295:
409:
Golway, Terry, “Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America’s Fight for Ireland’s Freedom”, copyright 1998 by St. Martin’s Press, New York, pages 307-309.
531:
Golway, Terry, “Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America’s Fight for Ireland’s Freedom”, copyright 1998 by St. Martin’s Press, New York, page 318.
499:
Golway, Terry, “Irish Rebel: John Devoy and America’s Fight for Ireland’s Freedom”, copyright 1998 by St. Martin’s Press, New York, page 318.
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U.S. Department of State Passport Application, McMahon, Teresa, No. 20407, processed at US Consulate Belfast, Ireland, 10 May 1918.
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Cunningham family record, 16th Census of the United States (1940) for New York County, NY, sheet 62B, enumerated on 12 April 1940.
232:, Bronx, NY. On May 27, 1927, the Academy, preparing to move its campus to Long Island, sold the hull to a junk dealer for $ 100.
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On behalf of Clan-na-Gael, Cunningham held title to the submarine for a little over 2 months. On September 9, 1927, he sold the
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481:“John Devoy Gives History of the First Successful Submarine Ever Constructed” The Gaelic American, New York, 16 July 1927.
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165:, and also held the post of national solicitor for the organization. Established in 1916 in the months prior to the
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After a long illness, Harry Cunningham died on August 23, 1938, at the House of Calvary Hospital (today
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U.S. Department of State Passport Application, Cunningham, Henry, No. 456789, processed 10 July 1924.
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Marriage License, Teresa McMahon and Henry Cunningham, Department of Vital Records, City of New York.
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Registration Card 29876; Cunningham, Henry; World War I draft registration (1917), www.findmypast.com
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U.S. Department of State Passport Application, Cunningham, Henry, No. 456789, processed 10 July 1924.
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Registration Card 29876; Cunningham, Henry; World War I draft registration (1917), www.findmypast.com
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294:), in the Bronx, NY. His requiem Mass, con-celebrated by 5 priests and 2 deacons, was held at the
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427:"Mr. John Devoy Welcomed to Ireland by Government and People", The Cork Examiner, 28 July 1924
370:“Great Worker in Irish Cause Dies”, The Gaelic American, New York, 03 September 1938., page 1.
559:
Great Worker in Irish Cause Dies”, The Gaelic American, New York, 03 September 1938., page 3.
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Great Worker in Irish Cause Dies”, The Gaelic American, New York, 03 September 1938., page 3.
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Great Worker in Irish Cause Dies”, The Gaelic American, New York, 03 September 1938., page 3.
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Great Worker in Irish Cause Dies”, The Gaelic American, New York, September 3, 1938, page 3.
400:“Collins Slayers Called Madmen By N.Y. Leaders”, New York Tribune, 24 August 1922, page. 3
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Conaghan family report; Census of Ireland, 1901; the National Archives of Ireland,
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Cunningham was keen on preserving artifacts of the Irish-American experience. The
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was an experimental submarine designed and built by Irish immigrant inventor
454:“A Ram That Sank No British Ship”, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 12 July 1927.
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http://www.historyireland.com/volumes/volume16/issue2/features/?id=114439
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https://www.difp.ie/docs/1929/American-views-on-Irish-Free-State/900.htm
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509:
Cause Dies”, The Gaelic American, New York, 03 September 1938., page 3.
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This article is about the Irish-American activist. For other uses, see
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Brotherhood Veterans Association and the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
463:“The Oldest Submarine”, The Morning Call, Paterson, NJ, 20 June 1927.
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and symbol of Irish-American ingenuity, from destruction in 1927.
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173:. In 1919, when Irish provisional government Finance Minister
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couple returned to Ireland for a month the visit family.
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161:Cunningham served on the National Council of the
265:Devoy’s mortal remains to Dublin for burial.
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298:, in the Lenox Hill section of Manhattan.
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92:(1891–1938) was an early 20th century
342:http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie
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650:Irish emigrants to the United States
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330:https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/
145:A successor to the 19th century
252:submarine is on display at the
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240:from the junkyard for $ 650.
230:Clason Point Military Academy
296:Church of St. Vincent Ferrer
151:Irish Republican Brotherhood
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665:Museum ships in New Jersey
660:1920s in the United States
127:Harry Cunningham was born
123:Early life and immigration
101:, long-time leader of the
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256:in Paterson, New Jersey.
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260:Second voyage to Ireland
163:Friends of Irish Freedom
157:Friends of Irish Freedom
181:First voyage to Ireland
171:British rule in Ireland
83:Irish-American activist
645:Irish-American culture
640:Irish-American history
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286:Later years and death
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117:functioning submarine
115:, the world’s first
655:John Philip Holland
205:William T. Cosgrave
195:fighting will live.
147:Fenian Brotherhood
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199:During the
624:Categories
315:References
249:Fenian Ram
238:Fenian Ram
221:Fenian Ram
213:Fenian Ram
112:Fenian Ram
99:John Devoy
80:Occupation
55:, Ireland
541:Ireland.
302:Personal
72:New York
132:1914.
68:Bronx
64:1938
61:Died
49:1891
42:Born
109:’s
626::
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70:,
20:.
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