Sixty-nine Sinn Fein Members Imprisoned for Treasonable Relations With
the Enemy
Current History Magazine for June contained a brief reference to the
arrest of leaders of the Sinn Fein movement in Ireland, May 18, 1918,
for being in treasonable communication with the Germans. Among the
leaders arrested was Professor Edward de Valera, President of the
Sinn Fein Society and a member of Parliament, who had refused to take
his seat; also George Noble Plunkett, a Count of Rome and Member of
Parliament; Mme. Markievicz, wife of a Polish Count; Arthur Giffith,
one of the founders of the Sinn Fein movement; William T. Cosgrove,
Treasurer of the Sinn Fein and Member of Parliament from Kilkenny City;
Joseph McGuinness, Member of Parliament for South Longford; Darrel
Figgis, an Irish poet; Dr. Richard Hayes, Herbert Mellowes, who led
the Sinn Fein rising in Galway in 1916; Professor Monaghan, President
of the local Sinn Fein Club at Drogheda; Pierce McCann, President of
the East Tipperary Sinn Fein Executive; Frank Drohan, President of
the Clonmel Sinn Fein Club; Dr. Thomas Dillon, Sean Milroy, and Sean
McEntee, members of the Sinn Fein Executive; George Nichols, Coroner
for the County of Galway, and Peter Hughes, Chairman of Dundalk Urban
Council and a prominent Sinn Feiner. In all sixty-nine were arrested
and imprisoned in England, not 500, as at first reported. The arrests
were made between midnight and dawn by domiciliary visits, and were
accomplished without any disorder, being a complete surprise.