The Irish Question

"St. Patrick's Day, 1919" by John T. McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune,  March 17, 1919

And where would we be afther goin' this glorious Sláinteback Sathairn but the Emerald Isle?

"Give Her a Front Seat!" by Fred Seibel in Knickerbocker Press, ca. Feb., 1919

When we last checked in on century-old events in Ireland, Sinn Féin had just rejected British promises to grant Ireland home rule on Tuesday in return for drafting Irish lads to fight the Bosch today. Riots and repression followed.

"St. Patrick's Day in the Mornin'" by Bill Sykes in Philadelphia Evening Ledger, March 17, 1919

Today we jump ahead one year to find the Great War over, Britain and its allies victorious. Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in the Irish general election of December, 1918, save in Ulster, where the Irish Unionist Party won most parliamentary seats. Sinn Féin refused to join the British Parliament, instead declaring Irish independence in January and setting up its own unicameral parliament called the Dáil Éireann.

"May Make Somebody Sick" by Sidney Joseph Greene in New York Evening Telegram, Jan. or Feb., 1919

Along with an official declaration of independence and a constitution, one of the first orders of business for the Dáil was publication of a "Message to the Free Nations" demanding that Ireland be allowed to make its case for independence at the Paris Peace Conference. The British response was to appoint Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, as "master of Ireland" with complete authority over the island's government.

"A Gordian Knot" by Grover Page in Nashville Tennesseean, ca. Feb., 1919

British intransigence was inevitable, given Irish revolutionaries' collusion with Germany, rioting on Armistice Day, and the assassination of two Royal Irish Constabulary policemen in an ambush on the same day that independence was declared. A diplomatic solution was not to be had. Increasing tension and sporadic violence would result in two years of guerrilla warfare with Great Britain (the Cogadh na Saoirse, a.k.a. the Black and Tan War).

"And the Cat Came Back" by Archibald Chapin in St. Louis Republic, ca. Feb. 1919

Given President Woodrow Wilson's proclaimed ideals of "self-determination of all peoples," there was considerable sympathy in the U.S. for Irish independence, as shown in this selection of cartoons. Even the American cartoonists who portray the Irish as unready for self-rule conceded that it should come to pass sooner or later.

"He's Going to Keep On Till He Gets Them" by William Hanny in St. Joseph News-Press, ca. Feb., 1919

It would have been interesting to see how an anti-Irish cartoonist such as Thomas Nast might have depicted the Irish fight for home rule. Nast never had a kind word for Irish-Americans, persistently drawing them as apish, violent louts; he was, moreover, virulently anti-Catholic throughout his career. (Nast's cartooning career essentially ended in 1892, and he died of yellow fever while visiting Ecuador in 1902; if he had survived another sixteen years, he would have had to reconcile his German heritage with growing anti-German sentiment in the U.S. during the Great War.)

The great "Ding" Darling seemed at this point to be rather ambivalent about Irish self-rule. In our last cartoon today, he makes a joke playing off the apparent attraction among urban Irish-Americans to law enforcement as a profession, but doesn't present the gentleman's proposal as either good or bad per se.

"...Before It Is Too Late" by Jay N. "Ding" Darling in New York Tribune, March 10, 1919

I just don't think the gentleman is quite dressed for the job.

Q Toon: Listen Graciously Before Talking

In spite of yesterday's cartoon looking forward to April Fools' Day, I'm not quite done with St. Patrick's Day issues.

Having Irish Prime Ministers over here in the U.S. for St. Patrick's Day is a tradition now; I guess there's not so much demand for them to be in Ireland for the holiday. They usually get to be marshal of an American St. Paddy's Day parade, then to pay a courtesy call on the Vice President.

Generally, this is done the morning before the Taoiseach meets the US President in the Oval Office.
Breaking from tradition this year, Varadkar will attend the vice president’s residence on Friday morning, the day after meeting Donald Trump in the White House.

The media were allowed in to document last year's meeting between Mike Pence and then-P.M. Enda Kenny, but were shut out of this year's tête-à-tête with current Teoiseach Leo Varadkar.

As reported by the Indianapolis Star, having the meeting closed to the press was at the Vice President's request.

Pence, who is of Irish descent, and his wife, Karen, spoke to the media at last year's festivities, where Pence expressed his excitement over being able to invite a "special guest to the White House" —  in reference to Kenny.
But it's different this year — and Varadkar's comments in recent days to the media may be a reason why.
When asked whether he would talk to Pence about the vice president's stance on gay-conversion therapy, Varadkar told an Irish publication, TheJournal.ie, on Wednesday that if given the chance he would talk about "the wider issue" of gay rights. 

As I noted the other day, Varadkar is Ireland's first openly gay Teoiseach, as well as its first of Indian descent, and, at 38 when elected, the youngest to hold the title. (There have been younger Prime Ministers, but a "Teoiseach" is chief executive and head of government in addition to being P.M. Besides the Teoiseach, there's also a President of Ireland, who is the head of state, which is about as confusing to us eachtrannaigh as the pronunciation of "teoiseach" is.)

While serving in Kenny's cabinet as Minister for Health, however, Varadkar told RTÉ Radio, "I'm not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician or a gay politician for that matter. It's just part of who I am; it doesn't define me; it is part of my character, I suppose."

The media were present for Varadkar's Thursday meeting with Mercurial U.S. President Donald Trump, and at a luncheon with congressional leaders. At those events, trade, taxes, immigration and Guinness defined the main topics of conversation. He must have exhausted other parts of his character during the conclave with Mr. Pence.

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I had about three quarters of this cartoon inked, including the arm wearing Pence's watch, when John Oliver started talking about his and the Vice President's new books about the Second Bunny on Last Week Tonight. Happily, the pose already drawn accommodated the addition of a rabbit; and there was still time to change the dialogue balloon that was to have said "Leprechauns' Golden Buried Treasure."

Back to the Irish

With St. Patrick's Day falling on a Sathairnback Saturday this year, how could I not take a moment to catch up on events of the Emerald Isle in World War I?

"The Non-Stop Car" by Bernard Partridge in Punch, London, probably 1917

When last we checked in on Irish events, the British had executed Sir Roger Casement for his involvement in running weapons from Germany in support of the Easter Rising of 1916. Over the next couple of years, Britain released hundreds of other prisoners convicted for participating in that revolt, as a concession toward resumption of talks for Irish Home Rule.

"Defiance - Before and Aft" by Archibald Chapin in St. Louis Republic, March, 1918

On April 9, 1918, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George announced that his government was willing to grant Home Rule to Ireland, provided that the Irish institute universal male conscription (we call it "the draft" nowadays), sending its soldiers to fight alongside Entente forces. The Irish independence party, Sinn Fein, its ranks swelled by those released prisoners, rejected Lloyd George's terms and called for a general strike on April 22.

"A Bad Time for a Family Row" by John McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune, April 12, 1918

Rioting ensued with Sinn Fein and Irish Volunteer activists battling the Royal Irish Constabulary and British Army. Again, hundreds of republicans were arrested over the next several months, charged with conspiring with Germany. Still more were detained under legislation banning public parades.

"Germany's Last Reserves" by George E. Studdy in Passing Show, London, April, 1918

Indeed, Germany was all too happy to cheer on rebellion against England in Ireland...

"Die Wehrpflicht in Irland," unsigned, in Ulk, Berlin, May 24, 1918

...as well as in any other quarters of the empire upon which the sun had yet to set. One presumes that German-American cartoonist Arthur Johnson believed the colonized peoples of Burundi, Cameroon, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Togo had submitted freely to their German overlords.

Wenn... die Völker Selbstbestimmen Könnten" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, March 3, 1918

From the Berlin liberal magazine Jugend, there is this first panel of a seven-panel cartoon depicting Entente leaders disappointed in their Easter eggs.

Detail from "Ostereier" by Arpad Schmidhammer in Jugend, Munich, March 25, 1918

I did try to find some Irish point of view to include among today's cartoons, but I imagine the British censors weren't particularly keen to have Them Damn Pictures further stirring up Republican sentiment. This American cartoon by Daniel Fitzpatrick will have to do.

"The Mirage" by Daniel Fitzpatrick in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, probably 1917

Or perhaps this uncredited cartoon from Punch. I've commented before on how some cartoons don't translate well, and this time the foreign language is British. Either this cartoon is sympathetic to the Irish people, or it's an example of incredibly dry British wit desiccated beyond all hope of rehydration.

"In Suspense" in Punch, London, March or April, 1918

Q Toon: Parade Downgrade

The LGBTQAIXYZ community's fight to be included in St. Patrick's Day parades goes back longer than that unwieldy acronym does. For the most part, we seem to have worn down the resistance.

But not everywhere. Organizers of the Staten Island march barred the island's Pride Center from their parade last week, reportedly adding that even the Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar (who is openly gay) would not be allowed in their event if he displayed any "visual association with LGBT identity."

So let's just posit that the Staten Island parade is not among "all of the best St. Patrick's Day parades."

In Dublin, Galway, Cork and other Irish cities, gay and lesbian groups march in St. Patrick’s Day events without incident. Chicago, which has a large Irish Catholic population, has allowed gay groups since the mid-1990s. “Our city realized a long time ago that we have so much more in common than apart,” says Tom Tunney, Chicago’s first openly gay alderman. “We’re a city of cultures, and the LGBT community is a part of it.”

Boston's St. Pat's organizers allowed an LGBTQ group to parade with them in 2014, 2015, and 2016, only to ban them again last year. But after the resulting backlash, they are letting the LGBTQ marchers back in this year.

New York's Fifth Street parade banned LGBTQ participation until 2015, when they granted a permit to Out@NBCUniversal, the LGBTQ resource group of the network televising their parade. They were joined by the Lavender and Green Alliance the following year, thanks to pressure from Guinness, Sam Adams and Heineken. (And from Mayor DiBlasio, too, but I don't need to tell you whether beer or a politician is more important to St. Patrick's Day festivities.)

Now, I don't know for sure that, if mercurial American President Trump's dream of tanks and missiles parading down Pennsylvania Avenue comes to fruition, there won't be some group of LGBTQ soldiers or veterans demanding a float of their own.

I wasn't really privy to the last Homosexual Agenda Steering Cabal meeting. And if I were, I couldn't tell you.

Q Toon: It's a Darlin, Darlin Day

Because everyone gets to be a little bit Irish today, here's a cartoon from 2003 wearin' the green.

Faith, an' have a safe an' happy St. Paddy's Day!

Q Toon: St. Patrick's Day Off

Nearly every March for years and years, I've drawn something about St. Patrick's Day parades, always about the one in New York. I'm happy to announce that this year, I'm doing something different.

Q Syndicate✥Mar 5, 2015

Immaculate Heart of Mary School, a small Catholic school in Harvard, Massachusetts, has announced that it is canceling its participation in Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade because parade organizers, the Allied War Veterans' Council, are permitting OutVets, an organization of LGBT military veterans, to march.

"We can't associate with that,” Brother Thomas Dalton, principal of Immaculate Heart of Mary School, said in a phone interview. "It would appear we were condoning it."

In the past, parade organizers have excluded LGBT groups from the parade, citing antigay Catholic religious dogma; but last year, the beer companies who are the major sponsors of the parade withdrew their support because of the policy.

The thing that gets me about Brother Dalton is that it's not as if his marching band is being required to follow directly after RuPaul's Drag Race, Topless Dykes on Bikes, Twinks Wearing Little More Than Glitter, or 50 Shades of Latex. It's a veterans' group, fer crying out loud -- men and women who have served our country and lived to tell about it -- who might not even have staged anywhere near the Immaculate Mary Marching Band for all we know.

Given the 100" (2.5 m) of snow Boston is dealing with this winter, one wonders how organizers plan to march anyone down the snowbound streets of Southie anyway. One imagines spectators clinging to the tops of plow berms high above the parade as it is forced to march no more than three abreast down the constricted streets.

They might have to postpone the parade until Mothers' Day.

Q Toon: Sure 'Tis Like a Morn in September

New York LGBT organizations are less than impressed by the decision by the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) to allow Out@NBCUniversal to march in New York's St. Patrick's Day Parade next March. Out@NBCUniversal is the LGBT employee group for the media corporation broadcasting coverage of the parade, and will be the only LGBT group allowed to participate.

The last time an LGBT group marched in the parade, in 1991 (also, briefly and without permission, in 1992), it did not go very well at all. Since then, the AOH had refused to allow any LGBT  group to march in the parade until now.

Q Toon: Slava Erin!

A while ago, metapicture.com posted a list of handy hints for recognizing artists' work. "If the paintings have tons of little people in them but otherwise seem normal," it counsels, it's Pieter Breugel the Elder. So perhaps this week's cartoon is something that Old Daddy Breugel would paint. And, incidentally, "Pa Breugel" is an anagram for my name; I've been known to sign April Fool's cartoons with that moniker.

I usually don't like drawing cartoons dominated by buildings, with tiny, tiny people too small to have their faces showing. The whole time I was drawing this cartoon, I was dreading the possibly more arduous task of colorizing it. Ultimately, I decided that nearly everyone in this crowd would wear green, which saved some time.

But I enjoy caricature much more than architecture, so I'm disappointed that there really aren't any faces to speak of this week. If there were, the cartoon might be mistaken for a painting by Jan Van Eyck.