French newspaper coverage of the death of Terence MacSwiney - 25 October 1920

Terence MacSwiney died in Brixton Prison, London, England on 25 October 1920. MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland had been on hunger strike in the prison for seventy-four days. He was protesting against the introduction of military courts in Ireland that were brought in under the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act.

Editorial cartoon from L'Humanité (French Communist Party newspaper) showing British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, receiving an invitation to attend MacSwiney's funeral. This is just one of the cartoons that appeared in the French newspapers at the time dealing with the case.

News of MacSwiney's imprisonment and hunger strike was covered in newspapers all over Ireland and in the international press. I have already written about the hunger strike before, read my 'Irishman's Diary' on the case here.

Historian, Diarmaid Ferriter has said that MacSwiney's death was "one of the incidents that ensured international media coverage and indeed outrage".(1) Publicity for MacSwiney's plight was gained through the efforts of the Dáil Publicity Department in Dublin and through Art O'Brien who was the Dáil's London representative. O'Brien and his team were very active in contacting members of the foreign press corps in London and around the world and keeping them up to date on what was happening in Ireland during the War of Independence.

The hunger strike and subsequent death of MacSwiney was a very emotive episode in Irish and UK history. Maurice Walsh has said that when MacSwiney's body was brought through London on the way to Euston Station, it "brought the charged emotion of a distant conflict to the central streets of the metropolis".(2)

Below is a sample of a cross section of French newspapers from the time of MacSwiney's death. Ever since his arrest on 12 August 1920 and subsequent imprisonment, MacSwiney's case was closely followed in the French press. As the hunger strike progressed and as he grew more and more frail from not eating, small news stories would record his failing health and his death was predicted to come at any moment.

When he did die on 25 October 1920, it was a major news story in France and around the world. As you can see from the newspapers reproduced below, in the case of France, his death was recorded in a prominent position on the front page.

La Croix. Source

Closeup of La Croix front page.

Excelsior. Source

Excelsior closeup of front page.

L'Intransigeant. Source

Closeup of L'Intransigeant front page.

L'Humanité. Source

Closeup of L'Humanité front page.

Le Journal. Source

Closeup of Le Journal front page.

La Liberté. Source

Closeup of La Liberté front page.

Le Matin. Source

Closeup of Le Matin front page.

(1) Diarmaid Ferriter, The Transformation of Ireland, 1900-2000.
(2) Maurice Walsh, The News from Ireland.

Further reading

Pierre Joannon, 'Terence MacSwiney: la grève de la faim qui fit vaciller un empire', Etudes Irlandaises, 1979 (vol. 4), pp. 193-209 Link

Grace Neville, 'The death of Terence MacSwiney, a French persepective', Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 2001, (vol. 106), pp. 143-166 PDF