artóbriain

And here's yesterday's tour of Photo Detectives in full swing!

I wonder is that really a British military uniform... It could be the uniform of a particular office such as a Lord Lieutenant etc. Also, the medals are unusual in that each appears to have a circular rosette on the ribbon - Could they represent orders? The badge at his neck could be that of the French Légion d'honneur, but the star on his chest is different. Perhaps he is a diplomat?

A detailed pdf document at some library or other. Arthur Patrick O’Brien was born in London on 25 September 1872 ... In early 1919, partly on Collins’ suggestion, Ó Briain was appointed the envoy of Dáil Eireann in Britain ... In March 1923, however, Ó Briain and many others were arrested and deported to Ireland. ...From 1924 to 1932, Ó Briain was effectively absent from public life ... To the surprise of many, he was appointed Irish Minister to France and Belgium in June 1935; a position he held until September 1938 when he retired.

I'm guessing this is 1935-38, and the other guy is French or Belgian.

A blog entry also at the nli on his papers.

From this doc at the NLI dug up for that previous pic: In early 1919, partly on Collins’ suggestion, Ó Briain was appointed the envoy of Dáil Eireann in Britain, founding its ‘London Office’ which he practically co-ran over the next few years with Fintan Murphy and later Charles Betrand Dutton, an old business associate who was also a prominent Gaelic Leaguer.

The catalogue says the photographer was Lizzie Caswall Smith (1870-1958) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Caswall_Smith www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp60354/lizzie-c...

That doc references this one in the collection: MS 8437 /4 1920 Accounts by various individuals of a police raid on Ó Briain’s office (30 Nov. 1920).

Irish Times article about Art Ó Bríain's files at the NLI - www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/a-lock-of-hair-1.1557975 - including this ...

... One French journalist, Joseph Kessel, who visited Ó Bríain at his office in Adam Street, just off the Strand in London in September 1920, later spoke about the unusual circumstances under which Ó Bríain operated. Kessel remembered visiting a very busy office with lots of mackintosh-wearing young men hanging about. Serene amid all the clatter of the office, a pipe-smoking Ó Bríain was calmly giving orders, scribbling down messages and answering the telephone, all at the same time. Years later, Kessel said that the fact that the Irish had such an office in London at that time would be akin to the FLN having an office in Paris at the height of the Algerian War. ...

This photo is on p. 522 of the brilliant Atlas of the Irish Revolution in Darragh Gannon's chapter 'The Irish Revolution in Great Britain', and the caption gives loads of information on the envoy, his office, and the times that were in it...

"Art Ó Briain's embassy staff: (front, left to right): Liam Moore, Fintan Murphy, Art Ó Briain, C.B. Dutton; (back, left to right): Seán Molloy, Maeve O'Brien, Paddy Codyre. In March 1919 Ó Briain was officially appointed Dáil Éireann envoy to Great Britain. His bureau located off the Strand (City of Westminster) employed a small 'embassy' staff, while 3 Adam Street became an Irish centre of the metropolitan web of anti-imperial nationalists. Burmese, Catalan and South African representatives all converged on the 'London office' in search of Irish republican support. Significant international relations were developed. Between 1919 and 1920 Ó Briain met with and advised Saad Zaghloul, the Egyptian revolutionary and statesman, in the latter's negotiations with the British government. He also became a close associate of the Indian nationalist and communist Shapurji Saklatvala. Ó Briain also collaborated with Scottish National League leaders William Gillies and Ruaraidh Erskine of Marr. The Dáil had additional diplomatic missions in New York, Washington DC, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Berlin, Brussels and Geneva, and representation in Genoa, Buenos Aires and Santiago. Roving envoys were also present in Australia, South Africa and the Soviet Union at different stages."