footwear / Harry Boland, 1919

The boots worn by Harry Boland during his secret trip (in the role of a ship's stoker) to the United States of America, May 1919, as an envoy of Dáil Éireann. Secreted in the soles of the boots were copies of official documents, including Ireland's Claim to Independence, established at the First Dail. On arrival in New York, Mr. Boland went directly to the residence of the donor Mr Diarmaid Lynch, extracted the documents from the boots and delivered them to him. The donor was then a member of Dáil Éireann and the National Secretary of the Friends of Irish Freedom. The documents and their method of transmission are a striking commentary on the difficulties of communication from Ireland to America in those years.;