Patrick Moylett

Patrick Moylett (1878-1932) was a 20th century Irish nationalist who, during the initial armistice negotiations to end the Irish War of Independence, briefly served as president of the Irish Republican Brotherhood during late-1920. A successful businessman in County Mayo and County Galway, he was a close associate of Arthur Griffith and frequently traveled to London acting as a middleman between Sinn Féin and officials in the British government.

Biography

Born in County Mayo to a farming family, Moylett emigrated to London as a young man working in various departments in Harrods for five years before returning to Ireland in 1902. He opened a grocery and provisions business in Ballina and, as it proved successful, he later establishing branches in Galway and London between 1910 and 1914; the London-branch would be sold at the outbreak of the First World War. Relocating his business to Dublin, he became involved in the Irish nationalist movement and was active in the Mayo and Galway areas during the Irish War of Independence. cite web |url=http://www.ucd.ie/archives/html/collections/moylett-patrick.htm |title=Patrick Moylett |accessdate= |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |year=2003 |month= |format= |work= |publisher=University College Dublin |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

With Harry Boland in the United States with Éamon de Valera, Moylett succeeded him as president of the Irish Republican Brotherhood [Fitzpatrick, David. "Harry Boland's Irish Revolution". Cork: Cork University Press, 2004. (pg. 98) ISBN 1-85918-386-7] and, in October 1920, he was selected to go to London as the personal envoy of Arthur Griffith. During the next several months, Moylett was involved in secret discussions with British government officials on the recognition of Dáil Éireann, a general amnesty for members of the Irish Republican Army and the organization of a peace conference to end hostilities between both parties.

He was assisted by John Steele, the London editor of the "Chicago Tribune", who helped him contact high level members of the British Foreign Office. One of these officials in particular, C.J. Phillps, had frequent meetings with him. These meetings were later attended by H.A.L. Fisher, the Minister of Education and one of the most outspoken opponents of unauthorized reprisals against the Irish civilian population by the British government. One of the main points Fisher expressed to Moylett was the necessity of Sinn Féin to compromise on its demands for a free and united republic. His efforts were hindered however, both to the slow and confused pace of the peace negotiations as well as the regularly occurring violence in Ireland, most especially the Bloody Sunday incident on November 21, 1920. [Hopkinson, Michael. "The Irish War of Independence". Dublin: McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2002. (pg. 180-181) ISBN 0-7735-2840-7]

During the Irish Civil War, although a supporter of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, he chose not to participate in the Free State government party which he viewed as an amalgam of Unionists and the old Irish Party. He was later a founding member of the Clann Éireann Party and became an early advocate of the withholding of land annuities. He remained in politics until his death in 1932.

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