It was ironic that in the century after Ireland lost its legislative independence that the newly created United States of America demonstrated its autonomy and power by establishing and expanding its foreign service. Britain and its remaining colonies now provided the new government with an opportunity to illustrate its independence and legitimacy. Appointing consular officers to Ireland may be seen against the background of state-formation, specifically the expansion of foreign representation and consolidation of sovereign status. The aims of this chapter are to examine the rationale behind the decision to appoint a representative in Ireland, to document the men who...

The triumph of the American cause in 1783 did not signal internal political unity or stability in foreign policy. It took until 1789 for the authority of the Federalist Convention to be accepted by each state and between 1789 and 1815 the leaders struggled to keep the union intact, expand America’s boundaries and survive in the world being redefined by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. There was little agreement between, and within, the respective federalist and anti-federalist camps as to whether America’s predominant foreign relationship should be with Britain which still controlled northern parts of its territory and...

In March 1861 among the immediate tasks facing Republican President Abraham Lincoln was to keep the United States together. This he failed to do and on 12 April when the southern states attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina and then seceded from the Union, civil war became inevitable. There were many reasons for the conflict but the most significant was the future status of the institution of slavery. The four-year war caused political, economic, social and military upheaval, the effects of which would be long felt. The conflict had immediate consequences for all parts of the Union administration including the...

A critical feature of post-famine emigration to the United States was identified by Edward Brooks, US Consul in Cork in 1881; departing Irish saw themselves as forced to flee ‘from ‘hated British rule’.¹ Bringing such sentiments with them augmented the Anglophobia of much of Irish-America, revived the American dimension to the nationalist struggle in Ireland and posed a difficulty in the US–British diplomatic relationship which forced an elucidation by American political élites of their views on the Irish cause.

Organised in 1853 by James Stephens in Ireland and John O’Mahony in the US, the aim of the Irish Republican...

The ending of the American Civil War brought crisis to Ireland but peace to the US. A sense of calm eventually returned to the US foreign service. More generally reconstruction dominated US politics and society. The slave-owning, southern Democrat Andrew Johnson, worked to protect presidential authority from congressional interference, to preserve the distinctiveness of the southern states against central government encroachment, and to maintain ‘white supremacy’. However, his refusal to compromise led to conflict and racial hostility in domestic affairs. His decision to allow William Seward a free hand in foreign affairs saw the purchase of Alaska from Russia and...

Assessing the extent and nature of consular activity in Ireland in the period 1790 to 1913 begins by critically considering their correspondence with the State Department and then examining their impact on the people they served. An examination of consular reports must include the study of the consul’s personality, personal proclivities and his predetermined notions, including a certain American worldview.¹ These factors are present in the Irish context. William Knox was dogged by ill health, deeply felt the isolation of his post, but was consumed by the need to make money for himself. Others followed him and were equally disappointed...