Irish Free State Takes Up M. Coty’s Allegations About “international Jewish Finance”: Paris Ambassad

M. Coty’s allegations about “international Jews” being behind the Governments of the world, “working to establish Jewish world domination”, have drawn a demand from the Minister of the Irish Free State in Paris, Count Gerald O’Kelly de Gallagh, that he should publish a denial in his paper “L’ Ami du Peuple” in as prominent a position as the article in which the allegations were made.

The Free State Government appears thus to be the first Government to challenge officially M. Coty’s allegations against its Jewish citizens.

I wish to declare, Count O’Kelly writes to M. Coty, that you have been misled with regard to some of your remarks concerning the polities of my country and especially in dealing with the name of one of my follow-citizens. You have written that Robert Briscoe is the agent of the Jewish-American Bank in Ireland. I am happy to be able to state that neither Mr. Briscoe, nor any of his family nor anyone otherwise associated with him have ever had any contact with the Bank.

You have written about Mr. Briscoe that he was brought up in the Dublin ghetto and there received a purely Hebrew education. To begin with there is no ghetto in Dublin and there never has been a ghetto in Dublin. In the second place, Mr. Briscoe was born in Dublin on September 25th., 1894, and he obtained his education in the national elementary school at Kildare Street. Mr. Briscoe, who is of Jewish parentage, was born in Ireland, and like all Jews in Ireland, where there has never been the slightest antisemitism, he has always been in our national movement. His patriotism is beyond question, and the fact that he has always been elected as Deputy should protect him against any suspicion on the part of anyone who has any knowledge of Irish polities.

It is not for me to judge the general importance of your article, except where it refers to my country or my citizens, the Minister concludes, but since you speak of the alleged association between Irish policy and Jewish international finance, I declare here openly that the greater part of your article is just as tendentious as the three allegations which you have made concerning Mr. Briscoe.

Mr. Robert Briscoe was the subject of an article written for the J.T.A. recently by Mr. Philip Rubin, who described him as having supervised the buying and smuggling of arms into Ireland, with which the Irish rebels were enabled to carry on their war against the British Government. When the Irish got the Free State and the de Valera group remained dissatisfied, Briscoe went to America to agitate for the Republican cause among the Irish Americans. Almost every Irishman in New York or Boston has heard of “Fighting Bobbie” Briscoe, who is to-day one of the three or four main leaders of da, Valera’s Republican party.

But Briscoe is a good Jew, too, he went on. He is a member of one of the Orthodox synagogues here, attends services occasionally, is deeply interested in the Zionist movement, has mezuzah nailed to his door, and told me a joke about a law involving “kashruth”.

Briscoe comes of Lithuanian Jewish stock and got the same general and Herew education as all Dublin Jewish children get.

The poor working-class element in Dublin keep on electing him to Parliament, and regard him as their champion.

Briscoe has another distinction, he proceeded. Besides being the only Jew in the Irish Parliament, he is also the only Jewish farmer – and is almost as proud of the latter distinction as of the farmer. He took me up to his farm last week. It is only four acres. But he raises lots of chickens there, which he sells to Dublin restaurants. Being a poor man, he tries to make some profit out of this farm.

Describing a visit to the home of Rabbi Dr. Herzog, the Chief Pabbi of the Irish Free State, he said that presently “Bob” Briscoe came in with a Christian friend of his, a member of the Senate, and we all sat in our hats – including the Christian Senator.