Patrick Moylett

He ran a business that was used as a front to import armaments for the cause and held that many of those that became closest associates of Éamon de Valera during the civil war rift had at one time worked for the British.

Born in Crossmolina, County Mayo[1] 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.

On one occasion during that period, according to his military statements, he prevented some over-enthusiastic volunteers from attempting the kidnapping and assassination of Prince George Future King of England, sailing and holidaying in the Mayo/Donegal region at the time.

With Harry Boland in the United States with Éamon de Valera, Moylett succeeded him as president of the Irish Republican Brotherhood[3] 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 organisation of a peace conference to end hostilities between both parties.

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 21 November 1920, which happened whilst he was in London speaking with members of the cabinet.