It is appropriate at this point to quote McDowell on the academic performance of the current and upcoming gerontocracy: '...of the 18 Fellows elected from 1896 to 1915 Smyly and Luce alone produced original work of any substance and distinction ...Johnston was prolific in the field of economics, even if he made few converts to his somewhat heterodox views...Alton's early articles on the complex question of the text of Ovid's Fasti gave promise of a mastery...not to be fulfilled in his lifetime....the remainder - WE Thrift, Kennedy, Goligher, Fraser, Kelleher, RM Gwynn, Webb, Tate, H Thrift, Canning, Henry and Godfrey left behind...a few scattered articles...some high-class hack-work, or in several cases nothing at all...' In 1941 the stage was set for an ongoing battle between the gerontocracy and the Junior Fellows and Professors, which lasted for more than a decade.

1941

On January 15 war privileges were extended by the Board to Oxford students interned in the Curragh, allowing them to register. Then on February 5 the seven-point joint resolution from the Junior Fellows and Professors, as agreed on November 12 1940, was rejected, though the door for future compromise was opened somewhat. In this context JJ found himself in the embarrassing position of being supportive of the reforms, but on the verge of promotion into the gerontocracy, and thus was perceived as being in the wrong camp, despite his record.

On February 20 the Junior Fellows met; JJ was in the chair; 11 were present. They absorbed the report of the rejection of their proposal, and agreed to submit the case in detail in writing. They called for three additional Junior Fellows representatives on the Board; this was amended to two; JJ would have supported three, while Godfrey would have been content with one. A subsequent meeting on May 16, after approving a Fellowship in Immunology, proposed a fine of two guineas on Senior Fellows for absence from the Board, to be paid to a Junior Fellow substitute. This was a minor irritant aimed at needling the gerontocracy.

Then on May 30 there was a full meeting, 14 present, with Sir Robert Tate in the chair; JJ was absent, but had given support in writing to the proposal to increase representation by two, associated with a lengthy reasoned document leaning on the 1906 and 1921 Royal Commissions which had urged representative government. There was no echo of this however at Board level. On November 12 the Board agreed a letter from 'TCD Miscellany' regarding continuity of policy; they were to have 3 permanent advisers of MA standing.

On November 20 Luce chaired the Junior Fellows meeting, there were 13 present, including JJ. Godfrey was replaced by Luce on the standing committee, which also included McConnell, Parke and Ditchburn. They resolved to raise the constitutional issue again next year, and declared that the finances of the College were the concern of the standing committee. They set up a committee to come up with proposals to improve the library and Pass degree courses. They were clearly aspiring to call the shots, while the Board bumbled on about routine business.

1942

Then in 1942, after inaugurating an LDF (Local Defence Forces) unit, and arranging for ARP water tanks on January 14, the Board was faced with the death of Provost Thrift on April 25; his last Board meeting had been March 11. Alton the Vice-Provost acted from April 25; he recognised the resolutions of the Junior Fellows and professors from April 29 1937, and a meeting of Fellows and professors was convened on May 5. Procedures were laid down; there would be successive eliminations; a lead of 5 votes would be accepted as unanimous; there was provision for votes from those on war service. Alton's name was agreed by 50 out of 51, and it was agreed to transmit this to de Valera by the Registrar RM Gwynn in person. This was accepted by the Government and Alton was installed as provost on May 13. On May 20 AA Luce was co-opted to the Board. At this point JJ was next in line.

On May 30 McConnell and Duncan were accepted as Junior Fellow Board representatives, and Fynne for the Professors. During the foregoing period of transition to the Alton regime, there had been a call from the Junior Fellows on May 1 to consider the duties, tenure and emoluments of the Provost. There were further meetings on June 5 and June 19; the Standing Committee now includes JJ, Fearon, Bailey and O'Meara. JJ and McConnell were re-elected to the Lecture Committee. A committee was set up to enquire again into the tutorial system: JJ, Godfrey, Walton, Moody and O'Meara.

On June 24 the Board offered 2 lectures per week to JJ in ancient history, and to be excused 4 lectures per week in modern history; on July 1 it was recorded that JJ had declined the ancient history offer, which went to McDowell. (One can't help being amazed at the extent to which detail like this was considered relevant at Board level.)

Further JF meetings took place on July 3 (JJ in the chair), Sept 25, Dec 4, Dec 14, Dec 30; the main concern was the Arts degree and the tutorial system.

Back to the Board: on Dec 2 they agreed to a DIAS proposal that Schroedinger should give 3 lectures in Hilary term 1943 on the physical aspects of the living cell. I mention this because it refers to the material which later emerged as his classic 'What is Life?' book. Then on December 9 it was agreed that JJ should give 4 lectures per week in lieu of Duncan during the latter's absence, and relieved of his pass history lectures, which should be done by McDowell. Duncan resigned as JF representative.

1943

In 1943 there is little evidence on meaningful interaction between the Board and the Junior Fellows. The concerns of the Board included storing books for the British Association, for distribution to universities in post-war Europe; the Students Representative Council was concerned about bicycle sheds, and wanted staff-student meetings (refused); lectures in Chemical Engineering; lectures in Russian from Margaret McMacken; leave of absence for Duncan for war service; the RIA celebration of the centenary of Hamilton's Quaternions, and the sale of Dunsink Observatory to the DIAS, for £4.5K after some bargaining. On December 2 Matty Fry died, and on December 8 1943 JJ was co-opted as a Senior Fellow.

The Junior Fellows during 1943 met on March 9, March 23, July 2, September 30, December 15 and December 20, mainly about revising the pass arts course; altogether 5 were on leave of absence, involved with the war one way or another. JJ did not participate after the first meeting, which he chaired.

During the remainder of the 40s the Junior Fellows minutes become steadily more substantive; after JJ had been elevated however I feel I should leave this to historians of College politics, McDowell in particular, who chronicles the lead-up to the crunch meetings of 1951.

1944

From 1944 onwards therefore I confine myself to the Board minutes, attempting to assess JJ's role, which seems to have been confined to being an assiduous attender of Board meetings; he attends every on up to January 30 1946, when Max Henry stands in for him. They agree to 2 more Fellows: Coutts and Mitchell. The SRC succeeds in getting bicycle stands. There was on June 5 a decision to set up a record of learned publications by staff, but according to the archivist, this never came to anything.

1945

In 1945 on March 7 the SRC was funded in support of an Irish Students Association(1) conference. On March 21 there was reference to correspondence with the Department of Agriculture regarding acceptance of Veterinary College students for TCD degrees. The Emergency Scientific Research Bureau thanked TCD for work done; there was reference to 16 reports produced for work done between 1941 and 1944; these were to be published by title in the Calendar, but I found no trace of them(2). The Scholars expressed no confidence in the SRC. The SRC sought health care for students, student-staff committees, representation on Houses of Residence committee; these were mostly refused or stalled(3).

1946

During all this time JJ is in the Seanad, so on the whole perhaps it is not surprising that his role in this context is marginal. In 1946 the SRC continues to figure in the minutes; there were changes to its constitution; this was then based on representation from the various College societies. On January 16 a committee is set up, on Duncan's initiative, to report on the teaching of economics; JJ served on this, and it reported on March 6. As a consequence JJ, Duncan and the Registrar are instructed to draw up advertisements for lectureships in Statistics and for an Assistant to the Professor of Political Economy.

We are now in March 1946; the war is over, and the Board Officers are Provost Alton, Vice-Provost Luce, Bursar Thrift, Senior Lecturer Gwynn, Registrar Bailey, Auditor Fraser, Senior Dean Smyly, Senior Proctor Tate and Junior Dean Mitchell. JJ came in later as an Officer to succeed Smyly as Senior Dean.

On May 15 1946 JJ participates in a committee to consider future relations with Magee College, Derry. Apart from JJ it consists of the Provost, the Senior Lecturer, the Registrar, Godfrey and two representatives from Magee. On June 15 this committee report, along the lines that Magee students can spend one or more years in TCD, with access to rooms, and Magee staff are to be involved in course planning and exams. This arrangement was close to JJ's heart, as he was always a defender of the role of TCD in supporting all-Ireland culture in the Presbyterian context, and the Magee contact was essential for this purpose.

Also on June 15 there was notice taken in the Board minutes of the fact that the College Historical Society had decided no longer to nominate a representative to the Students Representative Council. On July 3 1946 the minutes record the present writer RJ's entrance scholarship, along with the names of JF Knaggs, Norman Rodway and Dick Devlin as Sizars. Knaggs subsequently headed the European Statistical Office, after serving in the Irish Central Statistics Office under Roy Geary. Rodway made a name in the acting profession, and Devlin made his career in chemistry, specialising in polymers in Athlone.

On October 30 it is noted that Dr Walton in the Physics Department is to arrange for two lectures to be given by Professor Heitler of the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. I recollect attending these, and being appreciative of the opportunity to get a glimpse of world-class physics, though still being too junior to fully appreciate them.

On November 6 it is noted that the Provost and the Registrar are to discuss the needs of the College with de Valera. An Honorary Degree for Sean Lester is projected for July 1947, in appreciation of his role in the League of Nations. It is difficult not to associate this with the politics of the overture to de Valera.

On December 4 the Board agrees to cover the travel expenses for the SRC to attend the annual congress of the Irish Students Association in Belfast. Contrast this consistent all-Ireland thinking with the grudging anti-Queens attitude of the NUI colleges, as exposed elsewhere(1).

Then on December 11 the Board approves a memo to the Government, in which they welcome the Irish Universities Council, to include Northern Ireland, as an opportunity for consultation on an all-Ireland basis.

1947

On February 26 1947 the Provost and Registrar report on the meeting with the Government, but no details are given. Then on March 12 the existence of a State grant of £35K is mentioned in the estimates, so this must have been the fruit of the encounter. At this same meeting a proposal for a Students Union, using the basement of the Museum Building, is blocked.

Then on April 23 the death of JM (Max) Henry is noted; he had been among the last of the 'Fellows by examination' and had been in trouble with the Board over the eccentricity of his published work. On May 14 the revised constitution of the SRC is approved, opening up broad opportunities for student democracy(3)

Then on May 17, a committee is set up to consider suggestions for departmental grants from the Government money; this includes JJ, the Bursar, the Registrar and Professor Purser (Engineering School). Two other committees are to consider appointments and building maintenance.

On May 28 the Registrar Kenneth Bailey is nominated to represent TCD at the official opening of the Bakers Union Library, in the Four Provinces House, Harcourt St. This represented an enlightened liberal gesture, in that this Trade Union library was on the initiative of John Swift, the Union General Secretary, who had a long-standing reputation as a Socialist, and who believed ardently in the need for the working people to be well-read and educated. This library subsequently got the Union into confrontation with the Roman Catholic Church, and pressure was put on to close it down, which was ultimately successful(4).

Nothing much happens relevant to the JJ/RJ epic then until October 10 1947, when Magee College reported negotiations with the Northern Ireland Government. It seems that they went for money to the Government, and conditions were laid down that the primary association must be with Queens University Belfast. Magee balked at this, as the TCD arrangement was of 40 years standing and a happy one(5).

Then on October 15 1947 a committee is set up to look at problems in the School of Agriculture; this includes JJ, Purser and Fitzgibbon, the latter two being from the Engineering School. What the problems were is not recorded. This would appear to be an early indication of JJ's increasing recognition in TCD as someone with an interest in agricultural economics and research, and possibly a key influence with the State in getting recognition for TCD's role in agricultural education and research; after all was he not now in the Senate, and advising the Government on post-emergency agricultural policy.

On November 5 1947 the Board accepted an invitation to a Congress of Universities of the Empire, scheduled for July 19-23 1948. The Free State, or 'Eire', was still technically within the Empire at this time.

1948

The period 1944 to 50 can perhaps be identified as one in which JJ is at the peak of his College political influence. Episodes noted in the Board minutes where I suspect he must have been been a supporter or a prime mover included a reply in Irish verse to an Address from the Oireachtas of the Gaelic League (Jan 14 1948), refusal of access by the Colonial Office for purposes of graduate recruitment (Jan 21), permission for the reproduction of the Book of Kells by Titus Burckhardt of Berne (Feb 25), support for the 1798 150-year commemoration by loan of exhibits (October 20), and the rejection of a request to form an Orange Lodge (December 1 1948).

Other indications of his role in this period include his joining the Agriculture School Committee (February 4 1948), and the assertion by this committee of its own right to appoint a committee to supervise entry, a devolutionary move from centralist Board control (February 25). Then on June 2 JJ, Duncan (economics) and Broderick (mathematics) consider applications for a Lecturer in Statistics, appointing EH Thornton on October 1.

During the last years of this decade JJ holds office in 1948 as Senior Dean, and as Auditor in 1949 and 50. He never gets to hold the key offices of Bursar and Registrar; is is not enough of a 'front runner' in College politics, preferring to look outside to the Senate.

1949

The year 1949 sees the Magee College question simmering on; there is a committee set up (March 2) to interact with Stormont; this includes Provost Alton, Luce, Baily, Moody and Godfrey. One might wonder why JJ is not involved directly in this; my guess is that he held back because he knew that his presence in a group interacting with Stormont would be seen as abrasive, given the long shadow of his 'Civil War in Ulster' published in 1913, which had attacked the foundation-process of the Northern statelet. His influence in the background however would undoubtedly have counted.

In passing I should mention the 1949 Scholarship group which included the present writer RJ as well as Armstrong, Baird, Montgomery, Somerfield, Glass, Jenkins, Rose Alexander, Christine Matthews and Juliet Leslie Ellis, selecting the ones who were known to me at the time, mainly from maths and science, and Cecil Jenkins subsequently in the French episode. I mention them because they are mostly scattered to the four winds, Somerfield and myself being the only ones known to me who made their careers in Ireland. This is a measure of the 'brain-drain' process(6).

Joe Johnston (1909) is standing, second from the left. I am in the back row, fourth from the left. The full picture is available, with some of the people identified.

It gave JJ pleasure to participate in the Scholars Dinner, as he had been a scholar in 1909, and therefore entitled to participate on the decade principle.

On November 30 we have a record of the SRC making representations about fire escapes, and reading-room access (this was denied to women after some time like 9pm, while it stayed open for men till 10).

On December 12 the Provost and Registrar are again to approach the Government, and the SRC gets its expenses to attend the conference of the National Union of Students in London. Kenneth Baily is to represent the College at the 1950 Amsterdam conference on the history of science.

1950

We are now into 1950. On January 18 the Report of the Committee on Magee is 'laid down'. This presumably means that they give up the battle to keep Presbyterian culture all-Ireland, and bow to the will of Stormont. JJ must have seen this as another milestone on the road to partitionist perdition.

On February 22 they agree to a small subvention to the SRC, £3, to enable them to attend the NUS conference in London(7) The Board went on, on May 3, to record that they had no objection to the affiliation of the SRC to the NUS, provided the SRC paid. The Board in its quasi-Unionist role would very likely have welcomed this politics of looking to London.

On May 24 the PhD of John de Courcy Ireland was approved, giving standing to its author as a historian rather than as a fringe left-wing agitator of dubious background. There is an interesting hare to be chased, relating to the history of the Left in Ireland.

Then on October 23 1950, the College welcomes the idea of the 1953 Berkeley Bicentenary Conference, organised by the Mind Association and the Aristotelian Society. This turns out to be JJ's opportunity to contribute a keynote paper identifying Berkeley's status as an economist.

G Findlay Shirras is accepted as a temporary replacement for Duncan in his absence; we encounter him in JJ's Statistical and Social Inquiry Society role, where he occurs as a supporting speaker. I encountered him myself at the time, and gained the impression that JJ attempted to cultivate a relationship with him, and to try to build on him as a possible support for his declining TCD academic and political role, though without success, as Shirras did not have the required level of international recognition.

Then, finally, JJ is nominated by the Board to serve on a Committee to watch developments in relation to the Agricultural Institute, along with the Provost (Alton) and Professor Purser. This sets the scene for the next decade, and the saga of the Kells Ingram Farm, at Townley Hall, Co Meath.

Thus at the end of the decade we see JJ, in his late 50s, a public figure, with a positive record of a decade of activity in the Senate, the youngest member of the gerontocratic Board, never missing a meeting, doing his best to bring the College into the mainstream of Irish political and cultural life, despite the constitutional constraints of the College Charter, consciously fighting what he probably however recognised as a losing battle with the TCD mainstream Establishment, and being aware of the rising tide of the McConnell revolution about to wash over him.

There were also in 1950 some initial rumblings of the discontent which led eventually to the McConnell reforms, but I treat these in the next decade module.

Notes and References

2. This issue remains on the agenda of historians of science in Ireland. In the writer's time there were apocryphal stories of Ernest Walton working for de Valera on the manufacture of thermionic tubes for use in a short-wave transmitter at Athlone, for the purpose of conveying the Irish political message to the Irish in the US. It was said that he got one working, but it had to be vacuum-pumped continuously.

3. This becomes significant in the context of the present writer RJ's role in the student Left. The old SRC constitution was based on college society representation. The drop-out of the Hist was an indicator of this system collapsing. There emerged a campaign, led by the Left, to get democratic reform of the SRC, and to arrange democratic elections, with representatives for each year of students in each school. We encounter this in the 'left-wing politics' thread.

4. I can dig out a reference to this epic; there was a history of the Bakers Union published not so long ago, and this episode featured in it.

5. This is a question to take up in the Irish Association thread; I have however not managed to find any reference to Magee College and TCD there. The records of JJ's Presidency of the Association are largely missing.

6. The 'brain-drain' process was identified by J D Bernal FRS in the 1950s as a key factor preventing the development of colonies and post-colonies of imperial systems, and I have always been conscious of it, having taken career decisions on several occasions aimed at resisting it in my own case, and perhaps enabling me to influence the local environment against it, so as to resist it for others.

7. I mention this here because I remember at the time there were left-wing influences in the NUS, and it as the policy of the student Left in Trinity to try to link up with them. This is perhaps the measure of the lack of awareness among the student left of the home-ground issues, a consequence of the relative isolation of TCD from the national mainstream.

Some navigational notes:

Copyright Dr Roy Johnston 1999