The Harp Without The Crown – Thomas Concannon

“The cause of Ireland is the cause of humanity…anything done for the

Gaelic League is helping free Ireland from intellectual atrophy and industrial

stagnation.” Quote from Thomas Concannon upon his arrival to Butte,

Montana on April 2,1906. Concannon held the important position of

advance man and organizer for Irish Gaelic League founder and President

Douglas Hyde’s fundraising visit to Butte and Anaconda in April 1906.

Douglas Hyde arrived in Butte and Anaconda as part of a 60 American city

speaking tour to raise funds for the Gaelic League. It was Concannon’s job

to ensure that Hyde’s visit to Butte was a success.

Hello this is John Conlan, host of the Rocky Road to Dublin here on

KBMF, and welcome to this episode of The Harp Without the Crown, where I

will be discussing the significant role played by Thomas Concannon in

introducing Douglas Hyde to the Butte Irish community. Hyde was touring

America to raise awareness and funds for the Irish Gaelic League, founded

in 1893. The Gaelic League’s mission was to preserve and promote the

study of the Irish language, establish Irish culture and identity, and develop

Irish industry, which the organization believed had diminished during

centuries of British rule. Reaching these goals was seen as essential

before Ireland could be totally independent from England. Episode 5 of this

series discusses Hyde’s visit to Butte and the Gaelic League in more detail.

By the time Douglas Hyde and Thomas Concannon arrived in Butte, the

Gaelic League was well known in Ireland. In 1904, the Gaelic League had

50,000 members with branches and Irish teachers throughout the country.

However, this success and expansion of Irish language programs

throughout Ireland drew down the League’s coffers, and the Gaelic League

and Hyde looked to America for funds. Hyde knew raising awareness and

money for the Gaelic League would not be an easy task mainly becausethe Irish Gaelic League was not well known in America outside of Boston

and New York. John Quinn, a New York City lawyer, and a main American

supporter and funder for Hyde’s American journey, commented at the end of

Hyde’s speaking tour that his tour was a success, “considering he came

here without any organization and was practically unknown except to a

mere handful of insignificant Gaelic Leaguers.”

Douglas Hyde changed his mind several times about coming to America,

but eventually set sail for America in 1905. It was important that Hyde had

competent people working for him who could organize a successful trip.

That task was left to fellow Gaelic Leaguer,Thomas Concannon. Douglas

Hyde had complete confidence in Concannon and touted him as “a born

diplomat” and complimented him for his “transparent honesty” which would

“win over everybody.”

Concannon’s educational and business background made him well

suited for the position. Born in Ireland on the Aran Island of Inishman, he

came to America, attended Eastman College and later worked in business

ventures in America and Mexico. He was a trained accountant. This

background and his understanding of American culture and politics would

serve him well in his new position. He returned to Ireland in 1898 and joined

the Gaelic League. He was a Gaelic scholar who had written a number of

books in the Irish language and was a traveling Irish language teacher for

the Irish Gaelic League.

Once in America, he liked to describe himself as “Advance Manager,”

“Organizer in Chief.” and “Advance Man.” His job was to arrive in a city well

ahead of Hyde and solidify arrangements, such as receptions and

speeches, with local Irish-American organizations. When the tour headedwest he arrived in Butte one week prior to Hyde and immediately went to

work.

In Butte, Concannon started the process by sending glowing press

releases to the Butte newspapers noting that Hyde was getting great

receptions on his tour as he made his way across the country. Also noted

were the large sums of money being collected for the Gaelic League.

Reading these press releases in the Butte newspapers served to build

excitement and interest in Hyde and the Gaelic League.

Concannon would then take his message to large audiences in

Anaconda and Butte. He spoke at a well attended Anaconda AOH Hall and

also at the Butte Centerville AOH Hall, where 300 people were in

attendance. During these events, Concannon referred to Douglas Hyde as

“the greatest Irishman of the present day…a poet, historian,scholar,

dramatist-orator, all rolled into one.” Having an organizer addressing large

audiences was an unique strategy. During this time period, organizers

traveling with Irish activists and politicians rarely spoke to large audiences

and were barely mentioned in the newspapers.

After hearing Concannon’s glowing introduction of Hyde, the Butte

Evening News reported somewhat sarcastically as “hero worship.”

However, negative comments were rare and Concannon charmed Butte

audiences with very complimentary words, “if any of you men in Butte want

to invest your spare money in industrials, there is a grand opportunity to do

so in Ireland. He praised Butte’s support of the Gaelic League and

believed “at least a half dozen cities will follow… and that Butte has the

reputation for setting the pace.”

Concannon was correct in his assessment of the Butte Irish community

“setting the pace” for other American cities. Butte raised $2,212, rankingthird among forty-six cities that raised money for the Gaelic League.

Anaconda raised $650 and the total for both cities was $2,862.60, with a

purchasing power in 2025 of approximately $105,000.

Concannon’s speeches would dramatically detail the birth of the Gaelic

League, when “six young men in Dublin” established “an organization for

the purpose of preserving the Irish language.” Concannon noted that in just

12 years, membership had grown to 200,000. “Ten or fifteen years ago the

Irish language was spoken only by a few and Irish industries amounted to

practically nothing…the work of the Gaelic League is really accomplishing

wonders.” He appealed to the patriotism of the working people in Butte by

quoting Abraham Lincoln, the “League is of the people, for the people, and

by the people.” He also noted numerous times that the Gaelic League was

not just for academics or elitists, but open to all regardless of status or

class. Many Irish speakers touring America often quoted the Founding

Fathers and Abraham Lincoln thereby appealing to their patriotism.

During his week stay in Butte, Concannon emphasized that the Gaelic

League promoted Irish music, dance, games/sports, drama and literature as

well as Irish manufacturing and industries that relied on native grown

sources. He was careful to note that “we have no quarrel with the English

language and want to make Ireland bilingual,” and an “Irishman’s head is

large enough to hold two tongues.” Concannon also had encouragement

for Irish Americans who may not want to learn Irish, admitting “that it might

be difficult to learn Irish but they could at least have concerts of Irish music

and entertain Irish lectures.”

In addition to his speaking skills, Concannon was proficient in the art of

public relations. He loved to liaison personally with local dignitaries and

met with many Butte politicians and business owners. Receptions were heldin Judge Donlan’s Courtroom, Butte City Hall Council chambers, and the

Thornton Hotel.

How successful was Thomas Concannon’s advance work for Douglas

Hyde’s visit to Butte? It is important to note that many Irish dignitaries who

visited Butte in the early 1900’s, such as Eamon de Valera or Constance

Markievicz, also needed skilled organizers for their American journeys.

However, unlike Douglas Hyde, they didn’t need significant introductions

because their reputations preceded their arrival to Butte. Douglas Hyde

needed a proper introduction and he skillfully employed Thomas Concannon

to organize a successful trip to Butte. In my research for this series, I have

never found an organizer like Concannon who commanded a presence

equal to the main speaker, Douglas Hyde.

Despite American organizer John Quinn’s distrust of and desire to send

Thomas Concannon back to Ireland mid tour, he played a huge role in

contacting Irish American organizations in Butte and Anaconda prior to

Hyde’s visit. The visit to Butte made fundraising for Ireland’s Gaelic League

a smooth process which led to establishing Gaelic League Branches in

Butte and Anaconda. He was part of a dedicated team that laid the

foundation for a successful fundraising effort for the Gaelic League. This

successful effort led to the Anaconda Gaelic League Branch promising $700

annually to support Ireland’s Gaelic League, a promise that was kept for a

number of years.

Thomas Concannon and Douglas Hyde had been on a seven month

American journey, traveled 19,000 miles and raised approximately $50,000

for Ireland’s Gaelic League, which has the purchasing power of $1,752,738

in 2025. He played a huge part in making Hyde’s American journey a

success. Documenting Thomas Concannon’s American journey as theorganizer for Douglas Hyde provides unique insight into how these tours

were organized and presented to the Butte and Anaconda Irish

communities.