Joseph McGarrity (1874-1940) was born in Carrickmore, County Tyrone, Ireland. He emigrated to the USA in 1892 at the age of 18 and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From 1893 until his death he was a leading member of the Clan na Gael organisation. He also was a successful businessman; however, his business failed on three occasions, twice due to embezzlement by his business partner. McGarrity helped sponsor several Irish Race Conventions and founded and ran a newspaper called the Irish Press from 1918-22 that supported the War of Independence in Ireland.
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During the First World War, while the USA was still neutral, McGarrity was involved in the Hindu German Conspiracy; he arranged the Annie Larsen arms purchase and shipment from New York to San Diego for India.[1]
When Éamon de Valera arrived in the USA in 1919 they struck up an immediate rapport and McGarrity managed de Valera’s tour of the USA. He persuaded de Valera of the benefits of supporting him and the Philadelphia branch against the New York branch of the Friends of Irish Freedom organisation led by John Devoy and Judge Daniel F. Cohalan. He became president of the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic. He christened his newborn son Eamon De Valera McGarrity.
He opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty and travelled to Dublin in 1922 and assisted the development of the short-lived Collins/De Valera Pact by bringing de Valera and Michael Collins together before the Irish general election, 1922. He did not support the founding of Fianna Fáil in 1926 and opposed the party’s entry into the Dáil in 1927. He finally fell out with de Valera in the 1930s and in 1939 supported the demand from Sean Russell for the "S-Plan" bombing campaign in Britain which proved disastrous. He met Hermann Goering in Berlin in 1939 to ask for aid for the IRA, which led indirectly to "Plan Kathleen". He was a lifelong friend of fellow Carrickmore native and avid Republican, Dr Patrick McCartan. When he died in 1940 a mass was held in the St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin. McGarrity remained an unrepentant physical force republican all his life.
Huge numbers of his papers are in the National Library of Ireland.
The IRA signed all its statements 'J.J. McGarrity' up until 1969 when the organisation split into the 'Official' and 'Provisional' movements...[2]. Thereafter the term continued to be used by the Officials while the Provisionals adopted the moniker 'P.O'Neill' [3]