State papers: Irish College in Rome 'quite unsure' of location of Liberator's death bed

State papers showed the Office of Public Works had sought the return of Daniel O’Connell’s death bed to put it on display at his ancestral home in Derrynane, Co Kerry.

Irish diplomats believed the Irish College in Rome was unaware of the location of the death bed of Daniel O’Connell when a request was made for its return to Ireland 30 years ago.

The bed in which one of the most famous Irish political leaders had died on May 15, 1847, in the Italian city of Genoa had come into the care of the college in 1926.

State papers released under the 30-year rule showed the Office of Public Works (OPW) had approached the rector of the college, the then Monsignor Seán Brady, to seek the return of O’Connell’s death bed in order to put it on display at the politician’s ancestral home in Derrynane, Co Kerry, which was managed by the OPW.

As trustees of the Irish College in Rome, the four archbishops of Ireland at the time approved the request with the cost of the shipment of the bed back to Ireland being met by the OPW.

A telex sent by the Irish ambassador to Italy, Robin Fogarty, to the Department of Foreign Affairs in June 1991 said he had become involved in the issue because it seemed to be “one of some sensitivity”. 

OPW commissioner Brendan Scully had told the department that he understood that the Irish College authorities were willing to release the bed on foot of an official request being made through the embassy.

No contact

However, the ambassador noted that Msgr Brady maintained he had had no contact whatsoever from the OPW or anybody else about O’Connell’s death bed.

Mr Fogarty said, when contacted again, the monsignor said the bed could only be released if the Irish College was provided with an official written request by the OPW.

On the basis of “very confidential information”, the ambassador said he had formed the impression that there was “some embarrassment” on Msgr Brady’s side as it appeared he was “quite unsure” of the bed’s location.

“As far as he knows, it was at some stage dismantled and may be in a storeroom in the college,” said Mr Fogarty.

The Department of Foreign Affairs recommended that it was “most desirable, indeed necessary” that then taoiseach Charles Haughey give approval for the formal request for O’Connell’s death bed to be made to the Irish College.