Embassy Centenary Programme 2021
Commemorating the negotiation and signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.
The Embassy of Ireland in London are hosting a programme of events from October through to December 2021 marking the centenary of the negotiation and signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 – a key moment in Irish and British history. The autumn centenary programme began on 7th October with a series of exhibitions and events which will run until early December 2021.
The Treaty
Fishamble: The New Play Company presents
The Treaty by Colin Murphy
Directed by Conall Morrison
One hundred years ago, five Irish plenipotentiaries, accompanied by a large delegation of men and women, arrived in London to begin the negotiations that concluded with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, a landmark moment in British and Irish history that led to the establishment of the Irish State.
From 2nd to 4th December, renowned Irish theatre company, Fishamble, will bring an exciting new work from playwright Colin Murphy, The Treaty, to the Irish Embassy in London and tell the story of what happened inside the negotiations as Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins and the Irish delegation sat across from a formidable British negotiating team headed by David Lloyd George.
The Treaty was co-commissioned by Fishamble and Pavilion Theatre. This production is part of the Embassy of Ireland’s programme to mark the centenary of the Anglo-Irish Treaty Centenary with support from Culture Ireland, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the British Irish Chamber of Commerce.
Tickets are on sale on the Irish Cultural Centre Hammersmith's website.
The Art Of Negotiation: John Lavery's Anglo-Irish Treaty Portraits
The centenary programme began on 7th October with the opening at the Embassy of Ireland of The Art Of Negotiation: John Lavery's Anglo Irish Treaty Portraits an exhibition of paintings by the renowned portrait artist Sir John Lavery.
The 14 portraits include some major Irish and British political figures who were involved in the negotiations, including Michael Collins, Winston Churchill, Arthur Griffith, David Lloyd George, as well as other important figures from the time such as Eamon De Valera and Lady Lavery.
The Art of Negotiation: John Lavery's Anglo-Irish Treaty Portraits is a collaboration between the Embassy of Ireland and the Hugh Lane Gallery and its collection of portraits by Sir John Lavery of the British and Irish signatories of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Two additional works have been generously lent by the National Gallery of Ireland and Áras an Uachtarain
The Art of Negotiation launched on 7th October and related talks and viewings of the exhibition will run throughout the month until 7th November.
John Lavery, The Ratification of the Irish Treaty in the English House of Lords, 1921, Oil on board, 36 x 26cm. National Gallery of Ireland
The Treaty, 2021: Records from the Archives
The Irish Embassy in London and the National Archives of Ireland in partnership with the British Academy and Royal Irish Academy presents The Treaty, 1921: Records from the Archives at the British Academy on Carlton House Terrace for two weeks in October.
Bringing together key records from both nations to be viewed side by side, the exhibition will provide new understandings about this important period in Anglo-Irish relations. The exhibition will draw on primary sources including records, photographs, documentation and correspondence held by the National Archives of Ireland with additional records from the National Archives UK, National Library of Ireland, Military Archives of Ireland and University College Dublin to give an insight into the recollections of the delegates around the negotiating table in London.
The exhibition maps out the events preceding and throughout this important period of British and Irish history, concluding with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty, formally known as the ‘Articles of Agreement’, signed by the Irish and British delegates on 6 December 1921.
Talks
On Monday 18th October, in partnership with the Royal Irish Academy, and the British Academy, the Embassy will host a panel discussion on the legacy of the Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921.
The panel will reflect on the significance and legacy of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, which was signed in London on 6 December 1921 by British and Irish representatives, concluding the Irish War of Independence and providing for the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The panel will also examine how the talks reflected evolving positions and how it reshaped Anglo-Irish relations and relations in these islands.
The panellists are:
- Emeritus Professor Marianne Elliott OBE FBA Hon. MRIA, former Director of the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool
- Emeritus Professor Roy Foster FBA Hon. MRIA, Emeritus Professor of Irish History, University of Oxford
- Dr John Gibney, Assistant Editor of the Dcuments on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) series, Royal Irish Academy
- Dr Margaret O'Callaghan, Reader in History and Politics, Queen's University Belfast