Sean Sweeney Collection of Irish Northern Aid Ephemera

This collection consists of flyers, newspapers, newsletters, memoranda, correspondence, and various artifacts sold or distributed at demonstrations documenting Irish republicanism activism in New York City during the late 20th century. The collection consists of materials produced in both Ireland and the United States, although the majority of the collection documents the activities of the mid-Manhattan chapter of the Irish Northern Aid Committee (Noraid), an Irish American organization dedicated to fund raising and promoting public awareness of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The collection also contains other materials collected by Sean Sweeney in the course of his activism, including items from other Irish activist and political groups, including Sinn Fein and the Political Education Committee of Action Irish. The 1981 hunger strikes by Irish republican prisoners in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh prison and the Armagh Women's Prison are heavily documented by calendars, flyers announcing demonstrations, and posters memorializing the deceased, including many drawn by Irish Echo artist Brian Mór Ó Baoighill. The collection also demonstrates the varied media coverage of domestic republican activism and conflict in Northern Ireland from multiple viewpoints, including physical force republicanism, nonviolent advocacy, and mainstream American media outlets through numerous newspaper and newsletter publications.