{{Short description|Relief organisation, active 1921–1928}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=December 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} thumb|"Report of the Irish White Cross to 31st August, 1922" The '''Irish White Cross''' was established on 1 February 1921 after the Red Cross (based in Geneva) refused Irish requests for help.<ref>{{cite book |last=Comerford |first=Marie |date=2021 |title=On Dangerous Ground A Memoir of the Irish Revolution |url= |location=Dublin |publisher=Lilliput Press |page=183 |isbn=9781843518198 |access-date=}}</ref> It served as a mechanism for distributing funds raised by the American Committee for Relief in Ireland.<ref>Gaughan in Douglas- Intro. p9</ref> It was managed by the Quaker businessman, and later Irish Free State senator, James G. Douglas. Maire Comerford was a member of the General Council of the Irish White Cross who traveled throughout Ireland organizing committees for the collection and distribution of relief funds.<ref>Comerford, pp. 184–185.</ref>
The White Cross continued to operate until the Irish Civil War and its books were officially closed in 1928. From 1922 its activities were essentially wound down and remaining funds divested to subsidiary organizations. The longest running of these aid committees was the Children's Relief Association which distributed aid to child victims of this troubled period, north and south of the border, until 1947.<ref>Ceannt p67 winding up accounts audit</ref>
==Bibliography== *Douglas, James G. Ed. J. Anthony Gaughan: ''Memoirs of Senator James G. Douglas- Concerned Citizen'':University College Dublin Press: 1998: {{ISBN|1-900621-19-3}} *[https://archive.org/details/irelandcommitt00amerrich ''Report of American Committee for Relief in Ireland'']: Internet Archive *[https://archive.org/details/reportofirishwhi00irisrich ''Report of the Irish White Cross to 31 August, 1922''] : Internet Archive *Elizabeth, Helen : ''The Largest Amount of Good: Quaker Relief in Ireland, 1654–1921'' : 1993 : {{ISBN|0-7735-0959-3}} *Ceannt, Áinne B.É : ''Irish White Cross 1920–47 – The Storey of its Work'' : Pub. 'At the Sign of the Three Candles' : Dublin : 1947? National Library of Ireland Call No. Ir 361c2
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110622092346/http://archives.tcm.ie/kildarenationalist/2007/09/19/story26281.asp ''The Irish White Cross and the Black and Tans''] Kildare Nationalist – September 2007 *[http://www.rarebooks.nd.edu/digital/stamps/irish/set11L/set11L.html I.W.C. Fund-raising Stamps] University of Notre Dame collection * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721121911/http://www.adams.ie/BidCat/detail.asp?SaleRef=7022&LotRef=90 Report of the Irish White Cross from 31 August 1922, Prepared by W.J. Williams] Adams Auction Rooms * [http://www.difp.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=103 Memorandum from Harry Boland (New York), 5 August 1921 to Eamon de Valera (Dublin) re. White Cross]''Documents on Irish Foreign Policy''
Category:Irish War of Independence Category:Medical and health organisations based in the Republic of Ireland Category:1921 establishments in Ireland Category:1928 disestablishments in Ireland Category:Quaker organisations based Ireland
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