On 29 April 2021 I gave a talk to the National Maritime Museum of Ireland entitled ‘A Victory Comparable to Jutland: the Royal Navy’s Hijacking of Archbishop Daniel Mannix in 1920’. The talk was recorded and is available for viewing at the museum’s website or directly through YouTube

Here is the description of the talk: On 8 August 1920 the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Cork-born Daniel Mannix, was travelling from New York to Queenstown aboard the SS Baltic when he was arrested off the coast of Ireland by the Royal Navy and transferred to a destroyer, HMS Wivern, which landed him at Penzance in England. The incident soon made headlines around the world, often being reported as farce: the obvious quip about the Pirates of Penzance being outdone by Mannix’s own description of the event comparing it to the Battle of Jutland. But what was it about Mannix’s proposed visit to Ireland that led the British government to risk international opprobrium in having him arrested on the high seas in such dramatic circumstances? This paper will examine the background to this curious incident and look at the reasons why the government in London believed the mere presence of Mannix in his native land might pose a danger to British rule in Ireland.