The American Presence in Ulster: A Diplomatic History, 1796–1996 American presence in Ulster: a diplomatic history, 1796-1996

6. CHANGING TIMES for IRELAND

        CHANGING TIMES for IRELAND 3 The first half of the twentieth century saw the United States emerge as a great power. Not only did its role as an international player change, with a new emphasis on the workings of its consular and diplomatic services, but also its relations with Ireland and Great Britain changed. Just as important, Ireland underwent revolutionary changes that altered the position of the country. Ulster, struck by the blows of the sinking of the Titanic, the prospect of a home rule government in Dublin, and the merciless casualties of the Great War, would never be quite the same. Thus, in the twentieth century very different kinds of connections worked themselves out, linking the United States, Ireland, and Great Britain in new ways. The twentieth century would be very different from the nineteenth . The consulate would become much more professional and would be called upon to deal with increasingly sensitive issues, while still serving as a bridge between the two communities . Henry B. Miller was appointed consul on August , , and took over the post at the end of October. Although born in Ohio in , Miller had an early adulthood working for his father in the lumber and bridge building businesses in Oregon . By the s Miller was elected to the Oregon legislature and also became president of the Oregon Agricultural College . However, in  he was appointed United States consul in Chungking, and thus began a successful ten-year career in the Consular Service. Miller was subsequently sent to Man-  churia, where he also served as president of the Chinese Refugee and Aid Society during the Russo-Japanese War. For his efforts he was given a decoration from the Chinese Red Cross and a letter of thanks from the Japanese government. He was also presented to the emperor of Japan, the first foreign consul to be so honored, and he served as consul general at Yokohama before being sent to Belfast. Miller was the first experienced member of the Consular Service to be posted to Belfast, and his salary was fixed at five thousand dollars , the first increase since . However, by  his health was beginning to fail, and he resigned from the service in November. He returned to Oregon, where he was for three years the director of the School of Commerce at the University of Oregon. He died in .1 Hunter Sharp succeeded Miller as Consul in Belfast, assuming his duties on February , . Born in North Carolina in , Sharp attended Bingham’s Military Academy, Trinity College (later Duke University), the University of North Carolina, and the University of Maryland. He entered the Consular Service in the s and was sent to Japan, where he served as vice consul and sometime interpreter in Osaka, Hiogo, and Kobe, rising to consul before being sent to Moscow in  as consul general. His daughter Katherine recounted years later that after many years in Japan he found the Russian winters too severe, suffering from circulatory problems and being stricken with pneumonia. He was transferred to Lyon in , but by this time his children were at an impressionable age and had never lived in an English-speaking culture. To accommodate his family, Sharp was therefore transferred to Belfast in , where he served until . As for learning English, his daughter remembered that she and her brother “picked up a lot of English listening to the newspaper boys calling out headlines,” which must have amazed the consul and his wife. Sharp’s duties involved a number of public events, such as Memorial Day, when Katherine and her brother  ⁄   . List of Consuls and Agents at Belfast and Londonderry, Historical file, U.S. Consulate General, Belfast. were told to “keep out of the way and behave ourselves.” However, she recalled, “Our idea of being good was to fight with all the ragamuffins for spent bullets.”2 In those days before the Great War, a major event for the consul was the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society ’s annual show, where he would look on with pleasure at the displays of McCormick farm implements and those of other American firms. With the outbreak of the Great War in  the job of American consul became more demanding. When ships were sunk off the northern coast of Ireland, Sharp had to check whether any American interests were involved. He was also called upon for various emergencies—even being paged at the cinema. After the United States entered the war...