This advert appeared in The Leader newspaper, in December 1905. The Leader was the mouthpiece of one
D.P. Moran. In the paper's pages he espoused his views on the form an independent Ireland should take. I have a collection of issues of the paper and there are ads throughout. Most of these ads trumpet Irish made products and their superiority to imported alternatives. Many of the ads are for Catholic literature and for things like Irish language lessons. The above ad caught my late father's eye a number of years ago for its declaration that the firm has "No connection with the Jews." My brother pointed out that the general Camden St. area was the centre of Jewish life in Dublin (often referred to as "
Little Jerusalem") and indeed at the time there was a synagogue a short distance away at 52 Camden Street.
Although the firm was called Sinn Féin Ltd., I don't know what, if any, association it had with the political organisation of that name and would appreciate any information any reader has about it. The Sinn Féin political party only got going weeks before this advertisement was published so presumably the term enjoyed some currency at the time beyond the nascent party. It's probably worth pointing out though that the party's founder, Arthur Griffith has
often been accused of being an anti-semite. It's also worth noting for context that the
Limerick Pogrom was ongoing at the time this was published.
