YBIG Blog:Hibernian-The Lost Connection

I refer to your article ‘Fly the Flag’ published on 14^th January 2004 in relation to Harry Swan chairman of Hibernian FC and his supposed attempt to ‘eradicate all Irish references and links to the Edinburgh club’, specifically the old harp mosaic’s which adorned the main South entrance.

In fact ’The Harp’ remained in place for the first 22 years of Mr Swan’s chairmanship until ground reconstruction and deterioritation in the mid 1950’s meant the entrance had to be demolished. In its place an expensive new mosaic harp was commissioned from craftsman in Ireland and shipped over to Easter Road where it hung in the boardroom. When Harry Swan died it was gifted to his widow by the club.

Interestingly Mr Swan had also appointed his very close friend, the catholic priest Monsignor Miley as ‘players councillor’ the first and very forward looking post in Scottish football. Furthermore on the death of his advisor and fellow director Owen Brannigan who was ‘the last of the Auld Irish’, Mr Swan carried the Hibernian wreath in the form of a traditional broken harp to the Requiem Mass at St Patricks Cathedral in Edinburgh.

I would also like to point out in relation to the ‘Flag flutter’ that it was originally the Glasgow Magistrates not Mr Swan who advocated the ‘flag ban’, that it was the Referee’s Committee who upheld that decision (incidentally a committee that was chaired by Sir Robert Kelly of Celtic not Mr Swan) and that it was George Graham the secretary of the SFA (the undoubted Jim Farry or Ernie Walker of his day) who had overall responsibility for implementing the recommendations of the Glasgow Magistrates and the Referee’s Committee.

Ultimately, while I would agree that the SFA adopted a very heavy handed and extremely confrontational approach to Celtic FC during the ‘Flag flutter’ of 1952 , I would suggest that to imply that Mr Swan had some heinous anti Irish agenda is both unfair and highly inaccurate.