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Authors: Gabriel Doherty

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  1. McLaughlin, ‘“Received with politeness”’, p. 33.
  2. Clancy, ‘Aspects of women’s contribution’, p. 225.
  3. Robinson, Mary, ‘Women and the new Irish state’, in MacCurtain and Ó Corrain (eds),
    Women in Irish society
    , p. 58.
  4. Clancy, ‘Aspects of women’s contribution’, p. 206.
  5. Beaumont, ‘Women and the politics of equality’, p. 175.
  6. Irish Citizen
    , May 1919.

‘Shot in cold blood’: military law and Irish perceptions in the suppression of the 1916 rebellion

  1. Asquith to King George V, 27 April 1916, CAB 37 146, National Archives, Kew.
  2. Statements by Sir Reginald Brade, secretary of the Army Council, and Sir Neville Macready, adjutant general, as quoted in Barton, Brian,
    From behind a closed door: secret court martial records of the 1916 Rising
    , Blackstaff, Belfast, 2002, p. 31.
  3. ‘Report on the state of Ireland since the rebellion’, 24 June 1916, CAB 37 150/18, p. 2, National Archives, Kew.
  4. Alison Philips, W.,
    The revolution in Ireland
    , Longmans, London, p. 109.
  5. Ibid
    ., p. 108.
  6. Irish Times
    , 8 May 1916.
  7. See Townshend, Charles,
    Easter 1916: the Irish rebellion
    , Allen Lane, London, 2005, p. 300.
  8. Defence of the Realm (Amendment), no. 2, Act 1915.
  9. For a facsimile reproduction of the ‘Schedule’, containing details of charge, plea, verdict and other information in the case of Constance Markiewicz see Barton,
    From behind a closed door
    , p. 81.
  10. Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Act 1914.
  11. See chapter 1 of Gearty, Conor and Ewing, Keith,
    The struggle for civil liberties: political freedom and the rule of law in Britain, 1914–1945
    , OUP, Oxford, 2000.
  12. The memoir referred to was the basis of a book by the late Leon Ó Broin, which dealt with Wylie’s activities during this period. Ó Bróin, Leon,
    W.E. Wylie and Irish revolution
    , Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1989.
  13. Ibid
    ., p. 21.
  14. Ibid
    ., pp. 22–23.
  15. Barton,
    From behind a closed door
    , pp. 72–73
  16. De Valera papers, 150/512, UCD Archives.
  17. Ibid
    .
  18. See Townshend,
    Easter 1916
    , p. 290.
  19. Ó Bróin,
    W.E. Wylie and Irish revolution
    , pp. 23–24.
  20. Ibid
    ., p. 24.
  21. For O’Dwyer see aan de Wiel, Jérôme,
    The Catholic church in Ireland 1914– 1918: war and politics
    , IAP, Dublin, 2003, p. 106.
  22. Jeffery, Keith (ed.), Hamilton Norway, Mary Louisa and Arthur,
    The Sinn Féin rebellion as they saw it
    , IAP edition, Dublin, 1998, p. 54.
  23. Notes by Eoin MacNeill, MacNeill papers, MS 11437, National Library of Ireland, as cited in Martin, F.X. (ed.), Tierney, Michael,
    Eoin MacNeill: scholar and man of action, 1867–1945
    , Clarendon, Oxford, 1980, p. 224.
  24. Wells, Warre B.,
    An Irish apologia
    , Maunsel, Dublin, 1917, p. 66.
  25. The case is reported as the R. v. Governor of Lewes Prison, ex parte Doyle [1917] 2 KB 254
  26. Ibid
    . at 273.
  27. Ibid
    . at 272.
  28. Scott v. Scott [1913] AC 417.
  29. [1917] 2 KB 254 at 272.
  30. Liversidge v. Anderson [1942] AC 206 at 244.
  31. De Valera papers, 150/512, UCD Archives.
  32. Law officers’ opinion, 31 January 1917, WO 141/27, National Archives, Kew.
  33. Memorandum by Brade, WO 141/27, National Archives, Kew.
  34. Ibid
    .
  35. Minute by adjutant general, 10 January 1917, WO 141/27, National Archives, Kew.
  36. Winborne to Maxwell, 3 May, 1916, de Valera papers, 150/512, UCD Archives.
  37. Asquith, Lady Cynthia,
    Diaries 1915–1918
    , Hutchinson, London, 1968, p. 163.
  38. See footnote 1.
  39. Irish Times
    , 8 May 1916.
  40. Memorial by influential persons, Asquith papers, MS 42, Bodleian library, Oxford.
  41. Report of the Royal Commission on the arrest on 25th April and subsequent treatment of Mr Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Mr Thomas Dickson and Mr Patrick James McIntyre, 1916 [cd.8376] xi 311, para 42.
  42. Ibid
    ., para 55(3).
  43. Cabinet minutes 28 April 1916, CAB 42/12, National Archives, Kew.
  44. General Macready to Major General Jeudwine, 10 December 1920, Jeud-wine papers, Imperial War Museum as cited in Townshend, Charles,
    The British campaign in Ireland 1919–1921: the development of political and military policies
    , OUP, Oxford, 1975, p. 138.
  45. Memorandum by Asquith, 19 May 1916, Bonar Law papers, 63/C/5, House of Lords Record Office.
  46. The debate on the condition of Ireland, from which this quote is taken, is to be found in House of Commons debates, vol. lxxxiv, cols 2,106–21.
  47. Law officers’ opinion contained in de Valera papers, 150/512, UCD Archives.
  48. ‘Report on the state of Ireland since the rebellion’, 24 June 1916, CAB 37 150/18, National Archives, Kew.
  49. De Valera papers, 150/512, UCD Archives.
  50. Ibid
    .
  51. Cited in de Wiel, Jérôme,
    The Catholic church in Ireland 1914–1918
    , p.106.
  52. Keane, Ronan, ‘Martial law in Ireland, 1535–1924’ in
    Irish Jurist
    , vols. xv–xvii, 1990–2, pp.150–80.
  53. Ibid
    ., p. 161.
  54. Ibid
    ., p. 180.
  55. De Valera papers, 150/512, UCD Archives.
  56. Letter from Byrne dated 28 April 1916, WO 32 4307, National Archives, Kew, quoted in Townshend, Charles,
    Easter 1916: the Irish rebellion
    , Allen Lane, London, 2005, p. 276.
  57. Ibid
    .
  58. 2 NIJR 185.
  59. Ó Broin,
    W.E. Wylie and Irish revolution
    , p. 26.
  60. Fingal,
    Countess of, Seventy years young: memories of Elizabeth, countess of Fingal
    , Lilliput, Dublin, 1991, p. 376.
  61. For the case of W.T. Cosgrave see Ó Broin,
    W.E. Wylie and Irish revolution
    , pp. 28–9.
  62. Barton,
    From behind a closed door
    .
  63. Ibid
    ., pp. 33–34.
  64. Ibid
    ., pp. 181–97 (Ceannt), and 267–79 (Mallin).
  65. See 50 ILTR, 1916, at 128.
  66. Ibid
    .
  67. Ibid
    . at 318.
  68. Notes by Eoin MacNeill cited in Martin (ed.),
    Eoin MacNeill
    , p. 225.
  69. Ibid
    ., p. 227.
  70. Ibid
    ., p. 229.
  71. Martin (ed.),
    Eoin MacNeill
    , p. 229.
  72. Notes by Eoin MacNeill cited in Martin (ed.),
    Eoin MacNeill
    , pp. 232–33.
  73. Ibid
    ., p. 228.
  74. Ibid
    ., p. 239.
  75. Ibid
    ., pp. 223–25.
  76. See footnote 2.

The Catholic church, the Holy See and the 1916 Rising

  1. Whyte, John J., ’1916 – revolution and religion’ in Martin, F.X. (ed.),
    Leaders and men of the Easter Rising: Dublin 1916
    , Methuen, London, 1967, pp. 203–14.
  2. See Morrissey, Thomas J.,
    William J. Walsh, archbishop of Dublin, 1841–1921
    , Four Courts, Dublin, 2000; (also Walsh, Patrick J., William J. Walsh, archbishop of Dublin, Talbot, Dublin, 1938.) Walsh is very extensively covered in aan de Weil, Jérôme,
    The Catholic church in Ireland 1914–1918
    , IAP, Dublin, 2003. See also his ‘Archbishop Walsh and Mgr Curran’s opposition to the British war effort in Dublin, 1914–1916’, in
    The Irish Sword
    , vol. xxii, no. 88, winter 2000, pp. 193–204; and my
    The Vatican, the bishops and Irish politics, 1919–1939
    , CUP, Cambridge, 1986.
  3. Miller, David W.,
    Church, state and nation in Ireland, 1898–1921
    , Gill Macmillan, Dublin, 1973, p. 14.
  4. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  5. Statement by Seán T. O’Kelly, WS 1765, Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  6. Curran became vice rector of the College in 1919 following O’Riordan’s death, before succeeding Hagan as rector in 1930.
  7. See Michael O’Riordan and John Hagan papers, Irish College Rome. I am most grateful to the archivist, Vera Orschel, who helped greatly in the completion of this research.
  8. Canning, Bernard J.,
    Bishops of Ireland 1870–1987
    ,
    Donegal Democrat
    , Ballyshannon, 1987, p. 42.
  9. Ibid
    .
  10. Ibid
    ., p. 239.
  11. See Joyce, P.J.,
    John Healy, archbishop of Tuam
    , Gill, Dublin, 1931.
  12. Canning,
    Bishops of Ireland 1870–1987
    , pp. 317–18.
  13. Hanley, John J.,
    The Irish College Rome
    , Irish heritage series no. 64, Dublin, 1980. See also Silke, John,
    Relics, refugees and Rome: an Irish guide
    , Irish College, Rome, 1975, p. 82 ff.
  14. O’Riordan, Michael,
    Catholicity and progress in Ireland
    , Kegan Paul, London, 1906.
  15. Murphy, Brian P.,
    The Catholic Bulletin and republican Ireland with special reference to J.J. O’Kelly
    (‘Sceilg’), Athol, Belfast, 2005.
  16. See Magennis, Peter E., ‘Monsignor John Hagan’ and other articles in The Catholic Bulletin
    , vol. xx, no. 4, April 1936.
  17. Leslie, Shane,
    Long shadows – memoirs of Shane Leslie
    , John Murray, London, 1966, p. 262.
  18. See aan de Wiel, Jérôme, ‘Archbishop Walsh and Mgr Curran’s opposition to the British war effort in Dublin, 1914–1916’, passim.
  19. Walsh,
    William J. Walsh, archbishop of Dublin
    , p. 571.
  20. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  21. Morrissey,
    William J. Walsh, archbishop of Dublin
    , 1841–1921, p. 272 ff.
  22. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), pp. 8–9, Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  23. Ibid
    .
  24. Ernest Blythe, later a minister in the Irish Free State, was a northern Presbyterian. He was prominent in radical politics and a friend of the IRB man, Bulmer Hobson. In early 1915, Desmond FitzGerald visited Blythe in Dublin. He told him that the decision had already been taken to hold a rising during the war. The same source was convinced that Germany would win the war. See FitzGerald, Garret, (ed.)
    Desmond’s Rising: memoirs 1913 to Easter 1916
    , Liberties, Dublin, 2006, pp. 78–79.
  25. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), pp. 9–10, Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  26. Ibid
    .
  27. Ibid
    ., pp. 11–13.
  28. Ibid
    .
  29. Ibid
    ., p. 16.
  30. Ibid
    , pp. 20–21.
  31. Ibid
    ., pp. 18–19.
  32. Ibid
    .
  33. Curran to Hagan, 23 January 1916, Hagan papers, Irish College Rome.
  34. Ó Brolcháin, Honor (ed.), Plunkett Dillon, Geraldine,
    All in the blood: a memoir of the Plunkett family, the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence
    , Farmar, Dublin, 2006, pp. 208–9.
  35. Ibid
    ., pp. 14–22.
  36. Murphy, Brian P.,
    Patrick Pearse and the lost republican ideal
    , James Duffy, Dublin, 1991, p. 77 ff.
  37. Plunkett Dillon,
    All in the blood
    , p. 158.
  38. Desmond Williams, T., ‘Eoin MacNeill and the Irish Volunteers’, in Martin (ed.),
    Leaders and men of the Easter Rising
    , p. 135 ff.
  39. Plunkett Dillon,
    All in the blood
    , p. 176 ff.
  40. See Lynch, Diarmuid,
    The IRB and the 1916 Rising
    , Mercier, Cork, 1957, pp. 102, 131, and footnote on latter page.
  41. McGee, Owen,
    The IRB: the Irish Republican Brotherhood, from the Land League to Sinn Féin
    , Four Courts, Dublin, 2005, p. 356.
  42. Plunkett Dillon,
    All in the blood
    , pp. 201–8.
  43. Ibid
    ., pp. 210–11.
  44. Leslie, Shane,
    Cardinal Gasquet
    , Burns Oates, London, 1953, p. 247.
  45. Dr Jérôme aan de Wiel has written about this letter in his doctoral thesis, ‘The Catholic church in Ireland, 1914–1918’, submitted to the University of Caen, France, 1998, pp. 197–205. See also his ‘Archbishop Walsh and Mgr Curran’s opposition to the British war effort in Dublin, 1914–1916’.
  46. In a letter to Casement, dated 11 April 1916, Count Plunkett wrote: ‘I do not suppose that any material change has occurred in Irish affairs since I left Dublin on 29 March.’ See O’Rahilly, Aodogán,
    Winding the clock: O’Rahilly and the 1916 Rising
    , Lilliput, Dublin, 1991, pp. 180–81.
  47. Ibid
    ., p. 178. Also Murphy,
    Patrick Pearse and the lost republican ideal
    , pp.77–78.
  48. Plunkett Dillon,
    All in the blood
    , p. 211.
  49. O’Rahilly,
    Winding the clock: O’Rahilly and the 1916 Rising
    , p. 179.
  50. Kelly, J.N.D., ‘Benedict XV’, in
    The Oxford dictionary of popes
    , OUP, Oxford, 1986, p. 315.
  51. Plunkett Dillon,
    All in the blood
    , p. 211.
  52. ‘Archbishop Walsh and Mgr Curran’s opposition to the British war effort in Dublin, 1914–1916’, p. 197, footnote.
  53. Ibid
    .
  54. Ibid
    .
  55. Una McDix, writing from Rathfarnham, continued the exchange in a letter to the
    Irish Press
    on 9 June 1933. She doubted the veracity of the count’s report: ‘Surely the ordinary Catholic conception of the pope is as the father of all Christians, even of those who do not recognize his authority. Would a father bless one of his sons for trying to shoot another of his sons, no matter how just his quarrel? I can imagine the pope blessing O’Connell’s repeal movement, which certainly would have succeeded without bringing on Ireland the nemesis which inevitably follows war.’ She did not ‘doubt Count Plunkett’s sincerity, but I am convinced there was some misunderstanding. It is so easy to believe what we wish to be true. I am a Catholic and a republican in the sense that I want complete separation; but I no more believe in war than I believe in one man shooting another because he has a quarrel with him. National civil resistance will accomplish much more than force.’ In answer to her query, the editor of the Press wrote the following: ‘It is history that the popes granted indulgences to those who took part in the Crusades and (see Catholic Encyclopaedia, vol. iv, p. 543) equated service in these wars with the building of churches and monasteries. Pope Gregory XIII met James Fitzmau-rice in Rome in 1575 and promised him several ships of munitions and provisions (see Pastor’s History of the Popes, vol. xix, p. 407). The Pope sent Rinuccini to Ireland in 1645 “with a good supply of arms, ammunition and money” (
    Catholic Encyclopaedia
    , vol. xiii, p. 61). In all these cases the defence of religion was either the sole or the main objective, but they answer the point raised by Mrs McDix.’
  56. Plunkett Dillon,
    All in the blood
    , p. 211.
  57. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), pp. 37–9, Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  58. Plunkett Dillon,
    All in the blood
    , p. 211.
  59. Ibid
    .
  60. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), pp. 22–25, Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  61. Curran to Hagan, 16 April 1916, Hagan papers, Irish College Rome.
  62. Plunkett Dillon,
    All in the blood
    , pp. 214–15.
  63. Curran to Hagan, 19 April 1916, Hagan papers, Irish College Rome.
  64. Ibid
    .
  65. Ibid
    ., 22 April 1916.
  66. Ibid
    .
  67. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), pp. 28–34, Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  68. Curran to Hagan, 23 April 1916, Hagan papers, Irish College Rome.
  69. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), pp. 35–37, Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  70. See O’Connor, Sir James,
    History of Ireland 1798–1924
    , Arnold, London, 1925, p. 278; this is quoted in Walsh,
    William J. Walsh, archbishop of Dublin
    , pp. 592–93.
  71. Martin, F.X., (ed.), Tierney, Michael,
    Eoin MacNeill: scholar and man of action, 1867–1945
    , Clarendon, Oxford, 1980, pp. 219–24.
  72. MacRory to O’Riordan, 4 May 1916, O’Riordan papers, Irish College Rome.
  73. Curran to Hagan, 8 May 1916, Hagan papers, Irish College Rome. Curran had been awoken earlier that morning by stones being thrown up at his window. He was, he wrote, expecting to be arrested himself, ‘and I had actually a bag ready, packed, to take with me’. He recognised William Kelly, the archbishop’s butler, among a group of three other men. When he went downstairs, he met the brother of Séamus Mallin who was to be shot at 3am. He wanted the archbishop to intervene to seek a reprieve. Curran said it was out of the question owing to Walsh’s condition. He inquired who else was to be shot that morning and was told Éamonn Ceannt (who had been in the class below Curran in school), Con Colbert and Seán Heuston. He went on to say mass for all who had been shot later that morning. Ceannt, it might be noted, had been part of an Irish delegation to visit the Holy See in 1908. Seán T. O’Kelly recalled that he had played the bagpipes for Pope Pius X.
  74. He added: ‘O’Connell Street is a smoking ruin from Cathedral Street to Eden Quay and from Henry Street to Elvery’s. Other houses, though standing, are shattered and torn. I suppose 500 civilians and more solders have been killed or wounded. The Volunteers did not lose so many. One redeeming feature was their conduct. They fought courageously against numbers and equipment. They fought cleanly – no drink, no looting, no personal vengeance and no unnecessary destruction of property. The soldiers, too seemed a decent lot – there was no signs of racial hatred and no unnecessary violence.’
    Ibid
    .
  75. Whyte, ‘1916 – revolution and religion’ in Martin (ed.),
    Leaders and men of the Easter Rising
    , p. 221.
  76. Quoted in Canning,
    Bishops of Ireland 1870–1987
    , pp. 242–44.
  77. Whyte, ‘1916 – revolution and religion’ in Martin (ed.),
    Leaders and men of the Easter Rising
    , pp. 221–24.
  78. Fogarty to O’Riordan, 16 June 1916, O’Riordan papers, Irish College Rome.
  79. Ibid
    .
  80. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), p. 84, Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  81. The Cork Examiner
    , 17 May 1916.
  82. Cohalan to O’Riordan, 2 July 1916, O’Riordan papers, Irish College Rome.
  83. Statement by Fr Michael Curran, WS 687 (section 1), p. 82, Bureau of Military History, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.
  84. Ibid
    ., p. 83.
  85. Morrissey, Thomas J.,
    Bishop Edward O’Dwyer of Limerick, 1842–1917
    , Four Courts, Dublin, 2003, pp. 47–288, passim.

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