The executed leaders of 1916

Posted by Jim on May 16, 2016

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The following are short biographies of all of the executed leaders in
the aftermath of the 1916 Rising, including nine who were not
signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic.
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Con Colbert: Born in 1888, Colbert was a native of Limerick. Prior to
the Easter Rising he had been an active member of the republican
movement, joining both Fianna Eireann and the Irish Volunteers. A
dedicated pioneer, Colbert was known not to drink or smoke. As the
captain of F Company of the Fourth Battalion, Colbert was in command at
the Marrowbone Lane distillery when it was surrendered on Sunday, 30
April 1916. His execution took place on 8 May 1916.

Edward Daly: Born in Limerick in 1891, Daly’s family had a history of
republican activity; his uncle John Daly had taken part in the rebellion
of 1867. Edward Daly led the First Battalion during the Rising, which
raided the Bridewell and Linenhall Barracks, eventually seizing control
of the Four Courts. A close friend of Tom Clarke, their ties were made
even stronger by the marriage of Clarke to Daly’s sister. Daly was
executed on 4 May 1916.

Sean Heuston: Born in 1891, he was responsible for the organisation of
Fianna Eireann in Limerick. Along with Con Colbert, Heuston was involved
in the education of the schoolboys at Scoil Eanna, organising drill and
musketry exercises. A section of the First Battalion of the Volunteers,
under the leadership of Heuston, occupied the Mendicity Institute on
south of the Liffey, holding out there for two days. He was executed on
8 May 1916. Heuston Railway station in Dublin is named after him.

Thomas Kent: Born in 1865, Kent was arrested at his home in Castlelyons,
Co. Cork following a raid by the Royal Irish Constabulary on 22 April
1916, during which his brother Richard was fatally wounded. It had been
his intention to travel to Dublin to participate in the Rising, but when
the mobilisation order for the Irish Volunteers was cancelled on Easter
Sunday he assumed that the Rising had been postponed, leading him to
stay at home. He was executed at Cork Detention Barracks on 9 May 1916
following a court martial. In 1966 the railway station in Cork was
renamed Kent Station in his honour.

John MacBride: Born in Mayo in 1865. Although he initially trained as a
doctor, MacBride abandoned that profession in favour of work with a
chemist. He travelled to America in 1896 to further the aims of the I.
R. B., thereafter travelling to South Africa where he raised the Irish
Transvaal Brigade during the Second Boer War. MacBride married the Irish
nationalist Maude Gonne in 1903. He was not a member of the Irish
Volunteers, but upon the beginning of the Rising he offered his services
to Thomas MacDonagh, and was at Jacob’s biscuit factory when that post
was surrendered on Sunday, 30 April 1916. He was executed on 5 May 1916.

Michael Mallin: A silk weaver by trade, Mallin was born in Dublin in
1874. Along with Countess Markievicz, he commanded a small contingent of
the Irish Citizen Army, of which he was Chief of Staff, taking
possession of St. Stephen’s Green and the Royal College of Surgeons. He
was executed on 8 May 1916.

Michael O’Hanrahan: Born in Wexford in 1877. As a young man, O’Hanrahan
showed great promise as a writer, becoming heavily involved in the
promotion of the Irish language. He founded the first Carlow branch of
the Gaelic League, and published two novels, A Swordsman of the Brigade
and When the Norman Came. Like many of the other executed leaders, he
joined the Irish Volunteers from their inception, and was second in
command to Thomas MacDonagh at Jacob’s biscuit factory during the
Rising, although this position was largely usurped by the arrival of
John MacBride. His execution took place on 4 May 1916.

William Pearse: Born in 1881 in Dublin. The younger brother of Patrick,
William shared his brother’s passion for an independent Ireland. He
assisted Patrick in running St. Enda’s. The two brothers were extremely
close, and fought alongside each other in the G. P. O. William was
executed on 4 May 1916. Pearse railway station on Westland Row in Dublin
was re-named in honour of the two brothers in 1966.

Roger Casement: Born in 1864 in Dublin, Casement was knighted for his
services to the British consulate. He campaigned tirelessly to expose
the cruelty inflicted on native workers in the Belgian Congo in 1904,
and again in Brazil from 1911-1912, causing an international sensation
with his reportage. Casement had become a member of the Gaelic League in
1904, beginning at that time to write nationalist articles under the
pseudonym ‘Sean Bhean Bhocht’. He retired from the British consular
service in 1913, after which he joined the Irish Volunteers. Casement
was despatched to Germany on account of his experience to raise an Irish
Brigade from Irish prisoners of war. He was captured in Kerry in 1916 on
Good Friday having returned to Ireland in a German U-Boat. Casement was
imprisoned in Pentonville Gaol in London, where he was tried on charges
of High Treason. He was hanged on 3 August 1916, the only leader of the
Rising to be executed outside of Ireland.

The Seven Signatories:

Eamonn Ceannt: Born in Galway in 1881, prior to the Rising Ceannt was an
employee of the Dublin Corporation. He was a co-founder of the Irish
Volunteers, partaking in the successful Howth gun-running operation of
1914. His involvement in republican activities was complemented by his
interest in Irish culture, specifically Irish language and history,
although he was also an accomplished uileann piper. As the commander of
the Fourth Battalion of Irish Volunteers during the Rising, he took
possession of the South Dublin Union, precursor to the modern-day St.
James’s Hospital. He was executed on 8 May 1916.

Thomas James Clarke: Born on the Isle of Wight in 1857, Clarke’s father
was a soldier in the British army. During his time in America as a young
man, he joined Clann na nGael, later enduring fifteen years of penal
servitude for his role in a bombing campaign in London, 1883-1898. In
1907, having returned from a second sojourn in America, his links with
Clan na nGael in America copper-fastened his importance to the
revolutionary movement in Ireland. He held the post of Treasurer to the
Irish Republican Brotherhood, and was a member of the Supreme Council
from 1915. The first signatory of the Proclamation of Independence
through deference to his seniority, Clarke was with the group that
occupied the GPO. He was executed on 3 May 1916.

James Connolly (1868-1916): Born in Edinburgh in 1868, Connolly was
first introduced to Ireland as a member of the British Army. Despite
returning to Scotland, the strong Irish presence in Edinburgh stimulated
Connolly’s growing interest in Irish politics in the mid 1890s, leading
to his emigration to Dublin in 1896 where he founded the Irish Socialist
Republican Party. He spent much of the first decade of the twentieth
century in America, he returned to Ireland to campaign for worker’s
rights with James Larkin. A firm believer in the perils of sectarian
division, Connolly campaigned tirelessly against religious bigotry. In
1913, Connolly was one of the founders of the Irish Citizen Army. During
the Easter Rising he was appointed Commandant-General of the Dublin
forces, leading the group that occupied the General Post Office. Unable
to stand to during his execution due to wounds received during the
Rising, Connolly was executed while sitting down on 12 May 1916. He was
the last of the leaders to be executed.

Sean MacDiarmada: Born in 1884 in Leitrim, MacDiarmada emigrated to
Glasgow in 1900, and from there to Belfast in 1902. A member of the
Gaelic League, he was acquainted with Bulmer Hobson. He joined the Irish
Republican Brotherhood in 1906 while still in Belfast, later
transferring to Dublin in 1908 where he assumed managerial
responsibility for the I. R. B. newspaper Irish Freedom in 1910.
Although MacDiarmada was afflicted with polio in 1912, he was appointed
as a member of the provisional committee of Irish Volunteers from 1913,
and was subsequently drafted onto the military committee of the I. R. B.
in 1915. During the Rising MacDiarmada served in the G. P. O. He was
executed on 12 May 1916.

Thomas MacDonagh: A native of Tipperary, born in 1878, MacDonagh spent
the early part of his career as a teacher. He moved to Dublin to study,
and was the first teacher on the staff at St. Enda’s, the school he
helped to found with Patrick Pearse. MacDonagh was well versed in
literature, his enthusiasm and erudition earning him a position in the
English department at University College Dublin. His play When the Dawn
is Come was produced at the Abbey theatre. He was appointed director of
training for the Irish Volunteers in 1914, later joining the I. R. B.
MacDonagh was appointed to the I. R. B. military committee in 1916. He
was commander of the Second Battalion of Volunteers that occupied
Jacob’s biscuit factory and surrounding houses during the Rising. He was
executed on 3 May 1916.

Patrick Pearse: Pearse was born in Dublin in 1879, becoming interested
in Irish cultural matters in his teenage years. In 1898 Pearse became a
member of the Executive Commmittee of the Gaelic League. He graduated
from the Royal University in 1901 with a degree in Arts and Law.
Pearse’s literary output was constant, and he published extensively in
both Irish and English, becoming the editor of An Claidheamh Soluis, the
newspaper of the Gaelic League. He was a keen believer in the value of
education, and established two schools, Colaiste Eanna and Colaiste Ide,
devoted to the education of Irish children through the Irish language.
One of the founder members of the Irish Volunteers, and the author of
the Proclamation of Independence, Pearse was present in the G. P. O.
during the Rising, and was Commander in Chief of the Irish forces. He
was executed on 3 May 1916.

Joseph Mary Plunkett: Born 1887 in Dublin, son of a papal count,
Plunkett was initially educated in England, though he returned to
Ireland and graduated from U. C. D. in 1909. After his graduation
Plunkett spent two years travelling due to ill health, returning to
Dublin in 1911. Plunkett shared MacDonagh’s enthusiasm for literature
and was an editor of the Irish Review. Along with MacDonagh and Edward
Martyn, he helped to establish an Irish national theatre. He joined the
Irish Volunteers in 1913, subsequently gaining membership of the I. R.
B. in 1914. Plunkett travelled to Germany to meet Roger Casement in
1915. During the planning of the Rising, Plunkett was appointed Director
of Military Operations, with overall responsibility for military
strategy. Plunkett was one of those who were stationed in the G. P. O.
during the Rising. He married Grace Gifford while in Kilmainham Gaol
following the surrender and was executed on 4 May 1916.