Seán Mac Diarmada (Sean MacDermott) is yet another one of the 1916 Easter Rising leaders who has remained in the historical shadow of other prominent leaders who have enjoyed iconic status in the history books.  He has been described by some as one of the greatest of the Easter Rising’s leaders.

Mac Diarmada was born Corronmore, County Leitrim in 1883.  He was the son of Donald MacDermot, a carpenter / farmer, and his wife Mary McMorrow.  His father had been a Fenian in Limerick, and it was natural for him to follow in his father’s traditions.  He was educated during the daytime at Corradoona National School, and at night school in Tullinamoyle, County Cavan where he learned bookkeeping and the Irish language (which he spoke fluently).

During his childhood, he was brought up within a landscape that had all the signs of dereliction.  In addition to the ancient sweat houses, Mac Diarmada’s surroundings were characterised by symbols poverty and oppression, such as “mass rocks (where the Catholic mass had to be held due to Catholicism’s prohibition by the British establishment during the Penal Laws era).  Deserted houses and mud huts dotted the land where persecutions had taken place from the time of “The Great Hunger” onwards.

He eventually left County Leitrim, moving first to Scotland and then back to Belfast where he worked a tram driver and doing some work as a barman.

Mac Diarmada was always politically active.  This was due to a combination of factors, including his father’s influence and  and the memories of his childhood in County Leitrim; where he had witnessed the appalling dereliction.  He joined the Gáelic League and the politically moderate Ancient Order of Hibernians. He then joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood and was sworn in by fellow activist Denis McCullough.  He went on to assist with the organisation of the Republican Dungannon Clubs.

Left: Main road through Kiltyclogher, County Leitrim; Right: Seán Mac Diarmada’s boyhood house

Mac Diarmada also acted as an organizer for the Sinn Féin movement.  He became a full-time organizer for the Irish Republican Army (IRB) and managed its newspaper, Irish Freedom.  He was stricken with Polio about this time, which left him with a limp.  Undeterred, he eventually recovered sufficiently to be able to walk with a walking stick to carry on his dream of making Ireland a Free State.

It has been said that he was infiltrating the cultural organizations at this time, such as the Gáelic League and the Gáelic Athletic Association (GAA) recruiting members to the Irish Republican Brotherhood.  Where possible, he would get them elected as officers of relevant committees, thereby creating a body of men who would inherently be under his command.

It has also been said that Mac Diarmada, together with Tom Clarke, McCullough, and Hobson revitalized the Irish Republican Army.  This group would eventually assume virtual control of all Irish groups around 1911.  The outbreak of the first World War saw him campaign against Irishmen joining the British Army.  His strenuous efforts were to gain him a four-month prison sentence under the Defence of The Realm Act.  He served out this sentence at Mountjoy Gaol.

Upon his release, both he and Tom Clarke were co-opted into the IRB Military Council.  It was in this organization that  Mac Diarmada (according to the historian F.X. Martin) played a leading role in the planning of the 1916 Easter Rising.  Martin characterizes him as being the “mainspring” in the planning of the Easter Rising.

Left: Seán Mac Diarmada upon his release from Mountjoy Gaol in 1915

Mac Diarmada was obsessively secretive about his role as planning officer as he knew from experience that past Irish freedom movements had been bedeviled with spies and informers.  Thus, he excluded most of his fellow IRB members from the planning phases.  This would eventually prove to be disastrous, and it would contribute to the confusion surrounding the outbreak of the 1916 Easter Rising.

Although he had no military rank, most possibly due to his disability, Mac Diarmada was recognized as one of the Commanders in charge.  This was largely due to his membership  and signatory of the Provisional Government and his role in the Irish Republican Brotherhood.  He was stationed at the General Post Office throughout the Easter Rising as “one of the Provisional Government.”   In the aftermath of the fighting, he nearly got away by mingling with the crowd.  However, a British officer picked out the man with the  walking stick and declared that “he was the most dangerous man after Clarke.”  Another officer sneered, “So the Sinn Feiners take cripples in their army.”

One historian described him as follows: “Séan MacDiarmada was one of the greatest of the Easter Rising Leaders.  He was so quiet and unassuming that he tends to be forgotten; yet, he was one of the greatest Irishmen that ever lived.”

In a statement prior to his execution he said: “I feel happiness, the like of which I have never experienced.  I die that the Irish nation might live!”

Mac Diarmada was court martialled on the 9th of May, 1916.  On the 12th of May, 1916 at the age of just 33 years, he was executed by firing squad.

Éamonn Ceannt is a little-known leader of the 1916 Easter Rising. Born in Ballymoe in County Galway, he was one of nine children. His father was an RIC Officer stationed in Ballymoe, and the family were transferred around the country with his father, moving to County Louth, to Drogheada, then to Drumconda in Dublin. He attended the North Richmond Street Christian Brothers School where he was always a keen, intelligent, and interested student.  He excelled in his exams.  This is where he met two other like-minded people such as Séan Huston and Con Colbert. All three would go on to become leaders in the 1916 Easter Rising.

Following his exams, he was offered a position in the Civil  Service.  He turned this position down because he felt he would be working for the British Government.  Instead, he went on to become an accountant with the Dublin Corporation.

They Ceannt family were a religious Roman Catholic family.  It has been said that Ceannts’ religious teaching remained with him for the rest of his life.

Always interested in nationalism and politics, he took part in any event that was of interest to national unity.  In 1899, he joined the central branch of Gaelic League.  It was here that he met the men who would play a central role in the 1916 Easter Rising.

As time went by, he became increasingly involved in the Nationalism movements which led to a very strong interests in his heritage and the Gáelic language. The main purpose of the Gáelic League was to educate the Irish people about their heritage. This is turn led him to believe that Irish people deserved to learn about their own language and culture along with music, dance, poetry, literature, and Irish history.

Ceannt had a strong interest in his heritage and the Irish language.  The main purposes of the league were to educate people on the Irish culture.  This involved reviving the Irish language, Irish music, dancing, poetry, literature, and history. Ceannt was an extremely committed member of the league.  He was an elected a member of the governing body, and by 1905 he was teaching Irish language classes in branch offices of the League.

Along with Edward Martyn, Cennt founded Cumann bPiobain (The Pipers Club) in 1900.  His musical talents earned him respect around the globe, and was even asked to put on a performance for Pope Pius X.  His musical talents did, in fact, win him a gold medal at the 1906 Oireachtas for Irish dance.  Accolades abounded, and he is said to have been instrumental in the Gaelic language being the only language spoken in Cumman na bPiobain.  This, in turn, helped to revive the Irish Music scene.

He met his wife, Frances Mary O’Brennan, through the Gáelic League; they married in 1905.  Their son, Ronan, was born in 1906.

In 1907, becoming increasingly determined to see an Independent Ireland, he joined the Dublin branch of Sinn Fein. By 1912, he was sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood by Séan MacDiarmada.  Ceannt knew that this movement was pledged to achieving Irish Independence by whatever means, even using physical force if it became necessary.  As a senior figure of the 1916 Easter Rising, the Irish Republican Brotherhood Military Council met in May 1915 to begin plans for a rebellion.  Ceannt was made a Commandant of the 4^th Battalion of the Volunteers.

During the Rising, he was stationed at the South Dublin Union with more than one hundred men under his command.  His second and third in command were Cathal Brugha and W.T. Cosgrove, who went on to become the President Of the Executive Council (Prime Minister) of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932.  As a Commandant and a powerful Leader, he held a position so strong that under his command they drove back repeated assaults from the determined British Regiments.  A contingent he placed at Marrowbone Lane were in a position of strength, and the passing British soldiers were mowed down by an enfilade of artillery.  The continued, grinding attacks broke through the Women’s Infirmary leaving Ceannt’s troops vulnerable to attack.  Continued attacks by the British soldiers failed to press home the advantage that they had at this point, despite the fact that Ceannt had twenty-times fewer men.

His troops were skilfully deployed as far away as Rialto Bridge, which was west of the City.  The British troops had to filter into buildings to escape the onslaught from Ceannt’s troops.  Although his troop numbers diminished due to casualties and fatalities, he continued his intense fighting following the Easter Rising on Easter Monday for a week.  He did, however, have to surrender his position when ordered to do so by his superior officer, Patrick (Padraig) Pearse.

After the unconditional surrender by the Irish Brotherhood Military Council (Patrick Pearse surrendered first in order to save the lives of his men), plain clothes detectives known as the “G-men” identified the leaders of the Rising on the first of May in 1916 — Ceannt being one of them.

Always a man who cared about his officers, he tried his best to protect them against British Court Martial.  General Maxwell (who served in the Mahdist War, Sudan, the Boer War, and the 1^st World War) was determined to afflict the death penalty on all the leaders of the Easter Rising; but he was prevented from doing so by legal issues.  He is best known for his execution of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising.

These legal issues only allowed the death penalty if one was found aiding the enemy, which happened to be Germany at that time.  However, General Maxwell pursued his objective of the death penalty vigorously.  When he was handed letters written by Patrick Pearse to his mother, he had found his loophole at last.  These letters showed that Patrick Pearse had communicated with the Germans.  From that moment, Ceannt and his comrades had to accept that they would face the firing squad.

He left a message for the Irish people which was only allowed to be printed in The Irish Independent in July of 1926 which reads as follows:

“I leave for the guidance of other Irish Revolutionaries who may tread the path which I have trod, this advice, never to treat with the enemy, never to surrender at his mercy, but to fight a finish.  Ireland has shown she is a nation.  This generation can claim to have raised sons as brave as any that went before.  And in the years to come Ireland will honor those who risked all for her honor at Easter 1916.”

Ceannt was held in Kilmainham Gaol until his execution by firing squad on 8 May, 1916, aged 34.

Joseph Mary Plunkett (Seosamh Máire Pluincéid) is one of the least known leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. He is perhaps one of a the few people that Seán Mac Diarmada trusted in the planning of the Rising. Born in 1887 into a very affluent family, he lived in one of Dublin’s most influential neighbourhoods: Fitzwilliam Street.  They also owned a farm in Kimmage, South Dublin. His father was a papal count, and they traveled widely. At a very young age he contracted tuberculosis and spent a lot of time in the warmer climates of Mediterranean North Africa. His mother never wanted to believe that he was as ill his diagnosis would indicate; trusting that time spent in warmer climates would cure him. Tuberculosis would define his whole life and leave him a very weak child and adult.

He was educated in England in early childhood, then in the Jesuits’ Belvedere College, Dublin, and later at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire: a very expensive and elite school. This is where he would acquire some military knowledge from the Officers Training Corps. After Stonyhurst, he returned to Dublin to study at University College Dublin and graduated from there in 1909. Due to his life-long illness, he spent two years traveling in warmer climates after he graduated. Plunkett’s interest in Irish nationalism spread throughout his family, notably to his younger brothers George and John, as well as his father.  Mr. Plunkett allowed his property in Kimmage, South Dublin, to be used as a training camp for young men who wished to escape conscription in England during World War I. The men that went there were instead trained to fight for Ireland.

In the planning stages of the Easter Rising of 1916, armory was brought to Howth by Erskine Childers, a Royal Navy Officer and an Irish Rebel), his wife Molly, and Sir Roger Casement on their Pleasure Yacht, the Asgard. It is said that there were some 900 Mauser M1871-11mm calibre rifles and 29.000 rounds of black power ammunition off-loaded at Howth Harbour. Simultaneously, a smaller number of Mauser rifles were landed at Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow, further down the coast from Howth. These were unloaded by Sir Thomas Myles, Tom Kettle, and James Meredith. These were all professional people: barristers, politicians, and surgeons.  The men were all known to the inner sanctum of the Irish Military Brotherhood. It is no surprise then, that all of this armory was stockpiled at Plunket’s family farm in Kimmage, to be used for training of the Volunteers.

Throughout his life, wherever he was studying, Plunkett took an active interest in Irish Culture and the Gaelic language. He was a co-founder of the Esperanto League where he would meet his fellow peers and comrades of the 1916 Easter Rising. He would become lifelong friends with Patrick Pearse and Thomas MacDonagh. Plunkett shared both Pearse and MacDonagh’s enthusiasm for literature, poetry, and a love of Ireland. MacDonagh tutored Plunkett in the Gaelic language. Their dedication to the cause of Irish culture, language, and independence out-weighted any risks that they could envision on the horizon.

Along with MacDonagh, Plunkett helped found the Irish National Theatre, and was also an editor of The Irish Review.

He joined the Irish Volunteers, and subsequently gained membership to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Having gained the trust of the inner sanctum of the Irish Military Brotherhood, during the planning of the Easter Rising he was sent to meet Roger Casement (a British Diplomat and an Irish Rebel) in Germany. Casement was there negotiating with the German Government on behalf of Ireland. Casement’s role as emissary was self-appointed. As he was not a member of the IRB, the organisation’s leadership wanted to have one of their own trusted members (Plunkett) to negotiate for German aid. Plunkett was seeking to gain a shipment of arms. His skilful negotiations and charismatic demeanor enabled him to secure a promise of at least one shipment of German arms to coincide with the Easter Rising of the following year.

Having completed this task successfully, Plunkett returned to Ireland jubilant with the promise of at least one shipment of arms. This success led him to be appointed as Director of Military Operations, with overall responsibility for military strategy, though his health prevented him from being terribly active by this time. He, along with Thomas Clarke and Séan MacDermott, was heavily involved in the planning of the Easter Rising.  Plunkett’s health worsened a week prior to Easter, and he had to be hospitalized. He underwent major surgery on his neck glands days before the Rising. Against all medical advice, he struggled out of bed to take part in what he would describe as the frustration of all the secret planning: The Easter Rising. Still bandaged, struggling to cope with the pain, he took his place alongside all of the leaders, the Volunteers, and Cumman na Mbann in the General Post Office. Plunkett was ably assisted by his energetic ‘aide de camp ‘ (a military officer acting as a confidential assistant to a senior officer.) This assistant was none other than Michael Collins, the icon of Irish independence history.

As gunfire and mortars rained down on the General Post Office in Dublin, the leaders held their nerve and fought like for like with the British Military. It was only when fire swept through the GPO that the command was given to evacuate the building. The troops burrowed down in accommodation nearby to discuss their next strategic plan of action. The majority view was that they should surrender to save the lives of the ordinary civilians being wounded and killed.

Upon their surrender, Plunkett was immediately arrested and taken to Kilmainham Gaol. He was subsequently court martialed and sentences to death by firing squad. At his court martial, he pleaded not guilty to the charges (taking part in an armed rebellion that was prejudicial to the Defense of the Realm and his Majesty, the King.) His oath of allegiance was to an Independent Ireland.

His defense:

“I have nothing to say in my defense, but desire to state that the proclamation referred to by Sergeant Burton’s evidence is signed by persons who are not connected with the Irish Volunteers, and the proclamation was not issued by the Volunteers.”

He was found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad .

The Chapel in Kilmainham Gaol where Plunkett /Gifford were married; with his brothers at home in Dublin ; Grace Gifford

At 1:30 AM on the 4^th of May, 1916, Grace Gifford was led into a small chapel at Kilmainham Gaol.  Gifford was Plunkett’s girlfriend; a protestant convert to Catholicism. Plunkett was led hand-cuffed to meet her at the altar. The Chapel was lit by candles, as there was no electricity.  The marriage ceremony was conducted by Fr. Eugene MacCarthy, and attended by twenty-two British Soldiers with fixed bayonets, lining the walls of the small chapel. Grace Gifford had bought a wedding ring the previous day. Plunkett was taken away immediately after the ceremony’s conclusion. Grace Gifford’s sister Muriel was married to Plunkett’s best friend, Thomas Mac Donagh .

Somewhere during the night, leniency was granted to the newly married couple. They were allowed to spend a little time together before he was taken to Kilmainham Stonebreakers Yard at the rear of Kilmainham Gaol.  At dawn, he was blindfolded and executed by firing squad.

In the Irish Times of Friday 5 May, 1916, there appeared the following marriage notice:

“PLUNKETT and GIFFORD – May 4th, 1916, at Dublin, Joseph Plunkett to Grace Gifford.”

Joseph’s brothers, George Oliver Plunkett and Jack Plunkett had joined him in the Easter Rising, and later became important Irish Republican Army men. George was sentenced to death for his part in the Ester Rising, but only served one year in confinement before he was released.

His father’s cousin, Horace Plunkett was a protestant unionist who sought to reconcile unionists and nationalists. Horace Plunkett’s home was burned down by the Anti-Treaty brigade during the Civil War.