seamus dubhghaill

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Executions of Èamonn Ceannt, Michael Mallin, Seán Heuston, & Con Colbert

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Irish patriots Èamonn Ceannt, Michael Mallin, Seán Heuston, and Cornelius “Con” Colbert are executed by firing squad in the Stonebreakers Yard at Kilmainham Gaol on May 8, 1916, as the executions following the 1916 Easter Rising continue.

Éamonn Ceannt, one of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, is born in Ballymoe, Glenamaddy in County Galway in 1881. Prior to the Rising, Ceannt is an employee of the Dublin Corporation. He is a co-founder of the Irish Volunteers, partaking in the successful Howth gun-running operation of 1914. His involvement in republican activities is complemented by his interest in Irish culture, specifically Irish language and history, although he is also an accomplished uilleann piper. Ceannt is appointed Director of Communications of the Provisional Government and is Commandant of the Fourth Battalion of the Irish Volunteers, who are stationed at the South Dublin Union, now the site of St. James’s Hospital. Ceannt has about 100 men with him, including his second-in-command Cathal Brugha, and W.T. Cosgrave who goes on later to become Taoiseach. Ceannt and his men at the South Dublin Union take part in some of the fiercest fighting in the rebellion and hold out against far superior numbers of British troops.

Michael Mallin, a silk weaver by trade, is born in Dublin on December 1, 1874. Mallin is the Chief of Staff of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA), second in command only to James Connolly. He trains and drills the ICA and is the Commandant of the St. Stephen’s Green Royal College of Surgeons garrison during the Rising. Countess Markievicz is his second in command. This location sees less action than some of the other sites chosen by the rebels because the British concentrate their efforts on the most strategically important targets such as the General Post Office (GPO) and Four Courts. Mallin surrenders on April 30.

Seán Heuston, born in Dublin on February 21, 1891, is responsible for the organisation of Fianna Éireann in Limerick. Along with Con Colbert, Heuston is involved in the education of the schoolboys at Scoil Éanna, organising drill and musketry exercises. Heuston is the Officer Commanding of the Volunteers in the Mendicity Institution on the south side of Dublin. With 26 Volunteers under his command, they hold their position for two days. With his position becoming untenable against considerable numbers, and the building almost completely surrounded, Heuston sends a dispatch to Connolly informing him of their position. It is soon after sending this dispatch that Heuston decides to surrender. Heuston Railway Station in Dublin is named after him.

Con Colbert is born on October 19, 1888, at Monalena in Limerick, and is one of the younger generations of Irish republicans who take part in the Easter Rising. Prior to the Easter Rising he is an active member of the republican movement. He is one of the founding members of Fianna Éireann. A dedicated pioneer, Colbert is known not to drink or smoke. During the Rising, Colbert is the commander of a group of Volunteers stationed at Watkin’s Brewery on Ardee Street, and later at Jameson’s Distillery on Marrowbone Lane. They hold their position until receiving the order to surrender from Patrick Pearse.


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Execution of John MacBride, Irish Republican

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Major John McBride, Irish republican, is executed by firing squad in the Stonebreakers Yard at Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin on May 5, 1916, for his participation in the 1916 Easter Rising.

MacBride is born at The Quay, Westport, County Mayo, to Patrick MacBride, a shopkeeper and trader, and the former Honoria Gill. He is educated at the Christian Brothers School in Westport and at St. Malachy’s College in Belfast. He studies medicine but gives it up and begins working with a chemist’s firm in Dublin.

He joins the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and is associated with Michael Cusack in the early days of the Gaelic Athletic Association. He also joins the Celtic Literary Society through which he comes to know Arthur Griffith, who is to remain a friend and influence throughout his life. Beginning in 1893, MacBride is termed a “dangerous nationalist” by the British government. In 1896, he travels to the United States on behalf of the IRB. Upon his return he emigrates to South Africa.

In the Second Boer War MacBride is instrumental in the raising of the Irish Transvaal Brigade and leads it into action against the British. When organised resistance collapses, he and the surviving members cross the border into Mozambique. After the war he marries Maud Gonne and they have a son, Seán MacBride, who is also to make a name for himself in Irish Politics. The marriage, however, is not a success and they go their separate ways. MacBride keeps up his associations with Republican activists but does not become personally involved other than making the odd speech in support of Ireland’s Cause.

After returning permanently from Paris to Dublin in 1905, MacBride joins other Irish nationalists in preparing for an Insurrection. Because he is so well known to the British, the leaders think it wise to keep him outside their secret military group planning a Rising. As a result, he happens to find himself in the midst of the Rising without notice.

MacBride is in Dublin early on Easter Monday morning, April 24, to meet his brother, Dr. Anthony MacBride, who is arriving from Westport to be married two days later. As MacBride walks up Grafton Street, he sees Thomas MacDonagh in uniform and leading his troops. He offers his services and is appointed second-in-command at the Jacob’s Biscuit Factory, which is occupied and held through Easter Week until the order to surrender is received. As he is dressed in civilian clothes rather than a military uniform, he could likely have escaped without too much difficulty but rather he decides to go with his comrades into captivity.

Tried by court martial under the Defence of the Realm Act, MacBride is found guilty and sentenced to death. He is executed on May 5, 1916, two days before his forty-eighth birthday. Facing the British firing squad, MacBride refuses to be blindfolded saying, “I have looked down the muzzles of too many guns in the South African war to fear death and now please carry out your sentence.”

John MacBride is buried in the cemetery at Arbour Hill Prison in Dublin.


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Executions of Edward Daly, Michael O’Hanrahan, Joseph Mary Plunkett, & William Pearse

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The executions of leaders and participants of the 1916 Easter Rising by the British continue as Edward Daly, Michael O’Hanrahan, Joseph Mary Plunkett, and William Pearse are executed by firing squad in the Stonebreakers Yard at Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin on May 4, 1916.

Edward Daly is born in Limerick in 1891 to a family that has a history of republican activity. His uncle, John Daly, had taken part in the rebellion of 1867. Edward Daly leads the First Battalion during the 1916 Easter Rising, which raids the Bridewell and Linenhall Barracks, eventually seizing control of the Four Courts. A close friend of Tom Clarke, their ties are made even stronger by the marriage of Clarke to Daly’s sister.

Michael O’Hanrahan is born in Wexford in 1877. As a young man, O’Hanrahan shows great promise as a writer, becoming heavily involved in the promotion of the Irish language. He founds the first Carlow branch of the Gaelic League, and publishes two novels, A Swordsman of the Brigade and When the Norman Came. Like many of the other executed leaders, he joins the Irish Volunteers from their inception and is second in command to Thomas MacDonagh at Jacob’s Biscuit Factory during the Rising, although this position is largely usurped by the arrival of John MacBride.

Joseph Mary Plunkett is born in Dublin in 1887, the son of a papal count. Plunkett is initially educated in England, though he returns to Ireland and graduates from University College Dublin in 1909. After his graduation, Plunkett spends two years traveling due to ill health, returning to Dublin in 1911. Plunkett shares Thomas MacDonagh’s enthusiasm for literature and is an editor of the Irish Review. Along with MacDonagh and Edward Martyn, he helps to establish an Irish national theatre. He joins the Irish Volunteers in 1913, subsequently gaining membership of the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1914. Plunkett travels to Germany to meet Roger Casement in 1915. During the planning of the Rising, Plunkett is appointed Director of Military Operations, with overall responsibility for military strategy. Plunkett is stationed in the General Post Office during the Rising. Seven hours prior to his execution, Plunkett marries his sweetheart, Grace Gifford, in the prison chapel.

William “Willie” Pearse, the younger brother of Patrick, is born in Dublin in 1881. Willie shares his brother’s passion for an independent Ireland. He assists Patrick in running St. Enda’s School. The two brothers are extremely close and fight alongside each other in the General Post Office. He is not one of the planners of the revolt, nor is he one of its commanders. Willie is merely one of the soldiers involved with the Dublin actions. No other participant in Dublin whose actions or responsibilities are similar to Willie’s is executed in the days following the Rising, save perhaps John MacBride, whose earlier service with the Boers probably marks him for death. It seems likely that the sole reason Willie is executed by the British government is for the crime of being Patrick’s brother. It is repugnant British excesses such as this that soon reverse the Irish people’s initially negative opinion of the 1916 Easter Rising.


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Executions of Patrick Pearse, Thomas Clarke, & Thomas MacDonagh

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Patrick Pearse, Thomas Clarke, and Thomas MacDonagh are executed by firing squad in the Stonebreakers’ Yard at Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin on May 3, 1916. Pearse, Clarke, and MacDonagh are three of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

Just three days after the end of the 1916 Easter Rising, the first military courts martial sits on May 2, 1916. Pearse, Clarke, and MacDonagh are immediately sentence to death. The three are taken that evening to the disused Kilmainham Gaol and are shot at dawn the following morning.

Patrick Pearse is born in Dublin in 1879, becoming interested in Irish cultural matters in his teenage years. In 1898, Pearse becomes a member of the Executive Commmittee of the Gaelic League. He graduates from the Royal University of Ireland in 1901 with a degree in Arts and Law. Pearse’s literary output is constant, and he publishes extensively in both Irish and English, becoming the editor of An Claidheamh Soluis, the newspaper of the Gaelic League. He is a keen believer in the value of education, and establishes two schools, Coláiste Éanna and Coláiste Íde, devoted to the education of Irish children through the Irish language.  Pearse is one of the founding members of the Irish Volunteers and the author of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. He is Commander in Chief of the Irish forces and headquartered in the General Post Office (GPO) during the 1916 Easter Rising.

Thomas Clarke is born on the Isle of Wight in 1857, the son of a soldier in the British army. During his time in America as a young man, he joins Clan na Gael, later enduring fifteen years (1883-1898) of penal servitude for his role in a bombing campaign in London. In 1907, having returned from a second sojourn in America, his links with Clan na Gael in America copper-fastens his importance to the revolutionary movement in Ireland. He holds the post of Treasurer to the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and is a member of the Supreme Council from 1915. Clarke is the first signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic through deference to his seniority. Clarke is also stationed at the GPO during Easter Week. Clarke tells his wife during his final night that he is relieved he is going to be executed because his greatest dread is that he would be sent back to prison.

Thomas MacDonagh is a native of Tipperary, born in 1878. He spends the early part of his career as a teacher. He moves to Dublin to study and is the first teacher on the staff at St. Enda’s School, the school he helps to found with Patrick Pearse. MacDonagh is 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 is produced at the Abbey Theatre. He is appointed director of training for the Irish Volunteers in 1914, later joining the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). MacDonagh is appointed to the IRB military committee in 1916. He is commander of the Second Battalion of Volunteers that occupies Jacob’s Biscuit Factory and surrounding houses during the Rising.

Immediately after the executions, Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond warns British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith that “if any more executions take place in Ireland the position will become impossible for any constitutional party or leader.”

Asquith himself warns Sir John Maxwell that “anything like a large number of executions would…sow the seeds of lasting trouble in Ireland.”

These warnings fall upon deaf ears as thirteen additional executions take place in the following days.


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Rebels Surrender Ends the 1916 Easter Rising

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The Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army rebels headquartered at the General Post Office (GPO) on Sackville Street, after days of shelling, are forced to abandon their headquarters when fire caused by the shells spreads to the GPO. James Connolly, Commandant of the Dublin Brigade, has been incapacitated by a bullet wound to the ankle and has passed command on to Patrick Pearse. Michael Joseph O’Rahilly, a founding member of the Irish Volunteers, is killed in a sortie from the GPO. The rebels tunnel through the walls of the neighbouring buildings in order to evacuate the Post Office without coming under fire and take up a new position at 16 Moore Street.

On Saturday, April 29, 1916, from the new headquarters on Moore Street, after realising that they will not break out of this position without further loss of civilian life, Pearse issues an order for all companies to surrender. Pearse surrenders unconditionally to Brigadier-General William Henry Muir Lowe (photo). The surrender document reads:

“In order to prevent the further slaughter of Dublin citizens, and in the hope of saving the lives of our followers now surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered, the members of the Provisional Government present at headquarters have agreed to an unconditional surrender, and the commandants of the various districts in the City and County will order their commands to lay down arms.”

The other posts surrender only after Pearse’s surrender order, carried by nurse Elizabeth O’Farrell, reaches them. Sporadic fighting, therefore, continues into Sunday, April 30, when word of the surrender is received by the other rebel garrisons. Command of British forces has passed from Lowe to General John Maxwell, who arrives in Dublin just in time to accept the surrender. Maxwell is made temporary military governor of Ireland.

The surrender signals the end of the 1916 Easter Rising, the most significant campaign in the struggle for Irish independence since the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The Rising leaves large parts of the city decimated and results in thousands of casualties. It is also, unambiguously, a spectacular military failure. And yet it is the spark that lights the fuse on the Irish War of Independence which, within five years, forces the British government to the negotiating table to discuss the terms of Irish independence.

Martial law, which was declared in Dublin by British authorities, remains in effect in Ireland through the fall of 1916.

The 1916 Easter Rising results in at least 485 deaths, according to the Glasnevin Trust. More than 2,600 are wounded, including at least 2,200 civilians and rebels, at least 370 British soldiers, and 29 policemen. The vast majority of the Irish casualties are buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in the aftermath of the fighting. British families come to Dublin Castle in May 1916 to reclaim the bodies of British soldiers and funerals are arranged. Soldiers whose bodies are not claimed are given military funerals in Grangegorman Military Cemetery.


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The Battle of Ashbourne

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As the end of the 1916 Easter Rising becomes increasingly apparent and the rebels in Dublin are being squeezed harder and harder by the British forces, the rebels outside the city achieve a small victory on Friday, April 28, 1916, in what comes to be known as the Battle of Ashbourne.

The Battle of Ashbourne is a direct confrontation and gun battle between up to 70 members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and about 37 Irish Volunteers, led by Thomas Ashe and Richard Mulcahy. It is one of the few engagements outside of Dublin city centre and is, in contrast to the main Rising in Dublin, a successful one.  It is also an example of the guerilla warfare that becomes a normal method of operation during the Irish War of Independence.

After the Volunteers battalion is mobilized on Easter Sunday, they are split into smaller groups, known as flying columns, and are sent north of Dublin city towards Ashbourne. Their mission is to destroy the railway line near Batterstown and disrupt the movement of British troops into the city. They set out by bicycles, mostly armed with shotguns. After raiding a number of barracks in the area, cutting communications, and collecting rifles, they reach the Cross of the Rath at Ashbourne.

There they are met with a barricade that has been hastily erected by the RIC members stationed in the barracks nearby. The RIC constables quickly surrender and are sent to the barracks to order a full surrender, but they do not return. The Volunteers take up positions across the road while James O’Connor and Ashe try to break in the door. The constables begin firing from the upper windows of the building and a gun battle breaks out.

The fighting intensifies as RIC reinforcements arrive from Navan, Dunboyne, and Slane. Two Volunteers, John Crennigan and Thomas Rafferty, are fatally wounded. When District Inspector Gray is killed, the constables surrender and are taken prisoner. The Volunteers gather their arms and ammunition while Ashe warns the constables that they will be shot if they take up arms against the Irish people again.

In total, fourteen people are killed in the battle – two Volunteers, eight RIC members, two civilians driving the RIC cars, and two innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. Many more are injured.

The Volunteers’ victory is short lived, however, as in the early afternoon of the next day Ashe receives word of the surrender in Dublin. He demobilises the battalion and sends the men home. Many, including O’Connor, are arrested within days and interned in Wakefield Prison and Frongoch Internment Camp.

Ashe eventually spends time in jail for his role in the uprising and is jailed again in 1917. He begins a hunger strike on September 20, demanding POW status. Ashe dies after just five days on hunger strike from injuries received while being force-fed. The manner of his death outrages the Irish population.

As a side note, Thomas Ashe is a cousin of actor Gregory Peck.


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The Battle of Mount Street Bridge

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Some of the bloodiest fighting of the 1916 Easter Rising occurs one hundred years ago today during the Battle of Mount Street Bridge on Wednesday, April 26, 1916.

Some of the rebel positions in Dublin are isolated and are bombarded from a distance. They barely see a British soldier during the six days of the Rising. The fighting is much bloodier when the British assault Volunteer positions dominating the routes into the city. In such instances, street fighting, snipers, and sudden close-range crossfires are prevalent. This happens mainly at three locations, Mount Street Bridge, South Dublin Union/Marrowbone Lane, and North King Street.

At Mount Street, on the approach to the city centre from the port at Kingstown, now known as Dún Laoghaire, a volunteer outpost manned by only 17 men under the command of Lieutenant Michael Malone and armed with rifles and hand guns, faces the frontal assault of a reinforcement column of British troops.

The reinforcement column meets its first resistance when it pauses at Carisbrook House. They respond to sniper fire by riddling the house, though it does not contain any Volunteers. The column, however, is thus alerted that Volunteers are in the area. They go no more than 500 yards further when they come under sustained fire from two Volunteers in 25 Northumberland Road. It takes five hours of sustained firing to dislodge the defenders. Ten British soldiers fall at the first volley. Volunteers in the other outposts nearby also begin picking off the attackers who are exposed to their fire.

Finally, the house is rushed, and Volunteer Lieutenant Malone is shot dead. The other Volunteer in the house, Section Commander James Grace, succeeds in hiding himself behind a cooker and escapes the area several hours later. He is arrested a few days later.

While the British soldiers attack 25 Northumberland Road, they also move against the Schoolhouse and the Parochial Hall, which is located between 25 Northumberland Road and Clanwilliam House. The Parochial Hall is held by four men, P.J. Doyle in command, Joe Clarke, William Christian, and J. McGrath. The Volunteers continue a fierce firefight until flames drive them from their stations.

The fight at Clanwillaim House continues as British soldiers try in vain to cross Mount Street Bridge. When the house is eventually engulfed in flames and their ammunition spent, the surviving four Volunteers escape over the back wall. When the final charge comes, one officer throws a grenade at one of the remaining intact windows, but it bounces back and explodes, killing him.

Up to 250 British soldiers are killed or wounded and their morale shattered by the gallant band of Volunteers around Mount Street and the British advance is delayed by a day. The fighting at Mount Street results in almost two thirds of British casualties in Easter week. Four Volunteers, Michael Malone, Dick Murphy, George Reynolds, and Patrick Doyle, lose their lives in the battle. Five others escape arrest, while four are captured, including Joe Clarke.

Clarke and his comrades from the other outposts are first brought to Ladd Lane Barracks, before joining the other captured Volunteers and those who surrender at the end of the week. Eventually, they are transported to British jails to serve their sentence or to be interned.


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The Beginning of the 1916 Easter Rising

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The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, begins in Dublin on April 24, 1916, and lasts for six days. The Rising, organised by seven members of the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, is launched to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom is heavily engaged in World War I. It is the most significant uprising in Ireland since the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and the first armed action of the Irish revolutionary period.

Shortly before midday, members of the Irish Volunteers, led by schoolmaster and Irish language activist Patrick Pearse and joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly and 200 women of Cumann na mBan, seize key locations in Dublin and proclaim an Irish Republic. The rebels’ plan is to hold Dublin city centre, a large, oval-shaped area bounded by the Grand Canal to the south and the Royal Canal to the north, with the River Liffey running through the middle.

The rebels march to the General Post Office (GPO) on O’Connell Street, Dublin’s main thoroughfare, and occupy the building and hoist two republican flags. Pearse stands outside and reads the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

Elsewhere in Dublin, some of the headquarters battalion under Michael Mallin occupy St. Stephen’s Green, where they dig trenches and barricade the surrounding roads. The 1st battalion, under Edward “Ned” Daly, occupy the Four Courts and surrounding buildings, while a company under Seán Heuston occupies the Mendicity Institution across the River Liffey from the Four Courts. The 2nd battalion, under Thomas MacDonagh, occupies Jacob’s Biscuit Factory. The 3rd battalion, under Éamon de Valera, occupy Boland’s Mill and surrounding buildings. The 4th battalion, under Éamonn Ceannt, occupy the South Dublin Union and the distillery on Marrowbone Lane. From each of these garrisons, small units of rebels establish outposts in the surrounding area.

There are isolated actions in other parts of Ireland, with attacks on the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at Ashbourne, County Meath and in County Galway, and the seizure of the town of Enniscorthy, County Wexford. Due to a last-minute countermand issued on Saturday, April 22, by Volunteer leader Eoin MacNeill, the number of rebels who mobilise is much lower than expected.

The British Army brings in thousands of reinforcements as well as artillery and a gunboat. There is fierce street fighting on the routes into the city centre, where the rebels put up stiff resistance, slowing the British advance and inflicting heavy casualties. Elsewhere in Dublin, the fighting mainly consists of sniping and long-range gun battles. The main rebel positions are gradually surrounded and bombarded with artillery.

With much greater numbers and heavier weapons, the British Army suppresses the Rising, and Pearse agrees to an unconditional surrender on Saturday, April 29. Almost 500 people are killed during Easter Week. About 54% are civilians, 30% are British military and police, and 16% are Irish rebels. More than 2,600 are wounded. Many of the civilians are killed as a result of the British using artillery and heavy machine guns, or mistaking civilians for rebels. Others are caught in the crossfire in a crowded city. The shelling and the fires leave parts of inner-city Dublin in ruins.

After the surrender the country remains under martial law. About 3,500 people are taken prisoner by the British, many of whom have played no part in the Rising, with 1,800 of them being sent to internment camps or prisons in Britain. Most of the leaders of the Rising are executed following courts-martial. The Rising brings physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics, which for nearly 50 years has been dominated by constitutional nationalism. It, and the British reaction to it, leads to increased popular support for Irish independence. In December 1918, republicans, represented by the reconstituted Sinn Féin party, win a landslide victory in the general election to the British Parliament. They do not take their seats but instead convene the First Dáil and declare the independence of the Irish Republic, which ultimately leads to the Irish War of Independence.


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Postponement of the Easter Rising

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On Saturday, April 22, 1916, the Easter Rising, originally planned for the following day, Easter Sunday, is postponed for one day.

At dawn a messenger from the Kerry Volunteers arrives in Dublin and informs James Connolly, Commandant of the Dublin Brigade, that Roger Casement had been arrested in County Kerry the previous day during a failed attempt to smuggle arms into Ireland on board the German ship Aud. A meeting of the Military Council is hastily organised, and the decision is made not to inform Chief-of-Staff of the Irish Volunteers, Eoin MacNeill, about Casement’s arrest.

Later in the morning, after attempting to escape the area, Karl Spindler, captain of the Aud, makes the decision to scuttle his ship after it is intercepted by the Royal Navy. Although Spindler and the crew are rescued, the armaments on board the Aud are lost. By early afternoon the Military Council is made aware of the loss of their arms shipment.

At 6:00 PM, Sean Fitzgibbon, Colm O’Loughlin, and Michael Joseph O’Rahilly arrive at Woodtown Park and inform MacNeill of the arrests and the loss of the Aud. After confronting Patrick Pearse at St. Enda’s School, a bilingual school for boys founded by Pearse, MacNeill and others, including O’Rahilly and Bulmer Hobson, gather at the house of Seumas O’Kelly on Rathgar Road and a decision is made to issue countermanding orders cancelling the Rising planned for Easter Sunday. To make sure that the countermanding order is received and understood, James Ryan is sent overnight to Cork, Colm O’Loughlin to Dundalk and Coalisland, Sean Fitzgibbon to Waterford, and Min Ryan to Wexford. O’Rahilly travels to Limerick, Kerry, Cork, and Tipperary. This succeeds in delaying the rising for only one day, although it greatly reduces the number of Volunteers who turn out.

During the evening, Major-General Sir Lovick Friend, General Officer Commanding of British forces in Ireland, travels to London on leave in wake of the capture of the Aud believing that any potential insurgency has been stopped. Chief Secretary Augustine Birrell is also in London having attended a Cabinet meeting. Both men remain in London through Easter, leaving Under Secretary Matthew Nathan as the most senior British official remaining in Dublin. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne, urges Nathan to order the arrest of a large number of rebel leaders however he is unwilling to do so without the authorisation of Chief Secretary Birrell.


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The SS Aud Begins Gun-Running Voyage to Ireland

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The German merchant steam ship SS Libau, also known as SS Castro and masquerading under the cover name of SS Aud, sets sail from the Baltic port of Lübeck on April 9, 1916, loaded with guns and ammunition for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) as part of the preparation for the Easter Rising.

Masquerading as SS Aud, an existing Norwegian vessel of similar appearance, SS Libau sets sail from the port of Lübeck, under the command of Karl Spindler, bound for the southwest coast of Ireland. Under Spindler is a crew of 22 men, all of whom are volunteers. SS Libau, laden with an estimated twenty thousand rifles, one million rounds of ammunition, ten machine guns, and explosives under a camouflage of a timber cargo, evade patrols of both the British 10th Cruiser Squadron and local Auxiliary patrols.

After surviving violent storms off Rockall, SS Libau arrives in Tralee Bay on April 20. There they are due to meet Roger Casement and others, with Casement having been landed nearby by the German submarine U-19. The SS Libau has no communications equipment aboard, giving them no means of contacting the Irish while en route. As a result, they are unaware that the date for its arrival off Fenit has been altered from Thursday, April 20 to Sunday, April 23.

One of the two cars carrying Volunteers who are supposed to meet SS Libau crash into the River Laune, many miles away, at Ballykissane pier, Killorglin, resulting in the death of three of the four occupants of the car. This leads to no hope of an organised transfer of arms and the gun-running plan nears an end.

SS Libau, attempting to escape the area, is trapped by a blockade of British ships. Captain Spindler allows himself to be escorted towards Cork Harbour, in the company of the Acacia-class sloop HMS Bluebell. The German crew then scuttles the ship. Spindler and his crew are interned for the duration of the war. Roger Casement and his companions are captured in an old ringfort or rath between Ardfert and Tralee.

A number of rifles are recovered from SS Libau before the vessel is scuttled. Several examples exist in various museums in Britain and Ireland. Among these are the Cork Public Museum in Fitzgerald’s Park in Cork, a museum in Lurgan County Armagh, the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, and the Imperial War Museum in London.