Uncommon Valour

by Paul O'Brien

  Aftermath

  The following general order was issued to the troops by General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell, general commander of the British forces in Ireland on 1 May 1916:

  I desire to thank the troops who have been engaged in the city of Dublin for their splendid behaviour under the trying conditions of street fighting which I found it necessary to order them to undertake. Owing to the excellent direction of the officers and the tireless effort of the troops, all the surviving rebels in Dublin have now surrendered unconditionally. I especially wish to express my gratitude to those Irish regiments that have so largely helped to crush this Rising.65

  No special list of honours was issued in relation to the services rendered by the military during the 1916 Rising. On 20 June 1916 in the Houses of Parliament, London, Sir J.D. Rees asked Under Secretary of State for War Harold Tennant what recognition was to be given to the officers and men of the Sherwood Foresters who lost their lives and received wounds in the recent street fighting in Dublin, where they acquitted themselves with the coolness of seasoned troops, as well as with gallantry, under circumstances calculated to try experienced veterans? He asked if recognition was to be given precisely on the same footing as for ordinary service? Mr Tennant replied that recognition had already been given and that he did not know if any further acknowledgment would be granted. He reiterated that the Prime Minister had expressed gratitude.

  The London Gazette carried the names of soldiers who were mentioned in dispatches and Captain Michael (Micky) Cleeve Martyn of the Nottingham and Derbyshire Regiment received the Military Cross for his actions. Of the fifty-two honours and awards given out for the Rising, fifteen were awarded to the men of the Sherwood Forester Regiment, and of the eighteen highest awards issued, ten were awarded to the Sherwood Forester Regiment.

  The exact number of crown casualties for the battle for the South Dublin Union is difficult to determine as a number of men from various regiments were engaged in the fighting during the week.

  The Royal Irish Regiment lists two officers and five men killed in action and one officer and six men wounded. The regimental history of the Sherwood Foresters gives the relatively low number of three men killed in action and seven wounded during the fighting at the Union. Many of those wounded returned to England and were subsequently discharged from the army only to succumb to their wounds later. Of the total military casualties of the entire Rising, the Sherwood Foresters suffered the most – 214 officers and men killed or wounded, many of these in the engagement at Mount Street Bridge. A complete and accurate list may never be compiled as many of those killed in action are listed as being killed at home with no definite time or place of death recorded. The Rising in Dublin and its casualties was considered a comparatively minor affair to the British Army High Command. However, their attitude to warfare was to dramatically change with the onslaught of the Somme offensive of July 1916. The battle for Dublin became a distant memory to many as the Somme united British and Irish families, not through victory or defeat, but through their losses.

  In the weeks and months that followed the insurrection in Dublin, the British troops who remained in Ireland were dispatched throughout the country as martial law was strictly enforced. Later, many of these regiments found themselves in action on the Western Front in Europe. Captain Micky Martyn fought with the Sherwood Foresters, receiving the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). He was later attached to the 6th Battalion of the Royal Leicestershire Regiment and was reported missing in action in August 1918. It was later discovered that he had been taken prisoner by the Germans and he was repatriated that same year. Martyn died on 13 June 1978.

  Captain John Sherbrook Coape Oates was wounded twice in action on his return to France and Belgium. He was awarded the DSO and his father, Lieutenant Colonel Oates received his DSO at the same investiture at Buckingham Palace. Captain Oates continued his military service, serving with the Royal Artillery in the Second World War. He died at home on 24 February 1978.

  The young lieutenant, Monk Gibbon, survived the war and became a well-known writer, recording his experiences in Dublin 1916 in a book entitled Inglorious Soldier.

  The executions of the leaders of the Rising had caused revulsion amongst the populace and public opinion began to swing in favour of the Irish Volunteers who had been incarcerated abroad. By December 1916, Volunteer Peadar Doyle, like many others, found himself imprisoned in Lewes jail in England. The Irish Volunteers formed a committee to fight for their recognition as prisoners of war. They lobbied the authorities and as time progressed conditions for the prisoners slowly improved.

  Education and work details were organised by the prisoners. The governor of the prison was impressed with painting work that had been carried out within the jail by the prisoners. He enquired if it would be possible for the prisoners to paint his house and after thinking the matter over, the prisoners submitted an estimate and the work commenced. The governor was very pleased with the standard of workmanship and when the job was finished he brought his friends to see it. It was some time afterwards that he realised that the doors and panels had been painted green, white and orange. In another small act of rebellion a member of the work crew was selected to distract the guard while the painters wrote ‘This house has been decorated by the Irish Prisoners of War 1917’ before it was covered in wallpaper.66

  Many prisoners were released by late 1917 or early 1918 and on their return to Ireland, they found that attitudes to the Rising had shifted and that public opinion had changed dramatically from condemnation to admiration.

  Major Sir Francis Fletcher Vane, the British officer who had led the attack on the South Dublin Union on the Thursday afternoon, found himself deprived of his rank and dismissed from the army by the end of May 1916. He wrote:

  This combat remains in my memory for it made me acquainted with Mr William Cosgrave (now president of the Free State) who was commanding against me. This occurred during a short truce, when both sides joined to save two old men who happened to get into the line of fire. It is pleasant to remember that Cosgrave and I retain our friendship to this day and he has helped me in my efforts to lessen the troubles wrought by war. For this engagement I was commended by the Brigadier General Maconchy. Report was held back on account of my exposé of the Skeffington murders and Sir John Maxwell held back General Maconchy’s report.67

  During the Rising, a number of atrocities took place that the military authorities tried to cover up. At Portobello barracks in Dublin, Captain Bowen Colthurst executed three innocent civilians without trial. The three men, Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Patrick McIntyre and Thomas Dickson were executed on Wednesday 26 April. After the events of Easter week, Major Vane attempted to contact British High Command in Dublin to report the actions of Captain Bowen Colthurst, but he failed to reach General Maxwell. He spoke to an intelligence officer who seemed uninterested. Royal Engineers were sent from Dublin Castle to Portobello barracks in order to repair the wall where the three men had been shot. This was a deliberate attempt to cover up the murders and an admission by crown forces that they were aware of the incident. Finally, as a result of a communication to the military authorities in London made by Major Vane, Captain Bowen Colthurst was placed under ‘open’ arrest on 6 May and subsequently on 11 May under ‘close’ arrest. On 6 and 7 June 1916, Captain Bowen Colthurst was tried by court-martial in Dublin for the murder of Francis Sheehy Skeffington and was found guilty but insane. He served one year in prison, was released and spent the remainder of his life in Canada as a successful banker.

  Though Sir Francis Fletcher Vane received the admiration of the Irish people for his honesty and integrity in relation to the events at Portobello barracks, he spent the remainder of his life campaigning for a review of his dismissal and reinstatement. His appeals to the military authorities were without success. He spent the remainder of his life living abroad.

  British soldiers shot many unarmed civilians during the Rising, and later, Sir John Grenfell Maxwell admitted
in a newspaper article that atrocities had taken place in Dublin during Easter Week. The files on many of these atrocities were assigned to the dusty annals of an archive until 2001, when the British government finally released the official papers into the public domain.

  Though the everyday work of the South Dublin Union continued during Easter week, the minute books of the workhouse were not updated until May 1916. Within these pages there is mention of the damage to the buildings and the complex that occurred during its occupation. After the Volunteers vacated the grounds of the South Dublin Union, the gates were opened and the local populace went through the buildings seeking mementos of the week’s events. Many items were taken that had no connection with the Rising, including many personal items belonging to nurses who were resident in the Nurses’ Home. The nurses were later compensated for their losses. The minute books fail to mention the names of any patients who were killed or died of natural causes during that week. The poor and destitute of Dublin who entered the Union became nameless and were forgotten. The only reference to their existence and tragic deaths are in the personal recollections of those who fought on both sides during the Rising.

  Lieutenant W.T. Cosgrave was sentenced to death for his involvement in the South Dublin Union; later that sentence was commuted to imprisonment. He was sent to a series of prisons in England and was released in 1917. He returned to a changed Ireland and entered the political fray that preceded the Irish War of Independence. Having accepted the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922, his decision brought him into direct conflict with old friends and colleagues. After the deaths of Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins in 1922, William T. Cosgrave became chairman of the Provisional Government in July and president of the Dáil in August of that year. As the Civil War raged throughout the country, Cosgrave was considered by many to be ruthless in his defence of the state against his former republican colleagues. In 1923 a new political party called Cumann na nGaedheal was established with Cosgrave as its leader. He remained in power for a decade and later became leader of Fine Gael until he retired from politics in 1944. Cosgrave died peacefully in November 1965 aged eighty-five and is buried in Goldenbridge cemetery, Dublin.

  Having survived his wounds, Cathal Brugha was appointed chief-of-staff of the Irish Republican Army in 1917. On 21 January 1919, at the first sitting of the Dáil, Brugha was elected as acting president because Éamonn de Valera and other Sinn Féin delegates were in prison. When Éamonn de Valera took over the position in April 1919, Brugha was appointed minister for defence as the war for Irish independence erupted. He opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty and joined the anti-Treaty forces as Civil War broke out. In July 1922, Brugha and a number of anti-Treaty forces were surrounded by members of the new Free State army in Hammon’s Hotel on O’Connell Street, Dublin. On 3 July the commander of the Irish Free State forces in the area demanded the surrender of the hotel and its garrison. Brugha replied in Gaelic: ‘Níl aon chuimhneamh agam ar a leithéid a dhéanamh’ (I have no such intention). By 5 July the position had become untenable and as the building became engulfed in flames he ordered the remainder of his men to evacuate the hotel. With his pistol drawn, he calmly walked out the front door towards the waiting Free State soldiers. He was shot and seriously wounded, the bullet severing his femoral artery. Though he received immediate medical attention, he died from his wound two days later on 7 July in the Mater hospital, eleven days before his forty-eighth birthday. Controversy surrounds his death, as many believe his pistol was not loaded and he made no pretence of firing it. He is buried in Glasnevin cemetery. His death, like many others during the Civil War, left a void that would affect the political future of the country for decades to come.

  Many of those who survived the 1916 Rising, the Irish War for Independence and the Civil War returned to a normal life despite having taken part in and witnessed the greatest of events – that of a country achieving its independence and taking its place amongst the other nations of the world.

  Chapter 14

  April 1916:

  Military Success & Military Failure

  Apart from its general ultimate futility, the conduct of the insurrection showed great organisational ability and more military skill than had been attributed to the Volunteers.68

  Urban warfare is a modern type of warfare conducted in towns and cities. Before the twentieth century wars were won or lost on open battlefields such as Waterloo and Omdurman. Urban combat is very different from combat in the open at operational and tactical levels.

  The planning of the insurrection and the occupation of the South Dublin Union is accredited to James Connolly and Joseph Plunkett, but many questions have arisen in relation to whether or not the plan was militarily sound. Why was the South Dublin Union chosen as a strong point and was it viable to occupy a complex of buildings that contained so many civilians?

  From his positions within the Union and the outlying posts, Ceannt’s task was to prevent troops from Richmond and Islandbridge barracks from entering the city. It is possible that Ceannt was also ordered to take and hold Kingsbridge Station. However, due to Eoin MacNeill’s countermanding order, the 4th Battalion was seriously under strength and Ceannt could only deploy the men he had to the best of his ability. MacNeill’s decision to countermand the order for a general mobilisation had a detrimental effect on the entire Rising, but especially on Ceannt’s orders to hold the area in the vicinity of the Union. The area was vast and was impossible to hold with the small force that he had under his command, but he had the advantage of having a detailed knowledge of the grounds. In the weeks before the Rising the 4th Battalion had carried out manoeuvres that covered the exact positions occupied in the South Dublin Union.69 Ceannt also reconnoitred the Union only days before his force occupied the position. He possessed drawings of the area and had pre-planned the defence.70

  The South Dublin Union was a small city within a city and therefore provided a battleground that was favourable to the Irish Volunteers. Fighting in a built-up area such as the Union favoured the defenders who were the weaker force. Therefore, the complex was suitable for defence even though it covered over fifty acres. It was protected on two sides by part of the Grand Canal that has since been filled in and now carries part of Dublin’s Luas or light rail network, and the complex was enclosed by a stone wall. It was well equipped with provisions and had its own bakery. The buildings offered cover and concealment to Ceannt’s small force and, as a military commander, he knew his enemy must attack through the labyrinth of streets and alleyways that offered his men unlimited opportunities of killing grounds. His men occupied excellent vantage points throughout the battle, defending and attacking within their designated defensive zone. Ceannt and Brugha clearly defined areas of responsibility to their men on Easter Monday and these positions were mutually supporting to the their main headquarters at the Nurses’ Home. Tunnelling through the buildings enabled a means of communication and escape to be established that resulted in a retreating force being able to regroup and fight again from a new strong-point. This form of action continued throughout the week.

  Tactically, the siting of the defended Volunteer positions in relation to British barracks and points of advance was excellent.71 The attacking force within this environment faced complications as they were entering a three-dimensional battle zone, where the buildings limited fields of view and fields of fire. Opportunities for concealment for the defending force were limitless even if they were inferior in number.72 Ceannt’s outposts were at Jameson’s Distillery in Marrowbone Lane, Watkins’ Brewery at Ardee Street and Roe’s Distillery in Mount Brown.

  Though the Volunteers were familiar with their area of operation, for a successful defence they would have needed a much larger force than was available on Monday 24 April, 1916. The military skill of the Irish Volunteers has often been overlooked in favour of their courage and sacrifice. Many Volunteers had been in training since the formation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and these dedicated young men and women were far superior s
oldiers to the raw recruits that arrived from England in the ranks of the 59th North Midland Division. The Volunteer officers, many of whom were ex-Fianna officers, were excellent marksmen, who had specialised training in the subject of street fighting in preparation for a rising in Dublin city. They were a dedicated force who believed in the cause of a republic. Volunteer Seamus Murphy recalls that in order to acquire rifles a scheme was introduced whereby each man contributed one shilling a week towards the purchase of a weapon. There was no difficulty in getting these subscriptions. The men gave up their little luxury of a pint or some other amenity in order to acquire arms.73 The standard of leadership was high and this is reflected in the way the Volunteers fought with discipline, courage and determination. Excellent leadership greatly contributed to the morale of the Volunteers.

  The ability of the Irish Volunteers to deceive the British into thinking that their force was numerous was perhaps the most important tactical plan contrived by Commandant Ceannt. Though the British had superior firepower, the Irish Volunteers utilised their limited resources to force the enemy to withdraw from battle on Monday and again on Thursday. The result of this tactic was that the South Dublin Union was not taken by force but was forced to surrender on orders from Patrick Pearse, the officer in command of the Irish Volunteers.

  Controversy surrounds the order that was issued to retreat from the Nurses’ Home, an order that left Brugha to defend the building on his own. Ceannt did not issue the order and though various people are named in witness statements, it still remains a mystery who ordered it.

  Officers and men from both sides found the battle for the South Dublin Union a difficult experience:

  I found a bullet in Dublin every bit as dangerous as a bullet in No-Man’s Land. In some ways the fighting in Dublin was worse. In France you generally had a fair idea where the enemy was and where the bullets were going to come from. In Dublin you never knew when or from where you were going to be hit.74