The Easter Rising 1916 - Molly's Diary (Hands-on History)

by Patricia Murphy

  I am glad for all the people who will benefit. Mr Mallin at Stephen’s Green had four children, Tom Clarke three children and James Connolly was also a father. I was told that his son Roddy had got out of the GPO but was arrested. He had been well instructed by his father to keep a low profile, gave his name as Carney and was released. I am glad for I’m sure his mother could not bear to lose her only son as well as her husband. Some day soon, I will visit Mona’s grave. And I am glad that all those other young children, who do not choose the colour of the flag their parents swear allegiance to, will have some help thanks to Jack.

  The people who I most admire through all this, the doctors and nurses and ordinary people, the Saint John’s Ambulance and First Aiders have been nominated for awards, including Dr Lumsden and Dr Ella Webb. The widow of Lieutenant Holden Stodart will get a pension.

  Miss Louisa Martin will I think get a military medal and I hope she gets to sing in the West End.

  My father wants to stay to rebuild the Post Office – so I think we will stay in Ireland. Though there is talk of us going to America.

  I will study hard now because I am more determined than ever to be a surgeon or the very least a doctor. For I have seen life and death but I want to make a difference.

  I am but a child but I have witnessed things a child should never see. I have seen people killed. I have seen brave men and women take up guns to fight for freedom. But I am not so sure if you can win real freedom down the barrel of a gun. And once you unleash violent rebellion, it is a mad dog that will not do your bidding.

  We are still burying the dead. The fatalities in the Rising on the rebel side – fifteen executed and sixty-four dead. Seven of these were young members of the Fianna. On the British side one hundred and thirty-two soldiers and police. There were well over a thousand injured. The greatest amount slain was two hundred and thirty innocent civilians. At least thirty-eight of them children. The words of Skeffy echo in my heart and I intend not to die for Ireland but to live for my country, whatever it is called. And I will try to live well for those I saw lose their lives.

  For this one thing I learned in this terrible week. You may swear allegiance to a flag of green or gold or march under a standard of red, white and blue. But the blood spilt on both sides is all the same colour red.

  And as for Jack? I got a postcard just this morning, a picture of a big top. The address is the winter quarters of Mr Barnum and Bailey’s circus in Florida. He did well to get to Cobh and was smuggled aboard Uncle Edward’s ship to America. Jack has joined the circus. No message, just the drawing of a little tin soldier – standing on his hands. Jack the Cat still has one life left. The most precious – his own.

  The End

  Author’s Note

  Fact and Fiction in Molly’s Diary

  There is probably no more documented week than Easter Week 1916 in the history of the world, never mind Irish history! Not only was it the foundation of the Irish State but also Dublin was teeming with writers, diarists and letter writers. Indeed, several of the leaders were themselves noted poets and writers. So while this is a work of fiction, there was a wealth of material to draw on.

  Molly, Jack, and their parents are an imaginary family grafted onto my own family history, but aspects of their situation were typical. Most families had someone on both sides of the struggle for independence, either working for the government or fighting in the First World War. Several participants in the Rising were themselves ex-soldiers or government employees. So conflict between family members was woven into the events.

  Nancy their char and her family are invented, though their circumstances are representative of the majority of slum dwellers in 1916. Dublin had the worst slums in Europe with a third of families living in one room.

  Many of the other major and minor characters are real. I have tried to follow documented accounts of the actions and speech of the principal players. But this is, after all, a work of fiction. I have depicted them through the eyes of a larky twelve-year-old and taken a few liberties. But where I have invented encounters and conversations, I have tried to make them plausible. There are sometimes inconsistencies in the records, but the mistakes are all my own!

  Children in the Rising

  Children played an astonishing role in the Rising. Hundreds roamed about Dublin, with nearly forty losing their lives. But also quite a few took part directly on the rebels’ side.

  Given the chaos of Easter Week, the central plot involving Molly and Jack is not entirely farfetched. Many eyewitnesses reported several young Fianna boys directly involved in the Rising, mainly as messengers, some as young as twelve, (Tommy Keenan in Stephen’s Green, an unknown fourteen-year-old boy in the GPO, several in Jacob’s Factory including a twelve-year-old who escorted prisoners). There are many accounts of daring young dispatch riders, and even of a teenage girl escaping from a locked bedroom to work as a courier (Mary McLoughlin, aged fifteen).

  There were also hordes of children out foraging for food – many sent out by their desperate mothers. By Wednesday there were severe food shortages in Dublin, with a danger of famine conditions in the north of the city.

  There are photographs of youngsters swarming over barricades for firewood and standing at barricades. It was often the children who got caught in the crossfire. Many children were also enthusiastic looters and it was noted at the time how many of the looted premises were sweet shops.

  Women, many of them still in their teens and early twenties, were also active and involved. There are stories of smuggling ammunition in a violin case and food supplies ferried for the rebels from one side of the city to the other. As late as Thursday, with fires raging in Sackville Street, Pearse sent a young woman out to give a message, and Tom Clarke dispatched Leslie Price from the GPO to fetch a priest from the pro-Cathedral. There is even an account of one Cumann na mBan member taking her seven-year-old niece as a decoy when transporting ammunition (Marie Perolz).

  Large amounts of funds were transported around the city, according to several testimonies. For example, one Cumann na mBan member tells of money intended for the Dependents Fund being hidden during a raid in a feather bolster. Kathleen Clarke did indeed set up the Women and Children’s Fund from such monies. She herself hid a substantial amount of money in the bra of an old lady who was a friend of hers, when British soldiers came to arrest her!

  Likewise, Jack’s physical prowess and derring-do on Dublin’s rooftops is not so unlikely as it might appear. The 1916 Rising was in James Connolly’s plan “a battle fought on the rooftops”. Snipers on both sides were posted all over the city. Many of the Irish volunteers and Citizen Army soldiers and messengers performed extraordinary feats. Jimmy Grace, for example, who escaped from the battle of Mount Street leaped out of the window and swam across the canal. The “Boy Commandant” Séan McLoughlin ran messages all week through enemy fire between the Four Courts and the GPO. There were even two cyclists the Walker brothers, who had represented Ireland in the Olympics working as dispatch riders. Seven young Fianna boys were killed during the week and many of the participants, such as Con Colbert and Sean Heuston, had started as Fianna Boy scouts.

  Even some of the minor details appear in the records, from de Valera’s red socks and sleeping in the Royal Carriage in Westland Row to the use of a cow’s thermometer and the British Tommies doing the washing-up in the GPO. While I invented some of the critical plot details of Tom Clarke’s shop, there is no doubt his tobacco shop was a “hotbed of revolution”.

  I have tried to accurately reflect events and stick to the documented chronology of the Rising. Occasionally I have compressed details, but only if they remained true to the general tenor of events.

  For more information log onto www.poolbeg.com

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mollys-Diary-The-1916-Rising/277254289106782

  Glossary of Main Groups in Ireland in 1916

  The Ulster Volunteers – a ninety-thousand-strong group of armed Ulstermen led by Edward Carson who sup
ported staying in the United Kingdom. The majority of them enlisted in the British Army.

  The National Volunteers – a large armed group that supported Home Rule for Ireland but who fought for Britain in World War I. They took part in the war against Germany in the hope that it would lead to Home Rule for Ireland.

  The Irish Volunteers – a group of fifteen thousand volunteers led by Eoin MacNeill who refused to fight for the British Army in World War I. The majority did not turn out for the Rising, following an order issued by Eoin McNeill.

  The Army of the Irish Republic – a breakaway force of the Irish Volunteers led by Pádraig Pearse, who were the main group in the 1916 Rising. One thousand three hundred of their members took part, joining forces with the tiny Irish Citizen Army.

  The Irish Citizen Army – a small armed force of trade-union volunteers set up to defend workers against the police during demonstrations. Led by James Connolly, they became committed to the idea of achieving an Irish Republic through armed insurrection. Two hundred and twenty of them, including twenty-eight women took part in the Rising.

  Cumann na mBan (League of Women) – a women’s military organization that supported the Irish Volunteers. Around seventy of them took part in the Rising, mostly as Red Cross workers, couriers and cooks.

  na Fianna Eireann – a group of military Boy Scouts led by Countess Markievicz. Several members took part in the Rising, mostly as couriers and dispatch riders. Six of their members were killed and two former members who had gone on to be leaders in the Irish Volunteers were executed.

  The Irish Republican Brotherhood (the I.R.B.) – a revolutionary secret organization known as the Fenian Movement founded in the 1850’s. They were committed to the use of force to establish an independent Irish republic and carried out bombings and assassinations with funding from their American wing, Clan na Gael. Thomas Clarke, who had spent fifteen years in British jails for bombing offences, was one of their leaders. He played a leading role in organizing the 1916 Rising. All seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic were members of the secret military council.

  Sinn Féin (“We Ourselves”) – a political party founded by Arthur Griffith. They were not involved in the Rising although large sections of the media, government and the public mistakenly called the Easter Rising the “Sinn Féin Rebellion” and the rebels “Shinners”. The party did subsequently become the rallying point for supporters of an independent Ireland.

  Main Historical Figures Featured in Molly’s Diary

  The Seven Signatories of the Proclamation

  Pádraig Pearse – a poet, teacher and barrister. Founder of Saint Enda’s Nationalist school. Leader of the Easter Rising who was executed for his role.

  James Connolly – Irish socialist, renowned Marxist, and trade-union leader who became committed to the Republican cause. He was born in Edinburgh and spoke with a Scottish accent. He was executed for leading the Irish Citizen Army in the 1916 Rising.

  Thomas Clarke – member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and one of the chief organisers of the Rising. He ran a tobacco shop in Dublin, after serving fifteen years in British jails for bombing offences.

  Sean Mac Diarmada – national organizer of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, he had been afflicted with polio and walked with a limp. He was executed for his part in the Rising.

  Joseph Mary Plunkett – the son of a papal count, and a poet, journalist and nationalist. Despite a lifetime’s ill health with tuberculosis, he joined the IRB and was one of the leaders of the Rising. He married his sweetheart Grace Gifford in prison, hours before his execution.

  Eamonn Ceannt – a master of the uileann pipes and founding member of the Irish Volunteers. He led fierce fighting at the South Dublin Union hospital and workhouse during Easter week and was executed in Kilmainham Jail.

  Thomas MacDonagh – a university lecturer, poet and Irish language enthusiast, he was a founder of the Irish Volunteers. He led the garrison at Jacob’s Biscuit factory and was executed with the other leaders.

  Other Prominent Figures Involved in the 1916 Rising

  Countess Constance Markievicz – born into the Anglo-Irish ascendency, Constance Gore-Booth married a Polish count. She became a socialist and nationalist and founded na Fianna Éireann boy scouts. Her sentence of execution was commuted because she was a woman. She supported the Republican side in the Irish Civil War in 1922.

  Michael Collins – took part in the fighting in the GPO and was subsequently imprisoned. He later emerged as the leader of the Irish guerilla forces in the War of Independence 1919-1921. He played a prominent role in the negotiation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 and was later killed in an ambush in 1922 by anti-treaty Republican soldiers.

  Eamonn De Valera – commander of the rebellion in Boland’s Bakery and Mill. His sentence of execution was commuted because he was an American citizen. He became a prominent leader during the War of Independence and the leader of the Republican anti-treaty side in the Civil War. He founded Fianna Fáil in 1926 and served numerous terms as Irish Taoiseach and President.

  Kathleen Clarke –the wife of revolutionary Thomas Clarke and founding member of Cumann na mBan, She set up the Irish National Aid Fund to provide financial assistance to the families of all the nationalists killed or imprisoned because of the Rising. She became Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1939.

  Professor Eoin Mac Neill – head of the Irish Volunteers. He did not support an armed Rising and cancelled the planned march that was supposed to lead to the insurrection. This led to widespread confusion.

  Michael Joseph O’Rahilly – known as “The O‘Rahilly” in the manner of ancient Irish clan leaders, he was initially involved in the cancellation of the Rising. Once he knew it was going ahead, he joined the rebels in the GPO and was shot dead in the retreat at Moore Street.

  Francis Sheehy Skeffington – ‘Skeffy” was a well-known pacifist, writer and supporter of women’s rights, married to Republican Hannah Sheehy. He was opposed to the Rising and tried to organize a citizen’s militia to control the looting that took place during Easter Week. His murder by an unstable British Officer caused an international outcry.

  Dr Ella Webb – was a pioneering Irish doctor and Lady Superintentent of The Saint John’s Ambulance Brigade. She won an MBE for her bravery in attending the wounded and setting up a field hospital in the 1916 Rising. She was the first woman MD on the staff of the Adelaide Hospital, a founder of St Ultan’s Children’s Hospital and of Sunshine House for Sick Children.

  Sources

  Primary Sources

  Primary sources provide first-hand accounts or direct evidence concerning the topic under investigation. Witnesses create them who experienced the events being documented or who consulted those who took part. Often these sources are created at the time when the events or conditions are occurring, such as newspaper accounts or letters. But primary sources can also include autobiographies, memoirs, and oral histories recorded later, such as radio or television programmes.

  Diaries – give valuable first-hand accounts of the times with vivid descriptions and eyewitness accounts of people who were there.

  Those consulted include:

  James Stephens – a writer and journalist who witnessed the whole rising

  http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12871/12871-h/12871-h.htm

  Lily Stokes – a young woman caught up in the Rising

  http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/IRELAND/2001-07/0995840602

  Cesca’s Diary 1913 - 1916: Where Art and Nationalism Meet by Hilary Pyle, Woodfield Press

  Mrs. Hamilton Norway – the wife of the head of the Post Office. Hamilton Norway kept a diary during the Rising

  https://archive.org/stream/sinnfeinrebellio00norwrich#page/22/mode/2up

  There are several books that include vivid and wonderful testimony from contemporary eyewitnesses.

  1916 – What the People Saw by Mick O’Farrell

  (Mercier Press)

  Rebels – Voices from th
e Easter Rising by Fearghal McGarry (Penguin)

  The Bureau of Military History

  http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/