Monday’s varied rumours about the Rising
On Easter Monday evening I determined to write down all the reports that came to the Archbishop’s, although I knew the reports were bound to be inaccurate and even fantastic. We were in a favourable way of obtaining information. Our telephone was not cut off for a couple of days. Priests were ringing up, giving us news from the different localities. I wrote these reports down simply as they came. They are as follows:
Seizure of two loads of ammunition by the Volunteers from the North Wall. They did not seize it; they attacked it.
A few minutes past twelve, they entered the GPO, and seized the whole place, tearing up telegraph system.
Stephen’s Green seized and entrenched, and tram upset and barricade erected at the Shelbourne.
Jacobs seized by Volunteers. Five soldiers and a woman were killed there.
The City Hall was seized. If an attack was made on the Castle, it failed.
The Protestant Synod Hall was seized for a short time and a few windows broken by bullets.
South Dublin Union was seized but, as a small back door was left unguarded, the military got in and both sides entrenched on the grounds. I think that is true.
Three railway stations were seized, Westland Row, Harcourt Street and, perhaps, Broadstone.
The bridge over the railway on the North Circular Road was seized by the Volunteers.
The Mendicity Institute and the Four Courts were also seized.
It is said that 300 Volunteers entrenched at Finglas and that the 5th Lancers were sent out, but returned.
Church Street is barricaded.
Firing recommenced at halfpast five with the coming of some machine guns from the Bull at the Sloblands and Wharf A. Some Volunteers fired on them. It did not last long.
It also broke out on the Upper Quays, on the north side. Anywhere from O’Connell Street to Church Street, I suppose, would be the Upper Quay.
The Manure Works at the North Wall were seized by Volunteers.
Between 9 and 10, the City Hall was recaptured by the military after a big fight. Many Volunteers killed by Maxim guns. This would be nine or ten o’clock in the evening.
The Proclamation of the Irish Republic was put up in a few places. It shows that the outbreak does not include the MacNeill section. It is signed by Pearse, Tom Clarke, Connolly, Joe Plunkett (son of Count Plunkett) McDermott, McDonagh, Kent.
Portobello Bridge was captured, but retaken by the military. Many killed.
Bridge over the Midland Railway on the North Circular Road was blown up, and houses on the city side of it occupied by Volunteers.
James O’Connor interviews the Archbishop
For James O’Connor’s interview with the Archbishop on the evening of Easter Monday, see appendix to Monsignor Walsh’s Life of Archbishop Walsh.
The following verbatim transcript from my diary consists partly of my own observations and partly of information received by telephone during the day:
Easter Tuesday 25th April 1916
On Easter Tuesday morning sniping went on irregularly in all quarters, except Glasnevin and Drumcondra. It was most intense towards the Broadstone and in the direction of the GPO. Some machine guns were firing and a few explosions were heard.
At nine o’clock I went to the ProCathedral, from there to St Andrew’s, Westland Row, on to Dr Cox (Merrion Square) then to (visit John H. O’Donnell our respected solicitor who died three weeks later) Leeson Street, to St Vincent’s Hospital, and back to O’Connell Street. Lower O’Connell Street is largely looted, particularly from Lawrence’s (in Upper O’Connell Street) to the Liffey. The Volunteers occupy the Metropole hotel, the Hibernian bank (12, 13 Lower O’Connell Street – corner of Lower Abbey Street) and Kelly’s at O’Connell Bridge. The military occupy Trinity College. The side streets leading into O’Connell Street are barricaded against traffic. Two attempts to blow up Nelson’s Pillar failed. (This report was untrue. No such attempt was made.) Boland’s and Kennedy’s bakeries supply bread. The gas works are cut off, and James Street is cut off from the central city.
On the whole, everything is much quieter than one would expect. No military or police are to be seen. Sniping was going on between the military in the Shelbourne Hotel and the Volunteers in Stephen’s Green. We hear that serious encounters occurred at Beggars’ Bush yesterday and there was fighting on the North Wall. It was stated that Sir Roger Casement was shot yesterday in London and that there are German submarines in the Irish Sea. Guinness’s (sic) is also occupied by the Volunteers, and the machinegun mounted on it is firing on the Royal Barracks. The office of the ‘Evening Mail’ is also occupied with a machinegun (sic). A platoon of soldiers advancing up Dame Street was dispersed by this gun.
The Castle is surrounded by Volunteers who keep up continuous sniping from Pim’s, ‘The Mail’, etc. Several soldiers were killed and wounded by shots from Pim’s. It is said the Mendicity Institution is evacuated.
The only newspaper printed since yesterday appeared today at 11.30. It was a stoppress edition of the ‘Irish Times’ and contained no news of interest except a Government Proclamation notifying that stern measures would be taken to put down the insurrection in Dublin, and warning lawabiding citizens not to frequent the streets nor to assemble in crowds. As a result of my reports to His Grace on the recklessness of the people, especially of the women and children crowding the streets in dangerous places, His Grace adopted my suggestion that notice should be sent to the local parish priests and to the churches of religious, asking the Catholic people to observe this caution. With great difficulty, the notice was printed and circulated.
In making this suggestion to the Archbishop, I had also in mind the widespreading looting in and about O’Connell Street.
Dr Cox and Dr O’Brien called at 2.30 – (leaving at) 3.20. As the Archbishop was disappointed and discouraged by the failure of the medical treatment, he asked me to arrange with Dr Cox to invite Dr O’Carroll to be called in for consultation. Dr Cox fell in with this suggestion.
Dr Cox told me of his very unpleasant experience in crossing the city from Merrion Square to Drumcondra and the dangers attending it, although they were dressed, like all the doctors, in white overalls and had come by Butt Bridge and the quieter area of Gardiner Street. He seemed particularly apprehensive of Beresford Place and of danger from Liberty Hall. Although I told him that our information was that Liberty Hall was unoccupied, he still had such misgivings that I volunteered to accompany him on his return to secure greater safety. We took the Mountjoy Square–Gardiner Street route.
There seemed a perfect lull in the firing and we passed Beresford Place in complete quiet. But, as we had crossed the Quay to step on Butt Bridge pathway, three shots were fired, quite obviously at us, from above the portico of the Custom House. We had an alarmingly narrow escape. One bullet sang between me and a civilian, a yard or two behind me. This man had joined us in crossing the street, as he thought, for greater safety. He was quite definite that these shots from the Custom House were fired by the military. We waited a few minutes under shelter of the (great arcs of) metal work which then formed such a prominent feature of Butt Bridge. Dr Cox could not credit that the shots were fired by the military until a young man in Tara Street came across at a signal from Dr Cox, from whom he (Dr Cox) ascertained that it was perfectly true that the Custom House was occupied by the military. It turned out that this young man was a TCD student – known to Dr Cox – who was acting as intelligence officer for the British. This was at 4.45pm.
Later on, I heard of several such intelligence officers, all organised by the military in TCD. They included many of those who were members of the organisation nicknamed ‘Gorgeous Wrecks’.
I left Dr Cox and Dr O’Brien at Denzille Street where, at Browne and Nolan’s printing works, I had to see after the dispatch of the Archbishop’s circulars. I returned by Brunswick Street, O’Connell Bridge and Bachelor’s Walk. Owing to the intense sniping in O’Connel
l Street between the military in TCD and the Volunteers in O’Connell Street, I had to return by Bachelor’s Walk, Liffey Street and Dorset Street. There was continuous sniping, sometimes quite close at hand. Several injured people were removed in the city ambulance which seemed constantly employed.
O’Connell Street presented a ruined appearance. Its houses were looted and Lawrence’s was on fire. Volunteers occupied Kelly’s, the Hibernian bank and the Metropole Hotel.
The Volunteers attempted to blow up the NCR bridge over the MGR at Phibsborough but were driven into the city by shrapnel. The 5th Dublin Fusiliers from Tipperary occupied Phibsborough, the fork of the road at Glasnevin Orphanage and the top of Iona Road. At 5pm several machine guns and ambulances were assembled in Dorset Street and Mountjoy Street. It is said that some hundreds of Volunteers entrenched at Finglas retreated before the soldiers to Knocksedan. It was rumoured that a few Volunteers deserted during the day. On the other hand, some joined them. I saw four.
From 8.30pm to 10pm an utter stranger, armed with a revolver, stationed himself at the Archbishop’s House and made people keep on the other side of the road. He even stopped motor cars and cyclists. We failed to find out his identity. (He seemed to be protecting us.)
We were informed that the Volunteers held some of the ND Union building in North Brunswick St. for some time today, but left it for other houses in the street. There was some sniping. It was added that they took 4 soldiers prisoner, but released them later and also left the locality themselves. We also heard during the day that the Volunteers were driven out of Stephen’s Green by bombs and machineguns, fired by the military in the Shelbourne Hotel, and that they lost many killed. The survivors fled to and held, the College of Surgeons. They were also driven out of the ‘Mail’ office or, rather, all were killed.
Such were the reports we received on the telephone from priests in different districts. They were supplying the rumours current in their own districts.
My diary continues:
Wednesday, 26 April 1916
The Archbishop removed today to the drawingroom. The doctors were unable to come. This was his first day out of the bedroom since April 1st.
At 7.45am sniping and machineguns became active towards the lower Quays. At 8 the ‘Helga’, in front of the Custom House, battered at Liberty Hall for 12 minutes and fired some 6 shots at longer intervals. Everybody had withdrawn from Liberty Hall. Sniping was very general all day, the streets reverberating with sounds of shooting. A large number of civilians were killed and wounded last evening and during the night. There were 90 such cases in Jervis St. hospital alone.
Looting is spreading through Henry St. and Mary St. The fire in Lawrence’s is extending.
At 9 o’clock am I went to the ProCathedral. Dorset St. was occupied by military sentries. The streets were crowded, including O’Connell St., despite the danger. There were several deaths and many were wounded. There was sniping at the Mater Hospital corner of the NCR and soldiers, lying on the pavement outside Mountjoy Prison, were sniping at Volunteers in the houses. Some wounded were brought to the Mater Hospital. The Corporation ambulance is working under great difficulties and was fired upon, presumably unintentionally, by both sides. I came back with Mr Séamus Hughes (whom I met in that neighbourhood) and I met Mr Murphy.
The Volunteers are said to have been driven from the South D. Union yester day. The military occupy St Mary’s, Haddington Road, and are using the tower for military purposes. The Volunteers hold the Four Courts and they have strongly barricaded the Church St. area. They sell there their paper, ‘The War News’. (Our milkman met there young Dillon – aged about 14/15 – armed at a barricade.) From the houses on the opposite side of the Liffey at Winetavern Street, the Volunteers snipe the military on the upper side of the quays. The bridges and quays are most dangerous. The Volunteers are also sniping from the houses in Liffey St.
The soldiers guard the bridges over the MG Rly at Cabra Rd, and the NC Rd. About 1pm the soldiers were sniping at Broadstone Station. It is said 5,000 soldiers landed at Kingstown with a gun.
Fifteen soldiers were sniped at at Clanwilliam Place by Volunteers in Mount St. Fr John McMahon attended the wounded.
Jacobs is still held by the Volunteers. There is much firing at the North Wall.
Minnie and Phyllis Ryan call on Archbishop
At 2pm Minnie (Mrs Mulcahy) and Phyllis (Mrs Seán T.) Ryan called on me at Archbishop’s House to report that the military were firing on their Red Cross Post at Clery’s, and asked me whether the Archbishop could take steps to dissuade the military from doing so. Unfortunately I was unable to give them any hope as the military showed a strong disposition to ignore all requests from any quarter.
Many women like these two are working at First Aid for the Volunteers in the GPO, Stephen’s Green, etc. They also procure news and ammunition.
At 2.30 I went home (211 North Circular Road, between Grangegorman and Cattle Market) by Iona Road and Cabra Road, calling at the Vincentians in Phibsboro’. The district had an exciting time while the Volunteers were being dislodged from the NC Rd. bridge. The place was shaken by gunfire. (This same bridge was an example of the incompetence of the ‘explosives’ section of the Volunteers. I had seen them attempting to mine the bridge. Later on – next day? – I saw the results of their efforts, a mere hollow, no bigger than a bowl, in the middle of the road.)
My diary then reads: Incident of scout sent by bicycle to Cork on Easter Sunday. I can’t recollect the details of this incident. It must have been an account I received from somebody I met and doubtless refers to a courier conveying Volunteer messages from Dublin.
Seán O’Cuiv called. He had just returned from Cork. There is no disturbance in the South except a little in Tralee. In Cork city the Volunteers and military were about to fight when the Bishop and the Lord Mayor intervened and induced the Volunteers to obey John MacNeill’s orders.
Mr Hughes told me that the reason why Amiens St. Station was not seized was because that duty was left to the Ulster Volunteers. They arrived in mufti and were to have been armed on arrival. By some mischance, the arms were not at hand and nothing could be done.
Mr Grace, a DMP detective, said the Volunteers very nearly captured the Castle. The gates were actually open for them, on a policeman being shot.
Fearing a trap, the Volunteers did not enter. Had they done so, they would have captured everything, including Nathan and Campbell. They then seized the City Hall.
(Lieut.) Tom Kettle, MP, called on me twice today in reference to his brother, Larry (a National Volunteer).
Sniping from houses, especially from roofs, has become a regular feature.
All was quiet at 7pm. Notices were distributed ordering people off the streets at 8pm. The warning was not observed and the streets were crowded.
The fire at Lawrence’s (Upper O’Connell St.) is becoming dangerous, not only to the entire block but to the ProCathedral. The firebrigade was ordered by the military not to go out. Fr Bowden, Adm., and Fr John Flanagan telephoned to ask the Archbishop to procure the intervention of the Viceregal. The Archbishop permitted me to do so. After consultation with General Friend, the Viceregal agreed to do their best (to allow the brigade to save the ProCathedral). But nothing was done about the matter.
During the evening there was a big fight at Ballsbridge – perhaps an attack on the incoming troops from Kingstown. The Volunteers were defeated and 60 taken prisoner.
The Swords Volunteers have occupied the village. It is impossible to settle down to any mental work in this tense atmosphere.
Mr Séamus Hughes, whom I mentioned in my diary as having accompanied me on my way home from the Pro-Cathedral on Wednesday, the 26th April, was in the Volunteers. I wonder was he doing Intelligence work. He was afterwards secretary to Eoin MacNeill. He lived in the neighbourhood of Drumcondra.
Haddington Road Church is used by British Military
My diary referred to the occupation of Haddington
Road Church by the military. This incident was reported to me by Dr Donnelly, Archbishop of Canea, Assistant Bishop of Dublin and PP of St Mary’s. One of the priests there – Father McKee – was ill and he attended him. How much sniping the military did from the tower, I do not know. They certainly used it for observation purposes. The military had first entered on the excuse that there were Volunteers up in the tower and they insisted upon inspecting it. They were allowed up; and from that on, they used it for their own purposes. It may have been to prevent other people from using it; they pretended they were fired upon from it. They imagined astonishing things and saw strange visions those days. William M. Murphy, Chairman of the Dublin Tram Company in his address (6th February, 1917) on the year’s working, related how their traffic manager found the military at the Pro-Cathedral about to bombard their premises in O’Connell Street. They were convinced that snipers were firing on them from its windows. As the manager had only just left it, he was able to persuade the officer that there was not a word of truth in the report he had received.
The ‘young Dillon’ mentioned on the same date was a son of our local building contractor. He was an apprentice and had been on jobs about the Archbishop’s house a few times.
Father John McMahon, who attended the wounded at Clanwilliam Place on the same date, was a brother of Archdeacon McMahon. They were staunch followers of John Redmond and very unfriendly to the Volunteers. I also referred to a visit I received from Tom Kettle on the 26th April, 1916. He wished to enquire had we news about his brother. I think that was only an excuse. He was in a miserable way over the whole situation. I had two talks with him that week.
Thursday, 27th April, 1916
The following are my own observations and reports which I heard and were written by me in my diary for Thursday, the 27th April, 1916:
The night was comparatively quiet except for the usual sniping and some machine gun fire.
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