Uncommon Valour (12 page)

EPILOGUE

All wars end; even this war will some day end, and the ruins will be rebuilt and the field full of death will grow food, and all this frontier of trouble will be forgotten. When the trenches are filled in, and the plough has gone over them, the ground will not long keep the look of war.
⁷⁶

Today, as the Luas light rail trundles through the grounds of the South Dublin Union, many passengers are unaware of the battles of 1916 that took place in this busy hospital complex. The memorial in the grounds of St James's Hospital to the Easter Rising is positioned in a prominent place close to the entrance, yet many people walk by unaware of the sacrifices that were made to ensure the freedom that we all enjoy today.

However, if one looks closely, there are many other memorials in the grounds in memory of these men. Many of the original buildings are hidden away amongst the urban development that accompanies any modern hospital, but they are still there, a testament to those who fought and died that Easter Week and also a testament to those who have preserved and conserved part of our historical heritage. In recent years, the development of Dublin city has threatened our connection to the past. High-rise structures dominate the city's skyline, casting a shadow across many historical buildings. The more famous of these buildings have been placed on the record of protected structures, brought about through a lengthy campaign by historians, conservationists and the public. Those involved should be commended for their actions, a struggle that almost mirrors our historic past.

On 14 December 1950, the Dáil debated the scheme for the rehabilitation and extension of St Kevin's Hospital. Dr C. Lehane asked for the removal of the unsightly walls surrounding the former South Dublin Union ‘so that this anachronistic symbol of alien government may be abolished and the atmosphere which it creates dissipated'. Dr Noel Browne replied that a number of old stores and buildings had already been demolished and the demolition of the boundary walls was being considered. It was also suggested that the frontage of the hospital onto James's Street should be radically altered and a more attractive entrance constructed. New buildings for a new Ireland. In the years that followed, much of this work was carried out, but between the modern façades there remain to this day many links to our historical past. Conservation and preservation of these buildings is a fitting memorial to those on both sides who gave their lives in the battle for the South Dublin Union in 1916. The battle to protect and preserve the buildings within the Union still continues.

The names of those Irish Volunteers who were killed in action in the battle for the South Dublin Union are remembered in the street names of the nearby Corporation housing development that was constructed on McCaffrey's Estate, now known as Ceannt's Fort. This housing development was championed by W.T. Cosgrave in 1917 and is a fitting tribute to those who gave their lives in the cause for Irish independence.

The British soldiers who were killed in action are remembered in the Great War memorials that may be found hidden in churches and public buildings throughout Dublin city. Their names once forgotten, they are only now being recognised by a new generation as attitudes and opinions change and our involvement in the Great War is at last being acknowledged.

Those who survived the events of 1916, the Irish War of Independence and the tragedy of the Civil War, had an obligation to build again; not only to reconstruct a shattered country, but to build bridges amongst old adversaries, to teach others what they knew and to try, with what was left of their lives, to find and pass on to a new generation a goodness and meaning to this life. Today, we should try to continue this legacy.

Endnotes

1 Coakley, Professor D.,
History of St James's Hospital
(
www.stjames.ie/aboutthehospital/history
)

2 Rees, R.,
Ireland 1905-25: Vol. 1. Text & Historiography
(Colourprint Books, Newtownards, 1998)

3 MacNeill, E.,
Dublin Sunday Independent
(23 April 1916)

4 Coughlan, J., Witness Statement W.S. 304 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

5 Cosgrave, W.T., Witness Statement File No. S.541, W.S 268 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

6 McCarthy, D., Witness Statement W.S. 1756 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

7 Doyle, P.,
Reminiscences of Five Years Service of an Irish
Volunteer
(Allen Library, Dublin)

8 Geoghegan, S.,
The Campaigns & History of the Royal Irish
Regiment, Vol. II
(William Blackwood & Sons, London, 1927)

9 Caulfield, M.,
The Easter Rebellion
(Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1995)

10 Burke, J., Witness Statement W.S. 1758 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

11 Holland, R., Witness Statement, W.S. 280 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

12 Kenny J., Witness Statement W.S. 174 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin) History 1913–

13
Ibid
.

14 McCarthy, D., Witness Statement W.S. 1756 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

15 Volunteer, A,
The Capuchin Annual
(1966)

16 Joyce, J.V.,
An t-Óglach, Conquering Blood
(12 June 1926)

17
Ibid
.

18 Coughlan, J., Witness Statement W.S. 304 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921 Dublin)

19 Murphy, W., Witness Statement W.S. 352 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

20 Caulfield, M.,
The Easter Rebellion
(Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1995)

21 Geoghegan, S.,
The Campaigns & History of the Royal Irish
Regiment, Vol. II
(William Blackwood & Sons, London, 1927)

22 Bradbridge, E.U.,
59th Division 1915–1918
(Wilfred Edmunds, Chesterfield, 1928)

23 Coughlan, J., Witness Statement W.S. 304 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

24 Cosgrave, W.T., Witness Statement File No. S.541, W.S. 268 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

25 Murphy, W., Witness Statement W.S. 352 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

26 Mannion, A., Witness Statement W.S. 297 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

27 Geoghegan, S.,
The Campaigns & History of the Royal Irish
Regiment, Vol. II
(William Blackwood & Sons, London, 1927)

28 Ó Flaithbheartaigh, L., Witness Statement W.S. 248 (Bureau of Military History 1913-1921, Dublin)

29 Holland, R., Witness Statement W.S. 280 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

30 Oates, W.C.,
The 2/8th Battalion,
The Sherwood Foresters in the Great War series (J&H Bell Ltd, Nottingham, 1921)

31 Vane, Sir F.,
Agin the Government. Memories & Adventures
of Sir Francis Fletcher Vane
(Br Sampson Low & Marston, London, 1929)

32 Oates, W.C.,
The 2/8th Battalion,
The Sherwood Foresters in the Great War series (J&H Bell Ltd, Nottingham 1921)

33 Vane, Sir F., Letters to his Wife, April & May 1916. (Cumbria Record Office, The Castle, Carlisle)

34 Kenny J., Witness Statement W.S. 174 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

35 Coughlan, J., Witness Statement W.S. 304 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

36 Coakley, D.,
Borderlands
(Elo Press Ltd, Dublin, 2002)

37 Joyce, J.V.,
An t-Óglach, Conquering Blood
(12 June 1926)

38 Caulfield, M.,
The Easter Rebellion
(Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1995)

39 Foran, J., Witness Statement W.S. 243 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

40 Oates, W.C.,
The 2/8th Battalion,
The Sherwood Foresters in the Great War series (J&H Bell Ltd, Nottingham, 1921)

41 Gibbon, M.,
Inglorious Soldier. An Autobiography,
(Hutchinson, London, 1968)

42 Smyth, P., Witness Statement W.S. 305 ( Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

43 McCarthy, D., Witness Statement W.S. 1756 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

44
Ibid
.

45 Holland, R., Witness Statement W.S. 280 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

46 Lowe, Brig. Gen. W.H.M., Reply to Pearse's letter of surrender (National Museum of Ireland, 1916)

47 Smyth, P., Witness Statement W.S. 305 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

48 Mac Lochlainn P.F.,
Last Words
(Duchas, Dublin, 1990)

49 Burke, J., Witness Statement W.S. 1758 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

50 Vane, Sir F., Letters to his Wife April & May 1916. (Cumbria Record Office, The Castle, Carlisle)

51 PRO WO71/348

52
Ibid
.

53
Ibid
.

54 Mac Lochlainn P.F.,
Last Words
(Duchas, Dublin, 1990)

55
Ibid
.

56 Bradbridge, E.U.,
59th Division 1915-1918
(Wilfred Edmunds, Chesterfield, 1928)

57 PRO WO71/348

58 PRO WO35/67/2

59 Maxwell, General Sir J.G., Memorandum, 11 May 1916, (Asquith Papers, MS43/26-33)

60 Kiberd, D.,
1916 Rebellion Handbook
(The Mourne River Press, Dublin, 1998)

61 GDB/C004.03/0011 Guinness Archive, Diego Ireland

62 Kiberd, D.,
1916 Rebellion Handbook
(The Mourne River Press, Dublin, 1998)

63 Tailyour H.W.,
The Irish Times,
16 June 1916

64 Maxwell, Sir J.G., Dispatch to War Office 21 July 1916

65 Maxwell, Sir J.G., General order issued to troops, 1 May 1916

66 Doyle, P.,
Reminiscences of Five Years Service of an Irish
Volunteer
(Allen Library, Dublin)

67 Vane, Sir F.,
Agin the Government. Memories & Adventures
of Sir Francis Fletcher Vane
(Br Sampson Low & Marston, London, 1929)

68 Nathan, Sir M., Royal Commission of Inquiry (London, 18 May)

69 Burke, J., Witness Statement W.S. 1758 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

70 Mannion, A., Witness Statement, W.S. 297 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

71 Hally, Col. P.J., ‘The Easter 1916 Rising in Dublin: The Military Aspects',
The Irish Sword
(Dublin, 1966)

72 Holmes, R.,
The Oxford Companion to Military History
(Oxford University press, Oxford, 2001)

73 Murphy, S., Witness Statement W.S. 1756 (Bureau of Military History 1913–1921, Dublin)

74 Martyn, Capt. M., Interview in M. Caulfield,
The Easter
Rebellion
(Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 1995)

75 Holmes, R.,
The Oxford Companion to Military History,
(Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001)

76 Masefield, J.,
The Old Front Line
(Pen & Sword Books Ltd, Barnsley, 2003)

Commandant Éamonn Ceannt

Vice-Commandant Cathal Brugha (Kilmainham Gaol Archives)

Lieutenant William Cosgrave (Kilmainham Gaol Archives)