Uncommon Valour (2 page)

A full and detailed account of the defence and the attack on the South Dublin Union has never been penned and it is in memory of the men on both sides who fought, lived and died in Dublin city during Easter week 1916 that this book has been written.

Chapter 1

Easter Monday, 24 April 1916
Morning

On the morning of Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, at 11 a.m., members of the 4th Battalion of the Irish Volunteers mobilised at Emerald Square, Dolphin's Barn, in Dublin city. A number of Volunteers who had assembled at Larkfield in Kimmage earlier that morning, marched to the square, arriving at 11 a.m., but even so the battalion was seriously under strength. This was due to an order issued by Eoin MacNeill and published on Sunday 23 April countermanding a previous order for all Volunteer groups to assemble that day. MacNeill's order read:

Owing to the critical position, all orders given to the Irish Volunteers for tomorrow, Easter Sunday, are hereby rescinded and no parades, marches or other movements of the Irish Volunteers will take place. Each individual Volunteer will obey this order strictly in every particular.
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MacNeill, Chief-of-Staff of the Irish Volunteer Force, withdrew his support for the Rising having heard that Roger Casement had been arrested and that the
Aud,
a German ship laden with arms and ammunition for the Volunteers, had been intercepted by the Royal Navy. The Rising originally planned for Easter Sunday now looked to be in jeopardy, hence MacNeill's actions, but the military council of the IRB decided to go ahead on Easter Monday instead. As a result of MacNeill's countermanding order, the number of Volunteers who eventually did mobilise around the country was much smaller than if it had taken place as planned on Easter Sunday. Only 120 Volunteers mobilised out of the 4th Battalion's full strength of 700.

Éamonn Ceannt, the officer in command of the 4th Battalion, was thirty-five years old. A member of the Provisional Government and a signatory of the Proclamation, he was employed by Dublin Corporation and married with a young son. A fluent Irish speaker and an accomplished uilleann piper, he held the rank of commandant in the Irish Volunteers. Ceannt was a thoroughly efficient officer, respected by his men for his leadership and military expertise.

At 11.35 a.m. the battalion moved out in two parties. The plan was to occupy the South Dublin Union workhouse as battalion headquarters, along with three strategically located outposts: Roe's Distillery in Mount Brown, Watkins' Brewery at Ardee Street and Jameson's Distillery at Marrowbone Lane. Ceannt led the first group, which consisted of a dozen cyclists and a few Volunteers on foot, along the banks of the Grand Canal towards the Rialto entrance at the rear of the South Dublin Union. The Volunteers, many of them in uniform, were armed with a variety of weapons including Mauser rifles from the Howth landing, British-issue short magazine Lee-Enfield rifles, shotguns, revolvers and automatic pistols.

Lieutenant William Thomas Cosgrave led the second group. In order to avoid detection by the authorities, this main group of Volunteers was led through a warren of side streets until they reached the front gates of the South Dublin Union. Lieutenant Cosgrave was thirty-six years old, a Dublin city councillor and a local man. Accompanying him was forty-two-year-old Vice-Commandment Cathal Brugha. Born Charles Burgess at Richmond Avenue, Dublin, on 18 July 1874, Brugha was educated at the Colmcille Schools in Dublin and later Belvedere College. Invigorated by the Gaelic renaissance of the early twentieth century, Brugha began to look at the nation's heroic past. Immersing himself in Irish culture, he became a fluent Gaelic speaker. A man of great vigour he was driven by a relentless determination and his position as vice-commandant of the 4th Battalion would be crucial in the coming days. He was known as a patriot and soldier dedicated to the cause of Irish independence.

As this second group marched to its destination, small parties detached from the main column and took up their posts along the route. Each outpost consisted of an officer and about twenty Volunteers: Captain Con Colbert was detailed to Watkins' Brewery in Ardee Street, Captain Seamus Murphy took up position at Jameson's Distillery in Marrowbone Lane and Captain Thomas McCarthy occupied Roe's Distillery in Mount Brown. These positions were chosen with the aim of preventing British troops from entering the city from the southwest. It was planned that military movements could be checked and halted along the quays of the River Liffey, at Kingsbridge Railway Station (now Heuston Station), and at the headquarters of the British commander-in-chief in Ireland, the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. Ceannt knew that British reinforcements would be dispatched from Richmond barracks, Islandbridge barracks and the Royal barracks. Others would come from Britain's largest camp, the Curragh, via train from County Kildare. The South Dublin Union and its outposts were a major defensive position in the south-west of the city.

Ceannt entered the Union through a small door at Brookfield Road, Rialto. The only resistance he met was that of the gatekeeper who was pushed aside and relieved of his keys. The phone lines were cut and nine Volunteers under the command of Captain George Irvine were deployed to secure the Rialto entrance. These Volunteers occupied a corrugated iron structure (Auxiliary Workhouse) that faced the large gate (3). This building was used to house the male mental patients of the Union. It was 300 feet long, twenty-six feet wide and divided into six dormitories by wooden partitions that were connected by narrow corridors. The Volunteers entered the structure through the porch entrance facing the Catholic church. The ward-master and patients were directed to a place of safety at the rear of the sixth dormitory. Permission was granted to staff who wanted to leave the area. Captain Irvine instructed his men to fortify their position, which they proceeded to do, using mattresses, chairs, tables and bed ends to reinforce the walls of the corrugated building. One Volunteer proceeded to dig a slit trench in front of the gate.

Arriving late, Volunteer James Burke and brothers James and Paddy Morrissey found the Rialto gate already barricaded, so they scrambled over the wall and reported to Captain Irvine. They assisted in barricading the windows that faced the wall over which they had climbed. Having prepared their position they took up their posts facing Mountshannon Road, vigilant and ready for the impending attack.

After leaving Captain Irvine, Ceannt proceeded half a mile through the grounds to the front gate of the Union. Here he joined with the main force led by Cathal Brugha that had entered through the main gate at James's Street.

The Volunteers quickly occupied the offices above the arched gateway that fronted onto James's Street (14). Within this block of buildings was the South Dublin Rural District Council office with the boardroom above. The building also contained administration offices and wards. At the end of this block was the paint shop and adjacent to this was the Nurses' Home (10). Volunteers, including James Foran, began barricading the windows with leather-bound ledgers. In order to allow them to traverse the building without leaving cover, they began tunnelling through the adjoining internal walls that were eighteen inches thick. Each building was to become an impregnable fortress.

Shortly afterwards the main gate was opened to allow a horse and cart to enter. Having spoken with Ceannt, the driver removed the horse's harness and departed. The gate was then locked and barricaded. The dray was laden with homemade hand grenades, supplies of barbed wire, shovels, picks and other equipment, and was quickly unloaded. It was then overturned and used as a barricade in front of the church that was opposite the main gate. Boxes and bags were filled with clay from the garden borders to make improvised sandbag defences that reinforced the position.

Dr McNamara, the resident medical practitioner, approached the Volunteers to protest about their actions. Having received no satisfaction from them, he then entered an office building and picked up the telephone receiver in order to alert the authorities to their actions. Volunteer James Coughlan confronted the doctor and ordered him to put down the telephone. He refused and Coughlan then prodded him with the bayonet on his rifle. McNamara turned to Coughlan and threatened: ‘I'll get your name and give it to the …' He left the sentence unfinished as other Volunteers arrived in the office and began to dismantle the phone while Coughlan kept him under guard.
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A series of garden huts located within the compound near the main gate had been earmarked to be Ceannt's command post. However, it soon became evident that the small force of Volunteers available would be unable to defend the entire entrance area from this position. Lieutenant Cosgrave noted that the Nurses' Home (10) would be a suitable alternative defensive position. Situated at a right angle to James's Street, this granite, three-storey structure had a dominating view of James's Street and the Union's entrance courtyard. From the rear of the building one could look out across the entire Union complex. The officers decided that this position would make a better battalion headquarters and it was soon occupied – windows were smashed and barricades were erected. Brugha detailed a number of men to take up positions at the windows that looked out across McCaffrey's Estate at the rear and beyond to the Rialto gate. At the front of the building other Volunteers looked out onto the main entrance courtyard and stood ready.
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Within the Union, officials and hospital staff remained at their posts and nurses removed the patients to safer quarters. Red Cross flags were draped from the windows of the buildings that still held staff and patients. Throughout the week the work of the institution continued, despite the chaos.

In order to prevent his position within the South Dublin Union from being outflanked, Ceannt ordered two parties of Volunteers to occupy sections of McCaffrey's Estate, a large green area of eight to ten acres within the Union grounds. Lieutenant William O'Brien, Section Commander John Joyce and three other Volunteers took up an advance position at the junction of Mount Brown and Brookfield Road (4). McCaffrey's Estate was a series of irregular elevations that tapered steeply down to Mount Brown. The Volunteers' post dominated the road leading from Old Kilmainham to James's Street and they concealed themselves behind a low wall. Another officer and eight Volunteers took up position behind a hedgerow at the upper end of the field, nearer the rear wall of the Nurses' Home.

Ceannt also sent one officer and five men to defend the canal wall at the rear of the Union. High walls made the east, or city side, of the Union immune to attack, and because of this Ceannt decided not to post Volunteers on this side of the complex.

About 250 yards from the Rialto entrance was Hospital 2–3 (5), a building that was occupied by eight Volunteers, two on the ground floor and six on the upper floor. Volunteers Dan McCarthy and Jim Kenny took up positions on the ground floor at the front. They had been told not to worry about the rear of the building, as the Volunteers in the Marrowbone Lane Distillery would have this covered. Captain Douglas fFrench Mullen began organising the rest of the group on the second floor. McCarthy later recalled an amusing incident in which Captain fFrench Mullen asked, ‘Where are the trenching tools?' A little shovel was produced. When fFrench Mullen saw it he said, ‘It doesn't matter.' He knew they would not be able to break through the eighteen-inch thick walls with such an implement.
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When Volunteer Peadar Doyle entered the convent building (8), a surprised nun enquired if he had come to read the gas meters. He politely replied, ‘No, sister, but we are in a hurry.'
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As Ceannt organised his defences he could hear the sound of military music reverberating through the air from Richmond barracks in Inchicore. ‘They don't know yet,' remarked Ceannt. Suddenly the music stopped, as the barracks was notified of the Rising. The men in the South Dublin Union braced themselves for an imminent attack.

Chapter 2

Easter Monday, 24 April 1916
Noon

At noon on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, the British detachment at Richmond barracks in Inchicore received an urgent communiqué from garrison headquarters at Dublin Castle. It ordered all troops in barracks to proceed to the Castle fully armed. The 3rd Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment was stationed at Richmond barracks under the command of Lieutenant Colonel R.L. Owens. At this time the regiment consisted of eighteen officers and 385 other ranks. This reserve battalion was used to supply reinforcements to the battalions on active service and consisted of men drawn from newly trained recruits, as well as officers and men returning from sick leave. As the regiment was being mustered, a picket of 100 men who were kept in constant readiness, prepared to leave the barracks. Troops made ready and were issued with a supply of ammunition. A telephone message was received informing the regiment that ‘Sinn Féiners' had occupied the General Post Office in Sackville Street. Major Holmes, the officer in command of the picket, was ordered to proceed towards the Castle with caution.
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At approximately 12.40 a.m., Major Holmes halted his column at the Kilmainham crossroads. In the distance he could clearly see a group of Irish Volunteers leaning over the wall of McCaffrey's Estate at the junction of Mount Brown and Brookfield Road (4). His advance guard, consisting of one sergeant and five soldiers who were 150 yards ahead of the column, was allowed to pass the Volunteer's position unchallenged and continue onwards to the city.

Major Holmes then ordered Lieutenant George Malone with a company of twenty men to follow the route of the advance guard and proceed towards Dublin Castle. Their rifles were unloaded as this was the proper procedure when operating in the city. They marched off in columns of four down the middle of the road. Some of the soldiers were recent recruits from County Tipperary, while others were veterans, having already seen action on the Western Front. Lieutenant Malone ordered his men to load their weapons. Clips were inserted into their rifles and slapped in tight with the palms of their hands. They then pulled back the bolt to slide a round into the chamber and checked the safety catch. When they were within five yards of the junction, a volley of shots rang out from the Volunteers' position. Three of Lieutenant Malone's men collapsed as they were hit. Some of the soldiers stood their ground and attempted to return fire, while others made for cover.