Courtney McGrailThe Dublin diocesan archives offer a fascinating insight into the Easter Rising, writes Noelle Dowling
Noelle Dowling
Msgr Michael Curran, secretary to Dublin’s Archbishop William Walsh, notes in several places that the archbishop’s health began to fail in spring of 1916 and this left him incapacitate for long periods of time.
On Easter Sunday, April 24 Eoin MacNeill’s order countermanding the Easter mobilisation appeared prominently in the Sunday Independent. Msgr Curran informed the archbishop of the news and then proceeded to take copies of McNeill’s order and deliver them to priests in the areas where a mobilisation was meant to take place.
At around noon, on Easter Monday, Msgr Curran received a call from Seán T. O’Kelly asking to meet him in Rutland Square. Shortly after Count George Plunkett, father of Joseph Mary Plunkett, arrived to see the archbishop. He asked the monsignor to inform the archbishop that the Rising was about to take place. It was during this conversation that Msgr Curran received a phone call from Mr Stokes, a jeweller who rang to say the GPO had been seized by the Irish Volunteers.
Msgr Curran cycled into town and saw many Volunteers on the way in wearing their uniforms. The first person Msgr Curran saw in the GPO was James Connolly. He was wearing a uniform and had a Colt revolver and was shouting orders. Volunteers were breaking window panes. When Connolly saw Msgr Curran he told him all priests were free to pass.
Confession
Msgr Curran asked one of the Volunteers where Patrick Pearse was as he was well known to him. He described Pearse as “flushed but calm and authoritative”. He told him he had come down after seeing the archbishop and wondered if there was anything that he could do, but Pearse simply said “no, we are going to see it out”. Pearse said that some of the Volunteers may like to go to Confession and Msgr Curran arranged this with Fr O’Reilly and Fr Flanagan of the pro-cathedral.
He stayed in O’Connell Street until about 15.30 when a squadron of about 100 Lancers appeared from the Rotunda. Riding up Upper O’Connell Street in single file, the first one who passed the pillar was shot in the throat. A few minutes later several people ran over to Msgr Curran saying one of the soldiers was a Catholic and asked him to attend him. A miraculous medal hung around his neck, but at that time many English Protestant soldiers simply wore them as charms.
By 2pm the crowds had greatly increased. Looting had already started. The first victim was Noblett’s sweetshop. At first all the ringleaders were women then the boys started. Once the military left looting became more systematic.
A number of soldiers had taken up positions at various points along O’Connell Street. From time to time they sniped at Henry Street and the GPO area. Shots were returned from the Volunteers. The crowds continued to grow.
Msgr Curran returned to Archbishop’s House and spoke to the archbishop about the recklessness of the people and told him that the women and children were the worst. He urged the archbishop to write a letter telling people to be sensible and stay away.
Everything seemed quiet from 10pm Easter Monday night until about 1am when firing recommenced towards Cabra and Glasnevin.
The telephone in Archbishop’s House was not cut off for several days so priests were able to ring up and give news from the various different localities. Some of the news received via telephone mentioned:
- St Stephen’s Green seized;
- Jacob’s factory seized (five Volunteers and a woman killed there);
- City Hall seized;
- South Dublin Union seized but as a small back door was left unguarded, the military got in and both sides entrenched on the grounds;
- The Mendicity Institute and Four Courts seized;
- Church Street barricaded;
At 9am on Easter Tuesday (April 25) Msgr Curran went to St Andrew’s, Westland Row and then back to O’Connell Street. The whole street was completely looted. The Volunteers now occupied many buildings. The military occupied Trinity College. The side streets leading to O’Connell Street were barricaded. Boland’s and Kennedy’s bakeries were still supplying bread.
The only newspaper printed arrived at 11.30am. It was a stop-press edition of The Irish Times saying stern measures would be taken to put down the insurrection and warning people not to frequent the streets nor assemble in crowds. The archbishop also wrote a circular to be placed in all churches and this notice was to be read at all Masses and at Devotions.
More information came via telephone:
- Volunteers who had been in the North Dublin Union had left;
- Volunteers had been driven out of St Stephen’s Green by bombs and many lost their lives. The survivors ran to the College of Surgeons.
On Wednesday, April 26 the archbishop was able to leave his bedroom and go as far as the drawing room for the first time since April 1. At 7.45am sniping and machine guns started on the quays. At 8am, the Helga, which was in front of the Customs House, battered at Liberty Hall for 12 minutes. There was lots of sniping all day and a large number of civilians were killed and wounded. There were 90 such cases in Jervis Street Hospital alone. Looting had started in Henry Street and Mary Street.
At 9am Msgr Curran went to the pro-cathedral, the streets were still crowded and Dorset Street was now occupied by military sentries.
The Volunteers still held the Four Courts and the area around Church Street.
On Thursday, April 27 at 8.30am, Msgr Curran again went to the pro-cathedral. A proclamation had been issued ordering people off the streets between the hours of 7.30pm and 5am. There were very few on O’Connell Street and there was continuous sniping all along it. Several looters, mainly women and children had been killed.
From 11am, fierce rifle fire took place in Drumcondra. The priests in Archbishop’s House counted several bullets singing by the gate lodge and the house. Later one struck the house, more and more bullets flew outside piercing the east window of the billiard room and deflected sharply to the left against an open bookcase, smashing the woodwork.
After this Msgr Curran arranged for the archbishop to sleep on the north-side of the house and barricaded the windows with mattresses. Shots were fired later that night along Drumcondra Road from Tolka Bridge towards the canal. The priest secretaries in the house set up quarters on the lower ground floor corridor.
After 4pm, machine gun fire was fierce for a prolonged period. Just after 5pm, shelling of houses along O’Connell Street commenced. The military set fire to some buildings to burn out the Volunteers. The whole area seemed to be on fire. Even though martial law had been declared many people crowded the street after 7.30pm. The military had to drive them indoors by discharging rifle fire over their heads.
Later that evening, Msgr Curran contacted the office of the Lord Lieutenant and requested that priests be placed on the same footing as medical practitioners who were allowed out during curfew. Permission never came.
By Friday morning, the fires still raged in O’Connell Street and Clery’s was now affected. Many more people had taken refuge in the pro-cathedral. Whole areas were without food – milk, butter, bread and meat. Only for flour, most people would have been very badly off.
By Saturday the scarcity of food had become a pressing problem. At 11am, Major Price rang Archbishop’s House to say the government was to issue a proclamation – offering terms of surrender to the Volunteers and asked if one of the clergy could convey this to them. The archbishop told him it was not necessary to ask as he knew they would do it if asked by the military.
At 4pm Msgr Curran was in his study when the phone rang. A girl told him that the Sinn Feiners had surrendered. Msgr Curran told the archbishop and then he headed for the pro-cathedral. He went via Mountjoy Square and North Great George’s Street where there was an atmosphere of expectancy.
At the pro-cathedral he found Fr Bowden looking for food and bedding for those taking refuge there. Msgr Curran told him the archbishop had instructed that there was no obligation to hear Mass on the Sunday and no bells were to be rung.
Msgr Curran left by Cathedral Street where a dead civilian lay in a doorway. He came out onto O’Connell Street. There was not a soul on the street. The GPO was a shell and lower O’Connell Street was a smoking ruin. Clery’s was burnt out and the smell of burning material was everywhere. He started to head towards Henry Street and every footstep crunched on glass. He saw that Henry Street was blocked and started heading up towards the Rotunda.
A group of military stood by the Parnell monument led by Colonel Portal and Msgr Curran explained he wanted to get to Jervis Street Hospital. The colonel told him of the surrender, signed by Pearse, and asked that it be made known. He didn’t have a spare copy to give him as he had only six left. He told the monsignor he would need a pass and he made one out for him. As he passed by every street and alley, military were seen behind sandbags with rifles aimed at Moore Street and Henry Street. Disarmament had not yet taken place. When he arrived at the hospital he met three of the priests from the pro-cathedral who advised him not to go back to Drumcondra.
Civilians
By Tuesday, May 2 all telephone communications to Archbishop’s House had been cut off. People were still moving about and the military were now turning their attention to the civilians and had started the arrests. Msgr Curran learned that Seán T. O’Kelly had been arrested. At 5pm, Fr Aloysius, the Capuchin, came to give information on the last stages of the fighting at the Four Courts, Jacobs and the South Dublin Union. He told the archbishop that General Maxwell was anxious to see him. The archbishop asked Msgr Curran to arrange an interview which took place the next day.
On May 3, Fr Edward Morrissey, chaplain to Kilmainham prison was present at the executions. He told Msgr Curran that Fr Aloysius and those who were there before his arrival were not allowed to stay.
Fr Francis Farrington, chaplain to Arbour Hill was present at the funerals of Pearse, McDonagh and Clarke who had been court-martialled and shot at 3.30am at Kilmainham. Their remains were swiftly brought to Arbour Hill. The military sent a lorry to Fr Farrington’s house in Aughrim Street at 3am and brought him back to the barracks. He described hearing the volley of shots at Kilmainham and the arrival of the remains in pools of blood, still warm and limp, eyes bandaged and mouths open. Fr Farrington read the burial rites at 4am and they were interned, uncoffined, in a trench, 60 feet long.
The same day, Sir John Maxwell along with his aide-de-camp, called to meet the archbishop. He spoke of the bravery of the Capuchins and mentioned a number of priests whom he accused of participating in the Rising. Maxwell wanted to deport them all immediately and was under the impression the archbishop could arrange this.
On learning the names of the priests involved, the archbishop pointed out that he had no jurisdiction in the matter as no Dublin priests were on the list. He advised Maxwell to contact their bishops and noting the presence of two Limerick priests had a little malicious pleasure in anticipating the reply he would receive from Dr O’Dwyer!
Maxwell wrote to Bishop O’Dwyer on May 12 and requested that two of his priests, Fr Tom Wall and Fr Michael Hayes, be prevented from interacting with people. Dr O’Dwyer was not happy and wrote to Maxwell on May 17 saying that both men were excellent priests who held strong national views. He went on to say Maxwell’s conduct was “wantonly cruel and oppressive”. He had shot young men in cold blood and he regarded his actions with horror and he believed he had outraged the conscience of the country.
He went further and charged him with deporting hundreds of thousands of young men without trial. He concluded “your regime had been one of the worst and blackest chapters in the history of the misgovernment of the country”. The letter became public and appeared in many newspapers both at home and abroad.
On May 4, four more men were shot and buried between 3am and 4am. Joseph Mary Plunkett was among them. He had married Grace Gifford shortly before his execution. The following day John McBride was executed.
On May 6, Fr Paddy Flanagan of Ringsend was arrested and sent to the Richmond Barracks (Cathal Brugha Barracks). Fr Mooney was detained as a prisoner, under armed guard, in his own house from noon until 6.30pm. He was only freed on the promise not to leave the place for three days. Fr Flanagan was released on May 9.
On May 13, the archbishop motored out for the first time to see the ruined streets.
On May 27, Mr Justice Sherman and Sir Mackenzie Chalmers called to see the archbishop. They were members of the Rebellion Inquiry Committee. The archbishop didn’t feel he had much to add as he had been an invalid for most of the conflict and was only slowly recovering from a prolonged illness. He ascribed the chief causes of the rebellion as the breakdown of the constitutional movement.
He mentioned various defects of the Home Rule Bill and its plain misrepresentation by the Irish Party. He criticised particularly the clause which said that despite any act passed by the Irish parliament, the English parliament could remove it.
On June 6, the archbishop left the capital for Wicklow where he remained recuperating until September 5. The only time Dr Walsh left Wicklow was to visit Alice Stopford Green in Courtown when she was seeking his help in getting a reprieve for Roger Casement who ended up being executed on August 3, 1916.
Archbishop Walsh was seen as being silent for much of the Rising. The main reason was his health but he also knew many of the revolutionaries. Many of the men taking part were deeply religious. Dr Walsh believed that any Rising without outside help would be futile but not traitorous. He was never prepared to condemn the Rising publicly. He knew Irish history and its record of turning defeated patriots into posthumous heroes. He remembered how the Fenians had been denounced by the Church and the bitterness it had caused and of course he had experienced first-hand the reaction of people when he had spoken out against Parnell.
He also knew if he condemned the Rising he would be seen as siding with the government and of being used by it.
Executions
The execution of the leaders, day after day, along with prominent members of the Volunteers sickened most people. Even William Martin Murphy, who had significant property losses as a result of the Rising changed his tune when faced with Tories gloating over the executions and imprisonments. He stated “every drop of Catholic blood in his veins surged up and he began like others to pity the insurgents”.
By the end of 1916 hundreds of the prisoners had returned home with renewed determination, organisation and focus and to their surprise they discovered the country had changed too. The hostile, condemning groups had given way to warm and welcoming crowds, to bonfires and torch-lit processions.
The aged and ailing archbishop was still revered for his nationalist reputation and he was still determined to make his presence felt right up to his death on April 9, 1921.
Noelle Dowling is Dublin Diocesan Archivist.