Friday 18 September 2020

De Valera Promotion March 1915

One of the nice things about delving into archives is finding documents in different repositories that join together.

History Hub has a letter from Patrick Pearse to Eamon de Valera dated 11th March 1915 promoting de Valera to Commandant of the 3rd Battalion, Dublin Brigade. It's a nice hand written letter on Irish Volunteer headed paper showing the Volunteers HQ as being at 41 Kildare Street.

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It also confirms the appointment of Captain Fitzgibbon as the Vice Commandant and Captain Begley as the Adjutant. Pearse has mislaid the name of who was to be appointed Quartermaster of the battalion.


The appointment of the above is confirmed in a copy of the Irish Volunteer paper dated 20th March 1915  available on the Military archives site.

The Quartermaster for the 3rd Battalion is named as Volunteer James Byrne. Fitzgibbon is named as John and Begley is names as Patrick.

Also on the paper is an advert for Hopkins and Hopkins, a business that would become a volunteer output during the Rising and which would be destroyed.

Interestingly, there is a note in the left hand corner re the flag authorised by companies - each company is to provide itself with a flag with a plain gold harp with a green (back)ground.


Fitzgibbon, Begley and Byrne were all involved in the Easter Rising.


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