North King Street, 1916

On a thread on boards.ie, the following blog entry by an Easter Rising author was added as a link

http://www.theirishstory.com/2012/04/13/the-north-king-street-massacre-dublin-1916/

The chap who posted the link didn't react too well to my questioning the accuracy of the blog.....

While the blog has been updated slightly, it still has errors and odd links. The murders of 15 people (or should that be 16 - most of the 'mainstream' Easter Rising books don't mention William O'Neill) at North King Street were a travesty and needs to be remembered but there is little point in works with so many inaccuracies.

1. The Ballad
The ballad mentioned has nothing to do with the murders at North King St ; it relates to the execution of Pearse, Connolly etc at Kilmainham Gaol. Copies of the full ballad can be viewed at :

http://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/home/index.php?DRIS_ID=SamuelsBox5_0599

http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000510589

2. Major Sheppard
Sheppard was promoted to Captain just before the Easter Rising. He was discharged from the army as a result of wounds received during the Rising and never reached the rank of Major. This error is in the Max Caulfield book and is repeating Caulfield's error.

3. Bowen-Colthurst murders
The blog originally stated

"the famous pacifist, Francis Sheehy Skeffington, who had been trying to organize “citizen police”, to stop the looting, was taken to a cellar and shot along with six others by an officer named Bowen Colthurst at Portobello barracks"

The cellar has now gone and the entry now reads

"Francis Sheehy Skeffington, who had been trying to organize “citizen police”, to stop the looting, was shot along with six others by an officer named Bowen Colthurst at Portobello barracks."

Not sure where the 6 others comes from. Dickson, MacIntyre and Coade were definite murders attributed to Bowen Colthurst, though he wasn't charged with the murder/manslaughter of Coade. Councillor Richard O'Carroll is another probable/possible murder by Bowen Colthurst. Would like to know who the other 2 are.

A copy of a report re the murder of Francis Sheehy Skeffington can be found online at :

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-35047428/view?partId=nla.obj-35047431#

4. Bachelors Walk
The blog states :

"In 1914, the Scottish Borderers’ Regiment fired on a riotous crowd at Bachelor’s Walk, in Dublin, killing three people and injuring 85. A Court Martial was duly held, but as in 1916, no punitive action was taken."

There was no court martial after the killings at Bachelors Walk. The authors own book states that the soldiers opened fire "killing 4 and wounding 37".

5. Use of Bayonets
A bit of a fixation with the use of bayonets. The blog lists the following and suggests that the presence of bayonet marks indicates that they were killed with the bayonet and references Crossfire by Paul O'Brien (p93-96 ) and The Easter Rising by Foy and Barton (p248-249)

1 Thomas Hickey (38) 170 North King Street

2 Christopher Hickey (16) 170 North King Street (Father and son)

3 Peter Connolly (39) 170 North King Street

(These three bodies had bayonet marks indicating they were killed with the bayonet)

In O'Brien's Crossfire, the text reads that they "were killed, their bodies showing bayonet marks". This tallies with what is written in the 1916 Rebellion Handbook. It does not state they were killed with the bayonet. In Foy and Barton's book, there is no mention of the Hickeys, Connolly or bayonets on the pages referenced ie 248-249, only general information about the North King St murders.

Desmond Ryan's book "The Rising" carries a description of the capture of the Hickeys and Connolly at approximately 6am on the Saturday through to their murder between 10am and 10:30am that morning from a Mrs Kate Kelly who was arrested with them. She wasn't in the room when they were killed but mentions that shots rang out. It also carries a description from Mrs Hickey on seeing the bodies for the first time at approximately 5pm on the Sunday. She makes no mention of bayonet wounds on any of the 3 (but neither does she mention gun shot wounds). Mrs Connolly was brought to see the 3 bodies later on Sunday. She mentions "my poor husband was greatly marked and had several great gashes around the neck and head which appeared to be bayonet wounds" (she mentions nothing about gun shot wounds).

Writing in "Inglorious Soldier", Monk Gibbon devotes a chapter to "Murder at Portobello Barracks" outlining his time there during the Easter Rising, the murders of Sheehy Skeffington etc, his work with Major Vane and mentions "There was certainly nothing kid-glove about the shooting of sixteen year old Christy Hickey".

The death certificate of Christopher Hickey is the only one that mentions a bayonet as the cause of death.

"A Fragment of 1916 History" is a small booklet with some statements from wives etc plus a map of where the murders took place. William O'Neill appears in this booklet but Edward Dunne does not :

http://digital.ucd.ie/get/ivrla:30958/content