The first tank in Ireland - November 1917

While a number of improvised armoured cars were constructed during the Easter Rising using lorries from Guinness and steel plate from the Inchicore rail works, and several Rolls-Royce armoured cars arrived in Ireland just after the Rising, tanks were still too new (and secret) to make an appearance in Ireland. The arrival of the 17th (Armoured Car) Battalion of the Tank Corps in January 1919 is reasonably well documented/photographed with a mixture of Mark IV, Mark V* and Whippet tanks and Austin armoured cars.

In November 1917, however, a Mark IV tank appears to have been in Dublin operating at the RDS in Ballsbridge while a host of other Mark IV tanks were preparing for the Battle of Cambrai (and two for the Lord Mayor's Show in London). There is some irony here as County Dublin born Walter Wilson was heavily involved in the design work.

There was a reference to a tank in Dublin pre 1919 mentioned on a thread on the Great War Forum many years ago and a reference to this being filmed in the blog on Early Irish Cinema (and to cameraman John Gordon Lewis) by Derek Condon (@DenisCondon on Twitter) :

https://earlyirishcinema.com/category/films/topicals/tanks-in-dublin-ireland-gfs-1917/

The Freeman's Journal carried a news item that month re the film that Lewis had taken  :

The head on image is blurry but the number 42 can be made out on the front slope of the tank. Not standard number format for the tanks and not quite sure what it means.

Lewis's offices were raided by anti-treaty Republicans and it was believed that his film of the event was lost. A visit to the National Archives in Dublin re the file containing Lewis's claim for damage didn't reveal any more information sadly.

However, a post on Twitter by @ThisDayInWWI with a video of a tank looked familiar. Sure enough, the number 42 appears on the front of the tank, the head on view matches the image from the Freeman's Journal, and there appear to be horses in the background (the RDS in the Ballsbridge area of Dublin being used as a staging point for horses going to the Army).

The film is hosted on the Imperial War Museum (IWM) website (catalogue number IWM 1196) and carries the somewhat unhelpful title :

"TANKS MARK IV, SCHNEIDER, AND MARK IV UNDITCHING [Allocated Title]"

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060000185

The film is made up of a number of different clips. The one related to Lewis's filming runs from 00:00 to 02:55 so not a lot of footage but enough to spark interest (and possibly meaning that there is more out there somewhere - e.g. the top photo in the Journal article doesn't match in the clip).

Tank 42 appears in this second clip on the IWM site (catalogue number IWM 1198) from about 11:15. The background from 11:22 looks to be the same as the above clip so possibly the RDS too

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060000187

It would appear that there was concern in England that trouble was brewing in Ireland following the death of Thomas Ashe, the Sinn Fein Convention etc and that 4 tanks in a Special Service Unit were sent across from Bovington as a potential show of force - 2 kept in Dublin, 1 sen to Cork, 1 sent to Limerick. (Updated 20th October 2024)

As well as having the first tank in Dublin in November 1917, the first Tank Corps death happened too.

Captain Leonard Bates MC was killed while a tank was being unloaded at the RDS in Ballsbridge, Dublin.

Present at the inquest were 2 members of the Tank Corps :

Sgt William Quincey Jeffs appears to have been a Sergeant instructor while Lt Thomas Frederick Murphy appears to have been a wounded officer recovering from burns.  Murphy and Bates had both been commissioned into the Machine Gun Corps from the 18th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers in early 1916, both having qualified as machine gunners.

Captain Bates is buried in Grangegorman Cemetery in Dublin.

https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/899811/leonard-john-bates/

Clips from the film appear in other films on the IWM site :

The US troops section of the film is labelled 356-2 and this can be seen in the Topical Budget 356-2 film on the IWM site (catalogue number NTB 356-2) at approx 3:47 on the timeline :

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060005457

Several of the clips appear in the film on the IWM site (catalogue number IWM 337) titled "Tanks The Wonder Weapon" :

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022815

Links to previous related posts :

John Gordon Lewis

Guinness Lorries

Guinness Lorry Drivers

Henry Deasy (and armouring the Guinness lorries)

Colonel Allatt

Colonel Portal

17th (Armoured Car) Battalion, Tank Corps

Victory Parade Dublin July 1919

Dublin - British Units on the opening day of the Easter Rising

Following up on a query on one of the groups on Facebook, there were a variety of units in Dublin on the opening day of the Easter Rising.


Sir John Maxwell's despatch following the Rising states :

The fighting strength of the troops avail- 
able in Dublin at this moment were:— 

6th Reserve Cavalry Regiment, 35 officers, 
851 other ranks. 

3rd Royal Irish Regiment, 18 officers, 385 
other ranks. 

10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 37 officers, 430 
other ranks. 

3rd Royal Irish Rifles, 21 officers, 650 other 
ranks. 

Of these troops an inlying picquet of 400 
men, which for some days past had been 
held in readiness, proceeded at once, and the 
remainder followed shortly afterwards.

Headquarters at Parkgate
Colonel Kennard - in charge of forces in Dublin
Colonel Henry Cowan - Adjutant and Assistant Adjutant General
Major Owen Lewis

Army Service Corps
615 MT Company were located in Parkgate. American Clive Wilson Warman was with this unit.

Ordnance Corps
At the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park

Pay Corps
A number of Pay Corps personnel were located in Linenhall Barracks

Royal Dublin Fusiliers
10th (Service) Battalion RDF were located in Royal Barracks (now Collins Barracks)
37 officers and 430 men

Royal Irish Rifles
3rd (Reserve) Battalion were located in Portobello Barracks (now Cathal Brugha Barracks)
21 officers and 650 men

Royal Irish Regiment
3rd (Reserve) Battalion were located in Richmond Barracks.
18 officers and 385 men
Commanding Officer : Lt Colonel Robert Owens
Adjutant : Major Edmund Roche-Kelly

6th Reserve Cavalry Regiment
Located in Marlborough Barracks.
35 officers and 851 men
Made up of 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers, 12th Lancers, 3/1st County of London Yeomanry, 3/1st City of London Yeomanry, 3/1st Welsh Yeomanry


Other soldiers were posted to positions at :

Dublin Castle (8 soldiers in the Guardroom)
GPO Telegraph Room (8 soldiers)
Ship Street Barracks (approx 25 soldiers)
Trinity OTC
Beggars Bush Barracks
Islandbridge Barracks

Easter Rising and the motor car

Interesting article re the Easter Rising and the motor car

http://www.rte.ie/centuryireland//images/uploads/further-reading/Carsin1916.pdf

Mr and Mrs Chaytor

Mr and Mrs Chaytor get a short mention in the following newspaper article following the Easter Rising re their work with the Irish Automobile Association ambulance work during the Rising

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DOM19160719.2.4

Mrs Chaytor gets a mention in the write up of the 59th Division, sitting beside the driver of a Red Cross ambulance during the Rising going through heavy fire to take the wounded to various hospitals in Dublin.

Though neither were members, Mr Herbert Stanley Chaytor and Mrs Edith Chaytor were both recognised by the Saint John Ambulance following WW1

http://eprints.maynoothuniversity.ie/5060/1/Clare_O'Neill_20140620131550.pdf

Easter Rising Mastermind

Forwarded the following link to a video re Mastermind questions re the "Easter Rising"

http://www.joe.ie/movies-tv/video-this-mans-bbc-mastermind-specialist-subject-is-the-easter-rising-can-you-beat-his-score/530872

Great that the Easter Rising appears as a topic but the questions are just so basic (and the first question is way too long for a simple answer that anyone with a basic grasp of the Rising should know let alone someone with specialist knowledge)

Here are some slightly harder questions to get the brain cells going :

1. What organisation links a ship involved in the Easter Rising with the current location of the Irish Embassy in London?

2. The standard rifle of the British Army in WW1 was the .303 SMLE. Some members of the 2nd line battalions of the Notts and Derby Regiment were trained with what unusual rifle?

3. Who were known as the Gorgeous Wrecks?

4. Which organization owned the HMY Helga (which shelled parts of Dublin) and the farm in County Galway which was shelled by HMS Laburnum?

5. Which medal has been awarded to both Sir Roger Casement and to Robert Monteith long before they were landed on the Kerry coast?

6. Who was the most senior British officer to die as a result of the Easter Rising?

7. From which county in Ireland was the Canadian soldier killed in the Rising from?

8. Which author "did good work" as a stretcher bearer during the Easter Rising?

9. Which British ship picked up the wireless messages sent by the Irish Volunteers announcing the establishment of an Irish Republic?

10. Name the actors from opposing sides from the Rising who played roles in the Hollywood film "How Green Was My Valley"?

11. Name an "American" citizen involved in the Rising on the Rebel side (easy), a civilian casualty (harder), a participant in the British Army (mentioned in a previous blog post).

12. Name the Chief Secretary of Ireland at the time of the Rising.

13. How was Norway "involved" in the Easter Rising? (several possible answers; be creative)

14. Which town was shelled by the German Navy in an operation supporting the Rising?

15. Name 3 of the people murdered by Captain Bowen-Colthurst other than Francis Sheehy Skeffington.

16. How many British officers and Guinness employees were executed by members of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in the Guinness works?

17. Name the Irish judge involved in the Easter Rising who wrote "The Pals at Suvla Bay" re the 7th Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers at Gallipoli.

18. Which British General spoke very highly of Patrick Pearse having met Pearse at his court martial?
"I have just done one of the hardest tasks I have ever had to do. I have had to condemn to death one of the finest characters I have ever come across"

19. Which British officer killed in the Easter Rising is buried in the same grave in Glasnevin as his brother who fought with the Irish Volunteers?

20. St Stephen's Green saw truces to allow the park keeper to feed the ducks. Which British officer involved in the Rising wrote about wild ducks and how to rear and shoot them?

21. Who was "James E Landy"/"Mr Hammond"?

22. Chalk and Granite were used for what during the run up to the Easter Rising?

23. Following the Easter Rising, Irish rebels were held where in North Wales?

24. Where was Room 40?

25. Name the 2 civilian women who were awarded the Military Medal as a result of their helping the wounded whilst under fire.

26. What was Michael Collin's role during the Easter Rising?

27. Who allegedly declared himself to be a Sinn Feiner "from the backbone out"?

28. Who helped wind the clock?

29. Who was James Connolly's secretary?

30. Which priest stayed with the rebels in the GPO?

31. On what date were most Irish prisoners in released in 1916?

32. Name a winner of the Sigerson Cup who fought in the GPO?

33. Why was Liberty Hall not destroyed by the artillery shells fired at it (unlike the building next door)?

34. What what the time difference between Dublin and London during the Easter Rising?

35. Name the commanders of the 5 Dublin battalions of the Irish Volunteers.

36. Who commanded the British forces in Dublin until the arrival of General Maxwell?

37. Name 2 Irish Volunteers who were conscripted into the British Army after the Easter Rising.

38. How many incendiary shells were fired by the 4 18pounder artillery pieces from Athlone that were used in Dublin during the Easter Rising?

39. In spite of verifiable service including being wounded several times during the Easter Rising, why was Margaret Skinnider refused a military pension?

40. Which member of the GPO garrison was a player on the field at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday?

41.How were the 16 rebels executed after the Easter Rising killed and where?

42. Which regiment captured the flag which carried the words "Irish Republic"?

43. How many rounds of ammunition could a Howth Mauser hold?

44. Which building was captured and held by Captain Sean Connolly?

45. What was the name of the railway station near Boland's Bakery?

46. What sentence did Eoin MacNeill receive after the Easter Rising courtmartials?

47. Where was Lt Michael Malone killed?

48. Who led the Irish Volunteers out in Galway for the Easter Rising?

49. How many members of the Royal Irish Constabulary were killed during the Easter Rising and where?

50. Where was the headquarters of the Enniscorthy Volunteers during the Rising?


Drop answers to doylejsd@gmail.com :-)

Recommended reading for anyone wanting to get a good overview of the Easter Rising is "When The Clock Struck in 1916" By Derek Molyneux and Darren Kelly.

1916 Photo Collection

A lot of nice material starting to appear with the Easter Rising Centenary approaching.

Nice photo collection from Trinity College

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/collection/trinity-college-dublin-library?projectId=easter-rising-1916

Richard O'Carroll TC

An interesting site re Richard O'Carroll, a Dublin Councillor and Secretary of the Bricklayers Union.

https://richardocarroll1916.wordpress.com/biography-3/

He took part in the Rising and was at the Delahunt Pub when captured and shot by Captain Bowen-Colthurst. He died some days later.

Captain Bowen-Colthurst wasn't charged with the murder of Richard O'Carroll.

Online Exhibition

An interesting online exhibition relating to the sites of the Easter Rising in Dublin

https://dublinrising.withgoogle.com/welcome/

An t-Oglac - Easter Rising series of articles

Some copies of the Irish Volunteer magazine An t-Oglac are available to view online via the Irish Defence Forces archives website.

No catalogue or search mechanism unfortunately. There are a number of Easter Rising related articles  :

(Click on the date to open the relevant issue of An t-Oglac as a PDF file)

16th January 1926
No 1 : How the Irish Troops took the GPO by W J Brennan Whitmore

23rd January 1926
No 2 : The Defence of the GPO by M J Staines and M W Reilly

30th January 1926
No 3 : The Occupation of the North Earl Street Area by W J Brennan Whitmore

6th February 1926
No 4 : The Defence of the North Earl Street Area by W J Brennan Whitmore

13th February 1926
No 5 : Dublin Castle from the Inside - no author listed

20th February 1926
No 6 : The Citizen Army in 1916 by James J Burke

27th February 1926
No 7 : The Evacuation of the GPO by Charles Steinmayer

6th March 1926
No 8 : The Marrowbone Lane Garrison by Thomas Young

13th March 1926
No 9 : The Hotel Metrople Garrison Part 1 by Charles Saurin

20th March 1926
No 10 : The Hotel Metropole Garrison Part 2 by Charles Saurin

27th March 1926
No 11 : Cumann na mBan in the GPO by Miss M Reynolds

3rd April 1926
No 12 : The Women of Easter Week by Mrs Nora Daly

10th April 1926
No 13 : Occupation of the Ringsend Area Part 1 by George Lyons

17th April 1926
No 14 : Occupation of the Ringsend Area Part 2 by George Lyons

24th April 1926
No 15 : Occupation of the Ringsend Area Part 3 by George Lyons

1st May 1926
No 16 : The Kimmage Garrison by Captain C Turner

8th May 1926
No 17 : The Maynooth Volunteers by Commandant P Colgan

15th May 1926
No 18 : Four Courts and North King St Area in 1916 Part 1 by John J Reynolds

22nd May 1926
No 19 : Four Courts and North King St Area in 1916 Part 2 by John J Reynolds

29th May 1926
No 20 : Four Courts and North King St Area in 1916 Part 3 by John J Reynolds

5th June 1926
No 21 : The Defence of Hopkins and Hopkins by Captain C Turner

12th June 1926
No 22 : The Defence of the South Dublin Union by Major J V Joyce

The series appears to have lost some momentum here :

19th June 1926
No 23 : General Maxwell's Report

26th June 1926
No 24 : Pictorial Edition

3rd July 1926
No 25 : Pictures of Easter Week

10th July 1926
No 26 :Eamonn Ceannt Letter and pictures

31st July 1926
No 27 : The Fight at Ashbourne by Captain Joseph Lawless

and then restarts as a weekly series with chapters from Brennan Whitmore's book :

28th August 1926
No 28 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

4th September 1926
No 29 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

11th September 1926
No 30 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

18th September 1926
No 31 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

25th September 1926
No 32 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

2nd October 1926
No 33 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

9th October 1926
No 34 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore"

16th October 1926
No 35 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

23rd October 1926
No 36 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

30th October 1926
No 37 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

6th November 1926
No 38 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

13th November 1926
No 39 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

20th November 1926
No 40 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

27th November 1926
No 41 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

4th December 1926
No 42 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

11th December 1926
No 43 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

18th December 1926
No 44 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

25th December 1926
No 45 : In Captivity "With the Irish in Frongoch" by W J Brennan Whitmore

There doesn't appear to be a copy available between January to August 1927 and the magazine appears to have gone quarterly by October 1927. The October 1927 issue carries part of the oration at the cenotaph to Arthur Griffiths and Michael Collins as well as an article re the writings of Patrick Pearse

October 1927

The March 1931 issue carries an article by Bulmer Hobson re the foundation of the Irish Volunteers :

March 1931

Guinness armoured Lorry

2 views of a slightly different armoured lorry used during the Rising. Page 11 :

April 1926

Brodie Helmet

The helmet first used by the British Army in WW1 became "normal issue" around the Somme battle (1st July 1916) when they were issued en masse to soldiers. They had been trench equipment from late 1915 - as one battalion left the trenches, they left behind the helmets for use by the replacement battalion - rather than personal issue to individual soldiers and would generally only be seen on the front line.

Brodie Helmet - wikipedia article

There are also a number of variations in manufacture that help provide additional dating information for photographs/film clips with British soldier wearing such helmets.

The date is significant for anyone looking at Easter Rising photos. Soldiers involved in the Easter Rising did not have helmets so any photo labelled as Easter Rising that shows a soldier wearing a helmet isn't an Easter Rising photo. If it's a photo in Ireland, then the chances are it's from the War of Independence/Tan War dating from January 1919 onwards. There don't seem to be too many photos of British soldiers in Ireland in the period after the Easter Rising and before the War of Independence.

Two photos on the following Easter Rising resource gallery show British soldiers in helmets and are not Easter Rising photos

http://www.easter1916.ie/index.php/gallery/

(thankfully the photos that were labelled as British Army veterans watching/firing on republican/rebel forces are now correctly labelled as Irish Citizen Army).



1915 Brodie had a shallow brim, a raw rim, small loops for a 2 piece leather chin strap

1916 Brodies (Mk I) had a different angle on the slope of the helmet and had a rim around the outer edge of the helmet. This pattern was introduced in April 1916.

Easter Rising Festival

Looks like there might be an Easter Rising Festival in Dublin this year. Excellent idea. Saturday 26th April 2014, 11:30am to 5pm

Information from Facebook page :

https://www.facebook.com/1916festival

Twitter address @1916Festival

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

Colonel Allatt

Colonel Henry Thomas Ward Allat is another person of interest. Involved in the construction of the improvised armoured lorries used during the Easter Rising and also involved with Captain Bowen Colthurst on a raid on the Sheehy Skeffington house. He died just after the Rising but there are conflicting reports re his death.

He was Mentioned in Despatches in Jan 1917 for his work during the Easter Rising.

The 1916 Rebellion Handbook has him as Killed in Action near the South Dublin Union. Forums have him as died of wounds in Belfast. Soldiers Died in the Great War has him as Died which normally means died of natural causes/disease.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission website has him attached to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (his previous regiment); his medal index card has him attached to the 3rd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. He was a Draft Conducting Officer, tasked with bringing drafts of reinforcements of the Royal Irish Rifles to the theatre of operations. France in his case; his first entry to this theatre being 3rd August 1915. 3rd Royal Irish Rifles were based at Portobello Barracks at the time of the rising.

The British Medical Journal has him as died of heart failure in Belfast following his exertions during the rebellion

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...07049-0028.pdf

His death registration in Belfast gives year of birth as 1839.

He was born in Feb 1847. Baptised in London in Feb 1848. English census records have him born in France. His father was a Physician with a practice in Boulogne (and then later in Dover).

He was an Ensign in October 1866 in the 46th Regiment of Foot, a Lt in the 1871 census, a Captain in the 1881 census, a Major in the 1891 census and a Colonel in the 1901 census. In the 1911 census he was a "retired Colonel of HM Land Forces".


Allatt (written as Allett) is recorded in the 1916 Rebellion Handbook as being involved in the raid on Francis Sheehy-Skeffington's house on the Friday evening with Captain Bowen-Colthurst.

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/c...colonel-allett

http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-en...-war-ala.shtml

An odd phrase appears in connection with Allatt :

The Military refused to produce others, Colonel Allett had died mysteriously in the interval, according to some he committed suicide in Belfast when Colthurst was condemned, saying, "The game is up."

1966 Insurrection

My aunt Molly (Mary Niland) gave me her copy of the 1966 RTV Guide, a publication listing the various radio and television shows being show in 1966 to mark the 1916 Easter Rising.

A nice write up of the planning and production that took place and a photo of the cover of the RTV Guide can be found at :

http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/tv-eye-through-the-eyes-of-1916/

The armoured car depicted on the page is a Rolls Royce armoured car which weren't the type used on the streets of Dublin during the Rising  - 7 were ferried across just after the Rising and used in post Rising mop up and Police work. It was one of the improvised armoured lorries built using Guinness lorries and railway smokeboxes that came under attack outside the GPO.

Louis Barron

While researching some Kavanagh's recorded killed during the Easter Rising, I came across an article re Seamus Kavanagh who seemed to have an interesting career with the Fianna and then the Irish Volunteers :

http://www.dundalk.ie/20130723873/medals-donated-to-county-museum.php

Looking at one of his 2 witness statements, Seamus Kavanagh made reference to a Jewish officer by the name of Lt Barron. Not having come across the name before, it was another tangent to trek off upon....

It would appear that Lt Barron was Lt Louis Barron, a Dublin solicitor from 38 South Circular Road who appears in the witness statements of 2 others :

Gerald Doyle (of interest as Michael Sweeney appears in this witness statement)

Robert Barton

1901 Census

1911 Census

Lt Barron's Medal Index Card shows that he entered France a short time afterwards, 28th June 1916. He appears to have been killed soon after this in July 1916 and is commemorated at The High School and Terenure Synagogue. The Medal Index Card indicates he was commissioned in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in November 1914, transferred to the Border Regiment and attached to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment at the time of his death.

He has no known grave but is a name that appears on the Fromelles list where the authorities are looking for DNA samples from relatives :

Herald newspaper 

Western Front Association

From the Internet :

Louis Barron (born on 24th December 1888) was the eldest of six children of Hyman Elias Barron, originally from Lithuania (1861-1915) and Esther Greenberg (1869-1948) from Russia. The family initially lived in Limerick where Louis was born. About 1893 the family moved to Dublin, where his father owned the Munster Furniture Co., at 24 Camden Street. He was a pupil at the High School. They lived on the South Circular Road. He was apprenticed to Michael Noyk, a well-known Republican Solicitor.

Dublin after the Six Days' Insurrection

A small publication of photographs that appeared after the Easter Rising was entitled "Dublin after the Six Days' Insurrection'. The 31 photographs from the publication can be viewed online via Villanova University.

The photographer/author of this booklet was Mr T W Murphy, editor/sub-editor of The Motor News publication.

A couple of the photographs contain images of "Loyal Dublin Volunteers". These are members of the Irish Association of Volunteer Training Corps (IAVTC). Thomas William Murphy was himself a member of this civilian organisation and was the organiser/Honorary Secretary of the Dublin Motorcyclists' VTC with an address at 34, Lower Abbey St, Dublin. The Commander of the Motorcyclists VTC is given as Pack-Beresford but I've yet to find out his forename (possibly Hugh Pack Beresford as an H Pack-Beresford was mentioned in some VTC items in the newspapers in 1915)

Murphy made a claim for property lost during the Easter Rising at 34 Lower Abbey Street.

In a couple of Easter Rising photos, members of the VTC are wearing a Police duty band on the sleeve of their left arm. This type of band can be seen more clearly in the following photograph of DMP constables. The VTC had been sworn in as Special Constables by Sir Horace Plunkett at Beggar's Bush Barracks. The VTC were stood down on May 12th  1916 (based on a letter appearing in the Irish Times addressed to R A Anderson, Hon Secretary of the IAVTC, by Colonel Edgeworth-Johnson, DMP Commissioner).

In the 1901 census and the  1911 census T W Murphy  is recorded as a journalist.

2nd June 2020

@irelandincolour  has a good Tweet re the colourisation of one of the images from the booklet, showing the impact of shelling from the HMY Helga and the 18pounder artillery

https://twitter.com/irelandincolour/status/1400010344152641539

Worth noting that while both Liberty Hall and Northumberland House next door are damaged, neither caught fire as a result of the shelling.

Kingstown and the Easter Rising

The Royal Navy doesn't get too much of a mention when it comes to the Easter Rising.

I'd like to find out more about the setup, ships etc that were in Kingstown (especially HMY Helga) at the time of the Rising and so have been delving into a number of books and websites (most of which give more information about Queenstown as centre of operations for the Royal Navy).

"The Sea Hound" appears to have the most answers re what the Navy had in Kingstown.

Some of the books I've read in the hope of understanding the Easter Rising in general and trying to get some information on the role of the Royal Navy include

Horace Plunkett by Margaret Digby
Ireland in the New Century by Horace Plunkett
My Mystery Ships by Admiral Campbell
Liffey Ships and Shipbuilding by Pat Sweeney
Danger Zone (The Story of the Queenstown Command) by E Keble Chatterton
The Seahound by Daire Runicardi
Victory at Sea by Liam Nolan and John E Nolan
50 Things you Didn't Know About 1916 by Mick O'Farrell
The Impact of the 1916 Rising edited by Ruan O'Donnell
1916 Rebellion Handbook
Easter 1916 The Irish Rebellion by Charles Townsend
A Guide to Dublin in 1916 by Conor Kostick and Lorcan Collins
The Secret Court Martial Records of the Easter Rising by Brian Barton
Dublin 1916 The Siege of the GPO by Clair Wills
Easter Rising 1916 by Michael McNally
The Easter Rebellion by Max Caulfield
The Rising by Desmon Ryan
The Insurrection in Dublin by James Stephens

Still to read :

Pull Together by Admiral Lewis Bayly
Acacia Class Sloops

The shelling of the Volunteers in Galway by HMS Laburnum took place as they approached the DATI experimental farm. Ironically, the naval shelling in Dublin was undertaken by HMY Helga, a ship built for the DATI.

DATI = Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction