Letter to Kathleen O'Connell from Pádraig Letters 1916-1923 Pádraig [?]

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Letter to Kathleen O'Connell from Pádraig [?]. She is in America at the time and he fills her in on the events of the Easter Rising, and the fates of different people who were involved. He comments on the large number of young women who took part in the Rising and are now imprisoned in Kilmainham and Mountjoy prisons. He mentions the current censorship of all letters to and from America.

 University College Dublin Archives Kathleen O'Connell Collection, UCD, Collection List P155/111/001 https://letters1916.ie/item/2986 English Pádraig [?] 1916-05-31 Co. Kerry, Ireland Caitlín (Kathleen O'Connell) America Male Politics Easter Rising Ireland 1916 Politics World War I (1914-1918)

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 Contae Ciarraighe 31/V/16 A Chaitlin, a chara dhil, Your letter delayed owing to censorship, reached me a week later than it should in the ordinary course. I immediately wrote the" Cork Free Press" and the "Cork Examiner" people, and asked them to forward you the papers extending over the period of the rebellion, which will give you all the news, if they reach you which is doubtful. I have had acknowledgements from the newspaper people stating that they forwarded the newspapers in due course. Ireland is under martial law at present and a strict censorship is kept on all letters, even letters from point to point in Ireland. Letters to America come in for special attention, hence the newspaper reports are the only things available for information at present. I think you met a good many of the men who were mixed up in the business the time you were up in Dundalk at the Oireachtas. Of these the best known would be P.H. Pierce who was shot by sentence of court marshal, Seán McDermott who was also shot, Major John McBride, Ditto, The O'Rahilly who was killed in action at the Post Office, Thomas Clarke who was shot. There were in all 15 shot by sentence of court marshal and about 100 sentenced to penal servitude. Of the latter were Tom Ashe, Diarmuid Lynch, Fionán Lynch (Fr. John Lynch's brother of Killmakerin). Ashe was sentenced to penal servitude for life and Lynch (Diarmuid) got 10 years. He was I believe sentenced to be hanged, but the American Authorities intervened and his sentence was commuted to 10 years. Fionán Lynch got 10 years also. There are about 2000 deported to England awaiting trial including Arthur Griffith. John McNeill has been tried and found guilty but has not been sentenced so far. I think he is likely to get off lightly for at the last moment he issued an order to all his followers prohibiting them from taking part in parades or anything else on that day. This order kept the Country out of reach from Dublin, absolutely quiet, and prevented the trouble from spreading. We haven't got the rights or wrongs of the thing yet but it would appear that McNeill was against the rising and certainly his order prevented the Rebellion from being on a much larger scale. Sean T. O'C. is a prisoner awaiting trial and wounded I believe. Kerry kept very quiet during the business. The volunteers in this County looked upon McNeill as their chief and they acted on his order. That accounts for good many of them being out of jail today probably. The newspapers state that the Government had made arrangements to suppress the Irish volunteer organisation on the day in which it broke forth. One hundred of the leaders were to be arrested and deported and all were to be disarmed. You will be interested to hear that the National volunteers (Mr Redmond's volunteers) loyally assisted the military in various parts of the country in putting down the Rebellion. So that when you hear over there that we are a rebelly lot, you'll be able to realise that we are not all as black as we are painted. The "Kilkenny Journal" in a burst of indignation informed the world that Mr Redmond's volunteers in that town paraded the streets, headed by a piper's band to celebrate the shooting of the first batch of rebels, who were shot by order of court marshal. What a satisfaction it must be to Mr Redmond today to realise that the sentiments of loyalty which he implanted so carefully in the breasts of his followers has borne such good fruit. Pierce Beasley got 3 years. It was a sad business all round but I believe the rebels did terrible havoc among the military too. They fought with tremendous bravery and even Mr Asquith paid a tribute to "their bravery and to their "clean fighting" in the English House of Commons. One thing is to be placed to their credit, all declare and that is that they knew how to fight and they knew how to die. The last words of Pierce as he faced the guns were:- "Ireland is unconquered and unconquerable" and he was singing "A Nation Once Again" as he fell. They all refused to have their eyes bandaged saying that they wished to face their executioners. Rebels against the Crown and Constitution of course, but brave men all. The firing party paid them that tribute. Isn't it sad to think of such men under the sod, instead of leading their men against the common foe in France and Flanders. If they had taken Mr Redmond's advice they might have been starred as Victoria Cross heroes in England's Roll of Honour. Curiously enough there appears to have been a large number of Irish girls involved in the Rebellion. They fought with the men, many of them sniping away with rifles and doing serious damage by all accounts. I read an article written by an English Red Cross nurse, who was all through the business in the London 'Daily Express' a few days ago. She paid a wonderful tribute to the bravery of the girls and stated that they acted as messengers in many cases, going into the zone of fire with the utmost nonchalance. It was a question of honour with them she states to carry through their orders or to be shot. She was present on one occasion when a volunteer Captain asked for a volunteer to carry a message to one of his colleagues. The carrying of the message necessitated a journey through an area swept by machine gun fire but the whole twenty girls sprang towards him and clamoured to be left go on the errand - each one of them. Eventually a well-known authoress was selected and she set off after calmly saying "good-bye" to the others. She got back safely I am glad to say. One would feel sorry to think of such a woman being shot. There are about 70 girls imprisoned in Kilmainham Jail according to the press and about 30 in Mountjoy. It is thought however, that they will be all released immediately. I suppose the American papers have by this time the romantic marriage of Joseph Plunkett, son of Count Plunkett, who was shot by order of Court martial. He was engaged to be married to the daughter of a Dublin solicitor, a Miss Gifford. She desired to be his bride, so they were married in prison the night before his Execution at midnight and he was shot the next morning. She was bride and widow within the 24 hours. Miss Gifford's sister was married to Thomas McDonagh the poet, who was also shot by order of Court martial. So that the two sisters gave their all. I think you were present last year at O'Donovan Rossa's funeral when Pierce delivered the funeral oration over his grave. There were few more eloquent speakers than he. How curiously apt are the words in which he wound up his speech, nowadays, "The fools, the fools, do they seek to destroy our Nationality, while they leave us the graves of our dead" I suppose his own grave will now become an inspiration for Young Ireland, ensuring the struggle goes on from generation to generation with passionate devotion and willing self sacrifice on the one side, and ineptitude and stupidity and callous indifference on the other. "Thou art not Conquered yet Dear Land." With very kind regards Your Sincere friend Padraig Co. Kerry, Ireland Letter to Kathleen O'Connell from Pádraig Letter from 12 named individuals to 'the Public', undated America Letter to Kathleen O'Connell from Pádraig Pádraig [?] Letter to Kathleen O'Connell from Pádraig