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Along
with other Irish Volunteers, James Connolly seized the General Post
Office in Dublin on 24 April 1916. During the action at the Post
Office, Connolly was shot in the thigh. Following the end of the
rebellion on 29 April 1916, James Connolly was detained by the
British Forces. Connolly’s Field General Court-Martial (FCGM) was
convened by General Sir John Maxwell, commanding British Forces in
Ireland, on 8 May 1916. The trial itself took place on 9 May 1916.
In a
memorandum sent by General Sir John Maxwell to the then British
Prime Minister, Herbet Asquith, the following description was
provided for James Connolly:
This man has been a prominent leader in the Larkinite or Citizen
Army for years. He was also a prominent supporter of the Sinn Fein
movement. He held the rank of Commandant General of the Dublin
Division in the rebel army, and had his headquarters at the GPO from
which place he issued orders. On the 24 April he issued and signed a
general order to "The Officers and soldiers in Dublin of the Irish
Republic" stating that " ... the armed forces of the Irish Republic
had everywhere met the enemy and defeated them." This man was also a
signatory to the Proclamation of Irish Independence.
Court Members
The
court consisted of three members: Colonel D. Lapte (President),
Lieutenant-Colonel A.M. Bent, 2nd Royal Munster
Fusiliers, and Major F.W. Woodward, DSO, Loyal North Lancs.
Regiment.
The
Charges
James
Connolly was charged with two offences:
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Did an act to wit did take part in an armed rebellion and in
the waging of war against His Majesty the King, such act being
of such a nature as to be calculated to be prejudicial to the
Defence of the Realm and being done with the intention and for
the purpose of assisting then enemy.
-
Did attempt to cause disaffection among the civilian
population of His Majesty.
1st
Witness
2nd
Lieutenant S.L. King, 12 Res. Battalion, Royal Inniskilling
Fusiliers states:
In
Sackville Street Dublin about 11am on 25th April 1916 I
was taken prisoner by the rebels and taken upstairs in the General
Post Office. There were 2 other Officers confined in the same room.
There were many armed rebels in the building. I saw firing from the
Hotel Metropole.
I
saw the accused, in uniform and equipped with a revolver etc., going
across to the Hotel Metropole. I saw him pointing out as if to order
a window to be broken in the Hotel which was done, and fire opened
from the window. I saw the accused on 3 or 4 occasions near the
General Post Office.
Cross-examined by the accused.
I
was in the Post Office from 25th to 28th April
when I was marched out of it by some of the rebels. We were very
well treated generally by the rebels. The window broken gave a good
field of fire across Sackville Street. The uniform the accused wore
was the green Volunteers uniform with strips on his arm, and a wide
hat. I can’t remember any feathers in it.
Re-examined by the prosecutor.
When we were put out of the Post Office we were told to run for our
lives and we were fired on by the rebels, and 2 of us hit. I can’t
state whether the British troops were firing at the time.
2nd
Witness
Captain H.E. de C. Wheeler, Res. of Officers states:
I
saw the accused, James Connolly, in bed at the Dublin Castle
Hospital on the 29th April 1916 between 3 & 4pm. I had
previously seen the rebel leader P.H. Pearse surrender at the top of
Moore Street off Great Britain Street. I produce a document which I
brought to the accused from Pearse, which he signed in my presence.
3rd
Witness
2nd
Lieutenant S.H. Jackson, 3rd Royal Irish Regiment states:
On the 1st May 1916, I searched the rebel John McBride
and found the document I produce to the court. It purports to be
signed by James Connolly and I consider the signature the same as
that shown to me by this court (signature on Exhibit X).
4th
Witness
2nd
Lieutenant A.D. Chailman, 14th Royal Fusiliers states:
About 12pm on 24 April 1916 I was in the General Post Office Dublin
when about 300 armed rebels entered and seized the Post Office and
made me prisoner. I saw the accused present among them. The accused
ordered me to be tied up in the Telephone Box. This was done. I was
kept there about 3 hours. One of the rebels came in and asked me how
I was getting on. I replied that I was about suffocated. Apparently
the man went to the accused. I then heard the accused say "I don’t
care a damm what you do with him." The words were obviously
concerned with me. I was kept in the General Post Office until 28th
April 1916. On the 25th and 26th April from
the window of the room I was in, I saw the accused giving orders
about firing from the Hotel Metropole. I heard him give orders for
firing on more than one occasion.
Cross-examined by the accused:
I
think I last saw the accused on 26th April. Up to that I
had frequently seem him. The rebels did their best for us whilst we
were in the Post Office. The accused was in dark green uniform with
a distinctive hat with cock’s feathers in it. The distinctive
uniform was very noticeable from the other Volunteer uniforms. I saw
the accused close while he was in the Post Office. I did not
actually hear the accused order me to be tied up in the box. One of
the rebels went up to the accused and on his instruction I was tied
up.
Defence
The
accused in his defence states:
I
read this written document.
James
Connolly also stated that a copy of his courts-martial proceedings
be given to his wife. The court directed him to apply to C-in-C
Irish Command.
Medical Condition
James
Connolly was shot in the thigh during the fighting at the Post
Office. He was kept in Dublin Castle Hospital up to his execution.
This room is now known as the James Connolly Room.
The
following statement was given by two doctors at the hospital:
We certify that during the entire period of James Connolly’s
detention as a patient in the Dublin Castle Hospital he has been
perfectly rational and in complete possession of his faculties. His
mental condition has been and still is perfectly normal and his
mind, memory and understanding entirely unimpaired and that he is
fit to undergo his trial.
The
statement was signed by R.J. Tobin, FRCS, in medical charge of the
patient, and P.J. O’Farrell, LRCP & S.
Verdict & Sentence
James
Connolly was found guilty of the 1st charge, and
sentenced to death with no recommendation for mercy. He was found
not guilty of the 2nd charge. The decision of the court
was promulgated to James Connolly at Dublin Castle Hospital on 10th
May 1916. Two days’ later, on 12th May 1916, James
Connolly was executed by firing squad in the stone-breakers’ yard at
Kilmainham Jail.
Exhibits
X, Y and Z
Exhibit X: Document signed by P.H. Pearse, J. Connolly & T.
MacDonagh.
In
place of this exhibit in the proceedings document was found the
following piece of paper:
Received from the Judge Advocate-General a document signed by P.H.
Pearse, James Connolly & Thomas MacDonagh, which was attached as
Exhibit X to the proceedings of the F.G.C.M held at Dublin on James
Connolly on 9 May 1916.
Lost 2 July 1918. Signed: J.G. Maxwell, Lieutenant-General.
Exhibit Y: Letter signed by James Connolly
Date:
24 April 1916.
The Officers & Soldiers in Dublin of the Irish Republic.
Comrades,
We Salute you. This day the flag of the Irish Republic has been
hoisted in Dublin and the armed forces of the Irish Republic have
everywhere set the enemy and defeated them - North, South, East and
West. The Irish Army has been in action all day, and at no single
point has it been driven in, nor lost a single position it has taken
up. In the name of Ireland we salute you. This is the greatest day
in Irish history and it is you who have made it so.
Signed: James Connolly
Commandant-General
Dublin Division.
Exhibit Z: Statement submitted by James Connolly in his defence.
I
don’t wish to make any defence except against charges of wanton
cruelty to prisoners. These trifling allegations that have been made
in that direction if they record facts that really happened deal
only with the almost inevitable incidents of a hurried uprising and
overthrowing of long established authorities, and no where show
evidence of a set purpose to wantonly injure unarmed prisoners.
We went out to break the connection between this country and the
British Empire and to establish an Irish Republic. We believe that
the call we thus issued to the people of Ireland was a holier
calling and a holier cause than any call issued to them during this
war having any connection with the war. We succeeded in proving that
Irishmen are ready to die endeavouring to win for Ireland their
national rights which the British Government has been asking then to
die to win for Belgium. As long as that remains the case the cause
of Irish Freedom is safe. Believing that the British Government has
no right in Ireland, never had any right in Ireland, and never can
have any right in Ireland. The presence in any one generation of
even a respectable minority of Irishmen ready to die to affirm that
truth makes that Government for ever an usurpation, and a crime
against human progress. I personally thank God that I have lived to
see the day when thousands of Irishmen and boys, and hundreds of
Irish women & girls, were equally ready to affirm that truth and
seal it with their lives if necessary.
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