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Tom Clarke (Irish republican)
Encyclopedia
Thomas James "Tom" Clarke was an Irish
revolutionary leader and arguably the person most responsible for the 1916 Easter Rising
. A proponent of violent revolution for most of his life, he spent 15 years in prison. Following his release he organized the Easter Rising, and was executed after it was quashed.
to James Clarke from Carrigallen
, Leitrim
, and his newly married bride, Mary Palmer from Tipperary
. His father was a soldier in the British Army and was based there. His father was transferred to South Africa when Thomas was one. The family moved with him. They did not return to Ireland until he was seven. He grew up in Dungannon
, County Tyrone
.
Dungannon, in the heart of east Tyrone, was a part of the country that had witnessed constant resistance to English interference in Irish affairs from the early modern period. It was a hotbed of paramilitary organization, some of which was agrarian located, other of which was politically motivated. The famine had afflicted that part of Ireland well into the early 1850s, and was very much within living memory during Tom's youth. This was a stronghold of the United Irishmen in times past, and became a center of Fenianism
. Dungannon–Coalisland
was a bastion of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
, which in 1867, had risen in arms in various parts of Ireland. Clarke was drawn into this type of activity. When he was old enough to join, he became a member of the IRB in Dungannon.
, visited Dungannon, and Clarke attended the meeting. He was captivated by Daly, and very soon afterwords was initiated into the IRB by Daly himself From the late 1870s onward, Clarke was totally committed to the cause of Irish republicanism. Before long, Clarke was playing a central role in local IRB activities.
In 1880, riots erupted in Dungannon between locals and the police. Clarke, armed with a rifle, proceeded to fire at police, and the crowd then proceeded to attack the constabulary. The authorities took this violence very seriously, and Clarke decided to leave the area in fear of his life. Friends of his were emigrating to America, and he decided to join them. He arrived in New York in later that year, at the age of 22. He managed to find work almost immediately as a hotel porter, but more importantly, he made contact with the American arm of the Fenian Movement, Clan na Gael
.
Clan na Gael was as significant as the branch in Ireland; they had more freedom in America and could foster republicanism and collect money for the cause. Many of the events of the 1880s were instigated by Clan na Gael. It was Clan na Gael who planned a bombing campaign
in England. This followed a series of failed uprisings in Ireland, and marked a change of tactics as the IRB and Clan na Gael decided to strike at the heart of the British Empire, embarking on a campaign designed to put the issue of Ireland at the forefront of British politics.
Clarke was sent back to England to participate in a dynamite campaign, in which bombs were being set off across London in places like the Tower of London
and the Underground
. The operation was riddled with informers and the police were actually following Clarke as he was engaged in surveillance missions.
The experience of being betrayed by an infiltrator in England when Clarke was on active service for the Fenians in Britain added greatly to his awareness of personal security. It contributed to his desire to be always in the background—a shadowy figure, a manipulative figure, involved, but removed. In his later revolution career, he was never directly betrayed by any close associate.
Before he was able to carry out his mission, Clarke was arrested and tried at the Old Bailey
in London in May 1883 under the assumed name of Henry Hammond Wilson, a pseudonym he adopted during the course of the dynamiting campaign. He was found guilty under the treason felony act
and sentenced to penal servitude for life.
Clarke was one of "The Special Men". He did years in what was the British equivalent of Devil's Island
. It was a calvary of suffering, in which he endured physical hardship, mental desolation, and emotional deprivation in a regime that was designed to crush the prisoners physically and spiritually.
Clarke saw people around him go insane, and year after year he had to battle against slipping into depression, because he knew that if that happened, that way madness lay. He was determined to get through his imprisonment:
Amongst the new prisoners to arrive at the prison during Clarke's sentence was John Daly. Daly was the man who had recruited him into the IRB originally. They managed to make contact. They had a system in place whereby they knocked on the walls of the prison a code of communication with each other. They hid messages in different places in the prison. They kept in touch and kept one another's spirits up.
He was able to rely on the friendship and protection of a few people like Daly, but Daly was eventually amnestied after almost starving himself to death in a hunger strike, and then, essentially, Clarke was left on his own. Only a person of remarkable willpower and resilience could have gotten through the hell that he endured.
Finally, after spending over 15 years behind bars, word came through that Clarke was to be released as part of a general amnesty on Fenian prisoners. Clarke left prison a damaged individual in one sense: he was physically aged—he looked much older than he was. He was filled with an absolute hatred directed toward the people and the system which he blamed for robbing him of the best years of his life. One day, he would have his revenge on those people and that system.
Tom Clarke was released from Portland Prison in the winter of 1898. The following spring he made a trip to Limerick
to visit his old friend, John Daly. He stayed with the Dalys on into the summer and formed a close bond with Daly's niece, Kathleen
.
He was 41 years of age, Kathleen, 21. The last thing the family expected was that there was going to be romance between one of the Dalys and Tom Clarke. Kathleen was very determined to be together with him.
Even with the age gap, they believed in the same principles. She was involved in republican activities throughout her life. They couldn't get married until he found a job. He failed to find a job in Ireland and returned to America, where they married.
Clarke migrated to the US in 1899 and immediately became reintegrated into the Clan na Gael structure. He became the right-hand man of the great John Devoy
, the most important surviving Fenian in North America, placing Clarke into the leadership hierarchy. Clarke applied for, and received US citizenship in 1905, and in 1906, obtained two fairly substantial farm properties in New York state. He did not immediately intend to return to Ireland, but he did so in 1907. The IRB was essentially being refounded in Ireland, predominantly by Bulmer Hobson
, Denis McCullough
, Pat McCartan
, and rising figures like Seán Mac Diarmada. Devoy sent Clarke back to Ireland to head up the American interest in the IRB revival.
Tom Clarke arrived back in Ireland, and moved with his family to Dublin city, where he immediately set about establishing a front for his revolutionary activities. Once Clarke had set up the front for the IRB on Parnell Street
, he was in almost daily contact with nearly all the leading players, most notably Bulmer Hobson, whom he would have encountered on his lecture tours in the United States. Amongst those who came into his milieu was Seán Mac Diarmada, who became the closest thing to an adjutant that Clarke would ever have. These were the people who collectively produced 1916
.
Seán Mac Diarmada was one of the first of many converts to Clarke's cause. He traveled the country spreading the revolutionary gospel, even continuing his work on behalf of the cause after he suffered a bout of polio that left him crippled. Many of the converts Mac Diarmada brought into the fold were drawn from a range of nationalist cultural organizations like the Gaelic League and the GAA
, which were set up during the language and cultural revival in Ireland at the beginning of the century.
. At this time the executive of the Council consisted of Seamus Deakin
as President and Chairman, Sean MacDiarmada as Secretary, and Tom Clarke as Treasurer. They instructed Bulmer Hobson
not to accept any position in the Volunteers, or appear to be in any way connected with the force. Despite this, he accepted the Secretaryship of the Provisional Committee. From the beginning of the Volunteers, there was according to Louis N. Le Roux, ‘a germ of internal conflict in the air’, however it did not become a matter of concern to the IRB leaders until May–June, 1914 when John Redmond
demanded control.
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In a letter to John Daly
, dated April 29, 1914 Clarke outlined the situation. Redmond, he said, was ‘thoroughly alarmed’ at the spread of the Volunteer movement, and they were prepared for some attempt to ‘make peace with the influential ones of the Provisional Committee.’ This, he said, proved to be the case, with Redmond offering Eoin MacNeill to finance the Volunteers if his Party would be allowed to have a controlling ‘say’ on the movement. To this MacNeill would not agree. Clarke also notes that Joe Devlin
, in an interview with Roger Casement
, would make practically the same offer, and meeting the same response, concluded the interview by outlining the situation:
The IRB instructed all their officers that Redmond must not be ‘allowed to get his tentacles’ on the Volunteers. On Sunday, June 7, MacNeill, Casement and Patrick McCartan
met in Dundalk
to discuss the response they would have to give to the demand by Redmond, John Dillon
and Devlin. McCartan obeyed his instructions, telling how dangerous it would be to allow Redmondites in, and both MacNeill and Casement dreaded the dilemma. On June 10, Redmond’s ultimatum appeared in the Press. While the IRB Executive and the Supreme Council would remain irreconcilable to the idea of surrender to Redmond, Hobson, despite his instructions, took an opposing course. Writing in An t-Oglach (Free State Army monthly), March, 1931, he wrote “I set to work and …succeeded in convincing a majority of the Committee of the necessity of our giving way for the moment.” When Clarke was told about Hobson’s exertions, and that the decision to accept Redmond’s nominees would not have been possible but for Hobson, he nearly broke down.
Sean McGarry
who was with Clarke when Hobson's actions were reviled recalled:
Following Clarke's falling out with Hobson, MacDermott and Clarke became almost inseparable. The two of them, as secretary and treasurer, respectively, de facto ran the IRB, although it was still under the nominal head of other men, Seamus Deakin, and later McCullough.
In 1915 Clarke and MacDermott established the Military Committee of the IRB to plan what later became the Easter Rising. The members were Pearse, Ceannt, and Joseph Plunkett, with Clarke and MacDermott adding themselves shortly thereafter. When the old Fenian, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa
, died in 1915, Clarke used his funeral (and Pearse's graveside oration
) to mobilise the Volunteers and heighten expectation of imminent action.
When an agreement was reached with James Connolly
and the Irish Citizen Army
in January, 1916, Connolly was also included on the committee, with Thomas MacDonagh
added at the last minute in April. These seven men were the signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic, with Clarke as the first signatory. It has been said that Clarke indeed would have been the declared President and Commander-in-chief, but he refused any military rank and such honours; these were given to Pearse, who was more well-known and respected on a national level.
during the events of Easter Week, where rebel forces were largely composed of Irish Citizen Army
members under the command of Connolly. Though he held no formal military rank, Clarke was recognised by the garrison as one of the commanders, and was active throughout the week in the direction of the fight, and shared the fortunes of his comrades. Following the surrender on April 29, Clarke was held in Kilmainham Jail until his execution by firing squad
on May 3 at the age of 59. He was the second person to be executed, following Patrick Pearse.
Before execution, he asked his wife Kathleen to give this message.
Message to the Irish People, 3 May 1916.
‘I and my fellow signatories believe we have struck the first successful blow for Irish freedom. The next blow, which we have no doubt Ireland will strike, will win through.
In this belief, we die happy. '
His widow Kathleen
was elected a TD
in the First
and Second
Dála
, notably speaking against the Anglo-Irish Treaty
.
In 1922, a collection of his prison writings, Glimpses of an Irish Felon's Prison Life, was published. All 13 chapters of the book had previously appeared as articles in the newspaper "Irish Freedom" in 1912-13. The book is a direct and honest account of the harsh treament he received in various British prisons.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
revolutionary leader and arguably the person most responsible for the 1916 Easter Rising
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
. A proponent of violent revolution for most of his life, he spent 15 years in prison. Following his release he organized the Easter Rising, and was executed after it was quashed.
Early life
Clarke was born on the Isle of WightIsle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
to James Clarke from Carrigallen
Carrigallen
Carrigallen is a small village in County Leitrim, Ireland. It is located on the R201 and R203 roads in the east of the county. The English translation of Carraig Álainn is "beautiful rock"....
, Leitrim
County Leitrim
County Leitrim is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county...
, and his newly married bride, Mary Palmer from Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
. His father was a soldier in the British Army and was based there. His father was transferred to South Africa when Thomas was one. The family moved with him. They did not return to Ireland until he was seven. He grew up in Dungannon
Dungannon
Dungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...
, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
.
Dungannon, in the heart of east Tyrone, was a part of the country that had witnessed constant resistance to English interference in Irish affairs from the early modern period. It was a hotbed of paramilitary organization, some of which was agrarian located, other of which was politically motivated. The famine had afflicted that part of Ireland well into the early 1850s, and was very much within living memory during Tom's youth. This was a stronghold of the United Irishmen in times past, and became a center of Fenianism
Fenian Brotherhood
The Fenian Brotherhood was an Irish republican organization founded in the United States in 1858 by John O'Mahony and Michael Doheny. It was a precursor to Clan na Gael, a sister organization to the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Members were commonly known as "Fenians"...
. Dungannon–Coalisland
Coalisland
Coalisland is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 4,917 people . As its name suggests, it was formerly a centre for coal mining.-History:...
was a bastion of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...
, which in 1867, had risen in arms in various parts of Ireland. Clarke was drawn into this type of activity. When he was old enough to join, he became a member of the IRB in Dungannon.
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The IRB was a secret oath-bound society committed to ridding Ireland of English rule and establishing an Irish Republic through physical force. In 1878, its national organizer, John DalyJohn Daly (Fenian)
John Daly , was an Irish revolutionary, and a leading member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Uncle to Kathleen Clarke, wife of Tom Clarke, executed for his part in the 1916 Rising who was a leading member of the IRB, and her brother John Daly , was an [[Ireland|Irish]] revolutionary, and a...
, visited Dungannon, and Clarke attended the meeting. He was captivated by Daly, and very soon afterwords was initiated into the IRB by Daly himself From the late 1870s onward, Clarke was totally committed to the cause of Irish republicanism. Before long, Clarke was playing a central role in local IRB activities.
In 1880, riots erupted in Dungannon between locals and the police. Clarke, armed with a rifle, proceeded to fire at police, and the crowd then proceeded to attack the constabulary. The authorities took this violence very seriously, and Clarke decided to leave the area in fear of his life. Friends of his were emigrating to America, and he decided to join them. He arrived in New York in later that year, at the age of 22. He managed to find work almost immediately as a hotel porter, but more importantly, he made contact with the American arm of the Fenian Movement, Clan na Gael
Clan na Gael
The Clan na Gael was an Irish republican organization in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister organization to the Irish Republican Brotherhood...
.
Clan na Gael was as significant as the branch in Ireland; they had more freedom in America and could foster republicanism and collect money for the cause. Many of the events of the 1880s were instigated by Clan na Gael. It was Clan na Gael who planned a bombing campaign
Fenian dynamite campaign
The Fenian dynamite campaign was a bombing campaign that took place in Great Britain from 1881 to 1885. It was carried out by the Irish Republican Brotherhood , nicknamed the "Fenians", who launched attacks on infrastructure as well as government, military and police...
in England. This followed a series of failed uprisings in Ireland, and marked a change of tactics as the IRB and Clan na Gael decided to strike at the heart of the British Empire, embarking on a campaign designed to put the issue of Ireland at the forefront of British politics.
Clarke was sent back to England to participate in a dynamite campaign, in which bombs were being set off across London in places like the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
and the Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
. The operation was riddled with informers and the police were actually following Clarke as he was engaged in surveillance missions.
The experience of being betrayed by an infiltrator in England when Clarke was on active service for the Fenians in Britain added greatly to his awareness of personal security. It contributed to his desire to be always in the background—a shadowy figure, a manipulative figure, involved, but removed. In his later revolution career, he was never directly betrayed by any close associate.
Before he was able to carry out his mission, Clarke was arrested and tried at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
in London in May 1883 under the assumed name of Henry Hammond Wilson, a pseudonym he adopted during the course of the dynamiting campaign. He was found guilty under the treason felony act
Treason Felony Act 1848
The Treason Felony Act 1848 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act is still in force. It is a law which protects HM the Queen and the Crown....
and sentenced to penal servitude for life.
Clarke was one of "The Special Men". He did years in what was the British equivalent of Devil's Island
Devil's Island
Devil's Island is the smallest and northernmost island of the three Îles du Salut located about 6 nautical miles off the coast of French Guiana . It has an area of 14 ha . It was a small part of the notorious French penal colony in French Guiana until 1952...
. It was a calvary of suffering, in which he endured physical hardship, mental desolation, and emotional deprivation in a regime that was designed to crush the prisoners physically and spiritually.
Clarke saw people around him go insane, and year after year he had to battle against slipping into depression, because he knew that if that happened, that way madness lay. He was determined to get through his imprisonment:
Amongst the new prisoners to arrive at the prison during Clarke's sentence was John Daly. Daly was the man who had recruited him into the IRB originally. They managed to make contact. They had a system in place whereby they knocked on the walls of the prison a code of communication with each other. They hid messages in different places in the prison. They kept in touch and kept one another's spirits up.
He was able to rely on the friendship and protection of a few people like Daly, but Daly was eventually amnestied after almost starving himself to death in a hunger strike, and then, essentially, Clarke was left on his own. Only a person of remarkable willpower and resilience could have gotten through the hell that he endured.
Finally, after spending over 15 years behind bars, word came through that Clarke was to be released as part of a general amnesty on Fenian prisoners. Clarke left prison a damaged individual in one sense: he was physically aged—he looked much older than he was. He was filled with an absolute hatred directed toward the people and the system which he blamed for robbing him of the best years of his life. One day, he would have his revenge on those people and that system.
Tom Clarke was released from Portland Prison in the winter of 1898. The following spring he made a trip to Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
to visit his old friend, John Daly. He stayed with the Dalys on into the summer and formed a close bond with Daly's niece, Kathleen
Kathleen Clarke
Kathleen Clarke, née Daly was a member of Cumann na mBan, and one of very few privy to the plans of the Easter Rising in 1916. She was the wife of Tom Clarke and sister to Ned Daly, both of whom would be executed for their part in the Rebellion...
.
He was 41 years of age, Kathleen, 21. The last thing the family expected was that there was going to be romance between one of the Dalys and Tom Clarke. Kathleen was very determined to be together with him.
Even with the age gap, they believed in the same principles. She was involved in republican activities throughout her life. They couldn't get married until he found a job. He failed to find a job in Ireland and returned to America, where they married.
Clarke migrated to the US in 1899 and immediately became reintegrated into the Clan na Gael structure. He became the right-hand man of the great John Devoy
John Devoy
John Devoy was an Irish rebel leader and exile.-Early life:Devoy was born near Kill, County Kildare. In 1861 he travelled to France with an introduction from T. D. Sullivan to John Mitchel...
, the most important surviving Fenian in North America, placing Clarke into the leadership hierarchy. Clarke applied for, and received US citizenship in 1905, and in 1906, obtained two fairly substantial farm properties in New York state. He did not immediately intend to return to Ireland, but he did so in 1907. The IRB was essentially being refounded in Ireland, predominantly by Bulmer Hobson
Bulmer Hobson
John Bulmer Hobson was a leading member of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood before the Easter Rising in 1916...
, Denis McCullough
Denis McCullough
Denis McCullough was a prominent Irish nationalist political activist in the early 20th century.-Early career - IRB activist:Born in Belfast, Ireland McCullough was a separatist nationalist from an early age...
, Pat McCartan
Patrick McCartan
Patrick McCartan was an Irish republican and politician. He was born in Eskerbuoy, near Carrickmore, County Tyrone to Bernard McCartan and Bridget Rafferty. He emigrated to the USA as a young man and became a member of Clan na Gael in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and edited the journal Irish Freedom...
, and rising figures like Seán Mac Diarmada. Devoy sent Clarke back to Ireland to head up the American interest in the IRB revival.
Tom Clarke arrived back in Ireland, and moved with his family to Dublin city, where he immediately set about establishing a front for his revolutionary activities. Once Clarke had set up the front for the IRB on Parnell Street
Parnell Street
Parnell Street is located on Dublin's Northside and runs from Capel Street in the west to Gardiner Street and Mountjoy Square in the east, and is at the north end of O'Connell Street, where it provides the south side of Parnell Square....
, he was in almost daily contact with nearly all the leading players, most notably Bulmer Hobson, whom he would have encountered on his lecture tours in the United States. Amongst those who came into his milieu was Seán Mac Diarmada, who became the closest thing to an adjutant that Clarke would ever have. These were the people who collectively produced 1916
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
.
Seán Mac Diarmada was one of the first of many converts to Clarke's cause. He traveled the country spreading the revolutionary gospel, even continuing his work on behalf of the cause after he suffered a bout of polio that left him crippled. Many of the converts Mac Diarmada brought into the fold were drawn from a range of nationalist cultural organizations like the Gaelic League and the GAA
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
, which were set up during the language and cultural revival in Ireland at the beginning of the century.
The Irish Volunteers
From the very beginning, the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood decided that it was essential that they should control, though secretly, the Irish VolunteersIrish Volunteers
The Irish Volunteers was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland"...
. At this time the executive of the Council consisted of Seamus Deakin
Seamus Deakin
Seamus Deakin was an Irish nationalist and member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, in which he briefly served as its president from 1913 to 1914.-Biography:...
as President and Chairman, Sean MacDiarmada as Secretary, and Tom Clarke as Treasurer. They instructed Bulmer Hobson
Bulmer Hobson
John Bulmer Hobson was a leading member of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood before the Easter Rising in 1916...
not to accept any position in the Volunteers, or appear to be in any way connected with the force. Despite this, he accepted the Secretaryship of the Provisional Committee. From the beginning of the Volunteers, there was according to Louis N. Le Roux, ‘a germ of internal conflict in the air’, however it did not become a matter of concern to the IRB leaders until May–June, 1914 when John Redmond
John Redmond
John Edward Redmond was an Irish nationalist politician, barrister, MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party from 1900 to 1918...
demanded control.
John Daly (Fenian)
John Daly , was an Irish revolutionary, and a leading member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Uncle to Kathleen Clarke, wife of Tom Clarke, executed for his part in the 1916 Rising who was a leading member of the IRB, and her brother John Daly , was an [[Ireland|Irish]] revolutionary, and a...
, dated April 29, 1914 Clarke outlined the situation. Redmond, he said, was ‘thoroughly alarmed’ at the spread of the Volunteer movement, and they were prepared for some attempt to ‘make peace with the influential ones of the Provisional Committee.’ This, he said, proved to be the case, with Redmond offering Eoin MacNeill to finance the Volunteers if his Party would be allowed to have a controlling ‘say’ on the movement. To this MacNeill would not agree. Clarke also notes that Joe Devlin
Joseph Devlin
Joseph Devlin, also known as Joe Devlin, was an Irish journalist and influential nationalist politician...
, in an interview with Roger Casement
Roger Casement
Roger David Casement —Sir Roger Casement CMG between 1911 and shortly before his execution for treason, when he was stripped of his British honours—was an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary, and nationalist....
, would make practically the same offer, and meeting the same response, concluded the interview by outlining the situation:
The IRB instructed all their officers that Redmond must not be ‘allowed to get his tentacles’ on the Volunteers. On Sunday, June 7, MacNeill, Casement and Patrick McCartan
Patrick McCartan
Patrick McCartan was an Irish republican and politician. He was born in Eskerbuoy, near Carrickmore, County Tyrone to Bernard McCartan and Bridget Rafferty. He emigrated to the USA as a young man and became a member of Clan na Gael in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and edited the journal Irish Freedom...
met in Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
to discuss the response they would have to give to the demand by Redmond, John Dillon
John Dillon
John Dillon was an Irish land reform agitator from Dublin, an Irish Home Rule activist, a nationalist politician, a Member of Parliament for over 35 years, and the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party....
and Devlin. McCartan obeyed his instructions, telling how dangerous it would be to allow Redmondites in, and both MacNeill and Casement dreaded the dilemma. On June 10, Redmond’s ultimatum appeared in the Press. While the IRB Executive and the Supreme Council would remain irreconcilable to the idea of surrender to Redmond, Hobson, despite his instructions, took an opposing course. Writing in An t-Oglach (Free State Army monthly), March, 1931, he wrote “I set to work and …succeeded in convincing a majority of the Committee of the necessity of our giving way for the moment.” When Clarke was told about Hobson’s exertions, and that the decision to accept Redmond’s nominees would not have been possible but for Hobson, he nearly broke down.
Sean McGarry
Sean McGarry
Seán McGarry was a 20th century Irish nationalist and politician. A longtime senior member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood , he served as its president from May 1917 until November 1918 when he was one of a number of nationalist leaders arrested for his alleged involvement in the so-called...
who was with Clarke when Hobson's actions were reviled recalled:
Planning the uprising
In 1915 Clarke and MacDermott established the Military Committee of the IRB to plan what later became the Easter Rising. The members were Pearse, Ceannt, and Joseph Plunkett, with Clarke and MacDermott adding themselves shortly thereafter. When the old Fenian, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa
Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa
Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa , was an Irish Fenian leader and prominent member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. His life as an Irish Fenian is well documented but he is perhaps known best in death for the graveside oration given at his funeral by Pádraig Pearse.-Life in Ireland:He was born at...
, died in 1915, Clarke used his funeral (and Pearse's graveside oration
Ireland unfree shall never be at peace
"Ireland unfree shall never be at peace" were the climactic closing words of the graveside oration of Patrick Pearse at the funeral of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa on 1 August 1915...
) to mobilise the Volunteers and heighten expectation of imminent action.
When an agreement was reached with James Connolly
James Connolly
James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...
and the Irish Citizen Army
Irish Citizen Army
The Irish Citizen Army , or ICA, was a small group of trained trade union volunteers established in Dublin for the defence of worker’s demonstrations from the police. It was formed by James Larkin and Jack White. Other prominent members included James Connolly, Seán O'Casey, Constance Markievicz,...
in January, 1916, Connolly was also included on the committee, with Thomas MacDonagh
Thomas MacDonagh
Thomas MacDonagh was an Irish nationalist, poet, playwright, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising.-Early life:MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary...
added at the last minute in April. These seven men were the signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic, with Clarke as the first signatory. It has been said that Clarke indeed would have been the declared President and Commander-in-chief, but he refused any military rank and such honours; these were given to Pearse, who was more well-known and respected on a national level.
The Easter Rising
Clarke was stationed in the headquarters at the General Post OfficeGeneral Post Office (Dublin)
The General Post Office ' in Dublin is the headquarters of the Irish postal service, An Post, and Dublin's principal post office...
during the events of Easter Week, where rebel forces were largely composed of Irish Citizen Army
Irish Citizen Army
The Irish Citizen Army , or ICA, was a small group of trained trade union volunteers established in Dublin for the defence of worker’s demonstrations from the police. It was formed by James Larkin and Jack White. Other prominent members included James Connolly, Seán O'Casey, Constance Markievicz,...
members under the command of Connolly. Though he held no formal military rank, Clarke was recognised by the garrison as one of the commanders, and was active throughout the week in the direction of the fight, and shared the fortunes of his comrades. Following the surrender on April 29, Clarke was held in Kilmainham Jail until his execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
on May 3 at the age of 59. He was the second person to be executed, following Patrick Pearse.
Before execution, he asked his wife Kathleen to give this message.
Message to the Irish People, 3 May 1916.
‘I and my fellow signatories believe we have struck the first successful blow for Irish freedom. The next blow, which we have no doubt Ireland will strike, will win through.
In this belief, we die happy. '
Kathleen Clarke
Kathleen Clarke, née Daly was a member of Cumann na mBan, and one of very few privy to the plans of the Easter Rising in 1916. She was the wife of Tom Clarke and sister to Ned Daly, both of whom would be executed for their part in the Rebellion...
was elected a TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
in the First
First Dáil
The First Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919–1921. In 1919 candidates who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the Parliament of the United Kingdom and instead assembled as a unicameral, revolutionary parliament called "Dáil Éireann"...
and Second
Second Dáil
The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919–1922 Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected in 1921...
Dála
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
, notably speaking against the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...
.
In 1922, a collection of his prison writings, Glimpses of an Irish Felon's Prison Life, was published. All 13 chapters of the book had previously appeared as articles in the newspaper "Irish Freedom" in 1912-13. The book is a direct and honest account of the harsh treament he received in various British prisons.
Legacy
- Thomas Clarke Tower in BallymunBallymun FlatsThe Ballymun Flats refers to a number of flats - and often the tower block complex - in Ballymun, Dublin which is currently undergoing demolition.-History:...
was named after him. The top floor was used as a short stay hotel before its demolition in April 2008. - Dundalk railway stationDundalk railway stationDundalk Clarke railway station serves Dundalk in County Louth, Ireland. It consists of an island platform, with a bay facing south. It is served by the Dublin-Belfast "Enterprise" express trains as well as local Commuter services to and from Dublin...
was given the name Clarke on 10 April 1966 in commemoration of Clarke's role in the 1916 Rising. - He also featured on postage stamps in 1966.
- Dungannon Thomas ClarkesDungannon Thomas ClarkesDungannon Thomas Clarkes is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in the town of Dungannon in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. They play at O'Neill Park in Dungannon...
, a Gaelic Football team from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland are also named after him.