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I.C.A on the roof of Liberty Hall (Sourced through the Irish Labour History Society/via New Island Books)

Extract From the roof of the College of Surgeons, the Volunteers watched the city burn

During the Easter Rising 1916, a small force of men and women fought against British soldiers from their posts in St Stephen’s Green and City Hall. In his new book, Paul O’Brien recounts their tragic and noble struggle to protect the newly proclaimed Irish Republic.

As the Proclamation of the Irish Republic was being read on the steps of the General Post Office on Sackville Street on Easter Monday 24 April 1916, 160 members of the Irish Citizen Army under Commandant Michael Mallin were taking up position around St Stephen’s Green. For seven days, this small force of men and women fought against British soldiers. In this extract from Shootout: The Battle For St Stephen’s Green, 1916, Paul O’Brien explores the situation facing the members of the Irish Citizens’ Army in the area around The College of Surgeons on Thursday 27 April, 1916.

AT DUSK A Company of British soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment from Portobello Barracks moved rapidly into position on St Stephen’s Green South. Soldiers climbed onto the roof of the University Church and set up a Lewis Machine-gun post. Snipers took up firing positions in the adjacent buildings.

At dawn, rifle and machine-gun fire opened up on the Volunteers’ positions and continued throughout the day. In order to neutralise these new British posts, Commandant Mallin decided to send a sortie out that evening in order to remove the threat from this direction.

Margaret Skinnider and William Partridge were detailed to lead a section towards the Russell Hotel on the corner of the Green and Harcourt Street. Here they were ordered to gain entry, work their way down the row of buildings and set fire to the British posts. This would remove the snipers, force the withdrawal of the military and deny this position to the enemy.

York and Harcourt Street

At the York Street entrance to the College the section locked and loaded their weapons. Exiting from the side door, they ran in small rushes, keeping tight to the buildings towards the bottom of Harcourt Street.

A shop adjacent to the hotel would enable them to gain access to the roof, and from here they could launch their assault against the British position.

Leaving the cover of the buildings, they careered across the road towards the shop. In order to gain entry, Partridge smashed the glass front of the premises with the butt of his weapon. As the sound of breaking glass echoed throughout the street, a volley of rifle fire erupted from a nearby building. Margaret Skinnider turned to speak to Fred Ryan when he caught the full blast of the first volley of fire, killing him outright. Fred Ryan resided on High Street and was seventeen years old. His death left a mother, an invalid brother and a seven-year-old nephew.

Another volley hit Skinnider, and she collapsed on the roadway. The others threw themselves onto the ground or took cover in the shop doorway. Skinnider’s body was dragged into cover as the section laid down a covering fire. She was still breathing, but seriously wounded.

(Military Archives/New Island Books)

Margaret Skinnider was shot and seriously wounded outside this building at the bottom of Harcourt Street.

Realising that his position was exposed and the mission had been compromised, Partridge decided to extricate the patrol and fall back to the College of Surgeons. Carrying the body of their wounded comrade, the section fell back towards the College.

They could hear the whine of ricochets in the air as they ran. Within minutes they piled in through the door of the College. The sortie had been costly with one killed, Ryan, and one seriously wounded. The Volunteers were ordered to place the wounded Skinnider on a bed in the makeshift hospital where her bloody tunic was removed. Realising that she was badly wounded, and that he did not have qualified medics, Mallin ordered that she was to be taken to the nearest hospital.

Refusing to evacuate

However, a semi-conscious Skinnider refused to be evacuated and insisted she wanted to remain with the garrison. Margaret French-Mullen tried her best to stem the flow of blood, applying field dressings to her wounds.

Later that evening, another search of the College resulted in the discovery of the Officer Training Corps arsenal hidden in one of the many rooms that made up the internal labyrinth of the building. Sixty-four rifles with bayonets and a large quantity of ammunition were distributed amongst the garrison.

Food was still scarce, and continued to be rationed. Many of the Volunteers collapsed at their posts from lack of sustenance and had to be removed to the sick bay. Commandant Mallin detailed a unit to go through all the buildings in his perimeter and search for supplies. This resulted in some finds, but the lack of food was to remain a problem in the coming days.

Captain Elliotson ordered a number of men to prepare for a sortie into St Stephen’s Green. Weapons were checked and loaded as his men made ready. The soldiers rushed out the side door of the hotel and across the road to the park railings. They scaled the perimeter fence and waited for a moment to see if their presence in the park would draw fire from the College.

All was silent as the men moved further into the Green. They picked up an assortment of weapons and ammunition, foodstuffs and medical supplies. They released a number of prisoners who had been held under lock and key in one of the greenhouses. Having carried out a thorough reconnaissance of the park, they retraced their steps and returned to the hotel.

(RCSI/New Island Books)

Live bombs on a table in the Royal College of Surgeons 1916.

Captain Elliotson questioned the detainees in relation to the strength of Mallin’s command and how they were armed. Having been incarcerated for a number of days without food or water, the hotel staff provided a meal for the released internees.

Isolating the Volunteers

By 12.00 hours on Thursday, Brigadier General WHM Lowe had almost 16,000 troops in position to retake the city. By means of fighting patrols, General Lowe had identified all the Volunteer posts within the city. His plan consisted of raising a cordon around the city and isolating the Volunteer Headquarters at the General Post Office. By concentrating his forces there, he could destroy the control point of the Rising. Other Volunteer outposts could be bypassed and taken later. With the use of artillery, he planned to bombard Volunteer positions into submission. He immediately ordered his men to begin operations and close down the city.

Commandant Mallin asked Christine Caffrey to try and get through to the GPO with a despatch. She left the College and made her way through various side streets towards Dame Street.

She had not noticed that she had been followed by a group of unfriendly locals who, on coming upon a British patrol, denounced Caffrey as a spy. She was taken to Trinity College under guard, where she saved herself by swallowing the despatch. One of the officers noticed that she was chewing something, and wanted to know what she was eating.

She at once produced a bag of sweets and offered him one. The officer refused her offer very abruptly and informed her that she was going to be searched. She protested, and was subjected to a thorough search by the male officers. When they failed to find any incriminating evidence she was released. She made her way back to the College, where upon entering she fainted. On recovering consciousness she reported her failure to break through British lines. She explained what had happened to Mallin, who replied ‘You have done very well.’ The College of Surgeons was now completely cut off.

The sound of artillery fire through the streets of Dublin

Since early morning, the inhabitants of Dublin city could hear the unmistakable sound of artillery fire intermingled with the rattle of machine-gun fire. As the day progressed the bombardment grew in intensity. The thud of shells could clearly be heard around the quays and in the vicinity of Sackville Street. A battery of four Royal Field Artillery eighteen-pounders, from the Reserve Artillery Brigade, had been entrained from Athlone.

Having cleared small pockets of resistance on the outskirts of the city they were now concentrating on Volunteer headquarters, the General Post Office on Sackville Street. Plumes of black smoke rose into the air and blotted out the horizon. In the ensuing destruction, buildings caught fire and the smell of burning wood, metal and flesh polluted the air.

That night, from their vantage point on the roof of the College of Surgeons, the Volunteers watched the Dantean scenes of mayhem and destruction as the second city of the empire burned.

Shootout: The Battle For St Stephen’s Green, 1916, is written by Paul O’Brien and published by New Island Books.

Scars of the Easter Rising you can still see on Dublin streets>

Extract: ‘Mr de Valera’s conviction that Hitler would win the war was stupid’>

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    Mute Joe Kinnane
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:37 AM

    Finding out about DDI (direct democracy Ireland ) and getting behind them would be the best way of commemorating these men
    It is the country being run how it should be and how these men would have wanted it
    The country run by the people for the people
    Tried and tested for centuries in Switzerland one of the top standards of living in the world

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    Mute snooch
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:40 AM

    It’s like spam the amount of unrelated DDI posts im reading on the comments these days.

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    Mute Joe Kinnane
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:46 AM

    I’d consider it very related
    What would these men have to say today we have lost our economic independence and more

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    Mute Niall Murphy
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:52 AM

    DD works in Switzerland because they have a responsible electorate .. Not so here, just look at the resurgence of ff..

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    Mute snooch
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:54 AM

    Well I dont see Ben Gilroy and a few other untested people making populist comments and demands to a small audience of very dedicated people like yourself as changing very much

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    Mute Joe Kinnane
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    Apr 1st 2013, 10:16 AM

    If you researched Ben you see he has a noble resolve.
    You can continue with the tried ff fg led self interested thieves.
    I’m ready to give something new a try instead of cribbing and negativity

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    Mute snooch
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    Apr 1st 2013, 10:25 AM

    Sure Enda Kenny has a noble resolve, it doesnt make him a particularly good leader.

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    Mute Joe Kinnane
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    Apr 1st 2013, 10:29 AM

    What do you propose

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    Mute snooch
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    Apr 1st 2013, 10:47 AM

    How about policies based on rational, well thought out, realistic and sustainable foundation.

    Populist nonsense from a lot of corners is doing nothing but damage to the expectations of the electorate.

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    Mute Joe Kinnane
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    Apr 1st 2013, 10:52 AM

    I couldn’t agree with you more
    Check out how DDI works
    It needs to promote itself hence the populist but true realistic comments

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    Mute Strongbow63
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    Apr 1st 2013, 11:19 AM

    The 1916 Rising has nothing to do with democracy. It was started without any mandate from the people. It was carried out without the permission of the head of the volunteers., Eoin O’Neill. It only really became symbolically significant with the deferement of Home Rule and the mass rejection of Britains intention to conscript Irishmen to the front line. Dubliners in general didnt want the city raised to the ground and outside Dublin..the middle classes ( farmers and merchants) saw it as a threat to their livelyhood. There was a perception that it was a socialist revolution because of Connollys involvement. Some people actually thought that the Germans had invaded. Remember there were something in the region of 200000 plus Irish men engaged in the British civil and public service and army. Thousands on the front line sending home pay to poor families. All seen it as a threat. Militarily it had no chance as the arms destined to sustain a prolonged assault had been intercepted on the Aud.

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    Mute Shane King
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    Apr 1st 2013, 1:50 PM

    Yea Joe its getting old very fast,every article someone brings up ddi and god forbid you ask them some questions on facebook a few if bens followers need to ease off abit

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    Mute Sean O'Sullivan
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:27 AM

    This is very interesting but a bit confusing in how its written. The surnames of the volunteers are facinating….not what we usually associate with our rising.

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    Mute Gerry Campbell
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    Apr 1st 2013, 12:38 PM

    Ming Flanagan , mick Wallace , Michael Lowery, please note.

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    Mute Finbarrb
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:22 AM

    This must be a great read – his book “Blood on the Streets” about the battle of Mount St bridge is very well researched and to those with an interest in history an important piece of work.

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    Mute The Brass Rat
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:35 AM

    The west brits on here wont like this piece at all.

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    Mute Al S Macthomais
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    Apr 1st 2013, 11:29 AM

    Difference today we have traitors in charge of Ireland in Dáil Éireann who sold out its natural resources as well as the Irish people compared to the patriots of 1916 who stood up for Ireland. Present day FG/LAB/FF/Greens are like the Irish parliament before the Act of Union sold out to line their own pockets. Ireland is in a new European empire with Merkel as its figurehead instead of being under British rule is the only difference nearly 100 years on.

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    Mute Cliona
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    Apr 1st 2013, 12:43 PM

    Great bit of history…..very interesting!

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    Mute Mata Mata
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:11 AM

    If the truth was known, the EU was terrified we could have a French style revolution had the Banking Financial Crisis got out of control.

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    Mute Gary
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:15 AM

    Cop on

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    Mute Sean O'Sullivan
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:25 AM

    Whats the Mata Mata? Missing your daily fix of economic crisis talk? Give it a rest.

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    Mute Keith Mulvey
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    Apr 1st 2013, 10:23 AM

    Moderator please?

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    Mute P.S
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    Apr 1st 2013, 8:09 PM

    This article really helped me to deeply understand the root source of current social and political issues that confront Ireland. A brilliant piece that remind me of my own history with the same Brit brutality in the name of imperialism. Am glad and lucky to read it. Cheers. I have always keen in learning Irish history. Like my mom always said if you are happy and have your freedom there call it your home.

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    Mute Adrian Bannon
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:22 AM

    Peaceful revolution is possible….
    http://www.filmsforaction.org/walloffilms/

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    Mute Al S Macthomais
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    Apr 1st 2013, 11:38 AM

    DDI model was in-place under the Irish Free State constitution under Articles 47,48 & 50 which had in effect the people power dictated instead of the current politicians dictating.This arrangement was not beneficial to the political class but FG and latter FF with Catholic Church took the power away from the Irish citizens and put themselves as we see what has happened since the 1937 constitution came into being from child and sexual abuse to indoctrination of foreign controlled religious dogma still effect the debate on abortion.

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    Mute n365
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    Apr 1st 2013, 9:51 PM

    Terrorists

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Apr 13th 2013, 10:11 AM

    If the British had not killed some of the volunteer’s the ,or executed if you like the outcome might have been different according to some historians

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    Mute Barry
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    Apr 1st 2013, 1:31 PM

    On the subject, for a change…. I thought Dr Kathleen Lynn was in the College of Surgeons?

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