Eyewitness account of the Easter Rising,
1916.
| Summary: | Letter to ‘Peter’ from [schoolboy] Fras. O’Neill, writing from 41 Eccles Street, Dublin, in Jun. 1916, describing his experience of the Rising. He writes of seeing ‘a heap of home made bombs inside the gate. These were ordinary cocoa tins with explosives inside, and a fuse arrangement on top’ at Stephen’s Green and how Countess Markievicz ‘came tearing up in a Ford motor, and vaulted over the side. She was dressed in full green uniform with a Brear hat. She had a short green skirt over the regimental trousers, wore putees and strong [Maring] boots. She had a fine automatic pistol cocked in her hand, and was very pale and 43 nervous’. He goes on to describe the street fighting and snipers; how ‘ambulances came continually to the Mater in twos and trees, while many were brought in motors, ordinary cars and some even walked’; and how ‘we were beginning to get hungry. We could get no bread, nor meat, and a great many other things had to be done without’. After the surrender Dublin ‘was one heap of ruins’ with people going into ‘the smouldering and tottering GPO for souvenirs’ and ‘big motor loads of unidentified dead were brought up to Glasnevin and buried in a large trench there’. Includes illustrations. |
|---|---|
| In collection: | Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh and the Ryans of Tomcoole papers, 1854-1983. |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | Physical description: 1 item (7 pages). |
| Arrangement: | Sub-fonds. |
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Eyewitness account of the Easter Rising,
1916.
| In Collection: | Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh and the Ryans of Tomcoole papers, 1854-1983. |
|---|---|
| Description: | Letter to ‘Peter’ from [schoolboy] Fras. O’Neill, writing from 41 Eccles Street, Dublin, in Jun. 1916, describing his experience of the Rising. He writes of seeing ‘a heap of home made bombs inside the gate. These were ordinary cocoa tins with explosives inside, and a fuse arrangement on top’ at Stephen’s Green and how Countess Markievicz ‘came tearing up in a Ford motor, and vaulted over the side. She was dressed in full green uniform with a Brear hat. She had a short green skirt over the regimental trousers, wore putees and strong [Maring] boots. She had a fine automatic pistol cocked in her hand, and was very pale and 43 nervous’. He goes on to describe the street fighting and snipers; how ‘ambulances came continually to the Mater in twos and trees, while many were brought in motors, ordinary cars and some even walked’; and how ‘we were beginning to get hungry. We could get no bread, nor meat, and a great many other things had to be done without’. After the surrender Dublin ‘was one heap of ruins’ with people going into ‘the smouldering and tottering GPO for souvenirs’ and ‘big motor loads of unidentified dead were brought up to Glasnevin and buried in a large trench there’. Includes illustrations. |
| Language: | English |
| Extent: | 1 item (7 pages). |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Call Number: |
MS 48,461/2
(Manuscripts Reading Room) |
| Rights: | Reproduction rights owned by the National Library of Ireland. |