15 C. 1916


Just as the IRB had secretly joined other organisations such as the GAA and the Gaelic League, it now infiltrated the Irish Volunteers without MacNeill’s knowledge. They believed that ‘England’s difficulty was Ireland’s opportunity’. The British government did not have the resources to keep watch on well-known Irish rebels as it had to withdraw many of its troops from Ireland to fight in World War I. To the IRB this seemed to be the perfect time to organise a rebellion to gain full independence from Britain. In 1915, a five- man IRB Military Council was set up. Its members were Pádraig Pearse, Thomas Clarke, Seán MacDiarmada, Joseph Plunkett and Éamonn Ceannt. They began to plan a rebellion. MacNeill remained unaware of their plans. The Military Council discovered that James Connolly was also planning a socialist rebellion using the Irish Citizen Army. Members of the Military Council explained their plans to him and in 1916, both he and Thomas MacDonagh were included in the planning of the rebellion. They decided that the rebellion would take place on Easter Sunday 23 April, 1916.


If the Military Council was to be successful, MacNeill had to be persuaded to let the Irish Volunteers join the rebellion. The IRB achieved this by tricking him. Plunkett wrote a letter pretending to be from the British authorities in Dublin Castle declaring the Irish Volunteers to be illegal and ordering its leaders to be arrested. This letter became known as the Castle Document. The Council let MacNeill believe this letter was from the British government. MacNeill agreed to put the Irish Volunteers on full alert.


The IRB asked Germany to provide support for their rebellion. The Germans would not send soldiers but offered a shipload of rifles and machine guns. Roger Casement was sent to Germany to bring the ship back to Ireland. On 20 April 1916 the ship, called the Aud, was captured by the British navy off the coast of Kerry and Casement was arrested.


When MacNeill found out that the Aud had been captured and that the Castle Document had been written by Plunkett, he cancelled all involvement in the rebellion. He put a notice in the newspapers alerting Irish Volunteers that all plans for the rebellion on Sunday 23 April were cancelled.


Fig 15.18 Roger Casement was found guilty of treason and hanged in August 1916.


412


Fig 15.17 Pádraig Pearse believed the only way Ireland could achieve independence from Britain was by force.


DiScOvErInG HiStOrY


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