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== The Irish Volunteers == |
== The Irish Volunteers == |
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⚫ | When the [[Irish Volunteers]] were formed in 1913, Clarke took a keen interest, but took no part in the organization, knowing that as a felon and well-known [[Irish nationalist]] he would lend discredit to the Volunteers. Nevertheless, with MacDermott, Hobson, and other IRB members such as [[Eamonn Ceannt]] taking important roles in the Volunteers, it was clear that the IRB would have substantial, if not total, control, (particularly after the co-option of [[Patrick Pearse]], already a leading member of the Volunteers, into the IRB at the end of 1913). This proved largely to be the case, until [[John Redmond]], the leader of the [[Irish Parliamentary Party]], demanded effective control of the Volunteers in the form of 25 additional representatives on its Provisional Committee, to be nominated by the IPP.<ref>Michael Tierney, ''Eoin MacNeill: Scholar and Man of Action'', Clarendon Press Oxford, p. 138-139</ref> Though most of the hard-liners stood against this, Redmond's decree was accepted, partially due to the support given by Hobson. Clarke never forgave him for what he considered a treasonous act. |
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{{Refimprove|date=April 2011}} |
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⚫ | When the [[Irish Volunteers]] were formed in 1913, Clarke took a keen interest, but took no part in the organization, knowing that as a felon and well-known [[Irish nationalist]] he would lend discredit to the Volunteers. Nevertheless, with MacDermott, Hobson, and other IRB members such as [[Eamonn Ceannt]] taking important roles in the Volunteers, it was clear that the IRB would have substantial, if not total, control, (particularly after the co-option of [[Patrick Pearse]], already a leading member of the Volunteers, into the IRB at the end of 1913). This proved largely to be the case, until [[John Redmond]], the leader of the [[Irish Parliamentary Party]], demanded control of the Volunteers in the form of 25 additional representatives on its Provisional Committee, to be nominated by the IPP.<ref>Michael Tierney, ''Eoin MacNeill: Scholar and Man of Action'', Clarendon Press Oxford, p. 138-139</ref> Though most of the hard-liners stood against this, Redmond's decree was accepted, partially due to the support given by Hobson. Clarke never forgave him for what he considered a treasonous act. |
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== Planning the uprising == |
== Planning the uprising == |
Revision as of 02:35, 7 April 2011
Thomas James "Tom" Clarke Irish: Tomás Séamus Ó Cléirigh | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 3 May 1916 | (aged 58)
Other names | Henry Wilson |
Organization | Irish Republican Brotherhood |
Movement | Irish Republicanism |
Spouse | Kathleen Clarke |
Thomas James "Tom" Clarke (Irish: Tomás Séamus Ó Cléirigh; 11 March 1858[1] – 3 May 1916) 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.
Early life
Clarke was born on the Isle of Wight 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.[2]
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.[3] 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,[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] In 1878, its national organizer, John Daly, visited Dungannon, and Clarke attended the meeting. He was captivated by Daly, and very soon afterwords was initiated into the IRB by Daly himself[7][8] 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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13]
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.[14] 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.[15]
Nothing in [the rules and regulations] startled me like the one that stated, "Strict silence must at all times be observed; under no circumstances must one prisoner speak to another." When I thought of what that meant in conjunction with another paragraph, "No hope of release for life prisoners till they have completed twenty years, and then each case will be decided on its own merits," and remembered with what relentless savagery the English Government has always dealt with the Irishmen it gets into its clutches, the future appeared as black and appalling as imagination could picture it.
"Early Prison Thoughts"[16]
Clarke was one of "The Special Men".[17] He did 15+1⁄2 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.
Harassing morning, noon, and night, and on through the night, harassing always and at all times, harassing with bread and water punishments, and other punishments, with "no sleep" torture and other tortures. This system was applied to the Irish prisoners, and to them only, and was specially devised to destroy us mentally and physically—to kill or drive insane.
"Early Prison Thoughts"[18]
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:
Clinch your teeth hard and never say die.
Keep your thoughts off yourself all you can.
[...]
Guard your self-respect (if you lost that you'd lose the backbone of your manhood).
Keep your eyes wide open and don't bang your head against the wall.
"The Golden Rules of Life for a Long Sentence Prisoner"[19]
Amongst the new prisoners to arrive at the prison during Clarke's sentence was John Daly.[2] 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.[20]
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.[21] Only a person of remarkable willpower and resilience could have gotten through the hell that he endured.
Here we are in 1893 [and I] have been in prison 10 years, almost a third of my lifetime. ...No one can understand all the hardships [but myself, but] notwithstanding it all, I am from the heart's core to the fingertips, Irish. Always proudly Irish as in the old days.
letter to Paddy Jordan[22]
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.[23] Clarke left prison a damaged individual in one sense: he was physically aged—he looked much older than he was.[2] 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.[24]
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.[25]
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.[26]
Even with the age gap, they believed in the same principles. She was involved in republican activities throughout her life.[27] 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[28] 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,[29] and in 1906, obtained two fairly substantial farm properties in New York state.[11] He did not immediately intend to return to Ireland, but he did so in 1907.[30] The IRB was essentially being refounded in Ireland, predominantly by Bulmer Hobson, Denis McCullough, Pat McCartan, and rising figures like Seán Mac Diarmada.[31] Devoy sent Clarke back to Ireland to head up the American interest in the IRB revival.[32]
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.[33] 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.[34] 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.[35] Many of the converts Mac Diarmada brought into the fold were drawn from a range of nationalist cultural organizations.
The Irish Volunteers
When the Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913, Clarke took a keen interest, but took no part in the organization, knowing that as a felon and well-known Irish nationalist he would lend discredit to the Volunteers. Nevertheless, with MacDermott, Hobson, and other IRB members such as Eamonn Ceannt taking important roles in the Volunteers, it was clear that the IRB would have substantial, if not total, control, (particularly after the co-option of Patrick Pearse, already a leading member of the Volunteers, into the IRB at the end of 1913). This proved largely to be the case, until John Redmond, the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, demanded effective control of the Volunteers in the form of 25 additional representatives on its Provisional Committee, to be nominated by the IPP.[36] Though most of the hard-liners stood against this, Redmond's decree was accepted, partially due to the support given by Hobson. Clarke never forgave him for what he considered a treasonous act.
Planning the uprising
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, James 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.
The Easter Rising
Clarke was stationed in the headquarters at the General Post Office 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 through out the week in the direction of the fight, and shared the fortunes of his comrades.[37] 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, 3rd 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. The 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 Ballymun was named after him. The top floor was used as a short stay hotel before its demolition in April 2008.
- Dundalk railway station 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 Clarkes, a Gaelic Football team from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland are also named after him.
External links and References
- James Clarke: family history of Tom Clarke on Carrigallen website.
- Caulfield, Max (1965). The Easter Rebellion. London: New English Library. pp. 380p.
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(help) - Kee, Robert (2000). The Green Flag: a History of Irish Nationalism. London: Penguin. pp. 877p. ISBN 0-14-029165-2.
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(help) - Lyons, F.S.L. (1973). Ireland since the famine (2nd rev. ed. ed.). London: Fontana. pp. 880p. ISBN 0-00-633200-5.
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(help) - Townshend, Charles (2005). Easter 1916: the Irish rebellion. London: Allen Lane. xxi, 442p. ISBN 0-7139-9690-0.
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Notes
- ^ O'Brien, Conor Cruise (1960). The shaping of modern Ireland. London: Routledge & Paul. p. 36.
- ^ a b c "The seven signatories of the proclamation: Tom Clarke". The 1916 Rising: personalities & perspectives. National Library of Ireland. 2006. Retrieved 19 Oct 2010.
- ^ Watson, Robert Spence (1887). England's dealings with Ireland. London: National Liberal Federation. p. 40.
- ^ Madden, Richard Robert (1842). The United Irishmen, their lives and times, Volume 1. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard. p. 29.
- ^ McConville, Seán (2003). Irish political prisoners, 1848-1922: theatres of war. London: Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 9780415219914.
- ^ Metscher, Priscilla (Spring/Summer 2001). "'Ireland Her Own': Radical Movements in Nineteenth-Century Ireland" (PDF). The Republic (2). Dublin: The Ireland Institute: 66. ISSN 1393-9696. Retrieved 18 Dec 2010.
{{cite journal}}
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(help) - ^ "Signatories of the Proclamation". The Capuchin annual. 33. Dublin: 154. 1966. ISSN 0069-0244. Retrieved 15 Dec 2010.
- ^ Martin, Francis X. (1967). Leaders and men of the Easter Rising: Dublin 1916. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. p. 101.
- ^ "Lady Day in the North: The Dungannon Riot". The Irish Times. Dublin. 18 Aug 1880. p. 5. Retrieved 18 Dec 2010.
- ^ Rees, Russell (1998). Ireland, 1905-1925: Text and historiography. Newtownards, Northern Ireland: Colourpoint. p. 87. ISBN 9781898392408.
- ^ a b "The Story of Thomas J. Clarke". Ancient Order of Hibernians Michael Collins Division 11. Hampton Bays Hibernians Inc. Retrieved 26 Dec 2010.
- ^ "1858 - 2008 Irish Republican Brotherhood 150th Anniversary: Taking the war to John Bull". An Phoblacht. 17 Jan 2008. Retrieved 1 Jan 2011.
- ^ The Repeal of the Union conspiracy; or, Mr. Parnell, M.P., and the I.R.B. London: William Ridgway. 1886. p. 69.
- ^ Katona, Peter (2006). Countering terrorism and WMD: creating a global counter-terrorism network. Oxon, UK: Taylor & Francis. pp. 37–38. ISBN 9780415384988.
{{cite book}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Thomas Gallagher, Alfred Whitehead, Henry Wilson, William Ansburgh, John Curtin, Bernard Gallagher, Royal Offences > treason, 28th May 1883". The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913. Old Bailey Proceedings Online. Retrieved 27 Apr 2008.
- ^ Clarke, Thomas James (1922). Glimpses of an Irish felon's prison life. Dublin and London: Maunsel & Roberts. p. 3.
- ^ Clarke 1922, p. 6
- ^ Clarke 1922, p. 7
- ^ Clarke 1922, p. 66
- ^ Clarke 1922, pp. 10ff.
- ^ Clarke, Kathleen (1991). Revolutionary woman: Kathleen Clarke, 1878-1972: an autobiography. Dublin: O'Brien Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780862782450.
{{cite book}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "James Clarke". Carrigallen, County Leitrim, Ireland. Retrieved 23 Jan 2011.
- ^ Burke, Edmund (1871). "English History". The Annual register of world events. 112. London, New York: Longmans Green and Co: 50. Retrieved 25 Jan 2011.
- ^ Le Roux, Louis N (1936). Tom Clarke and the Irish freedom movement. Dublin: Talbot Press. p. 14.
- ^ "Thomas James Clarke (1857-1916)". Galway Independent. IFNGROUP. 22 Sep 2010. Retrieved 27 Jan 2011.
- ^ Clarke 1991, p. 25
- ^ Richardson, Sally (7 May 2004). "The Irish Revolutionary Women of Cumann na mBan". Irish Democrat. London: Connolly Publications Ltd. Retrieved 9 Mar 2011.
- ^ Joy, Maurice (1916). The Irish rebellion of 1916 and its martyrs: Erin's tragic Easter. New York: The Devin-Adair company. p. 408.
- ^ Ward, Alan J. (1969). Ireland and Anglo-American relations, 1899-1921. London: London School of Economics and Political Science, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 24. ISBN 9780297177111.
- ^ Murphy, Brian P. (1991). Patrick Pearse and the lost republican ideal. Dublin: James Duffy. p. 38. ISBN 9780951743409.
- ^ Mac Donncha, Mícheál (28 Oct 2010). "Remembering the Past: Centenary of 'Irish Freedom' newspaper". anphoblacht.com. An Phoblacht. Retrieved 21 Mar 2011.
- ^ Ward, Alan J. (Mar 1968). "America and the Irish Problem 1899-1921". Irish Historical Studies. 16 (61). Dublin: Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd: 68. ISSN 0021-1214. Retrieved 24 Mar 2011.
- ^ "Postcards: Easter 1916 Set 6". Island Ireland. Island Ireland Marketplace. Retrieved 30 Mar 2011.
- ^ "Thomas James Clarke". Triskelle - Irish history. Vincent J. Peters. Retrieved 30 Mar 2011.
- ^ "Sean Mac Diarmada". Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved 5 Apr 2011.
- ^ Michael Tierney, Eoin MacNeill: Scholar and Man of Action, Clarendon Press Oxford, p. 138-139
- ^ Piaras F. Mac Lochlainn, Last Words, An Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta, Gaeltachta agus Oileán, 1990