by Eamon Murphy
Introduction
Wynn’s Hotel, situated in Lower Abbey Street, Dublin, has been in existence as a commercial hostel for nearly 180 years. Miss Phoebe Wynn originally opened it as a boarding house back in 1845. Prior to this, No.35 Lower Abbey Street had housed a Church of Ireland rectory. Wynn’s Hotel was ideally situated, being next to the main thoroughfare of Dublin, known then as Sackville Street. While the original owner Miss Wynn only operated it for about seven years, it continued to be known as Wynn’s Hotel throughout its existence, apart from a short period in the late 19th century when it was briefly known as Telford’s Hotel. By the early part of the 20th Century Wynn’s had expanded and by now it had occupied no’s 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 Lower Abbey Street.[1] Due to its proximity to the commercial, political and social centres of the capital city, it hosted many important meetings and gatherings. Perhaps the most famous meeting held at Wynn’s Hotel was the gathering of eleven like-minded nationalists on 11th November 1913. This meeting set the wheels in motion for the formation of The Irish Volunteers. The Irish Volunteers would go on to play a very significant and leading role over the next decade in the struggle for Irish freedom. This short article will examine the background to the foundation of the Irish Volunteers and the lead up to the historic meeting at Wynn’s Hotel in November 1913.
Background
The foundation of the Gaelic League in 1893, and the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884 contributed to a renewed feeling of nationalism and cultural identity in Ireland.[2] It also helped to instill a desire among Irishmen and women to be in control of their own destiny. The rise of these cultural and sporting organisations in the late 19th century coincided with the campaign for Home Rule. The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) spearheaded this home rule movement. While attempting to seek self-government for Ireland they still advocated maintaining a link with the British Crown. They had no real desire to achieve complete independence from the British Empire. Another group active at this time, but which remained behind the scenes, was the secretive Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.). This was an underground republican organisation, which had been in existence from around the middle of the 19th Century. The aims and objectives of this clandestine society were to remove British control over the island of Ireland and to establish an independent republic through force or otherwise; Home Rule was not an option.[3] Following a number of relatively quiet years for the I.R.B. towards the latter half of the 19th century, they began to enjoy a minor resurgence following the 1798 United Irishmen centenary celebrations in 1898.
In 1905 two Ulster Republicans and members of the I.R.B., Bulmer Hobson and Denis McCullough, formed the ‘Dungannon Clubs’ in Belfast which on the surface was a cultural and commemorative association but in reality was a cover for their activities in the I.R.B. and it was used to promote extreme nationalism.[4] This development was a huge turning point for the nationalist revival in the country. Leon O’Broin credits Hobson in particular as being responsible for the revival of the I.R.B.[5] Another event that managed to put ‘new life and vigour’ into the I.R.B., and nationalism in general, was the return of Tom Clarke from America in 1907.[6] The emergence of Arthur Griffiths’ Sinn Fein political party in 1905, Inghinidhe na h-Eireann in 1900 and Fianna Eireann, the Nationalist Boy Scout movement, in 1909, along with the Gaelic League and the GAA, all contributed to this nationalist revival happening in Ireland. The I.R.B. was successful in infiltrating most of these organisations.[7]
In 1910, the prospect of Home Rule for Ireland was beginning to look like an achievable goal. The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) had received assurances from the British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith that Home Rule would be addressed if they gave their support to the Liberal party. The IPP, under the leadership of John Redmond, now held the balance of power in Westminster and felt confident that their objectives and demands would be met. However the majority Protestant population in Ulster had no desire to be ruled from Dublin under a devolved form of government. They wished to remain under the direct control of Westminster. The Unionists led by Sir Edward Carson and James Craig feared that Home Rule would eventually lead to full independence; as a result they fiercely opposed this Home Rule proposal. In September 1912, over 200,000 men signed the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant pledging resistance to Home Rule. Early the next year the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was set up to defend the Union and soon had over 100,000 men enrolled.[8]
The Irish Volunteers
These events in Ulster might have appeared, on the surface, as a blow to the nationalist’s attempts for self-government but in reality it was the spark, which was needed, to finally light the fire of revolution. The I.R.B. leaders believed the time was now right to take the next step in achieving their goal of a Republic. Up until now the I.R.B. had, apart from infiltrating other Irish organisations, limited their activities to ‘recruiting suitable candidates for membership, collecting funds for arms for use against the British Government in Ireland, and the propagation of papers and literature containing Republican ideals’.[9] Tom Clarke revealed his delight to Sean T. O’Kelly at the developments in Ulster:
‘Let them fire away, the more they organise the better. Aren’t they setting us a splendid example? Soon, very soon, we will be following in their footsteps………We must see to it that the first step is taken by the right people and then we [I.R.B.] can step in behind [the Volunteers] and guide and direct them……..oh, lads, the day is coming and is coming quickly’.[10]
I.R.B. Supreme Council member, Bulmer Hobson later wrote, ‘in the I.R.B. we knew that Carsonism had opened a door that would not easily be closed again, and that we had but to wait and get ready to take advantage of the new situation that was rapidly emerging’.[11] Hobson declared at a meeting of the Dublin Centres Board in July, 1913, that ‘the time was rapidly approaching when it would be possible to start an Irish Volunteer Organisation’ to counteract what was happening in Ulster but also to finally establish an army for the nationalist people of Ireland.[12] I.R.B. members at that meeting included Seamus O’Connor, Sean Murphy, and George Lyons.[13] After several discussions took place within the I.R.B. hierarchy it was decided to begin the process of military training. This decision was taken with the objective of training the members of the I.R.B. ‘to ensure that they would have the skills necessary to take a leading role in the new movement’.[14] Four young Na Fianna Eireann officers, who were also I.R.B. men, Eamon Martin, Cornelius Colbert, Michael Lonergan and Padraig O’Riain, were chosen to conduct the training.[15] These four young men were already highly competent in military procedures and drilling; they had been training for the previous four years in the Fianna.[16] Na Fianna Eireann was a nationalist scouting body that had been formed four years earlier, by Hobson and Countess Markievicz, with the objective of the ‘re-establishment of the Independence of Ireland’. This was to be realised by the ‘training of the boys of Ireland, mentally and physically, to achieve this object by teaching scouting and military exercises, Irish history and Irish language’.[17]
Eamon Martin, one of those I.R.B. instructors, recalled that Con Colbert was the first Fianna instructor back in 1909:
‘He was our first instructor in the elementary drill formations [in 1909], and I am afraid he was no great expert at this time. By intense swotting [of British Army manuals], however, he improved as the weeks went on, and, consequently, so did the Sluagh [Fianna branch]’.[18]
It was now down to these four young men to prepare the I.R.B. members in drilling and other military training ‘in order to be ready to take over the military control of the new body’.[19] Drilling took place in the Irish National Foresters Hall at 41 Parnell Square.[20]
While the I.R.B. decided that the time was right to establish a Nationalist Volunteer force they were careful not to reveal their involvement in endeavours to launch the movement. They felt that they needed a neutral and prominent figure who was respected by all sectors of the nationalist community, and who could call upon nationalist of all persuasions.[21] They feared that if the I.R.B.’s association with the Volunteers was known, it could hinder the progression of the movement. Many still viewed this secret organisation with suspicion and would be reluctant to join a force controlled by the I.R.B.
On 1st November, when an article in the Gaelic League newspaper An Claidheamh Soluis entitled ‘The North Began‘ was published by the esteemed Professor of Early and Medieval Irish History at University College Dublin, Eoin MacNeill, the I.R.B. knew they had their man. MacNeill was originally from Antrim and had been instrumental, alongside Douglas Hyde, in founding the Gaelic League in 1893. He was a supporter of John Redmond and the IPP and was not suspected as having revolutionary sympathies. In his article MacNeill advocated the creation of a Nationalist Volunteer force in response to the recent formation of the UVF. He spoke of the political history of Ireland in the 18th Century and of the Volunteers of the 1780s. While the situation in the 18th Century was different to what existed in 1913, the article was nevertheless a significant piece of influential propaganda. Historian T. Desmond Williams later wrote that MacNeill was ‘responding superbly to the situation in Ireland’. It was later said that this article was ‘the real opening of the most revolutionary period in modern Irish history’.[22] It is not clear what prompted MacNeill to write such a powerful and influential article. Aodogan O’Rahilly later claimed that it was his father, The O’Rahilly, who was the manager at the Gaelic League newspaper at that time, who had asked MacNeill to ‘contribute an article advocating the formation of an Irish Volunteer Arm’.[23] MacNeill noted in his memoirs that O’Rahilly had only asked him to write an article that did not deal solely with the Gaelic League but one that would have a ‘wider appeal’,[24] it seems MacNeill then took it upon himself to advocate the formation of a Volunteer force. No doubt he was influenced by the current political situation.
The I.R.B. now saw MacNeill as the perfect candidate to head the new Volunteer force. He was a well-known moderate and had a good reputation among nationalists. His involvement would, they hoped, give the Volunteers a certain status and respectability.[25] Bulmer Hobson, in his capacity as I.R.B. Supreme council member, visited the offices of An Claidheamh Soluis and spoke to The O’Rahilly. Hobson proposed the formation of a National Volunteeer Force and asked O’Rahilly if he would be interested in becoming involved. The O’Rahilly also agreed to speak to MacNeill to determine if he would be willing to preside at a meeting to discuss the establishment of a Volunteer Force.[26] While Hobson’s real intentions were not offered, MacNeill later wrote in his memoirs that he had ‘no doubt that both these men [Hobson and O’Rahilly] came to me from the old physical force party whose organisation was the I.R.B. [*O’Rahilly was an active Sinn Feiner, but not a member of the I.R.B.], and I also had little doubt of the part I was expected to play’.[27] Whether MacNeill knew of any ulterior motives of the men behind the proposed Volunteers or not, it did not affect his willingness to participate. The stage was now set for the momentous formation of the Irish Volunteers.
A couple of days after MacNeill agreed to become involved, Hobson issued invitations, signed by The O’Rahilly, to a number of prominent nationalists to attend a meeting on Tuesday 11th November 1913 in Wynn’s Hotel in Lower Abbey Street.[28] Hobson had booked a meeting room upstairs for the occasion. MacNeill had earlier stipulated that the committee should be representative of the various degrees of national politics. This prerequisite from MacNeill also suited the I.R.B. who were keen to get committee members from all nationalist traditions. The I.R.B. felt that the movement would have a greater chance of success if committee members were drawn from all sides, including the Irish Parliamentary Party, Sinn Fein, and the Gaelic League. If one organisation was excluded then it could spell trouble from the outset. The I.R.B. were quite happy with this arrangement, as they knew they were going to control the force from behind the scenes, regardless of who was on the committee. In fact a number of the individuals initially selected to attend the inaugural meeting were I.R.B. members, in addition to their other affiliations. Due to the highly secretive nature of the Brotherhood, in some cases these I.R.B. members did not know that the others were I.R.B. members as they were from separate circles (branches). The most prominent of the I.R.B. members who were invited to attend the first meeting were Bulmer Hobson and Sean MacDermott, both members of the Supreme Council.
The other men invited to the first meeting, in addition to Hobson (I.R.B. and Fianna Eireann), MacDermott (I.R.B.), O’Rahilly (Sinn Fein and Gaelic League) and MacNeill (Gaelic League), were, according to The O’Rahilly’s Secret History of the Irish Volunteers (1915) as follows:[29]
– Piaras Beaslai – I.R.B. [30]
– Patrick Pearse – Gaelic League.
– W.J. Ryan – No known affiliation.
– Eamon Ceannt – Sinn Fein, Gaelic League and I.R.B.
– Sean Fitzgibbon – Sinn Fein and Gaelic League.[31]
– J.A. Deakin – I.R.B.
– Joseph Campbell – No known affiliation.[32]
– D.P. Moran – Editor of The Leader and an IPP supporter[33]
Despite the various affiliations of those invited, O’Rahilly commented that as the invitations were ‘issued by myself, I am in a position to know something of the personnel of the original committee; and I say now that the men invited were deliberately selected not on party, political or sectarian lines, but solely because they were amongst the sincerest nationalist of my acquaintance in Dublin’.[34] This was in keeping with MacNeill’s earlier request. Although right from the beginning, it was clear that the I.R.B. had penetrated this new organisation. According to Beaslai, all were connected in some way to the ‘Irish Ireland’ movement.[35] The O’Rahilly states that only three of these invited men were Sinn Fein members (O’Rahilly, Fitzgibbon and Ceannt). MacDermott had apparently resigned from his position as a Sinn Fein organiser in 1911[36] but MacDermott’s biographer Gerard MacAtasney maintains that he was still a member of the party in 1913.[37] According to O’Rahilly, Arthur Griffiths was purposefully excluded due to his high profile position in Sinn Fein and it was felt that they already had enough people from Sinn Fein.[38]
I.R.B. and Sinn Fein member Sean T. O’Kelly later claimed that he was asked by MacNeill to join the committee but that Tom Clarke asked him not to as he was a ‘notorious Sinn Feiner’ and it would give the Redmond Party ‘an excuse for opposing the Volunteers’.[39]
Tom Clarke was the most recognized and notorious Republican in Dublin at that time but according to his wife Kathleen ‘he dared not show his nose in that, for to do so would make the British suspicious of it, but it was all done in collaboration with Tom behind the scenes’.[40] This was just as Tom had predicted to Sean T. O’Kelly when he said he would ‘guide and direct them’ from the background. Over the next two and a half years, Clarke would have a very influential and pivotal role in controlling the Volunteers behind the scenes, despite the fact that he was not officially associated with it.
Hobson had also decided not to attend the meeting as he was regarded as being an ‘extreme nationalist’ which he believed could ‘prove problematic’ and he did not want to damage the organisation from the beginning before it had got off the ground.[41] Hobson wrote in his History of the Irish Volunteers (1918)[42] that three others were invited and at the first meeting (Robert Page, Seamus O’Connor and Colm O’Loughlin) but he later claimed that he was mistaken and that they were at the 2nd meeting on the 14th November 1913.[43]
On the evening of 11th November 1913 this small group of nationalists gathered in an upstairs room in Wynn’s Hotel on Lower Abbey Street. The room was paid for by Hobson, who acted on behalf of the I.R.B.[44] MacNeill chaired the meeting and he addressed the committee in Irish. In his opening speech he spoke at length on the need for a nationalist Volunteer force. After a while Sean MacDermott asked if the rest of the meeting could be conducted in English, as several of those present could not speak Irish.[45] It was then decided that in order to be taken more seriously as a Volunteer organisation, more moderate nationalists were needed on the committee.[46] It was agreed that, over the next three days, various committee members would make contact with members of the Irish Parliamentary Party, the United Irish League (UIL), the Foresters, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), etc. and invite them to become part of the organising committee.[47] Beaslai, in particular, said that they must make serious efforts to seek out members of Redmond’s party otherwise they would be viewed with distrust and suspicion by the general population.[48] Two prominent Redmonites joined the committee at a subsequent meeting held a few days later, also in Wynn’s Hotel; they were Laurence Kettle, a Redmond supporter and a brother of IPP Member of Parliament, Tom Kettle, and John Gore, another well-known Redmonite.[49]
Other attempts, in those first few days, to attract moderate nationalists were not as successful, with members of the UIL and AOH initially hesitant to join up.[50] The O’Rahilly recalled that ‘refusals were the order of the day’, and according to Beaslai the proposal was met with hostility in some quarters however others were favourable.[51]
It was also decided at this inaugural meeting to approach Dublin Lord Mayor Lorcan Sherlock about the possibility of using the Mansion house for a public meeting to establish the Volunteers. He was to subsequently refuse their request.[52]
Within an hour of the meeting commencing, two Dublin Castle police detectives called to Wynn’s Hotel and requested the names and addresses of the committee and the reason for their get-together.[53] They warned the hotel management ‘against allowing any further such gatherings on the premises’.[54] The hotel management did not heed the advice of the police, as numerous other meetings were to take place at Wynn’s hotel prior to the first public meeting held two weeks later. The 2nd of these meetings at Wynn’s Hotel took place on Friday, 14th November. Hobson recalled several meetings occurring between the 11th and 25th November.[55] Beaslai counted five meetings in total held at Wynn’s hotel before the 25th.[56] During this short period several other names were added to the committee, which by now was referred to as the ‘Provisional Committee’. In all there were now thirty committee members, including twelve I.R.B. men.
Bulmer Hobson later listed the various affiliations of the thirty members of the Provisional Committee.[57]
Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood:
– Bulmer Hobson
– Eamon Ceannt
– Piaras Beaslai
– Con Colbert (also Fianna Eireann)
– Michael Lonergan (also Fianna Eireann)
– Sean MacDermott
– Peadar Macken
– Eamon Martin (also Fianna Eireann)
– Liam Mellows (also Fianna Eireann)
– Seamus O’Connor
– Padraig O’Riain (also Fianna Eireann)
– Robert Page
Members of the United Irish League – Irish Parliamentary Party:
– John Gore
– Laurence Kettle
– Tom Kettle
– Colonel Maurice Moore
Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians:
– Michael J. Judge
– James Lenehan
– Peter O’Reilly
– George Walsh
Not formally affiliated with any party *(at that time):
– Roger Casement
– Sean Fitzgibbon
– Liam Gogan
– Thomas MacDonagh
– Eoin MacNeill
– Colm O’Lochlainn
– The O’Rahilly
– Patrick Pearse
– Joseph Plunkett
– Peadar White
*Notes and comments on this list can be found in the endnotes [58]
As a result of Dublin Lord Mayor Lorcan Sherlock’s refusal to allow the inaugural Irish Volunteers public meeting to take place at the Mansion House, the committee made plans for the first public meeting to be held in the Rotunda on November 25th.[59] A statement was issued to ‘organisations of a national tendency’ and to the press:[60]
“In view of the present situation in national affairs, a voluntary Provisional Conference has been held for the formation of a National Volunteer Force. The undersigned have been deputed to act as Provisional Secretaries and to communicate with the various large organisations having national aims. It is not asked that any existing organisation should officially adopt the Volunteer movement. We only request that the movement should be brought to the knowledge of the members of each organisation and an opportunity be given to them to act as they think right.
The following points have been agreed upon:
– Immediate steps to be taken to enable Volunteers to be enrolled in Dublin and to promote the enrolment of Volunteers throughout Ireland.
-The purpose of the Volunteers will be to secure and maintain the rights and liberties of all the people of Ireland.
– Volunteers to be enrolled according to locality, and not according to any other classification, except where young men live under a special discipline and authority.*
Those who act in initiating the Volunteer movement do not assume direction or authority over the subsequent conduct of the movement. Persons desirous of furthering the movement will obtain the fullest information and assistance at our disposal.
A public meeting to commence the enrolment of the Irish Volunteers will be held in the large Concert Hall[61], Rotunda, on Tuesday, 25th November, at 8pm.
(Signed)
Eoin MacNeill
Laurence J. Kettle
Provisional Secretaries.
*This exception was made to meet the case of students at colleges.”
Piaras Beaslai later spoke of the fantastic achievement of the setting up of the Irish Volunteers in such a short space of time:
‘The amazing thing is this, that without any assistance from publicity, or assistance from the influential, it took us only a fortnight from the first meeting of the committee on Tuesday, November 11th [at Wynn’s Hotel], to the successful launching of the Volunteers at a huge meeting on November 25th.’[62]
That meeting at Wynn’s Hotel would later prove to be one of the most significant events in the Irish Independence period. However its part in the story of the Irish Revolution was not over and on 2nd April 1914, a group of over one hundred nationalist women met in a room in Wynn’s Hotel to form Cumann na mBan (Irish Women’s Council).[63] This organisation was founded as a women’s section of the Irish Volunteers and these revolutionary women would go on to write their own chapter in the history of Irish freedom. Women such as Countess Markievicz, Jennie Wyse Power, Winifred Carney, Sarah Mellows, Helena Moloney, Elizabeth O’Farrell, Kathleen Clarke and Maire Comerford all bravely took up the fight against the British occupier, as members of Cumann na mBan. In the weeks prior to the 1916 Easter Rising, the Military Council would often meet at Wynn’s Hotel, when it wasn’t safe to do so at Liberty Hall and other meeting places.[64] Wynn’s Hotel was destroyed during the Easter Rising but was eventually rebuilt in 1926.[65]
Wynn’s Commemoration
On the 15th November 1966 a plaque was unveiled at Wynn’s Hotel to commemorate the meeting that took place on 11th November 1913 to establish the Irish Volunteers. The Minister for Industry & Commerce, George Colley performed the unveiling. Mr. Colley spoke of the significance of that meeting at Wynn’s Hotel:
‘The founding of the Irish Volunteers [at Wynn’s Hotel] was, without doubt one of the great events of modern Irish history; it might be regarded as one of the turning points of our history. We are not commemorating the public inauguration of the Volunteers, which of course took place in the old Rotunda Rink on 25th November, 1913. We are honouring a meeting held a fortnight earlier in which a small group of patriotic Irishmen took the vital decision to organise the Volunteers, to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to all Irishmen’.[66]
Several surviving Irish Volunteer veterans were in attendance. Irish Volunteers Provisional Committee members Eamon Martin, Liam Gogan and Colm O’Lochlainn who all attended the 2nd meeting at Wynn’s Hotel on the 15th November 1913 were present for the unveiling. The only other surviving member of the Provisional Committee Bulmer Hobson was unable to attend. Others at the event included Lt. General Sean MacEoin, General Richard Mulcahy, Mr. Ernest Blythe, Denis McCullough and Mr. Cathal O’Shannon.[67]
Today the plaque still hangs on the wall of the main lounge in Wynn’s Hotel in Lower Abbey Street. The men who gathered that night to set Ireland on the path to freedom are long gone but their memory is still very much alive and should never be forgotten.
Endnotes
[1] Hotel background information obtained from the official booklet that was provided to those who attended the unveiling of the commemorative plaque at Wynn’s hotel on 15th November 1966. (copy in my possession)
[2] Brian O’Cuiv, 1969, ‘The Gaelic Cultural Movements and the New Nationalism’ in ‘The Making of 1916: Studies in the History of the Rising’ by Kevin B. Nowlan (ed.), pp. 1-30.
[3] Dorothy MacArdle, 1937, ‘The Irish Republic’, p.63.;
Desmond Ryan, 1949, ‘The Rising’, pp. 8-9.;
National Library of Ireland, n.d., ‘Bulmer Hobson and Denis McCullough – Constitution of the I.R.B.’, http://www.nli.ie/1916/pdf/3.2.1.pdf.
[4] Kevin Nowlan, 1967, ‘Tom Clarke, MacDermott, and the I.R.B.’ in ‘Leaders and Men of the Easter Rising’ by F.X. Martin (ed.), p. 111.
[5] Leon O’Brion, 1976, ‘Revolutionary Underground: The Story of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, 1858-1924’, p.141.
[6] John Devoy, 1929, ‘Recollections of an Irish Rebel’, p.392.;
Robert Kee, 1980, ‘Ireland – A History’, p. 142.
[7] Kathleen Clarke, 2008, ‘Kathleen Clarke: Revolutionary Woman’, p. 57.;
Edgar Holt, 1960, ‘Protest in Arms’, p. 22.
[8] W. Alison Philips, 1926, ‘The Revolution in Ireland, 1906-1923’, p.66.
[9] Thomas Wilson, Bureau of Military History (BMH) Witness Statement, no. 176, p.1.
[10] Sean T. O’Kelly, ‘The Founding of the Irish Volunteers’, in The Capuchin Annual, 1963, p.128.
[11] Bulmer Hobson, n.d., ‘Foundation and Growth of the Irish Volunteers, 1913-1914’ in ‘The Irish Volunteers: Recollections and Documents’ (1963) by F.X. Martin (ed.), p.17.
[12] Bulmer Hobson, Bureau of Military History (BMH) Witness Statement, no. 51, p.2.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Marnie Hay, 2009, ‘Bulmer Hobson and the Nationalist Movement in Twentieth-Century Ireland’, p.110.
[15] Eamon Martin, Bureau of Military History (BMH) Witness Statement, no. 591, p. 5.;
Bulmer Hobson, 1968, ‘Ireland Yesterday and Tomorrow’, p.18.
[16] Marnie Hay, 2008, ‘The Foundation and Development of Na Fianna Eireann, 1909-16’, in Irish Historical Studies, p. 62.
[17] Anthony J Gaughan, 2006, ‘Scouting in Ireland’, p.36.;
Na Fianna Eireann, Irish National Boy Scout Constitution, as amended by the Ard-Fheis, 1912. *(Copy in my possession)
[18] Eamon Martin, Bureau of Military History (BMH) Witness Statement, no. 591, p. 3.
[19] Bulmer Hobson, 1968, ‘Ireland Yesterday and Tomorrow’, p.18.
[20] Piaras Beaslai, 1961, ‘The Ordeal of Eoin MacNeill’, Irish Independent, April 24th.
[21] Padraig O’Snodaigh, 1969, ‘Bulmer Hobson: A Man of Great Integrity’, Kerryman Newspaper, August 16th.
[22] T Desmond Williams, 1967, ‘Eoin MacNeill and the Irish Volunteers’ in ‘Leaders and Men of the Easter Rising’ by F.X. Martin (ed.), p. 139
[23] Aogagan O’Rahilly, 1991, ‘Winding the Clock: O’Rahilly and the 1916 Rising’, p.94.
[24] Eoin MacNeill, 1932, ‘Memoirs of Eoin MacNeill’, in ‘The Irish Volunteers: Recollections and Documents’ (1963) by F.X. Martin (ed.), p.24.
[25] Piaras Beaslai, 2008, ‘Michael Collins and the Making of a New Ireland’ 2nd edn., p.22. *(First published in 1926)
[26] Bulmer Hobson, n.d., ‘Foundation and Growth of the Irish Volunteers, 1913-1914’ in ‘The Irish Volunteers: Recollections and Documents’ (1963) by F.X. Martin (ed.), p.24.
[27] Ruth Dudley Edwards, 2006, ‘Patrick Pearse’, 2nd edn., p. 169. *(First published in 1877)
[28] Eamonn Ceannt, 1914, ‘The Founding of the Irish Volunteers’ in ‘The Irish Volunteer’, June 20th, 1914, p.9.;
Bulmer Hobson, 1947, Bureau of Military History (BMH) Witness Statement, no. 51, p. 4.;
Aodogan O’Rahilly, 1991, ‘Winding the Clock: O’Rahilly and the 1916 Rising’, p.97.
[29] The O’Rahilly, 1915, ‘The Secret History of the Irish Volunteers’, p.217.
[30] Beaslai stated in an article in the Irish Independent (April 24th, 1961) that he had a visit to his ‘Evening telegraph’ office in Abbey Street from Bulmer Hobson (his centre in his I.R.B. circle) and Eamon Ceannt on November 10th (the day before the meeting) and it was here where he was asked to attend. After a long discussion with Hobson and Ceannt he agreed to go to the meeting the following night. After Hobson and Ceannt left his office, Beaslai went to the offices of ‘Irish Freedom’ (I.R.B. newspaper) at Findlater place where he spoke to Sean MacDermott, who had also been invited to Wynn’s and they agreed to go to the meeting together.
[31] Sean Fitzgibbon claimed he only received a verbal invitation from Eamon Ceannt two days before the actual meeting. Bureau of Military History (BMH) Witness Statement, no. 130, p. 3.
[32] Ryan, Campbell and Deakin attended the first meeting on 11th November but did not attend any further meetings. Ryan was, according to Sean Fitzgibbon (BMH WS no. 130), the Chief New Writer with the Irish Independent. Hobson later wrote that Ryan could not find the time to get involved in such an organisation, Campbell, who was a poet had no real interest in a Volunteer force and Deakin, although an I.R.B. member was too busy in his profession as a chemist to remain on the committee.
[33] According to The O’Rahilly Moran was invited but did not attend. However Hobson disputes O’Rahilly’s claim that Moran was invited.
[34] The O’Rahilly, 1915, ‘The Secret History of the Irish Volunteers’, p. 216 – 217.;
Aodogan O’Rahilly, 1991, ‘Winding the Clock: O’Rahilly and the 1916 Rising’, p.97.
[35] Piaras Beaslai, 1961,’The Ordeal of Eoin MacNeill’, Irish Independent, April, 24th.
[36] Kathleen Clarke, 2008, ‘Kathleen Clarke: Revolutionary Woman’, p. 55.
[37] Gerard MacAtasney, 2004, ‘Sean MacDiarmada – The Mind of the Revolution’, p. 62.
[38] The O’Rahilly, 1915, ‘The Secret History of the Irish Volunteers’, p.217.
[39] Sean T. O’Kelly, ‘The Founding of the Irish Volunteers’, in The Capuchin Annual, 1963, p.129.
[40] Kathleen Clarke, 2008, ‘Kathleen Clarke: Revolutionary Woman’, p. 60.
[41] Marnie Hay, 2009, ‘Bulmer Hobson and the Nationalist Movement in Twentieth-Century Ireland’, p.111.
*Bulmer Hobson attended the subsequent meetings, having missed the first meeting on the 11th November and became one of the most significant and active members of the Volunteers Provisional Committee.
[42] Bulmer Hobson, 1918, ‘A Short History of the Irish Volunteers ‘, Vol. 1, pp. 17-18.
[43] Bulmer Hobson, n.d., ‘Foundation and Growth of the Irish Volunteers, 1913-1914’ in ‘The Irish Volunteers: Recollections and Documents’ (1963) by F.X. Martin (ed.), p. 26.
[44] Subsequent meetings at Wynn’s were paid for by subscriptions from all committee members, although the I.R.B. continued to make contributions.
[45] Piaras Beaslai, 1953, ‘The Founding of The Irish Volunteers’, Irish Independent, January 5th.
[46] Sean Fitzgibbon, Bureau of Military History (BMH) Witness Statement, no. 130, p. 4.
[47] The O’Rahilly, 1915, ‘The Secret History of the Irish Volunteers’, p.217.
[48] Piaras Beaslai, 1961, ’The Ordeal of Eoin MacNeill’, Irish Independent, April, 24th.
[49] Tom Kettle, MP also later joined the ‘Provisional Committee’, as it came to be known. Other Redmond supporters on the enlarged committee included: Colonel Maurice Moore, George Walsh, M J Judge, Peter O’Reilly and J Lenehan.
[50] Bulmer Hobson, 1918, ‘A Short History of the Irish Volunteers ‘ Vol. 1., p. 18.;
The O’Rahilly, 1915, ‘The Secret History of the Irish Volunteers’, p.217.
[51] Ibid.;
Piaras Beaslai, 1953, ‘The Founding of The Irish Volunteers’, Irish Independent, January 5th.
[52] Sherlock later became one of Redmond’s nominees on the ‘Provisional Committee’ in 1914.
[53] The O’Rahilly, 1915, ‘The Secret History of the Irish Volunteers’, p.217.
[54] Bulmer Hobson, n.d., ‘Foundation and Growth of the Irish Volunteers, 1913-1914’ in ‘The Irish Volunteers: Recollections and Documents’ (1963) by F.X. Martin (ed.), p.25.
[55] Ibid., p.26.
[56] Piaras Beaslai, 1953, ‘The Founding of The Irish Volunteers’, Irish Independent, January 5th.
[57] Bulmer Hobson, 1947, Bureau of Military History (BMH) Witness Statement, no. 51, pp. 9-10.
[58] Hobson appears to have discounted (or forgotten) Sinn Fein as a party when he compiled this list, he also did not include the Gaelic League. Several of the members listed as “non-affiliated” were members of Sinn Fein and the Gaelic League, e.g., Pearse (GL), Fitzgibbon (GL & SF), Casement (GL). He also did not mention Fianna Eireann in his list but did elsewhere and so I have added it beside the relevant names; Colbert, Mellows, Martin etc.
Pearse, MacDonagh and Plunkett later became members of the I.R.B.
Hobson’s list of thirty (30) members of the Provisional Committee tallies with Beaslai’s list published in ‘Dublin’s Fighting Story 1916-21’ by The Kerryman (1948). However another list compiled by Patrick Pearse, and sent to John Devoy (Devoy’s Postbag, 1948) in America in 1914, only lists twenty-three (23) members. It omits such important members as Beaslai, Mellows and Lonergan *(It was Lonergan who famously boasted that he was the first man in Ireland who taught Pearse to “form fours” – Lonergan BMH Witness Statement no. 140).
Pearse’s incomplete list does however include a more detailed list of affiliations as well as listing where they worked etc. Significantly he does not list members as belonging to the I.R.B., as they did not want to be openly associated with the Volunteers, especially in a letter that could have been and probably was intercepted by the British. Beaslai’s and Hobson’s lists were compiled in later years without the fear of the British authorities.
[59] F.X. Martin (ed.), 1963, ‘The Meeting in the Rotunda Rink’, in ‘The Irish Volunteers: Recollections and Documents’ p. 105.
[60] Bulmer Hobson, 1918, ‘A Short History of the Irish Volunteers’, Vol. 1, pp. 25-26.
[61] Concert Hall was later changed to the Rotunda Rink due to an anticipated larger crowd.
[62] Piaras Beaslai, 1961,’The Ordeal of Eoin MacNeill’, Irish Independent, April, 24th.
[63] Ann Matthews, 2010, ‘Renegades : Irish Republican Women 1900 – 1922’, p.91.
*Christi Michelle McCallum says the date was April 5th, 1914 in her 2005 thesis “And They’ll March With Their Brothers to Freedom’: Cumann na mBan, Nationalism, and Women’s Rights in Ireland, 1900-1923”.
[64] Padraig Yeates, 2011, ‘A City in Wartime, Dublin 1914-18’, p.89.
[65] Wynn’s Hotel official booklet issued in 1966 at the unveiling of a plaque to the Irish Volunteers.
[66] George Colley speaking at Wynn’s Hotel on 15th November, 1966 in an article ‘Hotel plaque recalls decision to found the Irish Volunteers’ in the Irish Independent, published on November 16th 1966.
[67] Irish Press, ‘Hotel meeting that began 1916 recalled’, November 16th, 1966. ;
Irish Times, ‘Plaque marks room used by Volunteers’, November 16th, 1966.
The History of Na Fianna Éireann 
Could you advise me if there is a list of members of fianna eirann available to view.
LikeLike