2 December 1999 Edition
Remembering the Past: Usk Jail death 1918
By Aengus Ó Snodaigh
The flu epidemic that swept across Britain and Ireland in 1918 struck at the weak and elderly in society. Hundreds died and many more spent many weeks crippled in agony in their beds during the winter months.
Richard Coleman was born in Dublin in 1890, one of eleven Coleman children, most of whom were active in the Gaelic League. Brought up in Swords, County Dublin, Richard was a religious and a patriotic young man. He trained to be a Christian Brother, but left to begin a career with the Prudential Insurance Company.
When Thomas MacDonagh came to Swords in April 1914 to recruit members for the recently formed Irish Volunteers, Richard was among the first to join. When John Redmond forced a split in the Volunteers later that year, the remaining Volunteers elected Richard as their captain.
On Easter Sunday 1916, Richard mobilised his men, the Fingal Battalion, at Saucers Town, ensured that they were ready for what lay ahead and dismissed them till the following day. On Easter Monday they, along with other Volunteers from surrounding areas, came under the direction of Thomas Ashe, whose instructions were to prevent British reinforcements from reaching Dublin. They fulfilled that task heroically that week.
On the Tuesday, 20 Volunteers were sent into the GPO in response to a request from the Commander-in-chief, James Connolly. On reaching the GPO, the group was split up. Six men became the tunnelling unit around the GPO - `the engineering corps' - while the others under Richard were instructed to reinforce the garrison under Sean Heuston in the Mendicity Institute. Connolly's parting words to them did not augur well for their mission: ``I don't think you will all get there, but get as far as you can.''
They got as far as the Mendicity Institute unscathed. A Volunteer at one of the barricades they passed through said of them: ``In the midst of the firing, 18 (or perhaps less) men approached up Church Street towards our barricade. When they reached it, they passed briskly towards their objective - whatever it might have been. They were dressed and, I thought looked, like countrymen... I could not but admire very much they way they went into action.''
At the Mendicity Institute, the garrison was under severe pressure, with the British attack coming virtually from all directions. By Thursday, things were hopeless and Sean Heuston was forced to surrender to a much larger British force.
They, similar to the other captured Volunteers, were corralled at the Rotunda Hospital for identification purposes. They were then court-martialled and sentenced. Richard was sentenced to death, though this was commuted to three years' penal servitude.
The sentenced prisoners were transported to Dartmoor Jail in England first and then divided up. Richard was sent to Lewis Jail in Kent. When they were released after a very successful campaign in Ireland and abroad for their freedom, each Volunteer was granted £100 from the National Aid Fund in America to help them rebuild their lives. They all pooled their money and began the New Ireland Friendly Society, with Richard as a director and a trustee with a superintendent's wage.
(The concluding part of this article will be carried in next week's issue)
The flu epidemic that swept across Britain and Ireland in 1918 struck at the weak and elderly in society. Hundreds died and many more spent many weeks crippled in agony in their beds during the winter months.
Richard Coleman was born in Dublin in 1890, one of eleven Coleman children, most of whom were active in the Gaelic League. Brought up in Swords, County Dublin, Richard was a religious and a patriotic young man. He trained to be a Christian Brother, but left to begin a career with the Prudential Insurance Company.
When Thomas MacDonagh came to Swords in April 1914 to recruit members for the recently formed Irish Volunteers, Richard was among the first to join. When John Redmond forced a split in the Volunteers later that year, the remaining Volunteers elected Richard as their captain.
On Easter Sunday 1916, Richard mobilised his men, the Fingal Battalion, at Saucers Town, ensured that they were ready for what lay ahead and dismissed them till the following day. On Easter Monday they, along with other Volunteers from surrounding areas, came under the direction of Thomas Ashe, whose instructions were to prevent British reinforcements from reaching Dublin. They fulfilled that task heroically that week.
On the Tuesday, 20 Volunteers were sent into the GPO in response to a request from the Commander-in-chief, James Connolly. On reaching the GPO, the group was split up. Six men became the tunnelling unit around the GPO - `the engineering corps' - while the others under Richard were instructed to reinforce the garrison under Sean Heuston in the Mendicity Institute. Connolly's parting words to them did not augur well for their mission: ``I don't think you will all get there, but get as far as you can.''
They got as far as the Mendicity Institute unscathed. A Volunteer at one of the barricades they passed through said of them: ``In the midst of the firing, 18 (or perhaps less) men approached up Church Street towards our barricade. When they reached it, they passed briskly towards their objective - whatever it might have been. They were dressed and, I thought looked, like countrymen... I could not but admire very much they way they went into action.''
At the Mendicity Institute, the garrison was under severe pressure, with the British attack coming virtually from all directions. By Thursday, things were hopeless and Sean Heuston was forced to surrender to a much larger British force.
They, similar to the other captured Volunteers, were corralled at the Rotunda Hospital for identification purposes. They were then court-martialled and sentenced. Richard was sentenced to death, though this was commuted to three years' penal servitude.
The sentenced prisoners were transported to Dartmoor Jail in England first and then divided up. Richard was sent to Lewis Jail in Kent. When they were released after a very successful campaign in Ireland and abroad for their freedom, each Volunteer was granted £100 from the National Aid Fund in America to help them rebuild their lives. They all pooled their money and began the New Ireland Friendly Society, with Richard as a director and a trustee with a superintendent's wage.
(The concluding part of this article will be carried in next week's issue)