Hibernian Rifles
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The Hibernian Rifles was a marginal
Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...
militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
that organised in Ireland in the early years of the 20th Century, having its Dublin Headquarters at 28, North Frederick Street. Its membership was exclusively
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
.O'Mahony pp 25–26 The Hibernian Rifles were active in Dublin during the
Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...
of 1916. In an article in the '' Irish War News'',
Patrick Pearse Patrick Henry Pearse (also known as Pádraig or Pádraic Pearse; ga, Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist, republican political activist and revolutionary who ...
thanked the Hibernian Rifles for its contribution.Pat McGlynn, ''Éirí Amach na Cásca, The Easter Rising 1916'', Republican Publications, 1986.


Origins

The Hibernian Rifles was the product of a split in the
Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New ...
(AOH); it was the military arm of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (Irish-American Alliance), which had broken away from Ancient Order of Hibernians (Board of Erin) in about 1907. As the name suggests, most of the former were in the USA where they were under the influence of Clan-na-Gael. The AOH (Irish-American Alliance) claimed to be opposed to "the narrow sectarianism" of the AOH (Board of Erin). In a characteristic lecture, ''"Treason in Ireland"'', the Rifles commandant John J. Scollan said: "Many more of us through God’s grace shall live to see the
Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
of England down in the dust and our own immortal green interwoven with the yellow and white of the Irish Republic waving proudly and victoriously…over the land."


Activities in Ireland

During the 1913
Dublin Lockout The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Ireland's capital and largest city, Dublin. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often vie ...
, a special subscription was placed on the Rifles members in Ireland and a fund was also opened in the USA for the relief of distress of those affected by the strike. The Hibernian Rifles developed friendly relations with the
Irish Citizen Army The Irish Citizen Army (), or ICA, was a small paramilitary group of trained trade union volunteers from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) established in Dublin for the defence of workers' demonstrations from the Dublin M ...
after it was founded by
James Connolly James Connolly ( ga, Séamas Ó Conghaile; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. Born to Irish parents in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, Connolly left school for working life at the a ...
, and some members of the former joined the latter, a fact which was advertised regularly in ''The Irish Worker''. While it was willing to co-operate with other nationalist groups, the
Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...
(IRB) does not seem to have trusted it completely and therefore it had to obtain some of their rifles from
James Connolly James Connolly ( ga, Séamas Ó Conghaile; 5 June 1868 – 12 May 1916) was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. Born to Irish parents in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, Connolly left school for working life at the a ...
, and others which they bought from British soldiers. The
Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respons ...
declined to affiliate the Rifles as a unit (it also declined the Irish Citizen Army the same status) but friendly co-operation became possible, mainly through
Thomas MacDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh ( ga, Tomás Anéislis Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising o ...
. It was through him, perhaps, that they participated as a unit at the funeral of
Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa ( ga, Diarmaid Ó Donnabháin Rosa; baptised 4 September 1831, died 29 June 1915)Con O'Callaghan Reenascreena Community Online (dead link archived at archive.org, 29 September 2014) was an Irish Fenian leader and member ...
and that they allowed their headquarters, at 28 North Frederick Street, to be used by the Volunteers. In 1915 it launched a weekly newspaper ''The Hibernian''. The constitutional nationalists of the time, led by
John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as lead ...
, scornfully called the advanced nationalist papers "the mosquito press". ''The Hibernian'' serialised "Ireland's Roll of Honour", which was a list of those killed or wounded at Harrel's '
Battle of Clontarf The Battle of Clontarf ( ga, Cath Chluain Tarbh) took place on 23 April 1014 at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland. It pitted an army led by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, against a Norse-Irish alliance comprising the forc ...
' and Bachelor's Walk in 1914, or who were imprisoned, deported or served with exclusion orders under the
Defence of the Realm Act The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, four days after it entered the First World War and was added to as the war progressed. It gave the government wide-ranging powers during the war, such as the p ...
. According to Pat McGlynn, "It was one of the most aggressive pieces of journalism of the period and one that deserves more attention than it has received".


Easter Rising

Co-operation between the Rifles with the Volunteers increased, as the Rising began to draw near, but no definite date for the insurrection was given to it by the leaders of the IRB. On Easter Sunday, 1916, it paraded as usual at its headquarters. When news of
Eoin MacNeill Eoin MacNeill ( ga, Eoin Mac Néill; born John McNeill; 15 May 1867 – 15 October 1945) was an Irish scholar, Irish language enthusiast, Gaelic revivalist, nationalist and politician who served as Minister for Education from 1922 to 1925, Ce ...
's countermanding order cancelling the planned Volunteers manoeuvres, which were to be the signal for the Rising, appeared in the '' Sunday Independent'', the commandant, realising that something serious was planned, ordered the Rifles to parade the next day. The Easter Rising began at 12 noon on Easter Monday. The men of the Hibernian Rifles were given a choice whether or not to take part, and 20 to 30 chose to participate and went to the
General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
at midnight. On the Tuesday some of them, along with men from
Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...
, were sent to the Exchange Hotel in Parliament Street, where, in a rapid exchange of fire, one of their rank Edward Walsh was fatally wounded, before retiring back to the GPO where they remained for the rest of the week. Pat McGlynn, in his conclusion to his chapter on the Hibernian Rifles, says of them that although "small in number, the Hibernian Rifles should not be forgotten in any celebration of the Rising that was not of their planning, but in which they willingly joined when once it had begun".


References


Sources

* * O'Mahony, Sean, ''Frongoch – University of Revolution''. Dublin: FDR Teoranta, 1987 * Fergal McCluskey: ''Fenians and Ribbonmen: The Development of Republican Politics in East Tyrone, 1898–1918''. Manchester University Press, 2011. * Michael Wheatley: ''Nationalism and the Irish Party: Provincial Ireland 1910–1916''. Oxford.


Citations

{{reflist


External links


History of the Hibernian Rifles
Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division Seven (Our Lady of Knock). Retrieved 22 December 2007.
A Short History of the Hibernian Rifles by Padraig Og O Ruairc
History of Ireland (1801–1923) Easter Rising Irish revolutionaries Irish secret societies Irish-American history Ancient Order of Hibernians