An Interpretive Guide to Patrick Brennan’s Autograph Book An Irish Rebel Autograph Book from Frongoch Internment Camp 1916 Dr Tomás Mac Conmara This publication is an initiative of the Clare 1916 programme 1 Contents Foreword 7 A Guide for the Reader 8 Irish Names 8 With thanks to Helen Walsh and Frances O’Gorman at Clare Library Structure of the Book 9 for their work in securing Patrick Brennan’s Autograph book To Guard Her Unconquered Soul’ - Setting the Scene 10 for the people of county Clare. ‘To Prepare the Stand’ 11 Soldiers Death or Felon’s Doom 11 ‘Rats In Uncountable Numbers’ - Reality of Life in Frongoch 13 ‘Fifteen Forgetful Rebels ... Shouting Out the Battle Cry of Freedom’ 16 ‘University of Revolution’ 18 ‘A Glimpse of Freedom’s Light’ 18 Image Sources 22 Autograph Book Contributors 23 Conclusion 159 2 3 ‘‘Men from all parts of Ireland had been sent to Frongoch. Sallow, tall, sombre men from Galway and the western seaboard; slow to converse as if suspicious of men of the ‘Pale’ but true as steel and implacable against their traditional enemy. Men from the Golden Vale, gay and reckless. Men from Cork, city or county; hard headed, fiery, touchy and aggressive, with a strong vein of realism. And Dubliners; good natured, improvident and unambitious cosmopolitans’. Joe Good - Frongoch Internee 4 5 Foreword One of the obligations and challenges facing any museum in receipt of public funding is balancing provision of access to its collections with the responsibility for providing for its care. Patrick Brennan’s autograph book typifies the difficulties books often present in this regard as it is delicate and susceptible to damage through handling. It is also difficult to display in a showcase as it only allows two pages to be shown at any time, severely restricting access to the information it contains. The purpose of this book is to overcome these obstacles and to provide a resource for both the local historian and the general visitor. The autograph book was acquired by the museum in November 2014 and is the only item in the museum collection at this time with a tangible link between County Clare and the Easter Rising. Credit for this artefact coming to the Clare Museum goes to Councillor Cathal Crowe, an avid collector of political ephemera, who drew attention to its availability for purchase; to Clare County Council also, for providing the funding and to Helen Walsh, County Librarian for making the purchase at auction. Thanks should also go to Maureen Comber of Clare County Library for scanning the pages of the autograph book and to Karen Dunn, museum volunteer, who graciously gave her time and experience in designing both this book and the exhibition it accompanies. There is also a debt of gratitude to the Clare 1916 Centenary Fund for financial support which ensures Patrick Brennan’s keepsake is the centre-piece of Clare Museum’s commemoration of the centenary of the Easter Rising and is a contribution to the Clare County of Culture programme. Finally, credit must go to Dr Tomás Mac Conmara for his extensive and enthusiastic research for this book. His work has made certain that the museum has achieved its commitment to provide information based on the highest standards of scholarship for its exhibitions. John Rattigan Curator Frongoch Camp September 2016 6 7 A Guide for the reader Irish Names Structure of Book In the busy and intense confines of Frongoch internment camp in late 1916, Many of the contributors wrote their name in Irish for the purpose of the The introduction lays out in detail the historical context of the internment the contributions to the autograph book explored in this here were written autograph books. In certain cases like that of Domhnall Ó Buachalla and of Irish rebels in Frongoch in the aftermath of the Easter Rising. It also without the transcriber a century later in mind. However, every effort has Seamus Ó Maoileóin, the use of their Gaelic name continued throughout addresses the key dimensions of life within the camp and explains how the been made to transcribe the contributions accurately and in full. Certain their life after Frongoch. For others, the use of the Irish version in 1916, insurgents became increasingly aware of the potential of their incarceration. words are unintelligible and so are encased in [[double brackets]]. The Latin reflected the heightened and intense cultural awareness within the republican The escalating tension between the rebels and camp authorities is attended adverb ‘sic’ is used where a word has been identified which is either unclear movement. Where it can be established that the contributor continued to to, as is the political backdrop of their internment at home in Ireland. to the author or seems incongruous in modern text. The use of ‘sic’ in these use the anglicised version of their names in their life after Frongoch, the The composition and profile of the contributors to the autograph book is cases informs that this is the way that the piece of text has been written author has translated accordingly. This is in no way to reduce the very real reflected on, before the book opens up a detailed exploration of the fifty- in the original contribution. Only on occasion, was it deemed necessary to and sincere deference the men were paying to their Gaelic culture, but is four contributors. Each contribution is carefully transcribed and translated provide a footnote to interpret or clarify the use of a term, which may have instead in recognition of the men’s own use of their names subsequently where necessary. A biography of each contributor is provided, as is an been in currency in the parlance of 1916, but has fallen out of use a century and for the purpose of identification. In all cases, the way in which each analysis of their offering of poetry, prose, sentiment etc. The author has later. Irish language contributions have been translated in full by the author, contributor has written his name in Irish has also been retained. attempted throughout, to illuminate the connections between the rebels, who wishes to acknowledge Dr. Ciarán Ó Geallbháin of the Department which had already occurred prior to their internment, in addition to their of Folklore and Ethnology at University College Cork, for his help in future intersections, as many of the rebels engaged once more in revolution clarifying the more nuanced contributions. The writing of Irish language across the country. enthusiasts in the early part of the twentieth century, is markedly different to that of writers a century later, who now use standard Roman lettering. Tomás Mac Conmara For example, the sean chló (old script) remained in use in 1916, which meant that the forms of certain words were decidedly different. Lenition, the September 2016 sound change that alters consonants, was marked in old Irish by a dot over the relevant letter. This was later replaced by the use of the letter ‘h’, which remains the practice in the early twenty-first century. In these cases, the author had no choice but to translate to the modern form of Irish, while in no way changing the meaning of the contribution. 8 9 ‘To Guard Her Unconquered Soul’ - Setting the Scene weeks after the Easter Rising of 1916, almost half of whom were released ‘To Prepare the Stand’ In their reflective contributions, the men offer brief but powerful insights soon after. Although secluded in the mountains of Meirionnydd, smuggled into the mindset of the republican movement in the wake of the Easter Thomas Pugh from Charliville Mall in Dublin, the son of a Glass communications would inform the men that back in Ireland, change was in Increasingly aware of the significance of the movement to which the rebels Rising. Collectively, they represent the minority of Irish Volunteers Commission Agent from Scotland, was 32 years old when he arrived at the air. In that seven months the nature of the relationship between Britain were attached and the time in which they lived, the men sought to capture who rejected the limitations of Home Rule and whose impulse Frongoch in North Wales in June 1916.1 He looked on at the seemingly vast and her nearest neighbour hardened to unprecedented levels. Outwardly, for posterity the reflections and emotions they now felt while imprisoned for the freedom of their country had robbed them of their own and bleak camp which would house himself and his republican comrades the sentiment of the Irish public was taking on an increasingly republican in a British jail. Autograph books were circulated throughout the camp, in personal liberty. The contributions to the autograph book leave for an, as yet, undetermined period of time. Pugh had heard that the site and separatist tone, the Irish Parliamentary Party was moribund and Sinn which thoughtful men reflected, angry men expressed and philosophical little doubt that this resilience and determination remained was very recently occupied by German prisoners, captured by British forces Féin, the party associated with the rebellion, was seemingly on the rise. men pondered. In quite moments, stolen from the relentless planning unshaken. Compiled largely between July and December 1916, during World War One (WWI), then raging throughout Europe. Only one of revolution, the sentiments bequeathed to the reader in this autograph the pages of the book were filled in a period of unprecedented German soldier remained, too weak to join his compatriots, who were being While all this was happening, the numbers in Frongoch decreased to book were etched for eternity, capturing in their form a moment in Irish change in Ireland.