On 26 July 1914 the Howth Gun-Running took place.
Robert Erskine Childers, his wife Molly Alden Childers, and crew sailed into Howth having travelled from Germany on board the Asgard. They were smuggling rifles to arm the Irish Volunteers.
Donegal sailor Patrick McGinley, who was on board the Asgard and accompanied Erskine Childers on the famous gun-running expedition to Howth, speaks to Dr. Rory Childers in 1964 about the gun-running. This clip is taken from the programme 'Childers and the Asgard'.
McGinley describes the arrival at Howth harbour and the volunteers that awaited them on the pier at Howth. The guns were unloaded by the volunteers.
McGinley describes Erskine Childers as a "fine good seaman" and Mrs. Childers as a "fine woman, a good sail-maker and a good nurse".
The programme 'Childers and the Asgard' was first broadcast on 12 April 1966.
The restored Asgard is on permanent display in the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin in an exhibition titled 'Asgard: The 1914 Howth Gun Running Vessel Conserved'.
The accompanying photograph from the RTÉ Cashman Collection shows a crowd of people cheering on republicans who had just collected weapons in the Howth gun running.
Robert Erskine Childers was executed by firing squad at Beggars Bush Barracks in Dublin on 24 November 1922.
