"We Have To Take The Initiative And Act First"
Geraldine Dillon was the younger sister of Joseph Plunkett. In this interview she describes what Joseph was like when he was younger, he had a huge interest in military strategy from an early age. Joseph and his brothers George and Jack used to play war games which lead to him reading more and more about military strategy and tactics. By the time he joined the Irish Volunteers he had studied all the British military manuals so that if they did strike against them they would know what to expect. As he explained
They would be bound by their own rules. They would act according to the rules so you could know what they would do.
He used the knowledge he had gained to plan the strategy and tactics that would be employed in the event of a Rising. These very same plans were adopted by the Military Council of the IRB for the Easter Rising.
Through Joseph, Geraldine got to know many of the leaders of the Rising. The family were very close to Thomas MacDonagh who had taught Joseph and his sister Moya maths at their home, and very quickly MacDonagh and Joseph became very good friends. Patrick Pearse she says was 'one of the most impressive people I have ever come across...I never heard anyone like him.' Geraldine describes Seán MacDiarmada as 'the most loveable person I have ever come across'. She also states that Joseph greatly admired James Connolly.
Joseph had suffered with illness since he was a child and as a result he was kept at home or sent abroad for treatment. This time he used to expand his interests, he learned how to play the violin, he wrote poetry and of course he read.
Geraldine was engaged to Thomas Dillon, a member of the Irish Volunteers. On Easter Sunday 23 April, there was meant to be a double wedding in the Plunkett household, Geraldine was to marry Thomas and Joseph was to marry his fiancé Grace Gifford. However the Easter Rising was due to take place on that very same day and as Geraldine recalls Eoin McNeill's countermanding order cancelling the manoeuvres changed everything.
Although Joseph and Grace did not marry that day, Joseph insisted that Geraldine and Thomas get married. The newly weds spent their wedding night in the Imperial Hotel opposite the GPO. Geraldine saw Joseph who was staying in the Metropole Hotel and discussed what was going to happen. She thought the Rising was not going ahead. Joseph explained they had to proceed with their plans.
We couldn't go on on the run, that was disastrous before and it mustn't be done again... We have to take the initiative and act first and do it at once.
From her room in the Imperial Hotel, Geraldine witnessed the takeover of the GPO on Easter Monday and not only did she see the Volunteers barricade the building but she also witnessed Pearse reading the Proclamation.
He was noticeably head and shoulders above the others around him.
Soon after the Volunteers took over the GPO, Geraldine saw her brother out on the street. As part of his plans for the Rising, the streets all over the city were to be barricaded, limiting troop movement. A tram was commandeered in Talbot Street/North Earl Street to be used in such a barricade, but the Volunteers could not get the tram on its side. Geraldine remembers
Joe put a bomb on the tram and he shot it from a good distance off and the tram was wrecked.
This was the last time she saw Joseph. He was executed in Kilmainham Gaol on 4 May. He was given permission to marry Grace Gifford shortly before his death.
Geraldine Dillon was interviewed for the RTÉ Television project 'Portraits 1916' on 20 November 1965.
Title: |
Portraits 1916 Geraldine Dillon |
Clip Duration: |
00:23:58 |
Material Type: |
Video |
Clip Title: |
"We Have To Take The Initiative And Act First" |
Series Title: |
Portraits 1916 |
Information: |
Portraits 1916 is a collection of interviews made for television recording the personal memories of women and men who took part in the Easter Rising. In the early 1960s Telefís Éireann (RTÉ Television) began to record interviews with people who had taken part in the Easter Rising and the War of Independence. Individuals were interviewed under a working title of 'The Survivors'. The first of these interviews were organised by Jack White and recorded at the television studios in Donnybrook on 31 August 1964. Further recordings were organised by James Plunkett with the same working title of 'The Survivors' although none of these interviews were broadcast as full programmes. In 1965 meetings were held to discuss what Telefís Éireann should do to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Veterans continued to be interviewed despite the fact that no decision had been made as to what type of programme, if any they could be used in. James Plunkett did not see 'The Survivors' recordings working as individual programmes. In April 1965 producer Aindras O Gallchoir took over the project continuing to organise recordings with the initial intention of using the interviews to create one programme. By September Aindras O Gallchoir decided to produce seven thirty minute documentaries on the leaders of the Rising but many more people needed to be interviewed. This new project had the working titles of 'Portraits 1916' and 'Seven Signatories'. With very little time over thirty people were interviewed for this series. The interviews took place mainly in studio between October 1965 and January 1966, with the exception of Kathleen Clarke and Leslie Bean de Barra. These interviews would eventually form the basis for the series 'On Behalf of the Provisional Government' which was first broadcast in 1966. The interviews recorded form an extensive record of the events and the people involved in the Easter Rising, and were never broadcast in their entirety. Presented here under the title of 'Portraits 1916' are the personal recollections of men and women who took part in or witnessed the events of the Easter Rising. |
Local Keywords: |
1916, Easter 1916, Easter Rising 1916, Joseph Plunkett, MacDonagh, Pearse, MacDiarmada, James Connolly, Roger Casement, Countermanding Order, GPO, Imperial Hotel |
Coverage: |
Ireland |
Topic: |
Wars and Conflict |
Contributor(s): |
Aindrias O Gallchoir (Producer) |
Publisher: |
RTÉ |
Production Year: |
1965 |
Country of Production: |
Ireland |
Original Identifier: |
94D00028 |
IPR Restrictions: |
Rights Reserved - Free Access |
Rights, Terms and Conditions: |
Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Archives. If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us. RTÉ Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us. |
Item Type: |
whole |
Colour: |
Black and White |
Sound: |
Mono |
Aspect Ratio: |
4:3 |
Language: |
English (eng) |
