"There Was Nothing But Confusion"
Padraic O'Broin joined the Irish Citizen Army on its formation in November 1913 but transferred to 'A' Company, 4th Battalion, Irish Volunteers in December of that year. He had known Éamonn Ceannt, some time beforehand. At that time Ceannt was Captain of 'A' Company. O'Broin was also a member of the IRB and as such was in close contact with Ceannt.
He describes the activities they were engaged in, route marches and drill and describes in detail the sports day that took place in St Enda's on 5 September 1915.
O'Broin recalls the lead-up to the Rising when he was promoted to the rank of Section-Commander and the confusion of the countermanding order on Easter Sunday. Finally on Easter Monday morning he got word to mobilise his section and proceeded to Joseph Plunkett's home in Larkfield, Kimmage. From there they made their way to Jameson's Distillery, Marrowbone Lane. This was an outpost under the overall command of Éamonn Ceannt, now Commandant of the 4th Battalion who set up his headquarters in the South Dublin Union.
O'Broin describes the takeover of the distillery that morning. He was ordered to take a group of men, including his brother to an upper floor and they proceeded to prepare their position. Marrowbone Lane distillery was a vital outpost as it gave commanding views of all the routes the military would take to attack the South Dublin Union. Recalling the first time they opened fire on the the military who were slowly making their way down the canal towards their position, O'Broin says,
We saw the British chaps in extended order... They came in, we could just see them... we let bang.
The Volunteers did not have the luxury of having a large quantity of weapons or bombs. The bombs they did use were home-made canister bombs made by the Kimmage garrison in Larkfield. O'Broin states that the bombs were not reliable.
Sometimes they wouldn't explode...You lit it and when you counted five you let it go. But you couldn't be sure of them.
O'Broin describes the shock and disappointment the garrison felt when they heard of the surrender on Sunday 30 April. Éamonn Ceannt he says was 'very pale, and his uniform was torn and whitewashed.' Despite not wanting to surrender the garrison obeyed Ceannt's orders.
Ceannt's forces and Thomas MacDonagh's forces had to formally surrender at the Ross Road, near St Patrick's Park. The 4th Battalion and twenty-two women of Cumann na mBan were marched through the streets of the Liberties. O'Broin recalls that the streets were full of people some jeering them and others showing their support to the Volunteers.
They were brought to Richmond Barracks and O'Broin was later deported to Knutsford Prison in England and then Frongoch Internment Camp, Wales. Éamonn Ceannt was executed in Kilmainham Gaol on 8 May. Con Colbert, Captain of 'F' Company, 4th Battalion who had also fought in Marrowbone Lane distillery was executed on the same day. He was twenty-eight years old.
On his release from Frongoch Padraic O'Broin rejoined his company. In late 1920 he transferred to the Irish Citizen Army and became Captain of the South County Dublin Section of the Citizen Army. He took the anti-Treaty side in the Irish Civil War.
Padraic O'Broin was interviewed for the RTÉ Television project 'Portraits 1916' on 30 January 1966.
| Title: | Portraits 1916 Padraic O Broin |
| Clip Duration: | 00:29:00 |
| Material Type: | Video |
| Clip Title: | "There Was Nothing But Confusion" |
| 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, Éamonn Ceannt, 4th Battalion, Cathal Brugha, Marrowbone Lane, Con Colbert, Liberties |
| Coverage: | Ireland |
| Genre: | Factual |
| Topic: | Wars and Conflict |
| Provider: | RTÉ |
| Contributor(s): | Aindrias O Gallchoir (Producer) |
| Publisher: | RTÉ |
| First Broadcast Channel: | RTÉ |
| Production Year: | 1966 |
| Country of Production: | Ireland |
| Original Identifier: | 94D00029 |
| 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) |
