"I Didn't Know Any Of Them Had Been Killed"
Richard Humphreys was the nephew of Michael 'The' O'Rahilly, one of the founding members of the Irish Volunteers. He was born in Limerick but after his father's death, his mother Nell, sister of 'The' O'Rahilly moved to Dublin with her young family. Richard attended St Enda's, the school set up by Patrick Pearse from 1910 until 1912. As he recalls St Enda's 'was a completely different sensation to anything I'd ever experienced in school before.'
The boys were treated as individuals and were taught fencing and boxing. Con Colbert, Captain, Na Fianna Éireann and later 4th Battalion, Irish Volunteers instructed the boys in rifle practice and was greatly admired by the students as was Thomas MacDonagh. He recalls many of their activities in St Enda's including the plays and pageants that were held regularly.
Describing what Pearse was like as a teacher Richards states that
He was absolutely outstanding. He had a magnetic quality. You couldn't deny everything he said was what you should do and what you're aim in life should be.
Looking back Richard says that he was preparing the students for what was to come, they didn't realise it at the time.
On Easter Monday Richard joined his uncle 'The' O'Rahilly in the GPO and served under Desmond Fitzgerald in the Commissariat. On Friday he helped to remove the wounded from the building and did not return. 'The' O'Rahilly led the charge out of the GPO later that day and was fatally wounded by British soldiers who had a machine gun at a barricade covering Moore Street.
Richard was arrested but only heard of his uncle's death two days later. He was deported to England but on his release he rejoined the Republican movement and during the War of Independence he was a member of 'B' Company, 3rd Battalion, IRA. He was imprisoned during the War of Independence. Richard Humphreys however did not take part in the Irish Civil War.
Richard Humphreys was interviewed for the RTÉ Television project 'Portraits 1916' on 2 January 1966.
| Title: | Portraits 1916 Richard Humphreys |
| Clip Duration: | 00:15:45 |
| Material Type: | Video |
| Clip Title: | "I Didn't Know Any Of Them Had Been Killed" |
| 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, St Enda's, Patrick Pearse, Con Colbert, 'The' O'Rahilly, GPO, Desmond Fitzgerald |
| 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) |
