"I Seen Men Crying With The Surrender"
Tom Kearney joined the Irish Volunteers on their formation in 1913. He was a member of 'E' Company, 4th Battalion.
Kearney describes the Howth gun running in July 1914. Although Na Fianna and the 1st and 2nd Battalions, Irish Volunteers removed the guns, the 3rd and 4th Battalions were ordered to go to the countryside and engage in a mock battle as a diversion. Éamonn Ceannt was present on that day.
In the lead up to the Easter Rising Kearney recalls that he and his comrades were engaged in bringing weapons and supplies from St Enda's in to Liberty Hall.
Patrick Pearse was originally the Commanding Officer of 'E' Company and would regularly inspect the men while drilling out at the the Old Mill on Whitechurch Road, Rathfarnham.
On Easter Monday morning, 'E' Company made their way from Rathfarnham into the city centre by tram. There was commotion near Jacob's and the tram driver refused to go any further so Eamon Bulfin, also a member of 'E' Company drove the tram full of his comrades as far as College Green and they walked from there to Liberty Hall. A short time later they set out for the General Post Office.
Kearney saw Pearse read the Proclamation outside the GPO
He stood in front of the GPO and read the Proclamation...There wasn't a big crowd there.
Kearney was one a party of Volunteers sent to Annesley Bridge on Monday. They came under attack from the British forces arriving into the city and returned to the GPO Tuesday night where Kearney fought for the rest of the week. As he recalls most of 'E' Company were sent to defend the roof of the building
I suppose the worst position you could be in...The first place you'd be hit would be the roof.
Kearney describes the reaction of the men when Pearse delivered the surrender on Saturday 29 April. Many wanted to fight on. Eventually they obeyed Pearse's order and were marched from Moore Street to O'Connell Street where they had to dump their arms outside the Gresham Hotel. Then they marched to the Rotunda Hospital where they spent the night outside on the grass in front of the building. The following day they were marched to Richmond Barracks, and from there Tom Kearney was sent to Stafford Prison and Frongoch.
On his release Kearney rejoined 'E' Company and during the War of Independence he was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He took the pro-Treaty side during the Irish Civil War and was a member of the National Army.
Tom Kearney died in 1969, he was seventy-three years old.
Tom Kearney was interviewed for the RTÉ Television project 'Portraits 1916' on 12 December 1965.
Title: |
Portraits 1916 Tom Kearney |
Clip Duration: |
00:14:40 |
Clip Title: |
"I Seen Men Crying With The Surrender" |
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, Patrick Pearse, 4th Battalion, GPO, Moore Street, Surrender |
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) |
