"Strike At Twelve"
Richard Mulcahy was a member of ‘C’ Company, 2nd Battalion, Dublin Brigade. In early April 1916 he was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant. Despite his promotion he had no idea that a Rising was going to happen and went on retreat to Milltown.
On his return he attended an officer's meeting where he was finally told of the plans. His orders were that at 4 pm on Easter Sunday he was to oversee the destruction of the communication lines at Howth Junction, severing communication with Belfast.
Mulcahy was to mobilise his men at 3.45 pm and cut the cables at precisely 4 pm, the time that the Rising was to begin. Mulcahy at the time lived out in Bayview, not too far from Howth.
Describing how he heard of the countermanding order Mulcahy says that on the afternoon of Easter Sunday, as he was leaving his home he was stopped by a colleague.
To my astonishment he showed me the Sunday Independent and MacNeill's orders.
Mulcahy then cycled into town to try and find out what was going on. Seeing James Connolly at Liberty Hall, he asked him what were his orders.
Connolly turned on me and sharply told me that if there were further orders I'd get them.
Not sure of what he was going to do he returned home. On Easter Monday morning he again went into town and went to Liberty Hall. The place was full of activity and word finally came of what was going to happen. Mulcahy recalls seeing his Commanding Officer Thomas MacDonagh who he says,
Came along to me with his coat swinging around his shoulders and said 'Strike at twelve!'
Mulcahy grabbed the nearest bicycle and set off for Howth trying to gather his men along the way. He made contact with Volunteers Tom Maxwell and Paddy Grant. The three men went to Howth and succeeded in destroying the cables after which they began the journey back to Dublin city. Coming in by Glasnevin, Mulcahy decided to send Grant into the city to see what the situation was. Hours passed with no sign of Grant. Unknown to Mulcahy Grant went into the GPO and Mulcahy states
Got delighted with all that was going on in the GPO and he forgot all about us.
On his way back Grant got lost in Finglas and was arrested by members of the 5th Battalion, Irish Volunteers and brought to Commandant Thomas Ashe. Mulcahy met with Ashe who appointed him as his second in command.
During the Rising there were very few successes for the Volunteers outside of Dublin. The exception being the battle of Ashbourne. Under the command of Ashe and Mulcahy, who adopted guerilla tactics, the Volunteers succeeded in inflicting heavy casualties on the local RIC garrison.
Richard Mulcahy was born in Waterford. He was a member of the IRB and joined the Irish Volunteers on their formation in November 1913. Arrested after the surrender Mulcahy was imprisoned in Richmond Barracks, Knutsford Detention Barracks, Cheshire and Frongoch Internment Camp, Wales. He was a member of Dáil Éireann and during the War of Independence was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and following the death of Michael Collins in the Irish Civil War, succeeded him as Commander in Chief of the National Army and was also Chief of Staff. He was a founding member of the Cumann na nGaedhal party and was later leader of the Fine Gael party. Richard Mulcahy died in 1971. He was eighty-five years old.
Richard Mulcahy was interviewed for the RTÉ Television project 'Portraits 1916' on 10 December 1965.
Title: |
Portraits 1916 Richard Mulcahy |
Clip Duration: |
00:24:23 |
Material Type: |
Video |
Clip Title: |
"Strike At Twelve" |
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, Howth, Seán MacDiarmada, Countermanding Order, Finglas, Thomas Ashe |
Coverage: |
Ireland |
Topic: |
Wars and Conflict |
Contributor(s): |
Aindrias O Gallchoir (Producer) |
Publisher: |
RTÉ |
Production Year: |
1965 |
Country of Production: |
Ireland |
Original Identifier: |
94D00042 |
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: |
part/extract |
Colour: |
Black and White |
Sound: |
Mono |
Aspect Ratio: |
4:3 |
Language: |
English (eng) |
