Sunday, April 30th
07.30hrs - Needs must. Local youngsters help themselves to firewood in the rubble.
07.31hrs - Captain Michael O’Rahilly’s burnt-out De Dion Bouton touring car in North Prince’s Street.
07.32hrs - Are these British officers’ celebrations premature? The cracks of small arms in the city’s background suggest the fighting isn’t yet done. At least four Republican garrisons are holding out on the south side of the city.
07.36hrs - A solitary rebel prisoner is taken across O’Connell Bridge under guard.
07.38hrs - Irish Volunteers 3rd Battalion still control southeast Dublin. To venture beyond the barricade in Great Brunswick Street is still to invite a bullet.
07.40hrs - Civilians have been flocking in their droves to view the devastation since first light this morning.
09.00hrs - At Dublin Castle two Capuchin priests have requested permission from General Lowe to see Padraig Pearse, so that they can convey a signed surrender order to the Volunteers still fighting on North Brunswick Street. General Lowe granted permission before requesting that the priests proceed to Jacob’s to inform its garrison of the surrender. The general has been unable to make any contact with the garrison.
09.45hrs - Rebels in North Brunswick Street surrender. It has transpired that another priest has managed to convey a genuine surrender order to the Volunteers there. One Volunteer named Patrick Holohan has taken command of the units there. Their commanding officer had been shot in the head during the fighting. Holohan has ordered the Volunteers to fall in. He has just addressed his exhausted men with the words:
“I know you would, like myself, prefer to be with our comrades who have already fallen in the fight – we, too, should rather die in this glorious struggle than submit to the enemy. The treatment you may expect in the future you may judge from the past.”
As roughly 50 of them march eastward along North King Street the road is lined with the battalion they kept at bay. Soldiers are craning their necks from doors and windows to see who caused them such horrific carnage. Several taunts are being exchanged.
10.15hrs - Nurse O’Farrell approached Boland’s Bakery about 15 minutes ago with Pearse’s surrender order. She was met just outside its dispensary by Commandant de Valera. He emerged outside with a towel around his neck, appearing to have been washing. After studying the order he has dispatched her with instructions that the order carries no weight. With Pearse a prisoner he is now under the command of Commandant MacDonagh, who is still in the field and holding firm.
11.00hrs - The two Capuchin priests have approached Jacob’s factory with news of the surrender. The news has been dismissed by Commandant MacDonagh, stating that he cannot take orders from prisoners. He has conceded, however, that he is prepared to meet with General Lowe to parley.
11.10hrs - Nurse O’Farrell has been greeted by Countess Markievicz at the College of Surgeons. Commandant Mallin, its garrison commander, is resting in one of its back rooms, and is being summoned. There is an overwhelming aura of subdued shock among the Citizen Army garrison as the news spreads.
12.11hrs - Irish Citizen Army surrenders. The surrender of the Stephen’s Green garrison of the Irish Citizen Army has been agreed upon. Minutes ago Commandant Mallin and Countess Markievicz held talks at the College of Surgeons’ York Street entrance with Major De Courcey Wheeler of the Dublin Fusiliers. He was accompanied by Nurse O’Farrell. This came after many heated deliberations from those inside the fortress, who seemed adamant on fighting on, or breaking out to the mountains. They are defiant.
12.45hrs - Surrender of Irish Volunteers 2nd Battalion agreed upon. Commandant-General MacDonagh and General Lowe have met in Saint Patrick’s Park. The parley began on the footpath before both retired to General Lowe’s staff car to continue negotiations. After a while MacDonagh stepped out of the car and informed the two priests of his intention to surrender, adding that there will be a truce until 3 p.m.
13.00hrs - Commandant MacDonagh has now informed the Officers of 2nd Battalion of the surrender. It was followed by a stunned silence. The men have called to the ground floor to be told of the news. Shouts and screams followed of: “Fight it out - we will fight it out!” Order was restored and MacDonagh has since told the garrison that anyone without uniform has his permission to escape. Some are availing of the opportunity. MacDonagh will soon leave Jacob’s and go to the South Dublin Union to convey the news.
14.08hrs - An utterly exhausted and emotionally drained Elizabeth O’Farrell has just returned to Boland’s Bakery with Commandant MacDonagh’s verification of the surrender. For the 3rd Battalion, the fighting is finished.
De Valera has just dispatched recently promoted Vice Commandant Joe O’Connor to their nearby outposts with the news. It has been met with aghast faces. Anger is building quickly. Some of the men have begun smashing their weapons off the ground.
Ironically, snipers are still at work in the area. Occasionally shots ring out. The rooftops of Lower Mount Street are infested with sharpshooters.
14.15hrs - Word has been received at the nearby mills Building. Lieutenant O’Byrne has orders to rally his men at the bakery.
15.00hrs - Commandant-General MacDonagh has returned to Saint Patrick’s Park where General Lowe was waiting for him. The two soldiers stood face to face; MacDonagh then unbuckled his belt and holster and handed them to General Lowe along with his revolver. General Lowe accepted them and asked MacDonagh to return to his men and arrange for the surrender of Jacob’s. MacDonagh accepted the General’s request.
14.50hrs - Commandant Mallin’s garrison is marching into captivity along York St. A short time ago roughly 120 Citizen Army members put down their arms and began their march. As they set off, however, shots rang out from the Green. Some refuse to give in.
Their captors are displaying differing attitudes as they march. Some of the rebels have been threatened with bayonets, others have been told to cheer up and have been offered cigarettes.
Commandant Mallin appeared to take some comfort from the words of the British Army officer, when he expressed his disbelief that the garrison had held them off with so few men. Now however, he marches to an uncertain fate, albeit proudly.
15.30hrs - Jacob’s Garrison is marching into the custody of the enemy.
15.40hrs - Intense deliberations are under way at South Dublin Union. The garrison has received the surrender order. It looks like Ceannt’s men will comply. They are disconsolate and are unable to believe the news.
16.30hrs - The battle-weary GPO and Four Courts garrisons are exiting the Rotunda grounds en route to Richmond Barracks in Inchicore.
The city is in shock. Thousands of Dubliners are in the streets. Reaction to events is one of disbelief mixed with anger. Abuse is being heaped on the exhausted and starving marching men. But there are whisperings also of subdued admiration.
17.27hrs - The 4th Battalion has formed up to exit South Dublin Union. Their arms are shouldered. Commandant Ceannt has delivered them a rousing speech. Their heads are held high as they prepare to march to Marrowbone Lane to link up with Captain Colbert and the remainder of the Battalion.
17.40hrs - Commandant McLoughlin is marching with his men into captivity in Richmond Barracks in Inchicore under a cordon whose bayonets stand at the ready. They are filthy, dishevelled, exhausted, starving – yet many are singing.
17.56hrs - Roughly 150 Irish Volunteers from 4th Battalion have just entered the gates into St Patrick’s Park. They have been spat at, jeered and praised, while many onlookers on their route stared blankly, no doubt tremendously relieved, but shocked at what has come to pass on their streets.
18.03hrs - Incredible scenes as 3rd Battalion marches towards surrender. As Vice-Commandant O’Connor led the 3rd Battalion from Boland’s Bakery, they were met by a cordon of infantrymen who looked like they were baying for blood. But as soon as the 80 or so men turned on to Grand Canal Street a crowd of locals began cheering and applauding the rebels. Their heads lifted as weeping onlookers offered to hide their weapons. They are now turning left on to Grattan Street where they have been ordered to muster.
18.20hrs - All is changed, changed utterly. It has been a week since the clock struck in Dublin but the 3rd Battalion has laid down its arms in Grattan Street. It is done, the fighting men from both sides are done, but count themselves lucky. Hundreds have fallen this week, never to rise again. The city is shattered. Time will tell how it recovers. It inevitably will. Dubliners are a stoic lot. But now it is time to count the cost, in lives, in homes, in businesses, and in hearts. At the top of the street stands Commandant De Valera – the battalion commander. He has just been saluted by his Vice-Commandant. The men are lined up.
As the last of their unloaded weapons clatters off the pavement, O’Connor has just placed a sword at the top. The sword was given to him as a mark of his men’s respect on Good Friday. He has placed it here no doubt as a mark of respect for them.
These men will march to an uncertain future, as does the land they tried to make a republic. How the drama plays out from here, is anybody’s guess.
When The Clock Struck in 1916 – Close-Quarter Combat in the Easter Rising by Derek Molyneux and Darren Kelly, published by The Collins Press, at €17.99.
