Madam, – I am writing on behalf of the members of the 1916-1921 Club whose main objective is to honour and remember the dead who fought for Irish freedom and all those who worked for the same cause. The founder members of the 1916-1921 Club were veterans of the 1916 Rising and the subsequent Irish War of Independence. The club approves and supports a proposal that Senator Labhras Ó Murchú made in Seanad Éireann on April 27th that Dublin Airport be renamed “Tom Clarke Airport”.
In his teenage years Tom Clarke joined the Fenians in Dungannon, Co Tyrone. When he was 24 he was arrested in London as a result of his Fenian activities there. He served 15 years in extremely harsh conditions in British jails where he found it difficult even to preserve his sanity.
In 1907, nine years after his release from prison, he returned to Dublin and opened a tobacconist/newsagent shop in Great Britain Street (now Parnell Street). He again immersed himself in the IRB and with his close friend, Seán MacDiarmada and the other members of the IRB military council, he played a prominent part in the planning of the 1916 Easter Rising.
By virtue of his seniority and contribution over many years to the establishment of the Irish Republic, Tom Clarke was given the honour of being the first signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. He was stationed in the General Post Office in Dublin during the rebellion.
Following the surrender on April 29th, Clarke was tried by court-martial and sentenced to death. He was executed by a British firing squad on May 3rd, 1916 at the age of 59.
Tom Clarke has been forgotten in recent years and the members of the 1916-1921 Club believe he deserves better. Accordingly, we strongly support the proposal of Senator Ó Murchú that Dublin Airport be renamed Tom Clarke Airport in time for the forthcoming 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. – Yours, etc,