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THIS WEEK, our Voices section is dedicated to the men, women and children whose first-hand experiences contributed to the rich patchwork of testimony that chronicles the events of 1916.
This first-hand testimony, recorded in the Bureau of Military History’s collection of eyewitnesses to the Rising, comes from an unnamed member of the Sisters of Mercy who was a nurse at the Mater hospital at that time.
As well as tending to the wounded and dying delivered to the hospital, she later looked after hunger strikers of 1917, including Thomas Ashe who she saw die in hospital following his move there from Mountjoy, where he had been forcefed.
She went on to nurse thousands of Dubliners afflicted by the so-called Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.
Here she describes the abysmal conditions under which hospital staff laboured in 1916 – and details sights which would stay with her for the rest of her life:
During Easter Week, Mr Alexander Blayney (Surgeon) was on duty in the hospital. He never left it that whole week. He was operating day and night.
There was neither gas nor electricity and he had to operate by the light of candles brought from the sacristy. There was no sterilisation of instruments or dressings as there was no boiling water at hand, yet there was no case of sepsis following any of the operations.
We were instructed that patients with abdominal wounds should be brought straight to the theatre without waiting to remove any clothes except the shoes and stockings.
Tuesday was the first day that any wounded were brought. Nine of these were detained and the rest were treated and discharged. One of the badly wounded, Margaret Nolan who was a forewoman in Jacob’s factory died that day, as did also James Kelly – a schoolboy who was shot through the skull.
Another schoolboy John (Seán) Healy aged 14, a member of the Fianna whose brain was hanging all over his forehead when he was brought in, died after two days. Another man, Patrick Harris, died also on Tuesday of laceration of the brain.
[The story of John Healy is recounted in more detail in Joe Duffy's Children of the Rising. John lived with his nine siblings, mother Helena and father Christopher - a plumber - on Phibsborough Road. He had already left school to become an apprentice with his father when the Rising broke out.
John tried to join the rebels in the Jacob biscuit factory just off present-day Aungier Street but was apparently sent away by Thomas MacDonagh as he deemed him too young.
His family believes though that MacDonagh gave John a message to deliver regarding an ambush at the bridge in Phibsborough but he was shot near there, and a plaque in his name can be seen at what is now Doyle’s corner, off the North Circular Road, just a short distance from John’s family home.]
In the next excerpt in the nurse’s testimony, she hints that her and other medics’ sympathies lay with those they saw injured in the conflict, not just civilian casualties but also wounded Volunteers:
Another wounded man that was brought in on the Wednesday was Patrick McCrea. He was suffering from pellet wounds in the hand, backside and leg which he told me he got in the Post office fighting. His wounds being slight, he was sent out of the GPO with a despatch.
He then got shelter somewhere and was brought to the hospital for treatment covered up in a load of cabbage.
(The following is an excerpt from McCrea, visible in his witness statement here.)
Almost immediately a G man called McIntyre came to the hospital. He identified McCrea and took up his position on the corridor outside the ward to keep him under observation.
He did not even go out to get his meals and I was unwilling to supply him with any. One of the nuns thought it a pity not to give him something to eat and brought him to the pantry. The students made various suggestions for dealing with McIntyre, including chloroforming him.
In spite of McIntyre’s vigilance McCrea managed to get away safely on the 4th May. While McIntyre was in the pantry having his dinner, one of the sisters who had made all the necessary preparations beforehand, got the key leading from the Pathological Department to the street. She took a nurse, a very fine girl, called Máire O’Connor from Ballybunion into her confidence. The latter brought McCrea along the corridor through the mortuary to the exit door, let him out and locked the door behind him.
The whole thing did not take five minutes and the sister replaced the key in its lock without its having been missed. McCrea was afterwards an active Volunteer and I heard he was in the armoured car that tried to rescue Seán MacEoin from gaol.
(McCrea confirms the nurses’ help in his escape here):
On Wednesday the numbers of wounded increased, 21 being detained. Two of them were already dead when brought in and six died in the course of the day. Twenty-one wounded were detained for treatment on Thursday. Seven of them died within a week and another on the 14th May.
Eight of the nine wounded brought in on the Friday and who were detained for treatment, died in the hospital. Only eight were detained on the Saturday. One of these was already dead and another insane. The latter was removed to the Richmond Lunatic Asylum after a few days.
Only one wounded man was detained for treatment on Sunday.
Practically all the wounded men who were brought in were Volunteers, but very few of them were in uniform. There was at least one looter brought in. He was very drunk and was found wearing a couple of suits of clothes and was in possession of many other accessories including a toy revolver which was large enough to be taken for a real one.
Find more extraordinary eyewitness accounts like this in the Bureau of Military History archives here.
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Well won Michael D Higgins. And Best of luck to you.
I never ever thought I would say thank you to sinn fein, but thank the almighty God above that bang bang McGuinness did as he did on the frontline.
We were rescued from goldfish-memory voters who were taken under the spell of Uncle Fester and his empty rhetoric, supported by the ff gombeens
Thank you, thank you, thank you !!
I cannot for the life of me understand how and why Sean Gallagher has received so many first preference votes. Can anybody enlighten me ? Fair play Michael D, Cannot vote because living abroad.
Hello Don, Fianna Fail haven’t gone away you know!!!!!
No? they are like snakes in the grass !! but things are changing and FFail didn’t get in this time….
Go n-éirí leat Micheal D. An tUachtarán a mbeimid bródúil as
A great day for socialist Ireland – albeit a soft left. But I’ll take anything rather than any more of the civil war politics that has divided and continues to divide my country for so long.
Well said Reada.
Well done Michael D.
What a shame!
After two great presidents in the Aras, it will once again be used as a retirement home for let’s face it a fairly average politician.
Less than half of us voted so I guess we got who we deserved!
He may be a bit a bit pompous, but I defy you to find fault with the substance of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-vCJQ5lLPk
Wouldn’t get it from the gombeens.
@Niall Mulligan. Thanks so much for that link. I gave Higgins my No. 1, and that clip has made me very, very glad I did so. If you get to make even one speech as awesome as that one inyour political career, you’re more than qualified to be my head of state.
Ok then we didn’t get who we deserved!!! Ha!
Apparently Colin voted for SG! I’m sorry but he was the last person for the position!
Guys. Michael D Higgins is now our President so let’s get behind him. I trust he will do a great job.
As an MMG supporter I’m glad the base support has been raised and in time I hope the vitriol will dissipate. This is part of the process, in 15 years time it will be ‘normal’ to consider Sinn Fein as any other party.
pity it will take so long
Right you are Paul, just hope it’ll be quicker than that!
Congratulations to Michael D Higgins on winning the Presidential election, I might think he’s a pompous old windbag, but he has redeeming qualities and got my #1 vote in the end. Commiserations to my #2 vote Sean Gallagher who did not deserve to be ambushed by a hoax tweet as he was on the Frontline on Monday. Very Shoddy work by RTE indeed, and heads should roll.
So sick of the “ambush” talk.
Seán Gallagher shouldn’t have insulted the electorate by running as an independent. This was the dirty trick I’m most concerned with – the mechanics of how he thankfully got found out by the wider public aren’t really relevant.
Martin McGuinness , PAt Kenny & Glenna Lynch (the ordinary mother & business woman from Stillorgan who tackled Gallagher on the frontline ) should be awarded merits from saving this country electing a Bertie type character to the office of President ……
Niall, the mechanics certainly ARE relevant. No candidate should be ambushed like that. Basic Journalistic ethics.
No, they aren’t.
If you try to pull the wool over people’s eyes, you can’t complain when you get caught out. It doesn’t matter how it happens.
Niall, it was an unverified hoax tweet!! Of course it matters!!
What a ridiculous defence.
His reaction to the said “unverified tweet” showed that he had plenty to hide. If the allegations weren’t true in substance – as they were subsequently shown to be – he would easily have batted it away. He acted like a child who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, because essentially he had.
As it happened, Morgan did give a statement the next day, albeit through a solicitor, so the tweet turned out to be substantially true. Please,
Stop trying to paint him as a victim.
Stop trying to distract attention from Seanín’s embarrassment by retreading old attacks on the Sinners.
He lied to the Irish public.
Fianna Fáil tried to make suckers of us all, yet again.
This is without even getting into the substance of how Seánín’s story reveals the basic rottenness at the heart of the Fianna Fáil machine.
Actually, the Colm Tobin tweet that I’m really concerned about it this one:
“Reports of Fianna Fail supporters shouting “We’re back, we’re back!” in Dublin West. It’s like Return Of The Idiots.”
I sincerely hope that this won’t be forgotten come the general election, having had the satisfaction of putting a ballot-shaped bullet in the back of Seán’s bald head, I very much look forward to putting another nail in Fianna Fáil’s coffin.
DJ, give me an honest answer here, should political ethics not outweigh journalistic ethics in the grand scheme of things?
Get over it! Gallagher lost due to his own weakness and dishonesty . Well done to Michael D , He got my 2nd vote , I am very happy for him , his wife and his family :)
Let’s hope the old guard in SF will now retire and let the young, clean, non terrorist come up the ranks of the party. The country has sad no to McGuinness and yet Mary Lou is seeing it as a victory. TAKE OFF THE BLINKERS. I’ll never vote SF.
That’s your view but the old guard as you put it in Sinn Fein well out polled the Fine Gael candidate the so called most popular party in the country so the Old Guard in Sinn Fein must be doing something right
what about the old guard in fine gael will they go away after less then half of mmg
Some people will just never vote Sinn Fein. Full stop, no matter who the party members are.
gotta love the ignorant comments on here re ff or sg….he attracted non ff voters too. red c poll shows that to be a fact….
fact is he got 500000 votes…..i didn’t vote for him but to class all half million voters as ex ff idiots is just dumb…..
to encourage these ppl to vote otherwise will take intelligence … not abuse straight out of the fox news school of journalism.
You have a definite point there, Tommy. I hope that my posts haven’t been in the realm of abuse, I really don’t intend it that way.
The strong language is due to the fact I’m still extremely angry at Gallagher and Fianna Fáil. I just think it’s an insult of the worst possible kind for the party to run a candidate under false pretences. Is this all the respect that they have for us?
But you shouldn’t confuse my contempt for the party machine with contempt for their voters or supporters.
Well said Niall . I feel the same way myself . It’s the FF machine and the hierarchy in that party who annoy me . I do not under stand what they have to offer any of us as a nation , they have dragged us into the depths of a recession and still theydeny deny deny. FF has no sense of fair play or shame. Why do people vote for them ?
FG reminded the country of the pedigree of McGuinness. Lying Terrorist. Do you believe he doesn’t know or couldn’t fine out who robbed the northern bank or who murdered the guard and the Irish solider. Or were are the missing are buried. he is living in the past. Sure I want a united Ireland and you could bet your house that the British would love to hand it back. But we could never afford it even at the height of the tiger years
In Fianna Fáil’s Ireland, bank robs you.
Just sayin’.
Torpedo , Lying Candidate you tweet ? are you referring to Sean Gallagher? in the court of public opinion the jury voted & removed the honour of the office of president from the candidate Sean Gallagher.
now that the election is over can we all think of the future of this country instead of rehashing history . We have a president who wont let us down. Thats all we want isn’t it? maybe not the right forum for this , but I would like for everyone on this site to spare some time and consider what it means to be Irish and the sacrifice a true Irish patriot made, by giving his own life to save others, R.I.P Ciaran Jones
What a relief. Last few days have been a nightmare as I worried that Ireland was going to choose a speculator over a socialist.
Delighted Michael D is our new president. I can breath again.
phew. your not the only one
Sean Gallagher represented everything Fianna Fail & we’ll hear & read more about this man in time to come ….. just like we’ll read & hear the conclusion of Judge Mahon’s tribunal on FF leader Bertie……Gallagher’s. 504,964 Just listened to Christy Moore on RTE describe the sigh of relief when he heard it was Michael D that won the office of President that summed up my feelings when I heard the results wonder how the 504,964 voters feel
The link to part one won’t work in your iPhone app!
Hi there – I’ve re-established there – do you want to try now? If not, if you go back to the home page and scoot down a little bit, you’ll find part one still there to open and read. Cheers, S
No, the link still doesn’t work, but found part one on the main page. Thanks!
Can I suggest that the Journal take a stand and never quote the Irish Central again. Sensationalist headline that’s getting ripped apart elsewhere online. Seriously, you’re better than that. Don’t promote this rubbish.
Top comment on the article from Reddit sums it up: http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/lsdur/elected_michael_d_higgins_irelands_most/c2v8bid
Showing headlines that are knocking around outside of Ireland tonight don’t constitute an endorsement from us John…
Wall street journal, Routers, some crappy blog. There’s an odd one out there.
My point is you’re better than that. I feel you should promote this kind of rubbish – If it was the wall street journal I’d get what you’re saying but you know this is tripe.
This isn’t an attack on this site, or yourself BTW. It’s late, so please don’t take it personally. Your coverage of the campaign has been excellent. Just offering some constructive criticism. I wouldn’t give the IC the time of day after that kind of article.
The comments underneath are our new president’s favour. They’re not as bad as their media might like us to believe. Thanks for the link. Omg I’m so happy Michael d won.
I really don’t understand the mentality of some of the people on here who are so insulting and mean minded in their attitude towards Sean Gallagher, he never committed a crime, he never held a gun to anybody’s head demanding money for FF, ok he should have dealt with the whole fundraising issue when it arose better but I’m sure he knows that himself now. Lots of people join political parties and leave them, Pat Cox was a member of FF I think years back, then he joined the PDs, he joined FG recently hoping for a nomination for the Presidential election, tisn’t a crime to be a member of a political party. Sean Gallagher I’m sure joined FF when he was a young man believing it was the right thing to do. Most ordinary party members have no hidden agenda except that for whatever reason they believe the party they support is the correct one for them, listening to people here you’d think he had been a member of the Mafia or such like. What people need to realize is that 504,964 people gave him their no . I doubt if all those people are stupid idiots. I voted for him because I felt he was most suited for the job. If you look at all the candidates none of them except Michael D escaped the wrath of the media, no point in going back over it all again but for me Martin McG & David N are the 2 that I would least want to see winning because of both their pasts. Michael D is a nice man I’m sure but then again he got an easy ride from the media for some unknown reason or maybe he is squeaky clean although to be honest I don’t know of anybody who goes through life totally free of any wrongdoing. Anyway I wish him and his wife well in the áras. I also wish Sean Gallagher & Trish well in whatever road they take after this and I honestly think it is time for people to realize that over half a million of us are not to be sneezed at, it is a democracy after all and we are just as entitled to respect as anybody else regardless of our political beliefs.
Mary, the point is that he is still Fianna Fáil to the bone. He was still collecting money only a couple of years ago. I don’t believe that he’s ever resigned from the party, open to correction on that one.
But I am certain that he lied about it consistently, and then he was caught out he changed his position. It’s a disgrace, and an insult to the Irish people.
This is without even starting on:
” listening to people here you’d think he had been a member of the Mafia or such like”
Well, he pretty much was. Have a look at the details of his career. He basically spent it miking his Fianna Fáil connections.
Mary,
I think you’ll find Niall is from Galway. It’s worth keeping that in mind when you read his comments about Sean Gallagher. Several pinches of salt may be required!!
Is the wrong answer. Try again.
Primarily I’m a citizen who’s sick of being lied to and treated like a fool by cute hoors and gombeen men.
Don’t let yourself down Niall, whatever ff done and they did send us down the swanny they never used the bullet, strong language, mc Guinness never worried about the envelope his people just by passed it.
Our state was born out of political violence, was it not?
Maybe you’re a radical pacifist, in which case I hope your positions on, say, Barack Obama or David Cameron are equally strident to those you espouse with regard to Marty.
Or maybe you can live in the real world. Nobody’s asking you to vote for him, but at the same time droning on about his terrorist past isn’t enough these days – it’s about time that SF’s policy positions were addressed on their merits, without hysteria.
GREAT JOB SUSAN AND ALL AT JOURNAL.ie
SORRY TO ADMIT THAT I’M NEW TO SOCIAL MEDIA AND ALL THAT BUT I FIND IT WEIRD THAT PEOPLE DISLIKE MY POST ,WHICH WAS HEART FELT . WEIRD THEY DIDN’T COMMENT/??
Brian. Don’t worry. Some people just red thumb everything they read. Gives them a sense of Neroism I guess. There’s a thread re Garda Ciaran with a lovely poem that will bring a tear to your eye if you know any gardaí.
Not writing in all caps is a good start :)
I guessing it’s because you went off-topic. Comments are meant to add to article and generate discussion. Yours trailed off there a bit.
Also never complain about red thumbs. People hate that.
Don’t worry about it Brian. Some people downvote just for the hell of it, some because they don’t understand you, some because they disagree with you and think downvoting will help shape public perception.
I think your total vote (1.1 million) might be out. I’m seeing 1.7million roughly.
You’re absolutely right Eugene – in my speedy typing to get the result in, I juxtaposed the second and third digits of the total vote. I’ve just double-checked the other numbers with our man on the scene there and they’re correct. Thanks for that – will post a note in the blog now!
No bother. I appreciate the effort you’re all putting in – it’s great to be able to follow the progress from overseas.
Great to have you on board! I’ll post some more pics now so you get some more sense of the scene here in Dublin at the National Count Centre.
Well it looks Like its official Irish people dont know there ass from their elbow Imagine Putting an Old Man as head of the country and its a Doddery old man at that .A case of politics before sense .he knows nothing about Business
Do you have some sort of a problem with older people? Ever heard of experience and wisdom coming with age? Ask the arts and cinema industry about Mike D’s commitment to enterprise and openness to innovation and new ideas. You might learn something from the old man.
Martin, Seán Gallagher’s idea of “business” mainly involves milking his political connections – tbh, I’d say Michael D knows more about real business, making and creating, than Gallagher.
Sorry your guy lost, but I think you should give Michael D a chance, he’s a good man.
fair enough niall…..but then i presume the ff machine asked gaybo to run after sg ran as an independant as an extra smokescreen???
u have every right to feel angry towards ff…. i just think the off the cuff comments by some on here……like the electorate are idiots for voting sg are stupidity at best….
and the funny thing about it… is that the sinn fein ppl on here are the first ones to throw the comments at the very people they are trying to presuade to vote for them rather than ff……. when are sf going to realise they won’t be a success down south unless they Hoover up the ff vote…… and while mc’guinness on frontline did the right thing in the short term for the presidency .. for his party he just created a bigger rift between them and his potential following.
Gaybo? That seems like years ago. They did also have Mary Davis, although she’s not so much of an apparatchik as Gallagher. I think that they did try to cover a few bases, but it’s abundantly clear that Gallagher is a fully committed Fianna Fáil man. Cannot be denied.
Tbh, I’m a Labour leaning agnostic more than anything else, would hope that the party could develop a brand of 21st century socialism to reach out to FF supporters.
You’re probably right about Marty, although I think he’s done the party no real harm in this campaign. I have a feeling that he may well have gotten more first preferences if people didn’t feel the need to choose Michael D so as to ensure that Gallagher wasn’t to get in.
Of course, there will always be people who will never countenance voting SF, and I think that’s understandable, but I would hope that we’re at the point where debate will begin to move beyond “thug, terrorist, MURDERER” hysteria. In 2011, they’re a peaceful, democratic party, with a substantial mandate in this state as well as in the north, simply discounting their positions by reference to the troubles won’t cut it any more.
Granted, I think that much of the hysteria came down to desperate FF smoke and mirror tactics.
I hope that we can all agree that the brand of crony capitalist, gombeen man cute hoor politics that destroyed Gallagher’s bid by association needs to be obliterated for the good of the nation?
Niall think you’ll find that most of the murderer terrorist tags were put on mcguinness and not sinn fein. Sinn fein will never move on as a party unless they break the link with the troubles ie mcg and Adams and also start putting forward some policies. Until then they will never fulfill there potential
ask the shinners niall for a spare bucket… they favour it over the envelope…
good way to collect for your court appearance… :-)
at least u will be in court… no chance of appearing before dail committee !
can anyone tell me how canditates get their money back. I know its 12% of vote . is that 1st pref or end total
End total Brian – I actually just posted something about that – if Norris eliminated after second count, his transfers might push Mitchell over the magic 12.5 per cent and Mitchell will get his expenses back. Anyway, I explain more at the top.
Good question – cheers!
Bit of a pain, since it’ll never happen (Mitchell won’t see nearly enough Norris transfers)
Still, whole things a formality at this point.
niall be careful he doesn’t sue u… for defamation
;-)
he has Reynolds v Sunday times on his side…
You’re right. better start saving to cover any damages.
Good Morning Liveblog staff : ) Got the coffee on?
It’s 0730 here in the UK and I (from the Irish Diaspora) want to congratulate Michael D Higgins. I believe he may become Ireland’s greatest President yet – only time will tell. I followed Niall Mulligan’s link and watched his speeches on You Tube and some of his speeches are awesome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-vCJQ5lLP. The only time I ever saw him in the Dail he was asleep! Drat! And you really must watch the cartoon videos of him on you tube – they’re hilarious- Hope this link works http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6hjfalmCgg&feature=related
And finally Esther…..WELL DONE TO LIVEBLOG STAFF – such staying power, humour and fast fingers. Great journalism.
john i was taking the piss……. hence the wink….
ooooh that slipped past me. Too many negative comments and a few mindless criticisms appear here (although much approved lately).
Apologies.
Michael d was in ff aswell….. all idiots ;-)
From his Wiki…
“Higgins originally joined Fianna Fáil in UCG while a mature student; ”
It was for 6 months and he was questioned about that already and he shot it down.
Idiot!
Ha! Now Tommy, Michael D is no more 2011 gombeen FF than the man in the moon.
Unless you’ve got a “hoax” tweet lying round somewhere you’d like to hit him with?
@niall…. off course he is not… just a pisstake
ha gombeen man…. you bringing poor Albert into the conversation ?
Ah, no. I was kinda hoping you were gonna break out the hoax tweets, would be good for a laugh. ;)
As for the gombeens, back to wikipedia:
A Gombeen Man is a pejorative Hiberno-English term used in Ireland for a shady, small-time “wheeler-dealer” or businessman who is always looking to make a quick profit, often at someone else’s expense or through the acceptance of bribes. Its origin is the Irish word “gaimbín”, meaning monetary interest.[1] The term referred originally to a money-lender and became associated with those shopkeepers and merchants who exploited the starving during the Irish Famine by selling much-needed food and goods on credit at ruinous interest rates.
eire .. id say they feel disappointment as “their” man didn’t win….. what other feeling did u have in mind?
Susan, I’m guessing an auto correcting spellchecker replaced Quota with Quote for you, either that or an awful lot of people have been quoting :-)
No, bleedin’ autospell. It is of course quota. But we’ve also had lots of quotes tonight ;)
thank you susan
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