Introduction
Following the Act of Union 1800, Dublin did not have its own parliament and elected members had to travel to London to the House of Commons for debates. At the time of the Census in 1911, the administration and political power of the country was located at Dublin Castle. The Lord Lieutenant had the formal responsibility for the administration of Ireland and he lived in the Vice-Regal lodge in the Pheonix Park. He was supported by the Chief Secretary’s Office which actually maintained the day to day running of the country. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1911 was John Hamilton-Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen and the Chief Secretary was Augustine Birell.
Photo: Augustine Birrell
John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, Earl of Aberdeen and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Aged 60 at the time of Census 1911
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time of the 1911 Census was John-Hamilton-Gordon. He was a Scottish politician. Born in Edinburgh, Hamilton-Gordon held office in several countries, serving twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1886; 1905–1915). The Lord Lieutenant at the time of the 1916 Rising was Ivor Churchill Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne.
Address: 16, St. James's Parish (Part of (Phoenix Park). (Castleknock, Dublin)1
This is the 1911 Census return for the Hamilton-Gordons who were living in the Vice-Regal Lodge in the Phoenix Park. It includes John Hamilton-Gordon, Haathe Earl of Aberdeen who was the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at the time and his wide Ishbel Maria, aged 54. There were three visitors in the house on Census night as well as 30 servants and two Army ADC’s. The 30 servants included four housemaids, two still room maids, two platemaids, four kitchenmaids, one butler, three valets, six footmen, one hall porter and one house porter. Most of the servants were from either Scotland or England and only five were Roman Catholic. The house and building return for the Vice-Regal Lodge shows that the building had 50 rooms.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000018774/
Photo: Review of Dublin Army Volunteer Training Corps
This photo above includes General John Maxwell, Lady Wimborne, H.H. Asquith, Miss Grosvenor, Mr. Bonham Carter and General Friend
The most pressing issue during 1916 for the rulers of Ireland, Augustine Birrell, the Chief Secretary and Under Secretary Sir Mathew Nathan, was the recruitment of Irish soldiers to the war effort. At the time of the Rising Birrell was in London for a Cabinet meeting. In spite of the capture of Roger Casement and the well-publicised Volunteer manoeuvers planned for Easter Sunday, the authorities did not anticipate the rebellion. The under-secretary Sir Matthew Nathan had written to Chief Secretary Birrell on the Easter Saturday to say that “I see no indications of a rising2. On Easter Monday morning, 24th April, Birrell was informed by Lord French, Commander–in-Chief of the British Home Forces that the Rising had begun. Birrell remained in contact with Nathan by telegraph but did not return to Ireland until the Thursday morning. On 1st May, the day after the Rising ended, Birrell sent his letter of resignation to Prime Minister Asquith.
Photo: Ireland's new Viceroy 1915, Ivor Guest Lord Wimborne
There was an atmosphere of public hostility towards the rebels but the country was placed under martial law. The man who made the decision on how to deal with the rebels was General Maxwell, Commander of the British Troops in Ireland. He looked on the Rising from a purely military viewpoint and looked on the rebels as traitors to England. At the front the army dealt with those who committed treason very harshly. Maxwell initiated a series of 170 secret court-martials as a result of which 90 were condemned to death. Fifteen men were shot between the 3rd and the 12th of May. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and his government became concerned at the speed and secrecy of events and intervened to stop more executions.
Major-General Arthur E. Sandbach
Address: 5, in Ashtown (Castleknock, Dublin)1
The 1911 Census form for the then Brigadier-General Arthur Sandbach was filled out by the butler in the house, Joseph Davis. According to the census form, Sandbach was absent in Wales on Census night. The census form wasfilled out in order of the importance of the people in the household. The General’s daughter, Geraldine Pamela Violet (aged 2) and originally from London, is first on the census form. There are eight servants in the house. The first servant recorded is the butler, Joseph Davis (28) from Wales. Maud Morgan (28) from England was the cook, Ruth Cox (37) from England was the child’s nurse and as a Baptist was the only member of the household who was not Church of England. Mary Owen (21) from Wales was the housemaid, Jennie Robberts (18) from Wales was the nurserymaid, Susie Verils (20) from England was the kitchenmaid, Constance Wilson (20) was a housemaid and Frederick Wellstead (30) was a servant from England.
After the 1911 Census Brigadier-General Sandbach was promoted to Major-General and he was the commandant of the 59th Division of the British Army at the time of the 1916 Rising. He signed the notice of execution of Pádraig Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Thomas Clarke on the 3rd May 1916. See a copy below
.
Photo: British Army notice on the executions of Pádraig Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Thomas Clarke on 3 May 1916
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Dublin/Castleknock/Ashtown
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000017307/
Captain Percival Lea-Wilson
Aged 23 at the time of Census 1911
Address: 41, Woodford Town (Woodford, Galway)1
In the 1911 Census, Lea-Wilson was living as a single man in Galway. His occupation was a 3rd Class District Inspector with the Royal Irish Constabulary and his religion was recorded as Church of England.
Lea-Wilson had been a constable in Charleville, Co Cork, before joining the British army in 1915. He had served for a time in France and was in charge of British troops at the Rotunda Gardens when Republican prisoners were held there following the Easter rebellion. In 1916, Lea-Wilson was a British Army captain, who treated Thomas Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada, Edward “Ned” Daly and others badly when they were taken prisoner. This was noted by a young Captain Michael Collins. Lea-Wilson was later murdered during the War of Independence in 1921 by the IRA in Gorey, Co. Wexford, where he was still serving in the Royal Irish Constabulary. Lea-Wilson's widow, Dr Marie Lea-Wilson, a Roman Catholic, donated a masterpiece “The Betrayal of Christ” by Michaelangelo de Caravaggio, to a religious order in Dublin in gratitude for their support to her following the shooting of her husband. The painting subsequently hung for many decades in the refectory until its rediscovery in 1991. The painting is now on permanent loan to the National Gallery of Ireland.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Galway/Woodford/Woodford_Town/466067/
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002419160/
Captain John C. Bowen-Colthurst
Aged 30 at the time of the Census 1911
Captain Bowen-Colthurst was born into the Anglo-Irish family of the Colthursts who lived in the family estate in Blarney, Co. Cork. He joined the Royal Irish Rifles and served in many campaigns around the British Empire. After serving at Mons in France in 1914 he was severely wounded and invalided home. He was not allowed to return to the front due to a medical board report and also a report by his commanding officer Major-General Sir Wilkinson Bird who accused him of attacking a German position without orders, leading to a counter-attack which led to his battalion suffering many casualties. He was also accused of breaking down during the fighting.
In 1916 he was posted to Portobello Barracks in Dublin. One of the most senseless tragedies of the Easter Rebellion involved Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, a well-known pacifist writer and an ardent support of women’s rights, who took no part in the rising. Sheehy-Skeffington was taken into custody when he crossed Portobello Bridge on his way home from distributing leaflets to appeal for those in Dublin to desist looting and was brought before Bowen-Colthurst. Bowen-Colthurst also shot dead a youth named Coade who was with his friend Laurence Byrne on the Rathmines Road the same night. Captain Bowen-Colthurst then led a group of soldiers to the premises of Mr. James Kelly, a tobacconist who was an Alderman of the City and a Justice of the Peace and totally innocent of any involvement in the Rising. A bomb was thrown into the premises where both Patrick McIntyre and Thomas Dickson were taking refuge. Patrick MacKintyre was the editor of the paper known as “The Searchlight” and Thomas Dickson was editor of a paper called “The Eye-Opener”. Mr. Dickson was a Scotsman and physically disabled. Neither of the two journalists had any connection to the rebellion or Sinn Fein but were also later arrested. They were taken into custody and along with Francis Sheehy-Skeffington were shot afterwards by firing squad. At first the British tried to cover up Colthurst's actions but continued protests and a campaign by Hanna Sheehy-Skeffinton led to the formal court-martial of Bowen-Colthurst on June 6th. He was found guilty but insane and incarcerated in Broadmoor Criminal Asylum. Bowen-Colthurst spent 20 months there, and then he emigrated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, arriving on 7th May 1919 on board SS Tunisian. He lived at Terrace, British Columbia, Canada and. he died in December 1965 at age the age of 853.
Address: 3, Ballymote Lower (Downpatrick Rural, Down)1
The 1911 Census return for the Bowen-Colthurst family recorded them living Co. Down. The head of the family was John Bowen-Colthurst (30) from Co. Cork, a Captain in the Infantry on the Active list and he stated that he had been married for a year to Rosalinda Laeticia (30) from England. (She was in fact born in Kent, the youngest daughter of Robert St. John FitzWalter Butler, Baron of Dunboyne and Caroline Maude Blanche Probyn2) whose family name was Butler.) They were both Church of England. Also present in the household were three servants. Thomas Henry Christian (24) was the gardener and was Church of England. He was married to Mary Jane (25) the cook who was Prebyterian. Both Thomas and Mary Jane were originally from England. The general domestic servant was Alice Maud Pepper (17) originally from Co. Armagh and who was Church of England. Also present on Census night was a visitor, Lavinia Alice Julia Hindson (41) from England, who is Church of England.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Down/Downpatrick_Rural/Ballymote_Lower/236880/
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai002221973/
In 1911 there were thousands of troops living in Dublin in many barracks across the city. There was so much poverty in Dublin that serving in the British Army was one way for Irishmen to make a living. The Census 1911 returns from various Military Barracks were on Form H, “The Return of Military R.I. Constabulary or Metropolitan Police in Barracks”. Unlike the usual census forms, it simply recorded the initial letters of the Christian name and the surname. There was also a column to record the person’s rank as well as occupation. The rest of the form records education, age, marriage and whether or not they can speak Irish. This Irish proficiency question is not on the British census although there was a similar question asked in Wales.
Photo: Soldiers headquarters group taken at Model School 1914
Richmond Barracks, Inchicore Dublin1
At Richmond Barracks in Inchicore there was room for 1,600 soldiers, a hospital for 100 patients, officer accommodation and stabling for horses4.
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000130886/
Portobello Barracks, Rathmines Dublin1
At Portobello Barracks in Rathmines, there was a cavalry unit, a garrison church and a canteen4.
The Portabello barracks lay outside the city boundary of Dublin on the north side, being bounded on the north side by the Grand Canal, on the east by the Rathmines Road, and on the south by the suburb of Rathmines. The barracks covered a large area (about 40 acres) and were built for the accommodation of two Infantry battalions but at the time of the insurrection not more than 600 men were quartered there and of these half were on duty outside the barracks5.
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000153148/
Wellington Barracks, South Circular Road Dublin1
Wellington Barracks on the South Circular Road was built as a prison in 1813 but by 1911 it was operating as a barracks4.
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000161192/
Royal Barracks Benburb Street1
The largest barracks in Ireland in 1916 was the Royal Barracks at Benburt Street which is now the National Museum of Ireland. This barracks was at the heart of the British military operation in Ireland4.
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000107428/
Fermoy Barracks Co. Cork1
Fermoy Barracks in Co. Cork is an example of a military barracks outside of Dublin.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Cork/Fermoy_Urban/New_Barracks/413254/
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai001930229/
Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police
The two primary law enforcement agencies in Ireland were the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police. The RIC was an armed police force which was deployed throughout the country apart from Dublin. The bulk of its members were Irish Catholics. The majority of constables in rural areas were drawn from the same social class, religion and general background as their neighbours.
The Dublin Metropolitan Police were the main law enforcement agency in Dublin. It was created in 1836 and operated under the control of the central government. Unlike the RIC they were an unarmed force. They were mainly concerned with ordinary crime. The force became unpopular in 1913 during the Lockout when they dealt brutally with workers during the strike. The force was withdrawn from the streets during the 1916 Rising as an unarmed police force could not defend against armed rebels. The force also had a G division which were concerned with political crime and subversive activities. There are mentions of “G” men in many of the Bureau of Military History reports who were watching the volunteers, making note of who they met and conducting searches on their homes for arms.
Barracks, Strandvill Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin1
On the Census 1911 form for the Stranville Avenue Barracks, the majority of the men on the form were farmers, Roman Catholic and single and not one of them was from Dublin.
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000021334/
Barracks, Capel Street, Dublin1
The information on the Census 1911 form for the Capel Street Barracks is very similar to the information for the Strandvill Avenue Barracks - again the majority of the men on the form were farmers, Roman Catholic and single and not one of them was from Dublin.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000082273/
Photo: 2 men in court dress in Dublin Castle with members of Dublin Metropolitan Police
John Lowe, Superintendent Dublin Metropolitan Police
Aged 51 at the time of the Census 1911
Superintendent Lowe was one of the investigating officers into the theft of the Irish Crown jewels. The Irish Crown Jewels were the regalia of the Order of St. Patrick and were kept in the Office of Arms in the Bedford Tower in Dublin Castle. The jewels consisted of the insignia of the Grand Master of the Order of St. Patrick (the Lord Lieutenant), which were a jewelled star and badge – (Brazilian white diamonds and emeralds), - and the collars and badges of the Knights of St Patrick. They had been presented to the Order in 1830 by King William IV – hence the description ‘Crown’ jewels. Lowe is referred to in the book “The Secret Cases of Sherlock Holmes” which was written about these missing Crown jewels. The theft was thought to be an inside job and one of the main suspects was Francis Richard Shackleton, Dublin Herald, brother of the explorer Ernest. Lowe is also mentioned in quite a few Bureau of Military History Witness Statements and is described as searching homes of the Volunteers for weapons both before and after the Easter Rising.
Address: 1, Palace St. (Royal Exchange, Dublin) 1
The Census 1911 return for the Lowe family in Dublin recorded John Lowe (51) originally from Co. Down as head of the family. He had been married to Lizzie (51) from Co. Tyrone for 19 years. Their son Herbert John (19) was a veterinary student and they also had a daughter, Annie Isabel (10), a student.
The two children were born in Dublin City. All members of the Lowe family are Presbyterian. There was a domestic servant present on Census night, Margaret Mary Costello (18) from Co. Meath and she was Roman Catholic.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Dublin/Royal_Exchange/Palace_St_/74421/
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000176221/
Sources:
References:
http://www.carlow-nationalist.ie/2013/09/30/stole-irish-crown-jewels/
Sean J. Murphy: A Centenary Report on the Theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in 1907
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