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File contains correspondence and memoranda relating to the burial location of the 1916 leaders who were executed by the British military authorities. A number of letters are from or on behalf of the parents of men who had been executed in Cork Prison, Victoria Barracks (Michael Barracks, now Collins Barracks, Cork) and Kilmainham gaol (also jail), Dublin. Those who requested the Department of Defence to remove the bodies of their sons from their burial places in the aforementioned barracks and jail were replied to and told that their correspondence had been transmitted to the Department of Justice and that any further correspondence on the matter should be sent to that department (4 December 1924). File also contains a list of persons executed by the British in Ireland during the Anglo-Irish War and subsequently interred in military barracks. This list in table format gives the names of fifteen men and information under these headings; their home address, authority which imposed sentence of death, date of execution, place of execution, general place of interment , precise location of possible, whether coffined, whether interred separately, whether remains now identifiable, would exhumation be practicable. Correspondence attached to the list in table format from the Runaidhe Roinn Dlí agus Cirt (Secretary, Department of Justice) to the Runaidhe Roinn Cosanta (Secretary Department of Defence) states that the Minister for Justice requests the Department of Defence to forward the particulars required in the attached list in table format regarding those executed by the British during the year 1916 and up to 11 July 1921. It continues by stating that the ‘General Prisons Board’ had been asked for the information in respect of such persons interred within prison grounds (8 April 1925). Also, correspondence from the Director of Intelligence to the secretary of the Ministry for Defence states that the author of the correspondence would like to emphasize the importance of positively identifying the remains of the men who ‘lie side by side in Arbour Hill’. In continuation it was decided that no action would be taken until applications from people wanting to visit the graves had ceased to come in (22 May 1925). Correspondence from W. M. McClure of An Board Priosun (General Prisons Board) to the Department of Defence states that it was understood that the remains of the men executed by British authorities at Kilmainham gaol in 1916 were not interred there (20 October 1926). In reply to the General Prisons Board it is stated that an enclosed document is a list of all those who were executed at Kilmainham gaol while it was under military control in the years 1922 and 1923. It continues by stating that they were subsequently exhumed and handed over to the relatives on the 28 October 1924. Those executed in Kilmainham gaol in 1916 by British military authorities were not interred there but removed to Arbour Hill Barracks for burial (26 October 1926). The aforementioned enclosed document lists the names of four men and their date of execution as the 17 Nov 1922 (26 October 1926). The maintenance of graves in Cork Prison raised the question of the maintenance of graves of executed men in prisons and military barracks in the country including the question of the consecration or blessing of the graves (29 July 1929). Another issue was the difficulty in compiling a list of the men who had been executed by the British from 1916-1921 and whose bodies had not been returned to the relatives (26 September 1929). In correspondence from Commandant C. M. McAllister, Officer Commanding Cork district, to the Adjutant General, Department of Defence, it is stated that the only body buried in any military barracks in the area was that of Thomas Rice Kent, Castlelyons, Fermoy, county Cork, who was executed in 1916. McAllister states that during the course of his investigations he learned that the practice of removing the bodies of men executed in Collins Barracks, Cork, to the county gaol existed under the British regime but that he (McAllister) is unable to see similar action in the Kent case. He concludes by stating that a small cross was erected over Kent’s grave at the detention barracks, Cork. He did not know if the grave had been blessed or consecrated (2 October 1929). Correspondence from military barracks such as the Curragh Military District, county Kildare, Custume Barracks, Athlone and McKee Barracks, Dublin, to the Department of Defence refer to there being no executed men buried in any military barracks, prisons or grounds in their respective areas (3-4 October 1929). However, in correspondence from Captain Patrick Joseph McKenna, Military Governor Arbour Hill Barracks, to the Officer Commanding 5th Infantry Battalion Collins Barracks, Dublin, it is stated that ‘a number of 1916 men…are supposed to be interred in the grounds of Arbour Hill Detention Barracks’. McKenna continues by stating that the graves are looked after and that once every year a gardener from the Department of Defence tends to them in preparation for the annual ceremonies and that he believes them to be consecrated (7 October 1929). Correspondence from the secretary [Defence Department] the secretary of the Department of Justice refers to a minute of the 29 July 1929 and that attached to the correspondence is a list of men executed during the Anglo-Irish War and who were buried in military barracks. The author continues by stating that the graves of the men executed in Kilmainham gaol and subsequently interred in Arbour Hill were blessed before the burials. The grave of Thomas Rice Kent, who was interred in Collins Barracks, Cork, was blessed before the burial. In conclusion the author states that it can be understood that the ground in which all the men are buried was not consecrated due to the fact that only cemeteries have consecrated ground (9 November 1929).
A document (11 May 1932) entitled ‘leathán miontuairisce’ (extensive minutes), with an attached confidential document, to a secretary of an unknown department from E. [Clancy] states that the attached confidential document is a statement made by Jerome O’Connell and of interest as his information was based on probably the ‘only written record kept of the order in which the executed leaders were buried’. It continues ‘It is most improbable that any official record was ever kept by the British authorities and Mr. O’Connell informs me that the Sergeant Major in question (as Warrant Officer of the prison) had kept the record for his own information’. The author points out the presence of spelling mistakes in relation to peoples names in the attached confidential document and states that they are perhaps due to the inaccuracy of the record or the haste of copying it. O’Connell was certain of the accuracy of the order of burial .
The statement of O’Connell details the public press announcement of Wed 3 May 1916 pertaining to the trial by Field General Court Martial and sentencing to death of three signatories of the Irish proclamation. The remaining signatories and other leaders were subsequently tried and sentenced to death. The statement numbers, from one to fourteen, the order in which the bodies were interred. It also outlines that it was published following a survey and investigation carried out in 1918 on the British General Headquarters Property records, which showed that the ground the bodies had been buried in was also used as the exercise area for prisoners. However, the site also formed part of Arbour Hill military cemetery which had been consecrated since 1848.
O’Connell’s statement continues in outlining how the 1918 survey was given to him as the person in charge of the Irish military lands records. The position of the grave was pointed out to him by the prison Sergeant Major who was, at the time of the executions, in charge of preparing the grave. The Sergeant Major, in a ‘sympathetic description’ of the 1916 events stated that he, on his own initiative, ensured a numbered brick was placed at the head of each of the fourteen bodies in order of burial. He kept a corresponding list of the names which then allowed O’Connell to make the literal copy which he outlined earlier in the statement. O’Connell states that the position of the grave as seen by him in 1918 corresponds with the position as it was known in 1916 and that the measurements of the grave taken in 1918 were twenty-eight feet by nine inches long and nine feet wide and four feet from the eastern boundary wall. He added that the order of burial is from the northern wall. The statement is signed by O’Connell and dated the 11 May 1932.
It was agreed that based on O’Connell’s evidence and that his trustworthiness was unquestioned that a statement should be given to the press (20 May 1932). The president, Eamon deValera, of the Executive Council, approved the issue of a notice to the press. It was also decided that the press statement should request for any further information that may throw light on the matter (17 June 1932). Subsequent to the notice in the press the file contains correspondence from members of the public with their contributions of information they felt would be helpful. One such correspondence to Frank Aiken, Minister for Defence, from John Broderick (22 July 1932) contradicts the statement of Jerome O’Connell. Broderick states that O’Connell’s information can not be correct as the Sergeant Major he received it from was posted abroad on foreign service in 1917. Broderick claimed to know this as he was employed as a gas and water man and visited Arbour Hill regularly. In reply to Broderick’s letter the secretary of the Department of Defence states that they would be grateful for any information he could provide in relation specifically to the precise location of the graves at Arbour Hill (27 July 1932). Minutes to the private secretary state that a meeting was arranged with Broderick for the 9 August 1932 at Arbour Hill. At this meeting Broderick agreed that the site was correct ‘as far as he could remember’. He believed that the published order of burial (based on O’Connell’s statement) was incorrect and this was based on his assertion that he was in possession of a list which outlined the correct order. He attested that he received his list from a Staff Sergeant Morris not long after the burials had taken place. The minutes state that Morris apparently held the position of Orderly Room Clerk, or something similar, in Arbour Hill and may possibly have been in a position to see any correspondence coming out of Arbour Hill in connection with the executions and the burials. The minutes conclude by stating Broderick’s willingness to hand over the list in his possession and that he would either send it or call with it to the Department of Defence on Parkgate street the following day. At the writing of the minute it is stated that neither he nor the list had arrived (17 January 1933). Handwritten notes on the same document as the aforementioned minute from Mr. Powell request any further information on the matter (4 February 1933). In reply on the same document it states that he (Broderick) would be written to again. However, the author of the note states that he was not impressed by Broderick’s attitude and that he did not think any such ‘list even existed’ (10 February 1933). Powell replies by stating it had been seen by the minister and that no further action was to be taken (20 February 1933). This file also contains numerous other file reference numbers such as; A/11162, A/14201, A/13498, A/17239, S/21806/W, 2/2288, A/7701, A.D/1191, AHD/10/24/29 S.3357/4. There are also four other file cover pages with varying file titles. The outer file cover title is the title for this description.
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