Episode 2 – Capuchins and Rebels
Easter 1916, after almost a week of fighting Dublin city centre lies in ruins and the hopes for a Republic are in tatters. The garrisons of the GPO and the Four Courts have already surrendered though the other Volunteer garrisons remain under arms. A British Army staff car belonging to Brigadier General William Lowe makes its way through the ruins and rubble under a white flag. But there is no British officer inside. Remarkably the passengers consist of a Volunteer officer, Commandant Tomás Mac Donagh and two Irish Capuchin friars. What are they up to? Why are they being helped by the British forces? And how did the Capuchin friars become involved? Was their involvement in the conflict typical of the Catholic Church as a whole? 100 years on have the Capuchins continued this tradition of direct action, confronting the issues of the day?
Like many others, not least the British, the Capuchin Friars of Dublin were caught completely by surprise by the outbreak of the Easter Rising. Fierce fighting took place on the very doorstep of their Friary in Church Street located, as it was, between the Volunteer garrison of the Four Courts on one side and a field hospital set up by the Volunteers in the Fr. Mathew Hall on the other. The friars were immediately involved in ministering to the wounded and dying and as the week progressed their involvement became greater and a lot more dangerous. A chance encounter between a friar and Elizabeth O’Farrell catapulted them into a central role in the surrender. Acting as intermediaries, they assisted in conveying Pearse’s orders for surrender to isolated Dublin garrisons and helped to bring the bloodshed and the loss of life to an end. But the Capuchins will best be remembered as the priests who ministered to the leaders of the Rising in Kilmainham Gaol prior to their execution.
Ar Son na Poblachta – Capuchins and Rebels tells the remarkable story of three Capuchin Friars, Fr. Aloysius, Fr. Augustine and Fr. Columbus. They answered a call of faith and duty, helped bring the Easter Rising to an end and change the course of Irish history. This episode of Ar son na Poblachta recounts their extraordinary courage as they moved around the city, often in the face of great danger, it asks why their help was sought by the British generals and how close they themselves were to the ideals of the rebels and it examines the impact of their accounts of the 1916 leaders’ prayerful final moments in reshaping the public’s view of the Rising.
Presenter/ Reporter – Pádraig O’Driscoll
Producer/Director – Frank Hand
Quotes :
‘The Capuchins are fascinating and they are very much a part of the story of 1916, they’re not just onlookers, they’re very much actively engaged in it.’ – Prof. Diarmaid Ferriter
‘Capuchins had two loves, they loved Ireland, they were proud Irishmen but they were also very proud churchmen.’ – Fr. Brian Shortall, OFM Cap
‘The British army were strangers in Ireland …. The Capuchins and the rebels were on the same wavelength.’ – Fr. Pádraig Ó Cuill, OFM Cap
‘The church, from the highest levels down to those working on the ground with the poor, had different and complex political loyalties.’ – Dr. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh
‘The British Army wanted to bring the Rising to an end and they were desperately looking for people who would help and whom the rebels would trust.’ – Andrias Ó Cathasaigh
‘It was the Capuchins who gave us the accounts of how, dignified, brave and pure the leaders were as they faced death.’ – Dr. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh
‘But did they narrow our view of the leaders as holy and virtuous rather than hearing about their thoughts, aims and objectives, of which there were many?’ – Andrias O Cathasaigh
Fr. Columbus – Beside me and around me was the hideous din of rifle and machine gun fire…
For some time I was kept busy with the terrified who wanted to go to confession as well as with the wounded and dying…
There were eleven innocent civilians shot dead in that small area within thirty six hours not to mention the wounded who recovered
Fr. Augustine – At 3pm MacDonagh returned as promised to St. Patrick’s Park where he informed General Lowe of the decision to surrender and handed over his revolver and belt.
Fr. Aloysius – I heard the confessions of Pearse and MacDonagh and gave them Holy Communion. They received the Most Blessed Sacrament with intense devotion and spent the time at their disposal in prayer.
Fr. Aloysius (on the leaders of the Rising)
– I think we owe it to the young people of this country to put the spiritual aspect of the lives of these men before them as an ideal to follow.
Ar Son Na Poblachta is part of Ireland 1916