16 Lives

16LIVES

Sixteen Lives that changed the course of Irish History THE FIRST EVER SERIES OF BIOGRAPHIES OF THE 1916 EASTER RISING’S 16 EXECUTED MEN

The Easter Rising of 1916 was an attempt by armed revolutionaries to overthrow British rule in Ireland. A small group of Irishmen and Irishwomen seized key building in Dublin and fought a pitched battle with British soldiers for one week. The execution of sixteen men awakened a generation to the cause of Irish freedom.

16 Lives will record the full story of those executed leaders ...

SERIES EDITORS LORCAN COLLINS DR. RUÁN O’DONNELL Lorcan Collins was born and raised in Dublin. After a lifelong interest in Irish history he founded the hugely popular 1916 Walking Tour in 1996. He co-authored The Easter Rising (O’Brien Press, 2000) with Conor Kostick.

Lorcan regularly lectures on Easter 1916 in the United States. He is also a regular contributor to radio, television and historical journals. 16 Lives is Lorcan’s concept and he is co-editor of the series.

Dr. Ruán O’Donnell is a Senior Lecturer at the History Department, University of Limerick. A graduate of University College Dublin and the Australian National University, O’Donnell has published extensively on Irish Republicanism. Titles include Robert Emmet and the Rising of 1803, 1803 The Impact of 1916 (editor) and Special Category, The IRA in English prisons 1968-1978. He is a Director of the Irish Manuscript Commission and a frequent contributor to the national and international media on the subject of Irish revolutionary history.

The first three titles in the series will be published in Spring 2012, building up annually to a full collection of sixteen gripping biographies by 2016.

JAMES CONNOLLY (1868-1916): Born in Edinburgh, Connolly first went to Ireland as a young member of the British Army. In 1896 he founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party and also started a newspaper, the Workers’ Republic. He spent seven years in America where he lectured and organized for the Wobblies in the New York area.

Back in Ireland in 1910, he campaigned for the Socialist Party.

Jim Larkin appointed him as Ulster Organiser for the ITGWU in Belfast and in 1913 he helped during the Dublin Lockout.

Connolly was one of the founders of the Irish Citizen Army.

Throughout his life he wrote and published extensively on Irish and socialist issues. During the Easter Rising he was appointed Commandant-General of the Dublin brigade, directing the Army of the Irish Republic in the GPO. Badly wounded in two separate incidents, Connolly was executed strapped to a chair on 12 May 1916.

16 Lives: James Connolly

by Lorcan Collins PUBLICATION DATE: 26th March 2012 ISBN: 978-1-84717-1603 PRICE: €11.99/£10.99

JOSEPH MARY PLUNKETT (1887-1916), the son of Count and Countess Plunkett, travelled widely and was an accomplished poet and cofounder of the Irish Theatre. In 1913 he was joint secretary of the Lockout Peace Committee and joined the Irish Volunteers. Becoming a member of the IRB Military Council, he was involved in devising the plan for the Rising and negotiating arms from the German Government. In the GPO for Easter Week, he collated military information and organised radio signals to the world. Plunkett, already dying of tuberculosis, was the youngest signatory of the Proclamation. He married the artist Grace Gifford in Kilmainham Gaol hours before his execution on May 4th, 1916.

Honor Ó Brolcháin is the grand-niece of Joseph Plunkett. She

16 Lives: Joseph Plunkett

by Honor Ó Brolcháin PUBLICATION DATE: 26th March 2012 ISBN:978-1-84717-2693 PRICE: €11.99/£10.99

became involved in her family’s history when she inherited the considerable papers of her grandmother relating to the Plunkett clan. She produced an edition of Geraldine Plunkett Dillon’s memoirs: All in the Blood, (A&A Farmar 2006).

MICHAEL MALLIN (1874-1916) was born in Ward’s Hill, Dublin. He joined the British army as a drummer boy and served for over thirteen years. On return to Dublin he worked as a silk weaver and was involved in varying unsuccessful business ventures. Mallin was an accomplished music teacher, devout Catholic and temperance advocate. He was appointed secretary of the Silk Weavers’ Trade Union in 1908. In October 1914 he became Chief of Staff of the Irish Citizen Army. During Easter Week 1916, Mallin commanded a garrison of rebels in St Stephen’s Green and the Royal College of Surgeons. He was executed in Kilmainham Goal on 8 May 1916, leaving a pregnant wife and four young children.

Brian Hughes was born in Dublin and studied in NUI Maynooth where he graduated with a BA in History and English. He received an M.Phil in Modern Irish History from Trinity College, Dublin where he wrote a dissertation on Michael Mallin. He is currently working on a PhD thesis on the Irish Revolution and is the author of numerous articles on Irish history.

16 Lives: Michael Mallin

by Brian Hughes PUBLICATION DATE: 26th March 2012 ISBN: 978-1-84717-2662 PRICE: €11.99/£10.99

THE 16 LIVES SERIES JAMES CONNOLLY - LORCAN COLLINS MICHAEL MALLIN – BRIAN HUGHES JOSEPH PLUNKETT – HONOR Ó BROLCHÁIN ROGER CASEMENT – ANGUS MITCHELL THOMAS CLARKE – LAURA WALSH EDWARD DALY – HELEN LITTON SEÁN HEUSTON – JOHN GIBNEY SEÁN MACDIARMADA – BRIAN FEENEY ÉAMONN CEANNT – MARY GALLAGHER JOHN MACBRIDE – WILLIAM HENRY WILLIE PEARSE – ROISÍN NÍ GHAIRBHÍ THOMAS MACDONAGH – T RYLE DWYER THOMAS KENT – MEDA RYAN CON COLBERT - JOHN O’CALLAGHAN MICHAEL O’HANRAHAN – CONOR KOSTICK PATRICK PEARSE – RUÁN O’DONNELL

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