May Document of the Month

(NAI, CSO/RP/1916/19265/20)

The May Document of the Month is a list of 183 civilians tried before a courts martial for their activities during the 1916 Rising. The list includes the name of the individual in alphabetical order, their profession, age, sentence and what sentence was actually carried out.

The list includes the names of the 16 individuals executed for their role in the Rising. The sentence column has ‘Death’ after each of their names, followed by ‘Confirmed’ in the confirmation column. Details are provided of the sentences of those ordered to be executed but later commuted, including Countess Markievicz, whose sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. She is listed under Michael Mallin, whose death sentence was ‘confirmed’.

The page extracted for the Document of the Month, includes the names of Patrick and Willie Pearse, who were both executed, as well as Joseph Mary Plunkett, also among those executed, along with Plunkett’s two brothers John and George, whose death sentences were commuted to 10 years penal servitude.

The correspondence accompanying the list queries under which statute civilians were tried by Courts Martial. The reply confirms that DORA [Defence of the Realm Act] was used.

For the full list please see NAI, CSO/RP/1916/19265.

As part of the programme of commemorations to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising, the National Archives has developed a website about the executed leaders, which will launch in the near future.