An Cosantóir

| 25 www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE British and German service rifles of the time. Firstly, 20,000 rifles and that amount of ammunition equates to only fifty rounds per rifle. However, six different types of ammunition were retrieved from the wreck of the 'Aud'. Thus, the quantity of ammunition available for the rifles was totally inadequate. This lack of ammunition is compounded by the fact there was never any plans for a resupply and the only locations with that type of ammunition were Germany or Russia. The German Army had captured vast quantities of the Russian rifles and ammunition during the early battles of the First World War. When the 'Aud' sailed from Lubek, Germany, the captain had orders to arrive off Fenit, Co Kerry, on Holy Thursday night, 20th April 1916. Again, displaying a lack of appreciation of the consequences of their decisions, the Irish Volunteers leadership in Dublin changed the arrival time of the 'Aud' to Easter Sunday night, 22nd April, for a rising that was to begin the following day. The major problem now was there was no way of communicating the change of date to the ship's captain, because the 'Aud' did not have a radio. This was because there was no means of generating electricity on the ship, to keep the batteries charged. The first Irish Volunteer fatalities of the 1916 Rising occurred when a car carrying four members of the force was accidently driven off Ballykissane Pier near Killorglin, Co. Kerry, into the River Laune. Three of the passengers were drowned. They were on their way to steal wireless transmitters from the Atlantic Radio College in Cahersiveen, to use it to attempt to make radio contact with the 'Aud', which as previously mentioned, did not have a radio on board. The planned change of arrival time for the 'Aud' allowed no time for offloading, transporting and issuing of weapons across Munster, and this with the Crown Forces doing everything possible to confiscate the cargo. What was obviously not considered was the time required to carry out basic weapon training for the Volunteers on rifles that were totally new to them. If training had been provided, I would estimate that each Volunteer would have at most only five rounds of ammunition with which to practise firing their rifles, before going out to do battle with the professional British Army and Royal Irish Constabulary. The general strategy adopted by the Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army during the Rising of occupying prominent buildings in Dublin, Enniscorthy and elsewhere, proved disastrous. The British military, after getting over the initial surprise of the rising, simply deployed their troops to Dublin and other Rising locations and surrounded the occupied buildings, thus isolating and trapping the Irish Volunteer garrisons. This prevented co-ordination and re-supply of ammunition and communications, between the Volunteer garrisons. During the next phase, the British Army overwhelmed the garrisons and forced the Volunteers to surrender. Taking this strategy as the one that most likely would have been used by the Volunteers had there been a general uprising, if this had happened, the potential casualties suffered by the Volunteers would have devastated the organisation. Therefore, in the long term, the lack of a national uprising and the loss of the cargo of the 'Aud' was a blessing in disguise for the Volunteers. It is too simplistic to look at the 1916 Rising in isolation and to consider it a failure. On the contrary, it succeeded in reawakening the spirit of independence and valuable lessons were learned from the mistakes made during the Rising. In the aftermath of the Rising, the senior Irish Volunteer officers reviewed the events and strategy of the 1916 Rising and decided to make major changes for the next attempt at Irish independence by armed force. They decided that there would be no more taking over and occupying large urban buildings, because during the Rising this resulted in the Irish garrisons being isolated and overwhelmed by Crown Forces. They would avoid taking on the might of the British Crown Forces using conventional warfare and instead use guerrilla warfare, hit and run, using the element of surprise. There would be no more wearing of identifiable uniforms. This was a double-edged sword, because the IRA did not wear uniforms, they were not protected by the Geneva Convention and as a result, captured IRA men were tried by Military Courts as civilians and many were sentenced to death and executed. They would focus on winning the intelligence and counterintelligence war, this was finding out as much as possible about the enemy and prevent the enemy, the Crown Forces, from finding out about Volunteer activities and individuals. They would also fight a propaganda war against the Crown Forces and the British government. The thousands of Volunteers across the country that were disappointed in not getting an opportunity to participate in the 1916 Rising, were eager for a second chance and were fully prepared to fight hard and put their lives on the line for the freedom of their beloved country. Author: Tom O'Neill from Midleton, Co. Cork is an assistant manager on Spike Island. He served in An FCA and the RDF and retired as a Commandant. He regularly has articles on Irish military history published in Ireland's Own. His books include 'The Battle of Clonmult' and 'Spike Island's Republican Prisoners 1921'. He co-wrote 'The History of the 23 Infantry Battalion FCA'. P H Pearse, accompanied by Nurse Elizabeth Farrell, surrendering to Brig-Gen Lowe on the Saturday of Easter Week. (Photo from 'The Revolutionary Years') A depiction of inside the General Post Office during the Rising including P H Pearse, Tom Clarke and James Connolly on the stretcher. (Photo from 'The Revolutionary Years') Members of the Irish Citizen Army on the roof of Liberty Hall, Dublin, on the first day of the Easter Rising. (Photo from 'The War for Ireland 1913 - 1923') A dramatic reconstruction of an unnamed Irish rebel being executed in Kilmainham Gaol after the 1916 Rising The destruction and spectators on Sackville (O'Connell) Street, Dublin, after the Rising

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