I have frequently heard the misconstrued sentiment, that the fighting during Easter week, 1916 was an engagement wholly between Irish rebels and English soldiers. This viewpoint is somewhat counterfactual and credulous. Thousands of British soldiers who served in the streets of Dublin, fighting against Irishmen, who had seized various garrisons across the city, were in fact themselves Irishmen. Irish units throughout Dublin were the first British Army troops to respond to the outbreak of the rebellion. The 10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 3rd Royal Irish Regiment and 3rd Royal Irish Rifles all sent columns of men towards Dublin Castle when an attack by the Volunteers led to the first victim of the Rising, RIC Constable James O’Brien – an Irishman from Limerick. As Easter week progressed reinforcements from England and Ulster were sent to enhance troop numbers. In the course of six days of fighting in Dublin, 117 British soldiers were killed, 41 of them Irishmen.
Many Irishmen had joined the British Army after the call by respective leaders, Unionist leader, Edward Carson and nationalist leader, John Redmond. Redmond’s famous Woodenbridge Speech in September 1914, where he encouraged the Irish Volunteers “to go where the firing lines extend” created a split in the movement. A significant majority followed the call, but none of them could gave foreseen events unfold as they did. New recruits to the British Army could not have expected to be fighting in Dublin. Instead they expected to go to France to play their part in the First World War. Some were to remain and serve in Ireland and play a pivotal role during the Easter Rising. Some were to come up against friends of old, ex-comrades in the Volunteers and even in some instances brother faced brother.
Buried today in the same grave at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin are the Neilan brothers. Although together in death, in life both men ventured upon completely contrasting paths. On Easter Monday morning, 24th April 1916, both brothers awoke, dressed and donned their respective military tunics. Unbeknown, that day, both brothers would hold rifles for two very different causes. In fact, both brothers would be fighting on opposing sides, brothers became enemies. As events unfolded, one brother would die in British uniform, fighting for King and country, whilst the other was to hold out for the duration of the Rising, in an Irish Volunteer uniform, until surrender.
Gerald Neilan, the Roscommon native, was a passionate Irish Nationalist, his sympathies were almost in line with Sinn Fein ideology. He joined the British Army in 1899 and had served with distinction during the Boer War. After a brief spell in the Birmingham police, Gerald rejoined the army and in February 1916 was transferred to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Just before the Easter Rising commenced, Gerald was engaged in recruitment duties in Dublin. When the Rising broke out, his 10th Battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel Esmonde, were instructed to advance from the Royal Barracks and relieve Dublin Castle after the failed attempt by rebels, commanded by Sean Connolly, to seize it. As 100 troops of the 10th Battalion advanced along the Quays, marching four deep with their rifles at slope, they came into the sights of a rebel garrison who were watching their movement attentively. After orders from Captain Sean Heuston, 12 Volunteers suddenly unleashed a volley of gunfire from the Mendicity Institute, half a mile from Gerald’s parents home, at the Battalion. “Bullets were smashing into the shops” and the soldiers “scrambled onto the pavement.” Bullets ricocheted as the soldiers were unable to locate the snipers. As the firing subsided, a number of men lay dead on the pavement. Gerald Neilan was one of the men dead. During the ambush, he was hit in the face with a bullet. As blood gushed from his head, Gerald was dead within minutes. It is thought he was the first solider to be killed during the Rising. The attack was led by Sean Heuston who had orders to hold the Mendicity Institute for 2 hours to allow for other garrisons to be captured. But, as it later transpired, he held it for 3 days. Subsequently, after the rebel surrender, Sean Heuston was court martialled, sentenced to death and executed by firing squad on 8th May, 1916, at dawn.
A few hundred metres away, Gerald’s younger brother, Arthur, had taken refuge in one of the rebel occupied garrisons, the Four Courts. Arthur, an ardent Republican, aged 18, joined the Irish Volunteers after its inception in November 1913. Arthur was to serve in the 1st Battalion of the Volunteers under the command of Edward Daly. During Easter week, the Four Courts saw some of the most intense fighting. After the Rising and the subsequent surrender of the rebels, Arthur was transported and imprisoned in Knutsford Barracks. During the general amnesty, 1917, Arthur was released and he returned home to Dublin. He was to remain active in the Republican movement, serving with the 4th Battalion Dublin Brigade during the War of Independence. Arthur sided with Pro Treaty Republicans and subsequently served in the army during the Irish Civil War. He died in November 1944 and was reunited with Gerald in the family plot at Glasnevin Cemetery. It would be at the end of the Rising before Arthur was aware that his brother had been shot and killed by men who fought for the same cause he was committed to.
The Neilan brothers were not the only brothers to serve on opposite sides during the Easter Rising. The Saurin brothers from Dublin were to face similar family rivalry with two brothers involved on the Republican side, whilst one brother was to serve on the British side, during the Rising and beyond.
Charles Saurin, was appalled by the Bachelors Walk incident in Dublin, in the aftermath of the infamous Howth gun-running incident. Radicalised, he joined the Irish Volunteers. Charles was an officer in the Irish Volunteers and fought with the Metropole Hotel and GPO garrison during the Easter Rising. After abandoning the Metropole Hotel, Charles was to serve in the rebel headquarter, the GPO. It was here Charles was injured when a stray British bullet went into his right palm. As blood dripped from the wound, Charles held his gun in his left hand. Charles was to spend his last moments in the GPO in the presence of the members of the Military Council. After surrendering to the British forces, Charles along with other volunteers were marched to Richmond Barracks. On the way, at the corner of Francis Street, they passed “shrieking women from the back streets who called us filthy names and hurled curses at us. ” Subsequently, Charles was interned at Frongoch camp, Wales for his involvement in the Rising. After being released in August 1916, he was to return to F Company, Dublin Volunteers. After fighting in the War of Independence, he served in the National Army during the Civil War and was to continue as an officer in the Free State Army.
As his brother spent Easter week engaged in heavy fighting with British troops, Private Thomas Saurin, the 22-year-old sibling of Charles, served during the Rising with the Royal Army Medical Corps in Dublin. Thomas spent Easter week attending to many of the British casualties and dead. After the Rising, Thomas served time in France during World War One, surviving.
The youngest Saurin brother, Frank was 15 years old when the Rising broke out. A member of Na Fianna Eireann, recently transferred to F Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Dublin Volunteers. On Easter Monday morning, Frank mobilised with F Company as instructed, but the Officer Commanding sent him home because of his age. The same day, Frank made his way to the GPO offering his services, but again was sent home due to his youth. Within a few years, Frank would serve as a prominent member of the Irish Republican Army. Known as the “best dressed Volunteer”, he became a member of Michael Collins’s “Squad”, who were responsible for trying to obliterate the British intelligence network in Ireland, by assassinating key personnel of the police and military during the War of Independence.
Brothers, with divided loyalties serving on opposing sides. But nonetheless united by blood and united as Irishmen.
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