Tom Clarke (Irish republican)

Infobox revolution biography
name =Thomas James (Tom) Clarke
_ga. Tomás Ó Cléirigh
dateofbirth = birth date|df=yes|1857|3|11
placeofbirth = Isle of Wight, Great Britain
dateofdeath = death date and age|1916|5|3|1857|3|11|df=y
placeofdeath = Kilmainham Jail, Dublin City, Ireland


spouse = Kathleen Clarke
children =
movement = Irish nationalism
organizations = Irish Republican Brotherhood
Political Affiliation =
monuments =
alma mater =
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religion = Roman Catholic
influences =
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Thomas James (Tom) Clarke ( _ga. Tomás Ó Cléirigh, alias Henry Wilson; ["Henry Wilson was, as Dermot Meleady points out, the alias of Tom Clarke". Margaret O'Callaghan, "The young Redmond". [Review of Dermot Meleady, "Redmond: The Parnellite", Cork: Cork University Press, 2008] , "Irish Times", 26 April 2008.] 11 March 1857 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish revolutionary leader and arguably the person most responsible for the 1916 Easter Rising.

Early life

Born on the Isle of Wight, his father, James Clarke, was a sergeant in the British Army. The family soon moved to Dungannon, County Tyrone, Ireland.

Joins Irish Republican Brotherhood

At the age of 18 he joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and in 1883 he was sent to London to blow up London Bridge as part of the dynamiting campaign advocated by Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, one of the IRB leaders exiled in the United States.

Clarke was soon arrested, under the alias of "Henry Wilson". Along with three others, he was tried and sentenced to penal servitude for life on 28 May 1883 at London's Old Bailey. [Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, 27 April 2008), 28 May 1883, [http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?ref=t18830528-620 trial of Thomas Gallagher, Alfred Whitehead, Henry Wilson, William Ansburgh, John Curtin, Bernard Gallagher (t18830528-620)] .]

He subsequently served 15 years in Pentonville and other British prisons. In 1896, he was one of five remaining Fenian prisoners in British jails and a series of public meetings in Ireland called for their release. At one meeting, John Redmond MP, leader of the Parnellite Irish National League, said of him: "Wilson is a man of whom no words of praise could be too high. I have learned in my many visits to Portland for five years to love, honour and respect Henry Wilson. I have seen day after day how his brave spirit was keeping him alive ... I have seen year after year the fading away of his physical strength". Henry Wilson was, as historian Dermot Meleady points out, the alias of Tom Clarke. [Margaret O'Callaghan, "The young Redmond". [Review of Dermot Meleady, "Redmond: The Parnellite", Cork: Cork University Press, 2008] , "Irish Times", 26 April 2008.]

Following his release in 1898 he married Kathleen Daly, 21 years his junior, whose uncle, John Daly, he had met in prison. Together they emigrated to America, where Clarke worked for the Clan na Gael under John Devoy. In 1907 he returned to Ireland where he opened a tobacconist shop in Dublin and immersed himself in the IRB which was undergoing a substantial rejuvenation under the guidance of younger men such as Bulmer Hobson and Denis McCullough. Clarke had a very close kinship with Hobson, who along with Sean MacDermott, became his protegé.

The Irish Volunteers

When the Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913, Clarke took a keen interest, but took no part in the organization, knowing that as a felon and well-known Irish nationalist he would lend discredit to the Volunteers. Nevertheless, with MacDermott, Hobson, and other IRB members such as Eamonn Ceannt taking important roles in the Volunteers, it was clear that the IRB would have substantial, if not total, control, (particularly after the co-option of Patrick Pearse, already a leading member of the Volunteers, into the IRB at the end of 1913). This proved largely to be the case, until John Redmond, the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, demanded equal control of the Volunteers. Though most of the hard-liners stood against this, Redmond's decree was accepted, partially due to the support given by Hobson. Clarke never forgave him for what he considered a treasonous act.

Planning the uprising

Following Clarke's falling out with Hobson, MacDermott and Clarke became almost inseparable. The two of them, as secretary and treasurer, respectively, "de facto" ran the IRB, although it was still under the nominal head of other men, James Deakin, and later McCullough. In 1915 Clarke and MacDermott established the Military Committee of the IRB to plan what later became the Easter Rising. The members were Pearse, Ceannt, and Joseph Plunkett, with Clarke and MacDermott adding themselves shortly thereafter. When the old Fenian, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, died in 1915, Clarke used his funeral (and Pearse's graveside oration) to mobilise the Volunteers and heighten expectation of imminent action. When an agreement was reached with James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army in January, 1916, Connolly was also included on the committee, with Thomas MacDonagh added at the last minute in April. These seven men were the signatories of the Proclamation of the Republic, with Clarke as the first signatory. It has been said that Clarke indeed would have been the declared President and Commander-in-chief, but he refused any military rank and such honours, which were given to Pearse, who was more well-known and respected on a national level.

The Easter Rising

Clarke was stationed in the headquarters at the General Post Office at Dublin during the events of Easter Week, where rebel forces were largely composed of Irish Citizen Army members under the command of Connolly. Though he held no formal military rank, Clarke was recognised by the garrison as one of the commanders, and was active through out the week in the direction of the fight, and shared the fortunes of his comrades. [Piaras F. Mac Lochlainn, Last Words, An Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta, Gaeltachta agus Oileán, 1990 ] Following the surrender on April 29, Clarke was held in Kilmainham Jail until his execution by firing squad on May 3rd at the age of 59. He was the second person to be executed, following Patrick Pearse.

His widow Kathleen was elected a TD in the First and Second Dála, notably speaking against the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Legacy

* Thomas Clarke Tower in Ballymun was named after him. The top floor was used as a short stay hotel before its demolition in April 2008.
* Dundalk railway station was given the name "Clarke" on 10 April 1966 in commemoration of Clarke's role in the 1916 Rising.
* He also featured on postage stamps in 1966.
* Dungannon Thomas Clarkes, A hugely succsessful Gaelic Football team from East Tyrone in the North of Ireland are also named after him.

References

* cite book
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first = Max
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title = The Easter Rebellion
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date =
year = 1965
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publisher = New English Library
location = London
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id =
doi =
pages = 380p
chapter =
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* cite book
last = Clarke
first = Kathleen
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editor = Helen Litton (ed.)
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title = Revolutionary woman: Kathleen Clarke 1878-1972, an autobiography [My fight for Ireland's freedom]
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year = 1991
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location = Dublin
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id = ISBN 0-86278-245-7
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pages = 240p
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* cite book
last = Kee
first = Robert
authorlink = Robert Kee
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title = The green flag: a history of Irish nationalism
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year = 2000
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publisher = Penguin
location = London
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id = ISBN 0-14-029165-2
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pages = 877p
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* cite book
last = Lyons
first = F.S.L.
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title = Ireland since the famine
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edition = 2nd rev. ed.
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location = London
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id = ISBN 0-00-633200-5
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pages = 880p
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* cite book
last =
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editor = F.X. Martin (ed.)
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title = Leaders and men of the Easter Rising: Dublin, 1916
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date =
year = 1967
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publisher = Methuen
location = London
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id =
doi =
pages = xii, 276p
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* cite book
last = Townshend
first = Charles
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title = Easter 1916: the Irish rebellion
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date =
year = 2005
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publisher = Allen Lane
location = London
language =
id = ISBN 0-7139-9690-0
doi =
pages = xxi, 442p
chapter =
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Notes