Seven Signatories: Tracing the Family Histories of the Men Who Signed the Proclamation

Description

The Proclamation of the Irish Republic is the most significant document in Irish history. The credo contained therein, to cherish ‘all of the children of the nation equally’, has come to define its seven signatories, marking a common bond in their life’s work. Their memory intensely moulded by their political activities, history can forget the diverse background from which these seven men came—family histories that touched upon twenty counties and economic environments ranging from extreme poverty to privilege.

The Family Histories of the Seven Signatories is an indepensible genealogical history that uncovers the disparate lives that came together through the will for Irish independence. Thomas Clarke and James Connolly were born in England and Scotland respectively, their families having emigrated in the years after the Great Famine, an experience shared by many generations of Irish people before and since. Thomas McDonagh and Patrick Pearse had immediate English forebears. The signatories’ pasts from before they were born were an essential component in determining their ideas – each firmly their own – of an Irish republic. Their extended histories, fully disclosed within the pages of this book, are a riveting realisation of the complexities that defined nineteenth century Ireland and the lives of the seven signatories whose pasts reveal the many-faceted draw towards rebellion.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Éamonn Ceannt
2. Thomas Clarke
3. James Connolly
4. Seán Mac Diarmada
5. Thomas MacDonagh
6. Patrick Pearse
7. Joseph Plunkett

About the Author

Paul Gorry has had a lifelong interest in family history.  He has worked as a professional genealogist since 1979 and he is a Member of Accredited Genealogists Ireland.  As well as conducting research for clients, his work has involved advice to individuals on their own research, tutoring, lecturing, record editing, conference organising and writing.  He was joint author (with Máire Mac Conghail, MAGI) of Tracing Irish Ancestors (1997).  He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Genealogists (London) in 1999 and as a Fellow of the Irish Genealogical Research Society in 2005.