The Forgotten Ten - An Deichniúr Dearmadta Part 1

The Forgotten Ten is the term applied to ten members of the Irish Republican Army who were executed in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin by British forces following courts martial from 1920-1921 during the Irish War of Independence.
Based upon military law at the time, they were buried within the prison precincts, their graves unmarked in the unconsecrated ground. The names of the Forgotten Ten are Kevin Barry, Patrick Moran, Frank Flood, Thomas Whelan, Thomas Traynor, Patrick Doyle, Thomas Bryan, Bernard Ryan, Edmond Foley and Patrick Maher.

The executions were carried out by Thomas Pierrepoint and his assistant John Ellis, the official hangmen at that time

Following the Irish War of Independence, Mountjoy Prison was transferred to the control of the Irish Free State, which became the State of Ireland in 1937. In the 1920s, the families of the dead men requested their remains be returned to them for proper burial. This effort was joined in the later 1920s by the National Graves Association. Through the efforts of the Association, the graves of the men were identified in 1934, and in 1996 a Celtic Cross was erected in Glasnevin Cemetery to commemorate them

The campaign to rebury the men would drag on for eighty years from their deaths. Following an intense period of negotiations, the Irish government relented. Plans to exhume the bodies of the ten men were announced on 1st November 2000, the 80th anniversary of the execution of Kevin Barry. On October 14, 2001, the Forgotten Ten were afforded full state honours, with a private service at Mountjoy Prison for the families of the dead, a requiem mass at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral and burial in Glasnevin Cemetery.

The plans stirred considerable controversy with some commentators suggesting that such an event glorified militant Republicanism It was also suggested that the event smacked of political opportunism since it coincided with the Fianna Fail party conference.

The progress of the cortège through the centre of Dublin was witnessed by crowds estimated as being in the tens of thousands who broke into spontaneous applause as the coffins passed. On O'Connell Street a lone piper played a lament as the cortege paused outside the General Post Office, the focal point of the 1916 Easter Rising. In his homily during the requiem mass, Cardinal Cahal Daly, a long-time critic of the IRA campaign in Northern Ireland, insisted that there was a clear distinction between the conflict of 1916-22 and the paramilitary-led violence of the previous 30 years:

The true inheritors today of the ideals of the men and women of 1916 to 1922 are those who are explicitly and visibly committed to leaving the physical force tradition behind... Surely this state funeral can be an occasion for examination of conscience about the ideals of the men who died, and about our responsibility for translating those ideals into today's realities.

In his graveside oration the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern echoed these sentiments and also paid tribute to the Ten:

These 10 young men were executed during the War of Independence. The country was under tremendous pressure at the time. There was a united effort. Meanwhile, elected by the people, Dáil Éireann was developing, in spite of a war going on. Democracy was being put to work. Independent civic institutions, including the Dáil courts, were beginning to function. Before their deaths, the ten had seen the light of freedom. They understood that Ireland would be free and independent.

The state funeral, broadcast live on national television and radio, was only the thirteenth in the history of Ireland since independence. .Patrick Maher would not be reburied with his comrades. In accordance with his wishes, and those of his family, he was reinterred in Ballylanders, Co. Limerick.

An Deichniúr Dearmadta (The Forgotten Ten) aired on TG4 on 28 March 2002

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Kevin BarryPatrick Moran
• Frank Flood
• Thomas Whelan
• Thomas Traynor
• Patrick Doyle
• Thomas Bryan
• Bernard Ryan
• Edmond Foley
• Patrick Maher
• Irish Republican Army
• Executions
• State Funeral.

[itsjustmacker]

they were scapegoats for the british to put fear into the IRA, it did'nt work, but, its down to the Irish goverment for taking so long to have those ten brave men recognised as martyrs ,who died for there freedom.

[jessieok]

80 years too late, but better late than never

Ar dheis Dé go raibh sé.

[bheadh]

Is beag nach ndearna me dearmad air. Is e mo bharuil go raibh duine eile in eineacht lei. Gabh mo leithsceil. Slan.

[magiclard]

Very worthwhile programme again. Keep them coming,

[TONYSPURSMAN]

Hero all of them

[deena15379]

paul whelan related to thomas whelan fukin proud of my irish ancesters.

[TheFlemingsgarage]

respect always 4 these 10 men and indeed all our ansistors who fought 2 release the country from a teribale claw!

[nacho1560]

Thanks for that, everyones heard of Kevin Barry but not the others. You've done these 10 freedom fighters a great service by posting this on YouTube. Thanks from a non Irishman who has always felt respect for the freedom fighters of the Easter Rising. God bless their memories.

[isobellaj]

Photo's of The Republican Plot can be found on Google Panoramio Mariah60 !

[montpelier42d]

Fintan O Toole is just a self-important wanker.

[ThePadraigdeburca]

fuck sake im paying tax payers money to line the pockets of mary harney and the rest of the cunts in goverment and this is the way they treat our martyrs that o tootle should b shot with his own shit fucking black and tan bastard

[josparkes1]

@PaddyThePaedo What a name you've got - the last bit 'Paedo' just about sums you up, as you are disgusting, and a blot on the face of humanity !