This photography belongs to Ibar Carthy who runs a photographic studio in Enniscorthy,
County Wexford. It was taken by his grandfather Alfred Crane in the town during the 1916
rising. It was labelled the ‘Leaders of the Rising in Enniscorthy’ during the 2016
Commemorations. When it was reproduced in the newspapers one hundred years before it
was described as five commanders of the insurgents.
‘People in the Great Tragedy’ was the headline. The picture captioned named were those
who surrendered at Enniscorthy, at the Athenaeum.
The Athenaeum had been occupied as headquarters of the rebels, had been built in 1892 as
a theatre and town hall. It was a meeting place for the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the
Irish Volunteers and had also been a home for Irish plays and Irish theatre. Today, it
continues to serve a similar function for the people of Enniscorthy as the stage remains a
focal point for local productions. In another part of the building there is a small museum
display and panels recording of events of Easter week, 1916.
The reason contemporary newspapers recorded there were five people rather seven people
in the photograph that was because it published without the women included, in what
today is described today as airbrushing out of history.
Where the women were there is a headline on the left: The Rising in Enniscorthy and on the right, the caption:
Left to right--Sitting, Messrs Rafter, Brennan, Doyle, Etchingham; and standing, de Lacy, five of the commanders of the insurgents who surrendered at Enniscorthy.
The lady in the hat was Úna O’Brennan, her hand was on the shoulder of her husband
Robert, Bob. The other woman was Miss Eileen Hegarty (later Mrs Twomey of Old Blackrock
Road, Cork). While this is not all members of the garrison, these were the people when
240 | Page
arrested and charged with Treason, as detailed in the Mountjoy Prison register, in the
National Archives of Ireland. The original record is the only mention that these women were
arrested on 1 May and brought to Waterford, sentenced with Treason along with the men.
The women were released within a few days and no account of the Rising noted this fact.
This photography belongs to Ibar Carthy who runs a photographic studio in Enniscorthy,
County Wexford. It was taken by his grandfather Alfred Crane in the town during the 1916
rising. It was labelled the ‘Leaders of the Rising in Enniscorthy’ during the 2016
Commemorations. When it was reproduced in the newspapers one hundred years before it
was described as five commanders of the insurgents.
‘People in the Great Tragedy’ was the headline. The picture captioned named were those
who surrendered at Enniscorthy, at the Athenaeum.
The Athenaeum had been occupied as headquarters of the rebels, had been built in 1892 as
a theatre and town hall. It was a meeting place for the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the
Irish Volunteers and had also been a home for Irish plays and Irish theatre. Today, it
continues to serve a similar function for the people of Enniscorthy as the stage remains a
focal point for local productions. In another part of the building there is a small museum
display and panels recording of events of Easter week, 1916.
The reason contemporary newspapers recorded there were five people rather seven people
in the photograph that was because it published without the women included, in what
today is described today as airbrushing out of history.
Where the women were there is a headline on the left: The Rising in Enniscorthy and on the right, the caption:
Left to right--Sitting, Messrs Rafter, Brennan, Doyle, Etchingham; and standing, de Lacy, five of the commanders of the insurgents who surrendered at Enniscorthy.
The lady in the hat was Úna O’Brennan, her hand was on the shoulder of her husband
Robert, Bob. The other woman was Miss Eileen Hegarty (later Mrs Twomey of Old Blackrock
Road, Cork). While this is not all members of the garrison, these were the people when
240 | Page
arrested and charged with Treason, as detailed in the Mountjoy Prison register, in the
National Archives of Ireland. The original record is the only mention that these women were
arrested on 1 May and brought to Waterford, sentenced with Treason along with the men.
The women were released within a few days and no account of the Rising noted this fact.