1916 courts martial and executions: Edward Daly

Commander of the 1st Battalion in Dublin, Edward Daly, thought the rebellion was foolish, and felt he had “no option but to obey”, he told his court martial, following the Easter Rising. His mother, Catherine Daly, did not know the details of what happened during that trial, because she was refused a copy of the report on it on grounds of “public interest”, his file shows.

On May 3rd, 1916, Daly, known as Ned, stood trial for his part in the Rising. He was 25 years' old, one of the youngest of those executed, and had been in command of Dublin's 1st Battalion, stationed in the Four Courts. His "general field court martial" was made up of three judges; Brig Gen Charles Blackader, Lieut Col George German, and Lieut Col William J Kent. Daly was accused of taking part in an armed rebellion and waging war against His Majesty the King, "with the intention and for the purpose of assisting the enemy".

There were two witnesses against him. The first, Lieut Halpin, of the 3rd Sherwood Foresters, said he was arrested opposite the Four Courts on Monday, April 24th, and was taken into the Four Courts and detained until Saturday. He said he saw Daly on Thursday 27th, he was armed, and in uniform. Under cross-examination, he said Daly had enquired of him whether he was properly treated, had him moved to safety during shelling and had asked if his meals and bedding were alright.

Lieut AP Lindsay, 5th battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, said he was arrested on April 25th, and was taken to the Four Courts with a wounded officer. He said he saw Daly and spoke to him. On Saturday, he was told “Commandant Daly” wanted to see him. “Commandant Daly is the accused,” he told the trial. He also said Daly told him there would be a counter-attack, the object of which was “to save the lives of as many people as possible in the building”. When the lieutenant warned him it was “useless” and he had better surrender, Daly said he could not, without orders from his superior.

In his statement, Daly, who pleaded not guilty, said he did so because he “had no dealings with any outside forces”. He said he also had no knowledge of the insurrection until April 24th.

“The officers including myself, when we heard the news, held a meeting and decided that the whole thing was foolish, but that being under orders we had no option but to obey,” he said.

The archives show his death sentence was confirmed by Gen John Maxwell, the head of the British forces in Ireland, on the same day as the court martial. He was shot, along with Joseph Plunkett, Michael O’Hanrahan and Willie Pearse, between 4am and 4.30am on May 4th.

The file also contained a pencil map, certifying the position of the men’s graves at “Arbour Hill detention barracks”, now a civilian prison. It was number one to seven, with the first three marked “yesterday’s graves, and four to seven marked Daly, O’Hanrahan, Pearse and Plunkett respectively.

A letter, also in the file, and dated September 20th, 1917, was from Daly’s mother, Catherine, at 15 Blessington Street, Limerick, to the judge advocate general, in London. She requested a report of the trial of her son.

A draft response, handwritten, was included with two reasons why Mrs Daly would not be given a report. The first was crossed out, but still legible. It said she could not have a copy of the report because under legislation, that right did not pass to the familial representative of the deceased. The second reason, which appears to be the one given to Mrs Daly, was that the trial was held “in camera”, in private, and it had been decided, “on grounds of public interest” that the proceedings would not be published.