A chara, - Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, September 3rd), in response to an earlier letter from me, implies that Major John MacBride was not among the leadership of 1916, because he was not a member of the Volunteers and because he "did not plan the insurrection and offered his services only on Easter Monday". This is to minimise and misunderstand MacBride's long-standing role as a senior member of the IRB and his vociferous pubic calls for the expulsion of the British from Ireland by physical force.
The 1916 rising was a conspiracy within a conspiracy. The Volunteers were the outward vehicle for this. Major MacBride wrote to John Devoy in May 1914: "The Volunteer movement will be a tremendous force in national life over here, if handled properly." MacBride spoke at public meetings of the Volunteers.
On May 3rd 1914, Eamon Ceannt, a member of the executive of the Irish Volunteers, as well as a leading member of the IRB, hosted a secret meeting to seek to gain the confidence of James Connolly. It took place in the library of the Gaelic League and was attended by Tom Clarke, Sean MacDermott, Joseph Plunkett, P.H. Pearse, Sean T. O'Kelly, John MacBride, Arthur Griffith, Thomas MacDonagh, James Connolly. Tom Clarke presided and Connolly advocated making definite arrangements for organising an insurrection and seeking military support from Germany. It was agreed to form contact with Germany and promote an open organisation to be used for propaganda purposes and as a recruiting ground for the secret movement.
It is true that MacBride was not part of the military committee which planned the detail of the rising. This was no doubt for tactical reasons. On the morning of the Rising, MacBride received an urgent message from his good friend Sean MacDermott (Who had succeeded MacBride on the Supreme Council of the IRB, representing Connacht), which was probably what propelled MacBride to Jacob's Factory to join with Thomas MacDonagh. - Yours, etc., Tony Jordan,
Gilford Road,
Dublin 4.
