Richmond Barracks was for the military the clearing house for rebels;
for the police it was their last chance of a stroke.
* * * * *
Marching tunes are in military orders, and the men in khaki perceived
no difference between one tune and another; but the little groups in
dark green became twice as sullen, and twice as anxious to lay their
victims by the heels, one way or another. Without a doubt Richmond
Barracks was of great value from the dramatic point of view.
We were housed in the second and third storey rooms of the barracks.
The troops occupied the ground floor, the guards were posted at the
doors and on the landings, while outside the whole building was
enclosed with barbed wire barricades, guarded again by soldiers. It was
to Richmond Barracks that the men of the Republican Army were swept as
they surrendered. Some were taken to Kilmainham and Arbour Hill, the
Castle and other places.
* * * * *
Not till Asquith’s visit were these things rectified; and even
thereafter conditions were only slowly, and, as it were, grudgingly,
amended. By the time I arrived at the clearing-house, a fortnight after
the Rising had concluded, the amendment was in progress.
The cause for this was simple. Far more potent than a very questionable
beneficence in Premiers, was the grim and bitter mood that had settled
on the country. This had to be propitiated. Asquith’s visit was but a
token of political sagacity; and while I was at Richmond, the dawning
of the same sagacity on the military mind could be seen in the shape
of extra blankets, extra and better food, benches to sit on, tables
to eat from, knives, spoons and forks to eat with, and some care for
greater cleanliness. Slowly these things came; not exactly with a
remarkable good humour or good will; and were received by us, as they
came one by one, with ribaldry and laughter.
Thus, soon after our arrival P. J. D. and I were apportioned a blanket
apiece, and at nightfall, on the call of the bugle, we were instructed
by the others in their use. We all slept with our heads to the wall and
our feet toward the centre of the room. We slept in couples for the
better use of our blankets. One blanket was stretched on the floor, the
other served for coverlet, and our coats made our pillows. So we slept
each night, fully dressed, for the nights were bitterly cold. It was
extraordinary how soon one’s hip-bones hardened to the floor, and the
simplicity of toilet was a great boon to anyone who had found dressing
and undressing labyrinths of inconvenience.
In the morning the reveille sounded at six o’clock; and from then until
about eight we were taken out in squads under armed guards, to wash at
the pumps and washbowls in the yard.
For our meals, we sat where we could or would, on the ground, or, if
one were tactful, on the window-sills. We were all allowed to retain up
to a pound in cash, and some of the men had purchased jack-knives from
the soldiers. Others had managed to retain their own pen-knives. Such
men were fortunate, for they were able at once to proceed with their
meals. The others either waited until an implement was available, or
they did not wait.
Yet all these were but campaigning inconveniences. The great thing was
that we were, by necessity, permitted one another’s company; and the
utmost joviality prevailed. None would have thought that in one of the
barrack buildings within sight of our windows, the courtsmartial were
sitting, and that men were being picked out from the rooms and sent to
long terms of penal servitude. No one knew whose turn would come next.
The selections were, by any reckoning, an extraordinary hazard. Some
who confidently expected a summons, were passed over in silence. Others
were selected whose choice was inexplicable, except on the supposition
(which indeed was no supposition) that some local spite was exerted
against them. Any evening an officer might enter and hand a man a
paper form. That form was a statement of the case against him, and
meant that on the following day he was to be taken before the Court
Martial. No time was given to prepare a defence or employ counsel.
The next morning he was taken out. If his case were not heard, he
returned that evening, and would go forth in the morning; if his case
were heard, he would not return, and we would know nothing until, in
the course of a week or ten days, his sentence was promulgated in the
papers.
One such case stands out vividly in my memory because of an interesting
personal relation that was suggested. Thrice a certain officer
had entered, and we had all stood in a line before him while he,
accompanied by a detective, inspected us each carefully in turn. Each
time he had turned away dissatisfied; and on the third occasion, as
he did so, one of our number made some jest, at which we all laughed.
Instantly the officer turned about and fixed on one of our number.
“You’re Captain L——, aren’t you?” he said.
“I am.”
“You were at the Post Office, in charge of the prisoners?”
“I was.”
“Just so. I didn’t recognise you out of your uniform. You are the man.
I fixed you just now when you laughed by your gold teeth.”
When he had gone we gathered round L—— to ask him who the man was; and
we learned that he had been a prisoner in the Post Office. When the
Post Office had been set on fire, and became untenable, the building
had been evacuated in haste. Not until they were filing out into the
street were the prisoners remembered, and then O’Rahilly had sent L——
back to bring them out to safety. As the prisoners were housed in a
room next to that in which the ammunition and high explosives were
stored, beside the lift-shaft, down through which the sparks were
falling, this was a task of some considerable danger.