Uncommon Valour by Paul O'Brien Read Free Book Online Page B

positions covered James’s Street on the outside and from the inside, the main courtyard as well as the fields between the Rialto entrance and the main gate. They had lost all contact with their outlying posts.
    A dispatch had been received from Volunteer headquarters at the General Post Office that morning. The news was positive, but the messenger reported that he had great difficulty in breaking through the British lines in order to deliver the communiqué. Commandant Ceannt decided not to send a written reply but relayed verbally the events of the previous days to the messenger. The Volunteers watched him leave and wondered if the message would make it to Patrick Pearse and the headquarter staff.
    By this stage the hospital staff had transferred many of the patients in the wards adjoining Ceannt’s positions to the Rialto end of the complex for their safety. Ceannt was anticipating an all out attack on the Union in the near future and instructed his men to make ready. Ammunition was distributed to each section of Volunteers and Ceannt and Brugha toured the defences encouraging their men. Both Volunteer officers were confident of their position in the Union. They claimed that though setbacks were possible, the Volunteers would not be defeated. The sentiment among the Volunteers was that this was a fight of the spirit, for the spirit is never conquered. In the hours that were to follow, this belief would be put to the test.

Chapter 7
    Thursday, 27 April 1916
Early Afternoon
    In the early afternoon, the British column heading for the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, accompanied by Brigadier General Maconchy, set off from the Ballsbridge Showgrounds. As they approached Rialto Street at 2.15 p.m., a fusillade was opened on the column causing a number of horses to stampede. The advance guard of the column led by Lieutenant Colonel Oates took cover on the approach to Rialto Bridge. Irish Volunteers had opened fire in an attempt to delay the column’s advance.
    Lieutenant Colonel Oates ordered Captain Martyn to take a section from the leading company and clear the buildings in Rialto, and also those in the vicinity of the bridge, of rogue snipers. As Captain Martyn moved to counteract the sniping, a number of shots came from a nearby rhubarb field, south-west of Rialto Bridge. Soldiers scattered as more shots also came from the buildings of the South Dublin Union. The military were forced to take cover as single shots snapped through the nearby trees that ran parallel to the road.
    Brigadier General Maconchy took the decision to risk sending one wagon across the bridge. The army service driver approached the bridge at a gallop and a volley of shots rang out, many of them hitting the wooded slats of the wagon. Although the vehicle cleared the bridge, Brigadier Maconchy realised he would suffer severe casualties if he attempted to get the rest of the transport across. The approach to Rialto Bridge was a steep and narrow defile that would slow the column and make it an easy target for Irish snipers. The column was halted and Lieutenant Colonel Oates realised that he had to thoroughly clear the way ahead and protect the column’s flanks in order to proceed safely. Captain Dimock, leading ‘A’ company, was ordered to clear the rhubarb field, then cross the bridge and clear out the enemy snipers ahead of the main advance. ‘C’ company were brought up to secure the line of advance along the South Circular Road. Lieutenant Colonel Oates sent an urgent message to Portobello barracks requesting reinforcements.
    Sir Francis Fletcher Vane of the Royal Munster Fusiliers responded to Oates’ request for assistance. Vane assembled all the men not on duty, about fifty in all, many of them from the Royal Irish Rifles, with no fewer than six officers from five different regiments. 31 Two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary, Constable Christopher Miller and Constable Martin Meany accompanied the soldiers. They