Home > Joseph Mary Plunkett

Throughout his life, Joseph Plunkett took an active interest in Irish hertiage and the Irish language. He joined that Gaelic LeagueThe Gaelic League Conradh na Gaeilge is an organization "for the purpose of keeping the Irish language spoken in Ireland. It was founded in Dublin on July 31, 1893 by Douglas Hyde along with Eugene O'Growney, Eoin MacNeill, and others. It developed from t, and took on as a tutor Thomas MacDonaghThomas MacDonagh ( February 1, 1878 May 3, 1916) was an Irish nationalist, poet, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising. MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary in 1878. Throughout his life he had a keen interest in Irish heritage and languag, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. The two were both poets with an interest in theater, and both were early members of the Irish VolunteersThe Irish Volunteers were a paramilitary organization established by Irish Nationalists in 1913 "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland", and to enforce the imminent Home Rule Act. The Volunteers were formed, joining their provisional committee. Plunkett's interest in Irish nationalism spread throughout his family, notably to his younger brothers George and John, as well as his father, who allowed his property in Kimmage , north DublinThis article is about the city in Ireland. For other uses of the name, see Dublin (disambiguation). Dublin ( Irish: Baile Atha Cliath is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mou, to be used as a training camp for young men who wished to escape conscription in EnglandEngland is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the four " Home Nations" which make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). Occupying the south-eastern portion of the island of Great Britain, England during World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of. Men there were instead trained to fight for Ireland.

Sometime probably in 1915Events January 12 The Rocky Mountain National Park is established by an act of Congress. January 12 United States House of Representatives rejects proposal to give women the right to vote. January 13 An earthquake (6. 8 in Richter scale) in Avezzano, Ital Joseph Plunkett joined the Irish Republican BrotherhoodHistory of Ireland The Irish Republican Brotherhood IRB played an important role in the history of Ireland. It was the chief group advocating armed revolt during the campaign for Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom during the latter half of the (IRB), and soon after was sent to Germany to meet with Sir Roger Casement who was negotiating with the German government on behalf of Ireland. Casement's role as emmissary was self-appointed, and as he was not a member of the IRB, that organization's leadership wished to have one of their own contact Germany to negotiate German aid for an uprising the following year. He was seeking (but not limiting himself to) a shipment of arms. Casement, on the other hand, spent most of his energies recruiting Irish prisoners of war in Germany to form a brigade to fight instead for Ireland. Most nationalists in Ireland saw this as a fruitless endeavor, and preferred to seek weapons. Plunkett successfully got a promise of a German arms shipment to coincide with the rising.

Plunkett was one of the original members of the IRB Military Committee that was responsible for planning the rising, and it was largely his plan that was followed. As such he may be held partially responsible for the military disater that ensued, though one should realize that under the circumstances any plan was bound to fail. Shortly before the rising was to begin, Plunkett was hospitalized following a turn for the worse in his health. He had an operation on his neck glands days before Easter and had to struggle out of bed to take part in what was to follow. Still bandaged, he took his place in the General Post Office with several other of the rising's leaders such as Patrick Pearse and Tom Clarke, though his health prevented him from being terribly active. His energetic aide de camp was Michael Collins.

Following the surrender Plunkett was held in Kilmainham Jail, and faced a court martial. Hours before his execution by firing squad he was married in the prison chapel to his sweetheart Grace Gifford, whose sister had years before married his best friend Thomas MacDonagh.