Little's Cuffe Stret

Around the corner on Cuffe Street beside the College of Surgeons which had been captured by Michael Mallin, Phillip Little’s pub was seized at 8pm on that Easter Monday by Sergeant James Kelly and some of the retreating forces from Davy’s Pub and Harcourt Street Railway station. Laurence Nugent’s Witness Statement

“They also evacuated Davy's on Richmond St. and Harcourt St. station as these two posts were attacked from Portobello Barracks and there were only a few men to defend them. The early evacuation of Little's public house at the corner Cuffe St. seemed strange as if it were attacked there was a good line of retreat to the College of Surgeons. The Citizen Army men who occupied these posts were by Wednesday confined to the College of Surgeons.”

The Ship's Tavern, Abbey Street

As the rebels secured their headquarters in the GPO a detachment on men were sent to seize buildings in Abbey Street. They attempted to gain entry to Mooney’s pub but the manager slammed the door in their faces and not even a shot at the lock could gain entry. They instead seized The Ship Tavern which they had been familiar with as it had been a magnet for nationalists. But the attitude of the rebels towards drink is best served by William Daly,

“In passing, I wish to record with pride that a few of the men I was In company with, although hardened drinkers, were stationed in the Ship Tavern, and had the taking of anything that was there, they did not touch anything and refused the offerings of the barmen”

As a consequence of the British bombardment during Easter Week, the Ship was completely destroyed. 

The Grocer's Assistant 1916

The contribution of grocer’s assistants to the Easter Rising should not be underestimated. Like so many other professions they fought, died and were imprisoned for their actions. Their places of employment were at the heart of the action unfolding on the streets of Dublin in 1916.

Today a grocer’s assistant is better known as a bartender and their places of employment the public house. In the run up to April 1916 barmen, like many other professions felt the need to be part of the Volunteer movement. Due to their unsociable hours and work commitments barmen were unable to train with regular units of the Volunteers and so D Company of the 2^nd Battalion of the Volunteers was formed and became known as ‘the Grocers Company’. They trained and drilled at Father Matthew Park under the leadership of Seamus Kavanagh and his adjutant Paddy Moran an employee in Doyle’s Bar, Phibsboro. At its height their were 200-300 members but after the Remondite Split within the National Volunteers, the Irish Volunteers who would plan for the Easter Rising maintained a company of 45 men. 

Michael O’Dea from Tulla in County Clare takes up the story in his Witness Statement,

“In Dublin, where I arrived in 1912, my employer was Con McCormack who owned a public house at 26, Moore St. He ran in conjunction with this a bookmaker's business, most of the transactions in connection with which were illegal. I joined the Irish Volunteers in Dublin on their formation towards the end of 1913 and in the spring of the following year I linked up with the "Grocers" Company which had been specially formed to suit the barmen in the city. I remained a member of the "Grocers" Company until the Redmondite split in the autumn of l9l4 when the vast majority of that unit went over to the National Volunteers. I remained with the Irish Volunteers after the split.”

Barmen were crucial to the planning as not only were they able to monitor movements of the British forces but they used their premises to purchase and hide weapons. Secret meetings were held in back rooms and snugs of bars while coded messages were passed from barman to rebel. Seamus Walsh who worked in Mooney’s of Parnell Street even managed to purchase a rifle from a drinking British soldier which was later used in the GPO against the British.

When rebels under Michael Mallin seized the Stephens Green/ College of Surgeons area seventeen year old barman James Fox was killed in action on the Tuesday of the Rising. From the Thomas Street area of the city, Fox was shot dead by British forces who had taken up sniping positions on the roof of the Shelbourne Hotel.

Some of the barmen who saw action during that week included seventeen year old Thomas McEvoy. He lived at East Wall Road, in Dublin. He was employed as a grocer’s assistant when in February 1916 when he joined ‘G’ Company, 1st Battalion, Dublin Brigade, of the Irish Volunteers. During Easter Week Thomas saw active service in the G.P.O., Royal College of Surgeons and the Four Courts area of Dublin.

Jim Humphreys worked for his uncle Michael at Humphreys, 2 Moore Street. Limerick born in 1879, Jim was one of the prisoners moved from Richmond Barracks to Wandsworth on May 8^th 1916. Perhaps to add insult to injury the pub where he worked was listed as being completely destroyed in the aftermath of the conflict

James Joyce was a barman in J.T. Davy’s at Portobello Bridge. Joyce joined the James Connolly led Irish Citizen’s Army but because training manoeuvres took place on Sunday’s, Davy refused to give the thirty five year old barman who worked twelve hours a day seven days a week time off to go training. Often Joyce would pretend to be ill or simply fail to turn up for work.

At noon on bank holiday Easter Monday, Joyce joined the rest of the rebels at Liberty Hall and set off with his battalion through the deserted city. Led by Sergeant John Doyle, Joyce was joined by fourteen other rebels as they marched up Grafton Street and onto St. Stephen’s Green. It was here that another detachment under Countess Markiewicz had seized the Royal College of Surgeons and began to dig trenches in the Green itself. Sergeant Doyle, Joyce and seven other rebels continued up Harcourt Street and narrowly avoiding capture when they met a group of mounted soldiers. As soon as the mounted patrol had turned a corner the Sergeant gave the order

            ‘At the double men’ as they headed for their outpost

It was because of his knowledge of the area and Davy’s Pub that Joyce was chosen to be part of this mission. The public house was to be seized because of its vantage point to pin down British troops leaving the Rathmines Barracks or troops using the Canal as other avenues into the city were sealed off by rebel forces.  Joyce entered the premises first, the handle of his gun slippery with the sweat of excitement in his shaking hands. He made his way to the dark wooden counter and confronted Davy. Davy is reported to have said

            ‘You have missed one too many Sunday’s. You can take it that you are on a weeks notice.’

To which Joyce replied

            ‘You can take it from me that you have one minute to get out. This premises is being seized in the name of the Irish Republic.’

Meanwhile as the Rising engulfed the city of Dublin, the police were raiding country pubs for serving afterhours. In midst of the rebellion John Sullivan of Dingle was charged with serving after hours at 1.35am and was fined £1 with the customers found on the premises fined 5s each.

One of the unforeseen consequences in the aftermath of the Easter Rising was the sudden lack of bar staff. Over 150 barmen, known also as wine porters and grocers assistants, were arrested and deported by the British to camps in England and Wales. Dublin publicans complained to British authorities but they fell on deaf ears and business continued. One newspaper advertisement for a ‘grocer’s assistant’ specified for prospectice candidates that ‘salary was no object’. Publicans were a strong lobby in Ireland, they had successfully resisted attempt to curtail trading hours which had been introduced in Britain during World War One. Unusually with the declaration of martial law in Dublin, public houses were allowed to stay open from 2pm to 5pm during the Rising.

These were difficult times for barmen as they saw their employers making ever larger profits during time of war as stocks ran low and prices wholesale and to the customer increased. Publicans were making as much profit on one barrel of porter in 1916 as they were on six before the outbreak of World War One. There was a glut of licensed premises in the country leading to complaints that in Ireland there were 17,000 pubs serving four million people, while in Scotland there were 7,000 pubs for five million of a population.

Barmen’s hours were long, often only a half day off per week. A senior man was paid between £20 and £24 depending on the length of his service and a meeting before the outbreak on April 21^st 1916 in Kells there was a demand for shorter working hours. Industrial action was murmured at the meeting.

When the bulk of the barmen/prisoners were released in mid and late 1917 there was anger and ill tempered feelings as the publicans had replaced their errant staff especially in Dublin. Irish National Aid Association was launched in August 1916 to get jobs for Grocers Assistants who had not been reinstated. There was a mini riot in Dorset Street on Christmas Eve 1917 when a group of out of work barman attacked a number of pubs and their customers in that area. This can be compared with the reaction in Tralee, County Kerry when on June 20^th 1917 thirty six Tralee publicans charged with displaying republican flags celebrating the release of Republican prisoners. They all got off on a technicality. 

To reinforce the notion that alcohol played a major part in one way or another in the Easter Rising, when the rebel prisoners were transferred to the Frongoch Internment camp in Wales they quickly realised the irony that the camp now being used as a prisoner of war camp was a former distillery.

Sympathetic publicans also assisted in the facilitation of Rising planning with publicans such as Sean O’Farrell who owned a bar at the corner of St Stephens Green and South King Street and thirty six year old Eamon Morkan who with his brother Michael ran a bar on Queen Street was a Captain in the Volunteers while future leader of the Free State W.T. Cosgrave was a publicans son from James Street who fought in the nearby South Dublin Union one of the last outposts to surrender.   

One of the few battles outside Dublin during Easter Week was Enniscorthy, Co Wexford which was seized by the Rebels. The Athenaeum theatre was made the Republicans’ headquarters, over which they flew the green, white and orange tricolour. All the public houses in the town were closed down and as Father Patrick Murphy, a priest who publicly blessed the rebels, recalled,

“During the four days of Republican rule, not a single person was under the influence of drink”.

Alcohol, the production, the service or the consumption thereof has played a key role in Irish affairs since the iconic and momentous events of The Easter Rising in 1916 to the end of the War of Independence and the creation of the Irish Free State.

Beer and spirits was at the heart of events in 1916. Proclamation signatory Sean McDermott once worked as a barman in Belfast before turning his attention to more pressing matters. The rebels failed to seize British Army barracks around the city or even the seat of The British Government in Ireland, Dublin Castle but they did capture The Watkins Brewery on Ardee Street, The Jameson Distillery, Roe’s Distillery, Dublin City Distillery, and the Barmack Brewery and many public houses.. 

The Swan, Aungier Street

On the street opposite Jacobs Factory was the Swan Pub and it too was seized.

“Orders were also given that we were to burrow through from Jacob's to a public house at the corner facing Aungier Street. We had two masons in our party and the burrowing was made easy. Strict instructions were given that no Volunteer was to take any drink from the public house. And although I am not a drinking man myself I must say that this order was strictly obeyed.”

Michael Molloy Witness Statement

J T Davys, Portobello

The Portobello

One of the more famous incidents from the Rising involving Pubs was at Davy’s Bar on Portobello Bridge. As nationalism began to sweep the country, an armed insurrection seemed to be looming as rebels planned to remove the British forces from rule in Ireland by force.  Davy, who was also a justice of the peace, was at the time pro - British especially as the nearby Rathmines British army barracks generated much of his business.

One of Davy's barmen in 1916 was James Joyce of Grove Road. Joyce, who was of no relation to the famous writer even though the writer lived in Rathmines and frequented the Portobello, joined one of the growing numbers of paramilitary organisations such as The Irish Republican Brotherhood, Oglach Na hEireann, Sinn Fein and the Irish Citizens Army. Joyce joined the James Connolly led Irish Citizens Army but because manoeuvres and training took place on Sundays, Davy refused to give the thirty five year old barman who worked twelve hours a day and seven days a week the time off to attend these sessions. Often Joyce would either pretend to be ill or simply fail to show for work.

The Easter Rising was initially planned for 6p.m. on the evening of Easter Sunday and Joyce again failed to turn up for work. Joyce was well aware what would be expected of him during the Rising and especially as his duties would include a visit to his place of employment.

On the Tuesday prior to the rebellion, James Connolly had called a small band of volunteers together to issue them their commands. With much of the major buildings in the centre of the city designated as targets for the rebels they needed valuable time to seize and reinforce positions such as The College of Surgeons and at all costs had to stop reinforcements being dispatched from the British barracks dotted around the city including The Richmond Barracks on the South Circular Road and Portobello Barracks in Rathmines.

Due to confusion and indecision between the leaders of the rebellion, the rising was put back a day to Easter Monday, a bank holiday in the nearly deserted city. The rebels including Joyce gathered at the Citizen's Army headquarters at Liberty Hall on the north quays of the River Liffey. At noon on that day, the soldiers of the new Irish Republic, only fifteen hundred of them instead of the planned twenty thousand, began to march off to seize the various targets around the city.

Led by Sergeant John Doyle, Joyce was joined by fourteen other rebels who marched off through the city up a deserted Grafton Street and onto St. Stephens Green. It was here that another detachment under Countess Markiewicz had seized the Royal College of  Surgeons and a third detachment under Captain Richard McCormack secured the Harcourt Street railway terminus where this detachment were to create an escape route for the forces at Portobello Bridge should that position be overrun. Sergeant Doyle, Joyce and another seven volunteers continued up Harcourt Street and narrowly avoided capture at the junction of Adelaide Road where a squad of mounted British Soldiers met them. The mounted troops eyed the men suspiciously and slowly moved passed. When the horses wheeled left onto South Richmond Street, Sergeant Doyle gave the command

                "At the double men" and his charges ran through a short cut onto South

Richmond Street where they attempted immediately to barricade the mounted soldiers. The soldiers quickly turned their horses and galloped off down the Harrington Street in the direction of The Richmond Barracks, where Doyle knew they would surely raise the alarm that this was not 'little Irishmen playing pretend soldiers but an insurrection' and that he would have to move quickly to seize his objective.

It was because of his knowledge of the area and the Portobello that Joyce was chosen by Connolly for this mission. The public house was to be seized and used because of its vantage point to pin down any of the reinforcements leaving the Rathmines Barracks. The men steadied themselves as the passed Richmond Lane, past the doorway of John Clarke's shop, the doors of William Condon pub, the small Portobello Cafe, closed on that Bank Holiday Monday and finally the butchers shop of T. O'Gorman to arrive outside Davy's side door, their adrenilin at full flow through their veins as the action began. The pub would be quiet at this hour of the morning with just a few hardly soles spending their sixpence’s for a pint of porter and discussing who would win the soccer match between Strandville and Shamrock Rovers later that Easter Monday. The men lined up hugging the wall taking care not to pass the first of the three large windows that faced onto South Richmond Street. They feared that they might give away their intentions, alerting the owner, a Justice of the Peace and the possibility that Thomas Davy was an armed Justice of the Peace.

Joyce entered the premises first, his hands shaking, the handle of his gun slippery in his hand with the sweat of excitement. He made his way to the dark wooden counter and was confronted by Davy. Davy is reported to have said,

                'You have missed one to many Sunday's you can take it that you are on a

                weeks notice.'

To which Joyce replied

                'You can take it from me that you have two minutes notice to get out. This

                premises are being seized in the name of the Irish Republic'

Davy stood behind the counter amazed and shocked at the young man's brazen statement but when Joyce leveled his Mauser rifle at Davy and then fired a shot at the mirrors behind the counter shattering the mirror both Davy and the customers in the premises fled. With the customers fleeing the rest of the volunteers entered the premises except for two men Sergeant Doyle left on guard duty outside. Davy headed immediately up the Rathmines Road to the Portobello Barracks to raise the alarm.

The next couple of hours were taken up with securing the premises and setting up sniping positions in the windows on the second and third floors facing down the Rathmines Road. They used whatever they could find to barricade the windows including much of the Davy family furniture. In 1916 The 3rd Royal Irish Rifles were based at the Rathmines Barracks under

the command of Lieutenant Colonel McCammoll but he was on sick leave from the forty acre barracks for five days leaving Major James Rosborough in command. The barracks was opened in 1815 and housed about two thousand men. As the tram wires were being cut by the rebels, Constable Myles DMP number 99E came upon the bridge was immediately shot at, wounding him in the left wrist. He was taken under covering fire to the local Dr. Joyce's surgery (no relation to James Joyce) and then transported to the City of Dublin Hospital and as a result of the shooting the thirty five year old constable with twelve years experience was kept in hospital until May 31st and returned to duty on September 20th 1916. The two rebels cut the wires and made their way back into the Portobello passed the tables and stools used to barricade the doors and the windows on the ground floor. Most of the rebels had made it to the windows on the second floor for a better vantage point. The advertising hoarding along the Canal on Charlemont Mall made it difficult to observe and target. When the firing started the sound of shattering glass echoed around the bridge as the gas lamp light on the south side of the bridge took a number of direct hits.

It was not long before the Command in the barracks realised that Davy’s was not an isolated incident that rebels were engaging across the city and when the first troops were sent out the rebels in the Davy’s pinned them down as they reached Portobello Bridge. The troops were then sent into the city the long way around up Leinster Road and through Harold's Cross giving the rebels in the centre of the city more valuable time to secure their objectives. A force was dispatched to The Portobello to dislodge the rebels. The men made their way the three hundred yards from the barracks gates to the walls of the canal cautiously making their way up the small incline to the bridge crouching in doorways and garden hedge rows trying to avoid being shot. Some of the soldiers huddled in the doorway of the red bricked two storey Rathmines YMCA which had been opened only five years earlier. The rebels Commandant, Connolly had made it clear that to them that they were not to shoot until they saw ' the whites of their eyes'. The first detachments of soldiers were in position behind the wall on the opposite side of the canal when the first attack on The Portobello began.

The men on the upper floors of the pub facing out onto the Canal could see all the way as far as the gates of the barracks along the Rathmines Road. They watched as more and more soldiers cautiously made their way along to the walls of the canal and as the policemen attempted to hold the ever increasing crowd back from the action near the junction of the Rathmines Road and Grove Park. The men on the top floor had a bird’s eye view of much of the surrounding area, the locks on the canal, the barges in the harbour, the grass pathway from Rathmines to Harold’s Cross and even the green dome of the church on the Rathmines Road. The bells of the town hall could be seen and heard from their vantage point. The first shots had not only startled the troops and some of the rebels now inside Davy's but even the lock keeper Joseph Parsons peered out his window to gauge what all the commotion was on what should have been a quiet Bank Holiday Monday in the city.

By late Monday, a large crowd of onlookers had gathered on the Rathmines Road to watch proceedings oblivious to the dangers to themselves especially from perhaps a stray bullet. Against the odds, Superintendent Kiernan and Station Sergeant Crosbie of the Dublin Metropolitan Police attempted to keep the crowds at a safe distance even though it was increasing all the time as people returned from the races or a Bank Holiday by the seaside.  The Irish Times reported that apart from Constable Myles, three other bystanders were injured in the battle for Portobello Bridge.

Late on Monday evening, the British Army were seen to be crouched down in strict military fashion behind the Canal walls on the Southern side of the Grand Canal, the first line lying on their stomachs, the second kneeling behind with their commander standing tall and proud as a British officer directing the gunfire. A machine gun was wheeled up from the barracks and positioned on the La Touche Bridge and quickly began to pepper the building for a number of hours.

The soldiers were ordered to cease fire when it was realised that there was no returning fire from within the public house. The young soldiers idled nervously on the southern side of the La Touche Bridge and awaited orders almost confident in their knowledge that they had killed or seriously wounded the rebels in Davy’s. Then late on Monday evening as the sun began to set the order was given to enter the building. The broke through the glass windows, some of them already shattered by the British bullets and entered the building with a sense of success believing that the lack of return fire meant that they had killed or injured the rebels who held the Portobello. The British stormed the building to find neither rebel nor corpse.

Because of his intimate knowledge of the premises, Joyce had some of the men go down to the cellar and break through the walls into the premises next door. Soon they reached the nearby laneway and when the building could no longer be held, the rebels made good their escape before darkness fell back to the main body of the Citizen's Army in St. Stephens Green. Their mission had been a success. They had held up the British forces for nearly a day allowing their comrades to fortify their positions in St. Stephens Green and O'Connell Street.