Joseph Plunkett
Joseph Mary Plunkett (Irish: Seosamh Máire Pluincéid; 21 November 1887 – 4 May 1916) was an Irish republican, poet and journalist. As a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising, he was one of the seven signatories to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Plunkett married Grace Gifford in 1916, seven hours before his execution.
For the American football player, see Joseph Plunkett (American football). For the American architect, see Edwards and Plunkett.
Joseph Plunkett
Seosamh Pluincéid
Seosamh Pluincéid
21 November 1887
Dublin, Ireland
4 May 1916 (aged 28)
Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, Ireland
1913–1916
Dublin Brigade, Irish Volunteers
General Post Office, Dublin
Grace Gifford (m. 4 May 1916)
Background[edit]
Plunkett was born at 26 Upper Fitzwilliam Street in one of Dublin's most affluent districts.[1] Both his parents came from wealthy backgrounds,[2] and his father, George Noble Plunkett, had been made a papal count.[3]
Plunkett contracted tuberculosis (TB) at a young age and spent part of his youth in the warmer climates of the Mediterranean and North Africa. He spent time in Algiers where he studied Arabic literature and language and composed poetry in Arabic.[4] He was educated at the Catholic University School (CUS) and by the Jesuits at Belvedere College in Dublin and later at Stonyhurst College, in Lancashire, England where he acquired some military knowledge from the Officers' Training Corps. Throughout his life, Joseph Plunkett took an active interest in Irish heritage and the Irish language, and also studied Esperanto. Plunkett was one of the founders of the Irish Esperanto Association in 1907.[5] He joined the Gaelic League and began studying with Thomas MacDonagh, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. The two were both poets with an interest in theatre, and both were early members of the Irish Volunteers, 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, south Dublin, to be used as a training camp for young men who wished to escape conscription in Britain during the First World War.
Easter Rising[edit]
Plunkett was one of the original members of the IRB Military Committee that was responsible for planning the Easter Rising, and it was largely his plan that was followed. Shortly before the rising was to begin, Plunkett was hospitalised following a turn for the worse in his health. He had an operation on his neck glands (probably goiter) 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 active.
Margaret Skinnider recalls that during Easter Week he was "pale and weak" and "looked like death".[8]
His aide de camp was Michael Collins.
Marriage and execution[edit]
Following the surrender, Plunkett was held in Kilmainham Gaol, and faced a court martial. Just after the rising on the 3rd of May, Thomas McDonagh was executed and Grace received news that Joseph was to be executed the following morning. Grace purchased a ring from a jeweller in Dublin and persuaded a priest to let her marry Joseph before his execution. Grace and Joseph were married in the prison chapel in Kilmainham jail, just hours before his death. There were only two witnesses (guards John Smith and John Lockerby) in addition to the priest. Grace was awoken at 2 am and taken back to the jail where they had their final meeting. With a guard counting down the 10 minutes they had together, Joseph was executed soon after along with the other 13 leaders.
In popular culture[edit]
The Irish ballad "Grace", written by Seán and Frank O'Meara, is a monologue of Plunkett expressing his love to Grace and his love for the cause of Irish independence in the small hours before his execution.[10] The ballad has been notably covered by Jim McCann.[11]
He is also mentioned in the Irish rebel song “Seán South of Garryowen”.
American composer Florence Turner-Maley used Plunkett’s text in her song “I See Him Everywhere.”[12]
His religious poem "I See His Blood upon the Rose" is well-known in Ireland.[13][14]
