Contents of the Pockets of Thomas Clarke

These small items; a book of stamps, a pencil and an empty spectacle case were the personal belongings of Thomas Clarke; the everyday items that were the contents of his pockets when he was executed for his role as a leader of the 1916 Rising in Dublin.

He was one of the 16 leaders and prominent participants of the 1916 Rising who were sentenced to death after courts martial by the British authorities in Ireland. His wife, Kathleen Clarke, wrote to Major W.S. Lennon, the officer in command of Kilmainham Gaol overseeing the executions, to request the return of Tom’s body for burial. She was refused, and these objects were returned to her instead.

Kathleen was not only the wife of Tom Clarke, but also a member of the Daly family of Limerick. The Daly family had a long republican tradition, the most prominent member being John Daly, Mayor of Limerick and leading member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Kathleen and her sister Madge Daly were founding members of Cumann na mBan; Madge was the first President of the Limerick branch.

Their brother Ned Daly was in command of the 1st Battalion of Irish Volunteers posted to the Four Courts, and was also sentenced to death. He was executed on the 4th May, the day after Tom Clarke. The sisters were also refused their brother’s body. Both men’s remains now rest in the grounds of the ex-military prison Arbour Hill.

Both Kathleen and Madge visited their loved ones before their executions, and left moving accounts of their last moments. However, the stories of the Daly sisters did not end with the executions of their family. Both sisters continued the struggle for Irish independence in the years after the Rising, joining other women of the revolution to keep the republican ideal alive during a time when the male participants were interned and imprisoned; fund raising for dependents, providing safe houses during the War of Independence and organising the publication of propaganda. 

Both Kathleen and Madge were imprisoned in England for their activities, and both managed their own businesses to support themselves. Kathleen progressed into politics, becoming a judge in the Republican Courts, a Sinn Fein TD for Dublin, a founding member of Fianna Fáil, a member of the Seanad and the first female Lord Mayor of Dublin, 1939 to 1941.

The Daly sisters carried with them the Fenian tradition throughout their lives, despite the loss of their loved ones.