Independent.ie/1916

This is the story of the field hospital at Merrion Square that was hastily set up during the Easter rebellion to cater to the wounded from both sides of the battle.

Sir Robert Woods and his wife, Lady Margaret, lived with their family at No. 39 Merrion Square. Sir Robert Woods was an Ear Nose and Throat specialist and a surgeon at Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital. His medical clinic was located at No. 40 Merrion Square. As casualties mounted during Easter Week, this building was hurriedly converted into a field hospital.

Robert Woods, grandson of Dr. Robert Woods, reads from a long and detailed letter written by his aunt, Molly Woods, about her day by day experiences during the Rising.

She is writing to her brother Thornley who is fighting with the British Forces in Flanders and who is later to lose his life in the Great War. Into the letter she has drawn some detailed diagrams of the positions of the Irish rebels and of the British forces in the area close to her home.

Dorothy Dunlop, who now lives in Belfast and is the daughter of Molly Woods and Professor Gilbert Waterhouse of Trinity College Dublin, describes the memories and the extraordinary stories handed down to her through her family.

Fascinating details are provided about the running of the temporary field hospital at No. 40 Merrion Square and about the defence of Trinity College by her father and others during the Rising. At that time he was a lieutenant in the Dublin University Officer Training Corps.

After the fighting, he was presented with a sword by the grateful business people of Grafton Street for his efforts in preventing the destruction of the street, and saving it from the dire fate of nearby Sackville Street. The sword remains with the family today.

Seán Holahan recalls his father, Paddy Holahan, and his uncle, Garry Holahan. Paddy and Garry Holahan were members of Fianna Éireann and the IRB, and were active in 1916.

At Easter 1916, Paddy Holahan was with the Four Courts Garrison under Ned Daly, and his son describes his activities during the week. When Captain Laffan was shot, he became commander and he surrendered following receipt of a note from Pearse.

The second of a ten part podcast series on a 'History of the Easter Rising in 10 Objects' discusses the Mosin-Nagant rifle from the Aud.

Historian John Gibney discusses the Mosin-Nagant rifle from the Aud with Daire Whelan and asks just how useful the guns would have been if they had been landed and used by the 1916 rebels.

'A History of the Easter Rising in 50 Objects' by John Gibney is available now.

Anne Marie Kelly recalls her father, Peadar Kelly’s role in the Battle of Ashbourne in 1916.

Former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave recalls his father, WT Cosgrave's involvement during the Rising with the Irish Volunteers at the South Dublin Union.

In this first episode of a History of the Easter Rising in 10 Objects, historian John Gibney discusses a programme from the Abbey Theatre production in 1908 of Thomas McDonagh's When the Dawn is Come.

John Gibney's 'A History of the Easter Rising in 50 Objects' is available now.

Image Credit: Abbey Theatre