National 1916 Commemoration Committee

2nd October 2007 - The Passing of Dan Keating Born at Ballygamboon near Castlemaine, County Kerry, in 1902, Dan Keating joined Fianna Éireann in Tralee in 1918 and later the Irish Republican Army. During the Tan War, he served with the Kerry Brigades and took part in the Ballymacandy Ambush of June 1921 and the Castleisland Ambush on the eve of the Truce. Keating rejected the Anglo-Irish Treaty and fought on the Republican side during the Counter-revolutionary War. Captured in 1922, he was imprisoned in Portlaoise and later interned at the Curragh concentration camp before his release in 1924. His Republican activity continued for decades afterwards. He was repeatedly imprisoned by the Free State authorities during the 1930s, participated in the IRA campaign in Britain in 1939-40 and was interned again at the Curragh during the Second World War. Keating remained committed to the principle of abstentionism through the later divisions within the movement. Following the 1986 Sinn Féin split, he supported @RepublicanSF and in 2004 its Ard-Fheis elected him Patron. He refused both a so-called War of Independence pension and the Free State's centenarian payment out of Republican principle. Dan Keating died on 2nd October 2007 at the age of 105. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving veteran of the Tan War. He was buried at Kiltallagh Cemetery near Castlemaine, where The Croppy Boy was played by a lone piper as his coffin was lowered into the grave. An Phoblacht abú 🇮🇪

17th July 1798 - The Martyrdom of Henry Joy McCracken Born into one of Belfast's most prominent Presbyterian merchant families, Henry Joy McCracken turned from comfort and prosperity to the cause of Irish liberty. As the United Irish movement took shape in Belfast, he worked to overcome the divisions that had kept Ireland weak, striving to unite Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter in a common struggle against foreign rule. When caution and hesitation overcame many of the movement's leaders in 1798, McCracken accepted command of the United Irishmen of County Antrim. At the Battle of Antrim, he stood at the head of those who were prepared to risk everything rather than submit without resistance. Following their defeat, he took refuge in the Belfast Hills before being captured while attempting to escape to America. Offered his life and exile in return for betraying his comrades, he refused. McCracken was court martialled and hanged at the Market House in Belfast's High Street, only a short distance from where he had been born. His sister Mary Ann accompanied him towards the gallows, displaying a courage scarcely less remarkable than his own. His life stands not only as an example of true heroism and unwavering commitment to Irish freedom, but also as a lasting answer to those who would reduce Irish nationality to a matter of creed. McCracken was a Belfast Presbyterian, an Ulsterman and an Irish Republican, seeing no contradiction between these identities and surrendering none of them. His cause ended in military defeat, but his conduct in defeat ensured that his example survived. When others hesitated, he acted. When offered safety through betrayal, he chose loyalty. When brought face to face with death, he remained faithful to the last. “Of my death, tell him I have done my duty.” - Henry Joy McCracken's final message to Thomas Russell An Phoblacht Abú!