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Thomas Bryan (Irish Republican)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Bryan was member of the Irish Republican Army
hanged in Mountjoy Prison
on 14 March 1921 along with six other men.
, Dublin and was an electrician by trade. He was an experienced IRA volunteer and a member of the Dublin Brigade's Active Service Unit
. In 1917, he took part in the hunger strike
in Mountjoy in which Thomas Ashe
died.
on 24 February 1921 for his part in an attempted ambush at Drumcondra
on 21 January 1921.. Found guilty of treason
he was hanged, aged 24, along with Frank Flood
at 8am on the 14 March 1921. Four other men had been hanged at 7am and 6am. It was reported that a crowd of around 40,000 people assembled outside Mountjoy on the morning of the executions. Work was also suspended throughout the city following a call from the Irish Labour Party.
Bryan had married four months before his death.
. In 2001, he and the other nine, including Kevin Barry
, were exhumed from their graves in the prison and given a full state funeral. He is now buried in Glasnevin Cemetery
, Dublin.
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
hanged in Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
on 14 March 1921 along with six other men.
Background
Bryan lived in Henrietta StreetHenrietta Street
Henrietta Street is a Dublin street, to the north of Bolton Street on the north side of the city, first laid out and developed by Luke Gardiner during the 1720s. A very wide street relative to streets in other 18th-century cities, it includes a number of very large red-brick city palaces of...
, Dublin and was an electrician by trade. He was an experienced IRA volunteer and a member of the Dublin Brigade's Active Service Unit
Active Service Unit
An active service unit was a Provisional Irish Republican Army cell of five to eight members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002 the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units....
. In 1917, he took part in the hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
in Mountjoy in which Thomas Ashe
Thomas Ashe
Thomas Patrick Ashe born in Lispole, County Kerry, Ireland, was a member of the Gaelic League, the Irish Republican Brotherhood and a founding member of the Irish Volunteers...
died.
Trial and execution
He was tried by court-martialCourt-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
on 24 February 1921 for his part in an attempted ambush at Drumcondra
Drumcondra, Dublin
Drumcondra is a residential area and inner suburb on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is administered by Dublin City Council.The River Tolka and the Royal Canal flow through the area.-History:...
on 21 January 1921.. Found guilty of treason
High treason in the United Kingdom
Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; having sexual intercourse with the sovereign's consort, with his eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the...
he was hanged, aged 24, along with Frank Flood
Frank Flood
Francis Xavier Flood , known as Frank, was a 1st Lieutenant in the Dublin Active Service Brigade during the Irish War of Independence...
at 8am on the 14 March 1921. Four other men had been hanged at 7am and 6am. It was reported that a crowd of around 40,000 people assembled outside Mountjoy on the morning of the executions. Work was also suspended throughout the city following a call from the Irish Labour Party.
Bryan had married four months before his death.
Reinterrment
He is one of a group of men hanged in Mountjoy Prison in the period 1920-1921 commonly referred to as the Forgotten TenThe Forgotten Ten
The Forgotten Ten is the term applied to ten members of the Irish Republican Army who were executed in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin by British forces following courts martial from 1920-1921 during the Irish War of Independence. Based upon military law at the time, they were buried within the prison...
. In 2001, he and the other nine, including Kevin Barry
Kevin Barry
Kevin Gerard Barry was the first Irish republican to be executed by the British since the leaders of the Easter Rising. Barry was sentenced to death for his part in an IRA operation which resulted in the deaths of three British soldiers.Barry's death is considered a watershed moment in the Irish...
, were exhumed from their graves in the prison and given a full state funeral. He is now buried in Glasnevin Cemetery
Glasnevin Cemetery
Glasnevin Cemetery , officially known as Prospect Cemetery, is the largest non-denominational cemetery in Ireland with an estimated 1.5 million burials...
, Dublin.