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of our fathers had been here a short time previously, and as he assured him no copy of it could be found, he wrote another”.
The “one of our fathers” referred to by Fr Augustine, was Fr Columbus. According to a diary kept by Fr Columbus, later dis-
covered in the Capuchin Archives in Church Street, to clarify the situation for those Volunteers still fighting and who had not
received proper notice of the Irish surrender, Fr. Columbus went to the Four Courts in an effort to retrieve Padraig Pearse’s
note which had led to the surrender of Cmdt. Daly. Failing in this effort, Fr. Columbus crossed the river to Dublin Castle to
see if someone there had the note. He met a British officer and explained to him that he needed the document to convince
the Volunteers in the North King Street area that the Rising was over. The officer suggested he should go in person to Arbour
Hill detention barracks and ask Pearse to rewrite the surrender note. Gen Maxwell received him courteously and, when Fr.
Columbus asked to be allowed to see Pearse and the others held there, his request was granted.
Fr Columbus wrote that Maxwell expressed his horror at the loss of life and destruction of property, but said “Oh, but we will
make those beggars pay for it”. Fr Columbus replied, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of martyrs”.” Are you backing them up
then?” asked Maxwell. Concluding that prudence was the better part of valour, Columbus said nothing. Fr Columbus was taken
to Arbour Hill barracks to see Pearse. He found him seated in his cell with his head bowed deep into his arms, resting on a little
table. He looked a sad, forlorn, exhausted figure. Disturbed by the opening of the cell door, he slowly raised his head. He had
the vacant, dazed look of someone waking from sleep. Then, recognising the Capuchin habit, he got up quickly, stretched out
his hand and said: “Oh, Father, the loss of life, the destruction! But, please God, it won’t be in vain”.
Fr. Columbus explained briefly why he had come, and asked Pearse to rewrite the surrender order. He agreed, saying his one
wish was to prevent further loss of life and property. In the governor’s office, Pearse wrote the order, which differed slightly in
wording from the original surrender order:
“In order to prevent further slaughter of the civil population and in the hope of saving the lives of our followers, the members
of the Provisional Government present at headquarters have decided on an unconditional surrender, and commandants or
officers commanding districts will order their commands to lay down arms. PH Pearse, Dublin, 30th April 1916.”
Shaking hands with Fr Columbus, Pearse said: “Hurry, Father, as time is precious and perhaps there are lives depending on
it”. On reading the letter, Patrick Holohan, who had assumed command of a small detachment engaged in fighting in North
Brunswick St. when his superior officer was wounded, ceased hostilities and surrendered. It was only the following day, 1 May,
that General Maxwell could issue his statement saying “ all involved in the insurrection have surrendered unconditionally”.
Pearse’s final order is a document of immense historical significance. Unlike the surrender order that was composed in
Parkgate, it was handwritten and signed by Pearse alone. Behind the single sentence of the communication lie many layers. It
was the last official letter Pearse wrote, three days before his execution by firing squad on the morning of May 3rd 1916 and
is therefore a vital part of the archive of the newly declared republic in 1916. It marked the end of the 1916 rebellion and
underlined the role of both the rebel leaders and the British forces in bringing the fighting to a conclusion. It is also a reminder
of some of the difficulties associated with the rebels’ military strategy in 1916, especially communications, but also the success
in securing certain positions in the midst of urban warfare. Lessons were certainly learned as a result, and this would become
strikingly apparent during the War of Independence when a wholly different military strategy was adopted. The document also
illuminates other themes; the role the Catholic church during Easter week, a church that faced a dilemma in how to respond
to the Rising, and also the concern for the deaths of civilians – in Pearse’s words, “the civil population”- who ultimately, experi-
enced the most suffering in Dublin in 1916 as they bore the brunt of the warfare.
Diarmaid Ferriter, June 2016