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Relative of RIC officer killed in Easter Rising says all victims need recognition

Dr Meadhbha Ni Bhaoill. Picture by Matt Bohill
Dr Meadhbha Ni Bhaoill. Picture by Matt Bohill Dr Meadhbha Ni Bhaoill. Picture by Matt Bohill

A WOMAN whose great-uncle was the first policeman to be killed during the Easter Rising has told of the "shame and secrecy" of having an RIC officer in the family.

Dr Meadhbha Ni Bhaoill, who lives in Newry, Co Down, said that while growing up events around the Easter Rising were barely spoken about in her family.

Her great uncle, Constable Charles McGee of the Royal Irish Constabulary, (RIC), was shot dead on Easter Monday 1916.

From Inishbofin off the Donegal coast, he was just 23 years old when he was shot dead in Castlebellingham, Co Louth.

A native Irish speaker, he was one of 16 policemen to be killed during the uprising.

Belfast man Seán MacEntee, who later became a cabinet minister in the Republic, was sentenced to death for his involvement in events.

MacEntee had ordered his men to disarm two RIC officers but one of the rebels discharged a gun, killing Constable McGee and wounding Lieutenant Robert Dunville.

An article by historian Dr Éamon Phoenix in today’s Irish News details how MacEntee’s life was spared after a death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment following interventions by a unionist politician, Thomas E Alexander.

Dr Ni Bhaoill, a historian now living in Co Down, said that despite her uncle being a victim of events of the time, her family rarely spoke about what happened.

She has written a book entitled The Life and Times of Constable Charles McGee’, which is due for release in the autumn.

"There was so much sadness that just wasn't spoken about..and that area of Donegal was very republican."

She added: "There was a shame and a secrecy there and since I told my story, other people have come to me to say they had family members in the RIC."

In the Free State and Republic which emerged from the Rising, there was a different narrative, she said.

Dr Ni Bhaoill said she believed it was important that all victims of the Rising were recognised, not just the rebels who died.

"When I was at school in Donegal in 1966 we heard about the leaders of the 1916 Rising. There was no mention of the victims. I am happy that his name has now been recognised, and at the same time, I am pleased to have the opportunity to live in a Free State and have an education in the Irish language."

A short time before he became the first victim of the Rising, Constable McGee had told his mother he was considering leaving Ireland for Scotland or the USA due to the tumultuous political climate.

Ironically, the young policeman knew many of those involved in the Rising and an Irish language centre in Gortahork was frequented by Rising leaders Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and Joseph Plunkett.

Dr Ni Bhaoill said: "I know that some of the Irish Volunteers had approached him and asked him for ammunition, but he refused."

"It is very difficult to get to the bottom of it, but I don't think that McEntee was responsible for his death. I feel it was just accidental and I think they were aiming for Lieutenant Dunville."

She added: "I wrote to McEntee's niece a number of years ago. She wrote back and she said that until the day he died Seán MacEntee regretted his involvement in the death."

* Éamon Phoenix on how Seán MacEntee's death sentence was commuted to life following interventions from unionist politician. See Features page 35