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Written by John McCullagh
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Monday, 10 May 2004 |
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Patrick Rankin was the only Newry man to take part in the 1916 Rising in Dublin. He was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
The local drive to reorganise came from Newry, where the Centre (the man charged with organising and coordinating between groups and individuals) for the County was Robert Kelly of the town. Other County Down members in Newry then included George Cahill, Frank Patterson, James Morgan and Edward McCann. Henry Murphy of Castlewellan was also in the IRB. Newry man John Southwell was the Centre for Armagh. Southwell from Dominic Street joined the IRB in 1910 and was to become the Secretary of the Ulster Council and one of the principal organisers in Ulster. He played a leading role in establishing the Irish Volunteers in the Newry area. Under the initiative of Bulmer Hobson and Dublin republican, the Ớ Raghalliagh the Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913 with Eoin Mac Néill as leader. A week before the Rising John Southwell and Patrick Rankin were asked to go to Dundalk where they were informed of the plans. Southwell was told to bring his men to join up with the Dundalk men. Rankin was given money to buy shotgun ammunition in Newry. Although most of the Rising took place in and around Dublin, there were other smaller confrontations with the British in Galway, Wexford and elsewhere. It was part of the overall plan that there would be no fighting in the North-East to prevent sectarian clashes. Volunteers from the region were to meet at Coalisland and from there proceed to Galway to join Liam Mellows. When the countermanding order from Eoin Mac Néill came, a number of volunteers doubted its validity and returned to Belfast in search of confirmation. Daniel Braniff and Cathal O’Shannon phoned Dublin, learned the Rising was going ahead and decided to make their own way to Dublin. They took a circuitous route and eventually came up against a British ring of steel around the capital. Braniff eventually found his way safely home but O’Shannon was picked up by the RIC. Patrick Rankin, carrying a revolver and twelve rounds of ammunition, left Newry by bicycle early on Easter Monday morning and cycled through heavy rain all day, eventually reaching Dublin at seven that night. The following morning he made his way to the city centre and joined Thomas Clarke in the GPO. After the defeat of the Rising, Rankin, along with fellow Newry men John Southwell of Dominic Street and Robert Kelly of Mary Street were deported and interned. By December 1916 all of the internees had been released. Rankin went on to take an active part in the War of Independence.
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History 
