August 3rd was the 106th anniversary of the execution of Roger Casement, which saw it commemorated in the grounds of the social club named after him.
Members of Lasair Dhearg joined dozens of people as they walked from the front of the club to the mural of Casement at the gates on the Andersonstown Road, Belfast. The event was organised by The Roger Casement Commemoration and Re-interment Association (RCCRA).
The marchers were led by a piper and once arriving at the mural the flag was lowered and a wreath laid.
Proceedings were chaired by a member of the RCCRA and he called on a woman to recite the Patrick Pearse poem, Mise Éire, then the main speaker was called to the microphone. He spoke about how Casement exposed atrocities carried out in The Congo and Brazil and how it exposed the Imperialists of both Belgium and Britain. He then spoke about Casement leaving the British civil service and joining the Irish Volunteers.
Casement went to Germany in 1915 seeking arms and finance when he became aware there was to be an armed rebellion in his own country against the British. Tons of weapons were to be landed at Banna Strand. As he set foot on the beach he was captured by the RIC. The German ship, The Aud, was also captured and both these incidents caused alarm back in Dublin.
Undeterred, the Rising took place on Easter Monday and it lasted for five days. The British executed 15 of the leaders in Dublin and Cork and Casement was to hear this news in an English prison cell. He was to be executed in August in Pentonville gaol.
Casement and the other executed men were an inspiration to many Irish people who believed their cause to be a noble one. Unfortunately others besmirched that struggle by turning against Irish Republicans during the counter revolution. Today we live in a divided country which suits the British, something that Casement and his comrades warned us against.
Members of Lasair Dhearg also attended a wreath laying organised by the RCCRA in Murlough Bay. It was Casement’s wish to be buried there.
Shortly before his execution he expressed his final wishes in a letter to his friend Elizabeth Bannister. He said, “Don’t let my body lie here—get me back to the green hill at Murlough, by the McGarry’s house, looking down on the Moyle, that’s where I’d like to be now, and there’s where I’d like to lie.”
The RCCRA are campaigning for the re-interment of Casements remains to Murlough Bay, from Glasnevin Cemetery, in line with his final wishes.
We in Lasair Dhearg are proud to follow in the footsteps of Casement, Connolly, Pearse and the many others who laid down their lives in the fight against Imperialism.
