Dick Humphreys

Dick Humphreys memoir extract, National Library Easter Rising exhibition, 2016

Dick Humphreys (23 April 1896 – 20 September 1968) was a member of the Irish Volunteers and participated in the Easter Rising in 1916, serving in the General Post Office with his uncle, The O'Rahilly.[1]

Born in Limerick in 1896, Humphreys was a son of Dr. David Humphreys and Nell Humphreys and a brother of Sheila Humphreys. In Limerick, he attended Crescent College from 1905 to 1909. The family moved to Dublin in 1909 and was a pupil in Padraig Pearse's school, St. Enda's, in Ranelagh[2] and later in Rathfarnham when the school moved there.[3][4]

After the Easter Rising, Humphreys was arrested and detained in Wakefield Prison where he wrote an account of the events of Easter Week of 1916.[5][6] He was a member of the IRA during the War of Independence, 1919–21, and was imprisoned in Mountjoy Prison where he went on hunger strike.[7] In November 1920 he qualified as a barrister in King's Inns.[8] As part of the 50 year commemoration of the rising in 1966 his reminiscences of Easter week were recorded by RTÉ.[9] An excerpt from his account of the rising formed part of the 2016 commemorative exhibition by the National Library of Ireland.[10][11]

  1. ^ "Extract from Dublin 1916: The Siege of the GPO". Irishtimes.com. 4 April 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  2. ^ R F Foster (2 October 2014). Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland, 1890-1923. Penguin Books Limited. p. 1967. ISBN 9780141969565. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  3. ^ "Dick Humphreys". Humphrysfamilytree.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017..
  4. ^ Ruán O'Donnell (29 February 2016). Patrick Pearse: 16 Lives. The O'Brien Press. p. 28. ISBN 9781847178534. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  5. ^ The account is published in full in Keith Jeffery's The GPO and the Easter Rising (Irish Academic Press, 2006).
  6. ^ Shane Hegarty; Fintan O'Toole. "Easter Rising – Day 5: Leaders flee the GPO". Irishtimes.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  7. ^ "Dick Humphreys". humphrysfamilytree.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Dick Humphreys". humphrysfamilytree.com. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Dick Humphreys - RTE interview in 1966". Humphrysfamilytree.com. 14 April 1966. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Dublin photo exhibition a snapshot of 1916 Rising - The Irish Revolution". Theirishrevolution.ie. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  11. ^ "Dublin photo exhibition a snapshot of 1916 Rising". Irish Examiner. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2017.