James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I grew up in Enniscorthy under Vinegar Hill on songs and stories of 1798 and 1916. The tricolour first flew in Enniscorthy on 7 March 1848, the same day Thomas Francis Meagher flew it in Waterford city. A plaque was erected at the cathedral in 1968 to mark that event. There is a great deal of history and heritage in my home town of Enniscorthy.

The Moore Street area is a central part of our heritage, and it is critical that it be preserved appropriately to honour the sacrifice of those who fought for Irish freedom and self-determination. The historic buildings associated with the 1916 Rising at Nos. 14-17 Moore Street and the surrounding areas must be protected.

For those of us in Enniscorthy, the Athenaeum is our GPO and Moore Street combined. It was built as a town hall and theatre in 1892, and there is a proud tradition of theatre in my home town. In March 1916, Patrick Pearse visited Enniscorthy for the commemoration of Robert Emmet and made a fine speech in the Athenaeum. The 1916 rebellion began in Enniscorthy in the early morning on Thursday of Easter week, with the Athenaeum in the centre of the town as its headquarters.

The republican tricolour flew for a week over Enniscorthy in 1916. My great-grandfather, Andy Putty Doyle, and the grandfather of Fianna Fáil councillor, Keith Doyle, also called Andy Doyle, marched together from the Shannon side of the town to Enniscorthy town centre. Fianna Fáil Councillor, Barbara Anne Murphy's grandfather, Philip Murphy, was also involved in freeing the town that day. By Saturday morning, 1,000 insurgents had been mobilised in the town and surrounding areas. I want particularly to mention the women of Enniscorthy in 1916. When a republican flag was hoisted over the Athenaeum when the rebellion began and was saluted with a bugler and a firing party, three women hoisted the flag who were members of Cumann na mBan. They were Greta Comerford, Una Brennan and Marion Stokes. Cumann na mBan set up an emergency hospital and kitchen. One member claimed 70 or 80 women were billeted in the Athenaeum during the Rising. The diary of Sean Etchingham, a future Minister, conveys the sense of liberation and exhilaration experienced by the volunteers in Enniscorthy:

We had at least one day of blissful freedom. We have had Enniscorthy under the laws of the Irish Republic for at least one day and it pleases me to learn that the citizens are appreciably surprised... a more orderly town could not be imagined. The people of the town are great.

When a copy of Pearse's surrender was presented to Seamus Doyle, the officer in command, and his officers in the Athenaeum, he refused to believe it. Both he and Sean Etchingham applied to the British officer in command, Colonel French, for permission to travel to Dublin to see Pádraig Pearse for confirmation. Surprisingly, Colonel French agreed. Pádraig Pearse, in Arbour Hill prison, confirmed the surrender to Etchingham and Doyle. Pearse agreed to sign a written order to Wexford volunteers confirming that surrender and Doyle and Etchingham brought it back to Enniscorthy. The volunteers duly surrendered. The garrison leaders were marched from the Athenaeum in Enniscorthy to Wexford town's military base and almost 400 rebels were arrested, including prominent Cumman na mBan members. The Athenaeum in Enniscorthy was beautifully restored in advance of the 1916 commemorations to mark and remember its theatre traditions and its 1916 traditions. I hope that Moore Street can be preserved with the same dignity and respect with which the Athenaeum in Enniscorthy was preserved and I hope the Minister has an opportunity to visit the Athenaeum in Enniscorthy some time.

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