Why the Church kept a ‘vow of silence’ after the Rising

Condemnation would have handed the British a propaganda weapon against Irish nationalists, and, in any case, the leaders were personally known to the clergy, says Dermot Keogh

SOLVING yet another famous case, Sherlock Holmes noticed the ‘curious incident of the dog in the night-time.’ It had not barked: “That was the curious incident,” the detective observed.

The same observation might be made about the Irish Catholic bishops, immediately following the 1916 Rising; why was there no joint pastoral, condemning the Rising?