A week of order, counter order, and disorder in Cork

As commander of the Cork Brigade, Tomás MacCurtain was responsible for the success of his mission. But he had been receiving conflicting orders from the Irish Volunteer HQ in Dublin, writes Gerry White

ON THE morning of Easter Saturday, 1916, the leadership of the Cork Brigade of Irish Volunteers was in turmoil.

Tomás MacCurtain, the commanding officer, knew that his unit was expected to take part in a major military operation that was planned for the following day, but throughout the week he had been receiving a series of conflicting orders from Volunteer Headquarters in Dublin — a situation that his second-in-command, Terence MacSwiney, described as “order, counter-order, disorder”.