Thomas Hunter was a key figure in Rising but is hardly known outside Cork

A key figure before the Rising, Thomas Hunter is hardly known outside his native north Cork, reports Niall Murray

Thomas C Hunter was born in Castletownroche, Co Cork in 1883, and began an apprenticeship as a draper in Dublin in 1907.

He befriended Tom Clarke after joining the Gaelic League and was soon sworn into the secret Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). He became an IRB centre (head of a ‘circle’, or local club) and was on the organisation’s Supreme Council for a time.