1916 lives: Roger Casement, a man of mystery

IN THE week after Roger Casement’s execution, on August 3, 1916, newsreel footage of the Irish nationalist leader was shown in cinemas across America.

At a conservative estimate, some 15m US citizens saw the moving pictures. A century on, this fragment of film provides a fascinating insight.

Casement is glimpsed at his desk writing: The daily activity he performed above any other. He used the pen like a sword, scripting damning criticisms of colonial misrule and political corruption.