16 Lives: Thomas Clarke spent lifetime building toward rebellion

Thomas Clarke was one of the architect’s of the Easter Rising, his nationalism hardened by 15

THOMAS James Clarke, despite his low profile at the time, is now increasingly regarded as a principal architect of the Easter Rising.

Born in England on March 11, 1858, to a Leitrim father and a Tipperary mother, he spent his first years in South Africa, where his father, a British soldier, was stationed.