1916: Con Colbert was an ordinary man in extraordinary time

Con Colbert was not an intellectual nor an orator, but he was shot after the Rising for his love of country, writes John O’Callaghan 

BORN on October 19, 1888, in west Limerick, Con Colbert was executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol on May 8, 1916.

He had commanded rebel forces during the Rising, before surrendering and being sentenced to death. Colbert was a mid-ranking, conservative, cultural and militant nationalist.