Clarke, Thomas James, 1858-1916

Thomas Clarke was born in 1857 on the Isle of Wight. His father was in the British Army. The Clarkes emigrated to South Africa and stayed there for about 10 years before moving to Dungannon, County Tyrone, Ireland. Clarke stayed in Dungannon until moving to the United States in 1880.

In the United States, Clarke joined Clan na Gael, the American wing of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). In 1883, Clarke and Thomas Gallagher were sent to England on a dynamiting mission. Both were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. Clarke served fifteen years in English prisons and was released in 1898. Clarke returned to Ireland, was made a freeman of the city of Limerick, but was unable to find work and returned to the United States in 1899. He resumed his activities with Clan na Gael, working on the Gaelic American. In 1901, he married Kathleen Daly. They returned to Ireland in 1907 and established a newspaper and tobacconist shop in Dublin.

In Dublin, Clarke worked to reorganize the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was elected to the Supreme Council of the IRB in 1913 and argued for a Military Council to plan an armed insurrection. In 1911, Clarke organized the first national pilgrimage to Wolfe Tone’s grave in Bodestowne, County Kildare. In September 1915, Clarke and Sean MacDiarmada were admitted into the IRB’s secret Military Council, joining Patrick Pearse, Joseph Mary Plunkett, Eamonn Ceannt, and later, James Connolly. Clarke presided over the meeting that decided to proceed with the Easter Rising.

As the oldest member of the Provisional Government and a Fenian, Clarke was the first signatory of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. He fought in the General Post Office (GPO) during Easter week and was court-martialed on May 1, 1916. He was executed by firing squad on May 3, 1916.