‘Lament for Thomas MacDonagh’
(Francis Ledwidge)

‘He shall not hear the bittern cry
In the wild sky where he is lain,
Nor voices of the sweeter birds
Above the wailing of the rain…

But when the Dark Cow leaves the moor
And pastures poor with greedy weeds,
Perhaps he’ll hear her low at morn,
Lifting her horn in pleasant meads.

Thomas MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary. He was a teacher and founder of St. Enda’s (Coláiste Éanna) School with Pádraig Pearse. A creative mind, his play ‘When the Dawn is Come’ was produced at the Abbey theatre. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising, a signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and Commandant of the 2nd Battalion, Dublin Brigade of the Irish Volunteers, which fought in Jacob’s biscuit factory.

He was executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol on 3 May 1916.

Image | 1916 Easter Revolution in Colour