Seamus Rafter

Seamus Rafter (24 January 1873 – 12 September 1918) was an Irishman who launched the Gaelic League in Enniscorthy, Wexford. He was a commander in the Wexford Brigade of the Irish Republican Brotherhood[1][2][3] during the failed 1916 Easter Rising in Enniscorthy.[4]

Career

Rafter was born in Monalee, Ballindaggin, Ireland. After the 1916 Rebellion in Enniscorthy, he was incarcerated in England at Dartmoor prison and sentenced to death; this sentence was later commuted to five years' imprisonment.[3]

After about one year, the rebels were released, and Rafter continued to recruit volunteers for his cause. He died on September the 12th 1918, of wounds he received from an accidental detonation of explosives he was manufacturing in his business premises.[5][6][7][8] He was waked in Enniscorthy Cathedral, and a parade of Irish Volunteers and the public marched to his last resting place in Ballindaggin Cemetery, five miles from Enniscorthy. A commemoration of his life was held in 1949.[9]

Commemoration

In 1958,[10] a granite statue of Rafter, representing participants in the Easter Rising, was erected in the Abbey Square in Enniscorthy.[11][12]

A bridge in Enniscorthy, built in 1991, was named for him.[6][13]

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References
  1. "Rifles and Pikes at 1916 Rising Commemoration at Enniscorthy" Wexford County Books
  2. Ireland. Michelin Tyre. 2007.
  3. Kevin Galligan (13 December 2013). Peter Paul Galligan: "One of the Most Dangerous Men in the Rebel Movement". Liffey Press. pp. 21–. ISBN 978-1-908308-31-3.
  4. James Gleeson (1 March 2004). Bloody Sunday: How Michael Collins's Agents Assassinated Britain's Secret Service in Dublin on November 21, 1920. Lyon's Press. pp. 32–. ISBN 978-1-59228-282-1.
  5. Annie Ryan (15 April 2013). Comrades: Inside the War of Independence. Liberties Press Limited. pp. 217–. ISBN 978-1-909718-06-7.
  6. "Enniscorthy: Heritage Trail". Enniscorthy Town Council Website
  7. "Witness Statement of Patrick Doyle". Bureau of Military History, 1913-1921.
  8. "Witness Statement of Thomas Dwyer". Bureau of Military History, 1913-1921.
  9. "Around the 32 Counties". The Irish Emigrant.
  10. "Seamus Rafter Monument, Abbey Square, Enniscorthy, County Wexford". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
  11. Michelin; Michelin Travel &. Lifestyle (1 April 2011). Ireland Green Guide Michelin 2012-2013. National Book Network. pp. 254–. ISBN 978-2-06-718217-2.
  12. Judith Hill (1998). Irish Public Sculpture: A History. Four Courts Press. ISBN 978-1-85182-274-4.
  13. "1916 Easter commemorations 2008". Aphoblacht, 27 March 2008.
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