Remembering Anne Devlin

WHILE many know Anne Devlin’s name, few can tell her story.

Written off as Robert Emmet’s

‘housekeeper’ or a young girl suffering from unrequited love, Anne Devlin stands for so much more. Despite being reduced to a footnote and ignored for over 200 years, Anne Devlin remains one of the most heroic patriots in Irish history.

Devlin was born into a republican family in 1780, at Cronbeg outside Rathdrum, County Wicklow. The family could trace their heritage back to the famous Gaelic Clans of Wicklow, the O’Toole’s and O’Byrne’s, who under Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne had waged a Guerrilla War against the English conquest in Ireland, during the late 16th century.

Three of Anne’s cousins,

‘Big’ Arthur Devlin, Hugh

‘Vesty’ Byrne and the legendary Michael Dwyer, were leaders of the Wicklow United Irishmen. Evidence also shows that Anne’s father, Brian Devlin, was active during the Rebellion. It was no surprise then that Anne grew up to become a dedicated republican, and took an active part in the United Irish Uprisings of 1798 and 1803.

During the 1798 Rebellion, the English authorities regularly dumped the bodies of the republican dead into mass unmarked graves, known as Croppy Holes.

At great risk, Anne Devlin, and other republican women would recover the bodies of those killed by the English and ensure they received a proper burial.

In the aftermath of the Rebellion, Brian Devlin was imprisoned in Wicklow Gaol for over two years as a result of his United Irish activities. On his release from prison the family continued to suffer from harassment by the British authorities.

To escape the growing harassment, the Devlin family moved to a dairy farm in Rathfarnham, County Dublin.

It was here, that Robert Emmet first met Anne Devlin. Now one of the key leaders of the Untied Irishmen, Emmet had escaped to France after the defeat of the 1798 Uprising and had returned to Dublin to organise a fresh insurrection. He told the Devlins that he needed a safe headquarters to plan the insurrection.

Brian Devlin immediately offered Emmet his home, but when the house was found to be unsuitable, Emmet took another house at Butterfield Lane, Rathfarnham, close to the Devlin home.

Anne volunteered to help Emmet organise the Rising and moved in to his new house, disguised as his housekeeper. This gave the property the pretence of normality and provided a convenient cover for their revolutionary activities.

Anne played an important role in the conspiracy, not only carrying orders and instructions from Emmet to republicans across Dublin and beyond, but also assembling arms and ammunition for the Rebellion and ensuring their safe delivery to secret dumps across the city.

‘Emmet’s Rebellion’, was meticulously planned down to the last detail. However, an accidental explosion in the main arms dump on Patrick Street in Dublin’s south inner city risked alerting the British to the plans for the Rising and forced the republicans to act early.

A series of errors beginning with this accidental explosion led the Rebellion, which took place on July 23 1803, to end in failure. However, the commitment of those who had planned and organised the Uprising, including Anne Devlin, remained as strong as ever.

Hoping to allow Emmet and other leaders escape from Dublin, Anne courageously remained on at Rebellion headquarters in an attempt to keep up the pretence of normality.

Anne quickly destroyed anything at the house of an incriminating nature, saving many involved in the rebellion from being captured.

On July 26, the British Army raided Emmet’s house in Butterfield Lane. Anne and her eight-year-old sister were interrogated for information about Emmet.

Anne refused to answer any questions, pretending not to be aware of any revolutionary activities. Angered by her defiance, the soldiers began to torture her. Devlin was repeatedly stabbed with bayonets while the British threatened to kill her little sister and stabbed her in the chest.

In a final attempt to force a confession, the British commander ordered that Anne should be hanged. Strung up on an upturned cart that had been given to Robert Emmet by her Father, Anne suffered the torture of repeated half hangings. Yet this heroic patriot refused to betray her comrades.

Eventually the British decided to leave, satisfied that Anne and her sister were merely house servants.

Anne knew it was time for them to leave the Butterfield Lane headquarters, as it wouldn’t be long before the British realised their mistake and came back.

?¢Read Part 2 of Anne Devlin’s story in next week’s issue.