Radio station to air 1916 series

A COOLOCK based community radio station is to broadcast a special series next week as part of the 1916 celebrations. 

‘The Lost Easter Voices’, produced by Nearfm Drama Company, with support from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) Sound and Vision (S&V) Scheme, will be broadcast from Monday to Sunday, March 21-27 at 1pm. 

The fictional drama centres around the 1916 executions of the seven signatories of the Proclamation.  

Social historian, Richard Maxwell, a nephew of General Sir John Maxwell, Commander in Chief of British Forces in Ireland, obtained permission to bring his early Edison recorder into Kilmainham Gaol to record interviews with the seven Proclamation signatories shortly before their capital punishment. 

During the turbulent weeks that followed the executions, Richard Maxwell returned to England with his recordings. Eventually, in ill health, he moved to Estuarios in Spain to live with relatives. Apparently, these unique recordings have lain in an attic in Spain for 100 years. 

Now a great-granddaughter of Richard Maxwell, Senora Maxwell-Hogan, has returned to Ireland with these historic recordings. Tune in to Near90.3fm daily at 1pm and hear the ‘voices’ of the seven leaders, starting with Padraig Pearse on March 21.