Sean Connolly

Sean Connolly (

We noticed Sean Connolly coming towards us, walking upright, although we had been advised to crouch and take cover as much as possible. We suddenly saw him fall mortally wounded by a sniper's bullet from the castle. First aid was useless. He died almost immediately.[10]

Helena Molony, who also witnessed his death, recalled that his younger brother Matt, who was fifteen at the time, was on the City Hall roof and "cried bitterly" over his death.^[11] After he was shot, Molony said a prayer into his ear.^[12] According to Matthew's own witness statement, he saw his brother wounded, and later, finding himself alone,

There were snow boards along the valley gutters, between the sloping sections of the roof, and these I traversed, in an effort to find out where my comrades had gone, but without success, until I came across the body of my brother, Seán. I knelt to say a prayer for his departed soul.^[13]

Personal life

Sean Connolly was a first-class inspector of paving and lighting in

He married Mary Christina Swanzy in 1910, and they had three children, Margaret, Kevin and Aidan. Christina Connolly, who was noted for her deep and beautiful singing voice and her beauty, was active during the War of Independence; during the Civil War she took the Treaty side. After his death she remarried Thomas Joseph McCarthy, a police superintendent, and became a school attendance officer for the Corporation.^[15]

Commemoration

In 2016 a commemoration for Constable James O'Brien took place at Dublin Castle. Freya Connolly, great-granddaughter of Sean Connolly, placed flowers on behalf of the Connolly family.^[16]

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, An Post, the Irish postal service, released stamps of figures associated with the Rising. Sean Connolly and Constable James O'Brien appeared on a stamp together.^[17]

Connolly was 32 when he died. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.^[1]

References