Edward Daly - 1916 Poster

Rare John Edward (Ned) Daly 1916 commemorative poster.

Ned Daly was born on the 25th February 1891 and was commandant of Dublin's 1st battalion of the Irish Volunteers during the Easter Rising of 1916. He was the youngest rebel to hold that rank and also the youngest rebel of the Rising to be executed, on May the 4th, following his court-martial.

Born at 26 Frederick Street , Limerick,  Ned was the only son of ten children born to Edward and Catherine Daly (née O'Mara) and through his family connections was steeped in nationalist ideals for Ireland . He was the younger brother of Kathleen Clarke, the wife of Tom Clarke, and an active member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). His father, Edward, was a Fenian IRB member who died, aged 41, five months before Ned's birth. Notably, his uncle was John Daly, a prominent republican who had taken part in the 1867 Fenian Rising and Fenian Dynamite Campaign in England, being imprisoned in the cell next door to Tom Clarke for several years before being released.  From their time together in Prison John Daly and Tom Clarke were lifelong friends.

Although it is not known exactly when he joined the IRB, he would have known Tom Clarke, the IRB architect of 1916, through his Uncle and sister from a very young age. In November 1913 Daly joined the newly founded Irish Volunteers where he quickly reached the rank of captain. He was thorough in his study of British military manuals and the proficiency of his company gained the admiration of senior officers in actions such as the Howth gun-running of 1914 where efforts by the authorities to confiscate the weapons were smartly outwitted by the prompt actions of Clarke , MacDiarmada, and in particular Daly, who's quick thinking led to the bypassing of the blockade while the British were discussing the surrender of the arms with the Volunteer officers. As a result very few few weapons were lost on that day. In March 1915, he was promoted to the rank of commandant of the 1st Battalion.  Daly was an active  member of the Keating branch of the Gaelic League as were several other of the Rising's leaders 

During the Rising Daly's battalion was stationed in the Four Courts and areas to the west and north of the centre of Dublin, where they saw harsh fighting . He was forced to surrender his battalion on 29th April by Patrick Pearse's order to surrender. Daly was court martialled under the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 and executed by firing squad on 4 May , at the age of just 25.

Originally printed and published by O'Loughlin, Murphy and Boland, using a photo by Keogh Bros., the text below the photograph simply states: "EDWARD DALY, Executed at Kilmainham, May 4th, 1916". This is another stunning reproduction on 210 gsm satin art paper , beautifully mounted on a mottled green suede background and set behind glass in a handmade, aged dark mahogany finish frame with a gold gilt sightline.