FrancesH Posted 22 May , 2023 Share Posted 22 May , 2023 I have become increasingly fascinated by the mixed population and prison conditions of HMP Wormwood Scrubs during 1916, which included not only purged gay officers (see an article I did last year for the Western Front) but also of course many varieties of conscientious objector. I have now seen two Irish brothers, John and Ernest Nunan, who had been arrested in Ireland as rebels under DORA In July 1916 and were sent to serve their sentence in WS. Here they were put on trial under the Military Service Act, which their lawyer Gavin Duffy said could have no jurisdiction as they were literally serving a prison sentence already! I wondered if anyone has come across parallel cases? If I find the outcome of this case I will post it below. Any comments from those who know much more about Ireland than I do, welcomed. OK, no sooner written than I found the outcome ... quite interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 22 May , 2023 Share Posted 22 May , 2023 I did type out a lengthy reply but the topic vanished! Anyway, they both have surviving service papers. John was escorted to White City recruiting office, on 22nd July 1916, by a soldier of the Scots Guards. Both of them refused to comply with orders until they were eventually discharged in 1917, services no longer required. A lot of the various proceedings are in the papers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancesH Posted 22 May , 2023 Author Share Posted 22 May , 2023 Thank you, that's very helpful. At present I am just gathering newspaper items before returning to see if anyone (like these two) have service papers. Do you think it's unusual or not for someone to be charged under both DORA and the Military Service Act? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 22 May , 2023 Share Posted 22 May , 2023 @corisande may know something about this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jervis Posted 22 May , 2023 Share Posted 22 May , 2023 There is a biography of John (Aka Sean) Nunan Biography here. English born second generation Irish brothers - who took part in the Easter Rebellion. Jailed & Conscripted, but refused to comply. Continued subversive activities with the IRA and later became a diplomat for the Irish Government. Jervis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancesH Posted 23 May , 2023 Author Share Posted 23 May , 2023 Thank you for this, Jervis! Much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyle3 Posted 4 June , 2023 Share Posted 4 June , 2023 Did some work a while back on conscripted members of the Irish Volunteers http://johnny-doyle.blogspot.com/2013/01/conscripted-irish-volunteers.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancesH Posted 5 June , 2023 Author Share Posted 5 June , 2023 Hi, thank you for this! I am hoping to produce an article on HMP Wormwood Scrubs and its involuntary residents in 1916, amongst whom of course the Irish cohort will be mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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