A fascinating examination of the life of Thomas Clarke, a member of the Fenians and a key leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1916.  

 Clarke spent  fifteen years in penal labour for his role in a bombing campaign in London between 1883 and 1898. He was a member of the Supreme Council of the IRB from 1915 and was one of the rebels who planned the 1916 Rising. He was the first signatory of the Proclamation of Independence and was with the group that occupied the GPO. He was executed on 3 May 1916. 

 This accessible biography outlines Clarke's life, from joining the Republican Brotherhood as an eighteen year old, to his execution at the age of fifty-nine.



Born in Dublin, Helen Litton is the editor of Kathleen Clarke's memoir, Revolutionary Woman, and the author of 6 illustrated history books. She is married with two children. Edward Daly was Helen's great uncle; she has also written his biography for the 16 Lives series.



a fitting record of a single-minded patriot



Helen Litton's well-researched account places this quiet, strong-willed man in the forefront where he belongs



an uncomplicated biography of the eminence grise of the Rising



brilliantly sheds light on Clarke's evolution from having spent 15 years in jail to signing his own death warrant