Ireland’s ambassador to Britain, Paul Keating, indicated in confidential correspondence from 1978 that he had been instructed to put a large quantity of earth in a coffin for shipment back to Dublin if Casement’s remains could not be located.
The actual remains of Casement were discovered thanks to precise prison records as to where the burial took place. Casement was hanged at Pentonville prison in summer 1916.
British authorities used Casement's personal papers - including the 'black diaries' - to reveal his homosexuality and to undermine the clemency campaign on his behalf.
The Department of Foreign Affairs was unable to find concrete evidence from official sources that would clarify or rule out doubts over whether the bones that were repatriated to Ireland were actually those of Yeats.
Collection
[
|
...
]