1917

Peter Ennis, top row, stands head and shoulders above this gathering of returned prisoners outside Liberty Hall in 1917.

Suck Diesel I am impressed! Please tell more.

A couple of date clues. Restoration was well underway by May 1917.
Evening Herald (Dublin) - Thursday 21 June 1917

The building has been recently undergoing structural alterations, owing to the damage done during the Rebellion, and is now practically restored to its original condition.

Freeman's Journal - Friday 11 May 1917

Republican flags were flown from the scaffolding around Liberty Hall.

and
Labour Leader - Thursday 25 January 1917

We gathered in a bullet scarred and windowless wing of Liberty Hall, and discussed the prospects of a branch.

“Liberty Hall’s courageous caretaker”

“YOU are quite at liberty…” With these words, caretaker Peter Ennis greeted the early morning raiding party at Liberty Hall on Friday 22nd August 1919.

On the Wednesday prior to the raid, Christopher Quigley, a news vendor, had induced Private S Morrison, of the 3rd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, to procure a rifle for sale. A deal was struck for £2 and the rifle was passed through a window at the Hall. Quigley’s and Morrison’s subsequent arrests led to the raid.
A detailed account of the 4am raid and Ennis’ trial is documented in the British National Archives at Kew.
Having greeted the raiding party with the words, “You are quite at liberty”, Ennis continued his good humoured banter by asking, “Are you going to pay me overtime for this, sir?” The search uncovered firearms and Ennis, as the only resident, was arrested.
He was registered as prisoner 499 at Mountjoy Prison, where he was also listed as a ‘hunger striker’. An approval by the Chief Secretary of Ireland allowed Ennis to sign union papers while at Mountjoy.
Ennis’ court martial took place on 24th September 1919. He was successfully defended by the eminent republican barrister Patrick Lynch KC, who would later serve as Attorney General. Ennis co-accused Quigley, on the other hand, was sentenced to a year in prison.
In what seemingly was a reprisal for his acquittal, late one evening the Black and Tans ‘lifted’ Ennis from the Hall, brought him to the Custom House railings and beat him mercilessly on the head with revolvers.
Years later, Ennis’ obituary stated that he had “given himself up for dead” at the time. Suffering terribly, he dragged himself back over the cobbles at Beresford Place to the Hall and was able to close the door. According to the obituary, he then “swooned from loss of blood and lay almost unconscious until discovered the next morning”.
His obituary recalled that this was one of “many occasions” that Ennis had “exciting and almost fatal encounters with the armed forces of Dublin Castle”. During the Easter Rising, and under James Connolly’s orders to leave “as the union needed him”, he had staged a dramatic escape from the GPO under machine gun fire to return to Liberty Hall.”

For more, see

siptu.medium.com/liberty-halls-courageous-caretaker-1b5b4...

Image used on front cover of ‘The Impact Of The 1916 Rising: among the nations edited by Ruán O'Donnell, Irish Academic Press, ISBN 978 0 7165 2965’

archive.irishdemocrat.co.uk/book-reviews/impact-of-1916/

Herbert Witherspoon (1873-1935) American operatic bass
www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5735969

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Witherspoon
"On November 26, 1908, he made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Titurel in Richard Wagner's Parsifal. He remained with the company until his retirement from singing in 1914, at which point he chose to concentrate on teaching. Witherspoon made many recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1907 and 1917."

Thanks Richard Norton and swanq. We'll update the catalog record.

AI Overview

This image displays a historic trench map of Belgium, specifically Sheet 28 NW, Edition 4B, created at a scale of 1:20000.
This type of map was crucial during World War I, particularly in areas like Ypres, where trench warfare was prevalent.
The map likely details features such as trenches, tracks, dugouts, and possibly cemeteries, providing vital information for military operations.
Older versions of these maps, like the one shown, were often meticulously traced and updated to reflect changes in the battlefield.
The red markings on the map indicate corrected trench lines or other updated information, reflecting the dynamic nature of the front lines.

To My Chum

No more we’ll share the same old barn
The same old dug-out, same old yarn,
No more a tin of bully share
Nor split our rum by a star-shell’s glare
So long old lad.

What times we’ve had, both good and bad,
We’ve shared what shelter could be had,
The same crump-hole when the whizz-bangs shrieked,
The same old billet that always leaked,
And now – you’ve “stopped one”.

We’d weathered the storms two winters long
We’d managed to grin when all went wrong,
Because together we fought and fed,
Our hearts were light; but now – you’re dead
And I am mateless.

Well, old lad, here’s peace to you,
And for me, well, there’s my job to do,
For you and the others who are at rest
Assured may be that we’ll do our best
In vengeance.

Just one more cross by a strafed roadside,
With its G.R.C., and a name for guide,
But it’s only myself who has lost a friend,
And though I may fight through to the end,
No dug-out or billet will be the same,
All pals can only be pals in name,
But we’ll all carry on till the end of the game
Because you lie there.

The Wipers Times

Google map: maps.app.goo.gl/WgNoatRPeXd3kfEPA

[aside] Recommended - 'The Wipers Times' (2013) full movie - www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYjdT6bXsqE

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wipers_Times

Near Ypres

maps.app.goo.gl/JojqHnqATQQz7nVj7