posing

www.google.com.au/search?q=%22we+have+%27Em%22+Irish+hung...

Like a publicity shot for a tobacco company. Look forward to their identity being revealed.

If you scroll down through this page www.rollofhonourirl.com/more-photos.php you will see a Volunteer named William O'Shaughnessy, executed in Ennis, and he bears a strong resemblance to the man on second from the left, back row.

I would suspect these are Civil War hunger-strikers (~Oct 1923) rather than War of Independence hunger-strikers (~1920). I base this mainly on the attire, the demeanor, and the fact that the image was taken at all (less likely a "behind walls" propaganda photo like this would've been tolerated during the Tan War). Somewhat oxymoronically I suspect it's the Civil War precisely because we do not know who these men were. I suggest the latter because, while hunger strikes were not uncommon during the independence movement (~1916-~1920), most undertaken in that period often involved higher-profile names. Like Ashe (1917) or MacSwiney (1920). That we do not know these men in itself suggests to me that we are post civil war here. When many thousands protested their continued post-war detention via hunger strike. (>460 men participated in Mountjoy, >70 in Cork jail, >3000 in the Curragh camps, >1700 in Newbridge, etc. Cumann na mBan members also participated. In a near two-month period Oct-Nov 1923). An article from the 1930s described it as the "biggest hunger strike in history", and several men died, including Denis Barry and Andrew Sullivan. Both in late November 1923. No concessions were forthcoming however, and the anti-treaty leadership called a halt to the 1923 strike after a little more than 40 days. (While it wouldn't do to trivialise these things, this summary includes a quote attributed to one prisoner: "“Be cripes” [...] We bate Christ by a day!"). If this is the 1923 strike, then I doubt the image is from the Curragh/Tintown. I would guess it's Mountjoy. The NLI catalogue has a (partial?) list of names from Dublin who participated. Many interned in Mountjoy.

guliolopez The background does look a bit like a photo I found yesterday of a different set of hunger strikers from October 1919. It was also taken by Keogh. So I'd agree that it is probably Mountjoy, but it still may be an earlier hunger strike.

The Castel Felice ventured to Australia as an immigrant ship on a total of 101 voyages between 1952 and 1970, carrying over 100,000 immigrants to Australia and New Zealand. She was commanded by an Italian crew and carried passengers from many different countries including Italy, Germany and Britain. Many passengers remember the rough seas and shabby state of the aged ship with apprehension and delight. Before departing from Genoa on 6 October 1952 for her first journey to Australia, she was christened Castel Felice. She arrived in Melbourne on 7 November. Between 1952 and 1955, the Castel Felice made only three voyages to Australia (but many to the Americas) before again being refurbished. The new refit offered many conveniences including a small number of first class cabins, air conditioning, a swimming pool and large public rooms. But for the tourist class, things were still cramped. Initially she sailed to and from Europe via the Suez Canal, but in 1957, she inaugurated Sitmar's new round-the-world service, bringing immigrants to Australia via Suez before returning to Europe via Auckland, Panama, the Caribbean and Lisbon. Source: collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/15585

Beautiful, hardworking and intelligence. Ok two out of three ain't bad. just joshing