While at a barricade in Lower Church Street, Volunteer John O’Connor and his men got word to retreat to the Four Courts. Eventually news came Saturday afternoon that Pearse had surrendered and Commandant Edward Daly must do the same. Before allowing the British to enter the complex, Daly paraded his men and told those not in uniform to escape. That evening the garrison were marched to the Rotunda and kept overnight.
John O’Connor was a member of ‘F’ Company, 4th Battalion, Dublin Brigade, Irish Volunteers.
John O'Connor was interviewed for the radio series 'The Week of the Rising' broadcast on Radio Éireann, 16 April 1966. Photograph of Edward Daly courtesy of the National Library of Ireland.