"Wasn't It A Full Life Lillie And Isn't This A Good End"

“The Citizen Army Was Wiped Out”

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On Tuesday Paddy Buttner was ordered by his Commanding Officer, Bob de Coeur to go to the Fish Market, Mary’s Lane. A rumour had circulated that the Citizen Army were all dead and their bodies were placed in the market and de Coeur wanted to know if the rumour was true.

Buttner made his way easily through the streets but on arriving at the Fish Market he did not find the bodies of his comrades, but instead the remains of up to thirty British soldiers.

They were all young, young lads.

Among the dead were four civilians, two men and two women. Buttner returned to his outpost in the Athletic Stores beside the College of Surgeons and reported his findings to his senior officer.

Paddy Buttner was a member of the Irish Citizen Army Scouts.

Paddy Buttner was interviewed for the radio series 'The Week of the Rising' broadcast on Radio Éireann, 12 April 1966. Photograph of Dublin Fish Market courtesy of RTÉ Archives.

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