At Heustons court martial the 2nd witness was Lieutenant W.P. Connolly (10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers) stated
I was present when 23 men surrendered on the 26th April at the Mendicity Institute. I identify the four prisoners before the court as being amongst them. The leader was J.J. Heuston. I was present when the troops were fired on from the Mendicity Institute on the 24th April, when Lieutenant G.A. Neilan* was killed and 6 men wounded to my knowledge. Heuston was without a coat when he surrendered and also had no hat on. He was not in the uniform of the Irish Volunteers. I was present when the building was searched and foundarms and ammunition in it and also the documents now before the court. Among the arms there were some old German Mausers. Among the ammunition there were two cardboard boxes of "Spange" German ammunition.
[*Lieutenant G.A. Neilan (10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers) was subsequently buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.]
When cross-examined by Sean Heuston, Lieutenant Connolly was not able to say exactly where, in the building, he had found the message books.
In his defence W.O'Dea stated
I was perfectly ignorant of what was going to occur. I understood it was an ordinary route march when I was called out as we had been told for some time previously that the best equipped Company was to get a prize at the Easter Manoeuvres. It was to have taken place on Easter Sunday but was postponed. I do not know why it was postponed. I turned out in full uniform but I took it off when we were about to surrender.
Lieutenant Gerald Aloysius Neilan - 10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers. killed at the Mendicity Institution on Usher Island, 24th April.
Aged 34. Son of John Neilan, of Ballygalda, Roscommon. Buried at Glasnevin Cemetery, Co. Dublin.
The first objectives undertaken by the troops were to recover possession of the Magazine in Phoenix Park, where the rebels had set fire to a quantity of ammunition, to relieve the Castle, and to strengthen the guards on Vice-Regal Lodge and other points of importance. The Magazine was quickly re-occupied, but the troops moving on the Castle were held up by the rebels who had occupied surrounding houses, and had barricaded the streets with carts and other material. Between 1.40 p.m. and 2.0 p.m., 50 men of 3rd Royal Irish Rifles, and 130 men of the 10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers reached the Castle by the Ship Street entrance. At 4.45 p.m. the first train from the Curragh arrived at Kingsbridge station, and by 5.20 p.m. the whole Cavalry Column, 1,600 strong, under the command of Colonel Portal, had arrived, one train being sent on from Kingsbridge to North Wall by the loop line to reinforce the guard over the docks.
The Hotel, built in 1824, is located on the north side of St. Stephen's Green Park. Citizen Army Commander Mallin, when occupying the Green, did not send a detachment to take over the Hotel, with its commanding view of the Park. On the second day of the Rising, the British sent a force of one hundred men to occupy the Hotel and opened fire on the Citizen Army in the Park. After a fierce three-hour assault by British machine guns, Mallin was forced to order a retreat of his forces to the College of Surgeons. The constitution of the Irish Free State was also drafted at the Shelbourne in 1921
10th RDF had 37 officers and 430 OR available on that day