Eamon Martin was an Irish Republican who fought in the Easter Rising and was chief of staff of Fianna Eireann. He was also a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
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Biography
He joined the Gaelic League at age fifteen.
He was a founding member of Na Fianna Eireann in 1909, In August 1915 he became director of organisation and recruiting and commandant of the Dublin Battalion, he held these positions until Easter 1916. From January 1917 to 1920 he was chief of staff of the organisation. He was also a member of the Irish Volunteers Executive council, representing Fianna Eireann.
In 1914 he was involved in the Kilcoole gun-running and the Howth gun-running
On Easter Monday, the first day of the rising he and a group of about 30 soldiers attacked the Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park. They disarmed the guards and took guns and ammunition, they intended to blow up the fort, which would signal the start of the rising but the type of explosives inside the fort were not what they expected. Later on in the rising he was involved in the attempt to occupy Broadstone railway station. As they approached the station Martin was shot, he was taken to Richmond hospital, it was discovered that the bullet had passed through his arm, into his chest and out through his lung and back.
After the rising he was commandant of a special Fianna Eireann commando, with the purpose of resisting army conscription during World War I.
Legacy and Death
He died in May 1971 and is buried in Deansgrange cemetery. His funeral was attended by then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch and then president Eamon De Valera's aide-de-camp Col. Sean Brennan (he was sick). Shots were fired by the Irish Army.
His great grandson, Eamon Murphy is an amateur historian. He has a blog titled "The History of Na Fianna Eireann" and is currently writing a book on Eamon Martin's life.