Born, 1884, in Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim, Sean MacDairmada worked as a gardener in
Glasgow and later as a tram conductor. While in
Belfast MacDairmada was recruited to the
IRB and was sent to
Dublin in
1908 to revitalise the organisation. Popular as a speaker MacDairmada journeyed throughout the West, often by bicycle, reorganising the IRB - to whose Supreme Council he was appointed, as Treasurer.
Sean MacDairmada was one of the founding members of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. Following the outbreak of war MacDairmada was sentenced to three months in prison for a fiery anti-recruitment speech - provoked by the "slavish pro-British" attitude of his audience in County Galway. He was executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Jail on May 12th 1916 for his leading role in the Easter Rising.