April 26, 1916

On this day in 1916, Irish patriot, journalist, suffragist, and vegetarian Francis Sheehy-Skeffington was murdered by British forces. Skeffington was a supporter of the Women’s Social and Political Union which lobbied for women’s rights in Britain, and adopted his wife, Hanna’s, surname (Sheehy) as part of his own. Hanna was a teacher and the primary breadwinner, while Francis was co-editor of the Irish Citizen newspaper and Vice Chairman of the Irish Citizen Army. A pacifist, he was not in favor of the Easter Rising: while he believed in civil disobedience, he did not agree with the Irish Volunteers tactics. Despite his lack of involvement in the uprising, he was arrested without a stated reason, held as hostage by British soldiers during a botched raid, and was shot.