Easter Rising and Downside
On a recent trip to Dublin, the Activity Manager here at Downside made a visit to Glasnevin cemetery, which holds almost one and a half million burials. More information on the cemetery can be found at www.glasnevinmuseum.ie/Â
The cemetery is also home to a monument to all those who lost their lives during the Easter Rising of April 1916. From research conducted for another project, it was remembered that an Old Gregorian of Downside was one such man who had died in the events in Dublin. A quick search revealed his name on the memorial.
Basil Henry Worsley-Worswick was born in 1881 and came to Downside from 1894-1899. He was the younger brother of Dom Peter Worsley-Worswick, a Downside monk. After leaving Downside, he went to Oxford and then moved to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) where he was a farmer, before emigrating to Canada.
He returned from Canada just before the outbreak of the war and enlisted in the army in August 1914. Worsley-Worswick was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd King Edward's Horse which was on reserve in Ireland after months of fighting in France. When the Easter Rising began, the regiment was sent to Dublin to help quell the disturbance. The death of Worsley-Worswick was a result of general confusion in the city over that period.
On the night of April 28th, a detachment of the Dublin Fusiliers was stationed at the malt house of the Guinness brewery. When an officer went to relieve the officer on duty, he was mistaken for an enemy and shot. Worsley-Worswick was in the next picket along and heard the commotion. He asked his officer to be allowed to investigate but was told to wait until morning.
Worsley-Worswick arrived at the malt house at dawn on April 29th and finding that the officer had been killed, his suspicions were aroused and when he was challenged by a sergeant of the Dublin Fusiliers, he knocked the man down. The guards, seeing this, immediately fired upon Worsley-Worswick and killed him instantly. He was 35 years old.
This tragic story highlights the confusion and panic that surrounded the city of Dublin during Easter 1916. The memorial at Glasnevin commemorates everyone who died during the Rising; Republicans, civilians and British soldiers.