Knight of the realm, rebel, diplomat, friend and enemy of empires: a compelling new book underlines the nationalist hero’s fractured identity
Roger Casement, diplomat turned gun-runner. Photo: Getty
When Roger Casement sat in the dock in the Royal Courts of Justice in London 110 years ago, it was unprecedented in living memory: no knight of the realm had faced treason charges for centuries.
The evidence was conclusive and overwhelming. He had admitted conspiring with Britain’s wartime enemy Germany to not only smuggle weapons into Ireland for an insurrection but had persuaded captured Irishmen fighting for Britain to change sides.