Doyle, Gerald (1896-1979), Irish Volunteer

Gerald Doyle was born in Saggart, county Dublin on 17 September 1896 as the eldest of seven children born to Thomas Doyle and Catherine née Byrne. He followed his father into trade as a plasterer. He joined the Volunteer Movement in 1915, and a year later fought in the 1916 Rising in B Company, 4th Battalion at South Dublin Union. He was captured, court-martialled and sentenced to death, but owing to his age and other mitigating circumstances his sentence was commuted to three years of penal servitude in Portland Jail in Dorset. In December 1916, he was among the 123 Irish prisoners transferred to Lewes Prison. He was released on 18 June 1917 following a general amnesty of Irish Republicans involved in the 1916 Rebellion. In 1956, he gave a witness statement to the Bureau of Military History of the events in 1916 and beyond. He died in Dublin on 11 May 1979.