Casement, Sir Roger

Casement, Sir Roger (1864–1916), British diplomat and Irish patriot. Casement joined the British colonial service in 1892 and gained an international reputation as a humanitarian for his reporting on the exploitation of native workers by European employers in Africa and South America. He received a knighthood in 1911 and retired from the service in 1913.

Casement's Irish nationalism had grown stronger over the years. He joined the Gaelic League early on, and was involved in the foundation of the Irish Volunteers. He believed passionately in the necessity of German aid for a successful uprising. To obtain this he made his way to Berlin in 1914. Although the German government agreed to send a shipload of arms to Ireland, this fell far short of his expectations. Realizing the inadequacy of German support he returned to Ireland to postpone the planned rising of 1916 but was arrested after landing. His trial for treason attracted enormous attention, and there were many appeals on his behalf. To discredit him, the government circulated extracts from his diaries detailing homosexual activity. Long controversial, these became widely accepted as genuine, but the debate regarding their authenticity has been reopened in recent years. Casement was hanged in August 1916 after converting to Catholicism. In 1965 his remains were returned to Ireland, where they received a state funeral.

Joost Augusteijn