Born in Dublin....the son of a Protestant father and Catholic mother, [Anne nee Jephson, and he] ...served for many years as a distinguished British Consul in Mozambique, Angola, the Congo Free State and Brazil.
He gained international renown for his Consular reports criticising the treatment of native workers in the Congo and Amazon. As a consequence of his reports Belgium notably overhauled its administration of the Congo in 1908.
Regarding his time in Brazil, Casement's diaries mention a "tiger scare." He records a story told:
.... The head boy had just been stalking a 'paron' (peacock), and was aiming at it up in a tree when a jaguar aimed at him behind. He rose with a yell, fired in the air, and leaped after.The jaguar went in one direction and the indian in the other and here he happily was to tell the tale....We are all going out to the forest tomorrow..and will take arms and try for one of these numerous panthers or jaguars, here--of course-called "tigers."
And back to his biography:
Casement himself was rewarded with a knighthood in 1911, the same year he retired from the diplomatic service in ill-health and established himself in Dublin.
Casement helped to form in 1913 the Irish National Volunteers, a nationalist organisation. The following year, in July 1914, Casement visited New York in an attempt to garner support for the organisation. With the outbreak of war the following month Casement similarly hoped for German assistance in gaining Irish independence from Britain.
With this in mind Casement travelled to Berlin in November 1914; once there however he found the Germans reluctant to undertake the risk of sending forces to Ireland. He was also disappointed in his hopes of recruiting to his cause Irish prisoners taken to Germany.
While in Germany Casement strove in particular to effectively borrow a number of German officers to assist with a planned Easter rising in Dublin; again, he was disappointed. Believing the planned rising unlikely to succeed at that stage Casement arranged to be taken by German submarine to Ireland where he hoped to dissuade nationalist leaders from undertaking rebellion for the present.
Consequently he was landed near Tralee in County Kerry on 12 April 1916. Twelve days later he was arrested by the British, taken to London, and charged with treason. ....
Casement helped to form in 1913 the Irish National Volunteers, a nationalist organisation. The following year, in July 1914, Casement visited New York in an attempt to garner support for the organisation. With the outbreak of war the following month Casement similarly hoped for German assistance in gaining Irish independence from Britain.
With this in mind Casement travelled to Berlin in November 1914; once there however he found the Germans reluctant to undertake the risk of sending forces to Ireland. He was also disappointed in his hopes of recruiting to his cause Irish prisoners taken to Germany.
While in Germany Casement strove in particular to effectively borrow a number of German officers to assist with a planned Easter rising in Dublin; again, he was disappointed. Believing the planned rising unlikely to succeed at that stage Casement arranged to be taken by German submarine to Ireland where he hoped to dissuade nationalist leaders from undertaking rebellion for the present.
Consequently he was landed near Tralee in County Kerry on 12 April 1916. Twelve days later he was arrested by the British, taken to London, and charged with treason. ....
[Among those working to aid Casement then, were men like Arthur Conan Doyle and Yeats.] With an appeal dismissed Casement was taken to Pentonville Prison in London where he was hanged on 3 August 1916.
A photo of Casement.
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