A journalist tells the improbable tale of a British diplomat who worked to free Ireland – and paid the ultimate price
R
oger Casement had a life that defies categorisation: an imperial administrator who exposed imperial atrocities; a one-time diplomat for the United Kingdom who enlisted German help in Ireland’s fight for freedom; a closeted gay man who left detailed records of his sexual adventures; a knight of the realm convicted of conspiring against the crown.
TE Lawrence (“of Arabia”), himself no stranger to the hypocrisy of British imperialism and the difficulties of illegal sexuality, called Casement a “broken archangel”. Rory Carroll, the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, retains some of that poetry in this deeply researched and fascinating account of Casement’s role in the creation of the Irish state.
The bulk of the action in A Rebel and a Traitor takes place between 1914 and 1916. At the start of this period, Casement – still respected in London as a recently retired consul in Britain’s diplomatic service – gives evidence to a royal commission in 1914 on the regulation of service overseas. By the end, he is awaiting execution for treason at Pentonville prison.
