Background
His father, Edward, was a Fenian who died five months before his son"s birth at the age of forty-one.
His father, Edward, was a Fenian who died five months before his son"s birth at the age of forty-one.
He was the youngest man to hold that rank, and the youngest executed in the aftermath. Born at 26 Frederick Street (now O"Curry street), Limerick, Daly was the only son among the ten children born to Edward and Catherine Daly (née O"Mara). He spent a short time as an apprentice baker in Glasgow, before returning to Limerick to work in Spaight"s timber yard.
He later moved to Dublin where he eventually took up a position with a wholesale chemists.
He lived in Fairview with Kathleen and Tom Clarke. Daly"s battalion, stationed in the Four Courts and areas to the west and north of the centre of Dublin, saw the most intense fighting of the rising.
He surrendered his battalion on 29 April. In his trial, he claimed that he was just following orders, but was executed by firing squad on 4 May 1916, at the age of 25.
The men in his battalion spoke of him as a good commandant.
This opinion was also shared by a British officer that Daly"s battalion had captured. Bray railway station was re-named Bray Daly railway station in his honour in 1966.
Although Daly"s membership of the Institutional Review Board is certain, it is not known when he joined the organisation. In November 1913 Daly joined the newly founded Irish Volunteers. He soon reached the rank of captain.
He was assiduous in his study of military manuals and the professionalism of his company gained the admiration of senior officers in actions such as the Howth gun-running of 1914. In March 1915, he was promoted to the rank of commandant of the 1st Battalion.
Irish Republican Brotherhood]
He was the younger brother of Kathleen Clarke, wife of Tom Clarke, and an active member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.