COUNTESS Markievicz was not Michael Mallin’s second in command during the Easter Rising, a top historian has insisted.

Dr Ann Matthews said the “eccentric” suffragette with a “strong sense of self-importance” gave herself the job title.

The NUI Maynooth lecturer said: “Madame de Markievicz was a chaotic person, slightly out of control, believed she was entitled to be in charge and nobody ever questioned it.”

Captain Christopher Poole — a former British soldier with 12 years’ service — was chosen to be the silk weaver’s No2.

As James Connolly was in overall command of operations during the Rising and was based in the General Post Office, the running of the main Irish Citizen Army force fell to Mallins, a co-founder of the Irish Socialist Party and his second in command.

On the morning the Rising started, they took control of St Stephen’s Green where they set up strong points to prepare for a British counter attack.

Dr Matthews said: “She was not second in command in Stephen’s Green. Christopher Poole was second in command to Michael Mallin appointed by Connolly.

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“When she surrendered she said, ‘I am second in command’.

“That’s what she told the officer who took the surrender and that’s where the story grew from.

“She had no military knowledge.”

Markievicz was a determined woman who didn’t let her poor vision stop her from picking up a weapon in the fight for freedom. She fought on the front line with the rebel troops and injured a British army sniper.

Dr Matthews, who has written a number of books on Irish Republican women, told the Irish Sun: “We are told that she was a sharp shooter but she was not.

“Constance de Markievicz was short-sighted from birth. At the age of 48 she couldn’t have possibly been a sharp shooter. That’s a myth.” It is also believed that she shot and killed Dublin Metropolitan Police officer Michael Lahiff at Stephen’s Green on April 24, 1916.

Dublin woman Margaret Donnelly would have been the unarmed constable’s second cousin.

She said: “Michael Lahiff was my father Billy Lahiff’s cousin.

“He was on duty at St Stephen’s Green on Easter Monday when Countess Markievicz arrived and asked him to hand over the keys.

“My father said she knew his name. Markievicz said, ‘Mick, give me the keys.’

“He refused and then she riddled him at the corner of Cuffe Street beside the Unitarian Church.” The 87-year-old added: “Two nurses saw her pull the trigger.

“It’s a pity that they never came forward because she would have been charged with murder.

“He died from his injuries later that day at the Meath Hospital.”

The 28-year-old victim, officer number 125B, worked for the Dublin Metropolitan Police for five years before his death.

His grave at Glasnevin Cemetery reads: “Sacred to the memory of Michael Lahiff who died on April 1916 from wounds received whilst gallantly doing his duty as a member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Erected by his sorrowing parents, brothers and sisters and by members of the Irish Police and Constabulary recognition fund.”

It has been claimed that, as she surrendered, Markievicz kissed her revolver before handing it over to a British officer.

At her court-martial she was condemned to death for her part in the Rising, but she had her sentence commuted to penal servitude for life because she was a woman.

Under the general amnesty of 1917, Markievicz was released and soon converted to the Catholic faith. She was elected to the Dail for Fianna Fail in 1926 but died a year later.

Margaret, whose maiden name is Lahiff, claimed: “After Markievicz was released from jail she walked into my grandfather Fredrick’s shop on Castle Street to apologise for killing Michael.

“They were plumbers and gas- fitting contractors.

“My granny Elizabeth ran her out of the shop and she left without her skirt.”

Dr Matthews has written a play about Markievicz’s trial for the murder of Michael Lahiff.

Madame de Markievicz on Trial runs until tomorrow at the New Theatre in Dublin’s Temple Bar.

It is set in a courtroom and a prison cell during the autumn of 1917 and the dialogue is largely based on the extensive speeches made by Markievicz during this time.

The play has a cast of five women and two men. Apart from the prosecutor, all the characters are based on actual people.

The drama will then go on a nationwide tour before being staged in Paris on April 24 and 25.

Dr Matthews said: “The play, using all the evidence at the time, discusses whether she did or did not kill the policeman.

“It gathers all of the evidence, the witnesses and the audience is the jury.”

For more about the play and to book tickets log on to thenewtheatre.com.

@IrishSunFeats