ABSTRACT
An Irish rebel against British imperialism in the cause of home rule, Casement was tried and executed for treason by the English. During his trial, the prosecution and Scotland Yard unofficially circulated Casement’s diaries, which record his secret homosexual life. Although they never appeared in the trial, the diaries enabled the prosecution to immobilize Casement’s supporters and to sabotage Casement’s appeal for clemency. Thus Casement’s death is a gay martyrdom as well as an Irish nationalist one.
