Joseph Mary Plunkett (1879-1916) was born in Dublin, Ireland. His study of the mystics John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila, and Francis de Sales is discernable in his poetry. During the 1916 Rising he was one of the signers of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. He was imprisoned by the English army in the Richmond Barracks. Shortly before his execution in the courtyard of Kilmainham jail, on the morning of May 4th, he married his fiance, Grace Gifford, in the jail's chapel. He died at the age of 28.]