Black Diaries

The Black Diaries are diaries purported to have been written by the Irish revolutionary Roger Casement, which contained accounts of homosexual liaisons with young men,mostly prostitutes. They cover the years 1903, 1910 and 1911 (two). There are seven conflicting versions of their provenance all given by British officials at different times.

Casement was charged with treason following the Easter Rising. Before his trial the prosecution (F. E. Smith) suggested to the defence barrister (A. M. Sullivan) that they should jointly produce the diaries in evidence and then plead "guilty but insane". Sullivan refused, and Casement was found guilty and condemned to death.

The British intelligence chiefs had shown the police typescripts to journalists and politicians for weeks before the trial claiming these were official copies of handwritten diaries in their possession. This defamatory conspiracy aimed at the destruction of Casement’s reputation and the weakening of any appeals or requests for clemency, particularly from the US. The campaign was largely successful in dissuading would-be supporters from joining appeals for clemency. Casement was hanged on 3 August 1916..