Kit Poole

Christopher "Kit" Poole
Christopher Poole (second from left) atop a building with three other Irish Citizen Army members.
Born	(1875-12-17)17 December 1875 Dublin, Ireland
Died	27 November 1965(1965-11-27) (aged 89) Dublin
Allegiance	British Commonwealth, later Irish Citizen Army
Years of service	1894–1906 (British Commonwealth) 1913-1918 (Irish Citizen Army)
Rank	Private (British Commonwealth) Captain (Irish Citizen Army)
Unit	2nd East Yorkshire Regiment (British Commonwealth)
Commands held	Second-in-command of Irish Citizen Army, St Stephen's Green Garrison, Easter Week, 1916
Battles/wars	Tirah Campaign Second Boer War Easter Rising
Awards	King's South Africa Medal (1901 & 1902 clasps) Queen's South Africa Medal (1902)
Spouse(s)	Alice Fay

Christopher "Kit" Poole (17 December 1875 – 27 November 1965) was an Irish soldier and military tactician who fought in the Tirah Campaign and the Second Boer War as a British Army private, as well as a captain of the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising. During the Citizen Army's inception in 1913, he was a member of the group's initial provisional council alongside Jack White, James Larkin, P. T. Daly and Constance Markievicz, and would go on to take up a permanent position on the its executive committee. He was also a pivotal figure during the 1916 Easter Rising, as second-in-command at St. Stephen's Green under Citizen Army commandant Michael Mallin where they held out for six days against British forces, ending the engagement when the British brought them a copy of Pearse's surrender order.

Poole was born Christopher Damian Poole at Capel Street in Dublin City, the second of six children to parents Frederick Poole, a tailor, and Mary Jane Madden, a house wife. Poole grew up in a nationalist environment; Joseph Poole, his older brother and member of the Fenian Brotherhood, was executed in 1883 for a murder which he did not commit. Also brothers; Vincent, John Denis, Patrick, and Patricks son, John, took active roles in the Rising and the Civil War.

Poole enlisted with the British army at the age of 18 (30/7/94) and was assigned to the 2nd East Yorkshire Regiment alongside his future commandant, Michael Mallin. Poole served for a period in South Africa, earning the Queen's South Africa Medal and two King's South Africa Medal clasps for his service during the Boer War, after which he retired from British Military Service.

Six years after returning to Ireland, Poole was elected to the founding provisional committee of the Irish Citizen Army alongside Jack White, Constance Markievicz and Jim Larkin. Poole's reputation while fighting in South Africa had made an impression on founder Jack White and his eventual fellow soldiers while fighting at Stephen's Green. Poole also owned the only Lee Enfield rifle in possession of the army at its inception, and would go on to train enlistees how to carry weapons (hurley sticks were used in training to simulate the weight of the rifles) prior to entering battle.