The black diaries : an account of Roger Casement's life and times with a collection of his diaries and public writings

Roger Casement

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. They cover the years 1903, 1910 and 1911 (two) and were handed in to Scotland Yard after his capture in April 1916. Casement was convicted of treason following the Easter Rising. The British government began to circulate photographic page copies, particularly in the US, that showed his "sexual degeneracy". The effect of their circulation was to dissuade many would-be supporters from joining an appeal for clemency, and Casement was hanged on 3 August 1916.