On the night of 3rd May, Eily and Áine O’Hanrahan were summoned to Kilmainham Jail to see their brother, Michael, before his execution. These buttons, from Michael’s uniform tunic, were given by him to his sisters in his cell during their last moments together. They later had the buttons set into frames and inscribed with their brother’s name as a memento of him.

Michael O'Hanrahan was a journalist and nationalist. He was an active contributor for the Gaelic League, a member of the IRB, and a founding member of the Irish Volunteers.

During the 1916 Easter rising he was third-in-command under Thomas MacDonagh and John MacBride at Jacob's biscuit factory on Bishop St., Dublin. After the surrender, O'Hanrahan was court-martialled and sentenced to death. He was executed in Kilmainham jail on 4 May 1916, and was buried in Arbour Hill cemetery, Dublin.

Michael's sister Eily was also active during the Rising, taking dispatches from Thomas McDonagh and Sean MacDermot to Wexford during Holy Week and Easter Week, as well as being on duty in Jacob's Biscuit Factory.

(Biographical information: Carmel Doyle. "O'Hanrahan, Michael (Ó hAnnracháin, Micheál)". Dictionary of Irish Biography)