The Irish standard., 1919-04-19
i. By Thomas F. Nolan
(From the pen of an eye witness)

By Thomas F. Nolan
CFrom the pen of an eye witness)
Just three years ago. the blood OF
Irishmen the world over was put a
tingling by the news of an Insurrec.
tion in Dublin. Many were the COM
ments then-favorable and otherwise.
We were too near the event to Judge
it properly. Today we are in much
better position, we can look back
through the perspective of the last
three years, and in clearer light and
cooler spirit view the doings of that
eventful week. For many the Insur-
rection was bolt from the blue, a
complete surprise, but it was this for
those only who were not in touch with
the new Ireland. For those who knew
the pulse and temper of the New Ire
land the Insurrection was no surprise
it was forced by the logic of events.
This is not the place to enter into
q complete analysis of the causes of
the outbreak; the causes were many
/, and complex. Briefly we will reduce
them to two: remote and proximate.
The remote cause is written on every
page Of seven hundred years of bloody
history and is we'll known by every
son of the Gael. The proximate cause
was Englands show and hypocrisy in
regard to the Homo Rule bill which
was on the statute book. The leaders
of the new movement saw clearly that
John E. Redmond was fooled in re-
gard to that bill, they saw that the
yohng men beguiled by him into the
English army, in thousands, we're dy-
ing in vain, in the dykes of Flanders
and on the beaches of Gallipoli, as far
as Ireland was concerned-in a word
they saw the break down of the con.
stitutional theory. am not overlook
ing or Understanding the influence
3Of the literary movement. It was to
this literary movement that the lead
ers owed their clear vision, their sage
judgment, their all but prophetic out
look. Personally / think that the
Gaelic League had a large share in
the, insurrection. Don't misunder-
stand ma%I will explain. The Gaelic
League interested itself in an Irish
literary revival in the study Of the
language and history of Ireland. Here
the youth of our generation read the
glowing accounts of the past, of pure
early sanity Ireland, and then they
longed for "the days that were;" they
longed to know of the shackles of
more the free air of liberty, and taste
once more the sweet portion of free
dom. Then too, they read the lessor
Of history.
It is a fundamental principle that
from the same causes the same effects
will follow granted that all the cir
cumstances are the same, the results
will be the same. Now the circum-
stances were the same as on SO many
other occasions in Ireland's history,
and the results would be the same If
the methods adopted were the same.
They got tired of q well-tried constitu-
tional policy, they got tired Of the
wait and see" of Mr.. Asquith, of the
wait till after the war" of Lloyd
George and they decided to make
dash for liberty confiding in the strong
arm and stout heart Of the Irish Vol
unteer."
Before speaking Of the insurrection
proper, something must be said of the
Irish Volunteer" and how he came
into existence. We must go back
few years previous to the insurrection.
Carson and his covenamers swore
mighty oath that they would resist
Home Rule to the death. To make
good their oath they prepared to de-
velop a volunteer force. The Fan
ny" sailed gloriously into the North
of Ireland, laden with German rifles,
direct from the Krupp factory
Strange, she evaded the ever-watchful
British Navy on the high seas! An
other strange thing these rifles were
distributed in Belfast without any in
reference from the authorities! They
even marched in solemn procession,
with the air of men who had achieved
something, and all went we'll. They
drilled and organized, and later when
the passage Of the Home Rule bill was
imminent they threatened rebellion.
The soldiers at the Curragh Camp Kill
dare. were ordered against them. Cen
eral French, Cough, and several off,
GERS refused to obey! What was the
result? General French was made
commander-in-chief Of the British
troops upon the western front, and not
succeeding in that position was made
head Lieutenant Of ireland, which high
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