Easter Rising 1916 | The Irish War 1916 Easter Rising You are here: Home / History / 1916 Easter Rising The Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca), was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing an Irish Republic. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798. Organised by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising lasted from Easter Monday 24 April to 30 April 1916. Members of the Irish Volunteers, led by schoolteacher and barrister Patrick Pearse, joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly, along with 200 members of Cumann na mBan, seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic independent of Britain. There were some actions in other parts of Ireland but, except for the attack on the RIC barracks at Ashbourne, County Meath, they were minor.

O’Connell Street, Dublin after the Easter Rising The Rising was suppressed after seven days of fighting, and its leaders were court-martialled and executed, but it succeeded in bringing physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics. In the 1918 General Election, the last all-island election held in Ireland, to the British Parliament, Republicans won 73 seats out of 105, on a policy of abstentionism from Westminster and Irish independence. This came less than two years after the Rising. In January 1919, the elected members of Sinn Féin who were not still in prison at the time, including survivors of the Rising, convened the First Dáil and established the Irish Republic. The British Government refused to accept the legitimacy of the newly declared nation, leading to the Irish War of Independence. Planning the Rising Tom Clarke Fenian The Supreme Council of the IRB met on 5 September 1914, a month after the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. At this meeting they decided to stage a rising before the war ended and to accept whatever help Germany might offer. Responsibility for the planning of the rising was given to Tom Clarke and Sean Mac Dermott.

The Irish Volunteers, the smaller of the two forces resulting from the September 1914 split over support for the British war effort, set up a “headquarters staff” that included Patrick Pearse as Director of Military Organisation, Joseph Plunkett as Director of Military Operations and Thomas MacDonagh as Director of Training. Eamonn Ceant was later added as Director of Communications. In May 1915 Clarke and MacDermott established a Military Committee within the IRB, consisting of Pearse, Plunkett and Ceannt, to draw up plans for a rising. This dual rôle allowed the Committee, to which Clarke and MacDermott added themselves shortly afterwards, to promote their own policies and personnel independently of both the Volunteer Executive and the IRB Executive—in particular Volunteer Chief of Staff Eoin MacNeill, who was opposed to a rising unless popular support was secured by the introduction of conscription or an attempt to suppress the Volunteers or its leaders, and IRB President Denis McCullough, who held similar views.

IRB members held officer rank in the Volunteers throughout the country and would take their orders from the Military Committee, not from MacNeill.Plunkett had travelled to Germany in April 1915 to join Roger Casement. Casement had gone there from the United States the previous year with the support of Clan na Gael leader John Devoy, and after discussions with the German Ambassador in Washington, count von Bernstorf, to try to recruit an “Irish Brigade” from among Irish prisoners of war and secure German support for Irish independence. Together Plunkett and Casement presented a plan which involved a German expeditionary force landing on the west coast of Ireland, while a rising in Dublin diverted the British forces so that the Germans, with the help of local Volunteers, could secure the line of the River Shannon. James Connolly, head of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA), a group of armed socialist trade union men and women, was unaware of the IRB’s plans, and threatened to start a rebellion on his own if other parties failed to act.

If they had gone it alone, the IRB and the Volunteers would possibly have come to their aid, however the IRB leaders met with Connolly in January 1916 and convinced him to join forces with them. They agreed to act together the following Easter and made Connolly the sixth member of the Military Committee. Thomas MacDonagh would later become the seventh and final member. Build-up to Easter Week Sean Mac Dermott In an effort to thwart informers and, indeed, the Volunteers’ own leadership, Pearse issued orders in early April for three days of “parades and manoeuvres” by the Volunteers for Easter Sunday (which he had the authority to do, as Director of Organization). The idea was that the republicans within the organization (particularly IRB members) would know exactly what this meant, while men such as MacNeill and the British authorities in Dublin Castle would take it at face value.

However, MacNeill got wind of what was afoot and threatened to “do everything possible short of phoning Dublin Castle” to prevent the rising.MacNeill was briefly convinced to go along with some sort of action when Mac Diarmada revealed to him that a shipment of German arms was about to land in county Kerry, planned by the IRB in conjunction with Roger casement; he was certain that the authorities discovery of such a shipment would inevitably lead to suppression of the Volunteers, thus the Volunteers were justified in taking defensive action (including the originally planned maneuvers). Casement, disappointed with the level of support offered by the Germans, returned to Ireland on a German U Boat and was captured upon landing at Banna Strand in Tralee Bay. The arms shipment, aboard the German ship Aud — disguised as a Norwegian fishing trawler—had been scuttled after interception by the British navy, after the local Volunteers had failed to rendezvous with it. The following day, MacNeill reverted to his original position when he found out that the ship carrying the arms had been scuttled.

With the support of other leaders of like mind, notably Bulmer Hobson and The O’Rahilly, he issued a countermand to all Volunteers, canceling all actions for Sunday. This only succeeded in putting the rising off for a day, although it greatly reduced the number of Volunteers who turned out. One of two flags flown over the GPO during the Rising British Naval Intelligence had been aware of the arms shipment, Casement’s return and the Easter date for the rising through radio messages between Germany and its embassy in the United States that were intercepted by the Navy and deciphered in Room 40 of the Admiralty. The information was passed to the Under Secretary for Ireland, Sir matthew nathan, on 17 April, but without revealing its source, and Nathan was doubtful about its accuracy. When news reached Dublin of the capture of the Aud and the arrest of Casement, Nathan conferred with the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Wimborne. Nathan proposed to raid Liberty Hall, headquarters of the Citizen Army, and Volunteer properties at Father Matthew Park and at Kimmage, but Wimborne was insisting on wholesale arrests of the leaders.

It was decided to postpone action until after Easter Monday and in the meantime Nathan telegraphed the chief Secretary,Augustine Birrell, in London seeking his approval. By the time Birrell cabled his reply authorising the action, at noon on Monday 24 April 1916, the Rising had already begun. Day 1 MONDAY Early on Monday morning, April 24, 1916, roughly 1,200 Volunteers and Citizen Army members took over strongpoints in Dublin city centre. A joint force of about 400 Volunteers and Citizen Army gathered at Liberty hall under the command of Commandant James Connolly. The rebel headquarters was located at the GPO where James Connolly, overal military commander and four other members of the Military Council: Patrick Pearse, Tom Clarke,, Sean Mac Dermottand Joseph Plunkett, were located.After occupying the Post Office, the Volunteers hoisted two republican flags and Pearse read a Proclamation of the Republic.

Elsewhere, rebel forces took up positions at the Four Courts, the centre of the Irish legal establishment, at Jacobs Biscuit Factory and Boland’s Mill and at the hospital complex at South Dublin Union and the adjoining Distillery at Marrowbone Lane. Another contingent, under Michal Mallin, dug in on st. Stephens green. However, although it was lightly guarded, Volunteer and Citizen Army forces under Seán Connolly failed to take Dublin Castle, the centre of British rule in Ireland, shooting dead a police sentry and overpowering the soldiers in the guardroom, but failing to press home the attack. The Under-secretary, Sir matthew nathan, was alerted by the shots and helped close the castle gates. The rebels occupied the Dublin City hall and adjacent buildings. They also failed to take Trinity College, which was located in the heart of the city centre and which was defended by only a handful of armed, unionist students. At midday a small team of Volunteers and Fianna members attacked the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix park and disarmed the guards, with the intent to seize weapons and blow up the building as a signal that the rising had begun. They set explosives but failed to obtain any arms.

In at least two incidents, at Jacobs and Stephens Green, the Volunteers and Citizen Army shot dead civilians who were trying to attack them or dismantle their barricades. Elsewhere, they hit civilians with their rifle butts to drive them off. The British military were caught totally unprepared by the rebellion and their response of the first day was generally un-coordinated.Two troops of British cavalry, one at the Four Courts, the other on O’Connell Street, sent out to investigate what was happening, took fire and casualites from rebel forces On Mount Street, a group of reserve volunteer soldiers, stumbled upon the rebel position and four were killed before they reached Beggars Bush Barracks. The only substantial combat of the first day of the Rising took place at the South Dublin Union where a piquet from the Royal Irish regiment, encountered an outpost of Éamonn Ceannt’s force at the north-western corner of the South Dublin Union. The British troops, after taking some casualties, managed to regroup and launch several assaults on the position before they forced their way inside and the small rebel force in the tin huts at the eastern end of the Union surrendered. However, the Union complex as a whole remained in rebel hands.

Three of the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police were shot dead on the first day of the Rising and their Commissioner pulled them off the streets. Partly as result of the withdrawal of the police, a wave of looting broke out in the city centre, especially in the O’Connell Street area. A total of 425 people were arrested after the Rising for looting. Tuesday to Saturday “Birth of the Irish Republic” by Walter Paget, depicting the GPO during the shelling Lord Wimborne, the Lord Lieutenant, declared martial law on Tuesday evening and handed over civil power to Brigadier-General W H M Lowe. British forces initially put their efforts into securing the approaches to Dublin Castle and isolating the rebel headquarters, which they believed was in Libert hall. The British commander, Lowe, worked slowly, unsure of the size of the force he was up against, and with only 1,269 troops in the city when he arrived from the Curragh camp in the early hours of Tuesday 25 April. City Hall was taken from the rebel unit that had attacked Dublin Castle on Tuesday morning. By the end of the week, British strength stood at over 16,000 men.

Their firepower was provided by field artillery summoned from their garrison at Athlone which they positioned on the northside of the city at Phibsborough and at Trinity College, and by the patrol vessel helga, which sailed up the Liffey, having been summoned from the port at Kingstown. On Wednesday, 26 April, the guns at Trinity College and Helgashelled Liberty Hall, and the Trinity College guns then began firing at rebel positions, first at Boland’s Mill and then in O’Connell Street. Combat The principal rebel positions at the GPO, the Four Courts, Jacob’s Factory and Boland’s Mill saw little combat. The British surrounded and bombarded them them rather than assault them directly. One Volunteer in the GPO recalled, “we did practically no shooting as there was no target”. Similarly the rebel position at St. Stephen’s Green, held by the Citizen Army under Michael Mallin, was made untenable after the British placed snipers and machine guns in the Shelbourne Hotel and surrounding buildings. As a result, Mallin’s men retreated to the Royal College of Surgeons building where they remained for the rest of the week.

However, where the insurgents dominated the routes by which the British tried to funnel reinforcements into the city, there was fierce fighting. Reinforcements were sent to Dublin from England, and disembarked at Kingstown on the morning of 26 April. Heavy fighting occurred at the rebel-held positions around the Grand canal as these troops advanced towards Dublin. The Sherwood Foresters were repeatedly caught in a cross-fire trying to cross the canal at Mount Street. Seventeen Volunteers were able to severely disrupt the British advance, killing or wounding 240 men. Despite there being alternative routes across the canal nearby, General Lowe ordered repeated frontal assaults on the Mount Street position. The British eventually took the position, which had not been reinforced by the nearby rebel garrison at Boland’s Mills, on Thursday but the fighting there inflicted up to two thirds of their casualties for the entire week for a cost of just four dead Volunteers. The rebel position at the South Dublin Union (site of the present day St James Hospital) and Marrowbone Lane, further west along the canal, also inflicted heavy losses on British troops. The South Dublin Union was a large complex of buildings and there was vicious fighting around and inside the buildings.

C athal Brugha, a rebel officer, distinguished himself in this action and was badly wounded. By the end of the week the British had taken some of the buildings in the Union, but others remained in rebel hands. British troops also took casualties in unsuccessful frontal assaults on the Marrowbone Lane Distillery. The third major scene of combat during the week was at North King Street, behind the Four Courts, where the British, on Thursday, tried to take a well-barricaded rebel position. By the time of the rebel headquarter’s surrender, the South Staffordshire Regiment under Colonel Taylor had advanced only 150 yeards down the street at a cost of 11 dead and 28 wounded. The enraged troops broke into the houses along the street and shot or bayonetted 15 male civilians whom they accused of being rebel fighters. Elsewhere, at Portobello Barracks, an officer named Bowen Colthurst summarily executed six civilians, including the pacifist nationalist activist, Francis-Sheehy Skeffington. These instances of British troops killing Irish civilians would later be highly controversial in Ireland.

Surrender The headquarters garrison at the GPO, after days of shelling, was forced to abandon their headquarters when fire caused by the shells spread to the GPO. Connolly had been incapacitated by a bullet wound to the ankle and has passed command on to Pearse. The O’Rahilly was killed in a sortie from the GPO. They tunneled through the walls of the neighbouring buildings in order to evacuate the Post Office without coming under fire and took up a new position in 16 Moore Street. On Saturday 29 April, from this new headquarters, after realizing that they could not break out of this position without further loss of civilian life, Pearse issued an order for all companies to surrender. Pearse surrendered unconditionally to Brigadier-General Lowe.

The surrender document read: “In order to prevent the further slaughter of Dublin citizens, and in the hope of saving the lives of our followers now surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered, the members of the Provisional Government present at headquarters have agreed to an unconditional surrender, and the commandants of the various districts in the City and County will order their commands to lay down arms.” Share this: Easter Rising - Scoilnet Easter Rising Easter Rising Insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The 'Rising' was mounted by Irish republicans with the aim of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing an Irish Republic. Contributor: Scoilnet Resource type: Secondary Source Explores the history of the 1916 Rising and includes sections on the aftermath and profiles of the main participants. There is also a radio archive, rebel songs and eyewitness accounts. Probably one of the most accessible digital resources on the Rising and associated events of the time.

History Strand: Political Developments 19&20 cen Suggestions for use: May be used as background information for the period Home Rule to Republic section of the third year course Strand: Later Modern Ireland Strand unit: 3 Sovereignty 1912-1949 Suggestions for use: This is a very comprehensive treatment of the Rising. Lots of places to start. Contributor: Scoilnet Resource type: Project This is an account of one week in April 1916 which changed the course of Irish history. That week witnessed the Easter Rising which ended in military failure and the execution of its leaders. Strand: Politics, Conflict & Society Strand unit: 1916 and the foundation of the state Suggestions for use: This is an account of one week in April 1916 which changed the course of Irish history. History Strand: Political Developments 19&20 cen Suggestions for use: Gives a good overview of events but also pulls out some direct quotes from witnesses. Could certainly form the focus of a few class periods. Layout is a dated, though.

Key Skills: Managing Information and Thinking Literacy Contributor: Scoilnet Resource type: Secondary Source History Strand: Political Developments 19&20 cen Suggestions for use: Could be a useful timeline for a brief introduction to the Rising and its aftermath and as basis for class discussion. Strand: Later Modern Ireland These links are aimed more at Post-Primary students. <iframe src="" height="1000" width="640"></iframe> Embed code for PPT - <iframe src="" allowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="389" width="480"></iframe> Primary Twitter Post Primary Twitter Search – Discover – Contribute Scoilnet supports Primary and Post-Primary teachers in sharing and finding useful resources for the classroom. Make it your own by using and contributing the best learning and teaching resources for your students. Subscribe to our Newsletter Schools Broadband © 2017 This website uses cookies so we can provide you with the best user experience.

To find out more, see our Cookie Policy Add a resource Did you know that your Internet Explorer is out of date To get the best possible experience using our website we recommend that you upgrade to a newer version or other web browser. Registering for a Scoilnet Account – your first step to contributing and sharing What you need... To register for a Scoilnet Account you will need to have a Teaching Council number and a roll number for your school in Ireland. If you already have a Scoilnet Account then you can sign in here . The benefits... A Scoilnet account will allow you to upload your resources or weblinks to Scoilnet as well as enabling you to share and add resources to a favourites listing. Users who have a Scoilnet Account will also be able to fully access Scoilnet Maps and Census@School from home. 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland Notables in Irish History (good and bad) Top Surnames Joseph Guilfoyle (1897 - 1973) The Irish Times. December 27, 1973 Lt.-Col.

Joseph Guilfoyle, who died yesterday at Glencree, Earlwood Estate, Cork ages 76, joined the Volunteers at a meeting in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin in 19... history 1916 Easter Rising The events of Easter 1916 are of seminal importance in Irish history. What began as a small uprising in the centre of Dublin on Easter Monday set in motion a series of developments which ultimately led to Irish independence. 2016 will see the centenary of this very important event in Irish history. The Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland, seceding from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and establishing an independent Irish Republic at a time when the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in World War I. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798. Aim of this project The aim of this project is to collect genealogical profiles of all participants of the 1916 Easter Rising .

Also see the related project Easter Rising Civilian Deaths Participants The number of participants in the 1916 Rising is said to have been 1599 people it would be great if we can add as many participants as possible to this project. Any help to build out the profiles already in the project would be very much appreciated too. Any questions or remarks please feel free to start a project discussion . The leaders: Thomas MacDonagh Arrests and executions In a series of courts martial beginning on 2 May 90 people were sentenced to death. Fifteen of those (including all seven signatories of the Proclamation) had their sentences confirmed by Maxwell and were executed at Kilmainham Gaol by firing squad between 3 and 12 May the bodies of all executed participants were never returned to their families as part of their punishment , among them : Francis Sheehy-Skeffington Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (The Irishwomen's Council) On 23 April 1916, when the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood finalised arrangements for the Easter Rising, it integrated Cumann na mBan, along with the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army, into the 'Army of the Irish Republic'.

Patrick Pearse was appointed overall Commandant-General and James Connolly Commandant-General of the Dublin Division. On the day of the Rising, Cumann na mBan members, including Winifred Carney, who arrived armed with both a Webley revolver and a typewriter, entered the General Post Office on O'Connell Street in Dublin with their male counterparts. By nightfall, women insurgents were established in all of the major rebel strongholds throughout the city – bar one. Éamon de Valera steadfastly refused, in defiance of the orders of Pearse and Connolly, to allow women fighters into the Boland's Mill garrison. The majority of the women worked as Red Cross workers, were couriers, or procured rations for the men. Members also gathered intelligence on scouting expeditions, carried despatches and transferred arms from dumps across the city to insurgent strongholds. Constance Markievicz Constance Markievicz for example – armed with a pistol – during the opening phase of the hostilities shot a policeman in the head near St Stephen's Green.

Later, Markievicz along with other female fighters[citation needed] – after a day of carrying out sniper attacks on British troops in the city centre – demanded that they be allowed to bomb the Shelbourne Hotel. Helena Molony was among the soldiers who attacked Dublin Castle, where she worked with the wounded. A number of Cumann na mBan members died in the Rising, including volunteer Margaretta Keogh who was shot dead outside the South Dublin Union.

Women of the Easter Rising All the above have an Irish Railway station named after them Other volunteers in Easter Rising Explore the many testimonies and accounts of the surviving leaders, the veterans and volunteers who took part in the historic events of the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence and Civil War, along with a plethora of supporting documentation gathered from the participants through the unique collection that is the Military Service (1916-1923) - See more at: Military archives Volunteers who were captured Christopher Carrick born Clarinbridge county Galway John Noctor Peter Blanchfield born Dublin North Christopher Bowman For the full list see the Prison record list Easter Rising and Irish War of Independence: 1916-1922 - Members A Frank Aiken (1898–1983), a founding member of Fianna Fáil; commanded the Fourth Northern Division of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence. Aiken was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1923 and would remain in politics until 1973.

Todd Andrews (1901–1985), a member of the Irish Volunteers serving in the Irish War of Independence and participated in a 10-day hunger strike in 1920. He was later interned during the Irish Civil War after siding with Anti-Treaty forces before becoming a civil servant in his later years, most prominently as chairman of the Irish transport company, Córas Iompair Éireann. B Richard Barrett (1899–1922), Irish Republican officer who was executed by the Free State during the following Civil War. Kevin Barry (1902–1920) Tom Barry (1897–1980), a prominent figure on the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. Although fighting with Anti-Treaty forces, he was briefly expelled from the organisation until the 1930s and was later involved in politics and writing. Piaras Béaslaí (1881–1965), a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood who participated in the infiltration of the Gaelic League and fought in the Easter Rising and Irish War of Independence.

He was later involved in the Sinn Féin political party and writing. Dan Breen (1894–1969), an early member of the Irish Volunteers and served as leader of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence. He would later become a prominent figure in Fianna Fáil. George Brent (1899–1979), an American actor who acted as a courier during Irish War of Independence. Eamon Broy (1887–1972), an officer in the Dublin Metropolitan Police acting as a double agent during Irish War of Independence. He later served as Garda Commissioner during the mid-1930s. C Charles Carrigan (1882–1916), a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and served as Chairman of Sinn Féin’s first cumann in Scotland before his death during the Easter Rising. Robert Erskine Childers (1870–1922), British author involved in gunrunning and later member of Sinn Féin. Secretary-general of the Irish delegation during negotiation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Joe Clarke (1882–1976), remained active in Sinn Féin until his death.

Michael Collins (1890–1922), Director of Intelligence for the IRA during the Irish War of Independence and served as Commander-In-Chief of the Irish National Army Andy Cooney (d. 1968), a member of the Third Battalion of the Dublin Brigade and a suspected participant in the execution of the Cairo Gang Timothy Coughlin (d. 1928), a member of the Dublin Brigade during the War of Independence who assassinated the Vice President of the Executive Council, *Kevin O'Higgins. D Liam Deasy Archie Doyle Patrick Doyle (1892–1921), convicted of treason and executed following his participation in a failed ambush at Drumcondra on January 21, 1921. Edward Dorins Killed at Battle of Custom House, 25/05/1921. Shot outside the building in Beresford Place while attacking an approaching tender full of Auxiliaries. Eamonn Duggan F Stephen Fuller (d. 1984), a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence and fought with Anti-Treaty forces during the Irish Civil War (1922–23).

He would later serve as a member of Fianna Fáil during the 1930s. G 1916 Easter Rising - The 1916 Easter Rising 1916 Easter Rising - The 1916 Easter Rising Chapters FOR FREEDOM and labourers. Some were equipped with modern rifles of the time, many were not. The Great War was raging on the Western Front and the lives of countless Irishmen were being squandered away in places such as Gallipoli and Flanders, under the command mostly retired British Commanders, who had seen service against the Boer farmers in South Africa, and whose tactics were old fashioned and outdated in a modern war where artillery and machine guns ruled the playing field. As news of the terrible casualties reached Ireland, and in particular Dublin, feelings were running high, yet there was also a calm as the people of Dublin went about their daily lives. That calm was soon to be shattered with the breaking of the first window in the General Post Office in O'Connelll Street and the first British soldier to fall dead on the street outside the building.

This is the story of those few days back in Easter 1916 when a few Irish lads made a stand for what they believed was right, and in doing so awakened the spirit of the Irish people. The swift and brutal execution of the leaders by the British authorities rekindled the belief that Ireland should be free from the crown. That Welcome to my Website Even at the tender age of eight i knew the story of the Easter Rising. My father had shown me a picture in his old school book of Patrick Pearse standing defiantly in a burning GPO while James Connolly lay wounded on a stretcher. It was also at that age that i made my first visit to Dublin and the GPO. That was nearly 42 years ago. We were there to collect some plans for a house, as my parents were thinking about settling back in Ireland. I remember looking up at the high ceiling, and trying to picture the scene from my fathers book. It was very difficult, but outside i recall sticking my small fingers in the numerous holes which were evident in the enormous pillars and being fascinated with them. Why would there be so many holes? It was then that my father told me that they were bullet holes made by British bullets during the Rising.

My imagination ran wild and in a strange way i felt slightly proud that a small group of Irishmen had done something special. But why did they have to die? It is only now with the passing of time that i can really appreciate what really happened all those years ago. Each and everyone of us has the right to live in freedom. To be goverened by our own people, to be able to make choices and decisions and to be able to speak openly without fear of persecution. Empires are not given, they are taken by force and domination. And so the British Empire spread across the globe, and the Union Jack flew proudly above Dublin Castle, the seat of English power in Ireland for hundreds of years. There had been many rebellions in Ireland against the English invader, and all had failed. It was in 1916 that a small group of men decided to stand shoulder to shoulder against the power of one of the greatest Empires the world had ever seen.

These Irishmen were not professional soldiers, they were volunteeers, amateurs, a mixture of scholars, clerks, shop owners, Irish Heart grew into the Irish War of Independence and fresh atrocities being committed by the British authorities in Ireland and the use of the ' Black and Tans ' news reached the far off shores of India where men of the Connaught Rangers mutinied at Jalandhar and Solon in 1920. Refusing to serve the crown any further in a protest against te effects of Martial Law in Ireland and that Ireland should be free 88 mutineers were court martialed. One of those present was my cousin James Devers, who is seen in the photo right, sitting on the floor far left. Nineteen of the men were sentenced to death, including my cousin James. This was eventually changed to 18 mutineers having their sentences commuted to life imprsionment, with 59 being sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. My cousin James served his time in Maidstone prison in England and was often shackled and mistreated under the British authorities.

James Daly was executed by a British firing squad for his involvement in the mutiny and is seated far right on the floor of the photograph. He was just 21 years old. Some of the mutineers were detailed to pick up the remains of James Daly which were splattered on the wall and floor after his execution. It was a terrible task for those involved and in particular his friends. My couisn James picked up part of James Daly's heart, placed it in a match box and then placed this in his coffin.The men of the Connaught Rangers served their sentences in English prisons, when they eventually returned home to Ireland, they were treated as heroes but some were broken men after years of harsh and sometimes brutal treatment Tragically between 1922 and 1923 a Civil War would break out in the country, where Irishman would fight Irishman. My cousin James Devers Connaught Rangers stood his ground and refused to serve the King and the British Army About This Website It has always been my ambition to create this website. It has been a long journey, but i hope it is a fitting tribute to all those who fought for Irish Independence and Freedom back in 1916.

I would like to dedicate this website to all of them, and to all my countrymen who throughout hundreds of years have faced persecution and discrimination. Music can be turned off for this website at the bottom of this page. I hope you enjoy my website, and that it brings as much pleasure to yourselves as it has to me putting it together. Eirin Go Bragh and Best wishes to you all...Steve ( A Paddy From County Mayo ) And so it Begins . . . ' Fifty-seven tuppeny fares ' the officer said to the conductor ' and don't stop until we reach O'Connell Bridge ' Thus began the first successful revolution in twentieth-century Europe, the 1916 Easter uprising, when a half-trained army bearing pikes, old rifles, and home-made grenades, and led by poets and intellectuals, marched on Dublin's General Post Office and took on the might of the most powerful empire the world had yet seen. This pitiful band of revolutionaries, though scorned by most of their fellow Irishmen, were convinced that through their defeat and deaths they would arouse the Irish people to a victorious fight for independence.

Amazingly they were right, and out of the ' agony of Easter ' in 1916, came a resurgence of the Irish nationalism which led ultimately to Irish Independence. The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by by Irish republicans with the aim of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798. Organised by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising lasted from Easter Monday 24th April to the 30th April 1916. Members of the Irish Volunteers - lead by schoolteacher and barrister Padraig ( Patrick ) Pearse, joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly, along with 200 members of Cumann na mBan - seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed the Irish Republic independent of Britain. There were some actions in the other parts of Ireland, however, except for the attack on the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at Ashbourne, County Meath, they were minor.

The Rising was surpressed after seven days of fighting, and its leaders were court-martialled and executed, but it succeeded in bringing physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics. In the 1918 General Election to the British Parliament, Republicans ( then represented by the Sinn Fein Party ) won 73 seats out of the 105 on a policy of abstentionism and Irish Independence. This came less than two years after the Rising. In January 1919, the elected members of Sinn Fein who were not still in prison at the time, including survivors of the Rising, covened the First Dail and established the Irish Republic. The British government refused to accept the legitmacy of the newly declared nation, precipitating the Irish War of Independence. He gave his life for Ireland Easter 1916 Background to the Rising The Act of Union 1800 united the Kindom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, abolishing the Irish Parliament and giving Ireland representation at Westminster. From early on many Irish nationalists opposed the union and what was seen as the exploitation of the country.

Oppostion took various forms: constitutional ( the Repeal Association; the Home Rule League ) social (disestablishment of the Church of Ireland; the Land League ) the revolutionary ( Rebellion of 1848; Fenian Rising ) Constitutional nationalism enjoyed its greatest success in the 1880s and 1890s when the Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell succeeded in having two Home Rule bills introduced by the Liberal government of William Ewart Gladstone, though both failed. The First Home Rule Bill of 1886 was defeated in the House of Commons while the Second Home Rule Bill of 1893 was passed by the Commons by rejected by the House of Lords. After the fall of Parnell, younger and more radical nationalists became disillusioned with parliamentary politics and turned toward more extreme forms of separatism. The Gaelic Athletic Association, the Gaelic League and the cultural revival under W.B Yeats and Lady Augusta Gergory together with the new political thinking of Arthur Griffiths expressed in his newspaper Sinn Fein and the organisations the National Council and the Sinn Fein League led to the identification of Irish people with the concept of a Gaelic nation and culture, completely independent of Britain.

This was sometimes referred to by the generic term Sinn Fein. The Third Home Rule Bill was introduced by the British Prime Minister H. H Asquith in 1912. The Irish Unionists led by Sir Edward Carson opposed home rule in the light of what they saw as an impending Roman Catholic-dominated Dublin government. They formed the Ulster Volunteer Force on the 13th January 1913. The Irish Republican Brotherhood ( IRB ) saw an opportunity to create an armed organisation to advance its own ends, and on the 25th November 1913 the Irish Volunteers, whose stated object was ' to secure and to maintain the rights and liberties common to all the people of Ireland ' was formed. Its leader was Eoin MacNeill, who was not an IRB member. A Provisional Committee was formed that included people with wide views, and the Volunteer's ranks were open to ' all able-bodied Irishmen without distinction of creed, politics or social group. ' Another militant group, the Irish Citizen Army, was formed by the trade unionists as a result of the Dublin Lockout of that year.

However the increasing militarisation if Irish politics was overshadowed soon after by the outbreak of a larger conflict - the Great War, and Ireland's involvement in the conflict. Though large numbers of Irishmen had willingly joined both Irish and English regiments of the the New British Army at the outbreak of the war i 1914, the likelihood of enforced conscription created a backlash - particularly as the Government of Ireland Act 1914- as previously recommended in March by the Irish Convention - was controversially linked with a ' dual policy ' enactment of the Military Service Bill. The linking of conscription and Home Rule outraged the Irish nationalist parties at Westminster ( including IPP, AFIL and others ) who walked out in protest and returned to Ireland to organise opposition. Planning the Rising The Supreme Council of the IRB met on the 5th September 1914, a month after the British government had declared war on Germany. At this meetiing they decided to stage a rising befor the war ended and to accept whatever help Germany might offer. Responsibility of the planning of the rising was given to Tom Clark and Sean MacDermott.

The Irish Volunteers - the smaller of the two forces resulting from the September 1914 split over support for the British war effort - set up a ' headquarters ' staff that included Patrick Pearse as Director of Military Organisation, Joseph Plunkett as Director of Military Operations and Thomas MacDonagh as Director of Military Oreganisation, Joseph Plunkett as Director of Military Operations and Thoams MacDonagh as Director of Training. Eamonn Ceannt was later added as Director of Communications. In May 1915, Clarke and MacDermott established a Military Committee with the Irish Republican Brotherhood, consisting of Pearse, Plunkett and Ceannt, to draw up plans for a rising. This dual role allowed the Committe. to which Clarke and MacDermott added themselves shortly afterward, to promote their own policies and personnel independently of both the Volunteer Executive and the IRB Executive - in particular Volunteer Chief of Staff Eoin MacNeill who was opposed to a rising uless popular support was secured by the introduction of conscription or an attempt to surpress the Volnteers or its leaders, and IRB President Denis McCullough, who held similar views.

The IRB members held officer rank in the Volunteers throughout the country and would take their orders from the Military Committee, not from MacNeill. Plunkett had travelled to Germany in April 1915 to join Roger Casement. Casement had gone there from the United States the previous year with the support of Clan na Gael leader John Devoy, and after discussions with the German Ambassador in Washington, Count von Bernstorff, to try and recruit an ' Irish Brigade ' from among Irish prisoners of war and secure German support for Irish Independence. Together Plunkett and Casement presented a plan which involved a German expeditionary force landing on the west coast of Ireland, while a rising in Dublin diverted the British forces so that the Germans, with the help of local Volunteers, could secure the line of the River Shannon. James Connolly, head of the Irish Citizen Army ( ICA ) a group of armed socialist trade union men and women - was unaware of the IRB's plans, and threatened to start a rebellion on his own if other parties failed to act.

If they had gone it alone, the IRB and the Volunteers would possibly have to come to their aid; however, the IRB leaders met with Connolly in January 1916 and convinced him to join forces with them. They agreed to act together the follwing Easter and made Connolly the sixth member of the Military Committee. Thomas MacDonagh would later become the seventh and final member of the Committee. Thomas Clarke Build-up to Easter Week In an effort to thwart informers and indeed, the Volunteers' own leadership, Pearse issued orders in early April for three days of ' parades and manoeuvres ' by the Volunteers for Easter Sunday ( which he had the authority to do, as Director of the Organisation ) The idea was that the repulicans within the organisation ( particularly IRB members ) would know exactly what this meant, while men such as MacNeill and the British Authorities in Dublin Castle would take it at face value. However, MacNeill got wind of what was afoot and threatened to ' do everything possible short of phoning Dublin Castle ' to prevent the rising.

MacNeil was briefly convnced to go along with some sort of action when Mac Diarmada revealed to him that a shipment of German arms was about to land in County Kerry, planned by the IRB in conjunction with Roger Casement; he was certain that the authorites' discovery of such a shipment would inevitably lead to suppression of the Volunteers, thus the Volunteers were justified in taking defensive action - including the originally planned maneuvers - Casement, disappointed with the level of support offered by the Germans, returned to Ireland on a German U-boat and was captured upon landing at Banna Strand in Tralee Bay. The arms shipment - aboard the German ship Aud (disguised as a Norwegian fishing trawler ) had been scuttled after interception by the Royal Navy, after the local Volunteers had failed to rendezvous with it. The following day, MacNeill, reverted to his original position when he found out that the ship carrying the arms had been scuttled. With the support of other leaders of like mind, notably Bulmer Hobson and The O'Rahilly, he issued a countermand to all Volunteers, cancelling all actions for Sunday.

This only succeeded in putting the rising off for a day, although it greatly reduced the number of Volunteers who turned out. British Naval Intelligence had been aware of the arms shipment. casements return and the Easter date for the rising through radio messages between Germany and its embassy in the United States that were intercepted by the Navy and deciphered on Room 40 of the Admiralty. The information was passed to the Under-Secretary for Ireland, Sir Matthew Nathan, on 17th April, ut without revealing its source, and Nathan was doubtful about its accuracy. When news reached Dublin of the capture of the Aud and the arrest of Casement, Nathan conferred with the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Wimborne. Nathan proposed to raid Liberty Hall, headquarters of the Citizen Army, and Volunteer properties at Father Matthew Park, and at Kimmage, but Wimborne was insisting the wholesale arrests of the leaders. It was decided to postpone action until after Easter Monday, and in the meantime, Nathan telegraphed the Chief Secretary, Augustine Birrell, in London seeking his approval. By the time Birrell capled his reply authorising the action, at noon on Monday 24th April 1916, the Rising had already begun.

Proclamation of the Irish Republic The Proclamation of the Republic, also known as the 1916 Proclamation or Easter Proclamation was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising in Ireland, which began of the 24th April 1916. In it, the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, styling itself the ' Provisional Government of the Irish Republic ' proclaimed Ireland's independence from Britain. The reading of the Proclamtion by Patrick Pearse outside the General Post Office ( GPO ) on Sackville Street ( now called O'Connell Street ) Dublin's main thoroughfare, marked the beginning of the Rising. The proclamation was modelled on a similar independence proclamation issued during the 1803 rebellion by Robert Emmet. Before reading the proclamation, Pearse and other Republican leaders seized the GPO and made it their military headquarters, flying the new flag ( right ) of the Republic from the flag-pole instead of the Union Flag of Britain.

The green, white and orange tricolour ( which later came to be seen as the flag of the repulic, replacing the original green flag, which is now on display in the National Museum of Ireland ) are the most identifiable symbols of the Easter Rising, alongside the leaders, Thomas J. Clark, Sean Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, P. H Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, James Connolly and Joseph Plunkett. Though the Rising failed in military terms, the principles of the Proclamation to varying degrees influenced the thinking of later generations of Irish politicians. The Proclamation had been printed secretly prior to the Rising on a Summit Wharfedale Stop Cylinder Press. Because of its secret printing problems arose which affected the layout and design. In particular, because of a shortage of lettering, the document was printed in two halves, leading to a proliferation of ' half copies ' most of which were destroyed by British soldiers in the aftermath of the Rising. The typesetters were Willie O'Brien, Michael Molly and Christopher Brady. They lacked a sufficient supply of same size and font letters, and as a result the latter half of the document used smaller es than the rest of the text, a distinctive features of the document.

The language suggested that the original copy of the proclamation had actually been signed by the Rising leaders. However, no evidence has ever been found, nor do any contemporary records mention, the existence of an actually signed copy, though had such a copy existed, it could easily have been destroyed in the aftermath of the Rising by someone ( in the British military, a member of the public or a Rising participant trying to destroy potentially incriminating eveidence ) who did not appreciate its historic importance. This is the story of a few brave men along with some Volunteers who made a stand for what they belived was right. No country has the right to rule another, to surpress and abuse its people. The leaders of the Rising, knew that they had signed their own death sentences long before the battle was fought in the streets of Dublin, but in their sacrice they awakened and stirred a nation which was blind, and gave its people the hope and right to live in freedom. The following is their story. Music for this website can be turned off here or paused.

Website created and designed by Steve ( Mad Paddy ) Murtagh from County Mayo Poster - 1916 | The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged… | Flickr William Murphy By: William Murphy Poster - 1916 The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic. Done Irish Government to invite member of Royal Family to the centenary celebrations of the 1916 Easter Rising against British Rule | Daily Mail Online comments Members of the Royal Family are to be invited by the Irish Government to commemorations marking the hundredth anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore said he hoped to host representatives of the Royal Family and the British Government in Dublin to remember those who fought for Irish freedom. The Easter Rising is one of the most famous chapters in Ireland's struggle for independence. Also known as the Easter Rebellion, it was an armed insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916.

Damage caused by the Irish Republican Army's armed rebellion against British rule that took place on Easter Day in 1916, known as the Easter Rising, in Dublin, Ireland It was mounted by Irish republicans who aimed to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic at a time when the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in World War I. The Rising, which began on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, and lasted for six days, resulted in 450 people being killed, 2,614 injured, and nine missing - almost all in Dublin. In a speech to the British Irish Association in Cambridge, Mr Gilmore said: ‘I would hope that we can host representatives of the Royal Family and the British Government, along with the leaders of Unionism, in Dublin ... in remembering the Easter Rising.’ Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore, pictured, said he hoped to host representatives of the Royal Family and the British Government in Dublin to remember those who fought for Irish freedom Ireland's Ambassador to Britain, Daniel Mulhall, yesterday said the Queen’s visit to the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin three years ago had mellowed Anglo-Irish relations.

Speaking to The Times, he said: ‘It would have been a mad idea ten years ago. I do not think it is in any way out of the realms of reality these days — quite the opposite, I would have thought. In Ireland there won't be a problem. ‘I don't think that there is anybody in Ireland, anybody that has any influence, that would have any qualms about a royal guest at the 2016 commemorations. RELATED ARTICLES ‘The changed attitudes in Ireland are quite significant.’ However, Diarmaid Ferriter, Professor of modern Irish history at University College Dublin, disagreed. He told The Times: ‘That would be a bridge too far when you consider what is being commemorated.

The damage caused by the Irish Republican Army's armed rebellion against British rule that took place on Easter Day in 1916, known as the Easter Rising, in Dublin, Ireland Head bowed, the Queen laid a wreath for those who died fighting for independence at the Garden of Remembrance during her visit to Ireland in May 2011 A minutes silence is observed during the 90th Anniversary Parade of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin on April 16, 2006 The Irish army pay tribute to the bravery of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizens Army during the 1916 Easter Rising 90th Commemoration March in Dublin in 2006 ‘It would be one of the things some historians here would have a concern about, that there is this kind of soft-centred aspiration to please everybody by contriving this communal appreciation of what happened. It seems to me to be distorting history.’ Plans are yet to be finalised for the centenary celebrations which are still two years off, but Mr Gilmore said he wants all sides to respectfully remember Irish men who died fighting in a British uniform.

He said: ‘Unless we are attentive and respectful to both traditions, nationalist and unionist, we will remain a divided society. ‘We each bear a dual civic responsibility.’ Troops searching for bodies in Dublin during the uprising in 1916 Which resulted in 450 people being killed, 2,614 injured, and nine missing The Army march past the GPO during the 90th Anniversary Parade of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin on Sunday April 16, 2006 THE HISTORY OF EASTER RISING 1916 A building in Dublin's O'Connell Street is torn apart during the 1916 Easter Rising The 1916 Easter Rising is one of the most famous chapters in Ireland's struggle for independence. Also known as the Easter Rebellion, it was an armed insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. It was mounted by Irish republicans who aimed to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic at a time when the United Kingdom was heavily engaged in World War I.

The Rising, which began on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, and lasted for six days, resulted in 450 people being killed, 2,614 injured, and nine missing - almost all in Dublin. Around 1,200 Irish Volunteers — led by Irish language activist Patrick Pearse, the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly and 200 members of Cumann na mBan — seized key locations in Dublin. The rebel headquarters was located at the General Post Office. However, after six days, the British army suppressed the Rising and Pearse agreed to an unconditional surrender on Saturday April 29. Now, there is an annual ceremony at Easter attended by relatives of those who fought, the President, the Taoiseach, ministers and senators. The 90th anniversary was celebrated with a large military parade in Dublin on Easter Sunday, 2006, and was attended by the President of Ireland, the Taoiseach and the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

1916 Irish Easter Rebellion | Monument Australia 1916 Irish Easter Rebellion Print Page 22-March-2016 Photographs supplied by Father Ted Doncaster A monument commemorates the 1916 Irish Easter Rebellion. The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798. Organised by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising lasted from Easter Monday 24 to 30 April 1916. The Rising was suppressed after seven days of fighting, and its leaders were court-martialled and executed, but it succeeded in bringing physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics. Location

Question: The Easter Rising, an insurrection staged during Easter Week 1916 with the aim of ending British rule, was where?
Answer: Ireland