Easter Rising | Irish history | Britannica.com Easter Rising Syrian Civil War Easter Rising, also called Easter Rebellion, Irish republican insurrection against British government in Ireland , which began on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, in Dublin . The insurrection was planned by Patrick Pearse , Tom Clarke, and several other leaders of the Irish Republican Brotherhood , which was a revolutionary society within the nationalist organization called the Irish Volunteers ; the latter had about 16,000 members and was armed with German weapons smuggled into the country in 1914. These two organizations were supplemented by the Irish Citizen Army , an association of Dublin workers formed after the failure of the general strike of 1913, and by the small Sinn Féin party. British troops inside the ruins of the General Post Office in Dublin after it was destroyed during … The Print Collector/Heritage-Images The uprising was planned to be nationwide in scope, but a series of mishaps led to its being confined to Dublin alone. The British had learned of the planned uprising and on April 21 arrested Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement in County Kerry for running arms for the rebels.

Eoin MacNeill , the leader of the Irish Volunteers, therefore canceled mobilization orders for the insurgents, but Pearse and Clarke went ahead with about 1,560 Irish Volunteers and a 200-man contingent of the Citizen Army. On April 24 their forces seized the Dublin General Post Office and other strategic points in Dublin’s city centre, and Pearse read aloud a proclamation announcing the birth of the Irish republic. British troops soon arrived to put down the rebellion, and for nearly a week Dublin was paralyzed by street fighting. British artillery bombardments compelled Pearse and his colleagues to surrender on April 29. Pearse and 14 other leaders of the rebellion were court-martialed and executed by British authorities in the weeks that followed. Though the uprising itself had been unpopular with most of the Irish people, these executions excited a wave of revulsion against the British authorities and turned the dead republican leaders into martyred heroes. The Easter Rising signaled the start of the republican revolution in Ireland. Because Eamon de Valera was the senior survivor of the rising, he gained much of his personal popularity with the Irish people from that event.

Learn More in these related articles: The 1916 Easter Rising - History Learning Site Home » Ireland 1845 to 1922 » The 1916 Easter Rising The 1916 Easter Rising Citation: C N Trueman "The 1916 Easter Rising" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 25 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016. The Easter Uprising took place in April 1916 in Dublin and is one of the pivotal events in modern Irish history . At the end of the Easter Uprising , 15 men identified as leaders were executed at Kilmainham Jail. To some, these men were traitors, to others they became heroes. Why did a small group of people try to take on the military might of what was then one of the world’s major powers? From the time of the Great Famine from 1845 to 1847, certain sections of the Irish population had lost all faith in the British government (and even from before this date).

These people felt that the government neither listened to the complaints and grievances of the Irish – nor did they care about such grievances. To them, the Irish had become second class citizens in the world’s greatest empire builder. Any arguments presented to London about freeing up Ireland from British rule fell on seemingly deaf ears. The issue of Home Rule satisfied some in Ireland, but not all. It was this latter group of people who simply rejected that London had any right to impose any rule on Ireland. Their target was simple: Irish independence and the removal of all aspects of British rule from the island. As the British would be unwilling to simply go along with this, such independence would have to be fought for – hence the armed uprising. Ironically, though many in what is now the south wanted independence, they did not support the ways of movements such as the Fenians and the IRB. Given the population of Dublin and the surrounding area, comparatively few people took part in the rebellion. Even once it had started, few Dubliners took the opportunity to join the rebels. The evidence suggests that people were concerned about the tactics of known republicans such as Patrick Pearse and James Connolly – especially what the reaction of the British might be.

The IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood) had been formed in 1858. It was a secret organisation and it is thought that it never had more than 2,000 members in it. It had one simple desire – Irish independence. In 1910, the IRB started its own publication – the ‘Irish Freedom’ – and all those men who signed the proclamation of an Irish Republic in Easter 1916 were members of the IRB. By the start of the war, Irish politics had become very complicated. The issue of Home Rule had led to the creation of the Ulster Volunteers in November 1913. This group was against any lessening of the rule that London had over the whole of Ireland. The Ulster Volunteers had no problems flying the Union Jack. In response, those in the south had founded the Irish Volunteers in 1914. Possibly as many as 200,000 joined the Irish Volunteers but only a few thousands were ever trained in a military manner. Even if the Irish Volunteers had wanted to arm those who joined it, sheer logistics meant that this was impossible.

When the First World War broke out in August 1914, the leader of the Irish Nationalist Party, John Redmond, accepted that the whole issue of Home Rule would have to be postponed until the war had finished. Many in the Irish Volunteers accepted this and men from all over Ireland rallied to the cause and fought in the British Army against the Germans. However, such views were not shared by those in the IRB. As early as August 1914, the month war was declared, the IRB supreme council decided that the British involvement in the war would give them the opportunity to overthrow British rule in Ireland. The logic was that the actions of the government in London would be driven by what went on in Flanders – and the vast bulk of Britain’s military might was either abroad or in the stages of being sent abroad to fight. Therefore, British military presence would be sparse in Ireland. The IRB spent many months planning the rebellion. The organisation had money – most from Irish Americans – and capable leaders but little else. As a secret organisation it could not act like a political party going out to meet the people to persuade them to support their cause. Therefore, the numbers in it were small.

Also, many in Ireland were willing to support the decision to postpone Home Rule – and some were doing well out of the war itself. Therefore, though many may have sympathised with the IRB with regards to its desires, these people did not offer the IRB any practical help. Also, if an uprising was to take place, the IRB would need access to weapons – and the only obvious source would be Germany. The IRB was not the only organisation involved in the movement against the British. Others were: The Irish Citizen’s Army founded in 1913 by James Connolly . This organisation was founded as a citizens guard to the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union. The ITGWU had organised a strike in 1913, which was harshly broken up using force. The Irish Citizens Army was created in response and it was led by a former British Army officer – Jack White. It was meant to have been a highly disciplined force but it only numbered about 250 men. The ‘Fianna Boys’ were youths who were to act as messengers and runners during the actual uprising. Some women’s movements had republican sympathies.

The most famous female of the Uprising was the Countess Markievicz who was a member of the Irish Civilian Army. Clearly, when all actual support was counted, the planned uprising could not count on that many people. What would it be up against? There was not a huge army presence in Ireland. Most of the law enforcement was done by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC). There were about 10,000 police officers in the RIC. At a time when employment opportunities were reasonably limited, the RIC seemed to offer a sound career and, in general, those in it were loyal to Britain and the government. Members of the RIC invariably worked in or near the district they lived in, the theory being that they would pick up on any information that could prove useful to the authorities in Dublin. British intelligence, based at Dublin Castle, gained a great deal of its information from the RIC. 1000 members of the RIC were based in Dublin itself. The IRB and other movements were woefully short of weapons. The RIC in Dublin did not carry arms but it had easy access to them.

The British Army in Ireland had as many weapons as it needed – including armed personnel carriers, tanks and artillery guns. The Ulster Volunteers had gained 35,000 rifles by August 1914; the Irish Volunteers had just 1000, and there were those in the Irish Volunteers who did not support what the IRB wanted. An attempt by Sir Roger Casement to land German guns also failed as the British Navy intercepted the ship (the ‘Aud’) carrying weapons. Casement was arrested and hanged as a traitor. However, to the authorities both in Dublin and London, this proved just how untrustworthy the republican movement was. In April 1916, the war in Europe was not going well for the British and French. The French, our allies, were taking a desperate hammering at Verdun and wanted Britain to launch an attack across the Somme to take pressure off of the French. What Casement did provoked a very negative response at a time when Britain needed unity throughout its lands. The men in Ireland who represented the government in London were: Augustine Birrell, Chief Secretary Sir Matthew Nathan, Assistant Secretary Major-General Field, commanding officer of the British army in Ireland.

Lord Wimborne, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. What seemed to link all four men was their failure to grasp what was going on in Ireland. Wimborne had an extensive knowledge of what might be termed the Irish psyche, but he seemingly failed to recognise what was happening. This could have been a failure of the security agencies based at the Castle. Special Branch had infiltrated the IRB but either they had not done this too well, or the information sent through to Dublin Castle simply was not being acted on. The intelligence service at Dublin Castle knew that a rising was planned fairly quickly after Casement’s arrest. As Casement landed on April 21st, those in charge in Dublin knew that something was about to take place. On April 23rd, Wimborne demanded that Nathan issue arrest warrants for between 60 and 100 known republican leaders. Nathan managed to persuade Wimborne that there was no need for action as there was no immediate crisis to worry about. Birrell, as was often the case, was in London and took no part in this decision. Why did Nathan take this decision?

It seems that British spies in the Irish Volunteers had informed him that Eoin MacNeill, the accepted leader of the Irish Volunteers, had decided not to go ahead with the uprising because of the failure of Casement to get the required German weapons into Ireland. What Nathan almost certainly did not know was that Patrick Pearse , a young lawyer and member of the IRB, did not agree with him and decided that the rising should go ahead regardless. There were others who also agreed with Pearse. This dispute split the Irish Volunteers and meant the end of it as a major player in Irish politics. After the uprising, those who followed Pearse and had been members of the IRB joined the Irish Republican Army; those with a political bent joined Sinn Fein. There were those, of course, who did both. MacNeill further hindered Pearse by getting the cancellation of the uprising advertised in newspapers. Young boys were even used to cycle round Ireland with the information. Therefore, it seems completely untenable to accept that the authorities in Dublin did not know that something had been planned even if it appeared to have been cancelled. At the very least, the authorities should have been on the alert.

In fact, Nathan had concluded that if anyone did participate in the uprising, the numbers would be small and those involved would be hopelessly disunited. With the Irish Volunteers split and with no weapons, what did the British have to fear? On the morning of the uprising, many British army officers were at the races! Easter Rising - British History - HISTORY.com Google 1916 Easter Rising: Background With the Act of Union in 1800, Ireland (which had been under some form of English control since the 12th century) merged with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. As a result, Ireland lost its parliament in Dublin and was governed by a united parliament from Westminster in London. During the 19th century, groups of Irish nationalists opposed this arrangement in varying degrees. Did You Know? After the Easter Rising, one of the rebels, American-born Eamon de Valera, was sentenced to death. However, he ended up serving only a brief prison term and went on to become one of Ireland’s leading political figures, with a career spanning half a century.

Some moderate nationalists advocated for home rule, under which Ireland would remain part of the United Kingdom but also have some form of self-government. Several home rule bills were defeated in Parliament in the late 1800s before one finally passed in 1914. However, implementation of home rule was suspended due to the outbreak of World War I (1914-18). Meanwhile, members of a secret revolutionary organization called the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), who believed home rule wouldn’t go far enough and instead sought complete independence for Ireland, began planning what would become the Easter Rising. They hoped their rebellion would be aided by military support from Germany, which was fighting the British in World War I. Roger Casement (1864-1916), an Irish nationalist, arranged for a shipment of German arms and ammunition for the rebels; however, shortly before the insurrection began, the British detected the ship and it was scuttled by its captain. Casement was charged with treason and executed in August 1916 Easter Rising: April 1916 The Easter Rising was intended to take place across Ireland; however, various circumstances resulted in it being carried out primarily in Dublin.

On April 24, 1916, the rebel leaders and their followers (whose numbers reached some 1,600 people over the course of the insurrection, and many of whom were members of a nationalist organization called the Irish Volunteers, or a small radical militia group, the Irish Citizen Army), seized the city’s general post office and other strategic locations. Early that afternoon, from the steps of the post office, Patrick Pearse (1879-1916), one of the uprising’s leaders, read a proclamation declaring Ireland an independent republic and stating that a provisional government (comprised of IRB members) had been appointed. Despite the rebels’ hopes, the public did not rise to support them. The British government soon declared martial law in Ireland, and in less than a week the rebels were crushed by the government forces sent against them. Some 450 people were killed and more than 2,000 others, many of them civilians, were wounded in the violence, which also destroyed much of the Dublin city center. Initially, many Irish people resented the rebels for the destruction and death caused by the uprising.

1916 Easter Rising: Aftermath In May, 15 leaders of the uprising were executed by firing squad. More than 3,000 people suspected of supporting the uprising, directly or indirectly, were arrested, and some 1,800 were sent to England and imprisoned there without trial. The rushed executions, mass arrests and martial law (which remained in effect through the fall of 1916), fueled public resentment toward the British and were among the factors that helped build support for the rebels and the movement for Irish independence. In the 1918 general election to the parliament of the United Kingdom, the Sinn Fein political party (whose goal was to establish a republic) won a majority of the Irish seats. The Sinn Fein members then refused to sit in the UK Parliament, and in January 1919 met in Dublin to convene an Irish Parliament (known as the Dail Eireann) and declare Ireland’s independence. The Irish Republican Army then launched a guerilla war against the British government and its forces in Ireland.

Following a July 1921 cease-fire, the two sides signed a treaty in December that called for the establishment of the Irish Free State, a self-governing nation of the British Commonwealth, the following year. Ireland’s six northern counties opted out of the Free State and remained with the United Kingdom. The fully independent Republic of Ireland (consisting of the 26 counties in the southern and western part of the island) was formally proclaimed on Easter Monday, April 18, 1949. Tags Easter Rising --� Kids Encyclopedia | Children's Homework Help | Kids Online Dictionary | Britannica The Web's Best Sites The Easter Rising was a rebellion against British rule in Ireland . It took place in the capital city, Dublin. It began on April 24, 1916, which was the day after Easter that year, and lasted five days. In the end, the rebels were beaten. Background to the Rising At the time, Ireland was ruled by Britain but many people in Ireland wanted independence. In 1915, some groups of menincluding Patrick Pearse and James Connollydecided to rebel against the British. They planned uprisings all over the country.

However, the leaders disagreed about how the rebellion should be carried out. Also, guns were supposed to reach Ireland by ship from Germany. The British discovered this part of the plan and stopped the weapons from reaching the rebels. After this, some of the leaders issued an order to halt the uprising. Dublin Rises The General Post Office in Dublin, Ireland, was destroyed during the rebellion known as the Easter The Print Collector/Heritage-Images Plans for the rebellion continued in Dublin, though. On Easter Monday, April 24, a group of about 1,800 people, including some women, took over key buildings in Dublin. The General Post Office (GPO) became their headquarters. On the steps of the GPO, Patrick Pearse read aloud a statement. He declared that Ireland was a free country. He said Irish men and women would rule themselves. The British army was taken by surprise, but it soon reacted to the rebellion. Within a few days, extra troops had arrived in Ireland. Fighting broke out on the streets of Dublin. Defeat The British used heavy guns (artillery) against the Irish all over Dublin. Within a week, the leaders of the rising realized they would not be able to beat the army.

They surrendered and were arrested by the British. The trials of the leaders of the Easter Rising were held in secret. Pearse and 14 other leaders were sentenced to death. More than 500 people had died in the rising, including many ordinary citizens. Legacy At first, the Easter Rising had little support in Ireland. After its leaders were executed, though, people began to respect what they had tried to do. The rising came to be admired, and its leaders became heroes. Eamon de Valera was one of those leaders. He survived the uprising and later became a leader of Ireland after it finally achieved independence. To cite this page: "Easter Rising." Britannica Junior Encyclopedia. Britannica Online for Kids.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Ireland Marks 100 Years Since 'Easter Rising' Against British Rule | VICE News Ireland Marks 100 Years Since 'Easter Rising' Against British Rule Photo by Sally Hayden/VICE News By Sally Hayden March 28, 2016 | 3:40 pm "It was the volunteers who were the experts and the British who were the amateurs," says a uniformed man holding an 1871 "Howth" Mauser rifle. The gun weighs nearly 10 pounds and it's an original — the same kind many rebels were armed with during Ireland's momentous uprising in 1916. The man then grips a wooden chair with one hand, the whites of his knuckles showing, "just as [rebellion leader and trade unionist] James Connolly would have done" as he was executed by firing squad, he notes. We're in a mock-up of Kilmainham Jail, where the uprising's leaders were imprisoned and later shot, sandbags piled against the wall behind us.

The exhibition in Dublin's Ambassador Theater is being run by Sinn Fein, the Irish republican party historically associated with the paramilitary Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), until it disarmed in 2005. It's billed as "the original and authentic exhibition" documenting "the nationalist narrative of what led to the 1916 Rising." The exhibition has been open for two weeks and one of the men on the door estimates 10,000 people have already visited. Every day at noon for 33 weeks an actor dressed as revolutionary Pádraig Pearse ventures outside onto the city center's O'Connell Street to read aloud the Irish proclamation — the document that declared Ireland's independence from the UK. This is just one of many events being held to mark the 100th anniversary of Ireland's Easter Rising — a landmark that means many different things to different people and has awakened a debate on who controls the narrative around historical events, and whether violent uprisings should be celebrated or commemorated more sedately. An Irish soldier holds a copy of the proclamation read out by rebels during the Easter Rising in 1916 (Photo by Sally Hayden/VICE News) Irish President Michael D.

Higgins inspects the guard of honor during Easter Sunday's commemoration events (Photo by Sally Hayden/VICE News) The Easter Rising has been described as the "beginning of the end of the British empire," an armed rebellion that took place on Easter Monday, 1916, when a group of Irish nationalists including poets, teachers, and ex-British army soldiers took control of locations around Dublin, including the city center's prominent General Post Office (GPO). Though the British — who ruled over Ireland for centuries — were entrenched in World War One at the time, the uprising lasted just five days before it was suppressed, and the majority of public opinion rested strongly against it. However, after 15 of the leaders were executed during the following weeks, sympathy swayed sharply towards the dead and their fight for independence — the ensuing actions eventually culminated in a 26-county republic. Through the last century the Easter Rising has taken on almost mythical proportions in Ireland, being retold again and again through plays, music, and poetry . Though all its survivors have now passed away, many Irish people have some link to those who fought or were involved in the event.

Related: 'I'm in Trouble': The Women Boarding Ireland's Illegal Abortion Bus Most of the almost 500 people who died during the Rising were civilians, though 107 British soldiers were also killed, including 31 from the Sherwood Foresters Regiment who were ambushed by Irish Volunteers near Dublin's Mount Street Bridge. This has prompted arguments by some UK politicians that those who died on the British side should also be formally remembered. The biggest of 2016's many memorial events in Ireland was Easter Sunday's military parade, which saw thousands of Irish citizens line the capital city's streets to witness more than one third of Ireland's military forces march 2.8 miles through Dublin, with seating around the GPO reserved for dignitaries and relatives of those who fought. Security was tight, with access to the area around the GPO completely blocked off to the public on Sunday. All police leave was reportedly canceled over the Easter weekend because of fears the commemorations could be disrupted by dissident republican groups. Among the thousands of participants in the march were members of the national police force, customs officials, firefighters, the National Ambulance Service, the Irish Red Cross, and the Irish Coast Guard.

Armored personnel carriers (APCs), boats, and guns were paraded, while the air force flew overhead trailing the Irish flag. After the marching ended, there was a 21-gun salute. More than 3,000 members of the Irish Defense Forces took part in Easter Sunday's military parade (Photo by Sally Hayden/VICE News) APCs drive down Dublin's O'Connell Street during the Easter Rising commemorations (Photo by Sally Hayden/VICE News) Sheila O'Leary, 94, turned up for the parade at the GPO carrying the medals of her father, Thomas Byrne, and grandmother, Lucy Smyth, who both fought inside the post office. As photographers jostled to take her picture, O'Leary's daughter Maeve asked whether she was getting tired of the publicity or "are you enjoying yourself?" "Yes I am," the nonagenarian replied, smiling. Her daughter explained the family's role was important to them — they wanted it recorded. In a ceremony before more than 3,000 marchers passed by, Irish President Michael D. Higgins laid a large wreath outside the GPO, and the assembled crowd stood for a minute's silence.

Seamus Madigan, head chaplain of the Irish Defense Forces, said a prayer in a mixture of Irish and English, before army captain Peter Kelleher read aloud the proclamation that was premiered by Pearse on the same spot 100 years before. Related: Gay Marriage Is Legal but Abortion Is Still a Crime in Ireland — Even in Rape or Incest Cases Acting as compère was Captain Deirdre Carberry, 29, who has been in the military for 12 years and is involved in human rights and gender training. Her great grandfather Charles Carberry was a member of the Irish Volunteers who fought during Easter in 1916. Carberry told VICE News that her generation remembers the Rising "in a really symbolic way. It creates this distinct sense of what's Irish." "It's very much a commemoration, and a really respectful commemoration," she said.

"We are commemorating the lives that were lost as a direct aftermath of the Rising." Though a military parade was held to mark the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1966, subsequent events were halted by later governments because of fears about how they could be interpreted in the six counties of Northern Ireland — still part of the UK — where sectarian violence broke out in the late 1960s. While that violence has not completely ended today, the 1998 Good Friday Agreement marked an end to a bloody 30-year period known as the Troubles and saw the Provisional IRA enter a ceasefire that lasted eight years until disarmament was completed. Carberry said that as a nation she thinks the Irish republic has "moved beyond" violence, adding that the values outlined in the Irish proclamation — dignity, rights for all, equality for men and women — should still be the values of the Irish Defense Forces today. Others outlined what they saw as the impact of the rebellion on other countries that were once colonized by the British. "The Rising really is Ireland's gift to the world.

It showed that the British empire had an end date," Padraig Pearse's closest living relative, English-born Ben Phillips, said in an interview this week. A soldier passes Dublin's General Post Office in an APC during Easter Sunday's military parade (Photo by Sally Hayden/VICE News) An APC passes Dublin's General Post Office during Easter Sunday's military parade (Photo by Sally Hayden/VICE News) At the Royal College of Surgeons on St. Stephen's Green, another part of Dublin taken over by the rebels, 45-year-old Sergeant Rob Delaney was taking part in a flag party. His great-grandfather, Christopher Poole, was a captain in the Irish Citizen Army in 1916, and also a former British army soldier — he had fought with the East Yorkshire Regiment in the Boer War, and he used that experience to train the rebels. "With my ancestors being involved I do feel a sense of pride," Delaney told VICE News. "I'm proud of what I do and the small part I'll play in the parade." Commenting on the high civilian death toll during the rebellion, Delaney said: "I'm in no position to judge.

It was 100 years ago, it's so easy for us all to sit back and analyze now. I suppose in any situation like that there are casualties." Related: Ireland's General Election Could Finally End Almost 100 Years of Civil War Polit ics Other descendants were more equivocal. "They're celebrating them as heroes now but if they were around today they'd be regarded as terrorists," one relative of a 1916 participant, who didn't want to be named, said. In total, this year's official state commemorative events will include 32 wreath-laying ceremonies and eight guards of honor, along with outreach programs. The Irish Defence Forces have already carried out 3,300 visits to primary schools across the country, where they delivered handmade Irish flags and copies of the 1916 proclamation. Further initiatives include a Google Street View tour that will take viewers around Dublin's center, highlighting the Rising's landmarks.

Other companies are also getting involved in commemorations, with Irish Rail inter-city train fares set at 19.16 euros ($21.39) Sheila O'Reilly, 94, whose father and grandmother fought in the GPO during the Easter Rising (Photo by Sally Hayden/VICE News) The Irish air force flies over the Easter Rising commemorations in Dublin (Photo by Sally Hayden/VICE News) On O'Connell Street this week, sellers have been marketing themed wares. "Michael Collins on a proclamation poster," one woman shouted, advertising her prints of the Irish revolutionary leader. "Three for a fiver." "Get your Easter lilies, one euro," a hoarse-voiced man cried. "Easter Rising flags, Easter Rising hats," another chimed in. "A lot of the holes in the columns are still there," a GPO passerby with a Northern Irish accent pointed out to a blonde woman walking with him. To his left, a bagpipe player wearing a jersey with "rebels 1916" emblazoned on the back stood rigid as he began to play the song On Raglan Road.

In the foreword for an official state program of the commemorative events, a government spokesperson wrote: "For the Irish people to realize their full potential, it was necessary for Ireland to be an independent country." However, President Higgins has also said that Ireland must not "become a prisoner of the past" or "allow any distortions of history." Discussion has also focused on the future for Ireland and Northern Ireland; in a poll conducted this week, 54 percent of Irish people said they would still like to see the island united, despite the unlikeliness of it happening any time soon. Meanwhile, with politicians branding the Easter Rising centenary as an opportunity to look towards the future, some Irish residents are using the focus on Ireland to highlight the country's social issues. On a tour of the streets around the GPO, Tony Duffin, director of the Ana Liffey Drug Project, an organization that works with drug addicts, showed VICE News the 1916 landmarks where heroin addicts openly inject.

At least 400 people are shooting up on Dublin's streets monthly, according to Duffin, who quickly spotted abandoned syringes and other drug paraphernalia, and is calling for the next government to bring in a law providing for supervised injecting rooms, which he says could prevent deaths from overdoses that average one a day. Also in close proximity to the GPO, a group of homeless people held a protest on Easter Sunday, aimed at highlighting the country's growing housing problem, while thousands more citizens have said they'll attend a demonstration on O'Connell Street next month to "demand change" against "corrupt" leadership.

They have labelled 1916 as "unfinished business." Follow Sally Hayden on Twitter: @sallyhayd Easter Rising commemoration draws thousands in Dublin | World news | The Guardian Ireland Easter Rising commemoration draws thousands in Dublin Irish president lays wreath at spot where 15 rebels were executed before taking salute at GPO building where uprising began Sunday 27 March 2016 09.03 EDT First published on Sunday 27 March 2016 05.53 EDT Close This article is 10 months old Thousands of people are attending the Irish government’s official commemoration in Dublin of the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule. More than 3,500 members of Ireland’s defence forces paraded past the exact spot where a century ago the rebellion began – Dublin’s General Post Office (GPO). In one of the first ceremonies, the Irish president, Michael Higgins, lay a wreath at the spot where 15 rebels were executed for their part in the rebellion. In a poignant ceremony at the Stonebreakers’ Yard in Dublin’s Kilmainham gaol, the president was flanked by a military guard of honour drawn from the defence forces cadet school.

Pinterest President Michael Higgins lays a wreath on the site where the 1916 leaders were executed in Kilmainham gaol. Photograph: Maxwells/Irish Government/Getty Images After prayers and a minute’s silence, a lone piper from the Army No 1 Band played the lament Wrap the Green Flag Around Me Boys. The Irish tricolour, which flew at half mast throughout, was then raised. Higgins arrived by military cavalcade at the General Post Office on O’Connell Street at midday, where the Irish Proclamation was read out by the rebel leader Patrick Pearse on Easter Monday 1916. As the army band played Reveille and the Irish national anthem, six Aer Corps aircraft flew above the capital’s main thoroughfare billowing smoke in the colours of the national flag. The rising is one of the seminal events in modern Irish history and took place in the middle of the first world war. More than 450 people lost their lives in almost a week of fighting between republican rebels led by the poet and teacher Pearse and British armed forces in the city.

Pinterest Sheila O’Leary, 94, from Clontarf, whose father Thomas Byrne fought in the GPO in 1916, holds a box of his medals on O’Connell Street as she awaits the parade. Photograph: Maxwells/Irish Government/Getty Images The rebellion was a military failure but the execution of Pearse alongside the other leaders of the rising, coupled later with the attempt to introduce military conscription into Ireland , turned the population in what is now the Irish Republic against the British. But the objectives of the rebels, who wanted a 32-county Irish Republic, were arguably never realised. By 1921 Ireland was partitioned into two states – the Free State in 26 counties and unionist-dominated Northern Ireland . The Free State did not become a republic, fully independent from Britain, until 1948. Unionists in the north, however, were and remain hostile to the goals of the rebels’ republican ideology. All the major unionist parties are boycotting Sunday’s commemoration in Dublin. At the GPO itself an officer from the Irish defence forces will read out the same proclamation that Pearse read at the very start of the insurrection.

Ben Quinn (@BenQuinn75) Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland secretary, Theresa Villiers, has praised the way the Irish government has used the centenary to promote reconciliation on the island. Villiers said she recognised the significance of this weekend for Irish people around the world. She added that whatever one’s perspective, she welcomed and appreciated the efforts of the Irish government to ensure the centenary was “marked in ways that are inclusive and designed to promote reconciliation”. 'Things were never quite the same again': stories from the 1916 Easter Rising Read more Sinn Féin was meanwhile organising the largest demonstration in Northern Ireland with a parade through West Belfast to the republican plot at Milltown cemetery. Divisions within Northern Ireland about the 1916 rebellion and its legacy were evident on Sunday morning on the Falls Road in Belfast, the main route of the Sinn Féin commemoration. A new mural was painted to recall the events of a century ago and included a portrait of the unionist leader and founder of the original Ulster Volunteer Force, Edward Carson. The inclusion of a unionist icon in the heart of republican West Belfast was meant to send a signal that republicans understood the unionist tradition on the island.

However, overnight the Carson portrait was bombarded with paint bombs and later set alight. Hardline dissident republicans were bitterly critical of the decision to paint Carson’s image in their area. Easter statement from republican terror group describes Ireland’s 1916’s Easter Rising as an ‘unfinished revolution’ Published: 29 Mar 2016 Dublin’s GPO, scene of the Irish Republic’s violent birth, had snipers on its roof again – but reconciliation was the theme 100 years on Published: 27 Mar 2016 From an onlooking child to a messenger, we hear from descendants of those affected by the rebellion in Ireland, 100 years on Published: 27 Mar 2016 For years our writer’s great aunt corresponded with one of Ireland’s leading republican rebels.

Previously unpublished, these remarkable letters reveal the vision of the country’s founding fathers Published: 27 Mar 2016 Dublin to mark 100th anniversary of 1916 Easter Rising - BBC News BBC News Media playback is unsupported on your device Dublin to mark 100th anniversary of 1916 Easter Rising 25 March 2016 Last updated at 10:03 GMT Commemorations will take place across Ireland marking the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising - the rebellion against British rule that was a key moment in the history of modern Ireland. There will be ceremonies at historic sites across Dublin, with more than half a million people expected to attend the main event on Sunday. Chris Buckler reports.

Ireland prepares to mark Easter Rising centenary amid fears old tensions may resurface | World news | The Guardian Ireland prepares to mark Easter Rising centenary amid fears old tensions may resurface Anniversary could be used to claim that 1916 Irish rebellion is ‘unfinished business’ Saturday 2 January 2016 19.04 EST Last modified on Thursday 21 January 2016 11.31 EST Close This article is 1 year old It was the first major armed uprising against the British empire in the 20th century and is being marked 100 years later in Ireland as the turning point for Irish freedom from London rule. But the centenary of the rebellion in Dublin has raised fears that celebrating the exploits of the lightly armed rebels who took on the British army could destabilise the still fragile peaceful political settlement in Northern Ireland , with dissident republicans claiming they are the true inheritors of Easter Week 1916.

The 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising will climax in a grand parade past the General Post Office in O’Connell Street, Dublin, involving thousands of troops as well as 4,000 descendants of the armed idealists whose rebellion inspired the Bolsheviks a year later in their own Russian revolution. Easter Rising 100 years on: share your photos and stories Read more The 1916 rebellion, organised by a band of poets, Irish language enthusiasts, former British soldiers and a revolutionary Marxist, captured international headlines when it took place while Britain’s armed forces, including tens of thousands of Irishmen, were still mired in the first world war. A century later, Irish soldiers have already been dispatched across the republic to deliver the green, white and orange tricolour to every primary and special school in the state. And on Easter Sunday, Ireland’s president, Michael D Higgins, will lay a wreath at the GPO where the rebel leader, Patrick Pearse, read a proclamation declaring Ireland’s independence. There will also be a 21-gun fusillade and the Irish prime minister will take the salute as the Irish Defence Forces march past the podium.

But Ireland’s culture minister, Heather Humphreys, has insisted that the Irish government will not allow the centenary of the 1916 rebellion to be exploited by hardline republicans to justify terror attacks in Northern Ireland today. Unionists and some historians have expressed concern that the centenary may be used by anti-peace process republicans to claim the 1916 rebellion is “unfinished business”. Humphreys has emphasised that the Irish government has worked to address unionist sensitivities. Most unionists look back at the Easter Rising as a stab in the back, given that Britain was embroiled in the first world war and the rebels were backed by the Germans. Humphreys told the Observer: “As someone who grew up and still lives beside the border, I am very aware of the sensitivities that still exist. Through Ireland 2016 [the centenary programme] we are extending an invitation to all of the people on this island to join with us as we remember the events of 100 years ago.

I have personally met with members of the unionist community to talk to them about the programme and to ensure that there is a full understanding of the government’s approach to the commemorations.” She pointed out that the centenary commemorations began on New Year’s Day with a concert by the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland at a Peace Proms at the National Convention Centre in Dublin to emphasise cross-community and cross-border co-operation. Humphreys said the Irish government recognised that 1916 was not just about the Easter Rising, but also landmarks such as the Battle of the Somme in July – an event sacred to unionists, given the large number of casualties suffered by the 36th Ulster Division. “The three words I use to describe the tone of the commemorations are respectful, inclusive and appropriate. I believe it is up to the state to set that tone, and that the programme is rooted in solemn and formal commemorative events. It is also important to remember that 2016 will mean different things to different people.

In recognition of the significance of the Battle of the Somme, for instance, the government has developed the Battle of the Somme Commemorative Programme 2016 to commemorate this fateful period of history,” Humphreys said.When the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising took place in 1966, Northern Ireland was only three years away from the start of the Troubles and a 28-year conflict that claimed almost 4,000 lives. Without the jingoism of 1966 Paisley might have been relegated to the sidelines and there would have been no Troubles David Trimble The Nobel peace prize winner and former first minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble, who wrote a pamphlet in the 1980s justifying the British military’s decision to execute Pearse and other rebel leaders, said the sight of armed men in the guerrilla-style uniforms of the old IRA marching down O’Connell Street in their thousands “spooked sections of the unionist community” in the late 1960s.

“It’s worth recalling that before Easter 1966, the Rev Ian Paisley could only muster protests against everything from tricolours flying in Belfast to ecumenical conferences that ran into the hundreds,” he said. “On Easter Sunday 1966 Paisley organised a counter-demonstration against the 50th anniversary of the Rising and this time 5,000 people turned up. It was Paisley’s first major protest and from then on he built his power base. “Without the jingoism of Easter 1966, Paisley might have been relegated to the sidelines and, as I have always argued, without the rise of Paisley and his opposition to reforms inside Northern Ireland there would have been no Troubles. The 50th anniversary provided a major step up for Paisley and Paisleyism.” As with most major political issues or historical events, plans to commemorate Easter 2016 have produced splits in how Ireland remembers and interprets the revolt. Sinn Féin has decided to organise its own series of events independent of the government’s official programme. The party is behind a major exhibition about the Easter Rising in a former cinema north of O’Connell Street.

Dissident republicans, meanwhile, have coalesced under the proliferating 1916 Societies, which observers of republicanism believe is a nascent political movement for all those opposed to peace and power-sharing in Northern Ireland. A former Provisional IRA prisoner and head of its Derry Brigade during the Troubles, Danny McBrearty, a member of the Derry 1916 Society, said the societies have created a new all-Ireland network of republicans who regard the Good Friday agreement as a sellout. “The 1916 Societies is an Irish separatist organisation that emerged in 2009. Since then it has spread quietly but rapidly, establishing a presence throughout Ireland,” he said. “In East Tyrone it is supported by the vast majority of the families of the IRA ‘roll of honour’. Elsewhere, as local Societies multiply, they are becoming the ‘go-to’ organisation for families of fallen IRA volunteers seeking to commemorate their loved ones.” Paul Bew, professor of Irish politics at Queen’s University Belfast, said he thought that the mainstream commemoration programme had probably got the balance right.

He believes the best way to mark the event is to explore the complexities of the time rather than simplistic jingoism. “The way they [the Irish government] have included the tradition of John Redmond and the ‘Home Rule’ Irish party demonstrates that they have tried to be fair in this centenary. There is also acknowledgement that the rising and the subsequent war was not just the Irish versus the Brits, but an internal Irish civil war.” Ireland did not achieve its independence in 1916. The executions of the rebel leaders, the imposition of conscription and British military actions – including the deployment of the semi-irregular Black and Tans – pushed the majority of the population in the 26 counties of what is now the Irish Republic into the arms of the IRA and Sinn Féin. Yet when the war of independence ended, Ireland was partitioned, the province of Northern Ireland established and an even more bloody civil war was fought between the majority of those who backed that Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and the diehards who opposed it. The commemorations will take place on Easter Sunday only a few weeks after the general election.

If the pollsters are correct, Enda Kenny, the current taoiseach, will take the salute as thousands of troops file past the GPO. Kenny is the leader of Fine Gael, the party directly descended from Michael Collins and his faction of the IRA, which accepted the 1921 treaty and which, ironically, for decades since, has been accused by generations of republicans of betraying the legacy of 1916. THE ROAD TO IRISH INDEPENDENCE 1914 Outbreak of first world war delays the implementation of Home Rule legislation. 1915 Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood forms and takes control of planning the Easter Rising. 24 April 1916 The rising begins on Easter Monday. Irish Republicans fight British forces over six days in an attempt to end British rule, but are forced to surrender. 3-12 May 1916 Leaders of the rising are executed by firing squad. 1919 The nationalist movement, Sinn Féin, sets up Dáil Éireann, which proclaims Irish independence. 1920 Government of Ireland Act creates two governments, in Belfast and Dublin.

6 December 1921 The Free State, independent and self-governing, is established by the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom. 1922 The treaty is ratified but civil war breaks out between anti-treaty forces and the new Irish government. It lasts until 1923. 1932 Éamon de Valera the only surviving leader of the rising, and his new party, Fianna Fáil, enters government. 1937 Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Irish constitution, is enacted and proclaims Ireland as a sovereign state. Marita Moloney • This article was amended on 5 January 2016 to correct the colours of the Irish tricolour to green, white and orange. The orginal had it as green, white and gold.

Easter Rising 1916: Six days of armed struggle that changed Irish and British history - BBC News BBC News Easter Rising 1916: Six days of armed struggle that changed Irish and British history 23 March 2016 Image copyright Willow Design and Publishing Image caption Pádraig Pearse and James Connolly, two of the leaders of the military council The years leading up to the rebellion against British rule in Ireland in April 1916 were marked by significant political, cultural and military developments in Ireland and throughout Europe. The rebellion became known as the Easter Rising . Home Rule came to dominate domestic British politics in the era from 1885 to the start of World War One. Under Home Rule, Ireland would be given more say in how it was governed while continuing to remain part of the United Kingdom. More than 100 years earlier, Ireland lost its parliament in Dublin and was governed directly from Westminster as a result of the Act of Union in 1800. The threat of Home Rule led unionists in Ulster to establish the military organisation, the Ulster Volunteer Force , which in turn prompted the formation of the Irish Volunteers. The emergence of these forces undermined British rule in Ireland.

However, the possibility of violence in Ulster was averted by the outbreak of World War One. The main party in favour of Home Rule, the Irish Parliamentary Party, agreed that attempts to secure self-governance should be postponed for the duration of the war. Many Irishmen joined the call to arms and fought in western Europe. However, others were angered by what they regarded as the Irish Parliamentary Party's acquiescence to Westminster. Image copyright National Library of Ireland Image caption The Irish Citizen Army, a socialist militia, led by James Connolly also played an important role in the rising Three groups were behind the rising but the most important was the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) which was formed in the mid-19th century. Thomas Clarke and Seán Mac Diarmada were the key figures in the IRB. The Irish Volunteers were a military group formed in 1913 and its members accounted for the largest number of men who were called out on Easter Monday. The Irish Citizen Army , a socialist militia, led by James Connolly also played an important role. Over 200 women, most members of Cumann na mBan, the 'League of Women ', also played a role in the rising.

The key group was a seven-man IRB military council, drawn from those three organisations, which planned the Easter Rising with complete secrecy. The decision to rise was based on the traditional dictum that England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity. But it also reflected the military council's fear that Irish nationalism was in decline, a concern reinforced by popular Irish nationalist support for the aims of the Irish Parliamentary Party and the British war effort. On 23 April, the council agreed to proceed with the rising the next day, Easter Monday. The drafting of a proclamation declaring the establishment of a republic was one of the final steps taken by those who planned the rising. It decided that the proclamation should be read to the public outside Dublin's General Post Office (GPO) by the president of the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic. Image copyright Hulton Archive/Getty Images Image caption Irish Volunteers barricade Townsend Street, Dublin, to slow down the advance of troops, during the Easter Rising Despite Thomas Clarke's seniority, it was agreed that Pádraig Pearse should act as president. Shortly after noon on Easter Monday, Pearse accompanied by an armed guard, stood on the steps of the GPO and read the proclamation, signalling the beginning of the Easter Rising.

Ireland's 'national right to freedom and sovereignty' was asserted. The conflict that followed was largely confined to Dublin. The British military onslaught, which the rebels had anticipated, did not at first materialise. When the rising began, the authorities had just 400 troops to confront roughly 1,000 insurgents. Image copyright National Library of Ireland Image caption Crowds in Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) can be seen next to the General Post Office showing damage from shelling following the Easter Uprising As the week progressed, the fighting in some areas became more intense, leading to several prolonged, fiercely contested street battles. Military casualties were highest at Mount Street Bridge. By Friday 28 April, about 18-20,000 soldiers had been amassed in the capital against about 1,600 rebels while much of the city centre had been destroyed by British artillery fire. The next day, Pearse surrendered unconditionally on behalf of the Volunteers and issued orders to this effect. A total of 450 people were killed during the rebellion, among them 64 rebels. 2,614 were injured, and nine others were reported missing, almost all in Dublin.

The British capture of a shipment of German arms three days before the rebellion was partly responsible for the failure of the nationwide mobilisation. In addition, confusion was caused by conflicting orders sent out to the Irish Volunteers by their leader Eoin MacNeill, Dr Fearghal McGarry, from Queen's University Belfast, said although there was very little support for the rising at the time, it was enormously successful in terms of what the organisers of the rising wanted to achieve. "They did not expect it to win power, what they planned was a spectacle, a gesture to transform public opinion," he said. "They knew they would not win, they knew some of them would die." He said that, in political terms, the rising achieved everything that the organisers thought it would. "It destroyed the Irish Parliamentary Party's credibility and it derailed Home Rule," he said. "It exposed the oppressive nature of British rule and it transformed public opinion by winning public support for republicanism. Image copyright Trinity College Dublin Image caption British soldiers parading in front square of Trinity College Dublin in the aftermath of the Easter Rising "What might have surprised the leaders was how quickly all this happened.

Within a year and a half republicanism had become the most important movement in Ireland." Dr McGarry suggests that, for many Irish people, the significance of the rising lies less in the events of Easter week than in their longer term legacy. "I think for most Irish, certainly people south of the border, the event's significance is not primarily centred on the week-long violence that took place in Dublin," he said. "Rather it's focused on the attainment of Irish sovereignty, self-determination. "It's bound up with national identity. In contrast, the rising's significance for many northern nationalists over the past century reflects partition and the failure to achieve a united Irish Republic. "In the south, the rising is increasingly seen as history, not politics." Ireland recalls 1916 Easter Rising against British rule - The Boston Globe Already a subscriber? Members Sign In Ireland recalls 1916 Easter Rising against British rule Bagpipers partook in the Easter Sunday commemoration ceremony and parade on O’Connell Street in Dublin.

By Shawn Pogatchnik Associated Press March 27, 2016 DUBLIN — Thousands of soldiers marched solemnly through the crowded streets of Dublin on Sunday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising against Britain, a fateful rebellion that reduced parts of the capital to ruins and fired the country’s flame of independence. The Easter parade through Dublin featured military ceremonies at key buildings seized in 1916, when about 1,200 rebels sought to ignite a popular revolt against Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom. Advertisement The five-hour procession paused at noon outside the colonnaded General Post Office on O’Connell Street, the rebel headquarters a century ago, where commander Padraig Pearse formally launched the revolt by proclaiming to bemused Dubliners the creation of a ‘‘provisional’’ Republic of Ireland. A soldier in today’s Irish Defence Forces, Captain Peter Kelleher, stood in front of the restored post office Sunday to read the full, florid text of Pearse’s 1916 proclamation. Get Todays Headlines in your inbox: Sign Up Thank you for signing up!

Sign up for more newsletters here ‘‘In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom,’’ Kelleher said to an audience that included Ireland’s leaders and scores of grandchildren of the rebels. Many donned their ancestors’ Easter Rising bronze service medals, which Ireland issued in 1941 on the rebellion’s 25th anniversary. British forces, among them many Irishmen focused on fighting Germany in World War I, were caught off guard by the seizure of largely unguarded buildings in 1916. Most officers were attending horse races in the Irish countryside. But Britain quickly deployed army reinforcements who were cheered by some locals as they marched into Dublin. Artillery based at Trinity College and a gunboat on the River Liffey which bisects the city shelled the post office and other rebel strongholds, forcing their surrender within six days. Advertisement The fighting left nearly 500 dead, most of them civilians caught in the crossfire or shot — by both sides — as suspected looters. Some 126 British soldiers, 82 rebels and 17 police were slain.

Many Dubliners opposed the insurrection as an act of treason in a time of war, but public sentiment swiftly swung in the rebels’ favor once a newly arrived British Army commander decided to execute Pearse and 14 other rebel leaders by firing squad in Dublin’s Kilmainham Jail. A 16th figure, Roger Casement, who days before the Easter Rising was caught trying to smuggle German weapons by sea to Ireland, was hanged inside a London prison. In the rebellion’s immediate wake, the poet W.B. Yeats reflected Ireland’s conflicted feelings about how violent nationalism appeared to be hastening Ireland’s journey to political freedom but at a debatable cost. His ‘‘Easter, 1916’’ poem, among the most quoted works in all of Irish literature, listed the names of executed Rising commanders and concluded that Ireland had ‘‘changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born.’’ Easter Rising veterans led Ireland’s 1919-21 war of independence, their ranks swelled by combat veterans returning to Ireland from World War I trenches.

As the newly founded Irish Republican Army fought police and soldiers in the predominantly Catholic south, Protestants in northeast Ireland carved out a new UK-linked state of Northern Ireland. A treaty accepted by most southern rebels established an Irish Free State in 1922 that grudgingly accepted the reality of the island’s partition. The new Irish state survived a fratricidal 1922-23 civil war between IRA factions. Michael Collins’ pro-treaty forces crushed IRA die-hards who, backed by Eamon de Valera, rejected the treaty because the new state was not fully independent of Britain. Both men had fought in the 1916 Rising. Ireland remained neutral in World War II and declared itself a republic on Easter Monday 1949. Ireland long has struggled to embrace Easter as its effective independence day, in part because the enemy camps from the Irish civil war forged the country’s two dominant political parties: Fine Gael by allies of the slain IRA leader Collins; and de Valera’s Fianna Fail party. Both parties claim to be the true defenders of the 1916 rebels’ ideals.

Official unease with 1916’s disputed legacy grew from the early 1970s as a new Belfast-based IRA launched a ruthless campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the UK and into the republic. This outlawed faction called itself the Provisional IRA and killed nearly 1,800 people before calling a 1997 cease-fire to support leaders of its revived Sinn Fein party, who today help govern Northern Ireland alongside British Protestant politicians. In a sign of changing times, leaders of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, and Sinn Fein stood side by side at Sunday’s events, including a ceremony inside Kilmainham Jail, where Pearse and other commanders were executed. Sunday’s commemorations are the centerpiece of an estimated 2,500 events nationwide this spring and summer reflecting on the uprising’s legacy. The anniversary date is imprecise, given that Easter falls on different dates each year and the 1916 rebellion actually started on Easter Monday — an official holiday in Ireland — not on the Sunday. The rebellion began April 24 and ended on April 29, 1916. The executions began four days later. You're reading 1 of 5 free articles.

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Question: The Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland took place in which year?
Answer: 1916